Resetting Lady - Chapter 6

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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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They searched the manor thoroughly all day like hunting for lice, but the necklace was nowhere to be found. Isella bit her nails. From the garden and servants’ quarters to Karen’s room, from under carpets to beneath trees—they searched every corner, but it didn’t turn up. Isella insisted they should search the lord’s room too, but Verdick’s urgent restraint made her face crumple.

“Father, what should I do….”

“Why are you coming to me over your failure to keep track of one measly necklace?”

Verdick loved his daughter, but he couldn’t help frowning at the morning’s commotion. At a moment when he needed to handle the preliminary work for a difficult business deal, such incidents were unwelcome.

At a time when every step and word required caution, to cause such a fuss over one meaningless necklace. It wasn’t even a ring, just one of many gifts he’d given. Verdick could easily imagine Raymond ordering ‘the most expensive one’ with a stoic expression at the shop.

“But it’s something Lord Raymond gave me….”

Verdick pitied Isella while simultaneously lamenting her immaturity. She was a daughter obtained with difficulty at his advanced age. He wanted to raise her well and marry her to a good man. Verdick swallowed his criticism as he looked at his dejected daughter.

Scolding is easy. Correcting is difficult. Criticism and abandonment are not things to give to one’s child. Verdick repeated the words he had said to the lord.

“Isn’t it a parent’s heart to want to give good things to their child?”

A good spouse is what parents most want to give their children. Raymond was the greatest asset Verdick was giving to Isella. So much of a premium product that it was rather problematic.

The engagement that could have been a decent union as an exchange of wealth and honor began to creak due to Raymond’s repeated successes. Moreover, when the baron’s eldest son fell ill and Raymond was mentioned as the next baron, Raymond transformed from the second son of a fallen baronial house into one of the most coveted men in high society.

Having a fiancé who is too successful actually has a negative impact on the relationship. An engagement is just an engagement. It’s different from marriage. When that engagement offers little benefit to one side, it becomes extremely precarious. The Evans family began watching Raymond’s mood. In the end, they were struggling to purchase territory to match his status, while this immature daughter was fretting over a necklace.

“Though Lord Raymond’s gift is high-quality, if you miss it that much, I’ll get you an identical one. We can’t afford to fall out of favor with Lord Hyer and ruin our business here.”

“Even if it looks the same, it’s not the one he gave me.”

“In the end, it’s your mistake.”

“….”

Isella became sullen and headed to her room.

Tap tap.

Following her footsteps, the sound of mice scurrying through the old stone building could be heard. Isella had grown sick of this manor. In the end, they couldn’t find it.

Her clothes had long since become dirty from searching for the necklace all day, and her hands were dirty too. She had already changed from shoes to the low-quality work footwear that only servants wore, and even those were grimy. What a sight I must be.

“Lord Raymond… will be disappointed.”

I wanted to meet Lord Raymond wearing that necklace. Here. In this manor. In this manor that will become mine, waiting for Lord Raymond to rest when he’s tired. Proving that I now have the qualifications of a noblewoman who manages territory.

She opened the door. Isella discovered the necklace.

There it is, my necklace. I knew that wench took it.

The necklace was around the maid’s neck. The maid was wearing the luxurious necklace that didn’t suit her, like a cheap display stand. As Isella suspected, that maid had it after all. But Isella could no longer be angry at the maid.

Because there was nothing below the maid’s neck.

Isella covered her mouth. A scream was bursting out.

Father, please help me. Dear God, I did nothing wrong. No.

She let her disheveled hair fall loose and ran frantically from the room into the corridor. Her eyes weren’t focused anywhere as she just ran. A corpse, dead, neck severed, someone dead lying on my bed!

“…Aaah!”

Isella slipped and fell to the floor. Pain rushed over her and cold spread throughout her body. Isella trembled and let out whimpering moans as she slumped against the wall. It was a dark night without even a moon. The manor was too dark inside, and not a single light was lit in the corridor. After the shock passed, fear came flooding in.

“Uh, ah, ah, ung… oo….”

The cold stone wall forcibly helped Isella regain her senses. Was she dreaming? She hadn’t seen such carnage even on theater stages. What was it that she had seen? Was it really real?

Calm down. Calm down. Let me think again about what just happened. Yesterday I arrived here, spent time with Lady Hyer, and fell asleep. Then the next morning, I lost my necklace and got angry at Lord Hyer’s maid. And now that maid is on the bed with her neck severed.

But why?

The connection between the last two sentences doesn’t make sense.

“Hii….”

I don’t know. I’m already stuck. This won’t sort itself out. The dead maid is the one Isella got angry at this morning. This maid has become a corpse lying on Isella’s bed.

No matter how hard she tried, Isella couldn’t figure out what lay between those two sentences. At most it was about a necklace—no, a necklace that was important to her. She was the victim. And she had only been at this manor for barely a day. She couldn’t guess why a severed maid’s head was in her room. A maid she’d seen for the first time today, whose name she didn’t even know.

This situation wasn’t a play. There was no warning. But to simply call it an accident was far too suspicious. Yet she couldn’t grasp anything. This was like a comedy she’d been watching for a while suddenly ending with the appearance of a murderer. It couldn’t even become a tragedy. Even street performances were better than this.

Why? Why? Why?

Why on earth did they put ‘that thing’ in the room where she was staying? What had she done? What connection was there? She had never encountered the people of this place in her entire life. She arrived yesterday, lost her necklace, got angry and searched the house—that was the extent of their relationship.

She had merely spoken harshly to some lowly maid, and now that person had turned cold and become a lump of meat. Who on earth killed her and why did they do this to Isella?

“Why me….”

A sob mixed with moaning burst out.

“It’s not my fault….”

Isella was angry that she had to endure such mental anguish. She was the victim. It was unjust for her to suffer. She was innocent, blameless, had been harmed, and deserved compensation. The investigator and Lord Hyer should uncover these facts. Such matters were not her responsibility.

But Isella wasn’t naive enough to believe that everything would flow that way without her doing anything. Isella Evans was the daughter of a family that deceived, stole, and won. Even without getting involved, she had seen countless instances of society’s unreasonable aspects.

She needed to inform people—no, her father—quickly. First she should confess everything to her father, then discuss how to handle this matter. Her father, who was always more right than she was. Isella closed the door. The castle, already dark, didn’t light the corridors even at night, making it dark and damp. Stumbling and groping, Isella headed toward her father’s room.

“…Oh my, Isella?”

Why.

Of all times.

You.

Now.

“Your face is as pale as a corpse. Are you sick somewhere?”

“H, Hyer….”

“What’s wrong at this hour of the night? Don’t tell me….”

No. Not yet. Her mind, unprepared for what to say, turned black. For a moment, Isella just wished she were dead. She felt like she might die from excessive tension. Karen was holding a lamp.

In Isella’s mind flashed a scene of Karen discovering the corpse and screaming at her. The image of Karen pointing at her, calling her the culprit. Isella gasped for breath.

Surely not. Even if caught, it wouldn’t come to that. Everyone knows I couldn’t do such a thing. Where would a frail woman get such strength.

“Oh dear, you have blood on you.”

The genuinely sympathetic tone made her spine run cold. No. She’s looking at my skirt. No. It can’t be, but what if.

“…What do you mean, I just….”

“Must I say it with my own mouth? I know proper etiquette.”

What is she talking about.

Karen’s white hand grasped Isella’s trembling hand and gently led her.

“Come to my room.”

“….”

“Hurry. I’ll keep your secret.”

Karen smiled softly as she drew Isella into the room.

“The bell cord next to the bed connects directly to the servants’ quarters—you must have been quite flustered.”

Karen gently embraced Isella, who couldn’t speak properly and moved stiffly, like a mother bird wrapping an egg. She helped her change clothes and offered prepared tea mixed with brandy.

“Really, there’s no need to be sensitive because of our fathers. We’re still at an age where we can enjoy lighter exchanges, aren’t we, Isella?”

“L, Lady Hyer… it’s not that.”

Isella hesitated for a moment. Would it be better to confess honestly? She thought it would be best to tell her father, but Isella had already been caught on her way to Karen. And whatever conclusion was reached, this meeting would surely have consequences later.

So how much should she say? How would Karen view her? If a long-serving maid had been murdered, wouldn’t she be angry and take it out on her? Moreover, the deal between Lord Hyer and her father wasn’t finished yet, and she couldn’t sense how this might affect that delicate relationship.

“Did you see something frightening?”

“Yes, yes!”

I saw a corpse. The neck was severed. The room was a sea of blood and the eyes were open, with my necklace around the neck.

“It’s such an old building that ghosts appear from time to time.”

Karen laughed. The sight of Isella trembling, clutching her teacup with wide eyes, was quite amusing.

“Many people suffer from hallucinations too. That’s why I’ve seen many frightening things as well.”

Hallucination.

That word seemed to shine light down on Isella. Right, maybe I saw something that wasn’t there because I was too tired? It was such an impossible scene. It wasn’t even a demon’s prank. It really could have been a prank by the maid who held a grudge against me. Judging by how she dared speak to me, a guest of her master, she wasn’t of ordinary character either.

“Lady Karen, I saw something frightening in my room….”

“Oh dear.”

Karen comforted Isella with a pitying expression.

“Ex, excuse me, but wouldn’t you come with me?”

Karen slightly frowned as she helped Isella to her feet.

“Of course. But….”

“…!”

Her skirt was covered in blood.

“You should change your skirt first.”

For Isella, who stood with her mouth agape, Karen added:

“Your monthly bleeding seems to have started.”

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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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