Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the Royal Palace at night, not a single lamp feels truly warm.

On my third night in the palace, I was jolted awake from a dream.

It was the Head Matron from Li Xinglan’s side. She smiled with polite formality, saying the Queen was worried that my foot injury hadn’t healed yet and had specifically sent people to help me try on my shoes to ensure everything was in order before the wedding ceremony.

I nearly gagged on the spot.

But two matrons flanked me, one on each side, holding me so firmly that I couldn’t break free at all.

They brought me to the top floor of the White Tower. It was terrifyingly empty, save for a single Ancient Mirror that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Dark gold vines coiled around the frame, and the surface of the mirror was as black as a pool of deep water. Even from a distance, I could smell a faint scent of rust, like dried blood.

Li Xinglan stood before the mirror, leisurely filing her nails.

“Come here,” she said.

My foot injury was still fresh; every step I took was agonizing. By the time I reached her, my forehead was drenched in a cold sweat.

“The shoes like girls who are afraid of pain.” She tilted my chin up as if inspecting a piece of merchandise. “The more afraid they are, the sweeter the blood.”

I felt a chill run through my entire body. “Why exactly are you choosing a Princess Consort?”

She chuckled but didn’t answer, merely ordering her servants to put the shoes on me.

The moment the opening of the shoe bit into my flesh, I heard a very faint sigh coming from inside the mirror.

It wasn’t the sound of the wind.

It sounded like a woman was pressed against the back of the mirror, separated only by a layer of thick glass, whispering something to me.

I snapped my head up, but what was reflected in the mirror wasn’t me-it was an unfamiliar bridal chamber. The bed curtains were covered in blood, and a girl in a wedding dress sat with her back to me, her neck so thin it looked like it was about to snap.

“Do you see it?” Li Xinglan asked tenderly. “Every good girl should look here to see her final destination.”

I screamed, trying desperately to retreat. But the heels of the shoes seemed to have taken root, sucking firmly onto the floor.

Just then, the palace doors were kicked open.

Su Zhichuan burst in, his face frighteningly pale and his chest heaving violently, as if he had run all the way up. Without saying a word, he first yanked me away from the mirror and then tore the laces of the shoes off my feet.

Li Xinglan narrowed her eyes. “You’re becoming more and more unruly.”

Su Zhichuan shielded me behind him, his voice cold and raspy. “The wedding hasn’t arrived yet. If she dies tonight, Mother Queen, what will you use to sacrifice to the mirror this year?”

Li Xinglan stared at him for a long time before suddenly laughing.

“So, you actually know how to feel pity for someone,” she said softly. “Unfortunately, every time you feel pity, she will only die faster.”