Yao Yao sat slumped at the table, arms hanging limply at her sides. The untouched toast beside her sat as a forgotten casualty of her spiraling thoughts. Boredom crept in, and she felt restlessness stir within her.
"Fine," she grumbled, sliding off the chair with a soft squelch. "If I'm destined to be the tragic heroine of a failed summoning, I might as well look the part."
She stretched her arms high, loosening the stiffness in her limbs, before letting her eyes wander the room. They landed on the bookshelf tucked against the far wall, its rows of neat, untouched books staring back at her.
Yao Yao approached the shelf and ran her fingers over the spines. Most of the books were large, gold-embossed volumes, clearly meant more for display than for reading. She sighed, mildly disappointed, until a smaller book caught her eye. Sandwiched between two thick tomes, its cover was worn, curling at the edges, and a faded sketch of what appeared to be a winged creature decorated the corner.
Intrigued, she pulled it free and flipped it open.
"Spirit folklore… Magic creatures…" she read aloud to herself.
It wasn't much, but at least it was something to distract her from the endless spiral of thoughts.
Yao Yao collapsed into the window seat, curling her legs beneath her with the book resting on her lap. She opened it and found the pages filled with strange symbols. But oddly, the words seemed to make sense to her. Not in the way one reads, but in the way one understands.
She traced her finger over the symbols, her lips moving silently as she read, frowning at a passage about a fox spirit who accidentally married a goose. "Seriously?"
Time slipped by unnoticed. The sun had already climbed high overhead, casting a warm glow across the room.
So caught up in the absurdity of the tale, she almost didn't hear the knock at the door.
"Come in," she muttered absently, still focused on the fox's plight.
"Yao Yao."
Her heart skipped.
"Big brother?"
Shang Jun stepped into the room, looking the same as ever, but with an air of faint tiredness.
"I asked for permission to visit," he said softly, closing the door behind him. His gaze swept over her, then lingered on the book resting in her lap.
"Yao Yao," he began slowly, "you can read?"
Yao Yao froze, feeling like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Oh no. I'm five again… an abandoned child. I'm supposed to be chewing on books, not reading them!
Stupid reincarnation cheat code!
"Uh… Su Mi taught me a few things!" she blurted, her words tumbling out in a rush.
Shang Jun raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. "Su Mi?"
"Uh-huh!" Yao Yao nodded vigorously. "She's actually really clever."
Shang Jun glanced at the book filled with spirit scripts, then back at her flushed face, the corners of his mouth twitching.
"Hm."
Yao Yao tightened her grip on the book, trying to look as innocent as possible—or at least semi-illiterate.
Shang Jun watched her for a moment, his expression softening as his mind drifted back in time to a quiet afternoon by the Elisie Fountain. He had been twelve then, restless, Yao Yao still a tiny toddler toddling after him.
He recalled kneeling beside her, reading aloud from a thick book of old spirit tales. He stumbled upon an unfamiliar word written in spirit script. Unsure, he hesitated, but before he could stop her, little Yao Yao leaned forward, peering at the page, and read it.
"Erl'thetrin," she had chirped, gently tapping the curling letters with her small finger.
He had been surprised back then but dismissed it, thinking she was simply mimicking him. Now, looking at her again, the unease in his chest stirred.
Something in his gut made him question—was it really just a coincidence?
As if tugged by an unseen force, he repeated the same word softly, almost to himself. "…Erl'thetrin."
Yao Yao blinked innocently, tilting her head. "A turtle?"
The air went still.
Then—
Shang Jun burst out laughing.
"…Close enough," he said with a grin. "Somehow, I expected that."
"What turtle?"
"Not turtle. It's Erl'thetrin…" He paused, eyeing her with amusement.
Yao Yao squinted, suspicious. "That wasn't a real word, was it?"
"It is," he replied, his grin widening. "Though I'm starting to doubt I even said it right."
He sighed softly, sitting down beside her, a moment of contemplation passing through his eyes. "Maybe I'm overthinking," he murmured more to himself than to her.
"Huh?"
"Nothing," he said with a dismissive wave. He shifted closer, his tone turning serious. "Actually, I came to tell you something."
Yao Yao raised an eyebrow, smirking. "If it's bad news, I'm screaming."
A faint smile tugged at the corners of Shang Jun's lips, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "The closed council has just concluded. The King called together all the major houses to address what happened."
Her smirk vanished instantly.
"It wasn't all bad," he continued, his voice steady. "Some believe the portal reacted unusually due to the summoning array. Others suggest interference, maybe even external tampering."
"Wait… Are they saying it wasn't my fault?"
His silence said otherwise.
Yao Yao frowned slightly, crossing her arms. "Say it."
He hesitated, then confessed, "There were… suggestions that our family manipulated you for a motive."
Her stomach sank. The word hit her like a stone.
Manipulate?
Oh," she mumbled, her voice small.
Shang Jun leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "They think it's a political ploy... saying our house wanted to interfere with summoning, or to test something forbidden."
Yao Yao exhaled. "Well, they're mistaken. I entered by my own choice."
"I know," he said quietly. "But the truth doesn't always matter. They'll twist it to fit their narrative."
She bit her lip, confused. "I don't understand. So, they think I'm being used?"
"Some of them."
"But it wasn't true! And I didn't even do anything," she whispered. "It just… happened."
"I know," Shang Jun said softly. "And I believe you. But not everyone will. Especially those looking for someone to blame."
Yao Yao went silent.
"The King has ordered an investigation. Quiet, for now. No official statements. The Court Mages are still examining the crystal."
She looked down at her lap. "Are they going to exile me? Or… magically erase me?"
Shang Jun gave her an amused look before laughing. "No one's erasing you."
"Are you sure?" Yao Yao's voice trembled slightly, brow furrowing in doubt.
"Yes, I'm sure," he replied firmly.
Shang Jun sighed deeply, the laughter fading from his face. "But the Crown Prince… had a different perspective."
Her eyes flickered up to meet his. "He said something?"
"He claimed it wasn't rejection," Shang Jun continued slowly, choosing his words carefully, "He said it was just… a different kind of resonance."
"Wait... he actually defended me?" Yao Yao asked, surprised.
"I wouldn't exactly call it 'defending'…" Shang Jun's voice trailed off, his thoughts lingering on the Crown Prince's unsettling words from that morning.
In his mind, he could still hear the Crown Prince's calm, unnerving voice.
"The portal didn't fail. It reacted. You all assume rejection, but what if it was resonance in a different form?"
Shang Jun frowned, replaying the words in his head.
"If she were spiritless, the portal would have stayed silent. It didn't. You all saw the light, and how the portal responded towards her."
The prince's last remark echoed in Shang Jun's mind: "The girl should try again."
A knot of unease tightened in his chest as he looked at Yao Yao. She seemed to be at the center of it all, and yet, something in Shang Jun's gut still warned him. He couldn't shake the feeling that the prince had his own motives and was after something more.
"Maybe he's just curious," Shang Jun suggested, pushing the unease aside.
"About what?"
"...You."
That one word hung in the air, heavier than it should have been. Shang Jun's fingers tightened at his side, his thoughts scattering in different directions.
Yao Yao tugged lightly on her sleeve, brow furrowed. "You've got that face."
"What face?" Shang Jun glanced over at her.
"The thinking-too-hard face," she said, nudging his arm. "Where your eyes go distant, but your mouth is probably going to say everything's fine."
Shang Jun gave her a faint smile. "Everything will be fine, Yao Yao."
"I don't believe you. You look all calm and serious on the outside, but inside you're probably planning ten backup plans and a strategic retreat."
"…That's very specific."
"Tell me I'm wrong," Yao Yao challenged.
Yao Yao was sure of it. He resembled her—the adult version, the one who wore a mask, hiding emotions and intentions deep within, keeping them out of reach.
Shang Jun didn't deny it. He just reached out, gently smoothing a stray lock of hair from her cheek. "Even if I am," he said softly, "it's only because I want to protect you."
Her cheeks turned just faintly pink.
"…That's not fair," she muttered. "You can't say nice things when I'm the one who got you into trouble."
"You didn't get me into trouble," he said.
"I did... I literally broke the portal."
"But maybe," Shang Jun said slowly, "it needed breaking." Truthfully, a part of him believed the system had been broken, long before Yao Yao even stood before that crystal.
She blinked, confused.
"There's something wrong with the system," he murmured. "Everyone treats it like it's sacred and untouchable. But it's flawed. It has been for a long time. And no one ever questions it."
He reached out and tapped her gently on the forehead. "You didn't follow the rules. You didn't even mean to. But still…you broke it. Just by being you."
Yao Yao glanced at him, then she mumbled, "You're making it very hard to keep feeling sorry for myself, you know."
Shang Jun smiled. "Good."