Chapter 68: Tea and Truth
Point of View: Kai Jin
The Eastern sky was painted with strokes of peach and lilac when the invitation came—a folded note scented faintly with lily and pressed with Bai Ru's seal. It was left on his chamber table with no footsteps heard, no door creak opened. Only the silence of intention.
Kai Jin turned it over in his palm as the warm wind rustled the silk curtains. Three characters were scrawled in ink as delicate as the woman herself:
**Come. Just tea.**
He sighed. Just tea never meant just tea.
---
The private terrace Bai Ru had claimed was tucked behind the healing gardens, where twilight whispered through veils of flowering vines. Moonlight caressed the stone lanterns, and a soft breeze stirred the steam curling from the porcelain tea set she'd already arranged.
Bai sat with her legs folded neatly beneath her, hair loosely draped over one shoulder, dressed in seafoam green and white—simple, graceful, *intentional.*
Kai stepped into the lantern glow.
She looked up and smiled. "I was starting to think you'd ignore the note."
"Hard to ignore lily-scented ambushes."
She poured for him without a word. The tea was amber-colored and fragrant, tinged with plum blossom and wild ginger. When he took the first sip, the warmth sank into him like a truth he wasn't ready to name.
"So," Bai said softly, "how many people told you not to come?"
Kai chuckled. "Three. Yue didn't speak it, but her silence echoed. One sect elder made a joke about me managing a harem, and one junior disciple asked if I was selling love potions."
Bai's laugh was light, airy. "Did you consider saying yes?"
"I considered running away."
He watched her carefully, trying to decipher what moved behind her eyes. There was affection, yes. But more than that—*grace under control*. It unsettled him in a way even combat couldn't.
"You know this isn't about competition," Bai said at last. "Not truly."
"I know. But they've made it one."
"They?"
"The sect. The court. The city. Even the wind listens now, just to see who I smile at longest."
Bai nodded. "Then let me ask you something dangerous."
He raised a brow. "I'm listening."
"Will you ever look at me the way you look at her?"
The air stilled.
Kai didn't answer immediately. He let the weight of the question settle like dusk itself. The scent of the tea became sharper, almost bitter.
At last, he said, "I already do. Just not the way you want me to."
Bai's smile trembled, just slightly. She bowed her head and took a sip of her own cup. "Thank you. For not lying."
Kai reached across the low table and gently touched her hand.
"You've never needed to be second to anyone. Not even her. Not even me."
Her fingers curled beneath his, warm and shaking. "But I still want to be chosen."
His grip tightened. "And maybe you are. In ways I haven't learned how to name."
They sat in silence, held together by tension and comfort, the line between them drawn in something softer than longing but sharper than kindness.
Then, footsteps.
---
Lin Su arrived with the breeze, hair tied in a high tail, her sleeves rolled up, and her grin devil-mischievous.
"I thought I smelled jealousy and jasmine," she said, flopping down beside them without waiting for invitation.
Bai stiffened, but Kai exhaled with a low chuckle. "You're just in time to complicate things."
"Excellent. My favorite sport."
She reached for a cup and helped herself, ignoring the awkward quiet like it was an old friend.
"You two always talk like heartbreak is some kind of curse. You ever consider it's just another flavor of living?"
Kai raised a brow. "So what flavor are you offering tonight?"
Lin Su sipped, tilted her head. "Bittersweet. With a bite."
Bai glared. "You're enjoying this too much."
"I am. But not for the reasons you think." Lin Su turned to Kai. "Do you really think this ends with you choosing one of us?"
Kai frowned. "Doesn't it?"
Lin Su's voice dropped. "I don't want to be your only. I want to be your everything. I want all of you, all of her, all of Bai. One whole storm. Not one perfect corner."
Bai froze.
Kai stared.
And then Lin Su leaned back, smirking into her teacup. "Just imagine it. Not rivals. Not roles. Just one shared breath."
Kai's thoughts churned. He felt the World Eye stir within him, quiet but watching.
*When all hearts speak at once, the soul must decide which silence to break.*
He ran a hand through his hair and muttered, "I don't know what's more terrifying—war, or women who can bend qi with a smile."
Lin Su stood and dusted off her robe. "You'll thank me later."
She strolled off, leaving the scent of jasmine, fire, and mischief in her wake.
Bai rose soon after. "You should go. Yue's waiting. And I have wounds to bind… mostly my own."
Kai stood as well, pausing before he left.
"I didn't come here for answers, Bai. I came because I owed you the honesty."
She looked over her shoulder. "Then keep being honest. Even if it hurts."
He nodded and turned toward the path, the night full of half-truths and plum-sweet regrets.
---
**Later That Night**
Kai sat alone in his quarters. The moonlight traced long shadows over the stone. A scroll lay unopened beside his sword. A cup of cold tea waited on the sill.
The voices of the garden still echoed in his head—Bai's soft truths, Lin Su's wild vision, Yue's silence still ahead.
And all around it, the murmur of sect gossip grew.
*He has too many lovers.*
*He dishonors the path.*
*Even his sword would be jealous.*
But Kai Jin simply sat, calm beneath the weight.
He whispered aloud:
"I never asked for love. But maybe… it asked for me."
The World Eye opened behind his gaze—silent, shimmering, patient.
And the tea grew cold beneath the stars.
---
**\[To Be Continued in Chapter 69]**