Chapter 136 - Ambush

Predatory Marriage — Chapter 136. Ambush
Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan
Morga gave Ishakan the potion that he had just tested in the brazier. The Princess was in no condition to drink it on her own, so Ishakan poured it in his mouth and kissed her, trickling it little by little into her mouth. Her limp body tightened a little. When it was gone, he opened her lips to make sure she had swallowed it.
Without hesitating, he bit his finger, breaking the skin so blood gushed out. Slipping his bleeding finger into the Princess’s small mouth, he rubbed his blood on her tongue and made her swallow it.
“……!”
The Princess’s half-closed eyes fluttered. Morga stoked the brazier, sending out thick clouds of smoke. Leah shook her head, trying to push his finger out of her mouth, and even bit down hard, but Ishakan didn’t relent. Instead, he pushed it deeper. Tears began to fill her eyes.
“Ahhh!!” Her scream pierced the night. Her small body shuddered, almost convulsing. Ishakan held her tightly as she writhed at the excruciating pain, biting and scratching frantically at him.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts too much…!” She cried desperately, sobbing as she pleaded, “Ahh, kill me, just kill me…”
But the hands holding her body stayed firm, and Ishakan slid another finger into her mouth to keep her from biting her tongue.
“No, Leah.” He felt pain, but it wasn’t physical pain. Her bites and scratches were like tickles to him. “I’ll let you do what you want, but not that.”
He tried to calm her down, pampering her more. He rubbed his face against her tearstained cheek, whispering.
“Don’t say such things…”
Ishakan looked fragile as he held the Princess in his arms and kept whispering to her. Morga’s eyes trembled as he watched, and he lowered his head.
“……”
Morga knew this attachment was not superficial, but Ishakan’s feelings were much more intense than he had imagined. Among the Kurkans, the wolf tribe was said to give their whole heart when choosing a mate. But Morga hadn’t expected Ishakan to act that way.
The King of the Kurkans had never been defeated, Morga thought. But he might be coming to know the feeling because of the Princess.
***
Perched at the top of a tree, Haban looked into the distance. He could see a cloud of dust from a large group galloping. Squinting as he watched them carefully, Haban spoke to Genin, seated below him.
“Genin, do you remember the first time you met Ishakan?”
“Of course I remember.”
Haban of the cat tribe and Genin of the wolf tribe had been selected as escorts for the former King of the Kurkans. As they worked alongside him, they had to watch his evil deeds. Eventually they had been unable to stand it, and fled, but they had been quickly captured and imprisoned. Ishakan had appeared just as they had been ordered to choose between loyalty or death.
“I have never seen a being so powerful and beautiful.”
“Also dangerous,” said Haban.
Genin nodded. Though Ishakan often smoked tobacco to suppress it, he had an unbridled, wild instinct that he could not hide.
“But it’s different when he’s with the Princess,” she said. When he was with Leah, Ishakan was always calm, as if he were in the most peaceful place.
“I think the Princess is the perfect companion.” Haban’s lips curved as he looked at the group galloping closer and closer. Before hundreds of knights, he showed no fear. Despite the obvious numerical advantage, his eyes sparkled. Fighting and killing were essential to Kurkans.
“The Crown Prince is in the lead.” Genin said, watching the approaching group intently. “That guy has tormented the Princess too much. We can’t let him take her away.”
At her words, Haban focused his eyes on the prince at the head of the knights. As he watched him charging onward, Haban smiled deviously.
“We should treat her properly. She’s ours now.”
“You’re right.” Measuring the distance to confirm Blain was in her reach, Genin raised her bow. “She is no longer the Princess of Estia.”
Slowly, she drew the bowstring. The muscles in her arms swelled as she took aim and released her arrow at the right moment. As the arrow shot away, she spoke, her face expressionless.
“She will be the Queen of the Kurkans.”