Predatory Marriage

Mura did not seem surprised by Ishakan’s sudden appearance. She had likely expected him to appear ahead of his army.

“Would you like to have breakfast with your family?” She asked, as she approached Leah with a basin of water to wash her face. “They’re both waiting for you.”

Of course she wanted to have breakfast together. After washing up, she hurriedly dressed and headed to the dining room. There was already food on the table, but it was untouched. It looked as if Lesha and Ishakan had been waiting for her.

As soon as she sat down, Leah began to eat. In Estia, meals were served one course at a time, in a specific order. But whenever she ate with Lesha and Ishakan, they dined in the Kurkan style, which she much preferred. Having so much food on the table made her feel as if she could eat as much as she wanted.

Leah understood why. In the past, she had always been kept on a strict diet, and she had lived that way so long, she still ate much less than a normal person.

She enjoyed being able to eat freely, after so many years of suppressing her hunger. And she found it satisfying to watch her husband and son eating so eagerly. Seeing Lesha tear into a turkey leg whetted her own appetite. – Posted only on NovelUtopia

With Ishakan back, Leah herself was eating heartily for the first time in a long time, and Mura smiled as she served more food, watching Leah’s plate empty.

“The King of Balkat is targeting you,” Ishakan told her, neatly removing the bones from her meat with a knife.

“Wh...what?” Leah blinked repeatedly, startled.

He could only be planning to kill her since he had no chance of killing Ishakan.

There had actually been quite a few assassination attempts, as the union of Kurkan and Estia posed a significant threat to the kingdoms of the rest of the continent. But there had been no attempts on Leah’s life lately, because of Ishakan’s policies with assassins.

All of them were punished severely, and tortured for information to find out who had bought them, but those who targeted Leah received special treatment.

On one occasion, Ishakan had been so outraged, he and his entire army had diverted to visit the kingdom who had sent the assassins. The royal family was responsible for the crime, so he had them publicly beheaded in front of their own palace.

That was severe enough that there had been no further attempts to assassinate Leah.

Of course, Leah herself had never once laid eyes on the assassins. The Kurkans detected and dealt with them long before they reached her.

It made it hard to believe the King of Balkat would try to have her killed, when all the other kingdoms of the continent had learned their lesson.

“Why would he do such a foolish thing?” she murmured thoughtfully. “He should know what happened to all the rest of them.”

She fell silent at the sight of Ishakan’s smile.

“It doesn’t look like that,” he said. Leah cocked her head.

“So?”

“He’s interested in you.”

Suddenly, Leah remembered the rumors she had heard of the King and Queen of Balkat.

“...Ah.”

Only then did Leah realize what Ishakan meant, and Lesha lifted his head, his cheeks puffed with food like a chipmunk’s. He swallowed.

“Bad people want to hurt Mama?” He asked. He still couldn’t fully understand their conversations, but he was good at sensing their emotions. Ishakan smiled at him.

“Yes.”

“No! Can’t hurt Mama, I’ll hunt them!”

He looked adorable when he said that, with his hands on his hips, but an eerie gleam suddenly glowed in his golden eyes.

He looked just like his father.

Leah glanced at Ishakan, who was looking proudly at his son.

In any case, it wouldn’t be necessary. She would only interact with the King of Balkat in public during the banquet, where the Kurkans would defend her like an iron wall. Ishakan had no reason to worry.

But that conviction soon faded.