“Do you think he’ll be avaible?” I asked Lo after a moment of thought, the weight of curiosity still pressing on me.

  She checked her trusty tablet, her fingers gliding over the surface with ease, and nodded. “Yes, the ceremony is over.”

  “Let’s call him, then...” I said, barely finishing my sentence before Jerry, the best AI to ever exist, already patched through the call.

  It didn’t take long before Kai’s serene face appeared on the holo-s. “Ah, good.” He smiled, kind of knowing smile. “Thank you for reag out. I shall host a tea in room forty-six. Please, join us—excellent tea, like the m dew, is best enjoyed in pany.”

  “Uhm… okay. Us?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Who else is part of this little tea party?

  Kai’s expression didn’t ge, but there was something enigmatic about the way his eyes twinkled. “Like the first bloom in spring, it’s a surprise—ued, yet iable.” And just like that, with a graceful nod, he ehe call before I could ask any more questions.

  I just want to go home and py Rimelion now. But I ’t… Soon.

  Soon.

  Now this Kai…

  “What the heck am I getting into?” I muttered mostly to myself, but Lo answered anyway.

  “The room is not that far away,” she said, but her tone had shifted—softer, almost mencholic.

  Is she… mad at me? I frowned and moved to sit o her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, Lady,” she said quickly, turning her head away.

  “e on, I tell something’s b you.” I tried to offer a reassuring smile, but in the bay mind, I still felt embarrassed about my earlier… mishap. No more flirting! She’s cute, but stay focused, Charlie.

  Focused.

  Lo let out a soft sigh, her eyes drifting upward, and a loving smile pyed on her lips. “I really enjoyed being a VIP assistant. This day was absolutely the best one in all my career.”

  I bliaken aback by her ued answer. “That’s… not a bad thing, right? You’ve been amazing today. Holy, I don’t know what I would’ve dohout you. Probably something dumb. Let’s be real.”

  She giggled, the sound light and genuine, but it didn’t quite chase away the lingering sadness in her expression. “It’s just… I don’t want it to end. Tomorrow, it’s back tur life. No VIPs, is, just… normal assigs.”

  Ah.

  That hit harder than I expected. I shuffled closer a bit, gng at her. “Lo, you’ve been more than just an assistant today. You kept everything running smoothly, dealt with my nonsense, and somehow kept smiling through all of it. You’re not going back to ‘just normal.’ If anything, you’re ready for something bigger.”

  She bli me, clearly not expeg that. “You… really think so?”

  “Yes. I’m dirty poor, as you probably know. Riker owes me…” I waved my hand dismissively, as if brushing away a cloud of annoying gnats. “I still have that thousand gold debt in Rimelion to the inal Charlie… And… Sorry. Not important. This is about you.” I rying to steer myself ba track. “What I mean is that I could ask Riker for some better role in his pany? Maybe threaten him a bit?”

  Lo’s face turned a shade paler, her expression frozen somewhere betweeerror and abject horror, as though I’d just suggested she walk through the streets in nothing but her shoes. “No-Nope! Please, not! Mister Riker… He’s… I mean… I-I-I want it, but… not like… He would…”

  Her stammering was so painfully awkward that I had to fight the urge to just pull her into a reassuring hug right then and there.

  Instead, I forced myself to keep my tone light. “Look, Lo. You’re an amazing assistant. I’ll make sure he treats yht, okay? And if not, well, I’ll e and personally smae seo him. Deal?”

  She bli me, the tension in her shoulders easing just a bit as a giggle slipped out. “Deal.”

  “Alright then,” I said, pushing myself off the bed and giving my limbs a quick stretch. “Let’s go see what Kai wants. Probably something cryptivolving tea leaves ainy, but hey, free tea.”

  She stood up too, a faint smile lingering on her lips, the earlier ay fading away. “Yes, Lady. Let’s.”

  As we stepped out of the room and into the corridor, I couldn’t help but feel a strange mixture of anticipation and amusement at what y ahead.

  Instead of Rimelion, I’ll go… Ued, yet iable.

  Stupid Kai.

  When we reached the room, it wasn’t what I was expeg at all. One moment I was standing in a futuristic hallway with polished steel walls and glowing holo-ss bsting ads, and the , I stepped into what looked like a se pulled straight out of an a ese drama.

  I paused, blinked, and even took a step bato the hallway, just to make sure I hadn’t actally triggered some bizarre portal. Bandits were enough. ill modern tech out here.

  Ba.

  The tea room looked like a movie set painstakingly crafted by someone who obsessed over every tiail. Ornate wooden ss carved with intricate patterioned off the space. Red silk drapes hung from the ceiling.

  “Okay…” I said, as I noticed low wooden tables surrounded by cushioned floor mats embroidered with golden dragons. “This is... creepy?”

  “Ah, uests! Miss Charlie, and Miss Lo, I presume?” Kai greeted us, his voice calm and respectful, his hands folded in front of him as he gave a courteous bow. “This was used in previous vention, and mister Riker allowed me to stay here in the oasis of ess.”

  He was still dressed in the same traditional ese attire from earlier, his calm demeanor making it seem like he hadn’t just fought a brutal duel with me.

  I returhe bow, albeit a little awkwardly, and gnced around the room again, taking in the seremosphere. “Where’s the us part?” I asked, sing the room. “I thought there’d be a Riker here, but nothing’s blinding me.”

  Kai let out a polite ugh, the kind that didn’t quite reach his eyes but still felt oddly f. He gestured for us to enter further. “No, not Mister Riker. Ian, your friend.”

  What?

  I froze mid-step, blinking as though that might somehow clear away the ued name I’d just heard. “Ian…? I mean, of all the people you could invite, Ian wasly on my list of likely didates.”

  I’m a terrible friend, I sometimes fet he exists…

  Just as I processed the he door to a ba slid open, and out walked Ian, his expression sharp and bitter, like he’d been stewing in vinegar since I st saw him. “Of course not,” he said, eyes narrowing as they locked onto me. “Why would you ever expect me?”

  “Bèn Dàn,” Kai said, his tone calm, yet with the weight that made the air feel heavier. It wasn’t annoyed, but it carried an authority. “You let anger cloud your vision, like mud stirred in a clear pond. A swuided by rage cuts not the enemy, but oneself.”

  Ian’s jaw tightened, his hands g briefly before he exhaled and lowered himself onto the mat. “Yes, Master,” he muttered, though the flicker of defian his eyes was far from extinguished. Whatever this dynamic was, it was tense, charged.

  ly the cozy tea party I had in mind.

  Kai’s serene smile returned, undisturbed by Ian’s obvious frustratiouroward us with a graceful gesture, motioning for us to sit. “Please, join us.”

  “It’s okay,” Lo whispered from her spot he door, clearly unfortable with the tension in the room. Her hand clutched her tablet like it was a shield against the awkward energy.

  “Please, miss,” Kai said gently, his voice soothing. “Join us for tea. Guests, like blossoms on a branch, briy when gathered together.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Lo but gave her an encing nod. She hesitated for a moment, then finally moved to sit beside me, pg her tablet carefully oable like it might explode if handled improperly.

  I lowered myself onto the mat, the cushioh me surprisingly soft, but my attention was elsewhere—on Ian, who sat rigid, still gring at me as if I’d ruined his life. I shifted slightly, unfortable under his stare.

  What the hell is going on? Did I do something?

  I mean, sure, I’ve annoyed Iay of times before, but this level of hostility? Feels… personal.

  More personal than usual.

  Kai poured tea with precise, practiced movements, the quiet king of por someholifying the tension. Steam rose from the delicate cups, carrying the faint st of herbs and flowers. It should’ve been calming, but sitting across from Ia more like being in the crosshairs of a sniper.

  I accepted the cup Kai offered, fingers brushing the warm surface as I g Ian again. “So,” I said, trying for something casual, “is this the part where someone expins why it feels like I walked into a dramatic martial arts movie mid-climax?”

  Without answering, Kai took a long, deliberate inhale of his tea and closed eyes to enjoy it.

  Fiy this game.

  So I joined him, ahe st of jasmine mingling with something more herbal—mint, maybe.

  Waiting.

  He nodded, as if the aroma had firmed some aruth. “Yes,” he said with that same serene air. “I carry the wisdom of our forefathers and their sword style, like a river carries the memory of the mountain’s path. Ian has joined my school and shows brilliant talent, yet his mind drifts—like a leaf caught in a restless wind. It’s—”

  “Master…” Ian interrupted, grumbling, his posture stiffening uhe weight of Kai’s scrutiny.

  Kai’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, his voice losing its gentle edge and gaining the weight of a barman-induced and. “Bèn Dàn, only an old woman schemes behind others’ backs. In our school, we face danger head-on, like the eagle that flies into the storm, not away from it.”

  Ian ched his jaw, muttering something under his breath that I didn’t catch, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t about to sit here a him brood in silence while I pyed the part of the vilin in his internal melodrama.

  “Am I the danger?” I asked, my tone sharp but trolled as I leveled a steady gaze at him. “Since I ged my gender, I somehow… threaten you?”

  Lo gasped audibly, nearly spilliea. “You did—what?”

  Her eyes widened, blinking rapidly as if processing a math equation she wasn’t prepared for. Then, as if recalling something, her entire face turned crimson, and she raised her cup to her face like a makeshift shield, clearly wanting to disappear behind it.

  Ian’s rea was entirely different.

  He scoffed, a bitter sound that grated on my nerves. “It’s not about that,” he said, his voice dripping with derision. “You’ve always been a problem, even before you… ged. You waltz in, act like you’re better than everyone, and somehow, people just… follow you.”

  He gestured vaguely, as if trying to articute something intangible. “Even now, look at this—Riker’s hyping you up, Kai’s praising you, and I’m supposed to sit here and pretend that’s fine?”

  I pced my cup down carefully; the por king softly against the cquered table. “Let me get this straight, my friend,” I said, my voice steady but full of sarcasm. “You’re mad because people like me? That’s the big issue here? Not my skills, not my decisions, just the fact that, somehow, I’m better at something?”

  Ian’s jaw worked silently for a moment, clearly trying to find a retort, but Kai cut in before he could speak.

  “Bèn Dàn, envy is a fme that burns the hand that holds it.” Kai’s voice was calm, but there was a finality to it, like the closing of a book. “Miss Charlie did not choose this path lightly. Like the bamboo, she bends but does not break. You would do well to learn from her strength, not resent it.”

  Ian scowled but said nothing, his frustration simmerih the surface.

  I blinked, surprised by his outburst.

  This wasn’t just about the tour or some petty rivalry. There was something deeper—something that had clearly beeering for a long time. I shifted my gaze to Kai, who remained perfectly calm, sipping his tea as though we were discussing if the whiskey gss was half full or empty.

  Meanwhile, Lo, still red-faced and clutg her cup like a lifeline, whispered to me, “I… didn’t know that about you. Sorry…” She looked like she wao sink into the floor.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered, giving her a reassuring smile before turning back to Ian, my expression hardening. “e on, Ia’s talk about this. What’s the problem?”

  “Problem? You are the problem!” he snapped, his voice rising before he caught himself gng at Kai out of respect. He lowered his to didn’t lose the edge. “How long have you known her?” He poi Lo, his finger practically trembling with frustration. “Sihis m?”

  her of us responded, and he scoffed, a bitter sound that echoed in the quiet room. “Thought so. You always get everything hao you—everything—without ever putting in real work.”

  “You, Ian, have no idea.” I couldn’t hold my emotions. “None. Just because you didn’t see me struggle doesn’t mean I didn’t. I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am.”

  His eyes narrowed, lips pressing into a thin line. “Oh really? And what about now? You just show up here, and suddenly everyone’s bending over backwards for you. Riker. Kai. Even her.” He gestured to Lo, who flinched slightly. “You don’t even have to try. People just... flock to you. That’s why I took the quest from Irwen.”

  “You did what?!”