Chapter 87: Bella’s Trial And A New Scheme!
Bella heard the news while sitting in the dungeon.
"What? Popi left the tiger tribe and is now part of the leopard tribe?" she yelled, throwing the dried meat that her lackeys had brought for her in frustration.
One of them rushed to pick it up from the ground while the other one tried to calm her down, patting her shoulder gently.
"That’s what happened," the girl who had brought the news said quietly. "The attack on Neve totally failed. A handsome beastman from the eagle tribe saved him and got injured in the process instead."
Bella was already chewing her nails as she thought of her next plans. But nothing was coming to her head. Nothing at all. After all, every single plan she had made so far had failed spectacularly.
She scratched her head hard in frustration, pulling at her own hair like it would help her think better.
When she lifted her head, she saw the meat in the first girl’s hand. The meat that had fallen on the dungeon floor. Without hesitation, she snatched it back and started eating.
There was nothing she could do when her stomach was grumbling this much. Anger and hunger were not a good combination and she needed to focus her mind anyway.
"What do we do, Bella?" one of the girls asked desperately. "At this pace, that filthy red panda would get almost ten men wrapped around his finger."
Bella glared at her, her mouth still full of meat.
"If I had a great idea, I wouldn’t be here sitting in a dungeon eating floor meat," she frowned, swallowing hard. "I’m thinking. Just give me time to think."
Internally, she was fuming.
’Only if I’m able to go out. Only if I had freedom, I could do so much more. I could stop this before it gets worse.’
Just then, while she was still munching on the meat and thinking dark thoughts, she heard footsteps echoing through the dungeon.
She immediately placed a finger on her lips, asking the two girls to shut up. They went silent.
The guard stepped closer to the cell.
"The chief of the leopard tribe has called for you," he said.
Bella stood up almost immediately, nearly choking on the meat in her mouth. She pushed the remaining meat to one of the girls quickly.
"I guess it’s time for my freedom," she said with a slight smile.
She leaned close to the two of them, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"I don’t know how you’re going to do it but I need all the current information about Neve and what’s happening in his cave. Find out who’s living there. Find out what he’s doing. Find out everything. Can you do that for me?"
The girls nodded eagerly, clearly hoping that if they helped Bella, she would take them with her when she escaped anywhere.
Bella left with the guard without another word.
A grin was already forming on her face as they walked through the village.
She did not know what to expect once she got to Soren’s office. But she was sure that Soren would not dare to hurt her. No, no one in the village would be able to kill her. After all, she was the beloved daughter of the former chief. Even if she was guilty or innocent, it did not matter. That blood connection would protect her.
She stood in front of Soren’s cave and sighed deeply.
"Let’s get this over with," she said and stepped inside.
.
.
The moment she entered, she found herself sitting down immediately.
The room was arranged with two distinct areas. One side was empty where Bella was placed. The other side was occupied by several people including the man she had poisoned with the golden frog venom and a few villagers who had been around that day when Neve saved him.
Bella’s heart sank slightly when she saw the man alive and healthy.
She had been so certain the poison would work. So certain that Neve would be blamed. So certain that her plan would succeed.
But here he was. Alive. Breathing. Healed.
Even though she had been there when Neve cured this man, she still could not believe there was a cure for that deadly poison. A poison that was powerful enough to get rid of anyone. A poison that was supposed to be unstoppable.
And yet it had been stopped.
By Neve.
She stared at the healed man and felt something shift in her mind.
An idea dropped into her head like a stone into water.
’Right, how could I forget how noisy and loud Asta was. I’m sure the outcasts would be very lively with him around there,’ she thought, her mind already spinning. ’Be it they used him as a form of entertainment or whatever else they could think of. The outcasts would want someone like him. Someone who could cure poison. Someone who could heal their injuries.’
She leaned back in her seat, her mind working through the possibilities.
If she could somehow get Neve to the outcasts, she could accomplish several things at once. She could remove him from the village. She could make the village realize they needed her. She could position herself as someone important. Someone valuable.
She could become necessary again.
Instead of being the girl who tried to poison someone and failed, she could be the girl who made a strategic move. Who understood the bigger picture. Who understood the politics of the beast world.
’I’m sure the outcasts would pay handsomely for someone like Neve,’ she thought, her smile widening. ’And I could be the one to deliver him. I could be the hero who made the most valuable trade in decades.’
Soren was speaking now, explaining the trial. Explaining why Bella was here. Explaining the charges against her.
But Bella was not really listening.
She was thinking about how to contact the outcasts. How to make a deal that would benefit her.
She was thinking about how to turn this situation around and make herself important again.
She was thinking about Neve.
And how he could be the key to her redemption or her revenge, depending on how things worked out.
The trial continued around her. The healed man gave his account of what happened. The villagers testified about seeing Isabella with the poison. Soren laid out the evidence against her.
But Isabella just sat there with a small smile on her face.
Already three steps ahead in her mind, moving pieces around like they were on a game board and she was finally figuring out how to win.
She had failed many times. Her plans had collapsed. Her schemes had been exposed.
But this time, she had stumbled onto something bigger.
This time, she was not just thinking about getting Ryker back or getting revenge on Neve.
This time, she was thinking about the entire structure of the beast world. About the outcasts. About power and leverage and making herself indispensable.
This time, she might actually have a plan that could work.
And all it would take was one red panda.