Resetting Lady

“Sir Raymond, that’s a letter from the Royal Family, isn’t it?”

It was from Crown Prince Gueuze. The moment Raymond saw the letter, he knew that the prince was after him.

Raymond sat in front of his desk. Then, he wrote a will, saying that he would be bequeathing all of his property to Carynne in the case that he’d die. The baron was not in the position to receive it.

And this was the strongest indication—the indication that Raymond was trying. For her.

“Ah, seriously. You’re not going to die!”

Raymond did not believe that.

She spoke those words so casually and optimistically in a way that only a person, who didn’t know the gravity of the situation, would. Carynne did not know about the fight between the crown prince and the crown prince’s son, about the tensions between Raymond himself, the marquis and Verdic, nor about the conflicts between so many countless people and businesses and offspring battling for the position of heir.

In the end, she was just saying that. He didn’t have a reason to believe those words. She didn’t know what was truly going on. She didn’t know the situation. And Raymond did not try to reason with Carynne anymore.

Because Raymond was tired, too.

And rather, it was quite fun to watch Carynne wander around, diving straight into legends and myths while trying to dig up people’s relationships. Raymond thought that it was quite alright to leave his fortune with her as the price of being able to have fun together with her.

And.

And.

After going back to the same familiar work he’d been doing before, Raymond found himself more and more fond of the days he spent doing nothing—the days he thought were useless. It had been so very long since he had drifted away from the luxury of having fun.

“Did Verdic Evans betray me?”

The moment he shot a bullet into Duke Luthella’s head, and back when Raymond killed the duke’s young granddaughter.

Rather than feeling any guilt at all from killing two people, Raymond just kept thinking that he wanted to finish his job quickly and go back.

Where exactly did he want to go back to?

Raymond realized what the answer was, and realized that he was serious about it. And at that moment, he knew.

Raymond lived honorably.

Until this day.

That was the easiest way for him to live. If he were to see any injustices, then he would resist them. He did not keep silent. And he acted for the sake of justice.

However, he could not kill Carynne Hare.

Raymond had watched Carynne. If she had acted in a way that showed violence or cruelty right in front of his eyes, he would not have hesitated. He would not even have had to think about it.

And yet, she never showed anything like that in front of Raymond.

“I love Sir Raymond.”

It was clear that even she herself did not believe her own words. As soon as Raymond had barged into the crown prince’s room, her tearful eyes had changed into a look of annoyance. Nonetheless, she was a victim. Always. Always.

Raymond realized that he could not bring himself to kill Carynne.

Against the values that he built up, against the honor and conscience that he had fostered, she’d become more important.

An emotion like this… Raymond couldn’t at all say that this wasn’t love.

He didn’t think about it anymore. There wasn’t enough time, and Raymond had to find a way. Whatever it was that he thought of Carynne—regardless of how fanciful her words were, regardless of how he couldn’t erase the conviction that she might have been involved in murderous acts…

It did not matter any longer. Because he was going to help her.

Raymond stared at the priest in front of him—the young priest named Dullan Roid. Raymond thought about the first time he met the priest. The emotion between Dullan and Carynne seemed to be more like hate rather than love. Back then, Raymond held a hint of sympathy for the other man, but that was all. Through Verdic Evans, Dullan had tortured Carynne just because she broke off their engagement.

He was a normal, wily, jealous man.

Raymond did not hold any sympathy for him anymore. Because Dullan was his rival. In spite of everything that he did, wasn’t he now saying that he was willing to go to jail on behalf of Carynne Hare?

“Reverend Dullan.”

Raymond Saytes looked down at the man in front of him. He stared at Dullan Roid. From outside, the sacred hymns continued to echo, and the priest—this envoy of God—had collapsed before him, afraid that Raymond would send Carynne to prison.

Faced with this sight, Raymond was filled with displeasure. What exactly was this feeling, he wondered.

“Do you love Carynne Hare?”

“…No.”

But that answer was not convincing.

“Why do you wish to protect Carynne Hare so much?”

“…Because I-I am… her doctor, and… I am a priest.”

“So it’s for that reason that you want to go to prison instead of her. Don’t you think that what you’re saying makes little sense?”

There’s only one name to this emotion, wasn’t there?

Witnessing that fact, Raymond felt a slight twinge of jealousy. And, he was a little surprised.

Truthfully, before coming here, a fleeting thought passed Raymond’s mind: If Dullan loved Carynne, and if that’s the reason he was trying to protect her.

Then if Raymond were to die, he thought that the other man would be of help to her.

However, right now, Raymond wanted to bar Dullan from getting involved with Carynne for any reason at all. Even though he knew that this should not be the case.

If Dullan loved Carynne, then Raymond should take advantage of this more.

“It seems to me that you love Carynne Hare.”

“I-I do not.”

“If not, then do you pity her?”

“……”

Raymond hoped that it was pity and pity alone.

But then, Raymond was not blind to the muddied look in Dullan’s eyes, nor to the helping hand that he was offering to Carynne. There was too much emotion evident in the priest.

Just thinking about the assumption that Dullan loved Carynne was so very unpleasant.

And, experiencing this feeling of jealousy for the first time in his life, Raymond felt embarrassed. Disconcerted.

Raymond made an offer to Dullan. Who was perhaps his rival.

Because he could help.

Because, for the sake of not anymore thinking about killing or hating Carynne Hare, Dullan would give Raymond the answer.

“Has Carynne Hare gone crazy? Is that why you’re helping her?”

“…S-Sir Raymond?”

Raymond raised Dullan from where he was. With a firm grip on the other man’s arms. And, he looked straight into his eyes.

He needed to get a definite answer from him, even if he had to use coercive means. Dullan must give Raymond an answer.

“Is that the reason why you said that Carynne is not guilty of any sins?”

Say yes.

Raymond yelled this in his mind.

Say she’s not guilty. Say that’s the reason.

Dullan nodded.

As a doctor, as a priest.

And it looked as if Raymond had been saved by this fact. The hymns continued to echo in the distance.

* * *

Raymond walked down the corridor. It was a little later in the morning. Brilliant rays of sunlight were streaming through the hallway’s windows. Bless you. His steps were light.

Raymond was fond of this mansion, where so few people stayed. Since this wasn’t a property of House Saytes, it was a transient place where they could only stay for a little while, but there was also a sense of peace that came from that fact.

Soon enough, he would go back to his house. Along with the woman who Raymond—and only Raymond—chose.

“Donna?”

There was no one else but Raymond and Carynne in this temporary home. He felt a little relieved that the maid wasn’t here. Right now, it was satisfactory that only Carynne alone was here. Because he felt embarrassed, somewhat.

“Hm.”

Raymond glanced down at the hydrangeas in his hands. These white and blue summer flowers. It was around the time for the kinds of flowers to change. Summer was ending. Being that Carynne had red hair, her bedroom looked better when there were white and blue flowers to contrast that color.

After summer has passed, what kinds of flowers should he choose?

“Maybe it would have been better to just get jewelry rather than flowers.”

Raymond contemplated over the flowers. He chose this gift after appropriately giving alms to the street children he bought these from, but whenever he would give her flowers, she would just thank him and receive them. And it was the same with jewelry—she would just thank him and wear them.

She smiled and thanked him for everything, but she gave no significant reaction to anything. He wanted to surprise her, but she was also good at gambling, so she didn’t care about money or anything that could be bought with it. It was those peculiar antiques that attracted her attention.

Raymond knew it himself, that it was going too fast, but he did not want to wait.

“Ah, still. This shouldn’t be it.”

But after thinking about it, Raymond just went ahead with the bouquet of hydrangeas that he usually bought. He didn’t even want to wait until the shops were open. That’s why Raymond just bought the hydrangeas. One solace here was that the flowers were at least in good condition.

Knock, knock.

Raymond knocked on Carynne’s door. There was no answer. Raymond wondered if it’s because it was still too early. The polite thing to do here was to retreat.

“Mmh.”

But even more than before, he wanted to open the door. Anyone could see that this was a childish and quite disrespectful impulse. Raymond happily accepted the slight self-degradation he directed at himself.

Creak.

The door was opened.

And there she was. Carynne was laying on her bed. As expected, she hadn’t gotten up yet. She hated waking up early in the morning. Raymond constantly tried to make her a morning person according to the saying that ‘a healthy body begets a healthy mind’, but any attempts in pursuing that was a failure.

Again, after confirming that Carynne was still asleep, the only polite thing to do here was to leave.

Raymond stared at Carynne’s closed eyes. She looked like a doll. She had an amazingly pretty face.

Is she dead?

Raymond had that thought for a moment. That’s how unreal this was for him.