Resetting Lady

“No, sir! Please… Please check my pocket, I’ve got a letter sent by His Lordship to Carynne Evans.”

Raymond was using one hand to hold the other man’s arms down, while his other hand was holding the gun. Raymond gestured with his chin and ordered Donna.

“You there. Search him.”

“Yes? Yes!”

There was a disgusted scowl on Donna’s face as she reached into the man’s coat pocket, but she eventually pulled out the letter. Even in the dark, Raymond recognized that the owner of that letter’s seal was Baron Ein.

“Bring it here.”

Donna walked closer, then she showed the piece of paper. As he read the contents of the letter, Raymond’s eyes narrowed.

“……”

“……”

What’s written there was exactly as the servant said.

Baron Ein had written to Carynne with the request of letting her handmaid work at his mansion for a few days—the baron said that he’d pay for what Carynne had lost during the card game in exchange for this. In other words, it was just another roundabout way of prostituting the maid.

“Carynne is— this…”

“Milady will never agree to this!”

“Shit! Hey! You didn’t even give it to the recipient!”

“Milady isn’t that kind of person, okay? She’s never ever going to agree.”

“…Anyway, Sir Knight, please let me go now.”

“……”

Raymond pulled the gun away from the man.

“Damn, anyway, also please speak about this to Carynne Evans.”

“Pardon me.”

Raymond pushed down the urge to sigh and soon relaxed his grip on the other man. The servant quickly removed himself from that spot, briskly leaving the alley.

“……”

Baron Ein is the culprit, she said.

However, even while Raymond himself had threatened the man like that just now, it was still difficult for him to believe that as the truth. Baron Ein didn’t have any reputation of him using his lower half recklessly while having fun here and there. Though, this was what’s known amongst the nobles.

Even if he had played with a few maids in his own house, rumors wouldn’t slip out unless the woman he had touched was a noblewoman. His self-restraint was to that degree. But was that just a façade? For decades?

A noble being a homicidal maniac was something that would attract the attention of practically anyone, but Raymond couldn’t clear his doubts.

People who commit murder tend to be those who had unmet desires. Baron Ein was a noble man who had ownership over a stable territory. He had too much in his possession for him to be doing something like this.

Still, it was difficult to come to a conclusion. For instance, wasn’t Carynne, who had both beauty and promised wealth, exhibiting an inexplicable madness within her?

“E-Excuse me.”

Would it have been better if he stood back and watched the maid get accosted rather than helping her? If he believed Carynne, perhaps it would have been better to wait and see, then he could tell Albert about it later. If he would have witnessed the act, the police would have had no choice but to investigate the matter immediately because the witness was a noble.

“Sir Knight?”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Please don’t be sorry. I’m grateful for your help, sir.”

Raymond glanced down at Donna and felt apologetic. For one moment, he judged that it would have been more convenient if she had died. He was so focused on digging up on Carynne that he kept losing his balance.

“Let’s go back.”

“…Yes.”

With her head bowed down, Donna started walking by Raymond’s side.

“Um… Please don’t tell her about this.”

“What?”

“To Lady Carynne, sir…”

Donna’s voice gradually grew weaker.

“I… really… don’t want to go there.”

“…Mm.”

Raymond stroked his smooth chin. It was difficult to imagine Carynne prostituting out Donna. Carynne was too young to do such a dirty thing. And it also seemed to him that Donna and Carynne got along quite well.

“Carynne would never do that.”

“…You truly must love Lady Carynne, sir.”

In this situation, he should say ‘yes’.

He decided to focus on returning to the manor first so that he could question Carynne a little more. He was going to start with the matter of Baron Ein being the culprit. It didn’t seem like the case to him.

“But… You know, sir…”

“……”

“Milady’s circumstances. Everyday, she…  I mean, if I go, um… So you see… um… Wouldn’t Milady get hit?”

Raymond could tell why Donna was feeling insecure. She was thinking that if Carynne had sold Donna to the baron before, Carynne wouldn’t have gotten lashed like that.

“You’re a maid, all you have to do is do your job. You’re an employee, not a slave.”

“…But Lord Raymond, you love Milady though.”

Should he have appeared to be angry here? Perhaps its just because women were complex, but Raymond found it difficult to try to understand those mysterious beings.

Strangely, the bond formed was through an emotional twine. If twisted, it’s the same kind of sympathy formed towards a victim.

At the very least, he should also show a degree of affection towards that girl.

Raymond’s worries seem weighed on his mind. It seemed as though he met the wrong woman.

“Whatever happens, this has to be dealt with.”

As her fiancé.

* * *

Carynne wasn’t in her room. So, Donna and Raymond went up to Isella’s room.

Knock, knock.

“…Milady?”

No answering sound could be heard. Donna opened the door.

“Mi… Milady?”

Damn it, you’re doing all sorts of things.

Carynne was lying on the floor.

He’d detest it if he had questioned her and she would faint or cry while saying that she knew nothing. And he also found it unpleasant if he would waver because of that.

Raymond grimaced as he watched Donna rush to Carynne’s side. It’s because of that woman that he was doing such futile things.

“Milady?”

“……”

Even in this place, was he required to make a show of his apparent love for her? Through Carynne’s clothes, Raymond caught sight of the open wounds on her back. Blood was soaking the fabric because it still hadn’t been properly treated. She should at least be properly given gauze dipped in alcohol first.

“Milady?”

In Raymond’s opinion, Carynne was the one who needed bedrest more than Isella. Raymond took off his gloves and leaned down to get closer to Carynne. He slipped one arm under her neck so he could carry her.

“……”

“God damn it.”

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Call Reverend Dullan, now!”

Carynne wasn’t breathing.

* * *

Raymond would come here soon. She knew who the culprit was, and she told him. Baron Ein would be caught as the criminal. Would it be like that this time as well? It would be more convenient if that’s how it pans out. Carynne closed the door without locking it. She felt blood running down her back. The muddy feeling made her feel terrible. How will it turn out this time?

“Isella, do you trust Sir Raymond?”

“……”

“……”

Carynne stared at Isella. She did not wake up. She did not fight back. As a corpse and as a rival, she was the loser. Forever. There’s no need for dialogue. Dialogue with Isella was the same as monologue. This, too, was not needed now. She was bored to death just rambling on by herself. Now, her dialogue would be with Raymond.

Drip, drip.

The IV fluid trickled. Carynne looked at it vacantly. Then, she took out a new needle.

“If my theory is correct.”

“……”

Carynne wondered.

Who had set the mansion on fire? Until now, it never truly went up in flames. Whenever Carynne tried it before, the servants were quick to put it out. Then, did it get burned down because the servants didn’t put out the fire this time?

“Dullan.”

And, why wouldn’t Isella wake up?

Even if she escaped until this point, right now, she was bound to be dragged back to the stage.

Carynne took out the IV drip connected to Isella.

Jab.

Carynne jabbed the needle into her own arm. She felt no pain. Darkness met her before pain could.

THUD.

* * *

With an alarmed gaze, Raymond looked at Carynne. He snapped back to his senses, so he examined her and found out that she was still breathing. However, her breaths were few and far in between, and her body was cold. The blood trickling from the gashes on her back wouldn’t stop flowing either. Her wounds were inadequately disinfected and poorly bandaged, but she wasn’t properly treated first. In many ways, she needed a doctor.

“Just what the hell do you want me to do now.”

Just what was he expected to do with this woman, who looked as if only a little bit of force was needed to kill her. This woman who wasn’t all there in the head, this woman who was his partner in a political marriage, this woman who’d become an adopted daughter.

This woman, who made a promise of love.

“…They’re running late.”

While staring at his blood-stained hands, Raymond wondered. He thought that people would come running right away, but the hallways were quiet. Why wasn’t anyone coming yet? In his impatience, Raymond eventually rose to his feet first, but right then, Donna came back to the room, breathing heavily.

“S-Sir Knight.”

Yet, Donna was alone. Donna looked lost as she shifted her weight from one foot to another frantically. Raymond knew that something was wrong.

“Why aren’t you alone? The Reverend didn’t come?”

“T-That.”

“First, tell me. Is he or is he not inside the mansion?”

“…He’s inside.”

“Where?”

“In M-Master Verdic’s room.”

“Why isn’t he coming out?”

“I was told that the two of them are working inside…”

“Move.”

Raymond shoved Donna and went out the hallway. He marched down the main hallway and down the stairs as he asked the maid. Donna followed after him hurriedly. It was a waste of time even trying to ask.

He hastened his steps. He ran down the corridors and went down the staircase. All the servants and maids stared at Raymond as he ran and ran in a hurry, but strangely, that’s all they did. In this entire mansion, only Donna and Raymond were stricken with urgency.

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