Chapter 66: Petals in the Wind

Chapter 66: Petals in the Wind

Point of View: Yue Zhu

The morning air carried the faint fragrance of jasmine and rain-washed stone. The palace gardens were silent save for the occasional chirp of a sparrow darting between the willow branches. Yue Zhu knelt in stillness beneath the canopy of a blooming plum tree, its blossoms shedding soft pink petals across the polished stones of the meditation yard.

Each breath she took was deliberate—measured. But no matter how deeply she inhaled, peace refused to settle.

Her eyes remained closed, her hands folded over her knees. She had woken with a calm heart. But calm shattered the moment she overheard two handmaidens whispering just beyond the screen doors: Bai Ru had been seen leaving Kai Jin's chambers the night before.

She did not rise in fury.

She waited.

Bai Ru arrived minutes later, her robe of pale lavender fluttering at the hem, hair pulled into a loose braid. There was no guilt in her stride. Only a quiet grace that Yue could never hate, but could never ignore either.

"May I sit?" Bai asked gently.

Yue's eyes opened. "You already have."

Bai settled opposite her in the stone garden, the plum blossoms continuing their quiet descent between them.

The silence held for several heartbeats.

Then Yue spoke, her voice soft, but laced with steel. "I don't believe in pretending we are not rivals."

Bai's gaze did not waver. "Neither do I."

"I heard you went to him last night."

"I did."

Yue's lips curved upward—not into a smile, but something closer to sadness. "Did you lie beside him?"

"No." Bai's tone remained level. "But I wanted to."

Yue nodded slowly. "Then we're at war. A gentle one, perhaps, but still a war."

Bai tilted her head, eyes thoughtful. "I don't want to hurt you, Yue. But I won't stop either."

"I wouldn't respect you if you did."

Wind stirred the blossoms around them, a silent storm of pink and white petals falling across their shoulders. The sun filtered through the branches like spears of gold.

Bai's eyes softened. "What will you do?"

"I'll stay where I've always stood," Yue answered. "At his side. And when he reaches for someone in the dark… I'll be the one whose hand is already there."

From the pavilion steps, Kai Jin watched, unnoticed. He had arrived during the exchange but remained silent beneath the overhang, arms folded, heart uneasy.

They speak of love like it's a war. But I never wanted casualties.

Inside him, the World Eye stirred, its whisper threading into his thoughts.

Two petals fall. One clings to the branch, the other to the earth. But the wind favors neither. Only the root remembers.

Kai exhaled slowly and stepped back into the shadows.

Across the courtyard, Lin Su watched with quiet amusement from a second-story railing, legs dangling off the ledge, a peach in one hand.

"They're so serious," she muttered to herself with a soft smile. "It's almost romantic. If they knew what I wanted… they'd probably stop breathing."

She took a bite of the peach, juice running down her fingers, and let her demon mark pulse lazily beneath the collar of her robe.

"I don't want to win," she said aloud, to no one. "I want all of us. One mess. One tangle. One night."

Then she laughed, brushing her fingers clean.

The wind picked up once more, scattering plum blossoms into the sky.

⸻

[To Be Continued in Chapter 67]