Serpent Emperor's Bride Chapter 193: The Poisoned Comb

[Eastern Zahryssar — Sah’qir Cliffs — Continuation]

The mory vanished violently, and present-day Zerat stood frozen before the corpse he personally buried centuries ago. Except now that corpse was smiling at his consort.

For one brief mont the emperor’s golden eyes widened not from fear but from the violent disbelief of seeing a nightmare rise from its grave.

Then imdiately his gaze landed on Levin, and without hesitation Zerat slid toward him, instantly fast enough to crack the cliffs beneath his tail.

"Consort—"

Everyone turned toward him, and anwhile Slyvarakh slowly smirked, tilting his head lazily as his eyes glead beneath the stormlight and a dangerous smile curved his lips.

"Oh...there he is." His gaze softened wickedly. "My dearest brother."

Levin glanced briefly toward Slyvarakh afterward, then toward Zerat. anwhile, Sarash remained trembling nearby, eyes lowered, body stiff and still unable to process that the serpent standing before him was alive.

Because Slyvarakh was not rely a royal serpent, he was a catastrophe buried beneath Zahryssar’s silence.

Zerat reached Levin finally. Imdiately holding his hands tightly, almost checking him and almost reassuring himself, Levin was truly unhard.

"Consort..." His golden eyes moved rapidly across Levin’s body. "...are you hurt anywhere?"

Levin remained quiet briefly, and Zerat noticed it instantly: the scratches across pale skin, the bruises, and the cuts left from battle and falling stone, and the emperor’s expression darkened dangerously.

Then, quieter, far softer, he asked, "...Are you alright, my love?"

Levin finally lifted his gaze toward him, and despite everything, he nodded calmly. "I am alright, only so scratches."

Then quietly he added, "Lyresaph and...Sarash were with ."

Zerat visibly flinched slightly at the na; his golden gaze briefly shifted toward Sarash, and then he sighed softly as though holding back far more than anger, but before he could speak, Slyvarakh’s voice echoed across the cliffs lazily.

"Is my dearest brother truly not going to welco ?"

Silence.

Zerat did not even glance at him, which sohow made the atmosphere worse because the emperor’s silence felt colder than rage itself.

Then Slyvarakh smirked wider as he folded his arms slowly.

"Oh? My brother refuses to even look at now?"

That was when Zerat finally turned; his golden eyes had beco terrifying, cold, ancient, and deadly enough to suffocate the cliffs themselves.

"I do not welco dead serpents."

For one single mont, Slyvarakh’s smile faded.... Just slightly, and then he laughed softly, beautifully, and brokenly as his silver eyes glead strangely as his dangerous smile slowly returned.

"Oh...that reminds of the day you killed ...such a heartbreaking mory."

Levin quietly glanced between both brothers afterward, neither denying it nor explaining it, and sohow that silence felt far heavier than battle.

Then suddenly black lotus pheromones exploded across the cliffs.

FWOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH!!!

The desert winds beca suffocating instantly; even the stones beneath them cracked beneath imperial pressure.

Zerat stepped forward slowly afterward, his massive silver tail sliding across shattered cliffs while his golden eyes darkened further as his voice lowered dangerously.

"Seeing this corruption... I no longer question how you crawled back from death."

Slyvarakh scoffed imdiately, folding his arms proudly as his wicked grin appeared. "Is my little brother not impressed?...your brother is rather amazing."

Then suddenly his silver eyes darkened, and imdiately white sand pheromones exploded outward violently; the winds howled, the cliffs trembled, Lyresaph growled uneasily, and even Levin flinched slightly, but before Slyvarakh’s pheromones could even dare to touch his consort... Zerat’s safety pheromones wrapped around Levin.

The pheromones felt strange, ancient, and dry like breathing death itself. Then Slyvarakh smiled, dangerously and beautifully, as his silver eyes glead.

"After all...your brother is soone who now also controls death."

Silence crashed across the cliffs instantly.

Even Levin’s blue eyes narrowed slightly afterward, and then suddenly Slyvarakh’s gaze shifted toward Sarash, and imdiately the pale serpent froze.

Slyvarakh tilted his head lazily, almost mockingly, as a dangerous softness entered his voice.

"But...I wonder how that loser remained alive. How did you use him...as a puppet?"

Sarash flinched violently, his body trembling harder now because Sarash rembered exactly what Slyvarakh truly was. Then Zerat spoke suddenly, cutting through the suffocating atmosphere sharply.

"Why are you here?"

Slyvarakh slowly looked back toward him afterward then smiled lightly and spread his arms slightly

"Are we truly discussing family matters atop broken cliffs? It would be better if we returned to my Silthara palace—"

"SARASH."

Zerat’s voice sliced through the air instantly, cold, imperial, and absolute. Sarash visibly jolted and imdiately bowed deeply.

"Y-Yes...yes, Malik?"

And that was it, that single word.

Malik.

Slyvarakh slowly went silent afterward, his silver eyes resting upon Zerat carefully. Then Zerat finally looked directly at him again, and this ti his golden gaze held no hesitation at all, only authority.

"I hope..." His voice lowered dangerously. "...you realize now how you will address from this mont onward."

Silence, a heavy, suffocating silence, and then slowly Slyvarakh smiled again, but this smile looked different, sharper, darker, and almost proud.

"...of course...Malik."

The word echoed strangely from his lips, like mockery, like mory, or like surrender he never truly ant.

Zerat said nothing afterward. Instead, he imdiately wrapped one arm around Levin protectively, holding him close against his side, possessive and careful, almost unwilling to let distance exist again.

"We are leaving this place imdiately."

And without another glance toward Slyvarakh, the emperor turned, his silver tail sliding violently across the cliffs.

Levin beside him, Lyresaph growling low behind them, and Sarash following silently.

anwhile, Slyvarakh remained standing alone amidst the storm, watching and smiling softly. Silver eyes filled with sothing ancient and deeply wrong.

Then quietly—almost affectionately—he whispered toward the disappearing emperor:

"You beca even crueler after killing ..." A faint laugh escaped him. "...little brother."

***

[House Karzath — Sa Ti]

Night had settled heavily over House Karzath. The mansion lanterns burned low across the endless corridors while desert winds whispered through the hallways.

Lady Arinaya stepped down from the carriage slowly, her dark robes dragging softly against polished marble while exhaustion lingered visibly within her eyes.

Yet even now her mind remained restless, thinking and searching as she murmured quietly while walking through the palace hallway.

"I need to confirm it...whether he truly is the Black Serpent or not."

But before she could continue, her footsteps halted because ahead, walking calmly toward Rakhane’s office chamber, was Serath-min, aka Azhrakaal.

The palace lanterns painted his hair gold briefly, beautifully, elegantly, and dangerously. Serath-min noticed her imdiately, then slowly he smiled.

"Oh...Lady Arinaya." A soft chuckle escaped him. "You’ve returned."

Lady Arinaya stared at him coldly, unmoved as her voice sharpened elegantly.

"I do not believe you have lost your eyesight, Serath-min. If I stand before you..." A faint, dangerous smile appeared. "...then obviously I have returned."

For one brief second his jaw tightened, only slightly, but she noticed. Then imdiately Serath-min smiled again, smoothly and perfectly like venom hidden beneath silk and bowed very faintly that sohow felt mocking instead of respectful and added,

"My apologies, Lady. I do hope..." His eyes lingered upon her longer than necessary. "...you have a very morable night tonight."

The words sounded ordinary, but sothing beneath them felt wrong and threatening.

Lady Arinaya narrowed her eyes instantly. "...indeed."

Then Serath-min walked past her, calmly and elegantly, and the mont he passed beside her, Lady Arinaya felt cold, not physically but instinctively, like prey sensing a predator’s smile nearby.

She slowly turned afterward, watching his disappearing figure vanish deeper into the palace corridors.

Then, quietly to herself, she murmured, "...Whoever you are...you won’t stay hidden behind that face for long."

The distant lantern flas flickering across the marble walls. Lady Arinaya sighed softly afterward, fatigue finally settling into her shoulders because whatever Serath-min truly was, she could feel it now.

That serpent was dangerous. Far more dangerous than House Karzath realized. Then finally she turned and continued walking toward her chamber.

Monts later an attendant hurried toward her before bowing deeply.

"My lady..." The servant lowered her gaze respectfully. "...shall I prepare your bath?"

Lady Arinaya nodded absentmindedly, still lost within thought. "Yes...prepare it."

The attendant bowed again imdiately. "As you command."

And just like that, Lady Arinaya stepped inside her bath chamber. Unaware that sowhere else inside her chamber death had already begun waiting for her.

***

[House Karzath — Lady Arinaya’s Chamber — Later That Night]

Warm scented steam still lingered across the chamber. The bath waters had long turned still while ancient bronze lanterns illuminated the marble room in soft amber gold.

Lady Arinaya stepped out slowly from behind the silk curtains. Long golden hair still damp, water droplets slid slowly against tan skin while attendants hurried quietly around her with ancient, practiced grace.

Not a single unnecessary sound echoed within the chamber, only the soft crackling of incense flas and only the whisper of silk.

anwhile, Arinaya herself remained lost within thought, her brows furrowed faintly, her mind restless, searching endlessly through mories.

An attendant approached afterward carrying long silver cloths scented with desert jasmine. Then carefully she began drying Lady Arinaya’s hair the ancient Zahryssarian way, slowly and patiently from root to end.

Another attendant burned rare oils nearby while soft smoke curled upward through the chamber like pale spirits, and the atmosphere looked peaceful, elegant, and safe.

Yet unseen by everyone inside that room, death already waited quietly among silver ornants. Lady Arinaya sat before the large bronze mirror silently afterward, still thinking and still rembering the strange smile. Serath-min gave her earlier.

’I do hope you had a very morable night today.’

The words echoed unpleasantly within her mind again, and sohow the more she rembered them, the colder her instincts beca.

anwhile, behind her, the attendant reached toward the grooming tray without suspicion, without hesitation, and slowly she lifted the silver comb, beautifully crafted, ancient silver engravings carved across its surface and elegant enough to belong to nobility.

But hidden along the delicate teeth of the comb, a nearly invisible poison shimred faintly beneath lantern light, deadly and silent.

A poison created not to wound but to kill: one touch against the scalp, one scratch, one mont, and death would arrive quietly enough to resemble fate itself.

The attendant stepped closer carefully, completely unaware. Lady Arinaya remained staring into the mirror, lost within thought.

’...if he truly is black serpent blood... then House Karzath is already in danger.’

Behind her, the silver comb slowly lifted higher, closer and closer, toward her damp hair, toward her scalp and then—

***

[Later — Rakhane’s Chamber]

The chamber slled heavily of wine and burning incense.

Low amber flas flickered across black stone walls while night winds whispered faintly beyond the carved palace windows. Rakhane sat near the long obsidian table, lazily swirling dark wine inside a silver goblet, one eye hidden beneath the black patch.

The visible one is sharp, dangerous, and irritated. anwhile, Serath-min lounged comfortably across the velvet couch nearby, entirely relaxed.

As though nothing in this world could possibly threaten him.

Then suddenly—

KNOCK!!!

KNOCK!!!

KNOCK!!!

"High Ensi—! High Ensi—!!" The frantic voice outside imdiately made Rakhane furrow his brow.

"...does that servant possess a death wish?" His voice lowered dangerously. "To disturb this late?"

Serath-min lazily lifted the wine cup toward his lips afterward, then softly, almost amused, he said:

"Perhaps it is sothing important...you should avoid threatening servants before hearing them."

Rakhane scoffed, clearly irritated, yet finally stood anyway, his long robes dragging against the floor as he walked toward the chamber doors.

Then violently he opened them.

"Do you have a dea—"

But the servant imdiately collapsed into a deep bow, trembling badly and breathing unevenly.

"I—I apologize, High Ensi—!"

Rakhane’s expression darkened further. "Then explain why you are shaking my mansion walls."

The servant looked monts away from fainting entirely as her voice broke

"My Lord...Lady Arinaya..."

Rakhane imdiately stilled. "...what about my sister?"

The servant’s eyes widened with panic; she tried speaking but failed. Then finally, barely managing, she whispered as her shaky breath escaped her.

"She...has been poisoned."

Silence, an absolute silence. The silver goblet inside Rakhane’s hand shattered instantly.

CRAAAAACKKK!!!

Dark wine spilled across the marble floor like blood. Rakhane’s visible eye widened violently; for the first ti, true shock crossed his face. Then imdiately he moved.

FWOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!

The High Ensi stord past the servant so fast she nearly collapsed from the pressure alone.

"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?!" His roar thundered violently through the palace hallway. "DRAG THE TEMPLE MAGES HERE IMDIATELY!"

Servants panicked instantly; several rushed through the corridors while others lowered themselves in fear.

anwhile Rakhane disappeared toward Arinaya’s chamber like a storm finally unleashed, and inside the chamber behind him, silence returned; only Serath-min remained.

Still lounging lazily across the couch and still holding the wine cup calmly, he then slowly took another sip.

A soft chuckle escaped him afterward, low and satisfied. His eyes glead beautifully beneath flickering firelight.

"...finally, the smartest one is dead."