Leng Jin Yu gazed at him, his own heart hurting as well when he saw him like this. He had imagined that this would be difficult but … he hadn't thought that it would impact Jinde to this degree. It almost made him regret bringing it up. Especially since he couldn't give him full closure. He could only assure him that originally, Chun Yin had been serious about him. He couldn't say why that had changed though.
Leng Jin Yu lowered his head and took a deep breath. "When he was on the way back, somebody stepped into his path. Unfortunately, I couldn't see who it was. But this should've been the reason why he didn't return that day. And if he truly didn't come to see you for a whole week, then it might also be because of that person. Do you can you think of anybody in the Palace of would have an interest in making the two of you break up?"
Jinde looked at him blankly. "No. I wouldn't know why. I mean only somebody who also loved him should have wanted us to break us up, right? After all, there wouldn't have been anything else speaking against us being together.
"But even then, if he truly loved me, then he wouldn't have taken that seriously. The reason why he didn't deny marrying his wife was because he had a sense of honor and because he felt that there was no way for the two of us to be together. Before that … He never would have been driven away that easily. That's just not him. Chun Yin always did as he wanted. Especially in this case. There is no way he would have given up."
Leng Jin Yu furrowed his brows. What Jinde said made sense but he couldn't find any other explanation for that memory of his. "So you can't think of anybody that might have had enough influence on him to make him reconsider?"
Jinde shook his head. "No. The only one he ever listened to had been our Master and —" Jinde's expression turned blank as if he had just remembered something.
Leng Jin Yu didn't say anything and just gave him a moment to consider everything.
In the end, Jinde's hands clenched into fists and his body trembled slightly. "That … That can't be. Master …" He turned around, facing the lake. Even though he didn't say it, it was obvious that he had already found the answer.
"Why do you think he would've done this?" Leng Jin Yu didn't know too much about the dragon realm. Jinde had told him a few things but it was by far not enough to call it a deep understanding. In the human realm, martial brothers engaging in such a relationship wasn't a problem. Sometimes, people wouldn't like to see it if you studied under the same Master but it wasn't forbidden either. There would just be some more gossip. He wouldn't have thought that the dragons that seemed to be more open-minded in a lot of regards would be more strict in this matter. So if Jinde's Master had indeed been the one who made Chun Yin reconsider, then there should be another reason, shouldn't there? Or maybe he had gotten it wrong?
He didn't ask and Jinde didn't try to explain on his own accord either. He just stared at the lake for a while and then shook his head. "Thank you for telling me. I'll … I'll think about it for a while longer. Maybe I'll be able to come up with an explanation. Now, I should get inside."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. He went forward and wanted to kiss Jinde's cheek but before his lips could touch his skin, Jinde had already stepped forward and submerged himself in the water. He didn't even look back when he walked further in and then sat down at the bottom of the lake, closing his eyes and starting to meditate.
Leng Jin Yu sighed and then sat down at the edge of the lake, trying to push away those thoughts and cultivate. He couldn't leave here for the time being to do anything else and he felt that he should accompany his lover even if he couldn't help him at all.
After a while, Jinde's eyes cracked open and he glanced up, looking at the person outside of the water. He didn't know what to say. The thought that his Master had actually been the one to separate them the first time was unimaginable to him.
Well, in fact, the worst thing was that it wasn't actually unimaginable. If he was honest with himself, then maybe he should've known. His Master had made obvious more than once that he didn't like for the two of them to get too close. Unfortunately, even though Jinde could figure as much, he had no idea why that was the case.
Back then, the explanations he had gotten had been feeble at best but he had been too young to understand that. He had believed it and had felt bad. Because of that, he had refused to think about it any longer and just wanted to forget.
But now, he had enough experience to realize that this was utter nonsense. What hindering Chun Yin? What problem with his appearance? The dragons loved beauty! It wasn't like he had given the title of the greatest beauty of the dragon realm to himself. It had been his people who did so.
And if Chun Yin had become king and married him, nobody would have said anything. On the contrary, they probably would've believed that their king was deserving of having this kind of person at his side. It might be a little shallow but that was the truth.
So what exactly had his Master's reason been? Why his interference? Why the lies? Regardless of how much he thought about it, he just couldn't explain that to himself. But right now, he really wanted to know. Because even to this day, losing Chun Yin was still his biggest regret.