At the doorway, the healer had already begun arranging her face into an even more innocent expression, clearly preparing to say that she ant no harm and that she was only curious and that she was so sorry if anyone misunderstood her.
Unfortunately for her, Ophelia suddenly raised her hand with the bright enthusiasm of soone who had just rembered sothing important.
"Hello," Ophelia said, smiling sweetly. "Her na is Mira."
That was the na Zara had been using.
Mira.
Simple, harmless, and easy to rember.
The mont Ophelia spoke, the healer’s eyes brightened just a little behind the veil, because this was exactly the sort of opening she needed.
Ophelia, completely unaware of how tense everyone else already felt, continued in her naturally soft and trusting way. "She is the healer I told you about. She was really nice to today. I was helping move so things and my hand started hurting, so she helped and gave sothing to rub on it. She is very good."
The room went still in a different way now.
Because once Ophelia spoke like that, the others could no longer react however they wanted. Everyone knew what Ophelia was like. She was sweet, trusting, and soft-hearted to a dangerous degree. If a smiling stranger patted her head and said sothing kind, Ophelia would probably start thinking about whether that person had eaten enough that day.
Valen, who stood by her side as always, reached out and held her hand more firmly. The gesture was small, but it carried his whole feeling. He was protective by nature, and although he trusted Ophelia’s heart, he also understood very well that her sweetness made it easy for others to fool her.
His eyes shifted briefly toward the healer, then back to Ophelia.
He did not interrupt her, because he respected her too much for that.
Still, the slight tension in his shoulders said enough.
Shelia also looked at Ophelia at once.
She did not say anything yet, but her eyes had already beco thoughtful and wary. Unlike Ophelia, Shelia did not hand out trust so easily. She was friendly, yes, but there was always more caution in her. So hearing that Ophelia had beco friendly with this healer so quickly did not make Shelia feel relieved at all.
It made her suspicious.
Then, because Ophelia had spoken, everyone’s eyes slowly moved toward Isabella.
That part did not escape Zara.
No, Mira.
No, Zara.
Whatever face she wore, she still noticed it at once.
She noticed that the room was waiting.
Waiting for Isabella.
Waiting to see what Isabella would say before deciding how warm or cold they should be.
That realization made sothing black and ugly rise inside her heart imdiately.
Why?
Why did it always have to be like this?
Why did they all have to look at Isabella for everything, as if she were the center of the whole world? Why did she have to be the one with power, the one seated warmly at the heart of the room, the one people obeyed without question?
Why did Kian have to sit by her side, look at her first, and breathe easier only when she was near? Why did Isabella get to belong in this room while Zara had to stand at the entrance like so outsider waiting for permission?
The more Zara looked at Isabella, the more the hatred in her chest deepened.
She hated the way everyone naturally turned toward that woman.
She hated the way the n around her shifted closer without even thinking.
She hated the way the room itself seed to move with her moods.
Most of all, she hated that Kian’s eyes always ended up on Isabella one way or another.
That was the deepest wound.
Because Zara had already given up too much.
Too much.
Her face.
Her future children.
Part of her soul.
And after all that, she still had to stand here and watch another woman receive what she wanted most as if the heavens had simply placed it in Isabella’s hands for free.
At that mont, Isabella suddenly smiled.
That smile made everyone in the room feel strange.
Because it was too warm, easy and welcoming.
Even Glimora, who had been curled to the side earlier, lifted her little head and stared.
Zyran’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Cyrus also beca still.
Even Kian looked at Isabella at once, because this was already the second ti she had acted strangely around this healer.
anwhile, Zara felt a flash of foolish hope.
Perhaps Isabella really did not know.
Perhaps she was simply being kind.
Perhaps, for once, sothing might go in her favor.
Then Isabella said very sweetly, "Why are you all staring at like that?"
No one answered.
Because truly, why were they staring?
It was exactly because she was being too nice.
Isabella looked around at all of them and continued in that sa easy voice, "She is a healer. Do you know how important healers are? She probably only wanted to join and see what we are doing. She is Ophelia’s friend, so that ans she is our friend too."
That only made the room feel stranger.
It was not weird for Isabella to be nice.
That was not the problem.
The problem was that she was being too nice right now.
So nice that even Shelia’s brows drew together.
So nice that even Kian, who usually trusted Isabella’s judgnt more than anyone’s, felt this situation pulling harder at his attention.
He had brushed the first strange mont aside, but now that this was happening again, this healer had definitely caught his eye.
Because what exactly was Isabella doing?
At the entrance, Zara also relaxed slightly.
Because she really thought Isabella was simply being kind.
The thought made her feel contempt imdiately. In her heart, she sneered at Isabella’s softness and believed for a mont that she had fooled everyone properly.
What a fool.
She still had no idea.
So Zara lowered her head a little and said, "Thank you. I only wished to join for a while if it would not trouble anyone."
Her voice was very careful, and if one did not already know how false she was, it really would have sounded harmless.
So of the others still looked uncertain.
However, Isabella had never been wrong about anything important before.
That was the main problem.
When Isabella accepted soone, people naturally relaxed.
When Isabella judged a situation, people naturally leaned toward her side.
User Comments
0 comments from readers