Rather than his loyalty, his cunning and scheming side was shown.
'As expected, he had already seen through me...', Deoras thought.
He already suspected that and had already apologized, but now, he was sure about it.
Regardless, as Shin said that he hadn't done anything exactly wrong, Deoras, for a bit, felt guilt-free. But that was only for a moment because the next thing he knew was a blast of aura emerging from Shin.
He raised his head a bit only to find Shin's terrifying form, standing in front of him.
"However, be mindful of how you scheme the next time.", Shin said with a deep voice as his rage almost took over him.
"Yes.", Deoras merely replied and kept his head lowered.
Shin, after warning Deoras for a tiny bit, turned back and started walking towards his quarters.
Aella closely followed him.
Deoras was left behind as everyone started to disperse.
Terran and Raka ran towards Deoras and almost smacked him.
"What a cunning fellow you are Deoras!", Raka said with awe.
"Well, your cunningness reaped its reward. You can now accompany his highness.", Terran added.
Deoras, after listening to both of them, said, "What reward? I almost died of a heart attack."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Sigh, maybe I shouldn't be so playfully childish.", Deoras shook his head in regret.
"Haha, if I was standing in front of his highness' raged form, even I would rethink. It is completely normal.", Raka laughed out loud as he stared at Terran and Deoras.
In any case, the trio talked a bit more as they slowly walked away toward the dens built for them.
As for Shin, he was constantly questioning himself.
'Now, how do I console her!?', he couldn't even look at Aella.
He knew that she was frowning. It was quite visible from the moment he made his announcement.
And even now, he could feel the aura of gloominess surrounding Aella.
Shin arrived in front of his den. He decided to finally face Aella and thus turned back.
Aella was indeed frowning! If she was a human, she might have also made those puffed cheeky pouting faces!
Before explaining anything to her, he said, "I'm sorry."
Aella had her head lowered a bit. She was probably thinking about something, but the moment Shin apologized, her head ended up getting raised on its own, automatically.
She stared at Shin momentarily.
"I'm sorry master, why..."
Why do you apologize?", she asked.
"For not letting you come with me...", Shin replied right away.
"..."
She didn't say anything else for a moment after hearing that.
She lowered her head a bit and then raised it, only to look at him straight in his eyes.
It was clear that she was sad.
Shin then said, "Look Aella, I took this decision while thinking about others' safety."
"I hope you cheer up."
"Also, in my absence, there must be someone to look after everyone. I don't think I trust anyone as much as I do you."
Shin said all these things to console her, but oh well, they were somewhat true too.
He wasn't feeding her lies for the sake of cheering her up.
Nevertheless, Aella understood what Shin said. Her mood did get better, but she was still not completely satisfied. She didn't ask or say anything else though and just stood there like a statue.
The matter was over and thus Shin went back inside his chambers to prepare for his departure.
But before leaving, he thought that it would be best to test his skills.
The goblins that were guarding the entrance along with some shadow wolves saw Shin arrive at the gates.
As they opened the gates, he walked outside gracefully and then ran deep into the forest.
Meanwhile…
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBack in the arena…
"And to finally conclude the festival, we would like to invite the leader of the Lou Shin Clan, Shin to come forward and tell his experiences.", Reosan announced.
The atmosphere was already bad. Many more beasts had joined the audiences, however, they hadn't come to simply enjoy the festival.
They had come to hunt down Shin and his clanmates.
Needless to say, many of them were carnivores. However, there were some herbivores such as Elephants and Giraffes.
The fake members and Shin were standing at the center of the arena. It was only thanks to Happy Panda that the shadows could move even now.
The festival was about to end and Shin was asked to deliver a speech regarding the events that took place here and his experience.
Furthermore, some guests that had arrived would have the opportunity to ask some questions to Shin and could probably seek enlightenment by talking to him.
Regardless, most of the beasts present there were aware of the order issued by the Supreme Celestials.
The celestials that were awed by Shin's strength and were managing the events, couldn't help but grit their teeth and sigh as they too heard the Supreme Celestials' orders.
The fake Shin walked towards the center of the podium as Reosan approached him.
He slowly pushed a circular energy-containing ring that worked as a voice amplifier.
It was the make sure that everyone heard what he had to say.
However, before Shin could even start giving the speech, one of the beasts jumped toward him in a hurry.
The real reason why a lot of beasts had gathered here was not just because they were scared of the Supreme Celestials. It was also because they were promised a wonderful reward - that is, only if they were able to claim Shin's head.
A Jackal, who had arrived a few seconds ago, was quite impatient.
He was the trashy young master of one of the strong Jackal clans. While his other brothers were quite strong and had made names for themselves, this lone loser was termed as trash and a shame.
Needless to say, thinking about claiming Shin's head seemed foolishly easy to him. Without even thinking much, he jumped forward with all his might, right at Shin!
"…"