The door closed behind Jun Kai with a firm, measured sound.
Silence followed.
Jin Yue remained standing in the center of the chamber for a long moment, as though unsure what to do with the space he had been left in.
Jun Kai's chamber did not resemble an imperial annex. It lacked the cold precision of courtly quarters. There was no oppressive luxury, no heavy incense clouding the air. Instead, it felt lived in.
A dark outer robe had been tossed carelessly over the carved wooden screen. A teacup rested half-finished on the low table, the steam long gone but the faint scent of tea still lingering. Jun Kai's sword leaned against the wall... not displayed ceremoniously, but set aside as though he had meant to return to it shortly.
The room felt unmistakably like him.
Bright. Direct. Slightly unpolished in small ways that rank could not refine away.
Jin Yue exhaled slowly.
