"I was eighteen the first time."

"And how old are you now?"

"Now? I'm twenty-four."

"Oh, really?"

"Why? Do I not look like it?"

"You look much older."

"If you keep saying I look old, I won't play with you anymore."

I shook the half-empty wine jug and continued to drink the iconic Night Fall Town beverage.

"The person was my classmate."

"What is a classmate?"

"A classmate is... someone you study with every day."

"Oh... So if we study together, are we classmates?"

I guess so. Don't ask so many questions at once."

"It's because you keep using words I don't understand."

"Alright, then I'll keep talking. The person was my classmate, and we were in a romantic relationship, which means we were dating. And then we... did it."

"What was it like when you did it? How did it feel?"

"Nervous and excited, that's all."

"So who is better, me or her?"

"Of course it's you, the one who can keep me up all night."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Haven't I initiated more hugs with you?"

"Weren't we meeting for the first time tonight?"

"You wanted to compare her with you."

She was very curious about my past, but we used to have a language barrier. Now it's much better. I must turn her curiosity into understanding, and vice versa.

"Let's end this question now. It's my turn to ask."

"Sure, go ahead!"

"When was the first time you went to catch a man to fulfill your needs?"

"Probably... more than seventy years ago?"

"And you can remember?"

"More or less. I can only remember how long I've been alive."

"How long have you been alive?"

"202 years~"

"I must have been blind to fall for an old lady like you."

"Is that so? Do you regret it?"

"If you keep pinching my face, I might really regret it."

She started getting handsy with me, definitely drunk. She wasn't being gentle, and my face was close to being squeezed to death.

"What did it feel like the first time?"

"I didn't feel anything. I just felt uncomfortable if I didn't do it."

"Do the men you catch struggle a lot?"

"Yes, I have to tie them up with ropes."

"Do you enjoy it?"

"Average. At least my body feels more comfortable."

"Don't you think it's pitiful for the men?"

"What's pitiful? I didn't kill them. Usually, they escape the next morning."

"Cough cough, the way you say it makes me unhappy~~ Up until now, not including me, how many men have you caught?"

"Ten. So you're the ninth."

Nine, well... if we're being reasonable, that's much fewer than me because I never kept count. In my wildest and richest years, I would easily spend two thousand just on hotel memberships, like Han Ting Quan Ji and Home Inn. Her numbers are far off compared to mine.

"Your skills aren't that great then. Only ten in seventy years?"

"Do you think men from the kingdom are as dumb as you? Who would randomly wander into the forest in the Southern Plains? I'm not a succubus; I don't have the magic to seduce men from afar."

"Just shoot them with an arrow and bring them back, problem solved."

"I shoot humans with arrows? Are you sure?"

Well, that does make sense. Those heavy arrows, if left untreated after being shot, can easily lead to infection and fatal illness. She raised her eyebrow, took another sip of wine, and asked me for a cigarette.

"Ha~ so you male humans are the most luxurious things for us. Every time we catch you, we have to make sure you have strength, aren't thirsty or hungry, and don't get injured from struggling..."

"But you hit me before..."

"Who told you to yell? I thought maybe you had magic."

"And then you made me eat raw meat?"

"Yes, out of all the humans, only you ate the food I gave you."

No, no, no, normal people wouldn't eat raw meat that was just cut off.

"You see, I'm so amazing. So many people don't dare to eat it, but I dare to."

"Well, you're really something. You even dare to touch me."

My wife held a cigarette, looked at me with slanted eyes. There was a floating sense in her tone, as if she was drunk.

"Hey, honestly, how did it feel when I touched you?"

"At that time, I always felt you were strange, too strange. So much so that I didn't do it like before."

"How did you do it before?"

"Before, I wouldn't kiss you. I would tie you up with a rope... but that day, I just wanted to kiss you."

"So, was it your first time kissing someone?"

"Yeah, I always felt you wanted to kiss me, so I couldn't resist anymore."

"You've never kissed anyone else?"

"No, because there was no need. Taking their clothes off and tying them up was enough."

Thinking about Medusa's anatomy, well, if it's just for mating, there's really no need to kiss.

"So... how did it feel to kiss me? Were you nervous?"

"Yes, I was nervous. You weren't afraid of me at all, it was like you were waiting for me to do something to you."

"After I kissed you again, were you happy?"

"Well... how should I put it? Hmm... I've never been touched by a human, never been held...when I think back now, I really thought you were so strange! I just didn't know what kind of actions you would make towards my body."

"Being with me, is it comfortable?"

She choked on her cigarette, coughed, wanting to express something. I handed her the jug of wine, patted her back, letting her speak slowly.

"You're not me, you have no idea how comfortable it is when I'm with you!"

"Oh? Is it that great?"

"Ah... even more comfortable than soaking in hot water at Night Fall Town. Especially when you held me, if any of my sisters were held by you like that, they wouldn't believe their own senses. I really don't know how to describe it..."

The alcohol made Medusa's breathing coarse and rapid. All the little snakes in her hair hung down, occasionally a few raised their heads and then dropped them. She lay down on the grass, holding the jug of wine in one hand, looking up at the sky, lazily curling and twisting her tail.

"Raul, you have no idea, those few days when I first met you, I felt..."

"I felt that you were... you were a gift from the gods. So warm... so warm..."

"So warm that... I couldn't even breathe."

"Every day, I was looking forward... looking forward to you holding me, looking forward to you kissing me, even..."

"Even looking forward to any little thing you would do..."

"Why didn't you run away that morning..."

"It's okay, if you ran away, I would... I would go... go and catch you again... make you stay by my side..."

"But why did I drive you away..."

"What did I do..."

"At that time, it was uncomfortable being with you, but after you left..."

"It was even more uncomfortable after you left... every day, every single day, I thought about it."

"I thought that when I opened my eyes, I would be lying in your arms..."

"But I already knew... knew there wouldn't be a second you... wah wah wah wah wah..."

My wife cried, her ample chest heaving with the sound of her sobs. I silently watched her, watching this Medusa tormented by emotions that should not have belonged to a monster. If I didn't do something, she would cry until she fell asleep.

"Don't cry."

"Wah..."

"Don't cry, if you keep crying, I'll really leave."

"Don't go..."

I pretended to leave, and Medusa quickly sat up, hugging my leg.

"Okay, stop crying, look, look where your husband is?"

"Um... here..."

"Yes, I'm here, I won't go."

"Really?"

"Well, really."

I didn't like watching her sobbing like that because she was a strong woman in my impression. Besides me, nothing could make her cry. I just remembered, we've been together for so long and I've never touched her head before. I should do it today, maybe it can make her stop crying.

"I know how you feel, no need to hold it in anymore. Come on, smile~"

"Well."

"It's your turn to ask."

"I don't know what to ask..."

"Then... let's each make a request of each other."

"What request?"

"Well... I want to see how many coins can fit in this spot of yours."

"Huh? Where?"

"Here."

Don't think dirty, I mean the clavicle. This little game is the lowest level warm-up in bars. It's usually played by women, and any posture is allowed. If you can't fit fifteen one-dollar coins, you have to drink. Only one chance.

"I guess, I can fit ten."

"Huh? Really?"

"Don't move, it should be fine."

My wife was very serious, holding her breath, but her body still shook slightly due to intoxication.

Coins are thicker than one-dollar coins, and the limit is reached by the tenth coin. If she's skinny enough to be just skin and bones, she could probably fit fifteen. But she wouldn't look good if she were that thin.

"See, I was right. Exactly ten coins can fit~ What do you think?"

"Cool..."

"Haha, is it that cool?"

Sweeping the coins away, I asked her what she wanted me to do. After thinking for a while, she didn't know what she wanted me to do, so she asked me to put coins on my clavicle as well. As long as the person isn't too overweight, a man's clavicle can hold a lot of coins. Generally, men are not asked to play this game.

So we increased the difficulty. I asked her to hold the coin with her mouth and put it on my clavicle.

Of course, she couldn't put even one coin on...

Because her breath blew on me, it was itchy and exhilarating.

"Hehe, it's still too difficult."

"Well, don't move..."

"It's so itchy~"

"Then should I use my hand?"

"Never mind, let's continue with the questions."

"What should we ask?"

"Before asking, don't you want me to hold you?"

She paused for a moment, turned around, leaned back thirty degrees, and lay in my arms. That satisfied expression, I haven't seen it for a long time.

"Why are you always so warm, no matter when?"

"There are other humans who are warm too."

"No, only you would hold me."

"What if, I mean just in case, you meet a second man who's willing to hold you, would you leave me?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Why?"

"Because we already have this."

Palms pressed together, fingers intertwined, she lifted her hand and together we admired the two blood rings pressed tightly against each other.

These rings, perhaps they really have some kind of magic, no, not magic. For the two of us, it's a kind of honor because we've done something that countless monsters and humans haven't.

"Well, I want to know... you..."

"Go ahead, what do you want to know?"

"If you were to go back to the time when I tied you up again, would you touch me? Would you stay by my side?"

"If I were to go back to that time..."

"Well, from the very beginning."

"I wouldn't give you the chance to kiss me, I would just kiss you directly."

She didn't say anything, turned over from my arms, and drank the last sip of wine from the jug. Her long eyelashes rolled with her eyes, even though she hadn't done any physical activity, she was panting as if she had just finished a three-kilometer run.

"From the beginning, you slowly turned me into your possession. How did you do that..."

"That question, I want to ask you too~"