Morning sunlight streamed through the lattice windows in scattered golden shards. As the door handle turned with a soft click, Samael stirred, his senses tingling. He pried open his eyes with a yawn and sat up in bed.
Outside the door, a figure stepped in—green hair, starry eyes, bright yellow apron, and emerald horns glinting in the light. She approached and, without a word, pressed the ancient serpent's head into the valley of her chest.
So big... so soft... so white...
Still half-asleep, Samael was nearly suffocating. Struggling instinctively, his mind was overwhelmed by the sensory onslaught, each detail imprinting itself with excruciating clarity.
"Ah, the fever's gone."
A gentle stroke to his head accompanied the husky, magnetic whisper that brushed his ear.
Do people seriously check temperatures like this?
His thoughts spun in chaos as his internal monologue flared in disbelief.
Barely dragging himself free from this overwhelming softness, his gaze finally met the sparkling purple-red eyes across from him.
"To celebrate your recovery, I prepared some ingredients. What do you want for breakfast, Samael?"
Samael instinctively glanced through the half-open door toward the kitchen—and instantly froze.
The once-pristine white tiles were splattered with streaks of purple-red blood and chunks of meat.
A grotesque lion-headed beast lay discarded to one side, blood dripping steadily from its severed neck...
A soft-bodied sea creature, tentacles writhing, had been stuffed whole into a soup pot. The struggling lid clattered faintly under its resistance...
A thick, flame-marked haunch was being smoked nearby—next to it hung a three-legged Uridimmu, swaying like meat in a butcher's shop...
Worst of all, a purple-red giant snake—clearly knocked out cold with a massive bump on its forehead—had an apple stuffed in its mouth, was basted in sauce, twisted into a heart shape, and shoved into the oven...
"T-Tiamom..."
"I... I don't think I'm hungry..."
Samael's throat bobbed hard as cold sweat beaded on his brow. He gave a weak, forced chuckle and shook his head, his thoughts more scrambled than ever.
"Eat! You have to eat!"
"How else are you going to recover properly?"
Just then, a young lady poked her head through the door. Golden hair tied with black bows, a red trench coat, and eyes gleaming scarlet—she beamed at Samael on the bed.
"She's right!"
"Come on! We've been waiting forever for you to dig in!"
On the other side of the doorway, the black-haired, red-eyed twins giggled gleefully as they ladled out a bowl of the bubbling purple-red "soup" from the sea creature pot. Without hesitation, they handed the biological weapon to Tiamat, the green-haired matriarch at Samael's bedside.
"Ah, open wide..."
With a dazed, innocent look on her face, Tiamat lifted the spoonful of purple-red sea monster broth toward his mouth.
Hiss... Hiss...
The stainless-steel spoon began to smoke, blacken, and visibly melt in midair. Cold sweat poured down Samael's back. His groggy thoughts kicked into overdrive, and his mind snapped into clarity.
"Wait!"
"I remember! I was fighting off the Magical Beast wave... I saved Ana from Gorgon!"
"Ana! Where's Ana?!"
His eyes darted around in panic, voice sharp with urgency.
"Ana? Isn't she..."
The twin sisters smirked wickedly. One of them grabbed a corner of his blanket and, with a dramatic flourish, yanked it open.
"...right here?!"
Samael instinctively looked down.
From beneath the quilt, a mass of purple slowly emerged.
A face rose—one that blended Gorgon's mature allure with the innocence of the young goddess. She lifted her head from a decidedly indecent position.
Then, her split tongue flicked out, sensing the air... and began to move lower again.
At that moment, several cold, sinister gazes zeroed in on him.
An unspeakable terror seized the room, freezing everything in its grip.
"Ana... Ana! No!"
A sharp, anguished cry echoed through the Sumerian-style room as the patient, flailing in panic, suddenly jolted upright.
Huh? This is... the Uruk Embassy?
Just a dream. Thank the gods, it was only a dream.
His blurred vision gradually cleared, revealing familiar surroundings. As the terror subsided, Samael let out a shaky breath and leaned against the headboard, wiping the cold sweat from his brow.
"Samael, you're awake!"
The petite girl who had been dozing at the foot of the bed shot up and dove into Samael's arms, murmuring over and over with relief between her lips.
"You're okay... thank goodness... thank goodness..."
The ancient serpent froze for a moment, then steadied himself and gently placed his hand on the girl's head, softly stroking it to calm her.
"It's okay... It's all over now."
Once he'd finally managed to soothe the child, Samael glanced toward the sunrise outside the window. With a light flick of his fingers, he wiped the tear tracks from Ana's cheek and asked in a low voice.
"How long was I out?"
"Three days..."
The purple-haired girl sat up slightly, the memory still sending a shiver down her spine.
"You'd stopped bleeding, but your breath was so faint—it felt like you could die at any moment."
"And after Gorgon fled, the Magical Beast tide started to pull back too."
"If Merlin and Siduri-onee-san hadn't shown up with the priest squad, I..."
Samael gently patted Ana's bowed head, offering her a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine now, aren't I? See?"
Then he paused, eyes glinting slightly.
"Ana, be straight with me. What was my condition when Merlin and Siduri arrived?"
"Most of your lower body had already regenerated, but you weren't responding to anything. Your heartbeat was barely there..."
Samael exhaled deeply, finally letting go of the tension that had been gripping his chest.
That explained it. It must've been like a snake entering a low-energy hibernation state—his immortality-fueled regeneration had consumed too much energy and stamina.
To preserve just enough life force, his body had forced itself into a coma.
Judging by the herbal taste lingering in his mouth and the scattered crystal powder around the bed, Uruk's medics had clearly pumped him full of tonics during recovery.
Which meant the secret of the immortality herb in his body was still safe.
In other words, no one knew his true origin as a "serpent."
Good. That would make executing the next phase of his plan much easier. A small stroke of luck in an otherwise chaotic mess.
As he furrowed his brow, deep in thought, he noticed Ana sitting stiffly at the edge of the bed, face scrunched, nervously twisting the bedsheets with her fingers.
His heart skipped a beat.
"What is it?"
The purple-haired girl shot him a weird look, then blushed and muttered like a mosquito.
"When Merlin and Siduri-onee-san arrived... you were... completely naked..."
Samael's face froze. The corner of his mouth twitched.
Yeah, okay. No need to bring up the full-frontal disaster.
Still...
Something stirred in his mind. He lifted the quilt slightly, checked things thoroughly, then let out a long, relieved sigh.
Not shrunk. That's all that matters—for future happiness.
Also, seriously... aren't you a bit too curious?
Samael glanced over at the bedside. Ana was covering her face with both hands, cheeks flushed red—but her eyes peeked inquisitively through her fingers.
The corner of his mouth twitched again.
Don't tell me... while I was unconscious, you did something weird and that's why I had that... that spring dream?
Ahem. Nightmare. It was definitely a nightmare!
Samael coughed awkwardly and lowered his head, face flushed as he grumbled to himself.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake