Resetting Lady

Carynne walked down the hallway. Before that, she took out another tomato and bit into it. There were still plenty of tomatoes left, so it was okay. If they ran out, they could always get more.

As she felt the burst of pulp in her mouth, she thought about people.

Though they incite anger, disappointment and pain, she still needed all those countless people. Isella, Verdic, Nancy, Bowen, Donna, Countess Elva, even Crown Prince Gueuze.

“……”

As Carynne walked, she looked down into the main hall. There, a few days ago, Raymond had left a large broom, a bucket and a rag while cleaning up. He hadn’t even finished clearing up here… Carynne felt her face turning slightly red.

“Seriously, this is too much… Mm…”

Regardless of their circumstances, it was just too much. Carynne ran her hand over her cheek and descended the stairs. She should clean up at least this much while Raymond was still asleep.

She put down the basket of tomatoes beside her and picked up the bucket and broom.

“…Ugh, it’s filthy.”

After leisurely surveying the area, it was clear that some time had passed. Carynne sighed as she looked at the dirty broom. It had dried up without any moisture, but it was covered in dirt. Carynne picked up the bucket and broom and headed towards the garden where the water source was located.

“Why is it so dirty when there’s no one else around? Having just the two of us here is simply impossible.”

The mansion was so spacious that it didn’t get dirty this quickly. Carynne grumbled while turning on the tap and filling the water jug. As the water began to fill, she rinsed out the dirty contents.

“…Oh my.”

What’s this?

Carynne picked up the dirty rug that plopped to the floor. Something was sparkling.

“……”

If she were a little younger, say about twenty years younger, she would have screamed.

She knew what this was. She picked up the shimmering object and examined the bucket with her other hand.

It was dirty.

She could tell what this was.

It had turned brown over time, and there was no mistaking what it was.

“……”

Carynne stared blankly at the object in her palm.

How unexpected.

It was someone’s fingernail.

* * *

Don’t think about it.

She couldn’t explain how she had returned. Somehow, she stumbled back to the bedroom. Carynne lay down next to Raymond again.

Animal blood? Raymond always prepared meat. Like lamb or beef. Raymond would never bring back an animal dripping with blood like this.

But it wasn’t just blood.

Why was there a fingernail?

Carynne wondered if there was any animal with nails resembling human fingernails.

Sheep, cattle, horses, chickens…

No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t think of an animal with nails resembling human fingernails.

What could it be?

No, who could it be?

“Carynne.”

“…Yes, Lord Raymond.”

Carynne almost screamed for a moment. Raymond asked in a hoarse voice.

“When did you wake up?”

She had to smile naturally. Fortunately, it wasn’t that difficult.

“Don’t get up, Raymond.”

“…Okay.”

“And, you know… shouldn’t we have a meal now?”

“Alright.”

Raymond took Carynne’s hand.

“It’s nice having you beside me.”

“……”

She couldn’t pull her hand away from him. But she didn’t ask any more questions.

Why were you cleaning up bloodstains?

Whose fingernail was that?

She didn’t want to hear lies. She had to ask, but I didn’t want to hear the answer. She was afraid of being disappointed. She needed to be considerate.

Carynne felt Raymond’s face descending onto her lips again and closed her eyes.

She had no doubt about Raymond’s love.

So, she couldn’t ask.

* * *

Really, who owned this fingernail?

After Raymond just left, Carynne sat alone in the room, staring down at the object she had picked up.

It had glinted at first, but upon closer inspection, it was just an ordinary piece of fingernail. It had simply sparkled in the sunlight and water.

It was hard to make any guesses, unlike when she had seen Donna’s severed hand. It was difficult to determine whether it belonged to a man or a woman. It had even been immersed in dirty water.

Judging by the size of the nail, it wasn’t from a thumb, but it looked like a man’s ring finger or a woman’s index finger.

The tip was damaged, but that alone couldn’t guarantee its origin in the socio-economic hierarchy.

On the flipside, there was a tooth-like mark on it. Although it wasn’t covered in flesh or blood after being washed in water, there was still something that could be discerned.

This fingernail wasn’t broken. It had been pulled out.

It must have hurt.

Carynne raised the fingernail and examined it in the sunlight, but even then, it was difficult to deduce anything more from it.

She had only grown older, but she lacked knowledge. It’s for this reason that she couldn’t possibly deduce anything from this small little fingernail.

“…Who could it be?”

She buried herself deeply into the bed again. It was still warm from Raymond’s lingering presence. And he was probably in the kitchen right now, preparing a meal for the two of them.

She didn’t doubt Raymond’s love. He wasn’t the kind of man who she would doubt.

There was no one else like them in this world. Only the two of them could truly understand each other.

Raymond loved Carynne even when she had murdered people. But back then, he was the one to keep an eye on her, not someone suggesting, “Shall we live our lives together by killing people?”

Now, Raymond was older than Carynne. Much older.

“…Old geezer.”

“You’re not calling me that, are you?”

Once again, she almost screamed for a moment. Raymond looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Even if it’s true that I’m old, you shouldn’t make fun of my age. We’re both in the same boat.”

Raymond extended his hand to Carynne with a smile. She took his hand, and he helped her up.

“Would you like us to have our meal here?”

She shook her head.

“No, I’ll go downstairs… Here, too… We’d have to clean up.”

She didn’t want to eat in bed. They would have to change the bed sheets. When Raymond saw Carynne’s expression, he turned away, looking embarrassed.

He genuinely seemed like an ordinary man.

She stared at the meat. Raymond always served meat. This time as well, it was meat.

Meat.

Carynne’s mind conjured up a horrific image, and she closed her eyes. What an excessive imagination.

That couldn’t be the case. The meat in front of her was beef. It was a taste she was familiar with.

But human flesh… What did human flesh taste like? Did she know what human flesh tastes like? In reality, even if human flesh was in front of her, she probably wouldn’t be able to distinguish it.

“Carynne, it might be best to stop eating. There are plenty of other things we can eat, so you don’t have to force yourself with that expression on your face.”

Only after hearing Raymond call her name did she manage to break free from her imagination. She lifted her head to find her knight looking at her with concern. Her face had been tense, and she realized that she had been caught in her anxiety.

Raymond got up and poured water into Carynne’s cup. It was warm water. She watched as the dried lemon slice in the cup swelled in the water and then lifted the cup to take a sip. The warm water eased her throat.

“I knew it, you’re not feeling well.”

“I guess… not.”

Carynne replied with effort.

I’m feeling disturbed because of what you were cleaning up.

She muttered silently to herself. Suddenly, the indigestion weighing heavily on her stomach felt like nothing.

“Stop being on my case, will you.”

“That, well… I’m sorry.”

Carynne knew that Raymond had heard her muttering, given the way he bowed his head heavily when he sliced the steak for her. However, she had no energy to correct her delusions. She had endured quite a bit of his tormenting for the past few days, both physically and mentally.

There’s no way that Raymond would serve her anything strange.

Nevertheless, she refrained from touching the meat and instead reached for the tomatoes she had been eating earlier.

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