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" Sometimes giving up is the strong thing,
Sometimes to run is the brave thing,
SOMETIMES WALKING OUT IS THE ONE THING,
THAT WILL FIND YOU THE RIGHT THING"
―COINCIDENTALLY, YI SLEPT SOUNDLY THAT NIGHT.
In the morning, she changed into a sea foam green silk dress with little pink blossoms sewn along the ruffled hem of the skirt. A servant entered with her breakfast tray and a platter loaded with gels and products for Yi's worrisome hair. The quiet, soundless maid sat behind the Shu princess as she ate, combing through her dark curls and setting it in firm, huge ringlets with a few sprays.
As Yi felt the servant tug at the roots of her hair to style it, she ripped off pieces of sweetbread filled with plum jam and dried edible rose petals to eat with her milk tea. One thing she would never tire of in Ahmrat Jen was the luxurious food, as delicious as it was pleasant to look at, a large upgrade from the things in the Little Palace.
The maid finished Yi's hair, sticking a gold hairpin into the twists and ringlets, the delicate thing embedded with little emeralds. The servant departed without another word.
Some days Yi wondered if the servants were afraid of her, or if they simply felt contempt at having to spend the rest of their days having to detangle her wretched curls, only for the styles to be rejected by her hair by the end of the night.
After finishing breakfast, Yi stood up and walked out onto the terrace, finding a nice spot by the railing that overlooked the gardens below, the scent of the blossoms wafting through the air, faint, floral, and most of all, refined. The flowers grown here were all delicate, layers of petals in different pastel hues, an incredible sight when in bloom. Yi relished seeing them shift colours during the different months, and she wished she could preserve the sight for an eternity and moreover.
Then she heard a knock at the door of her chambers. Yi pushed away a curl that had fallen over her eyes and left the railing, re-entering her room and nearly suffocating in the jade table and dark green marbled roof, blowing out a slightly annoyed breath.
As she reached the door, she straightened out her spine and rustic green robes, schooling her features into an expression of calm before turning the golden knob and opening it.
A servant stood in the doorway, eyes respectfully cast downwards, holding a silver tray. Yi raised her eyebrows ever so slightly when she saw what lay upon it.
A letter, face-down.
She tilted her head in curiosity and plucked the envelope from the platter before smiling at the woman before her. "Thank you," she said softly.
