The estate was oddly silent, save for the rustling of bamboo against the wind outside. Aurora sat stiffly at the low table, a porcelain cup cradled between her fingers. Steam curled upward in soft spirals from the surface of the tea, perfumed with wolfberry and osmanthus. Its warmth did nothing to steady the chill creeping through her spine.
Sebastian Xu sat opposite her, silent as ever. He hadn't spoken since their strange exchange earlier, as if speaking too much would break the veil of reality they both hung delicately between. He poured himself a second cup, his movements deliberate and steeped in ritual.
Aurora's mind twisted with conflict. What had he meant—'I served a woman who ruled the jade court'? Why had his voice trembled at the word burn?
And most of all, why did a part of her want to believe him?
As the tea touched her lips, the flavor was bitter with a sweet undertone, like memory infused in leaves. No sooner had she swallowed than the room wavered around her. The lantern light flickered unnaturally, and the floor beneath her feet seemed to ripple.
She tried to stand, but her body was slow, as if her limbs no longer belonged to her.
"Aurora?" Sebastian's voice pierced through her haze.
But it wasn't him she saw.
She was no longer in the tea room.
She was standing under moonlight, on a stone platform surrounded by water. Plum blossoms rained from above, and the sky burned gold with lanterns. Before her stood a woman in blood-red robes—hair adorned with a phoenix crown, eyes glowing with solemn power.
And across from her knelt a man in black armor, bowing so low his forehead touched the cold stone.
"You have guarded me for ten winters, Xu Chenyang," the woman said—her voice soft but tinged with sadness.
Sebastian. But not Sebastian.
"I will guard you for ten thousand more, my Queen," he whispered.
The vision trembled. The woman's hand extended, fingers stained with ink and something darker—blood.
She pressed a jade ring into the man's palm.
"If I fall… find me again. No matter the form I take. No matter the curse."
The image shattered like glass.
Aurora gasped as the vision receded. She was back in the tea room, her hand trembling around the teacup. Sweat clung to her brow, her breath ragged.
Sebastian was on his feet in an instant, reaching for her.
"What did you see?" he asked, not unkindly, but with an urgency that pierced straight into her ribs.
She stared at him, breathless. "I saw… a queen. Me. And you knelt before her. You called her your queen."
Silence fell like thunder between them.
Sebastian's jaw clenched. He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture so human it broke the illusion of his usual control.
"So it's true," he murmured, more to himself than to her.
Aurora's voice cracked. "What is true? What's happening to me?"
He turned away, staring out the window into the gardens, rain softly tapping on the paper screens.
"In another life," he said slowly, "you were Lin Qingli, last empress of the Jade Court. You died in fire, betrayed by those you trusted. I was your sworn protector. I failed you." His voice hollowed at the end. "And I've dreamed of your death for three hundred years."
Aurora pressed her hand to her chest, where a dull ache had begun to pulse—like a buried scream.
"But how could I be her?" she asked. "I don't remember being anyone but Aurora Lin. I was born in Boston. Raised in Beijing. I didn't believe in fate."
"You didn't have to believe in it," he said, finally facing her. "It believed in you."
She scoffed shakily. "That's not comforting."
"I didn't intend it to be," he said gently, sitting again. "I've spent lifetimes chasing the past. This is the first time it's come back to me in flesh."
She didn't know what to say. The memory—the vision—it hadn't been just a hallucination. It felt too… layered. Too heavy to be imagined. And the ring. The jade ring she found in the koi pond days ago. It had the same carved crest: a phoenix wrapped in flames.
"If this is real," she whispered, "why now? Why me again?"
He looked at her for a long time. "Because this time, you have the chance to break the curse."
Aurora froze. "What curse?"
Sebastian's eyes darkened. "Each time your soul returns, it dies before it finds peace. Always betrayed. Always alone. Unless the one who failed you can rewrite fate. That's why I recognized you the moment I saw your eyes."
The room felt suddenly too small. Aurora stood, pacing now.
"This is insanity," she muttered. "Magic? Curses? Past lives? I just wanted revenge on the people who destroyed me, not—"
"Not destiny?" Sebastian rose as well, voice calm. "It seems destiny has other plans."
A long pause stretched between them. Then—
Aurora turned to face him. "If I'm to believe this… then I need to find out who killed me. In this life. And maybe the last."
Sebastian gave a slight nod. "Then we begin with tea leaves… and blood."