Resetting Lady - Chapter 159
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“It seems now is not the right time. And since Lord Raymond has gone through trouble for me, I suppose it’s fine to leave things as they are for now.”
The servant remained silent. In reality, if he got close enough to see Karen, he would immediately want to lay hands on her and wouldn’t know what to do with himself. But saying anything more than that would be overstepping his bounds.
“I shall withdraw.”
“Do so. Oh, what did Verdick say? How does it feel to have all ten chests of gold coins become the state’s property?”
“…He said nothing.”
“He must be very proud. Working for the state – how rewarding that must be.”
Guiz laughed pleasantly. He was truly so delighted he didn’t know what to do with himself. This was what he liked. Watching someone’s trusting face contort with despair.
Whispering into the ear of his dying son, ‘Lord Raymond has betrayed you,’ was a very enjoyable thing to do.
Smiling at a grieving father while saying ‘You only have one son left now’ was also a very satisfying thing to do. And the fact that his collaborator was none other than that Raymond was truly something close to happiness.
“Well, I thought Lord Raymond… no, Baron Raymond resembled Louis more.”
It was the taste of power he hadn’t felt in a long time. He very much enjoyed grasping and shaking others’ fates. It was far more rewarding to manipulate the destinies of those with power than to toy with powerless prostitutes or foreigners.
“But he resembled me more. Looking closely, his face is quite similar to mine when I was young.”
Prince Guiz raised his cup while speaking to the retainers who bowed their heads saying ‘Congratulations, Your Majesty.’ He disliked his son. And naturally, he disliked Raymond, whom his son favored. But after learning why Louis liked Raymond, he no longer had reason to hate him.
Louis admired Raymond. But there were many capable and handsome people in this country. The reason the prince had looked upon Raymond so favorably was because Raymond resembled his father, his brother.
“So that’s why Louis liked him so much.”
How pitiful.
The laughter wouldn’t stop.
* * *
Verdick exhausted his entire fortune.
Count Fankair was a noble who could have been Prince Guiz’s rival. The next in line for succession was much further down, and he was a foreigner. As long as Prince Guiz remained strong, there was no chance of him becoming king, but Prince Louis being murdered by someone created enormous controversy.
Rumors were rampant that Count Fankair had schemed to become king, but they didn’t last long. Not long after Prince Louis died, Count Fankair’s carriage overturned and he became paralyzed from the waist down.
“It’s been a long time.”
Count Fankair looked at Verdick, who had come to see him, with sharp eyes. They disliked each other.
“…I didn’t expect you to come looking for me.”
“Count Fankair, was the carriage accident really an accident?”
“If you know something, it would be better to speak directly rather than beating around the bush.”
Verdick told him everything he had discovered. When a wealthy man rich enough to rival royalty begins searching for information while practically emptying his entire fortune, stories tend to flow from everywhere. Even so, finding the truth wasn’t easy, but Verdick clung to it with the heart of a parent who had lost a child.
When Verdick handed over a chest of gold coins, one of Prince Guiz’s minions opened his mouth.
Even if it meant spending everything he had, he wanted revenge.
Verdick wanted revenge.
But there was something he had to do first.
“Where are you going! We haven’t even properly held Isella’s funeral!”
His wife cried and raged.
Verdick stroked his wife’s shoulder once and stood up.
* * *
“I didn’t expect you to come today.”
“Come out… immediately. And it would be best if you took your hands off her.”
Verdick was pointing a gun, not an axe, at Raymond. And behind him were numerous private soldiers. They were Count Fankair’s troops.
Raymond smiled bitterly.
“Hmm… as expected, having Karen here creates such variables. I didn’t expect you to come.”
“Take your hands off her and come out.”
Verdick aimed his gun.
No matter how agile Raymond was, dodging bullets at this distance was impossible. Even if he was a marksman, the difference between someone with a gun and someone without was clear. Right now Verdick was with dozens of trained soldiers.
“Right now… let Karen Hyer go!”
* * *
Something impossible happened.
* * *
Verdick held Isella in his arms and wept.
How could you do this to Isella? Why must my daughter suffer such a thing? She’s young and completely innocent. She’s a child who never bore grudges against anyone. The sinner is me, so shouldn’t I be the one to bear all of this?
And he realized it himself.
The sinner was himself.
Verdick had never once felt guilt. The life of a wealthy man pushed around by nobles and royalty was tiresome, and he had to desperately bite at everything just to barely breathe.
Everything was a means to an end. No reason was needed to increase the family’s wealth further. For the single value called the Evans Family, he had devoted himself. He, his father, even his wife.
Whether people who went bankrupt from usury hanged themselves, or daughters who couldn’t repay debts were sold to brothels, or conflicts never ceased, or epidemics broke out – none of it mattered to Verdick.
Isella ended up like this because she was born as his daughter.
Verdick vowed revenge against Raymond and Prince Guiz. But there was something he had to do first.
“If that woman is still there.”
Count Fankair spoke as if it were obvious. He knew Prince Guiz well.
“He’s probably keeping her to hand over to Prince Guiz. I’ll send people to watch. If the moment comes when Raymond Seyertes hands over that woman, we’ll be able to catch proper evidence that she’s alive.”
“…”
Verdick remained silent. Count Fankair seemed slightly surprised by his expression.
“You don’t mean to say.”
Isella died while chasing after Raymond.
Raymond had handed Isella over.
Then that woman who was there now was also.
Verdick thought of the girl the same age as his daughter, whom he had pulled from the water. Saving that girl’s life was one of the few good deeds he had done in his life.
He thought of Karen desperately defending Raymond while telling absurd lies. That sight resembled his daughter Isella, who had been helplessly infatuated with Raymond.
“Let that woman go, you bastard.”
* * *
Raymond couldn’t shed tears. Now was not the time to cry. Now was not the time for regret. Raymond embraced Karen.
Look, Karen.
Various miracles happen in life.
That Verdick… never once before… haha.
Verdick came to save you. Life really is unpredictable.
In 7000 years, I’ve never seen such a sight before.
To discover goodness in someone I never even thought of, it’s truly joyful and…
Karen.
Verdick came to save you.
Such miracles do happen.
If only you could have seen this.
* * *
“…Cleaning really isn’t an easy job.”
Raymond said while mopping the floor with a mop. Then he wiped the bloodstains from his face. He needed to open the windows too. The smell of blood was overwhelming and unbearable.
“One, two… Really, the Count underestimated me too much. Only thirty men.”
There was no way Raymond would die in his own house, was there? Raymond, who had returned, had set up numerous devices throughout the house.
Raymond dragged out the corpses and stacked them neatly. Even for him, cleaning up this much was not easy.
After a long cleaning session, Raymond opened his bag. Inside was a person stored away.
“Do you know something?”
“…”
“Torture, you see. It’s actually impossible to endure. Those unbreakable soldiers in common heroic tales who don’t answer to any torture don’t really exist. My superiors don’t trust me and I don’t trust my subordinates. That’s not because those people are weak, but because that’s just how torture works.”
Raymond held a hammer in his hand.
“So a competent superior must distribute information well.”
Karen was too soft-hearted to properly torture anyone. Such work should have been left to me.
Raymond approached Dulan. He could see his own reflection in Dulan’s black eyes.
It was the appearance of a demon.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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