As they moved, Kian stayed close enough that his arm brushed her side with every step. His body was warm despite the cold corridor, and the sharp winter air slipping through the cracks could not really reach her because he kept himself between her and the worst of it. It was such a small thing, and yet it made her chest soften again.

"You trust me that much?" she suddenly asked.

Kian glanced down. "Yes."

The answer came so simply that Isabella was the one who became quiet.

She had expected him to say something cold, something king-like, something practical. Instead, he said yes, like there was nothing to think about. Like trusting her was as natural as breathing.

So she looked away and cleared her throat. "Good. You should. I am usually right."

Kian’s mouth moved slightly. "Usually?"

Isabella turned to him. "Do you want to fight a pregnant woman?"

"No."

"Then I am always right."

This time, Kian actually let out a low breath that sounded dangerously close to amusement.

By the time they returned to the warmer inner room, the atmosphere inside was already much livelier than Isabella expected.

Cyrus was there, and the moment she entered, his pink eyes lifted at once. He had been sitting near the fire, his red hair falling over his shoulder as he sorted herbs and some small pieces of dried root on a stone tray. But the second he saw her, he put everything down and stood up as if the herbs had insulted him by needing his attention while Isabella was moving around.

Zyran was there too, black hair loose, red eyes bright with amusement as he leaned against one of the fur-covered seats. He looked like he had not moved for a while, but Isabella knew better. Zyran could look lazy while doing something terrible with only one finger.

Osiris was also there.

Unfortunately for him, so was Glimora.

The little white beast had somehow found a long strip of dried meat, and judging from the way Osiris was standing with one hand out and a very offended expression on his handsome fiery face, Isabella immediately guessed that the meat had belonged to him first.

Again.

"Give it back," Osiris said.

Glimora stood on the fur pile with the meat held firmly in her mouth, her small body raised proudly and her tail lifted like a banner of victory.

Osiris pointed at her. "That is mine."

Glimora chewed once.

Slowly.

Right in front of him.

Zyran’s shoulders shook at once.

Isabella stopped walking.

Kian looked at the scene and went quiet, perhaps because even he needed one moment to understand why a grown phoenix beastman was once again losing a battle against a little white beast.

Cyrus came to Isabella’s side and touched her arm gently. "Are you alright?"

"I am," Isabella said, still staring at Glimora. "But why does it look like I came back to a crime scene?"

Zyran smiled lazily. "Because your little beast is a criminal."

Glimora turned her head toward him at once.

Her eyes narrowed.

Zyran lifted both hands. "I said it with respect."

Osiris looked betrayed. "Why are you respecting her? She stole from me."

"She has courage," Zyran said.

"She has greed," Osiris snapped.

Glimora chewed again.

This time, she even sat down, making herself comfortable while Osiris’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Isabella pressed her lips together because she was truly trying to behave. She was pregnant. She was tired. An attack might be coming. Zara was scheming. Her system had robbed her. Cyrus had secret demon blood. Kian had almost panicked himself into madness earlier. There were many serious things happening.

But watching Osiris argue with a tiny beast over dried meat was healing something in her spirit.

Osiris finally lunged forward.

Glimora jumped away at once.

For such a small creature, she was fast. She darted across the fur pile, slipped under a low wooden stool, came out from the other side, and ran straight toward Isabella’s feet as if seeking the protection of the highest authority in the room.

Osiris chased after her. "Do not hide behind Isabella!"

Glimora immediately hid behind Isabella.

Isabella looked down at her.

Glimora looked up with the meat still hanging from her mouth and eyes so round and innocent that if Isabella had not seen the crime herself, she might have believed the little thing had been framed.

"Seriously?" Isabella asked.

Glimora blinked.

Osiris pointed at her again. "See? She knows what she did."

Isabella looked at him. "You already ate."

"That does not matter."

"It matters a little."

"It was my meat."

Glimora made a small sound that sounded very much like disagreement.

Zyran started laughing. "She says it belongs to whoever escapes with it."

Osiris glared at him. "Do not translate for her."

"I understand thieves very well."

At that, Glimora seemed to decide that Zyran had praised her. She wagged her tail once and took another step away from Osiris.

Osiris narrowed his bright fiery eyes. "You little thing."

Glimora’s fur puffed up.

Glimora’s ears flattened.

Her small white body trembled once with great fury, and because she was still very young and had not yet learned how to control all the strange powers inside her body, the trembling looked very dangerous in a way nobody except Zyran noticed fast enough.

Zyran’s red eyes widened slightly.

He had seen that posture before.

He had suffered from that posture before.

So the moment Glimora’s little tail lifted stiffly, Zyran’s whole face changed, and he immediately straightened like a man who had just seen death wearing white fur.

"Osiris," Zyran said quickly, "move back."

Osiris was still focused on the strip of dried meat in Glimora’s mouth, so he did not hear the warning properly. Or rather, he heard it, but because he was Osiris, he somehow decided that listening was optional.

"Why should I move back?" Osiris asked with great confidence. "She stole from me."

Glimora’s eyes narrowed.

She still had the meat in her mouth, and because it was hanging partly to one side, she looked even more shameless than usual. Her little paws pressed harder into the fur pile, her back arched, and the soft white fur around her neck puffed up until she looked like a tiny angry snowball with criminal intent.

Zyran took one step back by himself.

That movement finally made Isabella look at him.