The cohort's celebration ended upon his return and consecutive exit.
Not because he demanded it, but because they saw his face.
It didn't take the smartest of them to understand that something had happened.
While they didn't know of Setrenc, they knew of Emir, their leader.
And he showed a face they hadn't seen before—a smile that was neither genuine nor fake.
As if he was an alien mimicking a human smile, something about it was just eerie.
Even Lyra, the only person who knew about Setrenc, couldn't understand what had happened.
But when he began to cultivate in his room, allowing her to see his memories, she realized the reason behind that errieness.
The man was genuinely excited—perhaps too excited.
He didn't know how to show that emotion in his normal state.
It was in conflict with his identity. A puppeteer who only used his emotions as tools.