Chapter 13: Madness in Wine

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Uncertain about Sesshōmaru’s amnesia, Hanami simply assumed he had lost his mind.

The next morning, sunlight glittered upon the thick snow, golden dust particles drifting through the crisp air.

One by one, the half-demons from the village began to stir, transforming the once quiet village into a lively scene. Despite it being the dead of winter, there was still much to be done.

Hearing the commotion, Hanami poked her head out from within her fluffy tail. A transparent membrane covered her eyes.

Like snakes possess an eyelid membrane, so did Hanami—a white, translucent layer. When lightly asleep, she did not close her eyes but covered them with this membrane.

Awakening at the usual hour, Hanami stretched and sat up, her fingers brushing against a soft tail that was not her own. Tilting her head, she saw Sesshōmaru still deep in slumber.

The notion of having an extra "husband" was something Hanami found utterly unreal.

Yet now, suddenly seeing Sesshōmaru entwined by her own tail stirred a strange feeling within her.

During Sesshōmaru’s unconsciousness, her serpent tail had often served as his personal heater. Nothing had changed since then, or so it seemed, but Hanami felt an intangible difference.

Could it be because of Sesshōmaru’s "confession"?

The thought that he had confessed in a state of memory confusion made everything feel... extraordinarily delicate.

After much pondering, she leaned closer and poked Sesshōmaru.

The moment her finger touched his shoulder, a warm hand grasped her cold fingertips, enveloping them gently.

Sesshōmaru’s eyes fluttered open, clear and bright, his crimson-golden beastly pupils scanning her.

Sunlight streaming through the window bathed him in gold, dust particles shimmering like a halo around him. Even his usually stern expression softened somewhat.

Her heart unexpectedly skipped a beat. A new thought dawned upon Hanami: she was doomed—her mind was about to break.

Trying to look away, she felt as if averting her gaze first would be tantamount to surrender. The damned pride of a demon was manifesting vividly in this moment.

Feigning composure, she asked, “Sesshōmaru, are you going out together?”

“You go,” came his cold, detached voice. Sesshōmaru released her hand, drawing the fluffy tail back over his abdomen, sinking deep into it as he closed his eyes once more.

Hanami walked out with a pretense of calm.

Even after the cold wind slapped her face, she felt as if floating on clouds.

Stepping out of the wooden cabin, she stared at the hand Sesshōmaru had just held, then touched her ears. Suddenly, she understood why some people were so easily swayed by voices.

Gazing at the rising sun, she fell into contemplation: so it’s that simple to be tempted by beauty.

... She was truly hopeless—falling for an amnesiac Sesshōmaru at first sight, even wanting to wrap him up with her tail, brewing all sorts of impure thoughts. How disgraceful!

You’re a terrible snake!

Hanami despised herself for two seconds.

But soon, she convinced herself: lust is the nature of demons, which meant her orientation was normal.

The winter sunlight was radiant but offered no warmth. Leaving Sesshōmaru’s tail, Hanami’s body temperature dropped sharply.

Though this cold did not affect her, a snake’s hatred of cold was ingrained in her blood.

She somewhat regretted leaving the house.

“Lady Hanami~” burst in the lively Hana, full of energy.

Fluffy all over, she wore only a light jinbei (a summer robe), unafraid of the cold.

Her fluffy pale-yellow tail swayed in the air.

Hanami’s serpent tail naturally snuggled up to Hana’s tail and fur, curling around it, as if using Hana as a living tail stand.

Pleased by her own assertive tail’s warmth, Hanami sincerely approved.

Fortunately, Hana loved the snake tail too and happily hugged its tip.

Today she carried a bamboo basket, ready to gather winter vegetables.

Heading outside the village, few half-demons ventured out to forage today.

Last night’s snow had fallen thick and heavy; the half-demons would need to repair their rooftops to prevent snow and wind from collapsing their homes overnight.

“Lady Hanami, do you drink?” Hana asked curiously as they walked.

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“Drink?” Hanami responded happily, “There are goblins in the valley who brew alcohol. You can trade winter vegetables for it, and everyone enjoys it.”

Drinking alcohol in winter was truly comforting.

Hanami felt tempted. “Can I trade prey for it?”

“As long as it’s food, yes.”

Receiving confirmation, Hanami planned to hunt a wild boar later to exchange for some wine.

The place to gather winter vegetables was actually the same spot where they had soaked in hot springs before.

Thanks to geothermal activity, the temperature here was higher; snow melted quickly, and even in winter, the area remained lush.

Winter vegetables referred to various wild greens.

There were dozens of hot springs of all sizes, with temperatures ranging from eighty or ninety degrees at their hottest to twenty or thirty at their coolest. In autumn, villagers cultivated small plots on the flatter grounds, sowing seeds to harvest in winter.

Hanami set down her bamboo basket, taking out a small hoe to dig. Lazy as ever, she instinctively found the warmest spring and slipped into it.

Her entire body felt refreshed as her scales rippled.

Leaning her hands on the stone, she sighed, “This place is really nice.”

Snow stretched out in the distance; nearby, steam rose from the hot springs.

So comfortable~

“Lady Hanami~ this one tastes really good~” Hana pulled out a root vegetable resembling a radish from the ground, cleaned the dirt, and eagerly held it to Hanami’s mouth.

Being cared for by a child as an adult...

Hanami felt a pang of guilt but accepted it. In return, she flicked a stone, hitting an unlucky bird, then tossed it to Hana. “This is for your extra meal.”

Hana cheered, “We can make soup for Grandma Yu tonight~”

“By the way, Hana, how old are you?” Hanami asked as she soaked in the spring, vaguely recalling Hana once mentioning she could have children. In this era, girls married at twelve or thirteen and bore children by fifteen or sixteen. The reality felt distant.

Hana stopped and began counting on her fingers. After a moment, “Seventy-eight years old!”

“Pfft—” Hanami burst out laughing.

Subtracting sleep, she had not lived that many years across her past and present lives combined.

“Lady Hanami, what’s wrong?” Hana looked at her puzzled.

Hanami remained silent. She couldn’t tell Hana that loving children had morphed into respecting elders, complicating her feelings.

“No, it’s nothing,” Hanami said heavily, resting her head on the smooth stone. As long as she treated Hana like a child, she remained a child herself!

Nothing wrong with that.

After convincing herself, seeing Hana still occupied, Hanami’s eyelids grew heavy beneath the thin membrane, and she dozed off.

At some point, the surrounding mist thickened.

The rising steam carried a faint scent of alcohol.

Hana sat on the grass, tail swaying wildly, feeling a bit dizzy. She sniffed the air, her whole body lightheaded, as if drunk. Leaning back, she drunkenly collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep.

Hanami sensed something was wrong, but the alcohol scent was mild and pleasant, and there was no danger. By the time she realized, she was already lying drunk in the hot spring.

Transforming into her snake form, she happily swayed her tail, utterly oblivious to the world, mumbling nonsense.

“Boss, boss, there’s a snake scent here.”

“Wow! Such a big snake!”

“We can eat it for a long time!”

“Let’s take it back! I want to taste grilled snake meat!”

Several goblins, each no larger than a palm, emerged from behind rocks, eyeing the huge snake lying in the hot spring with salivation.

The enormous snake’s head rose from the water, white scales shimmering with a pinkish hue.

“Ahhhhh—”

The goblins erupted into unprecedentedly high-pitched screams.

Drunken Hanami found them too noisy and tapped their heads with her tail.

Each tap silenced one goblin, which was quite amusing. Whoever screamed loudest got the hardest tap, and the tail delighted in this game.

After getting lumps on their heads, a few goblins finally understood: this creature tapped whoever made the loudest noise.

Hanami’s mind was foggy, but her taps were precise.

The goblins howled in pain.

“We were wrong, we were wrong, my lady—”

“Waaahhh—we truly were wrong.”

“Snake god, we repent!”

As long as they knelt quickly enough, no demon would harm them.

“Wine—bring me wine!” The forest serpent transformed back into half-human form, eyes squinting drunkenly.

Poison dripped from its fangs, burning a pit into the ground.

The goblins retreated in fear and hurriedly brought the wine.

Though not fully lucid, Hanami’s mind was still functional enough to coil the sleeping Hana in her tail, drink, and pack up the remaining wine. She staggered home.

...

Reeking of alcohol.

Sesshōmaru, who should have been asleep, awoke the moment Hanami entered.

His gaze swept over the stumbling, seemingly incapable snake tail.

Sesshōmaru watched her calmly.

The air was thick with the scent of alcohol.

Her tail tangled drunkenly. Hanami looked up, tipsy and dizzy, then caught a whiff of a fragrant smell and loudly declared, “My beloved! I’m here, here!”

“Hehehe—”

She giggled foolishly again.

Sesshōmaru subtly leaned back.

If you dared enough, you’d have the “beloved” sleeping beneath you!

“Beloved, I want to, want to, want to...” Slurring, her snake tail pressed closer as she rested her head against him.

Instinctively, Sesshōmaru wanted to throw her off, but Hanami was quicker.

More agile than when sober, she pinned Sesshōmaru down. In the blink of an eye, her clothes were undone, revealing a sculpted, pale chest half-hidden and half-exposed, silver hair cascading over her shoulders, skin as white as snow.

Sesshōmaru’s expression remained impassive as he looked at the half-snake pressed against him, rubbing her face against his chest.

Drunken and silly, Hanami blinked through misty eyes, tilted her head back, her tail coiling around and resting against his lower abdomen, her voice soft, “So big.”

“...” Sesshōmaru’s expression instantly darkened.

Hanami chuckled twice and added, “I like big ones.”

Sesshōmaru: ...

“Husband, come fulfill your duties as a man!” Drunken Hanami lifted her head excitedly, her tone brazen and impatient.

“Come quickly!”

Sesshōmaru: ?