Predatory Marriage — Chapter 240. Precipitated Meeting (2)

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

Haban’s face lit up and Leah couldn’t help chuckling. He looked adorable.

“I feel like I lost ten years of my life,” he said as he took the chair across from her.

“Let’s talk for a moment.” Leah pushed the untouched snacks toward him and Haban was soon munching on them, one by one. “…He must be very angry, right?”

There was no need to say who. Haban swallowed his cookie.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he said, waving a hand nonchalantly. “Kurkans are very devoted to their mates, it’s our nature. If you shed a single tear, Ishakan will say that it is his failure.”

Thinking back to the last time she had seen him, it didn’t seem to Leah that Ishakan was easily upset. Haban eyed her as she sat silently.

“Ishakan is too sure of himself,” he said cautiously. “I don’t understand how he can say it doesn’t matter if you have someone else in your heart…”

There were a number of things troubling Haban. It didn’t make sense for Ishakan to accept such a thing so easily, or to so quickly abandon the plan to take her back to the desert.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” he went on. “It’s just, since he has such a strong personality…I don’t think you should read too much into it. I mean, emotionally.”

He clutched his head.

“I sound like Genin. Anyway, I think it’s best just to let things…flow, for now.”

“…I see.” Leah fiddled with her cold cup of tea, thinking. “I have something to ask you.”

Haban’s eyes widened.

“There’s a place I’d like to visit. I was wondering if you could accompany me tonight.”

***

After she returned to her palace, Leah waited for the night to deepen. While she waited, she took out a robe from her closet and put it on. Some time later, she heard the sound of someone tapping on glass, and she opened the doors to her balcony and stepped outside. Haban was squatting on the railing of the balcony. –Posted only on NovelUtopia

Lifting Leah in his arms, he left the palace, and soon they were an alley in the city, listening to the noise of the nearby night market. The alley was set back away from the lights of the market, so it was quite dark.

According to that flash of memory, this was the alley where she had seen the Tomaris. Though she could only vaguely describe the place and had no idea where it was, Haban knew exactly what she was talking about.

Slowly, she looked around the alley. In the past, she had been hiding behind someone. She had hoped she would remember more if she came here in person, but nothing came to her mind.

But she was not disappointed. She planned to visit all the places she had experienced this sense of déjà vu. Next, she would return to that old inn, where Ishakan had fed her.

“……?”

For a moment, Leah doubted her eyes when she saw someone walking in the distance. She couldn’t see his face, but she recognized him just from his silhouette.

It was Byun Gyeongbaek. Quickly, he looked around and then ducked into another alley. What was he doing here without escorts in such an isolated place? Maybe they should follow him.

“Why don’t we go somewhere else…?” Haban suggested cautiously.

He was uneasy, and it seemed like he knew something. Leah stared at him until Haban shifted, his posture radiating discomfort. Just as she was about to ask what he knew, Byun Gyeongbaek suddenly burst back out of the alley, screaming.

“Ahh!!!!”

Bloodstained Tomaris followed him a moment later, fleeing for their lives in terror. But they didn’t get far. Figures suddenly appeared from the darkness, and as they lunged for the Tomaris, Haban grabbed for Leah and pushed her behind the wall of a nearby alley, hurriedly covering her eyes.

She still heard the terrible sound of bones breaking. She heard horrible screams. There was the smell of blood. When the sounds stopped, Leah pushed Haban’s hand away from her face and peeked around the corner.

Those were Kurkans standing among the corpses. That was what first caught her attention. Then she saw a man emerging from the darkness, approaching Byun Gyeongbaek with blood dripping from his hands. Those cold golden eyes were terrifying. Though she knew he had no intention of doing her harm, just looking at him made Leah shudder.

Byun Gyeongbaek, covered in blood, was begging for his life.

“Please, just…just let me…live…”

Ishakan silently puffed on a cigar for a moment, studying the other man. He exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“Why were you going to the Tomaris?” His head tilted. “Didn’t you do it because you wanted to die soon?”

“Oh, no…no, Ishakan…” Byun Gyeongbaek stammered, and then suddenly shouted. “I had to make sure I really wasn’t under any spell!”

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