Resetting Lady

His eyes rolled all the way back to show only their whites. Crown Prince Gueuze tried desperately to pull the necklace off, his fingers hooked beneath the string, and kicked his feet relentlessly. However, the more he struggled, the tighter the necklace dug upon his neck.

“…Uhk.”

With that final groan, thud, went the man as he collapsed to the ground.

Tak.

Crown Prince Gueuze stopped struggling. He fell forward.

It’s all over.

The one and only crown prince of the kingdom, a middle-aged man who was supposed to be king, a serial killer, a rapist, and a man who loved Catherine, Carynne’s mother.

“…You lasted longer than Father.”

“……”

After he had struggled for such a long time, Crown Prince Gueuze finally stopped moving, and so Carynne slowly let go of the necklace. There was a deeply engraved mark of the string on her hand, too.

“I changed the necklace’s string with an organ’s string.”

“……”

“Actually, it would have been much easier to kill you with a scarf than this thing. But rather than that, there aren’t many other things that are more comfortable. Poison would have been good, but I made the mistake of not bringing any because I was summoned here in such a hurry, right? Well, even if I gave you a glass to drink, you probably wouldn’t have taken it.”

Carynne shook her hands.

“My hands hurt.”

“……”

Carynne used one heeled shoe to turn Crown Prince Gueuze’s face upside down, pressing down on his cheek with her foot. This simple act would have been enough to apprehend her with the crime of contempt against the royal family.

“…Since you’re already so old, you should have refrained from being too greedy.”

Crown Prince Gueuze died with his eyes still open. His eyes had turned red after his veins had burst, and there was drool trickling out of his mouth.

It was an unsightly death.

“…Gracious.”

Carynne looked down at her bloodied hands. They both hurt. As Crown Prince Gueuze was thrashing around earlier, he had torn the skin off Carynne’s hands. The wounds looked like they’d leave scars.

Looking down at her stinging hands, she sighed. In this iteration, her hands had already gotten so ragged because of manual labor, but there would now be scars, too.

“It hurts.”

Carynne grimaced, then she turned to the boy. There was a pool of blood around his lower body. After fixing the shoes on her feet, she called out to Prince Lewis.

“Your Highness Lewis?”

“……”

There was no answer.

Carynne purposefully stepped on Crown Prince Gueuze as she approached the young prince.

Prince Lewis was lying down with his eyes closed. Blood flowed constantly from both his legs. Carynne suddenly felt a slight jolt go through her.

“Your Highness?”

She placed her ear close to his chest. She couldn’t hear his breaths either.

“……”

He already passed away. There’s no hope for him now.

“……”

“Ah. Ahh?”

At the other side, Donna began to groan. Carynne raised her head and took in a better look at the room.

“…I’m going crazy.”

This time again, Raymond was late, Carynne was late, all the heirs to the royal throne were dead. Yet again, this time, it’s over.

In a situation like this, a happy ending was nigh impossible.

I hate myself. I hate this situation.

Carynne stood up.

“Haa.”

As she looked at Crown Prince Gueuze and Prince Lewis, she sighed. Then, she found Donna.

“……”

She made up her mind.

It should have been like this from the beginning. This life had taken her out on such a confusing spin. Right now, it’s time to set everything straight.

Did she or did she not decide that she would walk down the path of a murderer who killed for her own entertainment?

Just as when she killed Nancy, just as when she had chopped up Thomas, just as when she shot Missus Deere.

Whether innocent or guilty, did she not decide that she wouldn’t think of her killings as a sin?

“Fall in love, sincerely.”

“In that case.”

“I will help you.”

In the end, the most important thing to her… it was not in this life.

“…I can find it in the next one.”

Carynne took Crown Prince Gueuze’s sword and held it up.

As she lifted it herself, she realized that it was heavier than she had expected. Still, she liked the feeling of cold metal in her hands.

And above all, it was a beautiful blade. Carynne quite liked it.

With one hand, she held the hem of her dress’s skirt. With the other hand, she propped the sword up.

Tak.

Carynne’s footsteps turned towards Donna.

Donna looked at Carynne. Carynne, too, looked at Donna.

Carynne raised the blade higher. Donna’s eyes went wide.

“Donna.”

Holding the sword, Carynne came closer to Donna.

“You’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you?”

Clumsily, she swung the sword once, and as the blade cut through the air, the wind sang. After she swung like that, Prince Lewis’ blood was flung off.

She stared at the sword’s newly glimmering blade. It’s a great piece of craftsmanship.

Carynne approached Donna and began to explain. She wants to be nicer to her. She didn’t know why though—why exactly did she have such a strong sense of duty to kill Donna, even from a while back?

“Maybe I just… Maybe if I had just waited for Raymond. Maybe I just shouldn’t have left my room. Maybe… Oh, I don’t know. During this iteration, I was neither one nor the other. I said I wanted to be a completely murderous killer, but then I got swayed by Dullan and Gueuze… And Raymond, too. He’s the same in this iteration. Just. What the hell is this.”

Donna’s eyes were wide open. She opened her mouth.

“In any case, this life is hopeless.”

She struggled to move with one hand, one leg. However, she couldn’t possibly go far with just two limbs.

With tears in her eyes, Carynne approached the other girl. She’s crying. Then, as if to console Donna, Carynne leaned in closer to her.

“It’s alright, Donna. It’ll be over soon.”

“…Ah.”

“It’s alright now. Let me help you.”

She raised the sword.

“We can start again.”

That’s why…

It’s alright.

* * *

Raymond was certain that Carynne was crazy. It’s for this reason that he could love her whole-heartedly. He went to Dullan to, once again, confirm Carynne’s insanity. Though it was not for the purpose of solidifying his resolve.

“Why did you… come to me?”

“Carynne is crazy. Isn’t that right?”

As a doctor and as a priest, Raymond wanted him to prove it.

Raymond asked this question to Dullan. It was not just for the sake of comfort.

He explained.

“Just in case Carynne’s past is revealed.”

“…She, has not committed… any sins.”

“I’ll take your word for it. But Carynne’s mental state is extremely unstable, so there’s no telling how Verdic Evans will find fault in this.”

“…T-This—”

“As a priest and as a doctor, I ask that you testify. Please make a written account and sign your name there.”

Thereafter, Raymond formally asked Dullan to write this down: Carynne’s mind is extremely unstable, so it’s of his opinion that she must be left under her family’s protection, and medical care is also needed.

“…Are you satisfied with this?”

Raymond read the document carefully. If Raymond did not love Carynne, Carynne wouldn’t ever be able to come out of an insane asylum for the rest of her life.

“Yes, thank you.”

Of course, Raymond had no intention of sending Carynne to an asylum. A place like that was rather where you’d send your enemies. Most of the treatment that’s done in that kind of institution was nothing more than torture in the guise of correcting the patients.

It’s not a place where you’d send your family. Raymond was confident that he’d be able to take care of Carynne for life. Through brute force, through money, whatever the method.

Dullan was about to get up now, but Raymond had one last thing to ask.

“I have a question.”

“…W-What is it?”

“Why did you lie to Carynne like that?”

Raymond was curious about that. In his perspective, it’s not something that an exemplary doctor would have done.

“The world outside the novel that she speaks of—it’s not real.”

As Raymond thought of the efforts he had made thus far, he frowned a little. As expected, it’s all futile.

“I tried. It’s about how Carynne says that she lives the same life over and over, and that she comes from outside a novel. How she believes that if she achieves true love, she will return to her original world.”

Raymond truly tried. Never once did he believe what Carynne said, but nonetheless, he tried to believe her.

In the end, however, it’s just too unbelievable.

“I talked to professors of linguistics, physics and theology. Of course… I couldn’t tell them about the supposed different world, but I asked for their opinion about one’s anxiety over believing that they might be from another country.”

At Raymond’s explanation, Dullan let out a weak laugh, thinking that it was quite funny.

“You did something like that?”

“Yes. Of course, everyone laughed. They said that Carynne’s accent and all of her knowledge couldn’t possibly belong to another country’s culture.”

Raymond went on to ask Dullan.

“Why does Carynne believe that she’s from another world?”

And Dullan replied.

“For the sake of c-c-comforting herself, it’s one kind of cure. It’s possible to mend oneself from the idea of the afterlife.”

* * *

Once everyone’s dead, silence prevailed.

Carynne gasped for air.

“Surely, this will get me… the death penalty.”

Still, it’s alright.

It’s possible to start over.

* * *

“Sir Raymond, you’re too late.”