The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts-Chapter 503: It asked you if you’re dumb
Osiris hadn’t expected much when his fingers brushed over the glowing stone wedged into the slope of the beast’s cracked spine. He was just walking in that annoying brooding silence after being yelled at, again, and muttering something under his breath when his skin made contact with the surface.
It was warm. Not hot like fire, not cold like the rest of the mountain, but warm. Alive.
And then—
Tiny droplets of clear, shimmering moisture began to form.
One...
Two...
Then a slow trail of dew beaded on the surface like pearls melting into existence.
He blinked.
Then casually turned his head toward Isabella.
"Is this the dew you need?"
Silence.
Isabella whipped around so fast her hair slapped Glimora in the face.
She stared at him.
Like he was the smartest idiot alive.
"...what?" she said, blinking. Then she blinked again. Then stomped toward him.
"I just—" Osiris pointed to the rock like it had performed a miracle. "Touched it."
Her eyes darted to the surface. The dew was there. Real. Tangible. Magical.
She crouched, eyes narrowing as she inspected the glowing droplets. And her lips parted slightly in awe.
"It’s from the fog..." she murmured.
The air surrounding them wasn’t just regular fog. It had always been here—clinging to the mountain like an ancient breath. But now... now she realized something. The moisture in the fog was reacting to their body heat. This wasn’t normal fog. This was enchanted fog.
Osiris squinted. "It’s from... fog?"
"Yes," she said sharply. "Fog that reacts to heat."
Glimora peered over her shoulder with wide, sparkly eyes. "Pip..."
Isabella didn’t reply.
She was too busy thinking. How do I get more? She needed enough to soak her hands in for one full hour. A few beads wouldn’t cut it.
Right then, a soft ding echoed in her mind.
"Congratulations, host. You have discovered the hidden dew source. +20 points."
Isabella mentally threw confetti. Thank you, thank you—
Wait.
System!
Bubu. How do I get more of it? Is there a way?
Silence.
Then—
"The mountain gives what the mountain keeps.
To call what cannot be collected, one must awaken what cannot be seen.
Only spirits answer fog’s demand."
"...what the hell does that mean?" Isabella growled.
And of course, Bubu disappeared right after delivering that cryptic nonsense. Not even a goodbye.
Isabella almost bit her lip in frustration. "Spirits? Fog demand? What is that supposed to—"
Her eyes snapped to the fan in her hand.
Her fan.
Of course.
She stared at it for a moment. It wasn’t glowing. It was closed. Still. Quiet.
But the wind spirit was in there.
It always was.
She gripped the fan tightly, then began to shake it sharply.
Osiris stared at her.
"...what are you doing now?"
She kept shaking it.
"Come out, you little spirit. I need your help."
The fan pulsed once. Just once.
Then—
A tiny, high-pitched voice screamed from inside.
"No! You always disturb me when I’m resting!"
Osiris froze.
He blinked once.
Then slowly turned toward her like he had just realized the woman in front of him might be clinically unwell.
"Did your fan just... talk?"
Isabella didn’t even glance at him.
"Yes."
Glimora blinked twice, then tilted her head.
"I—there’s something living in your fan?" Osiris said again, voice strained. "Like actually living?"
"I said what I said."
He stared at the fan like it might explode.
Who exactly is this woman?
She had invisible people she argued with.
She carried weapons that talked.
She yelled at the sky one second and summoned dew the next.
She was... strange.
Strange in a way he had never seen before.
The women he knew were soft, quiet, careful. They didn’t threaten spirits. They didn’t command fog. They didn’t slap beastmen and call them birds.
She was absolutely insane.
But in a way that made him unable to look away.
Isabella lifted the fan to her mouth and said darkly, "If you don’t come out, I will make sure the next time you do, it’ll be during a very bad situation. And I will find a way to stop you from going back inside."
Silence.
A long one.
Even Glimora felt the tension and backed up two steps.
Then—
A pop of energy burst from the fan, and a small glowing figure zipped into the air like a sulking mosquito.
The wind spirit hovered, arms crossed, hair wild, eyes narrowed into grumpy slits.
It was tiny. Like, insultingly tiny.
It looked like a puffball with attitude.
Isabella didn’t even blink.
Osiris, meanwhile, stared at the floating thing with wide eyes.
"I’ve... I’ve seen that before..." he muttered.
Isabella turned to him. "What?"
"That night. The night in the cave. When those creatures attacked us... it was there. I saw that thing."
The wind spirit spun around dramatically. "You’re welcome."
She sighed. "I need your help."
"Of course you do. You always need my help."
"Watch your mouth."
The spirit huffed. "What do you want?"
Isabella repeated exactly what Bubu had said, down to the last vague riddle. The wind spirit listened with the most exaggerated sighs and eye rolls possible, floating in little loops in the air.
Then it finally stopped.
Stared at her.
Then said:
"It’s simple. Are you dumb? How can’t you realize what the riddle means?"
Something in Isabella snapped.
She froze.
"What did you just say to me?" She asked the wind spirit coldly.
Osiris, with a smirk already forming, leaned slightly toward her and added: "It asked you if you’re dumb."
She turned to him so slowly even the spirit backed away.
Her eyes locked with his.
He was smirking.
Mocking.
Smug.
That bird-brained phoenix was doing this on purpose and it was working.
She was about to lunge at him when Glimora gently nudged her leg with her small, furry head.
Isabella looked down.
Glimora blinked.
A soft, pleading blink that said: Mama, don’t waste energy on him. We have things to do.
Isabella let out a long exhale.
Then turned back to the spirit with her jaw clenched.
"Explain."
The wind spirit twirled dramatically.
"The riddle means exactly what it says. The dew cannot be collected. It has to be summoned.
And only the spirit of the mountain can summon it."
Isabella frowned.
"...a dew spirit?"
