Resetting Lady

The entire courtroom was upended with a wave of confusion. They were all shocked. Their murmurs buzzed louder, their pointed fingers became more blatant.

Carynne’s eyes twinkled. She’s finding Isella’s counterattack to be very interesting.

However, there was no chance for Carynne to step forward here. People were now starting to talk about Carynne, Isella and Raymond alternately.

“Order! Order in the court!”

And no matter how loudly the judge hammered down his gavel, none of the people inside the hall listened. Likewise, the voice of Carynne’s lawyer was buried. It took a while before the lawyer managed to speak to the judge clearly.

“Your Honor, the witness’ testimony is wholly irrelevant to the case at hand.”

But the judge seemed to think otherwise. He shook his head.

“I don’t believe it’s irrelevant to this case. Isn’t the witness talking about the defendant?”

The lawyer grimaced a little for a moment, but he soon set down his documents and approached the witness’ stand, where Isella was sitting. Glancing down at her, he slowly opened his lips to speak.

“Yes.”

“Can you take responsibility for your words?”

“O-Of course.”

Swiftly, the lawyer asked another question.

“How long has it been since you regained consciousness?”

“It has been about two days.”

“And how long did you lay unconscious?”

“…Seven months.”

At this, the lawyer turned away from her and faced the judge and the jury.

“Dear members of the jury. We must first consider how far we can trust the testimony of a person who had been in a coma for seven months.”

This was how the cross examination started.

“She is an adult who has enough wherewithal to make rational judgements. Your Honor, the lawyer is unjustly attacking the character and credibility of the witness.”

Despite the prosecutor’s counter, the judge did not agree with that either.

“No. It’s a matter for consideration.”

The prosecutor brought out another document for the judge to read. Frankly, the judge seemed to be a little fed up with the continuous stream of additional evidence. It’s getting quite evident that someone was pulling some strings to overturn the original course of this trial.

“I would like to submit a doctor’s note. It states clearly that the witness is in good health, enough for her to make rational judgements.”

After skimming through the document that the prosecutor had presented, the judge nodded.

“Continue.”

Undeterred, the lawyer went in on Isella Evans again. Her face was entirely stiff.

“You were originally engaged to Sir Raymond Saytes. Isn’t that right?”

Isella hesitated a little before she replied.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And you’ve been unconscious ever since the fire. For seven months.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

As Isella replied in a slightly more timid voice, the lawyer pressed her further.

“While you were in a coma due to the fire, a lot of things had changed in the meantime. Carynne Hare became Carynne Evans, and she is now engaged to the man who had once been your fiancé.”

“……”

The lawyer fixed his stare on Isella Evans.

“Then, you must despise Carynne Evans very much, correct? Enough to say that you bear a grudge towards her.”

“Uh, uh, yes, but—”

Isella’s face turned pale.

“Your Honor, the lawyer is repeatedly distressing the witness on purpose.”

But again, the judge disagreed with the prosecutor.

“We cannot ignore the fact that the witness has such a relationship with the defendant.”

“…I, I’m…”

Isella flinched back slightly, and it was evident in her expression that she was feeling cornered. She looked at her father. Help me, Father.

“As expected.”

The moment he saw his daughter look at him, Verdic Evans stood up from his seat. As expected, Isella was still too young and weak. As her father, he needed to step up.

To kill that red-haired witch.

* * *

“Isella, Isella! Are you awake?”

“…Father? Mother?”

Verdic and his wife immediately drew Isella into a hug as they shed tears. Isella called out to them in a raspy voice, blinking dazedly as she was confused. Isella’s mother hugged her tightly and cried. Verdic, too, cried.

Isella was finally awake. Their daughter, who had been lying unconscious for months on end, was finally awake.

Locked in their embrace, Isella’s eyes went wide, and her face was painted with such confusion.

“Why… What’s wrong?”

Her voice hadn’t been used for so long now that whenever she spoke, she could only do so with a hoarse voice—that she herself loathed to hear. Isella frowned and touched her neck. She was still very confused. She just woke up from slumber, but her parents were holding her and weeping like this. Her head was spinning.

“Do you know how long it’s been since you were last awake?”

“…Huh?”

Isella did not seem to have a clue as to what this meant. After Verdic spoke, his wife soon gave the answer to Isella. She caressed her daughter’s cheek again and again.

“It’s been seven months since you fell into a coma, Isella.”

“…H-Huuuh? What?”

Incredibly perplexed, Isella sprang to her feet. However, her legs were still weak, so it wasn’t long before she stumbled and collapsed back. As she was sitting again, Isella’s mouth just gaped open. All too suddenly, her entire world was turned upside down. Seeing her daughter like this, Verdic’s wife shouted at a maid.

“W-Water!”

The maid then rushed to pour a glass of water, then brought it over to Isella’s unsteady hand. Isella hurriedly gulped down the honeyed water, coughing in between. She took a few more sips, then finally spoke.

“S-Seven months…”

“Yes. There was a fire at the Hare mansion, and you haven’t been conscious ever since then,” Verdic explained to his daughter.

“Seven months…”

Isella raised her head. Verdic and his wife were thrown into pity and sadness as they continued to hear how weak their daughter’s voice was. Much too many things happened while their daughter was asleep.

So many things.

“T-Then how is Sir Raymond?”

“……”

That’s the question Verdic least wanted to hear from her, but… In the end, she still asked it. Verdic sighed inwardly.

In the end, he chose the wrong man for her. Now that he had to tell his daughter that Raymond and Carynne had gotten engaged, just as much as he was about to shatter his daughter’s heart, so too did his heart feel like it’s about to break.

“Isella.”

Verdic gently pushed her back so that she was lying down again. It’s still too early for his daughter to be up when she’s still sick.

“You don’t have to care about him any longer.”

I can just buy you a new one. Verdic pressed down on the urge to cuss in front of his daughter.

It’s alright, it’s alright. There were plenty of other handsome men out there. Next time, Verdic would be sure to rein the next man in properly. So that he would not rise too high.

“Just focus on your health first and foremost.”

I’ll buy you a new man as soon as you get well. Verdic vowed to himself.

But Isella turned pale, and she called out to Verdic.

“F-Father.”

Isella clutched Verdic’s sleeve with trembling hands.

“Sir Raymond… Did he p-pass away?”

“I’d rather that he did.”

Verdic’s wife scornfully admitted. She abhorred Raymond. She loathed Carynne. And she was absolutely disgusted by her own husband—the very man who attracted the likes of those two vile people in the first place.

Verdic turned to his scowling wife.

“Honey!”

Verdic quietly seethed at his wife, but he saw that she was looking at their daughter with tears profusely streaming down her face. He gritted his teeth. He knew that his wife wasn’t all too fond of their daughter, to the point that she’d act like this.

“That man left you.”

“Wife!”

“M-Mother? W…What are you talking about.”

Verdic grabbed his wife’s shoulder.

“Isella just woke up.”

“Is that important right now? Is that man important?”

“Wife!”

“Let go of me!”

She slapped Verdic’s hand away, hard.

“Sir Raymond Saytes, that man you like so much. He is now engaged to another woman. Not you. Your Father brought in an adopted daughter for the sake of his business and arranged for that man to be engaged to her.”

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