The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts-Chapter 641: you said before that you would be good

Chapter 641: Chapter 641: you said before that you would be good

"If we grab him now, we get a strong beast and an angry village." His gaze sharpened. "If we wait, we get a Red Beast closer to awakening, a goddess whose power will likely grow after childbirth, and a village that has spent half a winter exhausting itself preparing for enemies it cannot see. Which option sounds more profitable?"

Profitable. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Fifth City did not make decisions based on honor or mercy. Only profit.

The squad leader hesitated. "Master, there is also the prophecy to consider. If the Red Beast’s power grows too wild, we may not be able to control him."

"That is why we watch," the master said flatly. "Not as bandits, but as gardeners. We will prune, we will water, and we will cut if any branch grows in the wrong direction."

He pointed lazily at the kneeling figures.

"Select a new squad," he ordered. "Not the crude kind that only knows how to swing blades. I want eyes. I want patience. I want people who can blend into the snow and watch for months without being noticed."

Several kneeling figures trembled slightly. Being chosen was both honor and a death sentence.

"You will observe that village goddess and the Red Beast," the master continued. "Learn their routines. Learn their weaknesses. Learn how the village moves when attacked, how they change their walls, how they guard their goddess."

His eyes curved again, that fake smile deepening.

"Wait until winter deepens. Snow makes roads difficult. Supplies thin out. Pregnant females grow heavier. Emotions run raw. When the goddess’s body is at its weakest and her attention divided, we strike. Then we take the beast, the goddess, and anyone else whose blood might be useful."

The words rolled out calmly, as if he were planning tomorrow’s lunch instead of kidnapping and slaughter.

The masked squad leader’s heart thudded heavily in his chest. "Yes, Master."

As he stepped back, he could feel the others’ gazes, full of envy and faint pity.

The master watched them scatter with the same relaxed interest he might give ants moving around crumbs. He lifted the metal scroll again, touching the rough sketched face of Isabella with a finger.

"A goddess in a nowhere village," he murmured. "Pregnant, strong, with a Red Beast at her feet and a lion king at her side. How bold of the world to hide such a combination in a place I never bothered to look at before."

He chuckled softly.

"Well."

"It is not like I plan to miss it now."

Back in Kian’s village, the air felt completely different.

The snow outside was still cold, but the stone palace was warm with firelight and noise.

Osiris stood in the middle of Isabella’s main hall, shoulders rigid, expression complicated, while several aunties pretended not to stare and absolutely stared anyway.

He felt like he had been dragged in front of a public trial.

Isabella lounged comfortably on the main seat, one hand holding her pink fan and the other resting on her stomach as if she were a local tyrant king instead of a supposedly gentle goddess.

Her eyes were curved, but there was a very evil light inside them.

"So," she said slowly, "you said before that you would be good."

Osiris’s ears burned just remembering it. During the attack, when he had almost lost his head rushing around trying to protect her, they had argued. She had scolded him for taking risks. He had, in panic, blurted something like, "Fine, I will listen to you from now on, I will be good, just do not get hurt."

At the time, it had seemed like a normal desperate promise made in the middle of trouble.

He had forgotten that this woman had an excellent memory for anything that could be used to bully people later.

"...I did say that," he admitted stiffly. His fingers curled slightly at his sides. His heart felt like it was being roasted.

Isabella nodded gravely. "Right. So from today, you are on your ’be good’ probation period."

Osiris blinked. "My what."

She lifted her fan and tapped it against her palm. "You rushed into danger. You raised your voice at me. You tried to argue with a poor pregnant woman whose back hurts and whose legs swell. Do you know how serious that is?"

Osiris’s face turned red all the way to the tips of his ears. "What about you is poor" he complained under his breath.

The aunties in the corner suddenly coughed and turned away, shoulders shaking.

"I was worried about you," he muttered. "Everyone was worried. You should not have been on the wall at all."

Isabella’s eyes softened for a fraction of a second, but her tone remained merciless. "Your worry is accepted," she said. "Your actions are still illegal."

She leaned forward slightly. "So, Osiris." Her voice dropped, turning sing-song. "From now on, you will be a good boy."

His scalp prickled.

"Do not call me that."

"Good boy," Isabella repeated deliberately, watching with fascination as his usually calm expression cracked completely. "Look at this. One little phrase and our bird is as red as his own flames."

Osiris clenched his jaw. He wanted to argue, but every time she said "good boy," his chest did something stupid. It felt tight and warm, like being praised and stripped at the same time.

"You promised," she reminded him. "You said you would listen to me more. So." She raised her hand. "First task."

Osiris exhaled slowly, trying to calm down. "What do you want?"

Her smile turned bright and extremely fake. "For the next week, you will not scold me for walking around the courtyard twice a day. You will not hover twenty steps behind me like a suspicious stalker. You will walk beside me, carry my hand warmer, and if I slip on the snow, you will not panic. You will only pick me up gently and say, ’It is alright, I am here.’ Do you understand?"

Osiris stared at her. His usually clever mind emptied out in one sweep.