The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts-Chapter 241 - 242: And you’re one tantrum away from breaking your pretty little nose

Chapter 241: Chapter 242: And you’re one tantrum away from breaking your pretty little nose

"Oh but you just answered yourself—I am a demon, and this is what demons do. They FLOAT around," Bubu said in the most obnoxious, singsong voice imaginable.

She did a slow somersault in the air above Isabella’s head, her translucent form shimmering faintly like soap bubbles in candlelight.

Isabella didn’t look up. She simply exhaled and stared ahead like a weary mother who’d just heard her toddler throw a spoon across the room for the fifteenth time.

"But you know I was giving you the silent treatment," Isabella replied, her voice laced with the exhausted kind of maturity one uses when trying not to slap someone and ruin a good manicure.

Bubu gasped, placing a transparent hand over her chest like she’d just been stabbed with a feather. "And you think I don’t deserve your divine affection for, what, an hour? Two hours? What is this? Abuse? Psychological warfare?!"

"You had one job," Isabella said flatly, turning her face up to the ceiling, "and you failed it. Spectacularly. With glitter and fireworks."

"Excuse me?" Bubu zipped down like a streak of light, hovering just inches from Isabella’s nose. "I gave you the fan, did I not?"

"Oh yes," Isabella drawled, eyes narrowed. "You handed me a fan that barely scratched three beast creeps who tried to rape me. A fan that literally whiffed their skin like I was tickling them with flower petals."

"Well, that sounds like a you problem," Bubu chirped, floating backward and spinning like a fairy on crack. "Maybe if you started cultivating earlier and if you knew how to use the fan—"

"I was almost KILLED, Bubu."

"And yet, here you are, glowing with righteous rage and looking as fabulous as ever."

Isabella stood, brushing invisible dust off her skirt with swift, irritated motions. "You are insufferable."

"And you are adorable when you’re mad," Bubu winked, somehow winking with both eyes and none at all. She zipped around Isabella’s head like a hummingbird on too much sugar, leaving a faint sparkle in the air.

Isabella waved her hand through the space where Bubu had just been. "Get away from me. You smell like neon."

Bubu giggled again and started doing lazy laps around the wooden beam holding up the ceiling. "You’re just cranky because you missed me."

"No. I’m cranky because you disappeared after throwing me to the wolves and then returned like you had nothing to do with it."

Bubu made an exaggerated shrug. "Sorry, the signal in the afterworld is trash. You want divine power, maybe you should pay the upgrade fee."

Isabella gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, right. And how much is that? A soul? A pinkie finger? Or maybe just a piece of my dignity?"

"Oh honey, you lost your dignity the moment you let Ophelia hug you with tear-and-snot hands."

Isabella hissed through her teeth. "I will kill you."

"With what?" Bubu chirped, flopping mid-air like a sarcastic dolphin. "That adorable little fan? Oh wait—it’s in baby mode again."

Isabella turned away, clutching her temples.

"Oh wow," Bubu said, fake gasping. "Are those wrinkles I see forming? No wonder you’ve been so testy lately."

"Bubu. I swear to all the stars in the sky—"

"Swearing on stars? You are dramatic today." She did a slow twirl in the air and clapped once. "You must really love me."

"I don’t love you," Isabella muttered, walking over to pick up the flat shard of shell she’d used to twist her hair up. She jammed it back in like she was stabbing a voodoo doll.

"But you talk to me, think about me, complain about me. You only hate the ones who matter," Bubu said sweetly.

Isabella stopped. She turned around slowly. "You’re actually insane."

"I prefer fabulously unhinged."

"You’re one glitch away from a full personality disorder."

"And you’re one tantrum away from breaking your pretty little nose."

Isabella placed her hand on her hip. "You’re not even real, Bubu."

Bubu placed her translucent hand over her chest again, dramatically spinning like she was auditioning for a tragic opera. "How dare you question my existence! I am the light in your dark hours. The spice in your bland soup. The chaos in your peace. I am your system, darling!"

"You’re a software malfunction with an ego problem."

"And you’re a hot mess who still sleeps with her leg wraps half coming off."

Isabella glanced down and used her foot to shove one of the loosened wraps back under the sleeping mat, hoping Bubu didn’t see.

Isabella looked down and kicked one of her boots under the bench.

Isabella stood in awkward silence for a second.

Then Bubu leaned in slowly, her body phasing through a hanging curtain as she hovered just beside Isabella’s ear.

"I missed you."

Isabella closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. "Gods, why are you like this?"

"Because of you."

"Nah uh, you’re way more annoying."

"And yet, you love me."

"I will set you on fire."

"With what? A matchstick and a silent prayer?"

Isabella groaned, rubbing her face. "Why are you even here, Bubu?"

"Oh, now you’re curious?" Bubu floated back, arms spread wide like she was presenting a magical act. "Because your story is heating up, sweetness. Enemies are rising. Allies are thinning. Shelia’s on the brink. You’ve got more beast-men falling in love with you by the second, and your soup’s about to go cold."

Isabella looked over at her soup with visible regret. "Damn it."

"Oh no, not the sacred broth!" Bubu gasped dramatically. "Call the priests, ring the bells!"

Isabella laughed despite herself and then immediately frowned. "No. No. I’m not laughing at your jokes."

"But you did laugh," Bubu sang, spinning.

"I refuse to give you the satisfaction."

"I already have it."

Isabella slumped back onto a bench, sighing deeply.

The curtain rustled slightly as wind blew in, stirring the scent of warm herbs and Glimora’s fur. Outside, birds chirped and water trickled from the carved stone fountain near the far wall.

Bubu drifted to hover upside down above Isabella’s head.

"I know you’re mad. But you needed me last night, and even if I failed a little bit... you’re still here. And I’m still the only system you’ve got."

Isabella blinked up at her.

A beat passed.

"You’re exhausting."

"And you’re addicted to chaos."

They stared at each other for a long, long moment.

Then Bubu’s expression flattened into a smirk.

"So you want to keep giving me the silent treatment while you have a friend’s life on the line?"