Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me novel Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Mating Season

The rest of that night and the following morning had been a masterclass in swallowing pride and strategic social manoeuvring that Tera was frankly quite proud of.

Tera had gone to wash herself at the lake shortly after the shelter reveal, and Ermin had accompanied her since she hadn’t wanted to be alone.

Being alone still felt a little too raw after everything, and having the quiet panther nearby was strangely comforting, even if he mostly just stood off to the side looking grumpy and protective.

While she was there, a few of the females who had been washing nearby suddenly approached Tera, looking awkward and apologetic. They mumbled things about how they shouldn’t have doubted her so quickly and that Kiri’s words had been too harsh.

Tera had been genuinely surprised, but she had also seen an opportunity, and she was not stupid enough to waste it.

She had apologised right back.

Not because she believed she was wrong—she knew exactly who destroyed those shelters, and that knowledge sat in her chest like a hot coal she refused to drop—but because she understood that being right meant nothing if no one believed you.

Strategy beat sincerity, even back in her workplace. Her being in a new, crazy environment had destabilised that, but she needed to bring a bit of herself back. Kiri was not the only one who could weaponise certain things.

Tera told the females that she had spoken out of turn. Accusing someone without proof was wrong, and she had only just panicked after seeing the shelters destroyed and noticing Kiri’s smile.

The females were scandalised and felt sorry for Tera, practically falling over themselves to reassure her, and a few had even apologised on Kiri’s behalf, agreeing that the fox had said things she shouldn’t have.

By the time Tera left the stream, her influence had quietly climbed two whole points, and the system had the audacity to congratulate her on "finally developing basic political instincts."

She chose not to respond to that particular comment.

The real shock came the next morning.

Tera had spent the night in her new shelter and had slept so deeply that she was half-convinced the silk bedding had drugged her.

When she had steeled herself to face the clan again, expecting awkward silence or lingering distrust, she had walked into their midst to discover that the two destroyed shelters had been rebuilt.

Not perfectly, not with her usual precision, but solidly. The walls were a bit bulkier where they had bundled the threads instead of using the needles, which Tera always kept with herself rather than leaving them behind when the clan was done using them.

It was amazing that they had even put the shelters together without sewing the leaves to the stick supports. The threads had been tied instead, but even with the imperfections, Tera noticed it was mostly well done.

And they were sturdy.

Tera was beyond shocked. The clan was scattered around the clearing in various states of exhaustion. Some were slumped against trees, their eyes half-closed. Others were sprawled on the ground with the boneless abandon of creatures who had pushed through an entire night of labour and had only recently stopped moving.

Some of them stood at alert when they noticed Tera, who was still in a state of shock.

It turned out that they had spent the whole day and night rebuilding the shelters while Xavi and Ermin had spent the day making her own.

And they had done a good job without her supervision.

Tera felt oddly happy, proud, and so impressed at the same time that she didn’t know what to do with those emotions at first.

But she felt so touched, almost as if they had done this for her. From the relief written across the beast folk’s faces and how they had looked eagerly at her, she realised they had.

And she felt a bit sad that they had worn themselves out for this.

[Construction: +3]

[Influence: +3]

[Clan Cohesion: Significantly improved]

Even if it was to pretend, which wasn’t the case, she would curry the favour of the clan members thoroughly until her position was so solid that no amount of fox tears could shake it. She would do her best to remain calm and rethink every decision, and most importantly, she would need to properly pay attention to detail regarding the system. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify