Even though Lin Fan was here and he was surrounded by his family, there weren't many of them that approached him.
Even if they had mellowed out, they still remembered how Lin Fan had treated him before he had gone into closed door training. So the cousins were still afraid of Lin Fan and wouldn't talk to him unless it was absolutely necessary.
As for the Lin Family, they were even more terrified of him.
There was drama between them and Lin Ao in the first place.
They were certain that Lin Ao wouldn't just let this matter go, so they were prepared to suffer when they met him.
It would be a lie to say that they didn't let out a sigh of relief when they heard that he was still in closed doors training right now.
They were hoping to find something to protect themselves before he came back.
But then there was Lin Fan.
They realized his position in the Lin Astral Family was far greater than their own and the fact that he was Lin Ao's son meant that he was involved in this matter too.
So far, Lin Fan hadn't done anything, but they knew that it was impossible for nothing to happen.
So they didn't want to approach him and cause things to get worse.
They were trying to avoid him as best as they could.
What they didn't know was that Lin Fan didn't care about them at all.
It wasn't that he didn't care about what had happened back then, it was just that what had happened seemed too trivial for him to care about anymore.
Lin Fan had reached the level where these simple affairs didn't matter to him anymore.
What he was more concerned about was the future of the Lin Astral Empire itself.
He would leave this matter to his father to deal with since it was his father's matter in the first place.
But even though there weren't many that approached him, there were still those that did.
The ones that did were the ones that were at the head of the Lin Astral Family.
After they had finished talking to the others, the Lin Astral Emperor and Lin Astral Empress along with the Lin Family Ancestor, Lin Jian came over.
They were all clearly worried about Lin Fan heading out tomorrow.
The Lin Astral Empress was the one that spoke first by asking, "Xiao Fan, do you really have to go? You've already contributed more than enough, so no one will say anything if you stay here. Not to mention, you've already found out how we can counter the Outer laws and brought allies from the Myriad Races, so we can take care of the Beast Race troops even without your help."
The Lin Astral Emperor and Lin Jian didn't say anything, but it was clear by the looks in their eyes that they thought the same.
But Lin Fan wasn't moved by this as he said, "It's my duty as a member of the Lin Astral Family to protect the people of the Lin Astral Empire. If I were to hide, I wouldn't be upholding the name of the Lin Astral Family."
When they heard this, all three of them gave sighs before the Lin Astral Empress said, "Silly child, you've already done more than enough. You've done more than any of the other members of the Lin Astral Family have done."
She paused at this and waited for the people around to move away.
After all, they were important people in the Lin Astral Family, so the rest of the members of the Lin Astral Family were eavesdropping on them to see if they could hear anything important.
But when they received this barbed jab from the Lin Astral Empress, they all started moving away from them and minding their own business.
After all, she was correct.
Compared to them, Lin Fan's contributions were astronomical.
They had gone to the battlefield out of the honour of the Lin Astral Family, but they had been beaten senseless and had been forced to retreat.
Other than saving a few of the Lin Astral Empire troops, they didn't have any other achievements to their names. After all, once they retreated, the positions that they had been guarding had been lost.
Once they had moved away, the Lin Astral Empress continued, "You shouldn't take everything on your shoulders, we are here for you."
Lin Fan revealed a grateful look, but he still shook his head and said, "This is what I should do."
The Lin Astral Empress looked at him in silence for a bit before shaking her head and turning around.
It wasn't that she was disappointed in him, but rather she was disappointed in his stubbornness. Of course, she was also proud that he was a fine young man who knew how to perform his duties, but she wanted him to rely on them a bit more.
The Lin Astral Emperor however didn't mention this matter at all.
Instead, while being glared at by the Lin Astral Empress, he said, "It's a shame that the whole family couldn't gather."
After he said this, they looked around the room with all of these members of the Lin Astral Family before giving a sigh together.
Even though they were all from the Lin Astral Family, it didn't feel as if they were a part of the same 'family'. The 'family' that they talked about were those that they were very close to, namely Lin Fan, his parents, and his little sister.
The latter three were currently in closed door training, so they weren't here.
After a moment of silence, Lin Fan said, "In a way, it's better that they're not here."
Lin Jian revealed a knowing smile when he heard this since he knew what Lin Fan was implying.
But they chose to ignore it and focus on the main topic with Lin Fan saying, "They'll be out when I come back. Right now, it's better that they aren't here with us or else they might do something rash as well."
The Lin Astral Emperor just said with a teasing smile, "So you're the only one that can do something rash?"
Lin Fan also revealed a smile before saying, "I'm the only one that can afford to do something rash."
The three elders knitted their brows when they heard this, but then they just gave sighs.
Since he had come back, it was as if there was something about Lin Fan that they couldn't see through anymore. While they were happy to see that he was much stronger than before, they couldn't help feeling sad since it was like seeing him grow up.
After sighing, the Lin Astral Emperor said, "Just take care of yourself and we will gather for family dinner again when you come back."
Lin Fan gave a simple nod in response to this.
The Lin Astral Emperor waved his hand and one of the servants came over with a tray that had several glasses on it.
He took one of them for himself and gestured for the rest of them to take one each.
So all of them took a glass from the tray and waited for the Lin Astral Emperor to say what he wanted to say.
But before he did that, he turned to look at Angela and the rest who were also here.
He waved his hand at them and said, "Come, you guys join in as well."
When the members of the Lin Astral Family saw this, they couldn't help revealing dissatisfied looks. They were already dissatisfied when they saw that these outsiders were here, but seeing the Lin Astral Emperor inviting them to a toast as well…
This was not something that they could tolerate.
So there were a few of them that wanted to come forward to interrupt, but before they could even get close, they were hit with a powerful pressure.
Neither Lin Fan or the Lin Astral Emperor said a thing, but the pressure that they released was more than enough to keep them away. After all, these two were much stronger than the rest in this room.
These members of the Lin Astral Family had looks of protest on their faces, but they couldn't do a thing since neither Lin Fan or the Lin Astral Emperor allowed them.
So they could only wait on the side as Angela's group came over.
Once they had all picked up a glass, the Lin Astral Emperor lifted his cup and said, "To Xiao Fan's safe return."
The rest of them all raised their cup and drank to this.
Once they had finished this toast, the Lin Astral Empress walked over towards Angela and Zi Ling before turning to Lin Fan to ask, "When are you going to hold the ceremony? Or are you going to keep these young ladies waiting forever?"
When the two of them heard this, they both revealed blushes that didn't match their personalities and lowered their heads.
Lin Fan also spat out the bit of wine that was still in his mouth and looked at the Lin Astral Empress with a shocked look as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
But the Lin Astral Empress looked at him with a calm smile on her face and said, "They aren't young anymore and neither are you. Are you really going to keep them waiting like this or are you a real man?"
Lin Fan's lips twitched when he heard this, but he knew that she was right.
So taking a deep breath, he said, "I'll get it done once I come back."
Hearing this, the Lin Astral Emperor and Lin Astral Empress revealed satisfied looks.
But Angela and Zi Ling just had even stronger blushes on their faces.
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