Resetting Lady

Still though, when Carynne leaned down and cupped her ear, she couldn’t hear the sound of a ticking clock. In fact, even if a bomb had really been installed inside, she didn’t know if a real bomb would make that kind of sound. The only bomb she knew about was what she had seen in plays—a huge bundle of candles with an exaggeratedly large clock attached to it.

She didn’t care if she were to die here, of course. Right now, the only thing that would have stopped Carynne from opening the chest was the small, tugging conscience telling her that she should respect other people’s privacy. But, well, in this life, she was determined to indulge in the pleasures of murder and gluttony.

So, Carynne opened the box with glee.

“……”

And when she did, she was a little stunned. Inside was a card to convey a congratulatory message for her upcoming wedding, and some jewelry as a gift. It wasn’t what she was expecting.

At the front side of the card were the words, ‘To Carynne’.

From whom could it possibly be?

Then, at the back of the card,

【 Congratulations on your wedding. 】

Carynne stared at the words on the card, however, she couldn’t immediately tell whose writing it was.

Placing that card down on the floor, she then went on to look down at the other contents of the chest.

“……”

A card, some jewelry, a few flowers. It was fine up until that point.

This other thing was the problem.

At first, Carynne thought that it was just another kind of accessory. Because it had been camouflaged well underneath.

It was a human hand.

A human hand that had been adorned with flowers and gold and silver jewelry. The part where it had been cut off was clean, decorated even with pink ribbons.

At first glance, it looked like a gift for a girl who liked cute things.

However, there was one detail that would suggest that this matter had not been handled as meticulously as it was trying to present itself as. There was dried blood stuck on the edges of the hand’s fingernails.

“…Donna?”

Carynne asked the quiet surroundings one question.

And of course, there was no answer.

Is this Donna’s hand?

If not, then whose?

Why?

Why is this here?

Who put this here?

Carynne did not scream. She wasn’t even appalled.

In fact, she thought that something more ominous would come out of this chest, which had been lodged beneath the bed. It’s certainly surprising to see, but rather than being afraid, she merely felt curious.

“Who could it be?”

Someone sent this hand to her. She didn’t have to think all that hard about it since her name was clearly written on that card over there. Still, the sender didn’t sign their name.

Who could it be? Some people might have been able to guess just by taking one look at the handwriting, but Carynne couldn’t recognize it at all. And it was such a sophisticated script.

“It might be Mister Verdic Evans… or not.”

He was the one who had persecuted Carynne the most throughout the years, but it was difficult for her to imagine him hatching up a plan to send a woman’s chopped up body part to her. Rather than slaughtering a different woman in order to frighten Carynne, Verdic Evans would have just come up to her with an axe in hand, personally swinging it right across her neck.

“Mister Verdic has got more of a temper than he looks.”

Verdic did not know Carynne all that well, but on the flip side, she knew him very well. So, Carynne crossed Verdic’s name off the list.

Verdic had killed Carynne so many times before that she knew he wouldn’t do such a thing like this. He was strangely queasy about certain things.

So, Carynne thought of another man.

“Crown Prince Gueuze is the likeliest suspect then.”

He was the most plausible guess. After all, hadn’t he recently sent a summons to her?

She had to wonder whether a member of the royal family would really do something like this. Still, she did not know him well. He was one of her mother’s men—an old, withered man. A man with a strong stomach.

This was all that Carynne knew about him.

Did he have such a hobby, perhaps?

But then, why now?

Carynne was nothing but a stranger to him. Why was this pervert—who was so obsessed with her mother and, in turn, also so very obsessed with her—doing this now, of all times, when he never showed any hint of this obsession over all those years?

At best, the only thing he did before was look at Carynne’s face and comment that she resembled her mother, Catherine. He never even attended any of her weddings.

It was for this reason that she couldn’t one hundred percent confirm that this was the work of Crown Prince Gueuze.

And.

“Dullan.”

Carynne recalled her fiancé, Dullan. It was a low possibility, but maybe it’s him?

The last time Carynne saw Donna, she had sent her on an errand.

“Give this letter to Dullan.”

The letter contained her own concerns, and about how she was delegating her choice to Dullan. The last person that Donna met was likely to be Dullan.

“Seriously, this life has been so difficult…”

Would that man, as Carynne knew him, really do this?

Carynne knew him as a man who stuttered constantly, who was always anxious, and had a penchant for blaming others. He would act timidly as if he was lowering his tail in front of Carynne. However, when it came to other people he thought were below him, he would look down on them so severely as well.

Other than that, he had so many flaws to his personality.

Carynne has known this man for not just one year, but one hundred years. And there were several instances wherein other men, who were like Dullan, would stab her on the final day. Most of them were men of God.

Even so, Dullan never killed Carynne.

“Umm…”

She didn’t believe that Dullan’s morality was still intact. On the other hand, she believed in his slaughtering skills.

Every time the festival was held, Dullan would slaughter countless animals. Most were small animals, but sometimes, he would kill a huge one, like a cow.

Dullan looked sick and tired of doing it, but he’d very deftly strike the cow’s head with little force and then cut off the bloodstream in the animal’s neck.

In the case of a bird, he could easily twist its neck at once.

Carynne touched the cold hand. The fingernails had blood on them, and the cut was roughly done. By her estimation, it looked like the cut had been made while the person was still alive.

She recalled the time that she had chopped up Thomas. She had been able to make clean cuts to the body since he was already dead. Since she didn’t have much strength, she had to do it carefully, but her cuts had definitely not been like this.

This cut on (presumably) a woman’s wrist was quite rough. The cut must have been made while she was still alive.

Carynne thought about the woman, who would have watched her own hand being hacked off right in front of her wide eyes.

“It really might be Donna, huh.”

The hand had some callouses, which weren’t all that small, but weren’t very hardened from age either. This hand was that of a woman around Carynne’s age. And it’s not a noble’s.

This line of logic didn’t need any further thought.

Unless Donna turns out to be an insane murderer, then this hand must truly be Donna’s.

And Carynne, too, could only think that it really was hers. Because it was sent to Carynne. And, she wasn’t acquainted with that many other women. It’s unlikely that anyone would cut off their own hand and present it as a gift.

“It’s Donna, maybe Donna. Was Dullan the last person she met?”

Again, of course, her surroundings did not answer back.

Carynne picked up the severed hand and held it as though they were shaking hands.

It’s weird, this sensation of touching a dead chunk of meat.

“……”

When she had killed Nancy, it was a fresh corpse, and she couldn’t think of much else. She had been so excited that she couldn’t remember the details of it.

When she had chopped up Thomas’ dead body, she was so absorbed in thinking that she might just be crazy.

And when her father died, she had been too distracted by the fire.

While holding the woman’s hand, Carynne closed her eyes. She wondered if even a little sympathy would arise. However, Carynne shed not a single teardrop. She only thought, is she dead, is she alive?

She was curious, but not sad.

More than anything, the question that was at the forefront of her mind was, ‘So, what would Dullan answer?’

Dullan never mentioned when he’d give his answer.

He just said that it had to be true love. But there’s not much time left now.

Carynne had put it off because she did not want to choose. Now, however, she knew that she must.

How would she die? Once she’d settle on a choice, she could feel the sensation as though it was happening already.

She looked out the window, where quite a few servants were bustling with activity.

“The greenhouse shall be repaired tomorrow!”

“The lamb has arrived!”

“Check the third floor’s hallway again!”

While preparing for Prince Lewis’ arrival, the servants were scurrying around like crazy, making a fuss like never before. They had always been quiet just like the count household’s members who they were serving, but Prince Lewis’ sudden visit had set everyone into a flurry. Carynne could easily imagine Lady Lianne’s cheeks turning bright red while trying on dozens of clothes.

“When is he coming?”

“Tomorrow!”

If she were to stay put, she would have a happy ending.

Once again, Raymond said that he loves Carynne. And, once again, he asked her to marry him. Just like before.

Crown Prince Gueuze had become the villain who wanted to have Carynne all to himself, but his son, Prince Lewis, had prevented that.

All she needed to do was wait in this room. Just stay as the girl in love, waiting for Raymond to return. If love could be attained in this life—if Dullan would acknowledge it—then it would all end.

Would it be the end?

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