The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts

Zara lifted her hand at the right angle, showing the cut.

"It’s nothing," she said, though of course the words were chosen to make it sound like something. "I only got this while helping a little animal earlier. The poor thing was frightened and caught me by accident."

Ophelia’s eyes widened.

The moment she saw the blood, all her caution wavered. The image in front of her was too perfect for her soft heart. A healer. Hurt. While helping an animal.

Her chest tightened at once.

"You’re bleeding," Ophelia said.

"It’s only a little," Zara replied weakly. "Please don’t worry. I know everyone is already wary of me, so I don’t want to trouble you too."

That sentence landed exactly where Zara wanted it to.

Because now Ophelia felt guilty too.

Her whole face softened. "No, I just... I didn’t mean..."

Zara lowered her eyes and gave the smallest smile, as if she were the one comforting Ophelia. "It’s alright."

That was enough.

The little suspicion in Ophelia’s heart weakened badly after that. In her mind, she started thinking that maybe everyone really had been too harsh. After all, what sort of bad person hurt herself while helping an animal? And if this healer truly had ill intentions, why would she stand here looking so fragile and polite?

So Ophelia looked around quickly and said, "Wait here. I’ll get a clean cloth and tie it for you. Don’t touch anything."

She said the last part with complete innocence.

Then she rushed off.

Zara watched her leave, and the moment Ophelia disappeared through the passage, the softness vanished from her face.

Her eyes went to the tray at once.

There it was.

The bowl already separated and set aside. A little richer than the rest. A little better than the rest. Even the way it was prepared made it obvious. This was Isabella’s.

Again.

Everything circled back to Isabella.

Zara’s jaw tightened.

So she moved quickly.

Her hand slipped into her sleeve, and from there she took the poison she had prepared. It was fine and pale and easy to dissolve into hot broth without changing its smell quickly enough for an ordinary person to notice.

She tipped just enough into the bowl.

Then stirred lightly.

Then hid the poison again at once.

Her heart was beating hard now, not from fear, but from the sharp thrill of finally doing something that could matter. The hatred inside her had been gathering for so long, and now it had finally found a path forward.

By the time Ophelia came back, Zara had already arranged her face into softness again.

Ophelia hurried in holding a clean strip of cloth, breathing a little faster from rushing.

"I found one," she said.

Then she stepped close and carefully wrapped Zara’s hand.

The whole while, Zara acted grateful and mild and full of patient goodness.

"You’re very kind," she said.

Ophelia looked embarrassed. "It’s nothing."

But inside, her earlier caution kept slipping more and more. The more this woman spoke gently, the more Ophelia began scolding herself for doubting her at all.

Soon, others started moving through the kitchen again.

Shelia came in first to get more bowls and paused when she saw the two women there. Her gaze moved from Ophelia to Zara’s bandaged hand and then to the separate bowl on the tray. Something about the scene felt off to her, though she could not have explained why. Still, because nothing looked directly wrong, she said nothing and only kept her eyes sharper than before.

Luca came in and out too, carrying things with that long-suffering face of his. When he saw Zara, he did not bother hiding his displeasure. He only nodded stiffly and kept moving. To be honest, he did not trust that woman at all, and after everything that had happened in the last day, seeing her near Isabella’s food would have made him uneasy if he had paid closer attention.

Then Zara decided it was time to go.

She could not stay too close after that. If she lingered, then when the food was eaten and something happened later, too many eyes might remember she had been there. So she prepared to leave with a sweet excuse already on her lips.

But the moment she turned toward the entrance, she came face to face with Isabella.

Cyrus was with her.

Naturally.

And the moment Zara saw that, she understood she had been a little too slow.

Still, she smiled.

A careful, pleasant smile.

"Lady Isabella."

Isabella stopped.

The moment her eyes fell on Zara’s face, she felt something at once. Not proof. Not certainty. Just tension. A strange little current in the air that made her instincts sharpen.

That alone was enough.

Because Isabella had already been suspicious of this woman, and now seeing her turn away from the kitchen just as Cyrus brought her to eat made the suspicion deepen.

So she smiled too.

And when Isabella smiled sweetly, it was always dangerous.

"Mira," she said. "You’re leaving?"

Zara lowered her eyes slightly. "I only have some things to do."

Isabella’s smile did not change.

"How unfortunate," she said softly. "I was about to ask if you would join us."

That sentence made several of the others pause.

Ophelia looked pleased at first, because to her it sounded as though Isabella was finally softening properly.

Shelia, however, felt the little hairs on the back of her neck rise.

That was because she knew Isabella well enough to understand that sometimes sweetness meant trouble.

Zara also understood immediately that this invitation was not simple.

So she tried to refuse carefully.

"You are kind, but I should not intrude. There are still a few things I need to do."

Isabella’s eyes sharpened behind her smile.

There.

That was enough.

If this woman usually tried to stay near them whenever Kian was around, then why was she refusing now? Why did she suddenly need to leave just as food was being brought out?