Resetting Lady - Chapter 83

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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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So, even a corpse would be fine. Raymond couldn’t say those words. Raymond at that time couldn’t even understand grief properly. It was because it didn’t feel real. The priest thought this was maturity or proper manners, but Raymond later learned that this was the same reaction as any other child who had lost their parents. Because it didn’t feel real, the grief wasn’t an immediate concern. More than anything, Raymond wanted to see his parents again.

“I want to say my final goodbye before the burial.”

The priest answered Raymond carefully.

“It would be difficult for you. They passed away from an infectious disease, so their appearance has changed greatly.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Raymond answered with defiant eyes.

“That doesn’t matter at all. Priest, please give me time to face my parents.”

“I cannot allow it.”

“Is it because I’m young?”

“It’s because of the infectious disease. There’s a risk you could be infected.”

Raymond was able to return to his house a month after the Baron and his wife were buried in the ground. And Raymond’s older brother had become the new Baron. The priest gave Raymond a warning before sending him away.

“The Baron has changed. You mustn’t be too shocked.”

“Yes.”

And when Raymond returned home, his older brother Baron Seyertes greeted him with a new face.

“You’ve returned, Raymond.”

“…It’s been a while, brother.”

The priest’s words had been greatly understated.

Raymond had prepared himself mentally, but he couldn’t find any trace of his brother in the Baron’s face. The Baron, who was a young man in his prime, hadn’t died from the infectious disease, but his face had to bear all the traces of it. His skin had become blotchy, his nose was deformed, and his body was swollen like a mountain. Even his voice came out as if suppressed. It was a wretched state where no trace of his former intelligent appearance could be found.

“I’m glad you’re alive, brother.”

At Raymond’s words, the Baron looked down at his younger brother with eyes that had become small, pressed by flesh. And he spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Go to your room.”

That voice sounded like the groaning of a beast. Raymond went up to his room without saying anything. Between the brothers, there was no comfort or sympathy for losing their parents. There was too much lost at the moment for that.

“Young master… the Baron will get better soon.”

One of the servants spoke while carrying Raymond’s luggage. Raymond looked up at him.

“I see.”

“The Baron is also having a very hard time. At times like this, if brothers help each other, things will surely get better.”

Creak.

Raymond looked at his empty room and briefly wondered if he had entered the wrong place. But even after stepping back to check his location, it was definitely his room.

“None of my belongings are here?”

“He ordered everything to be burned because of the infectious disease.”

“…I see.”

Raymond lay down on the unfamiliar bed. It was covered with rough cloth and the bed frame was crude, as if hastily made. But it was bearable.

“It’s like brother has disappeared.”

Raymond thought of his brother’s face and had trouble sleeping all night. Raymond thought of monsters from old tales, but like many stories, he thought of monsters with kind hearts.

“Brother won’t change. What matters is the heart.”

But Raymond was too young.

For a sick person to have a good heart required a miracle.

* * *

It seems we are not meant to be.

It was a short note. That was enough. Baron Seyertes’s fiancée broke off their engagement with just one line. That sentence contained no reasons, no pretense, no excuses. It was an attitude that didn’t fear being criticized for being impolite.

“This is the first time I’ve received such an honest letter from this woman.”

Hair resembling Raymond’s swayed. Now Raymond could only find traces of his brother in his hair. Even his voice had changed. She must have felt the same way. Just like Raymond did. So Raymond understood, but he wasn’t the one who received the letter.

The Baron shook the letter his fiancée had sent at Raymond, laughing with a “hee-hee-hee” sound. His shoulders were trembling almost convulsively.

“She always wrote three pages filled with formalities.”

“Brother.”

“Isn’t it funny?”

Long-winded words weren’t necessary. There was no need to be considerate anymore.

“I’m the same as before, but everything around me has changed.”

No. The Baron had changed. He would know just by looking in the mirror, when walking, even when breathing. It wasn’t just his appearance. His appearance was just the beginning. He must know it himself. He couldn’t not know.

But Raymond couldn’t say that. Losing their parents was something that happened to both brothers, but losing his health was something only the Baron experienced. Raymond hadn’t changed, after all.

“Brother, rather than that, let’s think about getting healthy first.”

“That bitch is probably fooling around with some other bastard by now. Did she throw away the ring I gave her? This is ridiculous, why didn’t she return it? Do you know how much that ring cost…?”

It was painful to watch the Baron muttering incoherent things. And that wasn’t what was important.

“It’s just one ring, brother. There are more important things.”

“Please try to stop the Baron, young master.”

“Right now, the sheep are having stillbirths one after another. The rate is excessively high. We need a large-scale investigation.”

“What’s important is that she abandoned me because I’m sick. This bitch is a whore. She was a whore. She clung to me for money and now that it’s gone, she’s fallen away. No, this bitch is worse than a whore. If you make a promise, you should keep it. If you make a promise…”

What brother lost wasn’t just money. His body changed, his personality changed, and the estate changed. The last one was the most serious. Not only the servants but also the faces of the butler and lieutenants grew increasingly grave.

“Brother, rather than that, let’s think about the immediate problems. James asked if he could see you. I think you need to do an inspection.”

The state of the estate was becoming increasingly serious. When people came to hold onto young Raymond and talk, at first he felt a slight sense of responsibility and pride. As if he too had become a member of the estate, an important person. As if he had become an adult.

But he soon realized that people coming to him was because things were truly serious. To beg a teenage kid to please coax the Baron to come out.

“The sheep aren’t in good condition right now. People are making a fuss about the sharp increase in stillborn lambs. I left a report on your bed yesterday, did you see it?”

The state of the estate was flowing toward an increasingly bad direction. Not even a few months after the infectious disease swept through the people, this time the sheep were falling. The adults didn’t show any particular symptoms yet, but the young ones were the problem.

“I think we need to gather for a meeting, and you need to write a letter to work together with other regions.”

“Hey.”

The Baron’s voice growled. Raymond looked up.

“Can’t you shut your mouth?”

Raymond was momentarily surprised and opened his mouth. No one had ever spoken to him like that before. The Baron and Raymond had too much of an age difference to fight with each other. Even when the Baron occasionally acted mischievously, their parents would soon stop it, and there had never been any serious fights beyond pranks.

What did brother just say to me?

But before that surprise could fade, the Baron’s words continued.

“This little brat is acting disgusting because he’s fine. Hey, you’re saying that crap because you’re fine right now. Sheep? What about sheep? Are you in a position to say such things to me right now?”

Raymond bit his lips. The current situation was serious. There were many problems more important than the broken engagement. But should he have offered comfort as family first? But until now, hadn’t the Baron only accepted comfort as sarcasm?

“Brother, I’m sorry. But.”

“You’re saying ‘but’? You disgusting brat. Do you think you’ve become the lord or something? Huh? Hey, you’re just a kid leeching off my castle. You like this, don’t you? You’re happy because you feel like you’ve become the Baron? That’s why you’re acting like this to me, right?”

“Brother! What are you saying!”

“I’ve seen many disgusting brats like you. They act sweet to get property and titles, but as soon as it looks like it might fall to them, they immediately bare their teeth. These disgusting little rats… not even knowing to be grateful to their brother…”

“Brother!”

Crash!

The Baron threw a flower pot. Raymond looked at the broken glass bottle. There were withered flowers in it. The maid who always tended to it had died along with mother. No one had touched it since then. Raymond had that thought. Until the Baron grabbed him by the collar.

The Baron had changed.

The cheerful and handsome young man had now become a monster parasitic in the castle. People no longer came to the manor. Occasionally there were thumping sounds, sounds like clothes rustling, and sounds of things breaking.

Tension lingered inside the manor. Raymond hated that atmosphere. Having never experienced it before, that atmosphere was even more strange and chilling. The way the servants avoided the Baron’s face, the way they forced bright voices in front of him, that exaggerated atmosphere.

People exchange glances.

People sneer.

The eyes of people looking at Baron Seyertes were stained with fear and disgust.

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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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