I stood outside for a moment, watching the last lights of the day fade over the curved rooftops of the complex.
The sky was turning orange and purple, colors I would have never noticed in my previous life. Too busy staring at screens, I suppose. Now, with this young body and old mind, I found a certain irony in appreciating sunsets.
Tomorrow will be complicated.
Far from pessimism, it was an honest evaluation. Xiao Yue had improved, yes, but private progress and public performance were completely different beasts. I had seen brilliant executives crumble during presentations because the pressure paralyzed them.
I walked back toward my room, but my legs led me first to the pavilion kitchen. Liling was there, preparing tea with automatic movements. Her expression had lost its usual cheerfulness.
"Are you worried?" I asked from the entrance.
She looked up, startled.
"Kenji. I thought you had already gone to rest."
"I wanted to make sure everything was in order before tomorrow."
Liling let out a sigh and leaned against the prep table.
"The Young Mistress hasn't eaten well tonight. She barely touched her dinner."
"Nerves affect the appetite. It's normal."
"What worries me is that..." Liling searched for the right words. "She closes up. Like a turtle hiding in its shell."
The metaphor was appropriate. I had observed that pattern in Xiao Yue: when she faced emotional threats, her response was to withdraw, becoming colder and more distant.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" I said, sitting on one of the kitchen stools.
Liling arched an eyebrow. "Depends on how personal it is."
"What was the Young Mistress like before her mother died?"
Silence stretched between us. Liling stopped preparing the tea and looked at me with an expression of nostalgia.
"She was... different. She spoke to the servants without being asked first. Once, when she was eight years old, she organized a paper boat race in the garden pond. She invited all the children of the servants." Liling smiled faintly. "I won, by the way."
"And after?"
"Afterward, everything changed. The Clan Master locked himself in his grief. The Elders stopped paying attention to her. Her brothers..." Liling's voice hardened, "her brothers started treating her as if she were invisible. Or worse, like a nuisance."
"And no one did anything?"
"Matriarch Feng tried. But even she has political limits." Liling finished pouring the tea and offered me a cup. "Why are you asking this now?"
I accepted the cup and took a sip before responding.
"Because tomorrow, the Young Mistress won't just face an instructor who belittles her. She will face everyone who has underestimated her for years. If we want to help her, we need to understand what she is really fighting against."
Liling studied me with those beautiful, large, and expressive eyes.
"Sometimes you talk as if you were a hundred years old, Kenji."
"Let's just say I've seen many similar situations."
"In your previous life? The one you never fully explain."
Dangerous territory. But Liling had been honest with me from the start. I owed her some truth in return.
"In my previous job, I worked with people under a lot of pressure. I learned that the fear of public failure can destroy even the most talented."
"And what is the solution?"
"Change the perspective. Stop seeing the situation as a threat and start seeing it as information."
"Sounds easy when you say it like that."
"It's not easy. But it is possible."
Liling finished her tea in silence. Then, in a softer voice, she said:
"Kenji, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure."
"Tomorrow, during the training... could you be there? I know servants don't usually attend, but..." she hesitated. "The Young Mistress feels calmer when you are around. I think your pragmatism and your habit of seeing benefits where everyone else sees problems gives her a bit of security... although she would never admit it."
I didn't expect that request. My official role was to serve meals and observe private training. Appearing at a public session would be a declaration of something I still didn't know how to define.
"How exactly would that work?"
"I can get access for both of us. Officially, we would be there as assistance. Water, towels, that sort of thing."
"And unofficially?"
Liling smiled, but there was something serious in her expression.
"Unofficially, we would be her team. The people who believe in her when no one else does. We would be her cheerleaders."
It was a risky proposal. If Xiao Yue failed tomorrow, associating myself publicly with her could affect my position. But if she triumphed...
Since when do I care so much about the outcome?
The question took me by surprise. In my previous life, every decision was based on calculated benefit. Now, sitting in this kitchen with an assassin disguised as a servant, I was considering taking a risk for someone I had known for only a short time.
"I'll be there," I said finally.
Liling nodded, clearly relieved.
"Thank you, Kenji. And now, you should rest. Tomorrow will be a long day."
I got up to leave but stopped at the door.
"Liling."
"Yes?"
"You should rest too. The Young Mistress will need you in top condition."
She laughed softly. "Look who's talking. The boy who reads all night and then pretends he slept well."
Caught.
"Goodnight, Liling."
"Goodnight, Kenji."
*****
I didn't sleep well that night. My mind wouldn't stop working.
I sat by my bedroom window, watching the moon rise over the complex rooftops. In my previous life, I spent sleepless nights reviewing reports or answering emails. Now, without screens or technology, all I had left was thinking.
Xiao Yue's problem is psychological.
I had identified the flaws in her form, corrected the problematic transition, and found techniques more compatible with her nature. But none of that would matter if she walked onto the training grounds tomorrow with the mindset of a defeated person.
How do you change a mentality built during years of neglect?
In the corporate world, the answer would have been simple: intensive coaching, positive visualization sessions, clear incentives. But here I had none of those tools. I only had words and the little time remaining before dawn.
I lay back on the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling.
Kenji, you are investing too much in this situation.
It was true. From a cold perspective, my job was to serve tea and observe. I had no obligation to worry about my employer's emotional state or her performance in public training; I should simply seek personal benefit and climb the ladder.
But that cold perspective was precisely what had killed me in my previous life. Eighteen hours a day of efficiency without purpose. A perfect system without a soul.
Perhaps there was something valuable in caring about someone beyond the results.
Or perhaps I'm just getting soft.
With that uncomfortable thought, I finally closed my eyes.
*****
Dawn came far too soon.
I woke up with the first rays of sun filtering through the window. My body protested the lack of sleep, but I ignored the complaints. There was work to be done.
I dressed in the new clothes Xiao Yue had given me. If I was going to be present for her moment of trial, I should at least look presentable.
When I arrived at the pavilion, Liling was already preparing breakfast. Her movements were efficient but tense.
"Did the Young Mistress sleep?" I asked.
"A few hours. I saw light in her room until very late; she was studying the scrolls."
"The new ones?"
"Yes. Although I don't understand how she plans to use them if she barely reviewed them."
"She isn't going to use them," I said, starting to help with the preparations. "But understanding them will give her confidence. She'll know she has options, that the current path isn't the only one possible."
Liling glanced at me while she chopped vegetables.
"Do you always think everything so far ahead?"
"It's a professional defect."
"It doesn't sound like a defect."
"It is when you can't turn your mind off even to sleep."
She nodded with understanding. "I have the same problem. But in my case, it's because I'm always evaluating threats."
"The bodyguard who never rests."
"And the consultant who never stops analyzing," Liling completed with a smile. "We make a good team."
We finished preparing breakfast in a companionable silence. When Xiao Yue appeared in the dining room, we both immediately noticed the change in her posture.
She was tense. Her shoulders, usually relaxed in the privacy of the pavilion, now showed a rigidity that spoke of sleepless nights and unresolved worries. But there was something else in her expression. Determination, perhaps. Or resignation disguised as strength.
"Good morning, Young Mistress," Liling said in her most cheerful tone.
"Good morning."
Xiao Yue sat down and looked at the breakfast. She didn't make a comment, but her eyes lingered briefly on me.
"Kenji."
"Young Mistress."
"Liling told me you will be present today. At the training."
Direct as always.
"If the Young Mistress allows it."
"I allow it." She picked up her chopsticks and began to eat with precise but unenthusiastic movements. "Though I don't understand why you would want to witness what will likely be a disaster."
"With all due respect, Young Mistress, I don't share that evaluation."
She stopped eating and looked directly at me. Her golden eyes had that intensity that still unsettled me.
"And what is your evaluation?"
"That today will be difficult. That Master Wei will likely criticize you regardless of what you do. That some disciples will look at you with contempt." I made a deliberate pause. "But I also believe you have improved more in the last few weeks than in the previous months. And that is a fact, not an opinion."
Xiao Yue remained silent for a long moment.
"You are strange, Kenji."
"I am told that frequently."
"Not as an insult. It's just that..." she searched for the words, "no one else talks to me like that. No flattery or condescension. Just... the truth."
"The truth is more useful than comfort."
"Perhaps. But it is also rarer."
Liling, who had been observing the exchange from her position by the door, intervened softly.
"Young Mistress, you should finish your breakfast. Training begins in two hours."
Xiao Yue nodded and returned to her food. But before I could withdraw, she spoke again.
"Kenji."
"Yes, Young Mistress?"
"Thank you. For being here."
I didn't know what to say to that. So I simply nodded and left with Liling. Once outside the dining room, Liling gave me a soft nudge with her elbow.
"That was almost emotional."
"It was a normal conversation."
"For you, maybe. For the Young Mistress, it was practically a declaration of affection."
Exaggerated as always.
"What time do we need to be at the main courtyard?"
"In an hour. We have time to prepare everything."
*****
The main courtyard of the Silver Cloud Clan was impressive in its scale.
It was a rectangular space the size of three football fields, surrounded by stone bleachers where spectators could observe. In the center was a training area marked with white paint lines. To one side was a raised platform where the instructors supervised the sessions.
When Liling and I arrived with our official supplies, the place was already filling with disciples. Blue, green, and occasionally silver robes mixed in a sea of visual hierarchies.
"Many disciples," I observed.
"Mandatory training attracts everyone. No one wants to be seen as someone who avoids group sessions."
We found a discreet position near one of the columns bordering the courtyard. From there, we could see everything without drawing too much attention.
The disciples organized themselves into groups according to their level. Those in blue robes, the most numerous, occupied the largest section. The green ones, notably fewer, formed more orderly rows toward the center. The silver ones, barely a few dozen, kept themselves apart with that characteristic arrogance of those who know they are above the rest.
"Where will the Young Mistress be located?" I asked.
"With those of her official level. Sixth level of Foundation Establishment." Liling pointed toward a group of blue-robed disciples. "There."
I observed the group. Most were young people between eighteen and twenty-five. Some spoke among themselves with confidence. Others remained in silence, clearly nervous.
"Are any of them problematic?"
"Lin Chen," Liling indicated with a subtle tilt of her head toward a young man with an arrogant posture. "He has connections and an ego the size of the complex. There's also Zhou Mei," she pointed to a young woman with a serious expression, "the Young Mistress's direct competitor. They've had... unpleasant encounters in the past."
Internal competition and personal rivalries. Typical of any organization.
It was then that Xiao Yue appeared.
She walked alone toward the training area. Her gray and white robe was simpler than those of other disciples, but her posture was impeccable. Back straight, measured steps, neutral expression.
She doesn't look nervous. But she doesn't look confident either.
Several disciples looked at her as she passed. Some with curiosity, others with poorly disguised contempt. Lin Chen whispered something to his companions that elicited muffled laughter.
Xiao Yue ignored them completely and took her position in the group for her level.
"She's doing well," Liling whispered. "The Young Mistress hates being the center of attention, but when she has no choice, she knows how to fake indifference."
Fake. That was the keyword. On the outside, Xiao Yue seemed serene. But I had learned to read her small gestures. The way her fingers tensed slightly. The barely accelerated rhythm of her breathing.
She is scared. But she is here anyway.
A gong resonated through the courtyard, announcing the official start of the session.
And then Master Wei appeared.
*****
Author's Note:
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