The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis
Chapter 31: The Ribbon

Chapter 31: The Ribbon

Sun Longzi muttered something about needing to "gather intel" and stalked off like the war god he pretended to be.

In all honesty, I think I might have been more intimidated by him if I hadn’t grown up in the Devil’s Playground. After all, no one ever dared to play the war god when Dimitri was breathing down their necks.

I scoffed at the idea of Sun Longzi meeting any of Aunt Hattie’s men. You wanted to talk about being a frog in a well? I would be more than happy to show him the entire world and let him drown in it.

I didn’t realize it, but the moment Sun Longzi walked away, I let out a soft sigh of relief. "Better?" asked Zhu Deming, cocking his head to the side as he studied me. "You seem more relaxed when he is gone."

"Can you blame me? It feels like he is a ticking time bomb, and one wrong move would be enough to cause him to blow up. Seriously, I don’t know what he has up his ass, but he really needs to remove it," I muttered under my breath.

Going in the complete opposite direction of where Sun Longzi stomped off, I strolled forward. There was nothing I wanted to do, and no place to go, so I might as well wander around a bit.

"Ticking time bomb?" asked Zhu Deming after a second. It didn’t seem to bother him that I had said something that he didn’t know about. And instead of making a big fuss, he simply asked his questions.

"Something that is designed to blow up at a certain time. Think of it as a firework, but strong enough to take out a hundred people," I shrugged. "If I think about it, I might be able to make one for you. I would just need to find the right materials."

"That seems like it would be a useful thing," nodded Zhu Deming. "If you have trouble finding the materials, let me know. I will get them for you."

"Plan to blow up anyone in particular, or will it depend on your mood?" I smiled, looking up at the man from lowered eyelashes. I had never flirted before in my life, or at least, not intentionally, but for him... I was willing to try."

"It will depend on my mood," nodded Zhu Deming, staring off in the distance like he could already see it happening. "But it is always a good idea to keep a weapon in your back pocket that no one knows about. How did you learn about this ticking time bomb?"

The two of us walked through a crowd of people at a market, not really minding them at all. Like always, they parted like the Red Sea for me, making sure that I wasn’t so much as brushed against.

"My father," I answered with a shrug. "He thought that it would be important for me to learn everything that I can about a lot of stuff." That was a polite way of saying that he was a prepper and believed that his daughter should be able to survive on her own, no matter what Aunt Hattie threw at her... right?

"That’s a good father. Most don’t teach their daughter anything more than the Seven Virtues of Womanhood," mused Zhu Deming, snatching a stick of candies hawthorns from a vender and flicking him a coin in exchange.

He handed me the candy coated fruit and waited for me to take a bite. His eyes were fixated on the single berry that was closest to my lips. It was almost like his entire being depended on me eating his offering.

Who was I to refuse?

Opening my mouth slowly, I closed my lips around the offering and pulled it off of the stick. The sugar coating was sweet, but not so sweet that it was able to negate the sour/tart taste.

I actually liked it.

"Seven Virtues?" I smirked, "Never heard of them."

Zhu Deming let out a bark of laughter, "Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. I only know them a bit, but my sisters all had to study them and repeat them over and over again. It’s something about the importance of a woman’s modesty and how she can best represent her family in a public setting."

"Sounds boring. I like my Seven Commandments better." The smile on my face was much more relaxed as I thought about the day that Dante spoke to everyone in the Devil’s Playground and outlined the new Commandments.

"Know who you are and where you came from. They are your roots and your powers. Want boldly. Love without apology. Your soul is not made for starvation. Take seconds. Take thirds. Take it all. Your hunger is a map to your destiny. If you’re angry, do something about it. Take what’s yours, and if it isn’t yours yet, you aren’t fighting hard enough for it. Rest when you need to; fight when it counts. If you want it, go get it."

Now, those were words to live by.

Ever so slowly, we made a slow loop around the outer square, and I paused near a textile stand. I had no idea why, but there was a dark green ribbon hanging from the display post. It was hand-dyed on faded silk, and most people wouldn’t give it a second look.

But I liked it.

However, no matter how much I liked it, I didn’t reach for it.

But Zhu Deming did.

He stepped in front of me, took the ribbon down, and held it between his fingers for a moment like he was deciding something. "I think I like your Seven Commandments better, too," he announced before stepping behind me and tying the ribbon around my neck.

I froze.

His hands were warm, his movements careful, like he was lacing armor, not silk. The ribbon was snug but not tight and tied in a simple knot at the nape of my neck.

I ran a finger along the edge of it, feeling the texture.

"Do I look like a dog to you?" I asked, cocking my head.

Honestly? I didn’t mind the feeling. The silk was soft and cool. It rested just above my collarbone, a faint little claim written in thread. But if I was going to play with fire, I at least wanted to know why the flame was reaching for me.

"No," Zhu Deming said quietly. "Most men buy their woman a hairpin. But you don’t wear one."

That statement made me raise an eyebrow as I turned to look at him.

"I want everyone to see it," he continued, his voice low and even as his eyes continued to stare at the ribbon on my neck. "And know who you belong to."

My brow arched. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to let him get away with saying that I belonged to him, but at the same time... I didn’t hate that idea. "If you want me to belong to you," I said after a brief pause. "Then the ribbon’s on the wrong person."

His eyes flicked to mine at my words. He didn’t blush, didn’t flinch in the slightest, just continued to look at me like he was weighing whether or not to remove it and tie it around his neck instead.

"But," I added, lightly spinning out of his reach as he tried to take the ribbon back. "I like the idea of a hairpin, too. Doubles as a weapon in a pinch."

He blinked once.

"When you see one," I continued, stepping away from the stall and the stunned vendor who’d gone pale as salt, "buy it for me."