AH...
NO!!!
STOP IT!
YOU ARE HURT...
YOU HURT THIS BADLY...
IT IS OKAY...
I WILL PROTECT YOU.
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO PROTECT YOU,
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO PROTECT YOU,
I SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED YOU FROM THE VERY BEGINNING...
WITH THAT TINY LITTLE BODY,
WITH BROKEN, SHATTERED TEETH AND CLAWS, YOU PROTECTED ME.
EYES LIKE DAZZLING GOLD,
EMBEDDED WITH SAND AND THE BLAZING SUN...
LEAH.
THE RING...
NONE OF THAT MATTERS ANYMORE.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE BY MY SIDE, THAT IS ENOUGH.
IF I HAD BEEN JUST A LITTLE STRONGER,
THE WOLF,
WOULD I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PROTECT YOU, TOO?
AS MUCH AS YOU PROTECT ME, I WANT TO PROTECT YOU AS WELL...
I HAD A DREAM.
...WHAT KIND OF DREAM?
IT WAS A REALLY STRANGE DREAM, BUT A WOLF PUP APPEARED IN IT.
ITS EYES WERE EXACTLY LIKE YOURS...
WHAT COLOR WAS ITS FUR?
SILVER... IT WAS SILVER.
SILVER HAIR?
SILVER HAIR...?
...IT PROTECTED ME.
EVEN WITH A BODY COVERED IN BLOOD,
IT BRAVELY FOUGHT OFF TERRIFYING IRON CHAINS IN MY PLACE...
I FEEL SO GUILTY LEAVING THE WOLF PUP BEHIND ALL BY ITSELF...
I'M JUST SO WORRIED...
I DON’T THINK YOU NEED TO WORRY.
BUT IT WAS SO TINY, AND, S-SO FULL OF WOUNDS...
IT WILL NOT DIE EASILY.
IT CARRIES MY BLOOD, SO IT WILL CERTAINLY SURVIVE.
EVEN JUST TO PROTECT YOU...
YOU KEEP SAYING THINGS THAT ARE HARD TO MAKE SENSE OF SINCE EARLIER...
COULD IT BE...
CAN YOU TURN INTO A WOLF?
YOU ASKED ME THAT BEFORE, AND NO, I CAN'T DO THAT.
THANK YOU FOR COMING TO HELP ME.
I SHOULD BE THE ONE THANKING YOU.
HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO ENDURE ALL ON YOUR OWN UNTIL NOW?
IT MUST HAVE BEEN SO EXHAUSTING...
...BY ANY CHANCE, DID A PHYSICIAN COME BY?
WHAT DID THEY SAY? MY STOMACH HAS KEPT HURTING RECENTLY.
KEPT HURTING?
YES, I WAS GIVEN SOME MEDICINAL TEA...
GIVEN BY THE QUEEN DOWAGER, I PRESUME.
WHAT ABOUT THE INTRUDER? DO YOU HAVE ANY SUSPECTS IN MIND?
...EVEN AFTER RUNNING THROUGH VARIOUS NOBLES AND WEALTHY ELITES,
THERE IS ONLY ONE PERSON WHO WOULD PULL OFF SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
I THINK IT IS LADY MIRAYEL.
SHE IS BLERVON'S COURTESAN. AND SHE DOES NOT CARE FOR ME VERY MUCH...
...AH.
LADY MIRAYEL.
...IT IS OKAY, LEAH.
I WILL...
TAKE CARE OF EVERY SINGLE THING FOR ME...
SHAMANS BELIEVED THAT EATING A HEART ALLOWED ONE TO POSSESS THE POWER OF A SOUL.
THEREFORE, THEY WOULD SOMETIMES CONSUME BEAST HEARTS WHEN PERFORMING DIFFICULT SHAMANIC RITUALS.
THE RITUALS CREATED THAT WAY WERE USUALLY FILLED WITH NEGATIVE ENERGY.
HOWEVER, THIS TIME WAS UNAVOIDABLE.
THERE WAS SIMPLY NO BETTER METHOD THAN THIS FOR CASTING A FAST AND POWERFUL SPELL...
THE HEART OF A BLACK COW...
I HAD MYURA ADD SOME SEASONING TO IT,
BUT IT IS STILL JUST AS NAUSEATING.
MIRACLES HAVE HAPPENED TWICE NOW.
A CHILD TAKING ROOT IN A BODY THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BARREN,
AND THE CHILD SURVIVING WHEN IT SHOULD HAVE LONG SINCE MISCARRIED.
THEREFORE, I MUST NOT HOPE FOR ANY MORE MIRACLES.
NOW THAT I KNOW, I NEED TO PULL MYSELF TOGETHER AND KEEP MY WITS ABOUT ME FROM HERE ON OUT.
WITH THIS SPELL, I WILL BE ABLE TO CONCEAL THE KURKHANS FROM THE QUEEN DOWAGER'S EYES.
...ISHAKAN,
WE HAVE UNTIL THE MORNING SUN RISES.
LET'S GO.
...NO MATTER HOW MUCH SHE IS THE KING'S FAVORITE, BUYING UP A MANSION LIKE THIS WHEN SHE IS JUST A COMMON WHORE IS GOING A BIT TOO FAR, ISN'T IT?
THE QUEEN DOWAGER, TOO... HOW COULD SHE DOTE ON A WOMAN LIKE THAT...
SHH, KEEP IT DOWN.
YOU'RE GOING TO LET SOMEONE HEAR YOU.
ACTING AS THOUGH SHE HAS SOME KIND OF GERMAPHOBIA...
I WONDER IF GETTING SLAPPED DOWN BY SOME LOWLY SCUM FINALLY KNOCKED SOME SENSE INTO HER!
SINCE SHE IS A ROYAL WHOSE PURITY MATTERS MORE THAN HER LIFE, SHE WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO COVER UP THE FACT THAT SHE WAS DEFILED WITH HER OWN HANDS.
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW DISAPPOINTING IT IS THAT I WON'T GET TO SEE THAT PATHETIC SIGHT...
BY TOMORROW,
THAT PRINCESS'S FACE...
WHAT IS THIS?
WHY IS A SUDDEN CHILL WASHING OVER ME...
IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!
BRING EVERY SINGLE KNIGHT HERE!
RIGHT NOW!!!
...I ASKED IF ANYONE WAS THERE?!
THERE IS NO WAY.
THE KNIGHTS' QUARTERS ARE NOT EVEN THAT FAR AWAY...
AH, AH
AAAAAAAA!!!
THUD
...THAT MAKES ONE.
Predatory Marriage Chapter 97 finds Leah wounded after an attack as she is comforted with promises of protection and confesses her guilt. She describes a dream of a tiny silver-furred wolf pup with dazzling gold eyes fighting bloody iron chains to save her, worries for its wounds, and discusses her stomach pain, medicinal tea presumed to be from the Queen Dowager, and Lady Mirayel as a suspect in the intrusion. A shamanic heart ritual is prepared to hide the Kurkhans, leading to a night strike on Mirayel's mansion.