madnovel Chapter 201 Jealousy is the Poison of the Soul
Chapter 201 Jealousy is the Poison of the Soul
Chapter 201 Jealousy is the Poison of the Soul
Chloe and Dove, the girls of the Takagi family, walk side by side in the corridor at dusk.
Sunlight filters through the grapevines, scattering across the ground, and footsteps tread on dappled gold leaf.
Speechless and choked with emotion.
Only the slightly chilly late autumn breeze seemed to be whistling inappropriately.
The wind lifted the ends of her hair, revealing a faint scar on her neck. It extended from the girl's collarbone, peeking out from her swan-like neck.
Chloe saw the ugly scars.
My sister's body was once so smooth.
She recalled her teenage years, when she and her sister would wash each other's bodies in the bathtub. Her sister's delicate skin had once filled her with envy; her sister had developed earlier than her, and her body was as slender and supple as a doe's.
This wonderful older sister chose to dedicate all her time to the training field, rolling around in horse manure, mud, hay, and gravel.
If I had my sister's body, perhaps Augustine would have loved me instead.
This thought, after many years, resurfaced in Chloe's mind. For a moment, she felt an overwhelming wave of shame.
It was this very thought that compelled him to commit an unforgivable evil: that terrible jealousy, just as the sacred edict had stated, had become a literal poison. This poison killed his beloved Augustine, killed his sister, and killed the future of the Hawkwood family.
And their own youth.
Thinking of this, Chloe gripped her collar tightly; the nun's robe seemed to constrict the girl's neck, making it hard for her to breathe.
Chloe-Hawkwood had never imagined that she would become a nun. For the five years that followed, the idea weighed on the girl's heart like a nightmare, preventing her from sleeping.
What made her feel most desperate was not the unsettling night, but the realization, after struggling to wake up, that this terrible thought had become an irreversible reality.
This is punishment; she did something wrong, and she must spend her whole life paying for it.
It sounds simple, but when this vague sentence becomes a tangible reality, a young girl in the prime of her youth cannot accept a life whose end she can see at a glance.
Five years ago, Augustine's death caused a huge uproar in Thuns.
Although the Eaglewood family has declined in fortune, it is still a well-known and ancient knightly family in Thunsri.
Perhaps to protect the reputation of the knights of the kingdoms, Duke Thuns did not reveal the true cause of the tragedy.
Yes, Chloe's clumsy trick didn't fool the Duke's men. They tracked down the freckled apothecary apprentice who had helped Chloe in just one day. The young man had long harbored a crush on Chloe, and under her subtle influence, had stolen ingredients from the herbal shop to make poison.
When the Duke's men kicked open the door to the apothecary apprentice, they found that the poor fellow had committed suicide by poison, and his suicide note revealed the whole truth.
"My dearest Chloe, I cannot bear a world without you. If your heart has already been given to another, and you are willing to offer your noble life for that lucky bastard—then I am willing to accompany you with my humble soul. In this way, your journey to the Underworld will not be lonely."
Yes, this guy, who had read too much poetry about a thousand lakes, thought Chloe's poison was for suicide. So, he took it upon himself to die in remembrance of the girl he secretly loved.
The Duke of Thuns was the only one to see the letter. He hesitated only a moment before handing it over to Albert, the father of Dove and Chloe.
"Albert, head of the Eaglewood family, I swear by the honor of knighthood, I believe you will handle this matter in the most appropriate way." Duke Thuns's face was icy, but a hint of pity appeared in his eyes: "We were both young once. I still remember when you challenged me to a duel for the woman you loved—the past is the past. I know you love her far more than I do, but whenever I see her face, my heart is still filled with resentment—jealousy is the poison of the soul, yet we cannot escape the flaws of human nature. What happened yesterday was a tragedy, and I think we don't need to let it destroy people's faith in the chivalry of the kingdoms."
Albert did not answer. He tucked the letter into his pocket and silently returned home. The old knight locked himself in his room all night.
A knight of the kingdom, in the name of Silver Lance and O'Bak, should tell the Monet family the truth—it is his duty, regardless of the consequences.
But for a father, for the head of the Takagi family—such a scandal would utterly destroy the family's reputation; it was the last thing this crumbling, already riddled with problems had to offer. Dove and Chloe would become symbols of malice and venom, and their brother would forever bear the stigma. He didn't even dare let his wife know of the letter's existence—it would be the final straw that broke the camel's back.
As dawn broke, the old knight made his decision.
The letter disappeared into the fire, and in the swirling embers, Albert saw a reality that brought tears to his eyes.
As Duke Thuns implied, the herbalist apprentice would become the scapegoat. Jealous of Augustus, he poisoned him before the duel, causing his death in battle—all of this had nothing to do with the girls of the Hawkwood family. It was all an unfortunate coincidence.
Dophanne, having won the duel unjustly, will be forever separated from his homeland.
Regardless of how the matter is characterized, people will still see Dove as a "vicious woman who murdered her suitor." The old knight knows all this, and he knows that the best decision he can make for her now is to keep her away from all of this.
May distance and time protect this poor child, and perhaps one day she will forget this unbearable past.
Chloe, the real culprit behind this tragedy, Albert cannot believe that his own daughter could do such a cruel thing. He finds himself unable to face the daughter who has committed such a grave mistake.
The man was somewhat annoyed and even more remorseful. Perhaps it was because he had repeatedly ignored his younger daughter's true thoughts and forced her to follow in her older sister's footsteps—which had made her jealous and led to this disaster.
Because of this scandal, Chloe could never become a Rose Knight again (and there was little chance anyway). No respectable family would ever again propose to the Takagi family's daughter. She ruined her own future.
Perhaps the gods can wash away Chloe's sins—perhaps only under the protection of the true god Obak will Albert not completely lose his daughter.
The old knight wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and then, unusually, acted arbitrarily, sending Dove away from home despite his wife's crying and fussing.
He made arrangements with a renowned mercenary group leader with whom he had fought side by side, and did his utmost to pave the way for his eldest daughter.
Then, a month later, he coldly sent Chloe to the nearby Jackdaw Hill Abbey. The abbess of the abbey was a stern and rigid nun who was used to sending noble girls to the abbey for their mistakes. She half-comforted and half-sternly made Chloe accept her reality.
The hatred in Chloe's eyes slowly turned into resentment, then into sadness, and finally into numbness.
Reality won't go anywhere. The daily chores, hard work, and prayers won't disappear just because you're unwilling to accept reality. All a girl can do is dig a hole in her heart, hide inside, and let the monotonous daily life bury her.
The girl's disguise was so good that she even fooled the mistress.
She even became an excellent novice nun.
Yes, it's not that difficult. When the heart is completely shut down, leaving only a shell, then those pointless toiles are not so terrible. It's as if the person wasting their life is not Chloe, but a puppet that looks like her but has no soul.
On the day she turned eighteen, she received good news: she was assigned to the San Vandu Monastery in the New Kingdom as a full nun—an enviable and prosperous place.
This improvement in living conditions, however, marked the beginning of endless torment for the young Chloe.
The New Kingdom is a warm and beautiful place. The town where the San Vandu Monastery is located is especially lovely.
When spring arrives, the grapevines sprout new buds, and the invigorating scent of earth, combined with the bright sunshine, stirs the girl's heart like a lover's hair. Unlike the old kingdom, everything here seems so vibrant, so beautiful. She can see the traveling merchants from afar through the fence, hear the bustling sounds of vendors, and smell the faint saltiness of the coastline—
But she was trapped within these high walls, confined in these restrictive nun's robes, slowly decaying, slowly growing old. The stark contrast between the vibrant colors outside the walls and the black and white within made her long-numbed heart beat painfully anew.
Her long-dormant imagination was ignited. This time, the girl's fantasies were especially alluring, especially dangerous—
She fantasized about touching Bishop Tissant's handsome cheeks, kissing his eyes, and then slowly kissing down his neck—the girl had never experienced anything between a man and a woman, so her fantasies only remained between the whispers and unspoken understandings between nuns.
But this clumsy imagination was a wildfire. Burning in Chloe's lower abdomen, it spread throughout her body via her blood vessels, making it unbearable for her. She didn't even know if she was truly infatuated with Tissanthemum, or if she was simply projecting her fantasies of love and freedom onto a tangible man.
Thinking of this, Chloe felt the heavy earrings on her earlobes.
This was the boldest she had ever been. She hoped that Tissaud would notice her because of it—a presumptuous and foolish idea.
Tissanthem did notice her. Not because Chloe was a striking beauty, not because she diligently performed all the duties of a nun, and not because she wore turquoise earrings specifically to get his attention.
Not because of anything Chloe did—but because she was Dove Ennis's sister.
Doveennis, the Rose Knight, the eldest daughter of the Takagi family, her father's darling, and the one Augustine loved.
From the very beginning, everyone's attention was focused on my sister, never on me.
Even Titian is like that.
Sister, why did you have to reappear in my life?
Why must you take away even my last, pathetic, and insignificant fantasy?