CH 17

“Ha.. ahh…”

He twisted the knife.

Bang!

Only then did she hear the sound of a gunshot. It’s so late. It’s already like this. Carynne felt a little relieved.

They had raped me before, but they never tortured me. It’s like this if their families were touched, and it’s amazing how people who had killed and raped other people still felt attached to their families. They didn’t even love their families that much.

“Hey, what made you angry…? Ah, you’re already dead.”

Carynne watched the look behind Hans’ eyes loosen. It was an insignificant death for an insignificant character. He died just as he lived, like an insect.

Hans, you beat your wife every day and raped her like this. Still, did it feel like you were betrayed when you heard that she’ll remarry? Is that why you were angry? Do you hate hearing about your wife’s life after you died? This future that you can’t see? Or no, were you just offended? But I didn’t want to do it with you. You have bad breath.

And when Carynne saw the food stuck in Hans’ teeth, she closed her eyes in disgust. Carynne closed her eyes and tried to recall pleasant things. What would be good? She saw an elephant this time. It’s the first time she saw one in the flesh.

Hey, maybe I have a talent as an animal trainer. That would be fun.

Carynne thought about the elephant approaching her. In the end, she didn’t know if the elephant would have harmed her or not. In this life, she couldn’t predict how the elephant would affect this life.

However, what she was certain was Carynne herself would be vulnerable to danger this time. Isella would have asked, in a letter to Raymond, for him to meet her, but he would refuse at first. Though, as expected, he would secretly come here because he was worried.

Now that this series of events had been faithfully gone through, it’s possible for Carynne to expect danger today after quarreling with the coachman and looking around with Borwen and Nancy. But this time it was with Donna and not Nancy.

Unlike Nancy, who liked music, the very curious Donna insisted on watching the circus. So now, it’s expected that the danger would occur during or after the circus.

And the result was that both during and after were filled with danger. Carynne didn’t expect it would be this much.

Greater compared to meeting Raymond, side effects like these happened whenever Carynne took action. After being rescued for the first time at the circus, she wondered if she should have ended today’s schedule there. She rushed into it too much. Still, she did what she needed to do, and that was to have a face-to-face encounter with Raymond.

“…Ow.”

My side was painful. She should avoid choosing the circus route next time. Still, she wanted to touch the nose, so as expected, she had lingering regrets. And as expected, excessive greed would hurt herself.

She wanted to secretly take a look into the person named Missus Deere, too, but she didn’t know that the plot would be this twisted. Still, what a marvelous sight this was. If she could continue seeing things like this, she thought that it would be alright to die more than a few times. It felt like she could hold out more.

“Are you alright?”

Carynne closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see him now, this man who was so familiar to her.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen someone like you in the night police force. You don’t even look like a huntsman.”

“…Reasonable skepticism is an aristocrat’s responsibility, but I do not wish to recommend it in this situation.”

Closing her torn clothes, Carynne tried to open her eyes and give him a suspicious look. As if she was truly suspicious of him, she tried to look at him as though he wasn’t a man she’s known for one hundred years. But because she got stabbed at the side with a knife, childishly, she wanted to cling onto him and complain to him as though they were an old couple. You’re too late. You’re just too much.

Not conscious of it, tears streamed out of her eyes even if she wasn’t acting. Getting stabbed hurts. It’s hard to breathe.

“As you can see, my blood isn’t blue enough for me to be called an aristocrat. Thank you for sav… ing me. But as much as you saw what happened in my situation… huk, huuk, ugh… I’m not in a good condi… ugh…”

Raymond pressed a hand against her side to stop the bleeding. Reaching out, he patted Carynne’s back to calm her panting breaths.

He hated women who cried, but it was natural for him to take care of someone who’s injured because he was a soldier. He pressed down as he soothed her. While doing so, it was surprising that he was comforting a young woman and not a soldier under his command, but he couldn’t take his hands off her.

“My subordinate will be here soon, and he has a hemostatic drug. The Hare family’s carriage has also been called.”

“…You know who I am.”

“I was going to visit unofficially. But it couldn’t be helped. I am Raymond Saytes. While I am the commanding officer of the Chivalric Order of the Raven¹, my visit to this place is purely out of personal interest.”

Being a noble was truly troublesome. She was crying from pain, and while asking if she was alright, a doctor should be called, but in the end, here it was—even in his situation, an inquiry about each other’s position, name, and purpose of visit was commenced. This annoyance, this anguish, this tediousness. Carynne wanted to let go of everything.

“Miss Hare, did you have fun on your outing today?”

“When I got stabbed by a knife?”

“…I apologize. That isn’t what I meant. It’s difficult for me to console someone else because I’m not good with words.”

Raymond, a knight, became like a fool only in front of Carynne Hare. Of course, this was only natural. Carynne sighed. Repetitive lines weren’t any fun. She knew he was just trying to console and soothe her, but if she could, she wanted to get a good grip on that blond hair of his and just pull.

“While it was a purposeless outing, I’d been stuck inside for about ten years without going on an adventure.”

And Carynne had no choice but to utter such terrible words.

“But it’s nice that I went out.”

“Right. What did you enjoy the most?”

“I saw an elephant.”

“Alright.”

“…It was wonderful, so I liked it.”

“That’s a relief.”

She saw an animal she had never seen before. If only for that experience, she could die countless times again. What’s a life compared to interesting things.

“Your family is very worried. Let’s head back.”

“…Yes, alright. It’s a virtue to share laughter, but it’s out of line to share worries.”

Raymond slipped his other arm under her legs to lift her up, still pressing her side with one hand. Inside the dress made of rough fabric, rich and expensive laces fell beautifully into shape.

As Carynne was wrapped in such a picturesque beauty, Raymond lifted her up and headed to the carriage. Like a groom carrying his beloved bride, he led her down the path, as though promising a bright new future ahead.

“…Ha.”

Although there never was a future with him in all these one hundred years, it sure looked like it anyway.

It was futile to trust him. Even so, there was a time when she wanted to keep relying on him.

Their eyes met.

Beneath the moonlight, his blond hair seemed to be shining like pure molten gold, and his two irises gleamed with a peculiar brilliance to them as well.

His stride was dignified and he did not stagger even with Carynne in his arms, as though she was as light as a water bottle in one’s hand. Looking at him with a strange expression, Carynne closed her eyes as though she had fainted.

At this moment, he had fallen for her.

And also at this moment, all Carynne wanted was for her favorite lace not to be torn.

¹ fun fact: the Korean word for ‘raven’ has the word ‘devil’ in it, so i guess it’s like a pun because Raymond’s nickname is the ‘golden devil’