MTLNOVEL Chapter 153: Love Letters
Several boxes arrived just after the midday meal—delivered in silence by a trembling maid at the head of the procession of five eunuchs, all of whom refused to meet my eyes. I let them set the boxes down on the lacquered table beside the plum wine and didn't ask questions. I already knew who it was from.
The wood of every box was rose-gold, polished until it gleamed like a lie. Carved blossoms danced across the lids—too delicate, too precise. And the seal?
A single curved brushstroke, crimson as dried blood.
Imperial Concubine Yi.
How thoughtful.
I didn't open the closest one right away. I finished my wine first, letting the glass rest against my lower lip for a long moment. The room was quiet. Shi Yaozu had left earlier to trail a messenger who'd been asking about Baiguang's troop numbers, and the servants knew better than to linger when I was reading.
Only when the tea had cooled slightly did I reach forward and lift the lid.
Inside lay three combs, resting against silk the color of crushed lilac. Each one was carved with a different motif—peonies, butterflies, and swallows—all symbols of femininity, patience, and grace. A message, then. Not a gift. Never just a gift.
At the bottom of the box was a folded card, pressed with a light perfume that smelled like crushed magnolia and powdered arrogance. I didn't bother reading it right away. I simply stared at the combs and let the metal hum faintly against my skin.
They were gold-plated.
Delicate.
But not real gold.
They would bend easily if I willed it. Snap cleanly between my fingers. Twist into something sharper, something useful.
But that would be a waste.
I set the box aside and picked up the note.
For the Crown Princess, whose radiance deserves refinement. The court is watching. Shine brightly for them.
It wasn't even veiled.
How charming.
Imperial Concubine Yi had always preferred her insults embroidered in silk. She fancied herself a woman of elegance, above the claws of lesser consorts. But she had never stopped mourning the Third Prince's disgrace, and she'd never forgiven me for stealing his spotlight.
If only she knew how much worse it was going to get.
I placed the combs back inside the box, closed the lid, and pressed two fingers gently to the side. The metal clicked softly. No force. No heat. Just intent. The combs within bent neatly in half, crushing the silk beneath them.
It was a quiet response, but there was no need to shout when a whisper would bleed someone so much worse.
I handed the box to one of my guards with a sweet smile, indicating to the rest of the boxes as well. "Please return these to Consort Yi," I said, "with my gratitude. Let her know the combs were… quite flexible."
He bowed and left without question.
I poured another cup of tea and returned to the open scrolls on my desk. Schematics of the palace hunting grounds, routes through the outer forest, troop positioning along the southern border—layers of information I'd spent months assembling, slowly updating, cross-referencing. If the Emperor wanted a hunt, then let it be one worthy of legend.
Let it be beautiful.
Let it be fatal.
They thought I had been silent because I was timid. That because I smiled, I had no teeth. But the truth was simpler: I had not needed to act. Not yet.
And I still didn't—not for Consort Yi. Her little digs were background noise. If she wanted to toss pebbles at my throne, she was welcome to it. It only kept the Third Prince in the forefront of my mind.
And I was owed some revenge.
He still breathed.
That was the part I hadn't forgiven.
I stood slowly and walked to the garden balcony. The air was crisp today, the sky bluer than it had been in weeks. Below, the koi pond reflected my face in broken ripples. One of the fish rose to the surface and darted away when my shadow touched it.
Even the water recognized something dangerous.
Good.
Because I had been patient long enough. They were sending the Witch back into the woods, not realizing the irony of it all. After all, that was my natural environment. That was the place that I was in the most control.
It might not have been my woods back on the Western Mountain, but that didn't matter to me. No matter where it was, the woods would always provide me with the cover I needed.
And what I needed most at the moment was to see the Third Prince bleed.
The Crown Princess of Baiguang, the one with a husband already, needed to count her blessings that I wasn't going to lay a hand on her. It would be too easy, and I wasn't falling for that type of a trap.
If she or anyone else wanted to use the hunt and the 'wildness' of the woods to their advantage, then they should have asked my permission first.
After all, no matter what story she read, she was in my world now. Here, I decided life and death, pain and healing, and I was just starting to enjoy myself.
Spinning away from the pond, I walked back to the table in my courtyard. I picked up the map of the hunting grounds again and I couldn't hold back my smile. A shift in the shadows to my right let me know that Yaozu was back.
"You seem happy," murmured my shadow, picking up my glass of cold tea and taking a sip. "Did something good happen?"
I hummed and nodded my head, showing him the map. "I don't know if you've heard," I joked, knowing fully well that he probably knew before anyone else did just what happened in court this morning. "But we are going into the woods for a hunt."
"I think the Emperor is expecting you to bring back a rabbit or two, maybe a deer if you are lucky," chuckled Yaozu, taking a seat beside me. "Why do I think that that is not the reason why you are smiling so brightly?"
"Did I ever tell you that Papa had a whole list of rules for me growing up?" I asked, leaving back in my chair as I stared off into space. "Rule number 16 of Papa Davis' Survival Rules: Booby traps are like love letters—personal, painful, and hard to ignore. I'm just thinking about all the love letters I'll be writing in less than a week."