Predatory Marriage (A)

Deceit

In Estia, preparations were underway for the King's wedding. Only a few months had passed since the funeral of the previous King, but Blain was determined to hold the wedding anyway.

He would marry his half-sister, the Princess Leah, and though it was an incestuous marriage, the nobles of Estia accepted it without objection.

In other countries, such a marriage was considered repulsive. But they could not say so openly. It was another country's internal matter, so they only whispered about it behind the scenes.

The new King Blain decreed there would be a magnificent wedding. He was impatient, but he wanted a public wedding. Invitations were sent throughout the continent, inviting dignitaries from other countries and even the Kurkans from the western desert. That was strange, considering they were usually ignored and despised as barbarians.

"We must have a banquet to welcome the dignitaries attending the wedding. A big budget will be necessary."

Leah's voice carried through the Cabinet Council and then fell silent as she stared at the assembled nobles. Normally, someone would have objected, arguing that the wedding need not be so extravagant. But no one disagreed now. All of them spoke and agreed unanimously. The Cabinet Council proceeded like a stage play.

It seemed Leah was the only one that felt any incongruity.

Had the nobles always been so loyal to the royal family? She thought in the past it had been different. It seemed so strange to her. As she wondered, she deliberately brought up the issue the nobles hated. Tax reform.

She had thought about it for a long time, but had never dared to attempt it. But this time, her fear was groundless. The nobles accepted it meekly. And having gotten what she wanted, Leah felt as if everyone around her was somehow deceiving her.

After another meaningless council concluded, a few nobles lingered. Leah approached Count Valtein and Finance Minister Laurent.

"Thank you for your hard work today. The meeting ended smoothly."

"No, it's thanks to you," Minister Laurent replied, smiling. Count Valtein nodded his agreement.

Leah shut her mouth at their obedient attitudes. In the past, when they had spoken of affairs of state, these men had not held back. The two of them had always had a lot to say, from which nobles might be persuadable to what issues should take precedence.

Now every noble deferred to the royal family in all things, and the Count and the Finance Minister were no exceptions. They had no opinions. Like all the other nobles, they only nodded.

She wanted them to argue about some issues, but there was no point now. They would agree with whatever she said. Leah politely made her farewell and left the conference room, trailed by her ladies-in-waiting.

"His Highness has returned," said an attendant, approaching her hurriedly.

Blain occasionally went hunting, and he was always very angry if Leah did not greet him when he returned to the palace. Leah immediately followed the attendant. Blain always took out his anger on the palace staff.

When she arrived at the entry hall, Blain was entering, accompanied by knights and squires. There was also a woman by his side with wavy blonde hair, looking beautiful in her hunting clothes and smiling prettily.

It was Lady Mirael, who was Blain's current favorite consort. As soon as she saw Leah, a cloud passed over her face, but then she smiled faintly. Entwining her arm in Blain's, she whispered something to him. Blain did not react to her words, but he also did not push her away.

Leah lowered her head. She knew she was to blame for this. Her body was defective, and she could not fulfill the duties of a wife. Though Blain had been generous to her so far, she knew she would be in danger after she officially became the Queen of Estia if she was a defective woman.

She did not want to be expelled. All she wanted was to fulfill her duties as a member of the royal family of Estia.

She had to try harder and become the perfect queen, Leah thought, her fingertips playing nervously against each other. Suddenly a shadow loomed before her.

"Aren't you going to greet me?"

Blue eyes were staring down at her as Leah snapped back to her senses. Lady Mirael stood behind him, gazing at her sternly as Leah obediently greeted him.

"Anyway." Blain jerked his chin toward the nearby wagon. "There are skins that can be used from among the animals we hunted today. They will be sent to your palace, pick what you like."

"Thank you."

Blain stared at her.

"Smile," he ordered.

Hastily, Leah smiled. It was a forced smile, but Blain didn't care about that. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Let's have dinner together," he said. "Come to the main palace later."

"...Yes."

With that brief conversation, he went into the main palace with Lady Mirael. Leah waited until he was completely out of sight and then hurried back to her own palace, where paperwork awaited her in her office. There were many things she had to attend to today.

Though she would become the Queen after the wedding, Leah was still a Princess now. And she had to take care of most of the royal family's duties because of Blain's disinterest in fulfilling his own responsibilities. His temperament had only become worse since he had ascended the throne. He mistreated and expelled people from the palace for even minor offenses. Since he had difficulty judging things rationally, Leah had taken over all affairs of state.

Of course, she was willing to do all this for the man she loved. But on the days when she collapsed into her bed, exhausted from the endless work, she did wish that someone would help her with the responsibilities. She couldn't do this forever. Hopefully Blain would take some of the burden soon.

Signing the first of many documents, she looked up at Countess Melissa.

"I'm still a little nervous about making decisions on my own," Leah said as the Countess removed the signed document and replaced it with another. "It would be nice if His Highness would look at the minutes of today's meeting..."
She paused. The moment she mentioned Blain, the Countess's smile had vanished, and a hint of coldness appeared on her otherwise expressionless face.

"Of course, the right thing would be for me to try harder," Leah said hastily.

Countess Melissa smiled as if nothing had happened.

"Let's rest for a while," Leah said, putting down her quill and smiling back. "Can you bring me some tea?"

"Yes, Princess."

As the lady left the office, Leah sighed. Lately, the Countess had been making her feel a little uncomfortable. It made her feel guilty to be so uncomfortable, as the Countess had been with her since she was a child.

Shaking her head, Leah rose from her seat to go look out the window. Her fingers were numbed from gripping her quill as she slid them over the frame. Outside, the garden looked desolate.

Flowers did not grow properly in the palace anymore. All the small animals had disappeared, with no cats, birds, or squirrels to be seen.

She had asked the gardener to take special care of the osmanthus shoots, but they had eventually died. There had been attempts to plant other flowers, but all of them withered and died. Only thorny-leaved junipers grew.

Until now, the palace had always been filled with flowers, and Leah greatly missed them. A cool breeze blew through the barren tree branches, making them sway, and Leah lowered her gaze.

"......"

Suddenly, there was an emptiness in her chest. It was a familiar pain, but it had been tormenting her lately. When she called a doctor to examine her, he had said there was no apparent cause.

She thought it was fatigue and ignored it, but every time her heart ached, she suffered. An unbearable feeling of emptiness filled her, as if she had lost something so important...

But Leah didn't know what it was.