Chapter 75: CH 75

Yeah, she knew this would happen.

Raymond grabbed Carynne’s arm. It seemed as if he had rushed to get here. He was panting a little. With a flushed face, he spoke in a whisper.

“Stop.”

“…Okay.”

Carynne nodded slowly. Actually, she wasn’t planning to do this. She could have killed Isella here and that would be fine. If she couldn’t kill her, then that’s also fine. If she was really planning to kill Isella, she would have run straight to the bed and immediately cut down the other girl’s throat. That’s what it looked like right now. However, Raymond wasn’t aware of this. Her wrist started to hurt. Carynne spoke again.

“You’re already holding my hand and stopping me from doing anything.”

“……”

“So please let me go. I understand. This is something I can’t do.”

She already knew that she couldn’t do it.

“I’m telling the truth, so let me go.”

Carynne realized that her face was stained with tears. Raymond was just staring at her. Then, he took the scissors from Carynne with his other hand.

He led Carynne to a chair and made her sit, then he cuffed her hands together.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said.

“Do you think I’ll believe you right now?”

I don’t think I can even believe my own thoughts.

Carynne burst into tears, into laughter.

After Raymond had bound Carynne’s hands, he then began to change Isella’s bed sheets. He moved deftly, very unlike a noble man.

As Carynne watched him change Isella’s sheets and IV line, she asked him.

“Have you confirmed it?”

He should know what she was talking about. Raymond replied.

“…Yes. There was a corpse in the area you told me about.”

And as soon as Carynne heard this, she couldn’t help but let out a peal of laughter even as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Good. What a relief.”

She could be certain now.

She was repeating the same past.

Even if Nancy had muddled her memories, this fact couldn’t be denied.

“I see.”

Carynne was overjoyed. She could finally be sure. It was so difficult to live with doubts that constantly lived inside her mind. She let out a relieved smile.

“Sir Raymond. I have a confession.”

“……”

“You know, I. I believe that this world is a world within a novel.”

“…Mm.”

Raymond’s expression changed subtly. Was that a smile? But the situation was too dire for him to have interpreted that as a joke. Carynne cried and laughed.

Ah, I shouldn’t look crazy.

Fortunately, Raymond didn’t say anything. And he just stared at Carynne. So she continued.

“It’s not a figure of speech or a metaphor. I know how it sounds. But to me, this is the truth.”

I need help. Half of my days—my nights—were entirely Raymond’s. I can’t spend my time just working like this.

“Until now, I’ve constantly dreamt about death. No, to be honest… they’re not dreams. Until now, I have died over and over again, one hundred times. After the novel’s plot is finished, I keep going back to the start.”

“Carynne, slow down.”

“You have to believe me. I supposedly came to this place for the first time in my life, but tell me, how is it possible that I’m taking care of Isella better than a professional nurse? Tell me, how do I know what’s going to happen in the future? If this isn’t enough proof, if you still don’t believe me, then I can show you more.”

“Even if we have to meet for the first time again, I’m certain that I will love you. You don’t have to be scared. I will protect you.”

But he couldn’t even remember.

“It’s alright. Everything’s alright now. I believe you.”

How about this time?

Carynne leaned back on the chair she was sitting on. She could still feel the blood dripping. She lifted her bound hands and clutched her clothes tightly with her fingers. Her wounds were so bad that her dress had come loose because she couldn’t wear it tightly.

With her back exposed, Carynne said to Raymond.

“I’ve been killed by Mister Verdic one hundred times so far.”

Murder. And he probably knew.

This time, perhaps it would be difficult for you to love me.

“Please help me.”

If that’s the case, then shouldn’t she at least appeal to his sympathy?

* * *

Earlier, when the corpse was found—

Raymond left it to Xenon to mark the spot on the map where they found the corpse, then he urgently rushed back to Evans’ mansion. As he ran, the revolver in his pocket made little noise. His objective was certain.

That woman.

Carynne Hare, now Carynne Evans. The red-haired woman who had replaced Isella Evans as his fiancée. Still, the woman who suited him better.

“Carynne Hare.”

This matter was of concern if he had just found the body himself. The problem was Carynne Hare. Now, Carynne Evans. That seventeen-year-old girl. The girl who was the target of his gun.

How far involved was she in this? How far could he ignore it? No, he couldn’t ignore it any longer.

The things he wanted to ignore were the same things he couldn’t ignore because Carynne considered herself to be Raymond’s partner.

In fact, Raymond wasn’t expecting much from Carynne. It was enough for her to have a beautiful appearance. It was also fun to talk to her because of her wit.

At first, he thought about loving her. He believed that he could come to love her. The moment he first held Carynne in his arms, he felt himself shudder. Because of her beauty, because of her madness.

And she was the one who proposed that they should side together, to hold each other’s hand.

With her wide eyes filled with tears. With her seething voice.

“Mister Verdic is my enemy.”

So, let’s hold hands and be partners. Raymond agreed.

However, the moment he saw the dead body of that woman, his heart gave up. Carynne was holding his hand only to manipulate him.

“That’s funny.”

Teaming up for a bigger goal was something he could have done a lot longer. However, if Carynne was just trying to hold onto him to shake him, then it was a different story. If she had decided to hold his hand, in the meantime, they should cooperate at the very least. It wasn’t about pride or justice. It was a matter of priority. It would be impossible to do anything if he was merely at her mercy.

“Verdic… Evans.”

Raymond did not believe that Carynne held pure hatred for Verdic. Because, from the very beginning, the fief lord did not kill himself.

She said that the fief lord killed himself? That kind of situation was plausible enough. However, Raymond saw that one of his shoes had come off. If the cause of his death truly was suicide, then it would be unusual for him to have struggled and had taken off only one shoe.

Struggling was common when dying in that way, but both shoes should have still been on unless they had been taken off in advance.

He wasn’t wearing comfortable slippers. The shoes he had on were fastened by a string. His other shoe had been tied tightly—exactly how a nervous person would have done it.

However, the fact that the other one had been taken off made Raymond think of the opposite conclusion.

The fief lord may have prepared himself to commit suicide, but there was someone who had clung to his leg in the end.

Carynne was connected in some way. She didn’t kill him herself, but it was clear that she had a hand in this.

The carriage when Raymond had faced her. Then, the two women who were missing from the mansion where that carriage was stationed.

“And another missing woman, Isella Evans…”

Rather than the fact that he had saved Carynne from that mansion at that time, he thought could use this instead. But then, he regretted it. Since he could put some pressure on Carynne and since they had a common hatred for Verdic, was it right to judge that he could use her well? Then he should have just pressed her more.

As it was, he was just being swayed by Carynne. And what Raymond had to do at this moment was to not report this. The cost outweighs the benefits. And he didn’t have any proper evidence.

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Unlike how it was done in the military, the forensic methods in the cities were few and far in between. And above all, Raymond was a soldier, not an investigator. This was the capital, not the battlefield. There was nothing he could do.

Did she calculate even this?

“…It seems like nobles have too many things to think about.”

Murder. Perhaps, serial murders.

Raymond was not a detective and not a part of the police force. For just a little while more, he wouldn’t even be a soldier any longer.

But there was something that Carynne didn’t know about him. Even if he had joined hands with her, he had a different sense of duty. He stood by the side of justice.

Rather than just his resistance against Carynne and how she was dealing with him, he had a greater sense of duty when it came to catching a murder suspect. If she was a murderer who was killing for pleasure, if she was someone who couldn’t keep her morals—if she was like a gun that couldn’t be controlled—then he had to take responsibility.

“Two months from now.”

It would only be two months from today that he’d officially enter the noble council. The position was practically his already, but it was still a crucial period.

He shouldn’t meddle in dangerous things. Eighty percent of his position would be attributed to Verdic. Raymond was best at shooting the head off of some person a distance away. In the setting of a conference, it wasn’t his strong suit to deal with people who were in seats of power.

“……”

But it didn’t matter. If Carynne would continue to kill, if she really was using him, then it was unacceptable. Something evil was being done in front of him, and it should be prevented. Even if it was at the cost of losing his wealth and honor.

So, he finally arrived at Evans’ manor. Raymond raised his head and glanced at the door to Carynne’s room.

The lights were off. Was she still asleep? If so, then that’s better. Raymond took out the revolver and the handcuffs from his coat pocket.

Then, he knocked on her door. Better to capture her first, then think about it later.

“…Carynne?”

There was no answer. Was she really still not awake?

Knock, knock.

He knocked once more. He couldn’t hear anything inside. Raymond clutched the revolver in one hand.

Creak—

“……”

Raymond opened the door. There was no one inside. The bed was covered with blood and bandages. The smell of alcohol stung his nose.

Whose blood was this? There was a significant amount of blood strewn inside. What happened in Carynne’s room that so much blood had been spilled?

And there wasn’t just blood, but also bandages and alcohol. Someone had been badly hurt. And they had been treated.

“……”

He calmed down his panting breaths. Raymond felt that he should calm himself down a bit more.

After ruffling his hair with one hand, he raised the revolver and thought of pointing the muzzle into his mouth.

Click, click, click.

He loaded it with bullets and rolled the barrel. Then, he pointed it at his temple. The cold metal of the gun cleared his mind.

If I pull the trigger like this, I will die. Don’t think.

When Raymond had been called to war as a sniper, he was rather comfortable with it. He didn’t have to take responsibility for anyone else out there.

But as a noble, he must think. He wouldn’t be able to survive without thinking. Raymond’s plan until now was not bad.

But was it really?

“Hiiik!”

“……!”

“Lo… Lord Raymond?”

It was a servant of the Verdic family. Raymond took off the gun. As though he had been caught pleasuring himself, he felt a wave of shame wash through him.

“What on earth—”

But the servant’s words were cut short by a question.

“Where’s Carynne?”

Then, the servant’s eyes wavered.

“She… She…”

Had she been arrested for being complicit with murder? How far was she connected with this case? Or was it the other way around—someone else was helping her kill?

One particular theory flashed through his mind, the one that he was deeply suspicious of.

That Carynne was conspiring together with Verdic from the very start.

Then everything would make sense. If this truly was the case.

“Speak.”

However, the answer that came back to him wasn’t what he had been expecting.

Trembling, the servant replied.

“She went to work at Lady Isella’s room.”

So she didn’t run away after murdering someone.

Was he overthinking it?

Raymond turned his head and looked at the room once more. She went to work. But this room was left in too much chaos for her to have gone out to do such a mundane thing.

“Whose blood is this.”

“U-Um.”

“……”

“M-Master Verdic punished her.”

“Punished?”

“Because… the Lady… had gambled…”

This blood was Carynne’s. But why was this servant so anxious that it seemed as if she didn’t know what to do?

“What’s your connection to this.”

“I-I have no power. I am merely a servant, sir. O-Of course, I thought that the Master had been too harsh, but…”

Raymond was perhaps disappointed to figure out why the servant was trembling so badly. She’s thinking that he was angry about the fact that Carynne had gotten hurt.

That was the natural conclusion. He and Carynne had been acting intimately these days. They spent time together, they laughed, and even talked at dinner every night in front of Verdic. It’s no wonder that this was what the servant thought.

“…Huu.”

Feeling that his nerves were a little less taut, Raymond went up to Isella’s room. He silenced the sound of his footsteps.

He heard Carynne’s muttering voice inside the room.

“If you die…”

Raymond opened the door. Carynne was holding a pair of scissors.

At that moment, without thinking, Raymond moved. By the time he came to his senses, he was already holding Carynne’s wrist.

Carynne wasn’t surprised by his sudden appearance. She just stared at him, then she asked.

“Do you love Miss Isella?”

At a time like this, was she joking? This woman must truly be crazy.

Raymond bound Carynne’s hands. Then, he looked at Isella. IV fluids and blood wetted the floor of the room.

He hurriedly rolled up the sheets and examined Isella’s body. But there was not one wound on her body. The blood was coming from Carynne. The maid said that it was Carynne who got hurt.

“……”

All Carynne did was cut Isella’s IV tube. What he could see from her was a face full of tears, then her back. It was filled with manifestations of malice. He had seen a lot of these wounds before. This was by no means just a product of discipline. She had been hit with the full strength of an adult man.

Shit, what exactly happened that it came to this? Has Verdic gone mad? Did he detest gambling that much? Raymond was beside himself with anger—towards both Verdic and himself. Was he not just thinking of pointing a gun at her just now?

“The two of us… I think we need to talk.”

It was more like he was talking to himself now, and he felt depressed. What was running through him right now was, certainly, sympathy.

And he sat down and looked at Carynne. Then she told him something unbelievable.

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