Leah’s dinner had ended badly.

Lesha, the Prince of Estia, had plunged his knife into the side of King Herod’s neck, a deep and serious gash.

Herod left quickly for a secondary palace, staunching the bleeding with a napkin. He was treated by a doctor there.

From the moment Lesha took out his knife, the situation could have turned very unfavorable to Estia. But for some reason, Balkat did not protest. They kept so silent, it was as if they had offered an offense.

The servants of the palace, who considered Lesha just a cute little boy, were quite shocked. The friendly little prince had suddenly become like a beast, who attacked a guest to the palace with a knife.

They expected him to receive a severe punishment, but Leah did not order one. Lesha had been risking his life for his mother since before he was born. Herod must have tampered with the wine. She had no idea how Lesha could have known that, but the little boy had thwarted his plans.

She put the child to bed early and kissed his forehead.

“Thank you for protecting me,” she whispered.

“Ahh…”

Lesha yawned hugely, and laid his hand on her cheek.

“I love you, Mama…” he whispered.

Those were the words he could say most clearly, because he had said them so many times. Soon after his sleepy confession, Lesha fell asleep, and Leah stayed behind him, stroking his hair.

Sighing, she straightened and went to her room. She could have gone back to the banquet hall, but in the end, she decided not to attend. It wasn’t as if Balkat was going to enjoy the festive atmosphere right now, either.

It was still too early to sleep, so Leah decided to find some books to read. There was a nook in her room where she kept her books, and a couch the size of a small bed beneath her window. She liked to sit and read there, with the sunlight or the moonlight shining through the window.

Sitting on the couch, she pulled out the bookmark of the book she had bought from the bookshop the other day, immersing herself in the pages. The book was written in a mixture of ancient languages, which made it hard to read if she wasn’t concentrating. Suddenly, she heard a noise.

“……?”

Leah’s eyes widened as she glanced automatically up at the window, and she rose quickly to push it open. A man climbed up to sit in the window sill.

“Ishakan!” Leah exclaimed, and sighed. “Why do you keep coming in through the window?”

“Because I’m in a hurry.”

She didn’t understand why he was in such a hurry, it had to be the window rather than a door. But as he entered, she cocked her head curiously.

Normally, he would have embraced her as soon as he arrived. But now he stayed where he was, sitting on the window sill and watching her, unmoving.

She looked at him more closely. It looked to her like his face was a little red, though it was hard to tell with his back to the moonlight.

“Don’t touch me.”

Leah’s mouth fell open in shock. Ishakan had never rejected her touch before.

“You better not touch me,” Ishakan corrected, smiling a little at her surprise.

“What are you talking about? Are you sick? Do you have the plague?”

“It might be worse than that,” Ishakan said, muttering something else she couldn’t catch. “I drank it to see. Anyway, magic doesn’t affect me.”

Then Leah saw it. The front of his trousers was bulging.

Her face heated instantly. She didn’t know the details as to why he was in that condition, but she could guess it was because of whatever he had drunk.

“You should have had Morga check it, if there was something suspicious!” She exclaimed, her face flushed.

“That would have taken too long,” Ishakan replied, disgruntled. “I had to get rid of him, he’s always after you–”

Ishakan interrupted himself with a growl, licking his lips as he looked at Leah.
“Haa…I think it’s going to explode.”

She didn’t even have to ask what was about to explode.

“…Can I help you?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Ishakan laughed. His eyes were glowing like fire.

“Because it might be too dangerous.”