.....She knew that she and her sister were very similar. They were like twins in most people’s eyes, inseparable.
And she loved her sister. She loved her dearly, from the moment she had been born. Her darling little sister that never annoyed her, was always cute and obedient, and incredibly charming.
She didn’t mind that her sister was more beautiful than her. She, herself, had gotten the better in terms of intelligence, and their mother intended for her to marry an official who would value it.
It was a shame.
A shame that her and her sister’s tastes… were a bit too similar.
She knew the man must be of good status simply by his demeanour and clothes. He was chivalrous, a true gentleman, as he offered her and her sister the last table in the restaurant.
He had smiled so kindly before leaving with a bow.
She had wanted to hold her sister’s arm in excitement, but before she could make the move, her own arm was held. Startled, she looked over to see the starry-eyes gaze of her little sister.
She would have fought over him. She would have tried, with fair means.
But when he went out of his way to visit her sister, a bit awkward but gentle, she didn’t have the heart for it.
It’s a passing infatuation, she told herself as she cried at night. It will go away. Besides, she could never try to break them apart, not when they looked like a pair of beautiful little mandarin ducks.
The feelings did not vanish when winter came. They did not vanish the next year, or the year after that.
They did not vanish when she saw her sister cry in joy at their wedding, or when her sister declared she was pregnant, or when the baby was born.
She was sick with envy. Nauseous, infuriated.
But…
Her sister laughed, the baby bubbled and grabbed her finger, and she could not take it.
Their parents and her sister were devastated when she lied about having been raped by a hooligan. She had actually spent the night crouched in a corner near their house, but her family didn’t know that.
She’d become a nun once her brother-in-law was stable, she had said.
Maybe it was her exhausted face that made their parents believe that at least their daughter wasn’t trying to commit suicide. She wouldn’t have to marry, ever.
She got her own shops in the city and travelled a bit with hired guards. People talked about her, but her sister’s new family was tolerant because she always brought gifts for her visits.
Expensive gifts. Only the best for her sister and the little children that she loved as if they were her own.
Her heart was numb and painful. She did not want to live with this horrid, ugly feeling inside her, but she could not stomach the thought of her family being sad.
So be it, she thought. Being a nun might not be bad; I can enjoy my days in peace and silence.
Until then, I will make my sister’s life as beautiful as possible.
...So when she heard that damned man talk to someone else about her, she had listened involuntarily. A pure coincidence. The restaurant’s private room that they used was right next to hers.
She knew the old man was a moneygrubber. Otherwise she could not visit as freely.
But she hadn’t thought he was this power hungry.
When she heard about his plan to sell off the children to the highest bidder, all hidden of course, she retched and threw up her meal.
The girls would become nothing but bedpartners. The boys nothing but living targets, practise dummies.
Her sister’s dearest children, reduced to a currency.
That was when she decided that this old man, who would not live long anyway, might sleep forever a bit sooner.
It wasn’t hard.
Everyone knew that he took medicine for sleeping. She, with more knowledge than the common woman, knew how strong it was and where to get it.
For the matters of the court, she had always been prepared to fight. It was her mother herself who had told her how to get the right connections. That was the kind of ugly place a court could be.
Giving him an overdose was easy, as well.
She visited like usual.
She poured it into a cup and brought him tea.
Whether the medicine had any taste, she didn’t know, but either way, he had almost no sense of taste left. He only liked acting as if the tea was any different from water.
He accepted it because she came to talk about a shop she wished to gift to her sister, and thus her brother-in-law.
He talked around for a while, making it clear he wanted it under his name, so he could manage it. She acted stupid and agreed, getting him into a good mood.
It was close to his afternoon nap and no one disturbed him for hours.
He liked taking some of the medicine for his nap, despite not being allowed to, and wouldn’t wake until evening.
This time he did not wake at all.
...She often imagined what she would have done if she could have left that day. She thought, maybe now is the time to become a nun and repent my sins. I won’t see my family often anymore, but that does not matter.
However, fate did not agree.
Her sister cried in her arms. Her sister did not curse her, and wasn’t angry. She only cupped her face and asked in a quiet voice, why? What terrible thing drove you to do this? Sister, why couldn’t you have talked to us to find another way? Did he hurt you?
Ahh, she had begun to cry, you don’t even doubt me? Don’t even believe I have done this for purely malicious reasons?
But her little sister shook her head and even her brother-in-law stood there silent, not ordering anyone to contain her just yet.
She hugged her little sister tight, caressing her hair.
Little sister, maybe I have owed you in a past life. Or maybe it is my own selfishness. I want to make you indebted to me, so that neither you nor Brother-in-law can ever repay me. I could not let him hurt your children. It is my sin now, little sister. Remember me as the malicious woman I am.
You are not, she cried. You are my most beloved older sister. And I know you are a good woman. That’s why, thank you. I don’t know what happened, but if you protected my children, then thank you. I will never forget this. I will never forget you. Sister, I love you.
She broke down in her little sister’s arms, feeling too overwhelmed to breathe.
In her next life, she… She only wished she would not love the same man as her sister again. She wished that they could both be happy and safe.
Her brother-in-law was the one who brought her the poison into the cell, to spare her the pain and suffering of rotting away and starving for days before her public execution.
He bowed low to her and whispered a thank you.
...Maybe in her life, this unlimited trust and love was what she gained in repayment for her pain.
She smiled.
Then she took the poison and laid down peacefully, waiting for her end.
Solved: For the sake of-
Trivia: Opium
Made from the seed capsules of a type of poppy. Opium is partially made up of morphine, which is used in heroin.
Next to medical purposes, it was also used for sexual matters in the middle-east, centuries ago.
Due to its highly addictive and destructive nature, opium and morphine aren’t open for common use anymore in most countries. Consumption of it can lead to respiratory depression, memory loss, hallucinations, drowsiness and another number of bad effects.
