Chapter 7: Only Bring Suffering

After the harrowing incident passed, Rinlada chose to conceal the truth. She told Nittaya and the housekeeper that she had accidentally fallen asleep in the bathtub and nearly drowned, but Treephat fortunately came to her rescue just in time. Her tone was as casual as she could manage, but her heart was pounding with unease. She couldn’t bring herself to reveal what truly happened—or tell anyone about the spirit of the Ayutthaya-era woman with a face identical to hers, like a mirror image.

On the other hand, Treephat was just as unsettled. The image of La-Orduen in the bathroom remained vivid in her mind. She felt confused and unnerved but refrained from asking Rinlada about it, fearing it might worsen her distress.

That night, unable to sleep, Treephat wandered out to the front garden to calm her restless mind. But the sight before her made her stop in her tracks. Rinlada was sitting alone at a wooden table in the garden, bathed in the moonlight. Her face looked somber, her eyes distant as if lost in thoughts she couldn’t escape.

Treephat stood watching for a moment before deciding to approach. "Khun Aey... why aren’t you sleeping yet?"

Rinlada flinched slightly before turning to offer a faint smile. "I couldn’t sleep," she replied softly. "What about you, Khun Lin? Couldn’t sleep either?"

"No..." Treephat admitted, sitting down across from her.

Rinlada lowered her gaze before speaking quietly. "It must be because of what happened earlier..."

Her words brought a heavy silence between them, as if an invisible curtain had fallen, separating them. Treephat tilted her head to gaze at the full moon in the vast sky, while Rinlada stared at her own hands. They were each lost in their own worlds, yet deep down, both knew they couldn’t keep what they had seen bottled up any longer.

"Khun Aey..."

"Khun Lin..."

Their voices overlapped as they called each other’s names simultaneously. Both froze, then Treephat offered a small smile and gestured for Rinlada to speak first.

"You go first, Khun Aey," Treephat said gently.

Rinlada fell silent for a moment, pressing her lips tightly together as if trying to gather her courage. Her eyes wavered slightly before she finally decided to speak.

"Khun Lin, you might think I'm imagining things," she began hesitantly, "but today... in the bathroom, I saw a woman. She was dressed in traditional Thai attire. She’s the one who held me down in the bathtub."

Treephat listened intently, her expression shifting slightly as she absorbed Rinlada’s words.

"I remember her," Rinlada continued, her voice trembling. "She’s the same woman who pulled me into the water when I was a child, the time I almost drowned..." Her voice quivered as she looked down, realizing her nails had started digging into her skin without her noticing.

"Her name is La-Orduen..." Rinlada raised her head, her eyes filled with fear. "And she looks exactly like me."

Treephat’s eyes widened in shock. "Khun Aey, you’ve seen and dreamed about La-Orduen’s spirit too?"

Their eyes met, and in that brief moment of silence, a deep understanding passed between them without the need for words.

They began to open up to each other, sharing their dreams and the strange, unsettling events they had each experienced concerning the spirit of La-Orduen.

.

.

In a dark corner of the house, the spirit of La-Orduen appeared in a terrifying form. She stood glaring at Treephat and Rinlada, who were deep in conversation, her gaze filled with malevolence. Her face was twisted in fury, and the iron shackles binding her wrists and ankles dug so tightly into her flesh that crimson blood seeped out, dripping from the restraints.

One bloodstained foot pressed down on the head of an elderly man with a disheveled beard, who lay beneath her. His face contorted in agony.

Her bright red lips curled into a chilling, mocking smile.

"A feeble house spirit like you can’t protect La-Orchan," she sneered, her voice icy and filled with disdain. "How could you possibly stand against a centuries-old spirit like me... you pathetic old man?"

…

The next morning, Rinlada and Treephat decided to visit the temple where they first met. They hoped that offering alms and performing the water-pouring ritual would help ease the fear lingering in their hearts.

After their heartfelt conversation the previous night, they had tried to piece together the events that had unfolded. Their conclusion left them deeply troubled.

La-Orduen might be the spirit of Rinlada's twin from a past life. However, they chose not to share this revelation with Nittaya, Rinlada’s grandmother, fearing it would only add to her worries.

.

.

Upon arriving at the temple, they began the water-pouring ritual, focusing their minds and dedicating merit to the spirit of La-Orduen. Despite their genuine intentions, they couldn't shake the feeling of an unseen resistance pushing back against their efforts.

In the darkest corners of the spiritual realm, La-Orduen's spirit stood screaming in hatred, her voice filled with unrelenting fury. No merit, no kindness could extinguish the blazing vengeance she carried within her.

"Don't you dare make merit for me! I don't need your charity!"

she shrieked, her piercing voice echoing with venom. It was heavy with anger and an unyielding grudge. She rejected every offering of merit that Treephat and Rinlada tried to dedicate to her. All she desired was vengeance.

Suddenly, an icy gust of wind swept through with great force, as if it were a manifestation of the spirit's wrath. Treephat and Rinlada exchanged uneasy glances, the unsettling tension thick in the air.

…

Before leaving the temple, Treephat and Rinlada approached the venerable monk seated calmly on his seat within the temple hall to pay their respects. Just as they were about to bid him farewell, the monk closed his eyes and spoke a cryptic statement. His words didn’t seem directed at the two standing before him but rather at someone unseen.

.

‘Nothing in this world truly belongs to us. The more one clings, the deeper one drowns in suffering.’

.

Treephat and Rinlada froze for a moment, exchanging puzzled glances. The meaning behind his words was too ambiguous to decipher. The monk offered no further explanation, merely giving them a faint smile before quietly rising and walking away.

As the two women remained in confusion over his words,

In the darkest shadow, La-Orduen's spirit watched them with eyes full of malice. She had heard every word the monk had spoken. Her pale hands clenched tightly, her nails digging into her own flesh, drawing streaks of crimson blood.

She knew well that the monk’s words were meant for her.

"Stay in your place, monk. Meddling where you shouldn’t—you’re asking for trouble," she sneered, her voice laced with contempt.

…

Cutting back to events of the past...

"Nothing in this world truly belongs to us. The more one clings, the deeper one drowns in suffering.... Do you believe in this idea, Saibua?"

It was La-Orduen who posed the question, her tone calm as she carefully embroidered a piece of cloth while seated on a low wooden platform.

Saibua, her trusted maid, sat demurely by her side, skillfully peeling fruit. She paused for a moment, surprised by her mistress’s question. Perhaps it stemmed from the sermon La-Orduen had heard during a recent temple visit with Lady Phiengwad, the daughter of Lord Krai. The sermon might have sparked some thoughts.

"Yes, my lady. It’s the teaching of the monks," Saibua replied cautiously. But La-Orduen merely smiled, a sweet smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. There was a gleam in her gaze that Saibua couldn’t quite decipher.

"But I don’t believe it," La-Orduen said, her voice unwavering. "If we desire something, we must find a way to claim it. If we want the sweet fruit hanging high on a tree, we must climb up to get it. And if we can’t climb, we must build a ladder."

Her words hung in the air.

Saibua frowned slightly in confusion. "But what if the tree is too tall to climb, or even a ladder won’t reach?"

La-Orduen chuckled softly. "Then I’ll cut the tree down and gather its fruit myself."

Saibua's eyes widened in surprise. She never expected her mistress to have such a mindset but dared not say a word, knowing her place as merely a servant.

La-Orduen turned to look at Saibua, her voice devoid of emotion as she asked, "And has La-Orchan recovered from her illness yet?"

From her tone, Saibua couldn’t tell if her mistress was genuinely concerned about her twin sister or simply making conversation to fill the silence. Choosing to stick to the truth, she replied cautiously,

"Saiyood informed me that Lady La-Orchan’s condition has improved greatly, my lady."

Saiyood, the servant mentioned, was La-Orchan’s close attendant and also a relative of Saibua. La-Orduen nodded at the response, but her expression remained unreadable. She glanced at Saibua again and said,

"Tomorrow, we will visit Lady Phiengwad’s residence. But do not inform La-Orchan or Saiyood. We will go just the two of us. They must not find out."

Saibua looked at her mistress with curiosity but could only nod in agreement. "Yes, my lady," she replied softly before falling silent.

She watched as La-Orduen returned to her embroidery, her face adorned with a peculiar smile. Her unusually cheerful demeanor was unmistakable, a stark contrast to her usual self.

…

At dawn, La-Orduen led Saibua out of the house, heading toward Phiengwad’s residence. However, before they could leave the premises, the clear voice of La-Orchan, her twin sister, called out from behind.

"P’La-Orduen, wait for me!" La-Orchan hurried after them, with Saiyood, her attendant, close behind.

La-Orduen, who had been walking in a cheerful mood, stopped abruptly. Turning around, she looked at her twin with surprise. She called her sister’s name as La-Orchan stopped in front of her, slightly out of breath, before flashing a wide smile.

"P’La-Orduen, you’re heading to P’Phiengwad’s residence, aren’t you?"

La-Orduen was taken aback that her younger twin knew about her plans, but she quickly masked her surprise with a gentle smile, casting a reproachful glance at Saibua. The servant frantically shook her head in denial.

Seeing this, La-Orchan quickly explained, "P’Phiengwad sent her maid, Gulab, to inform Saiyood yesterday. She said that if I recovered from my illness, she’d like me to visit her residence and mentioned that you would be going too."

La-Orduen paused for a moment before smiling sweetly, as always. "I see. My apologies, dear sister. I didn’t invite you because I was worried you hadn’t fully recovered. If you were to go out and catch a chill again, I feared your illness might worsen."

"But I’m fully recovered now! I want to see P’Phiengwad. I missed the last trip to the temple, too," La-Orchan insisted.

Seeing her twin’s determination, La-Orduen feigned a warm smile. She raised a hand to gently brush La-Orchan’s hair, but inwardly, she seethed with frustration.

"Very well. Let’s go to P’Phiengwad’s residence together, my dear sister," she said, her voice dripping with sweetness.

…

At the Thai house of Lord Krai, Phiengwad, La-Orchan, and La-Orduen sat together, each on their own seat, delicately threading garlands from beautiful flowers. Their servants attended to them closely, fulfilling their duties attentively.

"How does my garland look?"

La-Orduen asked, holding up the finished garland. She handed it to Phiengwad with a smile, who took it and examined it carefully.

"It’s exquisite. Your craftsmanship is flawless, La-Orduen," Phiengwad praised warmly.

However, she cast a sidelong glance at La-Orchan, who was fumbling with her garland-making in a clumsy manner.

"Making garlands isn’t fun at all..." La-Orchan muttered before setting her needle and thread down with a sigh. "I’d rather just sit and watch you and P’La-Orduen make garlands instead."

Phiengwad laughed affectionately. "Then, you may watch us make garlands for now, La-Orchan."

La-Orchan beamed at Phiengwad, clearly delighted by her indulgence.

Meanwhile, La-Orduen silently observed their interactions, her eyes filled with envy.

.

.

Time passed slowly.

La-Orchan sat watching Phiengwad thread garlands, her eyes fixated on the woman in front of her without realizing it. Her thoughts wandered, marveling at how Phiengwad could be so beautiful. Those striking eyes paired perfectly with her defined brows, her well-shaped nose, and her long, sleek, jet-black hair. Even the way she delicately and gracefully threaded the flowers seemed effortlessly elegant.

Without thinking, La-Orchan picked up a needle and some flowers again, determined to replicate Phiengwad's skill. But moments later—

"Ouch!" La-Orchan cried out in surprise as the sharp needle pricked her fingertip.

Phiengwad jolted and turned to her in alarm. "What happened?"

"I pricked my finger," La-Orchan admitted, holding out her hand for Phiengwad to see. Without hesitation, Phiengwad set her garland aside and took La-Orchan’s hand to inspect it closely.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Phiengwad’s voice was filled with concern, as if she had forgotten that La-Orduen was still sitting there.

"Just a little," La-Orchan replied softly.

"Then let me take care of it for you,"

Phiengwad said, standing up and gently leading La-Orchan to another corner of the residence. Meanwhile, La-Orduen watched the two of them walk away, a pang of jealousy gnawing at her. Their closeness made her feel like an outsider.

…