Golden Thread

Their Intertwined Hearts

The two months passed by in a flash as Leah spent her days working on her dress, the design gradually coming together in front of her very eyes. The fabric she choose for the dress was a very soft and smooth silk. When she went to the fabrics store, she knew it would be the one she needed when the silk just seemed to flow through her fingers. It was a gorgeous purple with hues of blue and white depending on the light reflected on the fabric. As much as Leah loved drawing, there was nothing as exhilarating as seeing her design come to life through her own hands. She also went to a well-known embroidery workshop and had the owner give her a crash course in Chinese embroidery. Her skills were obviously not at the level of a master who has developed her knowledge through years and years of hard work, but her teacher was satisfied enough at the end of the course to wish her good luck at the competition. 

The deadline for the competition fast approaching, Leah had less and less time for herself, her days revolving around the dress and the accessories that would need to be matched together. 

However, as much as she was busy hurrying around her workshop, pinching fabrics together or using the sewing machine, she always found some time at the end of the day to sit at her table and write to the Prince. 

Their exchange of letters didn't stop and Leah always looked forward to opening the box each morning to see if he had replied. It was like opening a present every day. 

Ming Lei told her about his predicament in the Imperial Court, how his brothers tried in every possible way to take him down, how his allies and himself were able to thwart their operations. He also told her about his classes, the endless doctrines he had to memorize and understand everyday, sitting at his low table, a brush in hand and barely any time to rest. During those rare moments when he was free, he would train his swordsmanship and archery skills, riding horses around the Imperial Hunting Grounds to escape the humid heat of the coming summer. He was also busy preparing for an upcoming Summer festival, officially announcing the start of the most unbearably hotter days of the year. A hunting contest would be held shortly after and he, as the Second Imperial Prince and most likely candidate for the throne, was obliged to take part in it to show his skills. 

In one of her letters, she asked him if he had any idea how the box was transferring their letters to each other. He told her his mother had told him, long ago, that certain items in the world were impregnated of a mysterious force and, shall the gods will it, they could be connected together. Leah wondered whether he was implying their encounter was fated. The subject was quickly brushed away and they never brought it up again.

Ming Lei wasn't sure why he was confiding in a stranger, a girl at that. But he felt strangely comfortable and close with her, as if they had known each other for a long time already. She was always very serious, giving him advices in how to protect himself and check whether someone had been in his room or touched his things. She wrote in a very easy-going way and he finally felt like someone was seeing him as Ming Lei, the man, rather than Ming Lei, the Second Imperial Prince. Being born in the palace with everything at his fingertips, Ming Lei knew he was very fortunate. That's why he was determined to not let the throne fall into the hands of his brothers who were halfwits and would become puppet emperors, controlled by the ones who had pushed them up there. His own vassals were loyal to him and trusted his abilities as a ruler. 

The prince waved all his thoughts away, focusing on the scroll in his hands. Those were things to think about in the future. His Imperial Father was still very healthy and young. He wasn't going to die anytime soon, hence, there was no need to spend all his time worrying about the succession to the throne. 

He was just taking a break and eating some of the snacks prepared for him when his close aid barged into his room, his face red and his eyes opened wide. Sweat dropped down his forehead on the wooden floor. "Your Highness ! The-" A cough interrupted him as Ming Lei waited patiently for him. " The Eldest Prince is alive !"