Resetting Lady - Chapter 209
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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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“Lord Raymond, are you awake?”
Raymond opened his eyes. Then he closed and opened them several times to correct his dizzy vision. Dizzy. The smell of blood, pus, gunpowder. No, those smells were no longer there. The place he was in was not Tess Manor. The person beside him now was not Priest Dulan but Sion Electra.
He had come back to life once again.
“Now… so.”
So what should he be doing now? Was there a war going on? No, had he retired? Living through repeated lives, Raymond often got confused about which point in time he was at.
Raymond raised his upper body.
“Are you alright?”
“…Even as empty words, it’s hard to say I’m alright.”
“Even in this situation, you still need to sleep. That’s the only way you can move properly.”
“But you sleep too well, that’s the problem. That’s why you get shot and die while dozing off. Learn to distinguish the place, Count Sion.”
“Pardon?”
“…Sorry. I’m not fully awake yet.”
The current Sion was healthy and fine. Raymond shook his head, thinking of the past Sion Electra. Sion Electra always pursued wealth and honor, but for him as a commoner, those things were as distant as fantasies.
So he chased after noble ladies. However, his personality had an impulsive streak that often earned him resentment, and he frequently found himself in danger due to reckless actions. He invariably died before reaching thirty.
“Live long, Count Sion. Watch out for bombs, guns, and women.”
“Lord Raymond, I know you’ve had a big crisis this time, but… don’t you realize you’ve been acting strange all year?”
Sion Electra was looking down at him with concern.
Raymond felt slightly embarrassed thinking about how he must appear to others. Even when he tried his best to live normally, problems like this kept arising. He missed Karen. They were the only ones who could understand each other.
“Let’s start with some cold water.”
“Yes.”
Raymond shook his head and gulped down the water. As the water flowed down his throat, his mind cleared. When he tucked away the past memories in a corner of his mind, recent memories surfaced again. He had started over once more.
All lives were special, but this life was a little different.
Raymond looked at the thin chain necklace hanging around Sion Electra’s neck. He knew there was a ring hanging on that necklace. Something that Sion and Isella had shared between them.
Though Sion hadn’t told Raymond the whole story due to the poor circumstances, Raymond could tell at a glance whose ring Sion was carrying. Isella had tried to save Karen this time. Just as Verdick had shown a different side in the previous life.
Raymond was displeased that this life would again disappear like a dream of the past. He didn’t want to experience that again. In this lifetime, Isella and Karen could become friends, and Sion could live longer.
Raymond looked at himself in the mirror. It was still the face of a young man, but in his own eyes, he could see traces like those of an old man. Raymond saw the truly young and naive Sion beyond the mirror. Young people needed a future.
“By the way, what’s the matter?”
Sion shrugged his shoulders slightly as he answered Raymond.
“Priest Dulan sent word that he would cooperate. It was quite unexpected.”
That was fortunate. Raymond nodded. The current Dulan knew nothing about Raymond and little about Karen. Even if suspicious, he would have no choice but to walk into it.
And this time, he would finally put an end to it.
* * *
Karen looked at herself in the mirror. It was the most splendid appearance she had ever seen in her long life. Raymond had spared no expense for Karen, and besides that, she had become accustomed to all kinds of luxury while playing the role of mistress to various older nobles, but being the royal mistress was on a different level.
The silver dress fabric, intricately embroidered with gold and silver, had an exposed design, but rather than giving a sexual feeling, it was clothing that overwhelmed with its dazzling splendor.
Blue diamonds were surrounded by small diamonds, and those decorations wrapped not only around the neck but also the shoulders and chest. Countless jewels covered the entire dress, making the ratio of fabric to gems almost equal.
Gold-crafted roses were attached to the chest and wrists, and pearl powder was lightly sprinkled just to add more shine to the dress. Pearl powder and gold dust fell with every movement. It was clothing where just following behind the dress and picking up what fell would be worth a fortune.
The earrings were also heavy with jewels that made her earlobes ache, and her head was loaded with blue diamonds, diamonds, and pearls in the same design as those around her neck and chest.
‘My neck’s going to break.’
Karen had this thought while looking at the heavy accessories that seemed twice as heavy as the necklace Isella had cherished. Isella’s taste was also criticized as vulgar for being blatant and flashy, but compared to Prince Guiz’s taste, she was modest.
The clothes he had given as gifts before were quite expensive, but they couldn’t compare to this outfit. Those had given a more secretive feeling, but this was almost like advertising.
It announced to people that this woman was the king’s mistress. Such intentional splendor went beyond catching the eye to emanating an intimidating presence.
In her previous life, she had felt the clothes he gifted were old-fashioned and tacky, but now that she had become a lump of jewels, it was beyond the level of discussing taste. There was no time to evaluate the design; it was simply a mass of jewels.
This level went beyond simple luxury to being equivalent to a year’s budget for a countryside estate.
“Whew.”
Karen whistled while looking at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t an amount she could live off for life, but such an enormous weight that no one anywhere could handle disposing of it if she ran away.
“Being born a woman, I should wear something like this at least once.”
“That’s a good thought.”
“…You’ve arrived, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, I’d like to say it suits you… but it does look quite heavy. Shall I remove some?”
“No, I’m happy.”
“Good.”
Prince Guiz slowly walked behind Karen while looking at her smile. He was admiring her figure.
“Even Catherine has never worn anything to this extent… not even the late former queen. There probably isn’t a woman as expensive as you in this country. How do you feel?”
Karen smiled.
“I think I’m receiving the treatment I deserve.”
And she stroked her belly. Karen whispered to Prince Guiz.
“Because I’m pregnant with Your Majesty’s child.”
I will bear your child. Not Prince Louis, but truly your child.
* * *
Prince Louis’s first memory was of a summer day when he was five years old.
The memories before that were too vague to remain in his memory. He had once felt frustrated that he couldn’t remember the days when he crawled around or when he first babbled, but that wasn’t something Louis could control.
“Come here, Louis.”
“Your Majesty! Did you see what I sent?”
“Yes, I saw it all.”
At the age of five, it was the first day he wrote and received praise from people. Even in Louis’s first memory, his grandfather was already an old man. The king with snow-white eyebrows and beard welcomed his young blood relative.
“Louis, did you write this entire letter yourself?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Louis answered confidently. It was an ordinary letter asking about someone’s well-being, but it was the first letter he had written himself. And it was a whole ten lines long.
“Hmm… The nanny didn’t help you? The knights didn’t write it for you either?”
“I wrote it all by myself.”
“It must have been hard work writing it.”
“I like learning.”
At the resolute answer, the king chuckled and stroked his beard.
“Well done. The strength in your handwriting shows you put in a lot of effort. Continue to work hard in the future.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
While fondly watching the brightly smiling Prince Louis, the king spoke to the archbishop.
“The prince shows such deep interest in learning from such a young age, it truly makes me feel good.”
“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“It would have been good if the archbishop had also married and had children.”
“Haha, Your Majesty. I am married to the church.”
While religion didn’t forbid priests from marrying, it was difficult for those with families to rise to high positions. From cardinal onwards, everyone was either unmarried or had at least made their children illegitimate. Since there were rumors that the archbishop also had illegitimate children, he smiled awkwardly while avoiding the king’s gaze.
“Well then, Louis. As a reward for doing well, what would you like to have? I’ll get you anything you want.”
Louis bowed his head and thought, but there wasn’t anything in particular he wanted. He could already have anything he wanted to eat, see, or do.
“Since everything I have belongs to grandfather, I don’t need anything.”
“Really? My boy, opportunities like this don’t come every day.”
At words that could sound precocious and even political, the king raised one eyebrow with amusement.
“Don’t they come every day?”
When the five-year-old boy looked confused, the king immediately realized he had viewed Louis too politically. The old man waved his hand.
“They do come every day, of course… But don’t you want anything? People have as much desire to give as they have desire to receive.”
“Does Your Majesty want to give me a gift?”
“Yes.”
Prince Louis continued to think and then answered.
“Then please read books with me on the next holy day.”
And that answer was very appropriate for the king’s mood.
“Alright, let’s do that. And this is a gift to encourage you to continue studying hard.”
It was a fountain pen made of gold. To five-year-old Prince Louis, it was nothing more or less than just a rather nice writing instrument, but the archbishop, who noticed it was what the king had always used for signing, interjected with some concern.
“Isn’t it excessively luxurious?”
“Do you object?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
He had gifted the writing instrument used for royal signatures. To his grandson, not his son.
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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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