Resetting Lady - Chapter 31

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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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Finally, she spoke with a bitter expression.

“Catherine was always surrounded by men. I thought she would surely marry into a good family. I mean, relatively speaking, that is, materially speaking.”

When Karen glanced around the inside of Mrs. Deere’s house, she blushed.

“She was quite eccentric and never listened to anyone. She appeared fragile at first glance, but she was incredibly stubborn.”

From Karen’s perspective, this uninteresting talk was dragging on. Karen grew increasingly impatient. What she was curious about wasn’t some love story between “Karen’s” parents. But Mrs. Deere continued rambling about Catherine, “Karen’s” mother.

How beautiful Catherine was, how popular she was, and how countless suitors declared their love to her. With a face full of pride that Karen couldn’t understand, she recounted anecdotes about how she had witnessed all of this by Catherine’s side.

Karen realized that she wasn’t the prophet-like figure who would provide the answers she had hoped for. It was disappointing. She seemed like just a middle-aged woman who loved to chat and missed her past days.

“You really look so much like Catherine. I still have her portrait. Do you see it on the wall over there?”

On the wall hung a portrait of a beautiful woman who looked very much like Karen.

Even if I die, I absolutely can’t let Nancy do something like that. …Oh, if I die, this story ends, so she wouldn’t be able to do such a thing anyway. What a sight that is. The middle-aged woman boasting about glory that wasn’t her own was becoming increasingly burdensome.

“I hear that a lot.”

Karen felt like her face might cramp from forcing a polite smile.

“More than that, I’d like to talk more about my memories.”

“Oh, right.”

Mrs. Deere awkwardly cut off her words.

“You were quite precocious from a young age. Pretty, smart… And at least in this region, you were the only daughter of the best family. Then from one day on, you became very… ill.”

“Deere, don’t interfere anymore. It’s not your business to be concerned about.”

Deere’s eyes became distant with the emerging memory.

* * *

“So Eastern culture is… Karen, Karen?”

Deere felt like crying. The young girl she was teaching was trembling all over and struggling again. The brightness that had been clever and even cunning disappeared after age seven, and the child spent all day in fear and tears.

Sturdy maids rushed over to restrain the girl who was writhing. Soon Catherine, clearly ill, approached Karen with support. Today’s study time was ruined again. Instead of conducting lessons, she couldn’t even comfort her and just had to stand there helplessly. Deere felt self-loathing.

“Madam, this can’t continue.”

“…”

Catherine held Karen tightly. Even in her mother’s arms, the girl trembled.

“It’s okay, Karen. Mommy is here. It’s okay… Shh… Everything will be fine. Okay? Shall we have some cookies?”

The girl who met her eyes clung to her mother, sobbed for a long time, then said:

“Mom, what… meaning is there in my life? If my life is like that…”

It was her tenth birthday. Karen’s engagement to Dulan, who was a relative, was decided. It was an engagement no one welcomed. Catherine’s illness had worsened to the point where she could no longer bear children.

In front of relatives and acquaintances, she said: Since her body was weakening daily and her lifespan didn’t seem long, she wanted to at least see her daughter’s engagement. Everyone thought it was a bit strange, but they didn’t particularly oppose the engagement arranged by the parents. The engagement proceeded informally with the adults’ consent.

Karen looked like she had chewed on bugs, and seeing that, Dulan’s face also turned rotten. Dulan was eighteen and Karen was ten.

“You, you… die, really…”

“Go ahead and see.”

Karen showed her resistance to fate. She pushed Dulan into a room full of unleashed dogs and closed the door. Then she dragged a chair in front of the door and sat there so Dulan couldn’t open it. If a servant hadn’t found it strange, moved Karen aside, and broken the lock to open the door, Dulan would have died there.

“Karen, apologize to Dulan properly!”

It was already an incident that couldn’t be dismissed as a child’s prank. But Dulan’s parents were extremely poor and didn’t want to give up the position of future lord where not only tuition but everything would be provided. Dulan’s parents were more concerned about Karen, who seemed to have lost her mind, than about Dulan, who had been mauled.

The only person who could play a proper adult role in this household was herself. Deere puffed out her chest and sternly scolded Karen. But after being dragged away by Deere, Karen’s first words at Dulan’s bedside were:

“Hey, why didn’t you just die then? I can guess what your life is like too.”

“Karen!”

Deere was horrified and covered Karen’s mouth. But it was too late. Dulan glared at Karen with blazing eyes and spoke ominously like making a vow:

“…If I don’t kill you, I’ll burn my hand.”

But even after saying that, the shock must have been great, as Dulan began stuttering whenever he saw Karen afterward. And from the following year, he never once visited the Lord’s Manor.

Deere tried even harder to change Karen. She increased lessons and told Karen stories that interested her. But that was only temporary. Karen’s seizures increased, Catherine’s illness also worsened, and the Lord remained silent. No matter how much Deere tried to help, everyone just avoided her.

There was nothing she could do. Most days, a doctor rather than a teacher stayed with Karen. Many days, Deere sat alone in the study room. When the housekeeper Helen reduced Deere’s salary, saying it couldn’t be helped since there was no work to do, Deere hung her head.

It was on such a day. The day when a black gypsy woman replaced Deere’s role.

It was the year Karen turned fourteen.

“You’re a great help. Thank you.”

“I’m just grateful that you’ve given me such a good job. Hello?”

“…If I didn’t speak to you first, don’t speak to me first.”

Nancy smiled and took Karen’s hand. When the black woman she was seeing for the first time grabbed her hand, Karen momentarily grimaced but forced her expression to relax at her mother’s rebuke. Still, her gaze wasn’t kind.

Catherine, who had brought Nancy to such a Karen, said sternly:

“Karen, Nancy is someone Mommy brought. You shouldn’t look at her like that.”

“Such a dirty…”

“Deere! You should respect Nancy as you respect me. She’s someone who will help Karen.”

But bringing Nancy despite Deere’s presence meant that her influence was diminishing that much and that Deere alone was insufficient. Naturally, Deere didn’t like her. Fortunately, Karen also didn’t like Nancy and kept avoiding Nancy to come to Deere. Every time Karen came, Deere felt relieved.

When they were alone, Deere stroked Karen’s head. The more Karen rejected Nancy, the more it helped her.

“Nancy singing a lullaby? That’s ridiculous. You did well to refuse, Karen.”

“…”

“Gypsies definitely sing strange songs.”

“I suppose so?”

“Of course. Go to sleep now.”

A black-skinned woman, and not even one introduced by another reputable lady, but just a wandering fortune-teller. It didn’t match the status. Deere was extremely displeased with assigning such a maid to her student.

Being a maid wasn’t a job for such a woman. She should have a neat appearance that wouldn’t shame her mistress, should properly arrange her master’s attire, and should always maintain a modest attitude and tight lips. For someone like Karen, they should at least have a middle-class educated lady as a maid, but such a fortune-teller. Deere was indignant. But the Lord didn’t listen to Deere’s advice.

“Deere, I’m not disparaging your scholarship, but what Karen needs now isn’t education. How about leaving her to Nancy for a while?”

“Mr. Hyer, that won’t do. How can you bring in a woman who practices such sorcery? She keeps spouting strange things to Karen.”

The Lord rubbed his head with his hand and answered:

“Deere, Karen isn’t your daughter. It’s up to us to judge what’s good for the child. How about taking a rest somewhere else for a while?”

Deere flared up and retorted:

“My Lord, I’m the only one properly paying attention to Karen these days. Besides stories about Madam, how much have you actually talked with Karen?”

“Stop it. You talk too much. Right now there are more… serious matters than the child, so leave me alone.”

“When Madam passes away, Karen will…”

Bang.

Deere felt sorry for the Lord. He couldn’t make proper judgments because of his sick wife. The same went for Catherine, who was ill. The only person who could think purely of Karen without being absorbed in Catherine was Deere.

A child whose parents don’t care grows up in the hands of servants. And servants never pour out the same affection as parents. Deere had seen too many such cases. And her suspicion became certainty.

“What… are you doing now?”

“What do you mean? It’s medicine to help the young lady.”

“What did you feed Karen? Did you get it confirmed by a doctor?”

At Deere’s interrogation, Nancy snorted.

“Would you even know if I told you? Don’t equate me with those idiots, teacher. They have their ways, and we have ours. This just suits the young lady better.”

The Lord and his wife were naive in strange ways. It’s common for adolescent children to fall into fantasies and create their own worlds. Though the degree varies greatly, Karen’s seizures and fantasies weren’t that rare for her age group either. Adults should provide proper correction to such children. In such a situation, to bring in a gypsy who told strange stories and fed suspicious medicine, Deere’s anger boiled over.

But after Nancy came, Karen’s seizures clearly decreased. The manor, which had been overwhelmed with just Catherine, welcomed Karen’s quietness. But Karen was gradually becoming strange in the silence.

“I can’t eat it.”

“Young lady?”

“Nancy, this tastes strange.”

Deere was greatly shocked.

“Karen, you shouldn’t speak so politely to servants.”

“What? Oh.”

It started with words. Karen was gradually becoming strange. She who had been ashamed of having a gypsy maid sometimes showed an attitude of being in awe of her like a master. Nancy became increasingly arrogant.

Karen clearly became more docile. But to Deere, it was no different from putting her to sleep with drugs. Her emotions gradually dulled and her memories gradually disappeared. What was particularly severe was anything related to people.

Whenever Catherine had energy, she called for Karen, but those meetings gradually decreased from once a week, to once every two weeks, to once a month. Meanwhile, Nancy’s time with the child from morning to night increased, and her influence grew stronger.

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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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