Resetting Lady

“…Step aside right now.”

Carynne was a suspicious individual. She needed to be investigated. But that’s for later.

Raymond made a quick shake of the head to gesture to the man in front of him. There was a large servant blocking Verdic’s massive door.

“L-Lord Raymond.”

“I said move.”

“Master ordered me not to let anyone go inside.”

“I just need Reverend Dullan to come out. Carynne Evans collapsed and she’s not breathing properly. She needs a doctor.”

“I’ll inform him. Please wait here.”

“Damn it, tell him to come out now!”

Raymond raised his voice. The servant panicked in the face of an incensed nobleman, but the person who scared him more was his master.

The servant replied.

“P-Please wait just a moment.”

The servant’s eyes were filled with fear as he bowed his head to Raymond, then he knocked on the door.

From inside, a harsh reply was heard. Still with his head bowed down, he entered through the door.

Clack!

“Tell him to leave this instance!”

Along with the shout, there came the sound of someone being hit. Raymond couldn’t delay any longer, and so he pushed the door open.

“Y-You can’t, sir.”

Another servant tried to stop Raymond. He looked extremely frightened. All the attendants and maids in this house were all like this.

However, Raymond couldn’t care less about them right now. He shoved the servant away roughly and continued to open the door.

“Come out, Reverend Dullan. Carynne Evans needs a doctor. She needs your help.”

However, the one who answered wasn’t Dullan, but Verdic. While his gaze turned to Raymond, Verdic huffed and puffed as he answered.

“…Sir Raymond, would you be so kind as to leave my room.”

“Reverend.”

When Raymond ignored him, Verdic’s face went bright red with indignation.

“Sir Raymond Saytes! This is my room! Would you please get out!”

Verdic, the owner of this room, eventually yelled at Raymond, who didn’t even look at him. His eyes were entirely focused on Dullan, that slender, pale young man—the man who was Carynne’s distant relative and ex-fiancé. The man who was rejected by Carynne.

Dullan, the man who currently held the title of Lord Hare.

With an expressionless face, he made eye contact with Raymond, who then marched towards him.

“Carynne Evans can’t breathe. Her bleeding is also severe. You need to take action. As a priest and as a doctor, I ask that you fulfill your duty.”

“Sir Raymond! You’re being incredibly rude right now! Please leave!”

Just to shut Verdic’s mouth, Raymond felt like he could do just about anything. But right now, the priority was to drag Dullan out.

While Dullan dithered and fidgeted with his fingers, he opened his lips to speak.

“M-Must, I really… go?”

“Reverend Dullan.”

“C-C-Carynne, she, for a long t…ime now, she’s always been like that. It’s no, nothing for you to be so c-concerned about.”

With his teeth clenched, Raymond’s hand shot up and grabbed Dullan by the collar. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Curses brimmed just at the tip of his tongue. He did not want to sympathize with this woman, but that’s how he felt anyway. At the end of the day, the behavior he was showing right now made it seem like he truly, deeply loved Carynne Evans.

“Reverend Dullan. A doctor is taught not to discriminate. If there’s a dying person right in front of your eyes, it’s only right for you to save them. And on top of that, a priest is taught to be a vessel of God’s mercy.”

“T-That’s, not what I’m thi…nking.”

Raymond grabbed Dullan and dragged him along. Don’t judge anything right now. Don’t think.

“Yes, why would you think such a thing? You wouldn’t think of forsaking your sacred duty, would you?”

Was it because this woman had thrown him away? Raymond had seen many of this type of man. There were a lot of them in the military.

Whenever those men were just amongst fellow men, they proudly displayed their vulgarity. They declared their intent to take revenge against women, spoke of their sadistic desires to others, and put their negative emotions at the forefront.

However, if those things were to take precedence over one’s duty, then that was unacceptable for Raymond.

With good intentions violently expressed, Raymond drove Dullan into a corner.

“Get your hands off him and get out!”

In the background, Verdic continued to shout at Raymond, but it was nothing more than white noise to him. Dullan staggered and then replied. Under Raymond’s gaze, he cowered.

“T-T-That much won’t k…ill her. It happens whenever s-she’s given any sh…ock, and the s, symptoms, are exactly as it app…eared this morning.”

This answer did not satisfy Raymond.

“Right now, she can’t breathe. Please take a look yourself and examine her.”

“I-I-If she isn’t d-dying… there’s n, no reason for me to do so.”

Raymond pushed Dullan against a wall. A sound reminiscent of bones cracking could be heard. Glaring straight into Dullan’s eyes, Raymond hissed.

“Then how about this? If you don’t treat my fiancée right this instant, I’ll make sure to crush you with my own hands.”

“RAYMOND!”

Behind Raymond, Verdic roughly grabbed him by the shoulder. However, no matter how much Verdic tried to pull Raymond away, the young man’s trained body did not move a single inch.

With his infuriated gaze looking straight at only Dullan, Raymond spoke.

“Just because she’s the woman who threw you away, are you thinking that it’s alright to let her die?”

“Le…Let go, Sir Knight.”

“No.”

Raymond said nothing more. Instead, his hand went straight for Dullan’s neck.

Then, Ignoring Verdic to the very end, Raymond dragged Dullan out of the room just like that.

“What the hell are you doing right now?!”

“AHH!”

“Shut up. Move.”

BANG!

“L-Let go.”

The servants around them were in a flurry as the door slammed open, but they could not stop Raymond.

Before leaving the room, Raymond looked behind him once and glared at Verdic.

“Mister Verdic.”

“Raymond—”

“I’ve returned more than triple of my debt to you. And even after Miss Isella was reduced to that state, I held my end of the contract.”

“…Ha, right now, just take a look at what you’re doing to me.”

“Carynne Evans is now your daughter and my fiancée. Do respect this.”

“My daughter is…!”

“I trust that you know.”

And when the two young men left through the door, Verdic remained alone in that room.

“…How dare.”

Fuming, Verdic’s anger couldn’t be contained. Blood rushed up and blurred his vision. Even until the very end, Raymond looked down on him.

How dare. How dare you, when you’re merely a defective product that I bought for my daughter. That defective product is looking down on me right now. How dare! Raymond, that goddamn scoundrel!

Up until now, Verdic had extended so much grace to Raymond, and yet.

“How dare you, to me…”

Verdic clenched his hands into fists. His breaths were rough. Around him, the mess that was his room was straightened up.

Raymond Saytes did not know just what Verdic was capable of just yet. Verdic had lost in any business deal. Raymond would have to return everything that he had ever received from Verdic.

His wealth, his love, even his life.

* * *

“…It’s just a case of a-acute shock.”

After Raymond forcefully dragged Dullan out and led him to Carynne’s sickbed, the priest had no choice but to examine her. If Raymond had seen even the slightest hint of resistance in Dullan, he would have resorted to violence. However, he didn’t need to. Dullan slowly and carefully treated Carynne, and he got up only after disinfecting and bandaging the wounds on her back.

“Why have you come to that conclusion?”

“I b-believe she… took the w-wrong medicine.”

While standing by Carynne’s bed, Dullan explained to Raymond.

“From n-now on, I’ll make… s-sure that she won’t nurse I-Isella Evans any…more. Because… she’s n-not getting the right medication.”

In the end, this situation became fortunate for Carynne. Raymond glanced down at her. After Dullan gave her an injection, color immediately returned to her complexion and she started breathing more comfortably.

In Raymond’s perspective, Carynne had too much work on her plate. She was doing physical labor during the day, then she had to attend social gatherings at night. On top of it all, she was even whipped. How could she not go a little mad from that.

While thinking that it would be better to take her to another doctor for a second opinion, Raymond let out a sigh. He chose the wrong woman. As she slept like this, she looked her age. All this time, to him, it felt as if she was an unfathomable being.

“……”

“……”

After the examination was finished, awkwardness filled the silence. Raymond disliked being caught up. If someone had a problem, wasn’t it up to them to solve it? Rather than this, he would have been more comfortable challenging the other man to a duel while saying, How dare you, towards my woman!

‘But the outcome is so obvious that there’s no need.’

If his opponent was Dullan, Raymond wouldn’t even need to pull out a gun. Moreover, it felt a bit shameful and awkward to be rivals at love with Dullan.

“Reverend Dullan.”

“…Yes.”

Whenever Carynne talked about Verdic in front of Raymond, all that left her lips was her anger—her resentment—against the man. On the other hand, she said not a word about Dullan. Dullan was even staying here at the Evans mansion as Isella’s guest, and yet he and Carynne never sought to meet each other. They just maintained that awkward relationship.

“Reverend Dullan, towards Carynne Evans, do you… Mm, well. Do you love her? Ah, I mean… Um… Do you hate me?”

“……”

Dullan remained silent. Raymond sighed. Did they need to duke it out in a duel after all?

“I believe we share an alliance. I respect Carynne Evans. That’s why please don’t hate her. She’s the one who’ll decide who she’ll love, and I won’t interfere. I hope you’ll do the same, Reverend.”

After everything’s done and over with, that’s when she’ll choose. Truly, Raymond had no intention of getting caught up any more than this.

“…Sir Raymond. You’re a good man.”

Dullan answered as though he was chewing on the words. So many things could be read from his expression.