"I should go, shouldn't I?"
It was three days after Shui last visited Kate. At first, he had the perfect excuse of giving her time to sort things out, but now he was worried that he was just getting scared. The opening of the Spirit Nest was fast approaching and although he made plans with that man, he still wanted to talk with Kate about it.
'That's right, if it's been revealed then hiding will only make it worse, and if it hasn't then there's no point in shying away.'
Shui felt ready to face Kate again but he was well-aware of how easy his determination would weaken, so without waiting for himself to fully convinced, he started his journey to Kate's house. But he didn't know that someone else had reached out to her before he did.
Just as she got up for morning training, Kate received an invite from her senior disciple. Though all direct disciples could be considered seniors to core disciples, she was the only one who Kate considered worthy of respect since she took care of her ever since she entered the sect. Even when she was still an inner sect disciple while Kate was in Storm Court.
'Still, I'm no good at dealing with her so I hope this doesn't take long.'
Kate couldn't pinpoint the reason why, but she felt like she was being stared at by a predator every time she was in front of this senior. And the encourage she always had with her didn't help. Still, it would be rude to refuse her invitation without a proper reason so Kate reluctantly followed the maid that came for her.
"I've brought your guest, mistress." said the maid as she politely bowed to the dignified beauty in front of her.
"Well done, Mary. It's been some time, hasn't it Kate?"
"Didn't we meet about a week ago, Senior Sister Kasia?"
Kasia welcomed her at the entrance to her residence with only two maids, a little less than usual. Unlike when she was outside of Storm Court, Kate wore a faint smile while greeting Kasia as otherwise Kasia would point out the fact that she wasn't smiling. And that would make this meeting even more stressful for her.
"Exactly, to not see you for a week was almost too much for me. Although I don't want you to feel pressured, are you sure you don't want to move in with me?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
They would meet each other every week or so, making this opening conversation a regular event. Kasia would ask her to move in while Kate would politely refuse. Kate could barely keep up a smile when they first started their weekly tea parties, but now her expression didn't show any change from Kasia's remarks.
Once the greetings were done Kasia led Kate to her bedroom where they would talk over tea for just the two of them. The room itself was rather simple compared with the way Kasia normally carried herself, but for some reason the simple light pink design only made it seem more dangerous. As if this calming atmosphere was only a trap for the naïve. Kate used to feel uncomfortable being in this room, alone with her, but now she had overcome that.
"So, has anything happened since we last met?"
With a sweet scent rising from their hot teacups, Kasia asked the same question as last week, but this time Kate had an answer ready.
"Yes, I met Shui again."
Unlike when she was in front of her friends, Kate acted very calm before Kasia. However, the slight tremors of her hands betrayed her serene expression.
"Ah yes, the close friend you mentioned when I entered Storm Court. Honestly, I thought you were exaggerating his talents but when I heard the rumours and met him in person I was shocked to realise how on point your praise was."
Kate was embarrassed when Kasia brought up how she used to extol Shui's abilities when she was still relatively new to the sect, but certain terms that reached her ears weren't things she could ignore.
"Um, rumours?"
"Yes, didn't you hear about the things he did in the inner sect?"
Only now when Kasia brought it up did Kate realise that Shui had to have entered the sect through normal methods since the sect wouldn't send an elder to pick people from the three clans anymore.
'I wonder what he did?'
She was naturally excited to hear about Shui's latest achievements but a murky feeling also entered her heart. The feeling told her not to look into it any more, but her excitement made her ignore it.
"No, could you tell me?"
And as she used her excitement to push back the murky feeling, she couldn't recognize the cunning in Kasia's eyes.
"Sure. As you know, for the standard disciple selection, there are a series of basic tests that candidates must pass. In the first test he got a black pass, in the second one he showed his strong rainbow affinity and in the final one he was indisputably first."
"Wow! What else, what else?!"
The feeling that she was getting closer to an answer she didn't want to hear was staring to rear its head, but Kate forced it down with her excitement; intentionally trying to look away from it.
"Well, this from my personal sources but apparently he was put in a house with arrogant sons of inner sect elders, but he somehow managed to make all of them into his lackeys."
"Mhmm, mhmm!"
"And during the core disciple selection, though he came fourth, everyone says that he would have definitely come first if he kept fighting."
"Woah! And, and!"
This was the first time Kasia had ever seen Kate be this excited about something. However, in addition to her bright smile like that of a child, Kasia could also see the fear and anxiety trapped inside her.
'Aww, I feel so guilty. I'll have to make it up to her afterwards.'
Kasia felt sorry for Kate, but she didn't hesitate.
"Oh, and I've also heard that he's grown to be quite the ladies' man."
"...Huh?"
The excitement that Kate used as a shield finally cracked, but Kasia continued.
"Yes, apparently on the day he was officially made a core disciple, a certain woman went up and shared a deep kiss with him."
"St-stop..."
"And then I heard that when she tried to back off, he pulled her back and initiated another long kiss."
"P,p,please..."
"Apparently her name was-"
Interrupting Kasia was the sound of Kate suddenly standing up from her chair with her head lowered.
"Sorry, I don't feel well. I'll go back now."
"Oh, then I suppose it can't be helped. Should I have someone escort you?"
"No, I'll be fine."
As she watched Kate's back as she walked to the door, a faint smile appeared on Kasia's face.
'I wonder, how will you handle this? It should be quite the show.'
Meanwhile, Shui was practicing his martial arts forms in the forest near Kate's house. He had considered leaving when he saw that Kate wasn't here, but it was easier to convince himself to stay than it was to come. However, he didn't want to be a mass of anxiety and worry while waiting, so he started training. It had been quite some time since he last checked his form but it was still like a fascinating dance. Even though he wasn't putting any power into his moves, the wind, plants and small critters would still move to match him. While in this state he fell into a trance, and so his range of detection had significantly decreased though it increased in sensitivity, allowing Kate to catch him without him noticing.
Even to her he looked beautiful, but there was still a harsh crushing pain in her chest as she looked at him. Unable to watch for much longer, she tried to leave but-
*snap*
"Who?"