Chapter 32 - The Letter That Never Reached Her*
The Silk of Fate
Chapter 32 – The Letter That Never Reached Her
He sealed it with care.
His message to her.
No titles. No diplomacy. Just the words she had asked without asking:
“If you go, I will go.”
It was to be delivered by Yenli that evening. Quietly. Discreetly.
But it never left the observatory.
Because just before the candle burned out, a knock came at the door.
A palace guard.
Formal. Silent.
He handed over a scroll marked with the royal seal of Tumapel.
Idran felt the shift even before he broke it open.
Inside: a summons.
By command of King Jayanegara,
Your presence is required at court without delay.
The envoy’s term has ended. Your absence is no longer seen as neutral.
Return with dignity before your name becomes question.
No explanation.
No room for negotiation.
And no time.
He was to leave within two days.
Idran stared at the letter for a long time, then at the parchment he had written for her—his answer.
He reached for it. Paused.
Then slowly tucked it into the folds of his robes.
He wouldn’t send it through the servants now. Not with eyes on every corridor.
He would give it to her himself.
But the chance never came.
The next day, Lianhua was called away to a diplomatic banquet—unexpectedly. Held late. Carefully timed.
By the time she returned, Idran was already packing under the watch of his escort.
By the time Yenli reached her with the news, he was already preparing to board.
And the letter?
Still in his robe.
Unread.
She came to the garden anyway.
Not knowing if he would be there.
And he was.
One last time.
She approached, breath tight in her chest, unsure what to say.
But he turned—and in his hand, held out not a letter, but a silence.
And into his other palm, she placed it—
A strip of silk, white as moonlight, embroidered with a single thread of red.
No words.
Just faith.
And farewell.
He closed his fingers around it.
Their eyes met.
And everything they didn’t get to say lived between them.
That night, Idran left.
And Lianhua stood alone at the koi pond, eyes turned to the water.
Waiting.
Not for him.
But for the future he once promised in ink.