Signora nodded, her gaze steady. "We've had enough attention for now."
Dugu Yan looked like she wanted to argue, clearly curious about what kind of tea talk this Headmistress was planning—but before she could speak, Meilin grabbed her arm with a grin.
"Come on. There's a silk shop down the street. Let's go pretend we're normal girls for once."
Dugu Yan huffed but allowed herself to be pulled along.
Dave watched them go, then turned back to the disciple. "Alright. Lead me to the tea."
The courtyard ahead gleamed under the morning light—serene, still, and quietly waiting.
The senior disciple led Dave through the wide marble walkways of Tianshui Academy, passing beneath trailing willow branches and beside tranquil ponds blooming with lotus flowers. The deeper they went, the more refined the surroundings became—quiet, elegant, and filled with a gentle mist that carried the faint scent of jasmine.
Soon, they arrived at a secluded inner garden.
There, beneath a crystal-blue pavilion floating amid water lilies, sat a graceful woman in layered robes of ocean silk. Her long hair flowed like a calm tide, a silver comb set delicately in place. She looked perhaps in her mid-thirties, but her aura felt timeless—composed and beautiful, yet undeniably powerful.
"Someone looks hot," Dave said with a casual smirk as Shui Xinxue rose from her seat and gestured for him to enter.
"Are you sick? It's very cold here," she replied, arching a brow.
"It's a way of saying a woman's so beautiful that she makes the air around her feel hot," Dave explained.
Shui Xinxue gave a slow, knowing nod. "Hmm. I suppose you're hitting on me," she said, smiling faintly as she poured him a cup of tea. "Well, you called. And even last time, your presence was… quite distinct."
She set the teapot down. "I admit it. I've never bothered with relationships or emotions before, but your pure water energy stirred something in me. A resonance, almost—like a martial-spirit-level attraction. As if we could form a fusion technique."
Dave nodded slightly—he could feel it too.
"And most who share martial spirit fusion," he said, "end up in relationships."
She nodded again. "Exactly. That's why I'd like to know more about you."
Dave rose from his seat, amused. "You're quite straightforward."
She returned his look calmly. "I don't know how to play mind games, if that's what you were asking."
As Dave looked at her—poised, elegant, unreadable—she reminded him of Emma Frost, only more refined… and just as dangerously alluring.
Shui Xinxue stood in silence after her last words, her hand hovering above the teacup she'd just poured. Her gaze remained composed, but a faint tremble in her fingers betrayed her calm.
"I… don't really know how to do this," she admitted quietly, eyes still fixed on the tea. "Relationships. Emotion. I've never allowed myself to feel them. I was raised to be flawless—to represent Tianshui with grace, with distance. But now…" she looked up, meeting his gaze, "I've already said more than I ever meant to."
Dave remained seated, listening as her vulnerability unfolded.
"I said I want to know you—maybe even be with you. But honestly, I have no idea how," she went on. "I don't know how to flirt. I don't know how to ask for attention. I don't even know if I'm supposed to feel jealous when other women are around you."
Her voice dipped lower, more intimate. "I'm like an iceberg—taught to stay still forever. But then someone like you came along… warm, free-flowing… and you melted something."
She inhaled deeply, steadying herself. "So I've decided. I'll follow you. If I can't figure this out on my own, then I'll learn by watching. You understand the way of men and women better than I ever have."
Dave smiled, genuinely touched. "That's one hell of a confession."
Shui Xinxue gave a faint, almost sheepish chuckle. "I suppose it is."
He leaned forward, gently lifting her chin so she'd meet his eyes. He drew closer—close enough to feel her breath, soft and steady. Their lips hovered an inch apart. The garden fell into silence. Even the breeze seemed to pause, caught in that delicate moment.
"What do you feel now?" Dave asked, voice low, searching her expression.
Shui Xinxue met his gaze without flinching. No blush, no hesitation—only her usual serene stillness.
"I feel nothing," she answered plainly, her tone quiet but clear.
Dave blinked, then leaned back slowly, chuckling as he rubbed his temple. "You really are an iceberg."
She tilted her head, unbothered. "Was I supposed to feel something? Was that a test?"
He sighed, standing and ruffling his hair. "Not a test. Just… a moment."
Xinxue blinked again, then narrowed her eyes slightly. "Ah. You were trying to kiss me."
"…Yeah."
She nodded as if confirming a hypothesis. "I've never kissed anyone before. I've read that it causes emotional fluctuations… but I don't think I have a baseline to measure that."
Dave laughed softly—not in mockery, but in honest amusement. "You're not just an iceberg. You're an ancient glacier that doesn't even know what summer feels like."
"That sounds accurate," she agreed seriously.
He turned and started walking away, giving her a small wave. "Well, when you figure it out, let me know. Until then, I'll keep my distance before you snap my romantic spirit in half."
Shui Xinxue watched him go, her eyes calm as ever. Then she raised a hand to her lips—not out of embarrassment, but in mild curiosity.
"…Strange," she murmured. "It didn't feel unpleasant."
She poured herself another cup of tea, her face tranquil, her thoughts unreadable.
A soft breeze rustled the lilies around her as Shui Xinxue sat beneath the blue pavilion, sipping her tea. She didn't blush. She didn't flinch. But somewhere within, something shifted—not passion, not confusion—just the faintest flicker of awareness.
She stared into her tea, watching the swirling reflection with quiet interest.
"It didn't feel unpleasant…"
The words lingered on her tongue, foreign—but honest.
'Damm, What is this Woman?' Dave on the other hand was looking at Xinxue as if looking at an extinct exotic creature.
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