Resetting Lady - Chapter 187

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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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His story I

Lord Hyer, Edward Dale Hyer, was a romanticist.

And aside from being called a romanticist, there was nothing else particularly noteworthy about this man.

He had no talent for business and constantly lost money, and though he had been handsome in his youth, he was too shy to make his looks known. Even during social seasons, he never came up to the capital and was a man who only socialized with relatives on his own estate.

If there was one unique thing about him, it was his deceased wife Catherine.

Catherine was exceptionally beautiful.

If she had only been beautiful, she would have been quietly buried in obscurity. Like Hyer. What made her famous was that she was the Duke’s granddaughter, a Count’s daughter, and that she had married Lord Hyer, beating out countless suitors.

Those countless men were practically Catherine’s jewelry, one could say.

After all, what matters about jewelry is not the jewel itself, but who gave it. This one from royalty, that one from a duke, that one from a foreign sultan.

Among her jewelry, the one given by Prince Guiz was considered the finest.

The next king of this country. The sole heir. Everyone knew that Catherine was his lover.

The question was whether he would propose to her or make her his mistress.

Some people naturally assumed she would become the crown princess and eventually queen, but older people expected they would soon part ways or she would accept the position of mistress.

“She’ll be his mistress.”

“Oh, surely not? He was completely smitten with her.”

A Count’s daughter and the crown prince. Though she was the Duke’s granddaughter, her father was a Count. According to the country’s system of following the father’s rank, she was more noble than other counts but could not marry into royalty.

“You don’t know him if you say that. Have you ever seen him do anything that would disadvantage him?”

And as they thought, Prince Guiz married not Catherine but royalty from another country.

But what no one expected was that Catherine would then choose Lord Hyer and live with him for the rest of her life. It was an even more foolish choice than her mother’s. Who could understand her choosing the position of a countryside lord’s wife instead of being the lover of the royal palace and great nobles.

Even Lord Hyer himself could not easily understand his wife’s choice.

He had no wealth. No title either.

“It’s love.”

That was all there was.

That vague and uncertain emotion. But he couldn’t even be sure of that.

The lord knew. Catherine certainly did not love him.

“It’s love.”

He knew it wasn’t true.

Catherine never once looked his way. The proposal he had made at some point was surely just one among countless suitors, a passing incident.

One summer day, he proposed to Catherine.

Catherine, who was always surrounded by people, was sitting alone that day with no one around. Thinking back, she might have been waiting for someone. But at that time, he was simply amazed to be alone with Catherine. So he went over to her.

“The weather is nice.”

“People don’t usually give that greeting at night, Mr. Hyer.”

“It’s a lovely night.”

“Yes. It is a lovely night, Mr. Hyer.”

Catherine smiled and extended her hand to him, allowing a kiss.

“You left the banquet early. Is something wrong?”

“I…”

She knows my name. That felt like a miracle to Hyer. She knew him. She must be interested in him. That made his heart swell.

The wind was cool. And there was a strong floral scent. Catherine blinked. As her eyes were about to move somewhere other than Hyer, he wanted to say anything to prevent it. So he did.

“Would you marry me?”

“…Pardon?”

And Hyer surprised himself. What did I just say? He squeezed his eyes shut. Even if she mocked him or got angry, he had nothing to say in his defense. Just knowing his name was already miraculous.

He and she had no connection at all. She had countless followers, and he couldn’t even become one of those followers, just one of the passing people who glimpsed her face from afar.

But now that passing person had suddenly confessed, so how absurd must she find it. He felt ridiculous himself and his face burned. When he heard Catherine’s quiet laughter, he wanted to jump into the river.

“I’m sure there’s another good woman for you, Mr. Hyer.”

It was a gentle rejection.

Catherine wasn’t greatly surprised. It was all too familiar to her. She just smiled softly and shook her head. Hyer covered his flushed face with one hand and bowed his head.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

Hyer went to a secluded place and banged his head against a pillar, wondering what he had done. And a friend came to his side.

“Are you insane?”

“Did you see?”

“Of course I saw. This is the Royal Palace Gardens. Not your backyard. It’s social season, so it’s packed with people. Are you in your right mind?”

“Don’t say any more. I know.”

“Well, it’s good that you know.”

Though the garden had seemed empty of people, there must have been people scattered about.

“She’s not a woman you should dare to pursue.”

“…I know.”

Hyer knew it himself too.

He knew he wasn’t particularly outstanding. He knew he didn’t possess any qualities that would appeal to Catherine. Even after proposing to Catherine and hearing her rejection, he wasn’t devastated.

It was just natural. He was embarrassed, but it was somewhat comforting that there were many people like him. Sometimes there were people who, enchanted by Catherine’s beauty, confessed like he had.

Let’s forget.

Just having confessed once would give him memories to cherish from his youth.

The fact that Catherine was the first woman he had ever proposed to could be called courageous. It could even be used as a heroic tale. Hyer just forgot about it. Well, he couldn’t forget, but at least he tried to forget.

“Mr. Hyer.”

So when she came to him again, he was even more surprised.

“I will marry you.”

But Lord Hyer could not rejoice at her acceptance. There wasn’t a trace of joy on Catherine’s face as she said those words. Catherine said only that and immediately left. Only questions remained for him.

Why?

“This is sent by Prince Guiz.”

And that night, receiving the message that arrived for him, he understood.

Ah, that’s why.

Prince Guiz had intended to make Catherine his mistress. And he wanted to use him as a suitable smokescreen. As previous kings had done, as kings of other countries did.

It was a bit bewildering, but it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it.

A royal command was a royal command.

If he accepted Prince Guiz’s proposal, his life would flow along fairly peacefully. Like other husbands of royal mistresses, he would receive a title in return, and his estate would prosper.

And if he could at least become friends with Catherine, wouldn’t that be fine.

He would have a good friend.

Hyer was satisfied with that.

“…I said I would marry you.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you a man who shares his wife?”

Catherine’s eyes were blazing blue.

Hyer’s understanding didn’t matter.

Catherine’s choice mattered.

“I don’t need it.”

Catherine tore the paper with the prince’s summons to shreds and threw it into the fire. Hyer reached for the paper with a panicked expression, but it instantly turned to ash.

“Tell me you love me. Then I’ll love you.”

Catherine made her choice.

It was Hyer’s turn.

Hyer looked down at Catherine extending her hand to him again.

If he took her hand, Prince Guiz would surely retaliate.

Hyer knew he was an uninteresting man. He didn’t like crowds, was weak at money matters, and found it difficult to take interest in anything else. He thought he would just quietly breathe in his corner and eventually marry a woman from a similar family who needed marriage like he did.

He had imagined that partner might be a stronger woman who would guide him, or perhaps a more timid one with whom he could share similar camaraderie. But he had never imagined a woman like Catherine.

This was certainly dangerous.

“Do you love me?”

For the first time in his life, Hyer wanted to try an adventure.

Like when he proposed in the garden.

Catherine was certainly a virtuous wife until she died. She loved her daughter, cared for her husband, tended to the estate, and closed her eyes. But the last name she uttered before dying was not his name.

He certainly loved Catherine.

Even though she might not have loved him until the very end.

* * *

Some people recommended remarriage to him, saying it was for Karen’s sake. Because of inheritance laws that prioritized male succession, having no male siblings was not good for Karen. When the Lord died, the title would pass not to Karen but to Dulan, the next closest male relative.

If Dulan didn’t marry Karen, she would have to marry with only what little wealth remained. If she had blood brothers, they might at least give their sister a house, but most would simply drive away a cousin.

That’s why they had arranged an engagement between Dulan and Karen, but anyone could see their relationship was poor. So people around them continued to recommend remarriage. To have a second child and give his daughter a stable future.

But the Lord did not remarry.

People called him a romanticist for this. They said it was because he couldn’t forget his dead wife. And indeed it was. In other words, it meant his love was more precious to him than his daughter’s future. His love was his eternal and only glory. Even if it was already dead love.

He didn’t want to give up his love. So he didn’t remarry. And he didn’t hesitate to give his daughter medicine and brainwash her either.

But even so, his wish for his daughter’s happiness was sincere.

It just wasn’t as important as his wife, as his love.

“Miss Karen has sent a gift along with a letter.”

The letter Helen handed him contained news of Karen’s current situation.

And there were also stories about Isela Evans, who was staying with her.

It described how she was staying in the capital while helping with her escape from home. Naturally, business had been postponed indefinitely, and Karen was caught in the middle handling various matters on behalf of Isella, who refused to contact her own father.

“And the young lady also sent a gift. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes… What is this?”

“It’s a music box.”

It was the kind of thing girls would like.

Though it wasn’t something that suited a middle-aged lord, the Lord was pleased with it. A music box with a pair of man and woman dancing. When he wound the spring, the dolls began to move along with the melody.

The pair of lovers continued dancing.

The hair colors of the doll man and woman resembled himself and his wife. The Lord noticed this and kept rewinding the music box while gazing down at it.

Hyer doesn’t know much about his own daughter. He admits this himself.

He tries to believe Catherine, who claims to have lived a life of dying and repeating countless times, and tries to believe his daughter, but anxiety still sits stubbornly in a corner of his heart.

I have a man I love. I’ll show him to you soon.

He traces his daughter’s handwriting with his fingertips.

Now he finally felt like his work was finished.

Now he could continue to be intoxicated with his own love.

He would continue his daily routine of waking up in the morning and sighing with a sense of loss, tending to the estate, dutifully attending temple services, and visiting the graveyard of the dead. It would surely be a peaceful and satisfying daily life.

Since he had done everything he needed to do.

“Isn’t that fortunate.”

“Y-yes, it is, my Lord.”

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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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