❈ invisible string ― nikolai lantsov ❈

Yizhi

The servant looked up, eyes widening. "Of course, Your Highness."

Yi's smile spread further before she shut her door and immediately leaned her back against it, holding the letter up in front of her face. The envelope was pristine and crisp, the corners sharp enough to cut if given the opportunity. She turned it over in her hands and her gaze caught onto the seal.

The Lantsov royal crest was pressed into the pale blue wax.

Had she been a younger, more lovestruck version of herself, her heart would have skipped a beat.

Instead, her finger twitched to attempt to sense any explosives or devices hidden within the envelope, thankfully to no avail. At last, she crossed her room and sat down at her jade table, feeling the cool press of it against her stomach as she flexed her fingers and made the wax seal peel off, suspended in the air at her will.

She let it fall onto the table with a tiny thud before lifting the flap of the envelope and pulling out the letter itself. Curiosity bloomed in her chest as she unfolded the clean page, the barest crinkle sounding as she straightened it out on the table.

Yi quirked her head to one side eyes her eyes scanned the page.

Dearest Yizhi Kir-Taban, Your Most Royal Highness,

There truly is no simple way to put this; the darkness inside me is growing each day away from you, and there is some rather groundbreaking news you deserve to know. I hope you acknowledge the risk I'm taking with this letter, but Saints know I still trust you enough, as do all of us. Your presence is most definitely desired in Os Alta as soon as humanly possible and sorely missed, especially by Commander Nazyalensky.

Should you arrive, you will be briefed upon everything that has happened since your leaving once your loyalties are verified.

Sincerely, Nikolai Lantsov,

King of Ravka,

Duke of Udova,

etc.

Yi raised her eyebrows, reading over the words again. Brief and lacking the vital component of detail, the perfect way to sum up Ravka's king. She rested her chin on her fist, tapping her cheek in thought. She was certain Makhi's spies had already had their fair share of dissecting the letter, but she also knew they would find nothing in his words unless they knew of the true demon within Nikolai's chest, forever there. At first glance, the writing would be seen as shameless charm, no more and certainly no less.

Yi leaned back in her chair, releasing a quiet hm.

He needed her help.

It was barely past eleven bells in the morning and she already had her schedule booked by the King of Ravka, Korol Rezni. She let out a quiet, small laugh of disbelief. He truly was insane, wasn't he? Taking such a risk would be a blunder had Yi been anyone else, but she supposed her secrecy throughout the duration of two years had been enough to prove to Nikolai that she was at least a bit trustworthy.

Yi shook her head and pushed herself up to her feet, tossing the letter into the weak flames of the hearth, rendered unnecessary due to the constant warmth in Ahmrat Jen. She drank in the sight of the deep green marbled roof and the silky, emerald-tinted curtains of her canopy, lips curling into the faintest of smiles.

She would see Nikolai again.

And soon, she would know if he was still a complete charmer or the stupidest man alive.