The Lady Nun Vows Revenge by Caroline Rowland

Chapter 2 Chapter 2 A coming-of-age ceremony? Seriously? The thought struck Eliza like a jolt. Didn't I already go through that nightmare ages agoť' She could still feel the sting of that day-sharp and cold, like a blade etched deep into her soul.

The mocking laughter of the guests. Her brother's venom-laced jabs. Her fiance's cold, merciless withdrawal. And worst of all, the crushing disappointment in her parents' eyes, their words like knives She'd lived it. Bled from it. And died with the memory still burning in her bones ☐ "So why the hell is it happening again? Her brows knitted, her chest tightening with confusion. Is Sophie really trying to pull the sdirty trick? What-ruinall over again, until I break for good! Eliza's breath hitched, her whole body trembling as the panic rose. But then- something stopped her cold.

She blinked. Her hands... they were fine. Not a single scar. Not even a scratch Her heart pounded as she looked down. Her feet were meady, untouched.

Her face paled. No. No way. This... this can't be real" Her tendons-every single one-had been cut. She remembered the pain, the screams, the hopelessness. There was no healing from that. None Something was very wrong. She turned slowly, scanning the room with growing dread. And then recognition began to dawn.

The furniture. The curtains. The scent in the air. Everything matched a place she thought she'd never see again. Her eyes landed on the old dressing table in the corner. Slowly, hesitantly, she walked toward it. Her reflection emerged in the bronze mirror- clearer with every step.

And what she saw made her breath catch in her throat. A young face. Smooth. Untouched. Not a trace of the disfigurement Sophie had left her with...

Her clothes, her hair-everything screamed innocence. This was her, before the fall. Before the disgrace. Before the pain.

No. It can't be. Did I cback? Did I really wake up an the day of my coming-of-age ceremony? The thought hit her like thunder.

Her breath cout shaky, almost a laugh. She covered her face with trembling hands, on the verge of hysteria "That's right... I died." Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper. "I died by Matthew's blade" And yet, here she was. Alive, Breathing. Not a ghost-but reborn into the snightmare she thought she'd escaped.

"Well, ain't that just perfect, she thought with a bitter smile. "Heaven's got a twisted sense of humor She had sworn-sworn on her grave-that she'd never have anything to do with the Stonors again. She was done with them. And now, fate had dragged her right back into their web.

Her teeth sank into her lower lip, hard enough to draw blood. The metallic taste snapped her back into clarity. Her gaze umed icy.

Maybe this was fate's way of screwing with her. But maybe this was her second shot..

She'd faced death before. Now, she was done being afraid.

Eliza used to be the most favored lady of the Duke's estate-the apple of everyone's eye From the moment she could walk and talk, k, she had been the treasured little sister to her four older brothers, and the darling princess her father could never say no to For the first fifteen years of her life, she lived like a pearl in a golden box-loved, protected, and admired. But all of that changed the year she turned fifteen, That was when her father returned with a strange little girl and made a shocking announcement this was his long-lost daughter, Sophie Stonor-their younger sister.

From then on, her world began to crumble.

Her father's warmth toward her grew cold, replaced with an obsession for Sophie. Her brothers, once her knights in shining armor, slowly pulled away from her and lavished their affections on the newcomer instead.

Every smile, every bug, every kind word that used to belong to her now belonged to Sophie 439 PM & Chapter 2 Back then, Eliza h had no idea what she'd done wrong. She tried everything- swallowed her pride, groveled, tried harder to please them.

But no matter what she did, it was never enough. All it brought her was pain- endless, soul-crushing pain. Whenever Sophie so much as teared up. Benedict would drag Eliza out and make her to apologize Dylan once snapped her arms and legs without blinking. Mathew tortured her like the was scriminal. And Anthony, the youngest, destroyed her face and smeared her narse until she couldn't even walk down the street without being spar on Even her father-her own blood-cast her out of the family without hesitation, erased her from the records, and left her with just five cruel words You're not fit to be a Stonor From beloved heiress to disgraced outcast, it took only three years to ruin her completely.

By the end, the had nothing left--no name, no home, no hope. She'd finally decided to leave Hasen City behind and start fresh somewhere far away, where no one knew who she was - sent men after But fate wasn't done with her just yet. Right before she could leave, Sophie accused her of stealing a jade pendant. The Stonor family s ber, dragged her back in chains, and demanded she hand it over.

Even then, spart of her still hoped-maybe they ry still care, just a lide... She gambled her last breath on that hope And low Eliza drew in a shaky breath, shutting her eyes, tight she forced the memories away Maybe none of it was ever mine, she thought bitterly. Maybe I was just fooling myself all along. That's fine. I made the wrong choice in my last life -but this time. 1 won't repeat my mistakes.

Just then, a soft clink echoed in the quiet room. Something had fallen to the ground.

She looked down and blinked in surprise-it was a familiar piece of emerald. "Mother's pendant!" she gasped.

Eliza dropped to her knees and gently scooped it up, cradling it in her palm like it was the most precious thing in the world. Carefully, she brushed the dust of its surface-only to notice something odd.

was broken.

She remembered it clearly. The pendant had been two interlocking emerald hearts-a symbol of unity, of love. But now, only half remained. She searched around frantically but couldn't find the other piece.

Her gaze returned to the pendant. The break was smooth, too clean to be from a fall.

"Wait a minute... this wasn't just cracked," she murmured. "What if... it's supposed to be like this?" She gently ran her fingers along the edge of the break and vanished.

The world spun. A wave of dizziness overtook her, and when she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in her room.

She stood in a vast, silent realm blanketed in white mist. The air felt still Timeless.

What is this place_?" she thought, eyes wide She crouched down and touched the ground. Grass. Cool and real beneath her fingers.

A wild thought bloomed in her mind. 'Could I be inside the pendant And my ttravel-is this all connected" Suppressing her questions for now, the scanned her surroundings. The space wasn't large. There was a field of soft grass, a crystal-clear stream trickling by, and a simple thatched but wanding quietly in the mist. she approached the hut. It was empty and dustless. Like no one had ever lived there As the crossed the stream, something on the other side caught her eye, making her pause in her tracks. The area was brimming with all kinds of Stepping closer, her reyes widened in amazement. No, it wasn't just any flowers or regular plants.

There before her, were rare and prized specimens, ginseng, golden root, St. John's Wort, elderflower, and even the elusive mandrake Chapter 2 Every single one was a rare medicinal herb-priceless treasures in the hands of any healer. And those were just the ones she recognized. There were dozens more that she'd never even seen before.

What shocked her most wasn't the herbs themselves-but how they were thriving here.

Sof them needed freezing climates. Others, humid forests. Sgrew only in cliffs or deserts.

Yet here, in this strange, misty world-they were all growing together in perfect harmony.

Is it this place! This pocket farm" she wondered, staring around in disbelief And then she noticed the stream. The rarer the hot, the closer it was to the water.

"It's the stream," she whispered. "The water's the key" Eliza stared at the gentle current as a realization slowly dawned on her.

Eliza stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the scene before her. She couldn't help but mytter under her breath. "Mother, what's the secret behind the pendant you left me?" As the shock lingered, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Sophie once forcedto hand over the pendant out of the blue. Could she have already discovered this pocket farm wer out of her sight.

But that didn't quite add up. After all, the pendant had always been with her, never out If it wasn't for this random twist of fate today, she might never have stumbled upon this hidden space.

And, from what she knew about Sophie's behavior, she was clearly clueless about

So, either someone else knew about the pendant's secret and spilled the beans to Sophie: dr Sophie's real agenda wasn't the space at all-it was something else entirely. For sreason, Eliza couldn't shake the feeling that the latter was more likely But But no matter what, now that she had this secret in her hands, there was no way she was letting the pendant fall into anyone else's grasp. It had to be kept hidden-safely out of reach.

With the pendant's pocket farm now under her control, Eliza felt a surge of confidence in her plan to get back at Sophie and the Seonor family, After figuring out how to move freely in and out of the pendant's space. Eliza quickly made her way back to her room.

She couldn't stay in the space for too long-after all, today was her coming-of-age ceremony, and she knew someone would be looking for her

But what Eliza didn't know was that, as she left the pendant's pocket farm, ΟΙ a handsyoung man in another mansion in Hasen City-this one N belonging to the Regent-was suddenly jolted awake from his nap.

He grabbed the pendant from the table and scared at the broken half of the heart-shaped clasp, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Rang- "Eliza! Get your butt out here!" "Don't think you can hide in your room and I won't do anything about it" with a shout, a tall, broad-shouldered young man barged into Eliza's room, his presence as fierce and intense as an angry lion.