I pressed my advantage, softening my voice slightly to reveal a bit of my true feelings. "Father, you know Arya and I grew up together. We have been friends since childhood. An alliance based on that will be much stronger than one built on my sister's charms. You know this." I let a hint of vulnerability show in my eyes. "And you have seen how I feel about him. Please, Father. For the good of the family and for my own heart, I ask you to propose my name."
He stared at me for a long time, searching my face. He saw my iron resolve, my unshakeable determination, and beneath it all, the deep love I had always felt for the Chen family's genius. He had witnessed me watching Arya from afar for years, his heart aching for his quiet daughter. He let out a long sigh of resignation mixed with paternal affection.
"A cultivator's heart should be free of such attachments," he murmured, more to himself than to me. Then he looked at me, having made a decision. "But a true heart is stronger than any stone. Very well, Meira. I will send the proposal to the Chen Family for your marriage to their son."
Relief washed over me, almost buckling my knees. I had done it. I had changed the most critical event.
"Thank you, Father," I said, bowing deeply.
Later that day, after the formal proposal had been sent, an unbearable restlessness overtook me. I needed to see him. I needed to know he was real and alive, that this second chance wasn't some cruel dream. I made my way to the Chen Family Estate, a place I knew as well as my own home.
I found him in the central garden, standing under the ancient willow tree with his back to me. He looked just as I remembered, a young man on the brink of greatness, his family's pride shining around him like an aura. But he seemed troubled, carrying a weight on his shoulders that I recognized all too well.
I approached quietly. He turned, and our eyes met. "Arya," I said, my voice softer than I intended. I saw a lingering intensity in his gaze, a look of a man wrestling with a heavy burden. "Is everything alright? You look like you have a great weight on you."
My concern felt genuine; it was a reflex born from a lifetime of love.
He looked at me, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something new in his eyes, a sharpness that hadn't been there before. But then his expression softened. "Father just shared some heavy news about the family's situation," he replied evenly. "It's good to see a friendly face."
My heart skipped a beat. A friendly face. The Arya of my past had already begun to drift away, consumed by his own ambition. He was never unkind, but he had been distant. This Arya was different. He was really looking at me, and his warmth felt like the sun breaking through a lifetime of clouds. A faint blush touched my cheeks, and I quickly composed myself, chiding my own foolish heart.
Is this it? I thought, hope blooming within me. Did my actions in changing the proposal already alter fate? Is the Heavenly Dao itself giving me a sign?
"The Chen Family is strong," I said, my voice filled with a conviction that came from deep within. "And the Su Family will always stand with you. Don't forget that."
"I won't," he said, his gaze growing more intense, piercing through me. "I will not forget that."
The moment hung between us, charged with a meaning so profound I couldn't begin to understand it. It felt like a vow. He was seeing me. He was acknowledging me. It felt like he truly noticed me.
I gave him a small confused nod, my mind reeling from the encounter. I offered a polite farewell and left him alone under the willow tree.
As I walked away from the Chen Estate, my carefully maintained composure finally began to crumble. My heart was a mix of emotions. The rage and grief from my rebirth were still there, a simmering fire beneath the surface. But battling that inferno was a longing so powerful it made my knees weak.
Ten years. To my soul, it had been ten years since I had last seen him like this alive, his golden core full of power, and not shattered or broken. A decade of mortal life is a long time.
Every instinct, every fiber of my being that remembered a world of regret screamed at me to run back. To throw my arms around him, to hold him tight, to feel the warmth of his living body and assure myself this wasn't some cruel illusion created in my final moments. The urge to hug him was a physical pain, an ache that started in my chest and spread to my fingertips. I wanted to bury my face in his shoulder and weep for the lifetime I had lost, for the love I had failed to save.
But I held back, my nails digging into my palms. I had to. The man I just spoke to was the Arya of this life, a friend who had grown a bit distant, a young genius focused on his own path. If I acted on the desperation of a thirty year old soul, he might think I'd lost my mind. He would have pushed me away, and that fragile warmth I saw in his eyes might have vanished forever. No, I could not risk it.
So I walked on, forcing one foot in front of the other, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. That spark of hope was the soul-shaking relief of simply being able to see him again. The future was still a treacherous path, filled with the shadows of Jin Hao and my sister. But Arya was different. And seeing him alive and whole was a treasure I thought I had lost forever. It was a miracle that made all the pain of my past life worth bearing.
This time, I would not fail him.