Back at Jin's quarters, Rui sat on the edge of a meditation cushion while Jin knelt stiffly on the floor, hands resting awkwardly on his thighs.
His face was still crimson, and he couldn't decide where to look, certainly not at her.
"So..." Rui began, idly twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.
Jin cleared his throat. "Yes…Princess… I owe you an apology. For my... conduct."
"Oh really? Which part?" Rui asked, a hint of mischief returning to her voice.
"The biting, the kissing, or the dramatic disrobing?"
Jin made a choked noise and buried his face in his hands.
The door creaked open. Kee Kee waddled in, arms piled high with what were clearly stolen temple offerings—dumplings, fruits, and sweet buns.
He dumped the food before them and flopped down, immediately stuffing a dumpling into his mouth.
"What?" he grumbled as they stared at him.
"Anyone else want stress snacks?" he mumbled around the bite.
Rui reached for a sweet bun without hesitation.
Jin shook his head, still avoiding eye contact.
"We need to talk about what happened," Rui said, her voice more serious now.
"The seal on your prayer beads is weakening."
She took a bite, then added, "And I think... my chaos energy might be making it worse."
Kee Kee swallowed his dumpling with a loud gulp. "Oh! Almost forgot."
He rummaged in the fluff of his fur and pulled out a small, weathered scroll bound with a red string. With a smug grin, he tossed it toward Rui.
"Found this on my way here. Thought it might be relevant."
Rui caught it mid-air and glanced at the faded title inked across the front:
"So You Accidentally Seduced a Monk: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Entanglements."
Her jaw dropped. "KEE KEE!"
In one swift motion, she grabbed Jin's only pillow and hurled it at the little demon.
He shrieked and ducked, skittering behind Jin like a smug gremlin.
"What? I am being helpful!" he cried, peeking out from behind Jin's robes.
Jin released a soundless sigh, his fingers trembling as he reached up and unclasped the prayer beads wrapped around his wrist.
With a solemn reverence, he placed them on the low table before them. The wooden beads clacked softly as they settled, forming a loose, imperfect circle.
One bead stood apart. A thin, jagged crack split across its polished surface, and a slow, pulsing red glow emerged from within it.
Rui leaned in, her eyes fixed on the pulsing crimson bead. The rhythmic glow was hypnotic, like a heartbeat.
"The crack means the seal is weakening," Jin continued, unable to look at her.
"These beads don't just help me meditate. They contain... something—a beast. The Rageborn Behemoth."
Kee Kee stopped mid-chew, dumpling half-raised to his mouth, a rare look of genuine concern crossing his tiny features.
"It was sealed inside me since childhood," Jin explained.
"But now, with the crack spreading, the Beast could resurface anytime.
"What happened earlier... that was just a taste of what it can do."
Jin stood slowly, rising from the cushion and moving to the small window.
"It's only a matter of time," he murmured.
"The seal is failing. And when it does… I don't know if I'll be able to stop it."
Outside, the monastery grounds shimmered under moonlight. A picture of serenity that mocked the storm stirring inside Jin.
"You know, I wasn't born into a holy lineage," he said quietly.
"My father was a warlord. Ruthless and feared across the Eastern Territories."
He turns to Rui, the light from the window casting half his face in shadow, the other catching the faint glint of pain in his eyes.
"When I was seven, his court mages captured the beast from a rival kingdom."
He paused. "They wanted to weaponize it. And to do that, they needed a living vessel."
His voice grew hollow. "I was the youngest son. Unimportant and disposable."
Rui's hand instinctively rose to cover her mouth.
"The sealing ritual worked. At first." Jin's fingers drifted toward the cracked prayer bead.
"The Beast was caged inside me. My father was pleased."
"He started training me, turning me into a living weapon. But I was just a child. I couldn't handle it."
He swallowed. "But I lost control during a sparring drill when I was ten."
"I remember there was fire, screaming, and the sky turned bright red."
"The Beast broke loose and burned everything in its path. The entire palace and city turned to ashes." Jin's eyes went distant.
"Everyone I ever knew—my family, the guards, even the innocent villagers were all gone instantly."
A long, breathless silence filled the room.
"Everyone died but me," he whispered.
"The monks of the Hidden Lotus found me in the ruins. They restored the seal and brought me here."
"Eventually, I learned how to control it through discipline and meditation."
His voice cracked. "I've spent every day since then atoning for what happened, even though I know nothing will ever be enough."
Kee Kee, who had been unusually quiet, finally spoke up. His voice lacked its usual bite, emerging soft and stunned.
"So... you're an emotional nuke with legs. Got it."
"There's more," he murmured. "Something the monks didn't foresee."
He shut his eyes, as if bracing himself to say the words he'd buried for years.
"Over time, the boundaries between my soul and the Beast's blurred. The Beast is no longer just contained within me."
He looked up, eyes locking onto Rui's with visible pain.
"It's become part of me. And I've become part of it."
Rui's brow furrowed. "Wait. You mean—"
Jin nodded solemnly. "If your Trial demands you slay the Beast of Wrath, then killing it would kill me too."
Kee Kee froze mid-bite, the sweet bun half-squished in his paw.
"Well, that's inconvenient."
Jin gave a bitter smile, but said nothing.
Rui tapped her finger against her lips, processing Jin's confession.
"Well," she said lightly, "if the Beast is you, and you are the Beast…"
Jin blinked.
"…then I suppose I'll just have to defeat you to complete the Trial."
Rui continued, her tone casual as she examined her nails.
"It's not ideal, but dying isn't such a tragedy. You are a mortal, after all."
"Your lives merely span a few decades, a century at most, and then poof!" She flicked her fingers in a small mock explosion.
"At least this way, your death would serve a purpose."
Jin stared at her, unable to process the sudden shift in her demeanor.
Besides," she added brightly, "once you're dead, I could arrange for you to have quite a comfortable position in the Underworld."
"Perhaps you could be my attendant? The benefits are excellent—no aging, no illness, and you'd get to see me every day." She smiled as if offering him a tremendous gift.
Kee Kee choked on his sweet bun, coughing violently.
The warmth drained from the room like a dying fire. Jin stiffened his shoulders, and the softness in his gaze vanished in an instant.
"You'd throw my life away that easily?" he asked.
Rui's smile faltered.
"You think my death is just another item on your checklist?" Jin's expression darkened, the gentle contours of his face hardening into something sharp and cold.
"I should've known better. To you, I'm just a step on your path to power."
He slowly stepped forward, the air around him thick with restrained fury.
"All this time, I thought maybe I mattered. That, maybe you saw me."
"But it's always been about your throne, hasn't it? Your victory. Your damn Trials."
The silence that followed was deafening.
For the first time, Rui didn't have a comeback.
"You're just like the rest of them," Jin continued.
"A selfish demon. Treating mortals as disposable playthings, mere entertainment until we break or die."
Rui straightened her shoulders, attempting to recover with a practiced smirk.
"Oh, please, it was obviously a joke. You monks need to work on your sense of humor."
"Besides, technically speaking, the Underworld position would be a promotion—"
The sarcasm fell flat between them, landing like a stone in still water.
Jin didn't smile or flinch. His eyes, usually warm and earthy, shimmered red at the rims as he held his tears.
"I want to live," he said solemnly, pressing his palms against his eyes before looking directly at her.
"Even if my life is short and temporary. I still want to live."
In that moment, Jin wasn't a vessel, a monk, or a martyr. He was just a young man facing the unbearable truth of his mortality, asking and pleading for the right to exist.
Rui's face flushed with color, her carefully crafted facade crumbling.
The blue in her eyes darkened, swirling with emotion as her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"How dare you?" she whispered, her voice tight with anger and pain.
"You think I don't understand what it's like to fight for your life?"
"These Trials—they're not some game I signed up for. They're a death sentence with flair."
"I either pass, or I vanish. That's the rule."
Jin took a half step back, startled by the energy crackling off her.
"You think I don't know what it means to be expendable?" she snapped.
"I've been the useless princess since the day I was born, an heiress with no talent for cultivation."
She let out a harsh, broken laugh. "And just when I thought—"
Her voice cracked, and she bit the rest back.
"Just when I thought I'd found someone who saw me as more than a title, bloodline, or stepping stone..."
Her words hung in the air, raw and unguarded.
Rui snatched her cloak from the floor, flinging it over her shoulders with stiff, furious motions.
"I was making a stupid joke because I don't know how to deal with the fact that completing my Trial might kill someone I—" Her voice caught. She looked away.
"Someone... I care about."
She turned sharply, her glare aimed at Jin.
"And for the record," she said quietly, not looking back, "I would never sacrifice you for a throne."
Her voice broke slightly. "But thanks for showing me what you really think of me."
The door slammed shut behind her with a bang, causing the cracked prayer bead to jump and rattle on the table.
A long, heavy silence filled the room.
Jin stood frozen, staring at the closed door, the echo of her words hanging between them.
Kee Kee, who had been silent the entire time, fluttered down from his perch and plopped beside Jin on the cushion.
"Well... that went great," He picked at his claws with dramatic flair.
"I give it a 7/10. The drama? Excellent. The emotional scarring? Chef's kiss."
Jin groaned and buried his face in his hands.