Resetting Lady-Chapter 271

Crown Prince Gueuze felt a hint of freshness at how his predictions were repeatedly proven wrong, but his displeasure far outweighed it. It was irritating to confirm that his plans were veering off course and that his thoughts were consistently mistaken.

“Who is this Dullan Roid?”

“He’s Carynne Hare’s former fiancé, Your Highness,” an attendant murmured.

“Haha, well… How blatant of you. Are you planning to escape with your lover’s help?”

“…I understand what you’re thinking, Your Highness, but it’s not like that.”

Carynne shook her head vigorously, denying it, but Gueuze did not believe her. According to the document handed to him by a servant, their engagement had been broken off just before Carynne came of age and moved to the capital. Having been close relatives since childhood, their relationship was undeniably intimate, regardless of its form. They must have been closer than anyone else.

“I won’t allow it.”

“It’s not the kind of relationship Your Highness is imagining. He’s a healer… someone who can treat Your Highness.”

“You expect me to entrust myself to a man when even the royal physicians couldn’t cure me?”

“…If Your Highness entrusts your body to him… I’m sure… you’ll be cured.”

“I find your words completely untrustworthy.”

Gueuze playfully flicked Carynne’s forehead, finding her clumsy ploy amusing. Now that he had resolved to kill her anyway, he thought he might as well toy with her a little more. Her desperate attempts to save herself were laughable, and her words were contradictory. How should he make this foolish little girl cry?

“Trust me, Your Highness. There’s no one in this world who knows more about infertility than he does.”

“He might be a prodigy, but what could a 25-year-old priest possibly know? The doctors around me have far more experience and knowledge than he could ever hope to amass. And you expect me to trust this unverified priest and let him treat me? Someone who could easily toy with my life? It seems more like an elaborate revenge scheme.”

“…That’s not it… Your Highness loves me so I—”

“Ha, haha, hahaha!”

Gueuze laughed loudly, almost to the point of losing his breath. Even now, she was spouting nonsense.

How amusing. Gueuze let out a stifled laugh before abruptly stopping. Carynne faced him with an expressionless face.

“So, don’t expect that this Dullan Roid of yours will grant you freedom. Do you think I’d quietly watch you seek help from your so-called lover? Do you think I’d let that happen?”

“Lover…”

Carynne’s face darkened.

“That’s what I’m saying, Your Highness. The person I love is you.”

She added the words as though biting down on them.

“You’ll understand when take a look at Dullan.”

* * *

Dullan accepted the summons delivered to him from the palace.

The overwhelming curiosity that seized him refused to let him go. Carynne Hare had summoned him. She had named him as her husband. What was she thinking? Catherine had chosen Lord Hare as her husband because she had borne his child. But Dullan also knew that Catherine did not lack affection for Lord Hare.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Catherine had maintained a decent relationship with Lord Hare until her death. Lord Hare had loved her, and she had willingly accepted his love.

And now, Carynne had named Dullan as her husband.

What could she possibly expect from him?

‘Why?’

Dullan wanted to ask his past self.

What had happened between him and Carynne? What kind of relationship had they built? He could not know the answers in his current state. Those moments were a mystery to him. Perhaps… just perhaps…

“Dullan Roid has arrived, Your Highness.”

“Let him in.”

Dullan stepped into the lavish room.

His steps were filled with tension, expectation, and unease, but he could not refuse the crown prince’s summons.

“Raise your head.”

“…Yes.”

Dullan raised his head.

There were two people looking down at him from within the opulent room. His breath caught in his throat. Seeing Carynne up close, she was truly, overwhelmingly dazzling. The splendor of her appearance was incomparable to the fleeting glimpse he had caught of her at the temple.

The overwhelming splendor, almost oppressive in its intensity, made Dullan feel crushed. He felt wretched. Beside Carynne sat a middle-aged man with a cruel demeanor, staring down at him.

“…D-D-Dullan Roid… at your service.”

Dullan barely managed to introduce himself. Even so, he had come here. To this place.

“Kuh, pfft, hahahaha! This is a masterpiece! Truly! Fine, Carynne, I owe you an apology.”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“I never expected anything quite like this!”

Crown Prince Gueuze laughed maniacally, his voice echoing throughout the room. After a long while, he finally spoke to Carynne.

“Very well. I’ll let you take that thing as your husband.”

* * *

That same night, after seeing Dullan’s face, Crown Prince Gueuze summoned him separately. Seated in Gueuze’s reception room, Dullan looked paler than usual, his face nearly turning blue.

“Have a seat. Though I imagine you’re not feeling particularly at ease.”

“I-I am… Your Highness’s faithful servant.”

“As should everyone in this land be.”

Gueuze raised a hand to summon his servant.

“Let’s have a drink while we talk.”

A glass of red wine was poured.

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing added to it.”

“…Of course, sir.”

The crimson wine swirled in Gueuze’s spider-like fingers. Dullan slowly took the glass and drank in front of him. Even though it was a fine wine, Dullan tasted nothing.

It made sense. A mere priest like him would never have expected to be summoned by the kingdom’s heir to the throne. Dullan—priest by trade, trained at Alburn Abbey, also qualified as a physician. The next lord of Hare. Carynne’s former fiancé.

“Regarding my earlier outburst of laughter, I must apologize.”

“…T-There is no need, sir.”

“No, I insist. Laughing like that was undoubtedly rude to you.”

Gueuze raised a hand, signaling Dullan not to protest further. But in truth, he hadn’t been able to hold back his laughter at the time. When he heard that Carynne’s former fiancé was none other than the next lord of Hare, Gueuze’s mind had gone cold. It felt like history was repeating itself, reminiscent of Catherine’s choice in the past.

It was clear Carynne had been scheming, but this choice felt not clever but irritating. He had expected someone smooth and gentle, resembling the younger Lord Hare. A priest with medical credentials—how predictable. She had chosen someone who could be her ally.

However, there was something Gueuze hadn’t anticipated.

“It was just so unexpected.”

“……”

A man who looked like a corpse.

His appearance and demeanor left much to be desired. Gueuze found himself intrigued by Dullan—more specifically, by his emotions.

“What is your relationship with Carynne Hare?”

“We are… relatives.”

“And formerly betrothed, I hear.”

“It wasn’t… anything significant. It was just b-because I was set to in…herit the title, so it was… for prac, tical reasons.”

“No need to tremble so much. I’m not going to kill you just because you’re the husband of my mistress.”

If he had resembled the younger Lord Hare more closely, Gueuze might have felt the urge to vent his frustrations. He took a sip of his wine, savoring its exquisite aroma and flavor, which seemed particularly perfect today.

Gueuze had encountered many people like Dullan Roid.

Men with nothing to their name, yet unable to let go of their greed. Especially men who harbored anger toward women—those trapped in cycles of rage and lust. Gueuze both despised and enjoyed such men, for they made perfect disposable tools.

Dullan sat expressionless, but Gueuze could tell. Beneath the priestly robes restraining his desires, Dullan was lusting after Carynne. Now that she had become the mistress of a powerful man, she was harder to attain—and therefore, more desirable.

“I called you here because I’d like your help.”

Dullan quietly met Gueuze’s gaze.

“I need you to prepare some medicine. You’ve been praised as a promising talent at Alburn Abbey, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”

/subliminalwayfarer