A sharp thud echoed, a body hitting the ground. Silence followed, brief but heavy, until quiet footsteps began to approach. Steady. Unhurried.
Stella forced her eyes open.
Moments earlier, they had been shut tight, unwilling to witness the girl's end. It had seemed obvious how things would unfold.
Now, there was no choice but to look.
Her vision steadied… and then froze.
The outcome was the opposite of what had been expected.
Aemilia sat on the ground, alive and composed, as if nothing of importance had happened. Her gaze rested on the man's body without the slightest trace of emotion.
The man was no longer simply lying there. His body had been pinned to a tree.
A narrow spear had pierced through his skull, driving deep into the trunk behind him, leaving him suspended in a grotesque stillness. Fresh blood trailed slowly down the bark, staining it in dark lines.
There was no looking away.
Shock came first, then confusion,and something heavier.
Fear.
Not just of what had happened… but of whoever was capable of it.
A faint movement broke the stillness.
Someone stepped out from between the trees, emerging from the shadows with quiet ease. No rush, no tension, as if everything had unfolded exactly as expected.
The newcomer was young.
A slender frame, light steps, barely a sound underfoot.
Features soft, almost delicate, childlike at first glance, but the eyes ruined that impression. Empty. Detached. Completely unbothered.
They swept briefly over the scene, then settled on Aemilia.
"That was close," came the flat remark. "You should be more careful next time."
No concern. No urgency. Just a statement.
Aemilia looked up, untroubled, then gave a small, casual wink.
"Yeah, you're right," came the light reply. "But I'll give you that. Nice throw, Johan."
A short silence followed.
No tension. No relief. Just an unsettling calm, as if the violence from moments ago meant nothing at all.
From where she sat, Stella watched in silence, breathing still uneven, thoughts struggling to catch up.
Children…? No.
Something was wrong.Neither of them felt normal.
Upon their return, Aemilia recounted everything that had happened to Jack.
The story was heard in silence, expression barely changing, though a faint shift in posture suggested the situation hadn't entirely come as a surprise. After a brief pause, it was admitted that someone might have been watching from a distance. Nothing clear, just a vague sense that something had been off, which was why Johan had been sent ahead earlier to check.
The explanation settled things quickly, at least on the surface.
The moment they rejoined the others, all attention shifted to Stella.
Her condition made that unavoidable, disheveled hair, dirt clinging to clothes, and faint signs of struggle.
Evelyn stepped forward first, asking if there were any injuries, concern clear in her voice.
Others followed, questions overlapping slightly as they tried to understand what had happened.
The answers were brief.
Everything was fine. No serious injuries. Nothing worth mentioning.
Short replies. Almost automatic. No real engagement.
Seeing that, Aemilia spoke instead, calmly explaining what had taken place from the moment of separation to the encounter in the forest.
No exaggeration. No hesitation. Just a direct recounting of events.
As the explanation continued, the group's reaction shifted.
The attackers were raiders, bandits who typically kidnapped women and children, just as Thomas had said.
Evelyn tried again, stepping closer this time, insisting things didn't look fine and asking once more for confirmation.
The response came quicker than before. Shorter, "I'm fine."
That was the end of it. The tone left no room for further questions.
After that, Stella turned slightly away, distancing herself from the conversation without making it obvious.
Voices continued around her, but none of it truly registered.
"Damn it… me again. Walked straight into another disaster, and this one's worse. Far worse. I ended up with a group of lunatics."
A slow breath followed, steady but heavy.
"What am I supposed to do now? How do I get out? The moment I put any distance between us, they'll notice, Jack, at the very least, probably already knows there's an outsider on the continent, and then there's Hana and Jacob… acting recklessly here would be a death sentence."
The situation had shifted in a way that could no longer be ignored.
What once seemed manageable now felt unstable. Unpredictable.
Observation alone would not be enough going forward.
Every step would need to be measured carefully, without drawing attention.
Acting too quickly would only make things worse.
A brief glance moved toward Jack, still speaking with Aemilia. Calm. Composed. Attentive.
Nothing overt. Nothing that confirmed suspicions.
Even so, looking away felt like the safer choice.
Evelyn remained nearby, concern still present, though no longer pressed outward.
The others gradually returned to their own matters, letting the moment pass as if nothing unusual had happened.
From the outside, everything had settled.
Stella stood as usual, posture steady, expression neutral, giving no indication that anything was wrong.
Internally, however, nothing had settled at all.
The events in the forest lingered clearly, refusing to fade, especially the image of Aemilia during the fight.
No clear conclusion. No solid understanding.
Only one thing had become certain.
This was no longer a situation that could be taken lightly.