Predatory Marriage

Predatory Marriage — Chapter 272. Potent Antidote

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

Genin smiled a little, as if the bare thought of her mate made her happy. But though her mouth was smiling, the intoxication in her eyes faded to something somber, and she seemed to hesitate to continue. Ishakan, watching, handed her a full bottle of wine, and Genin emptied it in one gulp, then knelt down in front of Leah.

“Lady Leah,” she said, and Leah couldn’t help sitting up straight at the formal address.

“My mate is too weak to travel so far.” Her lips pursed for a moment, and her voice lowered. “I promised him when I left the desert that I would bring you back.”

She said this very seriously, and there was a hint of guilt in her eyes.

“Everyone is waiting for you,” she said earnestly. “We will definitely bring…bring our Queen back.”

Genin seemed embarrassed; she left so quickly, it seemed as if she was running away. Bewildered, Leah looked at Ishakan.

“Everyone is a little drunk,” he said calmly. “Don’t make too much of it.”

It didn’t seem like something Leah should ignore just because Genin was drunk, but Ishakan didn’t want to talk about it. For now, she decided not to ask questions.

The spontaneous picnic continued after the sun went down. Leah hadn’t been drinking, but she was so excited, she almost felt intoxicated. They were all so happy, it swept her along with them, and when they began to break into songs in Kurkan, she even tried to sing along.

She felt relaxed. She wasn’t anxious, she wasn’t worried. She didn’t have to work to guess what their true intentions might be underneath their expressions and gestures. All she had to do was enjoy herself, without thinking about anything at all.

All of them were enjoying themselves happily, with a lack of self-consciousness that was completely different from the palace of Estia. Maybe in the past, every day had been like this. She had shared this happily with the Kurkans…

As she tried to imagine what a normal day had been like with them, a touch suddenly jolted her back to reality. Ishakan’s fingers caressed her cheek.

“Let’s walk for a while,” he whispered.

Rising, she moved quickly after him. She had been neglecting him. She had come to spend time alone with him for the first time in a long time, but had been distracted in the company of the Kurkans. And they probably wouldn’t be able to do this again for a while.

Somehow, Leah thought this was likely the last moment of peace before the storm broke. She wanted to spend more time with Ishakan.

Leaving the Kurkans behind, they walked together into the forest. It was dark under the trees and the ground was treacherous with roots and stones, so Ishakan lifted her into his arms. He smelled sweetly of the wine he had been drinking.

“What did that song mean?” She asked. “The one we just sang?”

“It is a song that praises the beauty of the desert.” She could hear his affection for his homeland in the words.

“I think you miss the desert too,” she whispered. He smiled slightly.

“There’s no point in being in the desert without you.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. Her fists clenched as Genin’s voice echoed in her ears, calling her Queen. At that moment, Ishakan came to a halt before a bright space, where a beam of light made its way through the thick leaves of the dark forest canopy. Gently, he set Leah down.

She looked at him, standing in that small space of illumination.

“Let’s go back to the desert together.”

The words escaped before she could think about them, and his eyes widened, a smile broadening over his face.

“Yes. We’ll go back together,” he said quietly. “There are many things we will have to do when we return. We will have to have our wedding again.”

For Leah, the experience of a wedding was completely new. She couldn’t imagine what a Kurkan wedding dress would look like.

“And probably our five nights again,” he said, startling her. Suddenly, Leah remembered the bed at Count Weddleton’s manor.

“We broke the bed at the manor,” she said.

“We broke the bed all five nights of our wedding, too.”

“……”

“We also broke an iron pillar and some chains.”

Leah did not remember this at all.

“There’s a lot I still don’t understand,” she muttered. Ishakan looked at her quizzically.

“Did you have any memory of those five nights before I mentioned them?”

Leah shook her head.

“It seems the spell is still strong,” he muttered. “There’s something I haven’t told you, though. There is a potent antidote to the spell.”

Leah’s eyes grew wide.

“What is it?”

“Well, I already gave it to you not too long ago…” He said cheekily, without changing his expression. Leah looked at him curiously. “My s3men.”