Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me novel Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Built For You

Kiri had barely taken three steps when Xavi’s voice stopped her cold.

The words were quiet, but they landed like a boulder dropped into still water. Every clan member who had been shifting uncomfortably or murmuring to their neighbour went silent.

Kiri turned slowly.

Xavi was looking at her, and the expression on his face was one she had never seen directed at her before.

His golden eyes were hard, his jaw set, and the warmth that usually softened his features was completely absent.

He was furious.

Kiri felt the blood drain from her face. In all the months she had known Xavi, he had never once looked at her like that.

"Did I give you permission to walk away?"

How could he say that to her when he had just let the shiftless one walk away without any objection.

She forced the tears back to the surface. It was harder this time, and almost genuine. How could he look and talk to her like that?

"Leader, I—what have I done wrong?" Her voice wavered. "Should I not defend myself when I am falsely accused? I was only—"

"A lot of what you said was unnecessary."

Kiri flinched.

The clan members nearest to her shifted away slightly, sensing the tension radiating off their leader like heat from a fire.

"You said she had not changed. What was that supposed to mean?"

"I—I was upset. I did not mean—"

"She built shelters for this clan, led us to a nicer land, created this farm to feed us. She has given a lot to this clan when she could have kept it all to herself. She might be wrong about the accusation, but that was a terrible thing for you to say."

The silence was suffocating.

Several clan members had lowered their heads.

Kiri opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had prepared for many scenarios. She had rehearsed defences against accusations, practiced tears, and planned responses to Tera’s inevitable anger.

She had not prepared for Xavi’s disappointment.

Xavi held her gaze for one more long, heavy moment. Then he turned to the clan.

"We will get to the bottom of this. "But right now, we have two shelters to rebuild. I want the materials put together again to see what we can use."

He paused, and his eyes swept across every face in the group.

"And the next time something like this happens, we will not be guessing. I will make certain of that."

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

Tera didn’t know how far she had walked.

Her legs had carried her deeper into the forest on autopilot, but she soon found herself sitting under one of those silk trees.

The anger was gone. she just felt tired now.

She shouldn’t have accused Kiri in front of everyone, maybe she wouldn’t have lost the influence she had spent weeks slowly building.

Clan members she had helped now looked at her with doubt in their eyes because a fox with good acting skills had cried on cue.

’Remind me why I am even doing this in the first place?’

Why was she killing herself to build a settlement for people who could be turned against her by a few well-timed tears?

And she was even stressing herself over this task too.

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