Predatory Marriage

a had visited on her, those eyes had not lost their luster.
If anything, that glow had only sharpened, like iron forged into steel.
Those were eyes that no evil words, no spells, no malignant powers had been able to destroy.

A thrill of fear went through Cerdina.

It was an emotion she had never felt before.
Fear of the person that she had held in her hands all her life, and suddenly she was filled with indescribable shame.

Leah looked at her calmly.

“Why should I be so merciful?” She asked, with perfect composure.
“You never offered it to me.”

“……”

Cerdina’s lips moved silently, searching for something to say, but in the end she could only close her mouth.
There was nothing she could say.

The new Queen of Estia pronounced her sentence.

“You will die.
Painfully.”

That was the end.

Many Kurkans had been waiting quietly in the shadows, and now they moved forward, laughing.
They approached Cerdina with smiles and expressions of utter delight.
The sight of dozens of savages converging on her at once made Cerdina’s eyes go round with terror.
Like prey, scenting the hunters.

A woman with an expressionless face caught Cerdina by the waist.

“I’ll take Leah away,” said Ishakan, speaking for the first time.
He smiled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Cerdina.
“Save a bit for me, Genin.”

***

After taking Leah back to her room, Ishakan had told her to go ahead and go to bed, but Leah couldn’t sleep.
Sitting back against the back of the bed, she drew back the curtain to look out the window.
On the thin branches outside, new buds were growing.

Slowly, the royal palace was greening again.
The spell that had covered it had been broken.

With Cerdina’s power weakened, the Kurkan sorcerers, led by Morga, had finally been able to break the spell.
But instantly, chaos had erupted.

A Tomari woman had managed to conceal her identity and place her child, who was no part of the royal family, on the throne of Estia.
It was an event that would never be forgotten in all the history of the continent.
The nobles of Estia could not believe that they had been so deceived by the Tomaris.
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Leah had led the bewildered nobles in restoring the ruined Estia.
And confused though they were, they naturally followed her.