Chapter 111: Departure

Shina didn’t think about her next moves at all. It was as if the only appropriate thing to do in that moment was to cup Dheinyrus’ face and get on top of him…

As she was about to lean down for a kiss, Dheinyrus’ face suddenly contorted in pain. The difficulty of breathing returned. Inconveniently.

“R—Right!” Shina exclaimed and frantically got off of Dheinyrus. She made him drink up the water and let him rest until he was fully recovered with the help of the great spirits.

A couple of minutes later, Dheinyrus was sitting up on the bed, wearing the change of clothes Shina brought him. Meanwhile Shina was standing by the window far from the bed, looking at the vast landscape of Sekhtar.

The way he just shrugged off all those close calls and her display of degeneracy didn’t sit right with her… Come to think of it, has she always been this much of a pervert?

’Definitely not…’ the princess convinced herself.

Besides, she had only ever felt this way with him and no one else. That must mean that Dheinyrus had some kind of quality that drives her to act the way she did.

’Yes, it’s not my fault.’

She let out a sigh, doubting her own reasoning.

“Shina.”

The princess almost jumped in shock as soon as Dheinyrus called her name. She restlessly turned to him.

’Are we finally going to…’

Her heart started to race.

Dheinyrus spoke, shattering her hopes.

“We need to talk about you being the Reincarnation of Oneirah.”

Shina lingered for a moment.

“Oh,” she muttered.

There were also a lot of things that she needed to tell Dheinyrus. It was still hard to accept that she was the reincarnation of a goddess, and in truth, Shina still wasn’t able to process it at all. She figured that idly waiting for her past memories to come back would serve them little, and that she would have to investigate the matter personally.

The princess walked towards him and sat on the side of the bed.

She was facing the window but she could see him sitting motionlessly in the corner of her eyes.

“Now that the oracle is gone, it is solely up to us to uncover the truth,” Dheinyrus said.

With a lugubrious tone, Shina replied.

“Her name is Velhai. And she’s not an oracle.”

Dheinyrus looked at her and listened quietly.

“I suspect that she only manipulated the Demon King into doing the things he did, leading to the very outcome we have right now.”

Shina turned her head to face Dheinyrus.

“There’s something you need to know. The Celestial War isn’t over yet.”

Dheinyrus’ eyebrows furrowed.

Shina continued.

“I received a memory of trying to fight the king of the gods… I didn’t win. But somehow, I have this desire to go back and finish what I’ve started.”

After being silent and pondering for a while, Dheinyrus responded.

“Before you arrived here in Sekhtar, Velhai told me the truth about why I didn’t have a soul. It seems like I gave it to your divine self to keep your fragments from completely vanishing.”

He looked down at his clenched fist and then continued.

“We need to know what’s really going on.”

Then, he lifted his determined gaze at her.

“Until I fix everything, we can’t be happily together yet.”

Shina stared at him somberly before scooting closer and holding his hand.

“We will get through this together,” she said.

***

< THE NEXT MORNING >

The demons began reconstructing the buildings and issuing a rescue operation the first thing in the morning. Led by the governors, Sullivan and Fiorelle, they had made much progress and had already bounced back from the destruction Angelus had caused.

But what caught Dhein’s attention was the statue they were creating. Because the face very much resembled his….

Clarisse popped up behind him and cheerfully asked:

“How do you like your own statue, King Dhein?”

He turned to her with an overwhelmed expression.

“I would have much preferred if you spent the resources on useful things instead…”

Clarisse nodded.

“I agree! Which is why we’re building the symbol of hope at the center of our nation. This is to remind us that whatever might come, our merciful king will always protect and guide us.”

Dhein let out a sigh.

“Well, I am leaving today after all.”

Clarisse suddenly fell silent, a sad expression crossed her face.

Dhein had announced last night that he would be returning to Olcour. It caused some people to be insecure about their safety and the rebuilding of the kingdom, but Dhein assured them that no more threats will come their way. Sullivan and Fiorelle will stay here. He also talked to Nessilum and convinced her to stop eating demons… Because other than her, no one else was left that could harm this strong race.

Thankfully she agreed.

Dhein heard light footsteps coming from behind him. He turned around and saw a pink haired girl walking alongside a demoness.

Krushe and Amarih approached Dhein.

“Your carriage is ready, sire.”

Dhein nodded.

“How about the five pirates? Did you escort them back to the coast like I told you?”

“Yes, sire,” krushe replied.

Pleased with how things were going, Dhein smiled at Krushe.

“Good job. Continue that until I return.”

A warm smile spread across the demoness’ face.

Dhein crouched down to Amarih’s level. She now looked like a well-fed and healthy child thanks to Krushe taking care of her everyday.

Though there was a sad pout that darkened her face.

“Are you really leaving?” she asked.

Dhein gently patted her head.

“There are some things that I need to take care of,” he answered.

“But I will come back. In fact, I’ll make it so that you can visit me in the human continent. You and Krushe can explore the world.”

His words wiped the somberness away from her face and replaced it with an excited smile.

He continued.

“Just do your best here while I’m gone okay?”

The girl nodded and hugged Dhein.

After saying their goodbyes and sending a formal letter to the governors, Dhein and Shina took their leave. He assigned Fiorelle as the acting ruler of Sekhtar and she happily accepted. It seemed like she really wanted to help her people too.

They were going to travel north directly towards the Theocheirós Manor. Sailing around the continent would take too much time and was comparably more dangerous, so he decided that it would be better to go by land instead. Once they reached the border, it would be easy enough to talk to the guards on the other side and make them open the barrier.

Dhein was currently driving the carriage. It wasn’t like the luxurious ones he was used to riding. This time, it was just a simple roofless carriage made of planks. Shina sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, Remi was sleeping beside her while Dhein kept his eyes on the road.

At this rate, they were going to reach the Theocheirós Manor by sundown. Dhein followed the route shown on the map which was the safest and shortest.

After some time, the nation of Sekhtar had faded in the distance. Only the peak of the castle remained visible over the horizon beyond the trees of the forest.

They were traveling across the dark forest. It had been a silent and peaceful journey so far with only Shina and his voices chatting every now and then.

“Still, to think that everything we’ve known about demons was wrong feels kind of surreal to me,” she said.

Dhein replied.

“It was the same for me when I first discovered this truth. Now, I’m wondering who spread this misinformation about the entire race.”

He heard Shina exhaling slowly through her nose before she spoke.

“Whoever they are, they’re long dead. Humanity has been made to believe this lie for centuries.”

The carriage rolled through the uneven ground, the wheels creaking with every small bumps.

“Well, it’s not entirely wrong,” Dhein said.

“There are still evil demons among the population, that’s for sure. I’ve seen lots of them during my time here and they are a lot worse than the ruthless criminals back home. Not to mention the mindless savages who run through pure instinct and fear. They are trained to perform simple tasks but they are very dangerous and unpredictable.”

Shina nodded.

“In the end, we’re all people. But I would like to know how this misunderstanding began. If we can do that, maybe we can even form an interracial alliance with them—”

Her words were cut off when Dhein suddenly halted the horse. His eyes sharply gazed over their surroundings and scanned the dark shadows.

Shina also did the same when she felt something was off.

After the silence, the demons showed themselves one by one. They were a group of low ranking horned savages living in the wild.

Shina stood up alert and so did Remi. And to her shock, Dheinyrus also actually prepared to fight. After all, he was somehow able to use sorcery.

They got off the carriage to share a battle with each other for the first time.

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