The mont Cyrus heard Isabella’s soft voice he stiffened. He really did not want to look at her right now because he felt really disgusted at himself.
At the fact that he had enjoyed the feeling of killing that man and the fact that a part of him would do it again if given the chance.
How would she react if she found out he wasn’t just an "ordinary" snake beast like the rest but sothing worse.
How would she react when she found out about his secret?
"Cyrus?" Isabella called out to him again, because she could feel the tension coming from him.
She also sensed the way he was avoiding her and imdiately thought that maybe he was scared of her judging him.
So she wanted to fix that imdiately.
Cyrus’ head lifted and their eyes t.
Isabella saw sothing flicker in his gaze, sothing wild at the edges, like the shadow of a beast lurking behind the gentle snake. It wasn’t anger.
It wasn’t hatred. It looked like fear that had been trapped for too long and had finally found a crack to leak through.
Her hand lifted toward him without thinking. She wanted to hold his wrist, to tell him he was fine, to tell him he did well, to tell him he saved her.
Cyrus flinched and he pulled back.
The movent was small, but it hit Isabella’s chest harder than any enemy blade had. She felt her heart clenched.
Her hand froze in midair and her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t speak. She didn’t want to sound weak on the wall, in front of everyone. She swallowed the sting down like bitter dicine.
Cyrus imdiately regretted it when he saw the expression on her face.
He saw her eyes widen just a little. He saw the way her expression tightened, and it made his throat ache.
He wanted to step forward and he wanted to grab her hand and press it to his face like he usually did, like he was always grateful for her touch.
But his fear was louder than his desire. Because he felt to disgusting right now to even be standing in front of her.
If she touched him while his hands were still warm with blood, he felt like he would stain her. And he wasn’t worried about staining her physical but instead he was worried about staining her spiritually.
He was dirty.
"Don’t co closer," he thought desperately. "Not like this."
His voice ca out hoarse. "I... I need to wash first."
Isabella stared at him for a second longer. Then she nodded slowly like she understood, even though she didn’t fully.
"Okay," she said, voice calm. "Then wash. But don’t disappear."
Cyrus’s throat moved again. He nodded stiffly and turned away quickly, almost too quickly, as if he was afraid he would break if he stayed in front of her another second.
He stepped down from the wall and vanished into the inner corridors, his retreating figure looking strangely lonely even though he was surrounded by people.
Zyran watched Cyrus leave with narrowed eyes.
Even Zyran, who always acted like everything in the world was funny, didn’t joke right now.
He stayed quiet, his gaze flickering toward Isabella’s face as if checking if she was okay, then flickering back to the darkness outside the wall.
"This is not normal," he thought. "Not the killing, killing is normal. The way he snapped, and the way Isabella’s mark reacted, that is sothing else."
Before Isabella could breathe out properly, footsteps thundered up the wall stairs like soone was sprinting to save the world.
Osiris appeared.
His hair was ssy and his cloak flapped behind him, and his face looked pale with panic that did not suit him at all.
He shoved past two guards who tried to stop him, muttering sothing dramatic about "the goddess must not be hard," as if Isabella had been dangling off a cliff.
The mont he reached her, he grabbed her shoulders with both hands, eyes scanning her up and down so aggressively it felt like he was trying to count her bones.
"Are you hurt?" Osiris demanded. "Are you bleeding? Are you dizzy? Are your babies dizzy? Do babies get dizzy? Why did you even co out here, you stubborn woman!"
Isabella blinked.
Of course. Of course Osiris would be the first person to turn the aftermath of a night raid into a lecture.
She pried his hands off her shoulders with effort. "I am fine," she said calmly. "If you shake harder, my babies will co out and slap you."
Osiris looked like he wanted to faint.
"You shouldn’t have participated," he complained, voice tight. "Everyone was worried for you. Even Kian looked like he wanted to bite soone, and Kian always looks like that, but tonight it was worse. Do you know how terrifying it is when the king looks extra terrifying?"
Isabella couldn’t help it. A small laugh almost escaped her throat. The bird was really stupid, sotis his stupidity was cute too.
Then her belly kicked again, and the laugh died because her back hurt.
"You are making too much noise," she scolded instead. "If you were really worried, you should have burned the attackers before they climbed the wall."
Osiris pouted because he had tried his best and everyone knew that. Since he still had so problems with his powers and transforming. He had really tried his best.
Osiris puffed his cheeks. "I did burn them."
"Then burn them better next ti," Isabella replied, as if she were discussing seasoning.
Osiris stared at her, mouth open, completely defeated by her logic.
At that mont, Bubu’s voice rang in Isabella’s mind, quieter than usual, as if it didn’t want to disturb her too much.
[Host, warning.]
Isabella’s eyelid twitched. "What now."
[Host, your red snake is not just a snake.]
Isabella froze for half a breath. Her gaze didn’t change on the outside, but inside her mind she slowly turned her head toward her system like a woman side-eyeing soone who had just said sothing extrely suspicious.
"What do you an he is not just a snake?" Isabella asked in her mind, each word carefully pressed down like a knife.
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