Resetting Lady

Carynne’s breathing stopped. It’s not a number that should be associated with human life. Her own lifespan was just one year. If Raymond would live another seventy years after her, he would have had to live those seven decades… 105 times over.

That was more than seven millennia.

Should he still be able to move and talk? Could a human being be able to endure that kind of life?

Seven millennia was just short of an eternity.

Carynne was frightened. Selfishly, rather than fearing the time that Raymond had endured, she feared the possibility that she herself might have to live through that period of time.

“Not to that extent.”

“…Haa. That’s a relief.”

Carynne let out a relieved sigh. She dreaded that great deal of years. Seven thousand years was too long.

Much too long.

“But it was long enough.”

Raymond kissed Carynne on the forehead.

As though he, too, felt a great amount of relief.

* * *

After Carynne Evans had died on death row, Raymond had thereafter been summoned by Marquis Penceir, who was about to be crowned king. The soldier thought that the incoming monarch would be livid with him, or that he’d be faced with a cold expression due to his bold defiance, told to die right then and there.

“I’m assigning you your next mission. I won’t accept any objections.”

“Of course, Marquis Penceir.”

“There’s not much time left before the coronation.”

“Congratulations.”

Raymond answered calmly. While handing over the briefing documents to Raymond, Marquis Penceir asked.

“Are you alright?”

The implication of his question was clear. Raymond nodded.

“Yes.”

“About the funeral. What should be done?”

“A death-row convict cannot be granted a funeral.”

As Raymond answered, he carefully leafed through the documents detailing the targets that Marquis Penceir had tasked him to kill.

“Shouldn’t you rest first?”

“No, sir.”

As a matter of fact, he could not possibly be alright. However, the marquis wasn’t truly sincere in his generosity, just that he was intoxicated by the role of a generous man. He didn’t think that Raymond should rest.

“Right, since it’s like this, it would be better that you go straight to work. I think so as well.”

As the marquis said that, they both knew that his job was more than just killing people firsthand. But Raymond just bowed his head.

I’m going to be fine.

“I had known her for only a few months.”

Raymond replied repeatedly.

“I’m fine.”

His own circumstances were not perfect. His seat on the parliament had been completely revoked, and Verdic was still on a roll.

Laughably enough, Verdic was the only one who had lost nothing. Rather, he even gained more for himself.

Soon after Carynne had fallen from the tower and died, Verdic approached Raymond, who was then the target of several soldiers’ guns.

“My daughter is dead.”

His words were grim, yet Verdic looked so refreshed. While looking down at Carynne’s corpse, he continued.

“After everything that happened, it ended like this.”

“……”

Raymond looked up at Verdic. Would killing this man bring him peace? Would killing Dullan bring him closure? Would killing everyone do anything?

However, dozens upon dozens of soldiers had surrounded Raymond. If he were to move even a single inch, they would shoot. They all kept him at gunpoint.

Raymond looked around, counting the number of guns around him.

It’s impossible. It’s already hopeless.

“However, I am a generous man.”

“……”

“Now that the convicted criminal has been executed, I find no problem anywhere.”

Verdic pressed down a finger on Raymond’s shoulder. Raymond glared at the wretched man, yet rather than flinch from his vicious gaze, Verdic gave Raymond a toothy grin.

“It is due to my grace and kindness that you will not die right here. Carry that shame with you as you live.”

After calculating it all, Verdic thought he made the right choice in doing nothing to Raymond. By killing Carynne, he achieved his purpose. He fulfilled his personal revenge, benefitted many things from the old king, and gained a moral justification to use against Marquis Penceir.

He lost nothing throughout all this.

Raymond lost money, but he was still alive.

Alive.

Carynne had died, yet he continued to live. He, who always had much work ahead of him. Time passed by in a blur. The new king needed him, and there was still work for him in this world.

“……”

Raymond back at the corpse that once had been Carynne. He did not even deserve to recover her body.

“It’s going to be alright.”

That’s what Marquis Penceir said.

Time would be enough to solve all the joys and sorrows of the world. Raymond, too, knew this to be fact.

His parents had died, his older brother had died, his comrades had died.

However, the heart-rending pain never failed to disappear and dilute over the years. The dull pain would eventually subside, and a new life and new relationships would begin anew.

So, no matter how much sadness and despair plagued him now, he would forget Carynne.

“……”

Would he be able to?

Raymond closed the door behind him and covered his nose with a towel.

“Ah, damn.”

His nose was bleeding. It would not stop.

“……”

Raymond looked in the mirror. He washed his face. Cold water touched his skin and told him to return and face his reality.

Once again, Raymond looked into the mirror.

“I’m fine.”

He repeated those two words so many times that he had forgotten their meaning. Wasn’t it inevitable that he’d have to continue living?

“I will live well.”

But, could he truly?

In the mirror, his eyes met with the gaze of a woman.

You will forget me, Sir Raymond.

“I wish I could, Carynne.”

Carynne is dead.

The girl he loved died. Even now, he wasn’t completely sure whether he truly loved her. The time he spent with her was just so short.

You’re fine.

It’s just trauma.

The grief brought upon by losing your beloved and letting her go is only just catching up to you.

This was how people consoled him.

However, Raymond knew that it couldn’t be. After having lost his family, his friends, his comrades, he was already well accustomed to grief and tragedy.

Regardless of any kind of grief, he found it in himself the ability to stand back up again. That’s how accustomed he was to misery.

Look at that. I told you so, didn’t I? You’ll forget.

“I don’t know about that.”

Was it even possible?

The most terrible thing that happened to him was not Carynne’s death.

It was what happened afterwards.

“…Carynne.”

After she had passed away, unforgettable memories continued to come in droves upon his mind.

Improbable memories.

Carynne died.

Carynne, dead.

Carynne, hanged. Poisoned. Trampled on by horses. Strangled by men. Pushed down to the ground.

Those cascading, never-ending memories began to weigh heavily on Raymond.

This was the beginning of the curse.

* * *

Once upon a time, during a quaint day when shining lights sparkled and the pleasant sweetness of desserts filled the air, Carynne looked up at Raymond. Tension was visible in those wide purple eyes.

Raymond waited to hear what she would say.

“Sir Raymond, I know this will sound strange, but… I don’t think I’m from this world. I feel like this world is inside a novel. No, to tell you the truth… I think we really are in a novel.”

It was an interesting story, yet nonetheless childish.

“You’re the male lead, and I’m the female lead. If the two of us fall in love, there will be a happy ending.”

In that tale of hers, there was no input on the world’s societal structure, no consideration on how the lives of countless other people went on. However, as she spoke of that tale, he could feel the shyness in her confession.

That alone was enough.

Raymond took Carynne’s hand.

“And I love you, so we must be having our happily ever after now.”

Then, he suddenly thought. Does Carynne love me? But, no matter. It was of no great concern to him. They had a lot of time ahead of them—a lot of time to foster their love.

Raymond brushed it aside, thinking that Carynne might just be having wedding jitters.

Yet, the very next day…

Carynne died.