Resetting Lady

“Uh… Sir Raymond, what did you do to garner that treatment? If you receive an order from your superior, it’s only right to obey. And the other person’s a royal, too.”

“You haven’t even heard what he did, but you’re saying that?”

“Regardless, whatever it is!”

He’s a soldier, and yet he’s saying this. Carynne stared at Raymond after hearing him say those dumbfounding words. Then again, it looked like Raymond genuinely loathed Crown Prince Gueuze.

“I don’t know, really. To be quite honest, if I was him, rather than wanting to see the daughter of my first love out of curiosity, I would have preferred to have a daughter with my first love instead.”

“……”

It was a realistic hypothetical guess. Carynne couldn’t say anything back. So, Raymond continued.

“And at the same time, I don’t have a good feeling about how he gave me work with this timing.”

Raymond looked alternately between the invitation and the command detail that he had been sent.

“You have nothing but a terrible relationship with Mister Verdic, and Countess Elva is treating you as a mere accessory.”

“……”

Putting one envelope on top of the other, Raymond then said.

“There will be no one to protect you if I die.”

Silence ensued for a long time after that, and he just glared at the two envelopes.

“Sir Raymond, Sir Raymond?”

Carynne called him as she waved a hand in front of Raymond’s eyes. At this, he looked up and made eye contact with her.

“If I die, I’ve made it so that my pension will go to you, but… Goodness, you have way more money than I do now. Still, just use the pension for your living expenses. Don’t buy things like that.”

He pointed a finger at the antiques that Carynne had bought.

Oh, would you look at this?

Carynne’s brows knitted together, and she reached forward to take Raymond’s hand.

“You know, Sir Raymond.”

“Yes.”

“In the end, you don’t believe me, huh. Still, try and believe me this time.”

She placed a hand over his cheek and pinched it hard. She liked this face—this one that had a slightly dazed expression. Now that she thought about it, he also used to pinch her cheeks like this. Carynne smiled.

“You’re not going to die.”

“If you’re just trying to comfort me…”

“You won’t die. Absolutely not.”

“……”

She pinched harder and stretched his cheek. It would be funny if he’d get a bruise from this.

Carynne said this with certainty. This was a prophecy. It was a truth that would not change no matter what. He would not die. No matter what danger he’d face.

“Don’t worry. You won’t ever die.”

Until the day that I die.

“…If nothing happens, then that would be great.”

Raymond watched as Carynne retracted her hand, stroking his tingling cheek.

* * *

“Please relax.”

“Huuk… ugh… Do it gently… Ah… Wait!”

“Just a little… more!”

“…Please…”

“Just a little… until the end!”

Had her stomach turned upside down now? Carynne clenched her teeth as the corset was tightened around her. She did certainly eat a lot before this. Back when she was at the Evans’ mansion, she had too many things going on so she couldn’t eat well, but nowadays, she’d become too indolent.

A short, but peaceful moment. The days that passed by were beautiful. However, was this tranquil period fattening her up?

Carynne gulped. No way.

“Did I gain some weight?”

“Huh? No, not at all. You’ve been too slender all this time, Milady. Even now, you need to gain more weight.”

Donna refuted what Carynne said and shook her head. Still, Carynne sighed and looked into the mirror, at her pale face. As expected, she’s been a sloth lately. She kept thinking over and over how she could seduce Raymond, and yet that goal might be out of reach now.

And really, she might have made the wrong first move. Lately, she had just been trying to look for traces of her mother, but she hadn’t made any progress so far.

‘I knew it. I’ve been too indolent.’

Carynne blamed herself. Beauty was Carynne’s best weapon. Raymond wouldn’t have approached her had she not been beautiful. Donna’s jealousy wouldn’t have been aroused had she not been beautiful. Countess Elva wouldn’t have taken pity and given her favor had she not been beautiful.

She couldn’t believe she had become so neglectful after just getting one tiny clue. While berating herself, Carynne put on her shoes, which were made of cloth and fit her perfectly, unlike the shoes that had been made for Isella.

Her injury was also almost healed now. Because she hadn’t been wearing heels while she was next to Raymond.

Come to think of it, wasn’t she living too much of a relaxed life now? Wasn’t she being too lackadaisical around Raymond?

‘What have we even done together that I’m this lax around him?’

Carynne gritted her teeth. They hadn’t even had a proper kiss yet, let alone lay together on a bed of roses! Was it because she told him all those details about her repeating life that she had gotten complacent and lazy around him? Pathetic.

“As expected, Milady is beautiful.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she should be all that worried about it yet. Donna’s eyes were still entirely covered with envy. Carynne agreed with what the maid said, too, as she looked over the light purple dress she had donned.

The dress had few embellishments, but the fabric itself was so luxurious that there was no need to add anything more. The dress was neat and respectable with little skin exposure except for her arms. Even so, the price of this conservative little dress was more than ten times of the most expensive dresses that she had worn while she was still living at the Hare mansion.

And today’s small gathering was more for a group of children. Since she had gotten attention from her stint at gambling, this much was appropriate so that her image could be calmed down. Luxurious, yet unpretentious—that’s the goal.

Besides, today’s schedule was comprised not only of the gathering, but also of Raymond’s send-off. Today, she was a wistful young lady who’s about to see her fiancé off as he’ll be risking his life on duty. Carynne knew that he’d be coming back with greater honor than he already had before, but she had to be conscious of other people’s eyes on her. Even the maids’ eyes as well.

“I heard that Lord Raymond will be leaving soon. Are you going to see him off, Milady?”

Just in time, Donna asked about Carynne’s fiancé. In response, Carynne nodded.

“Yes, we’ll be leaving together today. I’ll be going out, and he’s been called to duty. Our schedules were made similar.”

“Isn’t that kind of amazing?”

“Is it?”

Yeah, amazing. It’s like someone pulled the strings to make this happen, right?

But Carynne held her tongue and didn’t say this aloud.

“Where will His Lordship be going? It’s not to a dangerous place, is it?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Um… Aren’t you curious, Milady?”

Donna asked cautiously as she tied the strings behind Carynne. She answered in a blasé tone.

“He’s not going to tell me anyway.”

And if she were to be honest, she wasn’t really curious. He was going to come back to Carynne, safe and sound. She’s sure of it. He used to show a bit of anxiety at the occasional untimely calls before, but it all turned out to be nothing. He always came back, bringing greater honor. He always came back to Carynne.

“How have you been these days in this place?”

“I’ve been quite alright,” Donna replied.

The maid had a faint smile on her lips. Indeed, as Carynne’s maid, for her, there were only a few places other than the countess’ residence that’s comfortable to live in, and this was because the countess had provided the annex for Carynne. Donna was exclusively serving Carynne as her attendant, so she didn’t encounter any of the countess’ maids.

Somehow, Carynne ended up with Donna like this. It’s never happened before.

Her relationship with Nancy usually ended after leaving the mansion, and even if there were handmaids to attend to her later, they were inherently servants who worked under other people. Carynne imagined striking Donna’s round head with an axe. Considering all this, this iteration would once again be a tad more different.