The mont those words left Isabella’s mouth, the whole place fell into dead silence.
Even the snow seed to stop for one strange second.
This was because nobody had expected that answer.
Not after the way Isabella had smiled and listened. Not after the way she had nodded at the healer as if she truly understood and appreciated her words. So when the order ca out so cleanly and so coldly, it felt like a slap across the face of everyone who had thought she was about to choose rcy.
The kneeling traitors were the first to break.
One of them lifted his head so fast that the rope around his neck pulled tight. Another one started shaking at once. A wolf beastman among them bared his teeth in panic, while a fox beastman on the far end tried to crawl back before two guards stepped forward and forced him down again. The sll of fear spread quickly after that, sharp and ugly in the cold air, and because beast people were far more sensitive than ordinary humans, everybody around them caught it at once.
Ophelia’s eyes widened.
Even though she had already started distrusting this whole matter, hearing Isabella order all of them beheaded still shocked her deeply. Her hand tightened around Valen’s instinctively, and Valen’s fingers imdiately wrapped around hers in a calm, grounding way. He himself was not shocked by the choice. He only turned and looked at Isabella with a new quiet respect in his eyes, because he had just seen sothing very clearly.
This female was soft when she wanted to be.
But once it ca to protecting her ho, she was harder than stone.
Shelia’s expression also changed, though hers was not pure shock.
It was more like realization.
At first, she had been worried Isabella might truly listen to the healer and let those people remain in the village. Now, hearing the true order, Shelia suddenly understood that Isabella had been playing with the healer the whole ti. That understanding made Shelia’s eyes brighten slightly, and the respect inside her chest deepened at once.
Luca, on the other hand, almost smiled.
Almost.
He had suspected Isabella was up to sothing, but even he had not expected her to cut so sharply and so cleanly. Still, once he thought about it, it made perfect sense. This was how she ruled. She let fools believe she was considering them, and then the blade ca down when they were still blinking.
Asael’s ears twitched once, then flattened slightly before returning to normal.
He also had not expected the order to co so quickly, but he was not unhappy with it. A village, especially one growing this fast, could not keep traitors breathing and expect peace to stay. Hearing Isabella speak like that made him understand why Kian allowed her so much room to act inside the village. She was dangerous in the right way.
Cyrus felt the tension in his own body ease at once.
Not because the order was pleasant.
But because it was right.
He had already trusted Isabella, yet there had still been a small tightness in him while the healer was speaking, because he did not want this mont twisted into weakness. Now that fear was gone. His large hand moved slightly near Isabella’s side, the thick red coils of his tail tightening beneath her just a little as if his beast was pleased too.
Kian was the least surprised.
His expression did not even change much. If anything, the cold look in his eyes settled into sothing more stable. This was the answer he had hoped for. This was the answer that matched his own instinct. He would never let rot remain inside his ho. So hearing Isabella speak it first only made sothing in him settle.
Zyran, however, almost laughed.
Not because the order itself was funny, well partly because of that, but also because the healer’s face had gone so still for one tiny second that anyone with eyes could tell she had not expected this at all.
And Zara truly had not.
She stood there with her face still arranged into softness, but inside, she felt as if the ground had just shifted under her feet. For one mont, she had truly believed Isabella was buying her act. She had believed the sweet listening, the small nods, the calm face, all of it. She had thought she was moving the room with her words.
Instead, Isabella had let her talk only to cut across her after.
Worse, the execution order had co so cleanly that Zara could not even interrupt without drawing attention to herself. If she protested now, everyone would only ask why she cared so much for these traitors. If she stayed quiet, she had to stand here and watch every bit of her fake kindness beco useless.
Then Isabella turned to her.
And smiled.
It was a beautiful smile.
Warm.
Sweet.
Pleasant enough to fool anyone who did not know her too well.
"Mira," Isabella said gently, "you really do have such a big heart."
A few people in the crowd softened again when they heard that, because the words sounded like praise.
Only the sharper ones heard the sting hiding underneath.
Isabella continued in that sa soft voice, "To think you would be willing to let people who tried to break trust inside our ho remain with us. You are kinder than I am. In fact, perhaps your heart is so big that even a knife can go through it without your noticing."
Now even more people went still.
Because that sentence had started sweet and ended sowhere else entirely.
Ophelia blinked, clearly trying to understand whether that had been praise or not.
Shelia understood at once and had to lower her face for a second because her mouth had almost twitched.
Zyran finally smiled openly.
Luca looked delighted in a very cruel and private way.
Kian’s eyes flickered once toward Zara, because now even he could hear the backhand inside the sweetness.
Zara’s fingers curled inside her sleeves.
She knew.
She knew exactly what Isabella was doing.
This woman was calling her either stupid enough to trust traitors or dark enough to defend them on purpose, all while sounding as though she were admiring her kindness.
And the worst part was that not everybody around them caught the aning.
So of the villagers still looked at Isabella with soft eyes, thinking their ruler was handling the healer with unbelievable patience.
Isabella’s smile did not change at all.
"Still," she said, now turning her eyes back toward the kneeling traitors, "no matter how warm another person’s heart may be, I will not let people like this stay in my village."
That sentence settled the whole matter like a stone dropped into water.
There was no more room for discussion after that.
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