The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts

The next morning, Isabella sat near the entrance of the palace looking very comfortable.

Of course, that comfort did not happen by magic. She was wrapped properly from head to toe, and the thick fur around her made her look like someone precious who had been packed carefully against the snowing cold. Only her face and hands showed, and even then, the people around her kept glancing over every few breaths as if worried the wind might suddenly become bold enough to offend her.

The snow outside had covered the ground in white, and the air was so cold that even breathing too hard made a person feel it inside their nose. However, the palace entrance itself had been built better than the ordinary houses, so the wind did not hit directly there. Because of that, Isabella could still sit outside and enjoy the view without freezing into a beautiful statue.

Naturally, the men would not leave her alone.

Kian was nearby, and even though he looked like he was focusing on official matters, he still kept himself close enough that if Isabella so much as frowned, he would notice. He stood there with his usual cold and serious face, wearing only his hide skirt as if the cold had no power over him at all. Every time Isabella looked at him, she truly wanted to ask whether lions in this world had no sense of self-preservation.

Cyrus sat near her in a much more obvious way. His lower body had transformed into that huge red python tail of his, and the thick coils rested around him heavily while he sorted through some things beside Isabella. His tail looked beautiful and dangerous in the snow, but because it was Cyrus, the whole thing somehow still gave off the feeling of comfort. He was close enough that if Isabella shifted even a little, he would immediately look up and ask if she needed anything.

Zyran was even worse.

That shameless black panther had gone and stretched himself over a tree branch in the snowing cold as if he were posing for a painting nobody asked for. His black fur stood out against the white snow, and he looked so lazy and so unreasonable that Isabella kept shooting him side glances.

The more she looked at him, the more annoyed she became.

Because really, what kind of person lay in the snow like that for no good reason?

Maybe it was because she was pregnant and her mind had started doing strange caring things on its own, but every time she looked at him, she felt an urge to drag him down from the tree and wrap him in something against his will. And if that shameless beast ever dared to complain of a cough later, Isabella had already decided in her heart that she would truly spank him.

"Just wait," she thought while staring at him. "If you come to me later saying your throat hurts, I will personally beat sense into you."

Zyran felt her stare and lazily opened one eye.

"What?" he asked. "Why are you looking at me like you want to murder me with love?"

Isabella immediately looked disgusted. "Because you are acting like a stubborn child. If you catch cold, do not come crying to me."

Zyran closed his eye again and looked perfectly at peace with life. "I would never cry. I would only suffer beautifully."

Hearing that, Cyrus’s shoulders shook a little.

He was trying not to laugh.

Isabella stared at the black panther on the tree branch as if wondering whether his parents had raised him properly at all.

"See?" she muttered. "This is exactly why people should be disciplined early."

Nearby, Osiris had absolutely no such problems because that man was warm all by himself.

To be more exact, he was unfairly warm.

He sat there in a way that made it obvious he did not feel the cold much at all, and every now and then, a bit of heat seemed to ripple around him so lightly that Isabella felt offended on behalf of everyone else freezing nearby.

At one point, he even stretched one arm out and said proudly, "This weather is nice."

Isabella turned and looked at him with disbelief.

"Nice?"

Osiris nodded. "It feels good."

She wanted to ask him whether phoenixes truly had no normal thoughts in their heads.

However, before she could say anything, Osiris had already picked up a little piece of ice from the side and started holding it in his hand like an idiot.

The ice slowly melted.

He looked pleased with himself.

Isabella immediately opened her mouth to scold him, then stopped.

Because what exactly was she supposed to say?

"Stop melting random things with your body" did not sound like a sentence she ever expected to use in her life.

So she only pressed her lips together and looked away.

Then, after one second, she looked back again because he was still doing it.

"Put that down," she finally said.

Osiris blinked. "Why?"

"Because you look stupid."

Osiris looked offended at once and put the wet piece of ice down with a wounded face.

Inside, near the entrance but still close enough to join the morning air, Ophelia and Shelia were there too. Ophelia had naturally wrapped herself well and stayed where the cold would not bite her too much, while Shelia stood near her with the calm face of someone who was fully capable of being outside but saw no reason to suffer for fun.

Every now and then, Ophelia would step forward to look at the snow and then step back again quickly because it was too cold.

Valen was somewhere nearby too, close enough to keep an eye on her as always.

The whole place felt quiet, peaceful, and ordinary.

Then Zara ran past them.

She was moving quickly, so quickly that to anyone else it might have looked like some small emergency had happened. Her steps were fast, her head was lowered, and the healer’s clothing moved around her in a way that made it obvious she was in a hurry.

Nobody said anything.

Nobody except Isabella, who almost smiled at once.

Because Isabella knew exactly what was happening.

Still, she held it in.

To the others, it was only a healer running somewhere quickly.

A few minutes later, Zara came back.

Again, nobody paid much attention.

Kian was still listening to one of the men reporting something official to him. Cyrus was still near Isabella. Zyran was still acting like a decorative prince in a tree. Osiris was probably still offended that he had been told he looked stupid.

Then Zara ran past them again.

This time, Cyrus noticed.

He lifted his head and looked in that direction for a moment, but because the healer had already disappeared, he said nothing.

Then she came back.