Chapter 686: Rumors and Bewitchment

Sophia stared at Eldric as though she could not quite believe the words that had just left his mouth.

"I genuinely was not expecting you of all people to say that," she admitted.

Eldric adjusted his glasses calmly.

"Contrary to what everyone always assumes about me, I do know how to be practical when necessary," he replied.

"That sounded very defensive," Ronan pointed out immediately.

Eldric paused.

"Perhaps."

He said that, then turned back toward Sophia.

"What I mean is this," he continued. "You openly telling the pack that you stand with us despite your relation to Victoria will help more than you think. Even if your proposition is impossible at the moment, people will at least calm down slightly knowing where your loyalties lie."

Sophia frowned faintly at that.

Honestly, she had not thought that deeply about it before saying it. The words had simply left her mouth in the moment because she had been desperate to prove she was not Victoria.

Not now.

Not ever.

Mary spoke up then.

"I think we should hold court in the square," she said. "That would be the easiest way to quell public unrest."

Everyone turned toward her.

Mary crossed her arms. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"The entire pack is already talking about this. Keeping everyone in the dark longer will only make things worse. At least if we address them directly, they will stop making up nonsense among themselves."

"That is true," Tobias admitted.

"It may not solve everything immediately," Mary continued, "but it will help."

Brynhild nodded slowly as her gaze drifted toward Sophia’s direction.

"And honestly," she added carefully, "some people already believe Sophia bewitched Orion."

Sophia gasped immediately.

Beside her, Orion nodded thoughtfully.

"They would not be entirely wrong."

Sophia turned toward him so fast that her hair nearly smacked him.

"Orion, why would you even think about agreeing with that?" she demanded before hitting him lightly on the arm.

Orion looked entirely unbothered.

"Perhaps it is because from the moment you entered the pack, I started losing peace."

"That is not bewitchment!"

"It felt suspicious."

Sophia stared at him in disbelief.

Ronan suddenly pointed toward Orion dramatically.

"I am with him actually," he announced. "From the moment my sister arrived, it was like Orion became bewitched, so the pack members would not be entirely wrong."

Sophia looked utterly offended now.

"I did not bewitch anybody!"

"That is true," Orion said with a nod. "But what you did is similar to it."

Ronan nodded in agreement.

Sophia rolled her eyes.

"What if it was Orion who bewitched me?" she asked.

Orion immediately looked pleased with himself.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, "perhaps that is true, considering I appeared in your dreams when you were little."

Sophia pinched him again immediately.

"Shut up."

Orion laughed softly under his breath while rubbing the spot she pinched.

Lysander shook his head quietly from where he stood.

"You two truly are impossible."

Brynhild observed the interaction quietly, a soft smile resting against her lips.

Earlier, when she had rushed over after hearing about the mob gathering outside, she had genuinely feared things would become much worse than this. She thought she would arrive to find Sophia crying again or Orion halfway into losing his temper and threatening the entire pack.

Instead, they were all here making jokes about bewitchment.

Things were far from resolved. The tension outside still existed. The fear and resentment spreading through the pack had not disappeared.

But this...

This was still good.

It meant they had not fractured apart yet.

And perhaps that was enough for now.

Sophia noticed Brynhild staring and tilted her head slightly.

"What?" she asked.

Brynhild shook her head softly.

"Nothing," she replied. "I just expected this day to go far worse than it currently is."

Sophia’s expression softened slightly at that.

Lysander leaned forward then, resting his elbows against his knees.

"We should end the bewitchment discussion," he said. "As entertaining as it somehow became, we still have an actual issue to resolve."

Orion nodded.

"We need to move fast," Tobias said. "The longer this drags on, the worse public unrest becomes."

Mary hummed softly in agreement.

"People are emotional right now," she said. "And emotional people are dangerous in groups."

"That is true," Ronan said with a nod.

Eldric exhaled quietly before speaking.

"Sophia simply saying she stands with the pack will not completely solve this," he said. "But it gives us a starting point."

"And revealing she is the Luna foretold may help somewhat too," Lysander added.

Mary nodded slowly.

"Especially among the older members of the pack," she said. "Many of them still hold firmly to the prophecy."

"But others may react worse," Eldric pointed out calmly. "Some may see it as manipulation by fate."

"And they will question how it is that Sophia is the Luna foretold and also Victoria’s daughter," Tobias added.

"That is the point," Eldric said. "They will feel like it is a setup or something."

"Even if it is exactly the opposite," Mary said.

"You know," Ronan began, "do you guys really believe Sophia telling people that she is on our side would not solve everything?"

"What are you getting at?" Tobias asked him.

"Given who Sophia is, most people in the pack like her. And her stating a stance and showing she belongs to us and will stand for us... I do not think that would make people dislike her more, or rather, I feel like they will support her. They perhaps just need some reassurance that she is still the Sophia we know."

"But there are still some people in the pack who thought she and Orion were not good for each other. You know that," Tobias said.

"Yes, and how many of them have been vocal about it now? Did you see the speech she gave when the trainees were... oh, you were not in the pack," Ronan said to Tobias.

Tobias gave him the middle finger.

"Now that you—"

Brynhild was interrupted by the door opening.

Everyone turned instinctively.

"Awwn," Ronan muttered dramatically before smiling widely. "The three musketeers have arrived."