The Fake Bride Offered to the Snake God - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Serpent Lair was deeper than I had imagined.

As we walked inward, a layer of glowing moss clung to the walls, casting a dim blue light that made a person’s shadow look like a corpse floating underwater.

Semyre walked ahead of me.

He looked human, but his shadow was long, dragging across the ground. Every now and then, it split into thin, snake-like strands.

I followed him with the medicine bottle in my arms, not daring to get too close.

Suddenly, he said, “What is that child’s name?”

It took me a moment to realize he meant Norn.

“Norn.”

“How old is he?”

“Twelve.”

“When did he start coughing up black blood?”

I pressed my lips together.

“He was born that way.”

Semyre asked nothing more.

The farther in we went, the stronger the scent of Black Lotus became.

It was a strange smell, bitter with a trace of sweetness. The longer I breathed it in, the tighter my chest felt.

At the end of the stone steps was an underground pool.

Large black lotuses floated on the surface, the edges of their petals dark red, as if they had been scorched by fire.

My eyes lit up at once.

But Semyre pressed a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t touch them.”

“Why?”

“You’ll die.”

I looked down at the medicine bottle in my arms.

“Then this…”

“Diluted juice. It can only keep someone alive.”

“Keeping him alive is all I need.”

I said it too quickly, as if afraid he would go back on his word.

Semyre tilted his head and looked at me.

“You don’t want to ask how to cure him?”

I froze.

“He can be cured?”

He did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand and plucked a Black Lotus from the water.

The moment its stem left the surface, white smoke began to rise from Semyre’s palm.

I jumped in fright.

“It can hurt you?”

He tossed the Black Lotus into a stone cup, his expression calm.

“The Black Lotus grew from my blood.”

For a moment, I did not understand.

He lifted his eyes to mine.

“Three hundred years ago, the Temple carved out my Divine Bone. Chain Venom seeped through the wound and into the water, and only then did these flowers grow.”

“They can keep someone alive. They can also nurture a Vessel.”

Semyre took a silver knife and cut open his palm. Black-red blood dripped into the stone cup.

The Black Lotus instantly melted into a small cupful of medicine.

“Anyone who drinks this can live for seven days.”

I stared at his hand.

The wound was deep, yet it did not heal.

“Why are you helping me?”

“I am not helping you.”

He handed me the stone cup.

“In seven days, bring your brother to the Serpent Lair.”

I took the cup, my fingers trembling.

“What do you want with him?”

Semyre looked at me and slowly said, “To confirm something.”

“What?”

He did not answer.

But the look he gave the medicine was very dark.

As if he had already caught the scent of something that should never appear on a child.

From behind the pool, a bell suddenly rang.

Jingle.

Jingle.

It was very soft, but my back instantly went numb.

Semyre’s expression changed.

He raised his hands and covered my ears.

“Don’t listen.”

He pressed me against him, and the tip of my nose bumped into his cold robe.

But the ringing still slipped through.

Another scene surfaced before my eyes.

A woman in a white dress knelt in a pool of blood, clutching a broken Silver Bell in her hand.

She wept as she said, “I didn’t lie to you.”

“Semyre, I really didn’t.”

My head hurt so much it felt like it would split open.

Semyre held me, panic entering his voice for the first time.

“Ailia, wake up.”

I grabbed his sleeve and heard myself ask, “Who is she?”

He was silent for a long time.

“A liar.”

I looked up at him.

“Do you still love her?”

Semyre’s eyes turned cold.

“I hate her.”

But when he said it, the hand pressed against my ear trembled once.