The Lady Is Mine-Chapter 187: A New Dawn

The corridor smelled faintly of lilies and morning bread when Jenna stepped out, still adjusting the folds of her gown that had rumpled earlier.

She had excused herself from Rhane’s hold after Rachel and Olivia ran out of the room, embarrassed. The air was cooler here, away from Rhane’s touch, with the sound of servants whispering mostly gossip they shouldn’t be saying.

Just outside, Jenna found them waiting- Lady Rachel, graceful as ever, though the silver in her hair caught the light differently now, and Olivia, bright-eyed and excited beside her.

Jenna’s first instinct was habit. She bent into a bow. "Lady Rachel—"

"Don’t." The woman’s tone was calm. "I’m no longer a lady," she spoke with a relaxed tone and tired gaze.

Jenna straightened slowly with a confused blink. "What... do you mean?"

"The council stripped me of the title last week. Said I violated the code of honor by concealing what you did during the tournament." Her gaze softened. "They said I shielded a sinner from judgment."

Jenna’s chest tightened. "That’s- that’s unjust! You only—"

"I knew what I was doing." Rachel’s interruption came gently, almost kindly. "And I’d do it again, though not without accepting what follows. Every act must have its consequence, Jenna. That’s how life remains fair... at least, in its own cruel way."

Jenna took a slow breath, fighting the knot forming in her throat. She remembered that day too well. She had hated the woman for going ahead to report her, but thinking about it now, Rachel had actually risked her entire life’s dream to protect Jenna, even for a second. The idea that an innocent woman lost her name for that loyalty felt unbearable.

"You shouldn’t have to pay for my mistake," Jenna whispered. "If there’s anything I can do—"

Rachel lifted a hand, stopping her again. "No. Don’t rob me of the weight I chose to carry. If we start choosing which punishments we accept, then righteousness becomes theater."

Jenna studied her in silence. Humans were strange, she thought. Some called themselves righteous yet hid their sins behind polished words. And then there were those like Rachel, righteous to the point of self-destruction, believing justice only lived if it hurt.

Jenna wondered which kind she was becoming.

Olivia shifted, breaking the silence. "We went to the mountains this morning," she said softly. "To scatter Lois’s ashes." Her eyes glistened as she spoke, and Rachel’s hand instinctively brushed the girl’s shoulder. "It was windy. The kind of wind she’d have liked. We decided to visit you after, since the estate wasn’t very far."

Rachel cleared her throat, afraid that Jenna didn’t want to hear anything concerning Lois. "Congratulations... who would have thought that the royal family would get involved? You’re no longer just an ordinary lady."

Olivia beamed. "If only Lois was—"

"Shush, child!" Lady Rachel tried to silence the little girl.

Jenna understood her reason but stopped Rachel. "Let her speak."

"I’m sorry for saying her name." Olivia lowered her gaze to the polished floor.

Jenna’s lips parted, but no sound followed. She had tried not to think of Lois, not the woman’s act, nor the way she had died. Every time her mind wandered there, she saw the same image: a body that no longer resembled the bright, vain, desperate creature it once housed. What was found of her had been a horror, a painting of obsession that refused to fade.

Lois had been the kind of woman who could silence a room with her beauty and stir a scandal with a sigh. And yet, for all that boldness, she’d been fragile where no one could see. Jenna had envied her once for her charm, her daring, her refusal to care. But the end had stripped the illusion bare.

"I hope you forgive her someday," Rachel said at last, her voice breaking through the stillness.

Jenna turned her eyes toward her, uncertain if she’d heard right.

Rachel’s expression softened. "She is now scattered in the mountains, so that when she is reborn, she’d be a woman who sails free unbound by the cage that waiting for a man built around her." She exhaled slowly, as though releasing years of understanding in one breath. "It was that cage, that belief that she needed love to be whole, which led her to her demise."

The words struck Jenna harder than she expected. Love, the same thing that had saved her, had ruined Lois in equal measure. Lois had loved foolishly, hopelessly, until she crossed the line.

Maybe, Jenna thought, all women loved like that at least once: believing the right man could silence the storm inside them. In Lois’s case, she had obsessed over another’s love.

Olivia’s eyes shimmered. She reached for Jenna’s hand, her touch small and trembling. "I’ll miss you," she whispered, then wrapped her arms around Jenna.

Jenna held her tightly, inhaling deeply. The girl smelled faintly of the mountains she’d come from.

"Then come visit me often," she murmured, brushing a strand of Olivia’s hair behind her ear. "I’ll always welcome you here. Always."

But when she lifted her eyes, Rachel’s face told her otherwise.

The older woman’s calm expression dimmed with quiet finality. "We can’t," she said softly. "We’re leaving the kingdom."

Jenna blinked. "Leaving? But why?"

Rachel nodded. "There’s nothing for us here anymore. My cousin lives by the river province, far enough for us to start afresh. It is what we need at the moment. It’s better that way."

Jenna took a slow breath, her fingers tightening around Olivia’s. "You’re really going?"

Rachel forced a smile on her tired face. "Sometimes peace demands distance. The world is large, Jenna. You’ll understand that one day."

Jenna exhaled. She could see the look in the woman’s eyes. There was no convincing her to stay. Everything seemed to have ended perfectly, but there was still an emptiness it caused, a rift it created.

"Don’t blame yourself, child," Rachel remarked, as if reading Jenna’s mind. "You deserve all of the happiness you get now. And you risked everything for it."

Reaching for Jenna’s hand, she patted it.

"Don’t let guilt trick you into thinking you have made a mistake. You’ll only ruin what you should be celebrating. It only chains the heart."

Lady Rachel mused to herself. She had a lot of encouraging words to say, but none she offered others worked on her. She cared for Jenna as much as she did for Lois- perhaps even more.

And lately, the woman had stayed awake at night blaming herself for not holding Lois when she needed love. For not guiding her back to the light.

They were both young women she should have protected. And while she celebrated Jenna, it was also right to mourn Lois for as long as she lived. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Thank you, Nana." Jenna tugged the woman’s hand, pulling her and Olivia into a warm embrace. "I’ll never forget you... or you..." she pinched Olivia’s cheeks.

Or you. Jenna thought of Lois.

When they broke away from the hug, Olivia was sniffling, biting her lips to stop her tears.

"I know this house found the right woman. I’ll proudly await your rule... Lady Jenna Hendrick." Rachel gave the young woman a bow before they turned to leave.

Jenna stood there long after they were gone. It wasn’t grief that filled her, it was that haunting awareness of time moving, carrying people away while she remained, still gathering the pieces of everyone who left.

It was the last time she would ever see them.

Jenna remembered the first time she met Rachel. After a violent night, carried away to a place she’d never been. When Jenna stepped down from that carriage and faced Rachel, how intimidating the woman had been, standing tall and sharp-eyed like a blade in court. Jenna had thought her cruel then, a woman who thrived on rules and judgment.

But over time, she’d come to understand Rachel didn’t follow rules because she enjoyed them. She followed them because her soul demanded order, even when it hurt. That was who she was; unbending, loyal, and painfully fair.

Then there was Olivia, that little sunbeam who had somehow slipped past Jenna’s walls. Despite her tender age, she had become Jenna’s confidant, sitting by her bedside on stormy nights whispering childish wisdoms.

Olivia had brought out something Jenna thought long dead, the innocence of laughter. Jenna smiled faintly as she remembered the day Olivia dragged her out into the rain. They had danced and screamed and spun in the mud like wildlings until Rachel caught them. It had been foolish, messy, and utterly freeing.

And then... Lois.

The name itself felt heavy on her tongue, like guilt and grief melted into one. Jenna had never truly liked Lois, not at first. Their friendship was born out of rivalry and sharpened tongues. But somehow, somewhere between arguments and reluctant laughter, something gentler had grown. Until it didn’t. Until death came and made the end of their story ugly, unredeemable.

The ache pressed against Jenna’s chest until she thought she’d crumble. Then, without a word, strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

"We need a little time," Rhane murmured against her ear, his voice low and steady. "What do you say we travel?"

Jenna turned to face him, her eyes still misty. "And to where?"

He smiled faintly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "The Merchant Village," he said. "Let us visit the family you once had."

Jenna turned properly. She had almost forgotten she needed to see her family again the ones that sailed with her during the stormy nights of her life. It was indeed what she needed most.

"Nobody really understands me like you do." She pecked Rhane’s lips.

Rhane kissed her back. "We can have our wedding after we return."

For the first time since her conversation with Rachel, Jenna’s heart stirred, not in pain, but in hope.

A new dawn.