Resetting Lady

“Where the hell did it go wrong?”

“W…W-What are you talking about?”

Nancy asked back nervously, eyes fixed on the gun that’s pointed at her forehead.

“Ah, sorry. I mixed it up.”

Carynne recalled that she was already done talking with 「 this iteration’s Nancy 」 so she retracted the gun. Since the duration before her deaths had decreased, her memories were all the more jumbled up. Carynne coaxed Nancy, caressing the woman’s trembling shoulders.

“Don’t be so nervous. It’s just that Dullan crossed my mind, that’s why I got a bit irked.”

“Y-Yes…”

In any case, Carynne didn’t like Nancy very much. It’s because of Nancy and Dullan that her memories were so muddled like this.

Even so, apart from Nancy, she had no other people to share this with. Carynne shook her head and said,

“I’ve been killed by Borwen three times now.”

“Ah… Yes…”

The answer was rather suspicious.

“…Didn’t you say you believe me?”

“I believe you. I solemnly, solemnly swear in the name of God.”

“You’re good at saying just anything, aren’t you.”

Carynne slammed Nancy down on the bed and threw a silver coin at her. Nancy quivered terribly, but quickly snatched the coin nonetheless.

“I want to kill Dullan.”

“Is it because Lord Dullan knows the truth?”

“Yeah. I finally went as far as cutting off Dullan’s fingers last time, but he still refused to say anything.”

“…I must have truly miseducated you. I didn’t raise you like this, Milady.”

“My dear Nancy.”

When Carynne called her, Nancy let out a silent ‘Ack!’ but soon schooled her features once more.

“Yes, you tried to kill Lord Dullan but failed. Then?”

Carynne held back her sigh. She could feel that Nancy was inwardly looking down on her.

“Listen properly.”

“Yes.”

Considering that she was the same person who had the ability to dull Carynne’s wits, perhaps it was only natural for Nancy to think she was on higher ground. That’s why she was being casual about all this.

However, Carynne didn’t have enough patience to watch Nancy just behave in that way.

“If it sounds like a joke to you, very well. I can just go ahead and cut off one of your fingers. Do you think my father will punish me for that? Or do you think he’ll cover for me instead?”

“……”

“Do it right.”

“Yes, Milady.”

Correcting her subordinate’s attitude was something that a master should naturally do, but she was sick and tired of having to do it each and every time like this.

It’s become routine at this point. She’d threaten Nancy with a gun, wait a few days until Dullan would arrive, trap him in her room, try to kill him, but would eventually get murdered by Borwen in the middle of it.

“Oh, maybe it’d be easier if I kill Borwen first before Dullan?”

“How are you going to kill him, Milady?”

“I’ll think about that from now on.”

Nancy shook her head at what Carynne said.

“Please don’t do that.”

“Go ahead and tell me that murder is bad, I dare you.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Nancy spoke more realistically.

“Mister Borwen has a really nasty personality. And he’s gotten his hands dirty before.”

“You did say that he was a butcher before.”

“Yes, but rumor has it that… he didn’t just kill animals, but also dealt with humans. You know that the attendants and the maids don’t get along very well, yes?”

“Uh-huh.”

“One of the reasons is Borwen. He’s so guileful towards people. He’d be so meticulous with the smallest things, like with ironing clothes very neatly, but he used to be a lot worse.”

From then on, Nancy started complaining about Borwen nonstop.

According to her, Borwen didn’t listen to others properly, except for Dullan and the fief lord, but then he persistently admonished others around him if they weren’t working properly. It’s even said that he sometimes went out while inebriated and would take out his anger on the hounds. Besides that, he also went to the bathroom often and handed over his work to other servants.

After hearing waves upon waves of various complaints going around amongst the servants, Carynne’s conclusion was simple.

‘These guys really don’t get along, huh.’

Carynne recalled the way Borwen skillfully chopped up Nancy’s corpse into pieces without a single ounce of hesitation. Later on, her parts had (probably) been stitched back together so that Dullan could perform a simple funeral for her, but the way she had been hacked through clearly held malice in it.

Carynne couldn’t really understand why these people had so much resentment for each other even though they were working together, but she listened as Nancy took a long time to elaborate on just how much of a jackass Borwen was.

“Alright, so in the end, what is it that you want to say?”

“If you want to kill Borwen, I’m all for it. You must know that, first, it’s going to be physically challenging. And second, it’s Borwen who’s been reporting to Lord Dullan about your behavior, Milady.”

“You weren’t the only one?”

“At the very least, it’s the two of us. It caused a lot of friction. That scoundrel pretended he isn’t a pervert, but he persistently ‘observed’ things like your underwear.”

“……”

Now, Carynne even found out something that she didn’t want to know. Besides that, after being struck in the head by Borwen four times in a row, she just didn’t want to get involved with the guy anymore.

“I guess the easiest way to go about it is to kidnap Dullan first.”

But so far, it’s been of little use to do that.

Carynne bid the end of her pen extender again and thought it over.

“Milady.”

“Hm?”

“The goal isn’t to kill Borwen.”

“Right. That’s not important. It’s Dullan.”

She just wanted to torture Dullan and make him cough up the truth. But none of her methods had proven fruitful thus far.

That man was not afraid of death. As such, Carynne was certain that this was the mark.

Killing Dullan was not difficult in itself. But it was difficult to wrench out the truth from him.

“Is it that you don’t want to die right after killing Lord Dullan?”

“No, that’s not the problem… It’s just that I’m frustrated about not being able to take it out on Dullan’s corpse because I have to restart everything right away,” Carynne replied.

“Then, for now, please bear with it. It’s not the right time.”

Saying this, Nancy implored for Carynne to lay low for now.

“Should I tell you about a story of the past?” Nancy suggested.

“I’ve had enough of your brainwashing.”

“Yes.”

Watching as Nancy left with a bitter smile, Carynne pulled her blanket to the top of her head.

And that’s when she knew it.

Nancy did not believe her.

Nancy was still trying to stop her from killing people.

They’re just going around in circles.

In the end, was it truly only Dullan who believed her?

Carynne absolutely abhorred that fact.

Why was that guy refusing to talk?

* * *

“Hey, just sleep with me once in exchange for telling me the truth. What do you think?”

“A w-w-woman of loose morals shall p-plunge to hell…”

“…Wow, seriously.”

Carynne had led Dullan to a different place. It was not her birthday. It was a day when Borwen wasn’t here—he went on an errand far away. From the very beginning, the biggest risk factor had been eliminated.

“Please be patient. It’s not the right time.”

That’s what Nancy said, but the right time was now.

Carynne had no clue where exactly Borwen had gone, but she had a pretty good grasp of the servants’ schedules. So, she went to Dullan the day Borwen was far away.

“…You’re the one who followed me here though?”

Carynne had been thrilled to watch how Dullan followed her after just a word.

“T-T-The victim of temptation is different from the woman who started it…”

“…Come now, this is the fifth time.”

Carynne’s patience was completely gone. Borwen truly wasn’t the problem. The man who was both the cause and the effect was the problem—Dullan himself. Regardless of whether she tortured him, slept with him or killed him, he really wouldn’t fess up.

“……”

Would things go differently if she were to cut off this thing here that’s dangling from his lower body?

Carynne glared at the spot where Dullan’s member was. And, with a knife, she slowly tore through his religious robes. It was exceedingly unpleasant to look at. With a body like his, it’s better to look at him when he’s wearing clothes.

“Let me just cut this off and put it in your own mouth, hm? Really, it’s not fun for me to do this either.”

“…I-I’ve… told you nothing but… the truth, so…”

This time again.

Still, she might be able to take her anger out on Dullan’s corpse after killing him this time.

Carynne raised the knife over her head.

Creeeak—

“Carynne! What are you doing right now!”

“……”

As the door was opened, Carynne made eye contact with the man who entered.

The man who she never would have expected to see here.

“…Father.”

It’s the first time in a long while that Carynne saw Lord Hare. A strange feeling swept within her as she saw his face.

When was the last time she looked at his face properly? No, when was the last time she saw his face, period?

She recalled his face as his corpse was dangling on a noose.

“Please leave,” Carynne said.

“What are you going to do if I leave now?”

“……”

I will kill Dullan, of course.

However, Carynne knew that she shouldn’t say that. The words were stuck in her throat.

Carynne agonized. In a situation like this, what should she say? Should she say something embarrassing in front of her father? But that wouldn’t be a good enough excuse either way.

“…We were… Well, we’ve been playing with swords since we were young, so…”

A pathetic excuse spilled through her lips. Carynne knew it herself that she sounded stupid. Nevertheless, with how strange it was that she had died many times, the reality that should have grounded her instead escaped her.

Carynne decided.

Once the fief lord would leave, she’d just go ahead and put the gun to her head and kill herself.

Thud.

However, the gun slipped from Carynne’s pocket and dropped to the floor.

“……”

“……”

“…I mean, um, we played with guns as well…”

This couldn’t go on. Rolling the knife in her hand, Carynne wracked her head. What should she say?

“M-M-Milord, please… please save me.”

At once, Dullan uttered just one line to convey the entire situation. And, watching as he did this, Carynne was so baffled that she tightened her hands over the knife. Just die, will you?

Taak.

“…Stop it.”

“…Yeess.”

As the fief lord firmly gripped her wrist, Carynne answered him with a sigh.

Failure, once again.

* * *

Success.

Dullan laughed.