“……What is the meaning of this?”
Summoned there by a maid, Chloe started shouting as soon as she arrived. Her pupils trembled violently as she took in the scene before her.
Jane, with whom she had laughed and chatted that very afternoon, was lying unconscious in a chair.
Judging by her bound body and the water-soaked floor around her, it seemed that she had been waterboarded.
Before anyone could stop her, Chloe rushed to Jane’s side.
When she untied the ropes around her body, angry red marks remained on her delicate skin.
Chloe carefully caressed Jane’s cheek.
Even under her gentle touch, Jane showed no sign of opening her eyes.
“What do you mean? I merely fulfilled my duty as her mistress.”
To Helena, Chloe’s grief looked like nothing more than a pathetic display.
She raised her voice with a mocking sneer.
“Your duty?”
“She disobeyed her mistress’s orders. Does she not deserve to be punished?”
The situation that Chloe had feared had finally come to pass.
Although she had expected something unfortunate to happen to Jane, this punishment was far too severe.
Even if Jane had committed an offence, all she had done was help someone else.
Unable to contain her fury, Chloe staggered.
Her frail body swayed violently, like a brittle fallen leaf tossed about by the wind.
“If I followed my heart, I would punish the girl’s parents as well.”
Helena did not stop there and continued deliberately provoking Chloe.
“Is it not enough that you harmed an innocent girl? Must you involve her parents as well?”
“I decide who must pay for this offense.”
Helena shrugged nonchalantly.
“Still, perhaps I was somewhat too harsh over a first offense.”
“…….”
“Depending on what the princess does next, my anger may subside.”
Although her words sounded deliberately vague, her intentions were unmistakable.
The sideways glance she cast at Chloe and the leg she swung in rhythm with her breathing—every insolent gesture proved that Helena was enjoying the situation.
‘As I thought, she orchestrated all of this to drive me into a corner.’
Chloe clenched the fabric of her dress.
It was the black dress Jane had chosen for her earlier when she came to her room.
Chloe looked from Jane, who was cradled in her arms, to Helena.
Ultimately, her gaze settled on Jane’s face.
The girl’s lips had turned blue from the cold, and tears were still slipping from her eyes even though she was still unconscious.
‘She must have been terrified.’
The girl who had promised to protect Chloe was now lying helplessly on the cold floor.
‘This happened because of me.’
Chloe should have refused.
Regardless of what Jane wanted, she should have coldly driven her away.
Allowing herself to be swayed by personal affection and accepting Jane’s help had been her mistake.
In her desperation to survive, she had caused an innocent person to suffer.
“This is my fault.”
Chloe parted her tightly clenched lips to reveal a voice of humiliating submission.
However, Helena barely reacted.
When Chloe glanced up, she found Helena watching her, her eyebrows raised in expectation.
Such a paltry apology was nowhere near enough.
Chloe clenched her teeth until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. A crimson drop trickled from her lip, ran down her chin, and fell onto Jane’s cheek.
“Please forgive me for what I have done, Lady Helena.”
She had once believed that she would never kneel before either of them, even with a blade held to her throat.
Yet now, the knees she had lowered to cradle Jane were facing Helena in submission.
The pride she had been duty-bound to uphold and the dignity she had sworn never to surrender had been reduced to worthless refuse.
***
Had someone she cared about been hurt?
Or was it because she had finally been defeated by someone she never wanted to lose to?
After that day, Chloe fell gravely ill with a high fever.
She spent several nights drifting in and out of consciousness before opening her eyes again once her body had started to recover.
“……Madam.”
Jane was sitting beside her when she awoke.
“Jane!”
Forgetting entirely that she was unwell, Chloe sat up immediately.
Usually, she would have checked on Jane first.
However, in a rare moment of surrendering to instinct, she pulled Jane into a tight embrace without saying a word.
As she held Jane close, Chloe could feel just how much smaller she had become. Her petite, frail body had grown even thinner.
“I thought something terrible had happened to you.”
Chloe, who had always spoken with such grace, now struggled to finish a single sentence.
After stammering helplessly for a while, she buried her face in Jane’s shoulder, unable to finish what she had been trying to say.
Before long, her shoulders began to tremble.
Chloe was terrified.
The thought that someone’s life could depend on her actions filled her with fear.
So did the knowledge that her choices could determine whether another person lived or died.
If it had been her own life in danger, she would not have been nearly so afraid.
“I am sorry…….”
For the first time, Chloe completed a sentence.
It was an apology.
Jane immediately burst into tears.
Her thighs had become swollen from how fiercely she had pinched them in an attempt to hold back her tears.
“Madam, you…….”
Jane sniffed as she began to speak.
A moment later, she noticed the tears glistening in Chloe’s blue eyes and fell silent again.
Warm tears slipped between Jane’s parted lips, leaving a salty taste behind.
Jane was no different from Chloe.
She, too, had been consumed by terror and regret.
Each time her face was submerged in the salty water, her life flashed before her eyes, flooding her with myriad conflicting emotions.
She should never have stayed by Chloe’s side. She should never have clung to someone so dangerous just out of pity.
Then, just as her consciousness began to fade, Chloe arrived.
She positioned herself between Jane and Helena, kneeling down.
The tower of dignity that Chloe had spent her entire life painstakingly building came crashing down in order to protect Jane.
“Why are you crying? More importantly, is your body all right?”
“Yes, I am fine. You need not worry so much, Madam.”
“How could I not? Is there anything you need? I shall prepare everything for you…….”
It must have been because of Jane that Chloe’s once unwavering voice had become so broken.
It must also have been because of Jane that her beautiful face had grown so gaunt in an instant.
For one brief moment, Jane was happy.
She realized that she had served a truly honorable person.
She felt that the affection she had given had been returned.
“I truly am fine.”
She gently pulled Chloe away when the woman showed no sign of releasing her.
“How can you expect me not to worry about you……?”
“I no longer belong to you, Madam.”
She said goodbye before she could stop herself.
At Jane’s cold response, Chloe’s mouth closed immediately, stopping her from saying anything. A faint breath escaped through the small gap between her unmoving lips.
Now that Jane had suffered such a terrible ordeal, the two of them could no longer stay together.
After this incident, someone would undoubtedly be assigned to monitor them.
Problems would arise even if they no longer met.
Since they were each other’s weakness, what had happened today would inevitably happen again. Jane would be taken hostage again, resulting in another tragedy.
To prevent this from ever happening again, they had to separate.
“The reason I sought you out…… was because I pitied you, Madam. That was truly all.”
Jane deliberately spewed words she did not mean.
She had to be harsher—harsh enough to make Chloe disappointed in her.
“You had always been admired since you were a princess. You once shone so brightly, yet all of that vanished in an instant. I only helped because I felt sorry for you. If I had known I would be hurt like this merely for becoming involved with you, I would have stopped long ago.”
Jane realized anew that words truly could kill a person.
As she recited the words she had memorized over the past several days, one after another, she felt herself dying inside.
“……I no longer feel…….”
She had finally reached the last sentence.
It was the simplest yet most devastating line. Once she said it, their conversation would be over.
Yet, as if rejecting the entire journey they had taken together, her mouth refused to open.
Was it because the inside of her mouth was badly wounded?
Perhaps swallowing would make it easier.
However, instead of tasting blood, Jane tasted the saltiness of her tears and runny nose.
How strange.
She had been sure that she had stopped crying.
She had thought she was hiding her emotions in order to maintain her perfect performance.
“I will never come to see you again, Madam…….”
Flustered, Jane finally looked up.
Chloe’s faded blue eyes met hers.
They stared at her as though they could see through all her lies.
Those beautiful eyes already knew.
They knew that Jane could not meet Chloe’s gaze because she was lying.
They knew she was repeatedly tapping the floor, being careful not to make a sound.
They knew she was biting her lip in anguish whenever she finished a sentence.
Chloe had noticed all this, but was quietly watching while pretending not to know.
“I understand.”
“…….”
“You have worked hard, Jane.”
“…….”
“Have a pleasant journey. I shall always be here waiting for you.”
Silence.
The silence, which should have continued forever, was broken by the woman’s hoarse voice. Its occasional raspy, nasal tone made it sound awkward, but to some, it resembled an angel’s song.
Although Chloe had recognized Jane’s lies, she did not expose them, merely offering her a farewell instead.
Even then, she never forgot to smile.
“I will miss you, Madam! So… so much…”
The sound of Jane’s resolve crumbling preceded her ugly sobs.
Before she knew it, Jane was crying uncontrollably in Chloe’s arms. All the tears she had kept hidden burst forth and wouldn’t stop.
“I know.”
“I-I will…… hic…… definitely come…… hic…… back someday…… So you have to…… w-welcome me when I do…….”
In truth, Jane wanted to beg Chloe to stop her.
She wanted to say that she did not care if she was threatened or injured, so long as Chloe allowed her to remain by her side.
“Someday…… we will…… hic…… be able to meet…… again, w-won’t we?”
However, that moment did not have to come yet.
No matter how long she had to wait, Jane could endure it.
She hoped that once she was happy and surrounded by people who could protect her, Chloe would find her again, just as Kallis had promised.
“Of course.”
“…….”
“I shall try. I will work far harder than I have until now so that I can reach you again.”
It was, in its own way, a beautiful farewell.
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Mayasyl
I found this chapter completely senseless. How could a princess allow all this? Okay, she doesn’t have power in the house, but she has the title of princess, and the other one has nothing, and she didn’t even care, she just accepted it. Seriously? How long will she be humiliated? Will she wait until they try to take her life?