Resetting Lady

“It seems you really are pregnant.”

“I told you it’s true. And the child is yours, Your Highness.”

“How long are you going to keep… Fine. Let’s say that’s the case so for now. That’s the only reason you’re still alive.”

It was a fact confirmed by three royal physicians. The pregnancy couldn’t be denied. Of course, both Carynne and Gueuze knew the child wasn’t his. But they didn’t say it aloud. Instead, they smiled, pretending to believe, to accept, to play along with the lie they both knew was there.

“If I assume you’re carrying my child, you should receive what’s rightfully yours. I’ll give you the finest wealth.”

“…I couldn’t be happier.”

That Carynne was Catherine’s daughter was surprising, but it ended there for Gueuze.

He didn’t believe in the absurd story she told. Yet the fact that Carynne’s voice carried knowledge of his greatest weakness piqued his interest.

And Gueuze realized he could use her to make his plans to kill Lewis more concrete, more seamless.

“But there’s nothing to prove that the child inside you is mine. No one who believes that would be anything less than a fool. So, you’d better listen to me carefully. You’ll only survive if I decide to acknowledge the child as mine.”

Carynne wondered, Is he after something else? It would have been simpler if, like before, he was just after her body. But Gueuze seemed to have other plans this time.

“What do I need to do for you, Your Highness? What will make you satisfied?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Gueuze grinned.

He wanted to kill Lewis, but he couldn’t easily touch him. The king was protecting Lewis, and if Lewis died, many would suspect and rebel against him. He needed a more compelling bait.

“If you do well, I might marry you legitimately and take you as my lawful wife instead. Your child could become the next king, and if you play your cards right, you could even be queen.”

Nonsense. For her child to ascend to the throne, Carynne couldn’t have started as a mistress. Mistresses had to be married women, and if her child were to inherit the crown, it would raise questions of legitimacy.

Children of mistresses had been given dukedoms or marquisates before, but never the throne. That was the whole reason mistresses had to be married. Gueuze’s words were just a way to manipulate her.

“Do you mean it, Your Highness?”

“Yes. If you succeed, everything I have will be yours.”

For now, Carynne had to pretend to believe him. She had to act like the young, ambitious mistress, eager for power—greedy and a little unhinged.

That was an easy act. Men usually saw her that way anyway. Carynne looked up at Gueuze, letting foolish-sounding words slip from her mouth.

“You’ll fall in love with me, Your Highness. And this child will become the king.”

“…Hahaha.”

Carynne wondered when Gueuze would want to cut her throat. Of course, she’d have to get to him before that.

How much do we each know? How much have we caught on to? They both smiled and carried on their conversation, pretending not to notice how much they each wanted to kill the other.

Carynne thought it would be easier if Gueuze simply slept with her—it would make things move along. But he seemed to want to draw things out longer, to savor the hunt. He was holding back, waiting for the right moment to mock her claim about the child.

If only he’d lose control and behave like a lustful dog like he did in the past, it’d make things easier.

Carynne closed her eyes, accepting the necklace he fastened around her neck, thinking such thoughts. It would have been simpler if he lost his rationality, but now, Gueuze seemed more interested in something other than getting between her legs.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t lust. His eyes roamed over her chest, her crotch, her thighs. He was just holding himself back for now, saving it for later.

“Everyone will surely be in awe when they see you,” Gueuze said.

‘…Or I’ll be stoned to death,’ Carynne thought.

Being a royal mistress made one the perfect target for gossip. The current king’s mistresses had endured years of slander. Madam Bercelle, the king’s mistress for over 20 years, had mellowed into her role as she tended to the ailing king, but in her youth, she was the subject of every scandalous book, called the ‘Royal Hound’. Given that she was believed to be Prince Lewis’ biological mother, it was a harsh fate.

It was no surprise that Catherine avoided such a position. Prince Gueuze had claimed to love Catherine but had never been willing to suffer any losses for her.

And, of course, he was impotent.

“What I want from you is this.”

“What do you mean, Your Highness?”

He touched Carynne’s belly and chin, his voice as slippery as a snake’s.

“Dress yourself in splendor, draw criticism from the people. Be lavish and foolish, and I will love you. I will protect you.”

It seemed like a simple enough task.

But what Gueuze said next made Carynne’s body freeze.

“Kill Prince Lewis with your own hands, and then your child will become the next king.”

* * *

“Damn it.”

Carynne cursed, throwing the necklace onto the bed in a fit of frustration. Of course. That wretched old man wasn’t going to make things easy.

“He really wants to get everything at once, doesn’t he?”

Gueuze had no intention of letting Carynne off easily. He planned to exploit her thoroughly. First, by dressing her up extravagantly and making her the subject of public ridicule. His affair with Catherine was already infamous, but taking her daughter as his mistress? The scandal couldn’t get any more sensational.

Rumors of incestuous temptations and other filthy stories would follow her everywhere. If Carynne were not involved with royalty, some might even pity her. But an extravagant Carynne, pregnant and draped in jewels? She would be the perfect target for gossip and slander.

Carynne had experienced such things before. A young woman flaunting wealth gained through men was prime fodder for public scorn.

And who would take a young wife seriously? A seventeen-year-old mistress was no equal. She was merely a trinket, a decorative object.

Yet the public would ignore all that and see only the gold and jewels, envying and resenting Carynne for wearing them. She had been beaten to death on the streets before, the outcome of becoming a nobleman’s mistress. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience. Gaining wealth through a man came with significant risks.

The same fate awaited her at Gueuze’s side—likely even worse, as she wasn’t even his wife, just a mistress.

“…I’m sure I’ll be the cover of every scandal magazine.”

And not just for a few months—probably until the day she died. If she survived long enough, the gossip magazines would keep selling her story for years. She could already feel the bile rising at the thought of being endlessly slandered and objectified in tabloid after tabloid, with no payment for being their unwilling model.

And what if Prince Lewis were to die under those circumstances?

What if she were framed for the murder?

Carynne gritted her teeth. Did Gueuze seriously think she would succeed in killing Lewis? Or was he just using it as a test, a cruel game?

Whatever his true intentions, one thing was clear—Gueuze wanted Lewis dead. He had always wanted him dead, and he always would.

Carynne recalled what Raymond had said about the past. Lewis was destined to die. That boy’s fate was sealed.

“…This is giving me a headache…”

Carynne clutched her head. Every move she made to survive only dragged her deeper into more complicated problems. Wouldn’t it be easier just to die and start over again? Getting pregnant was something she could always try again in her next life.

Lewis, Gueuze—they were ultimately strangers to her, people unrelated to her real life. Carynne found herself increasingly tempted by the idea of a quick suicide and an early resurrection. She could simply try to get pregnant with Raymond again and find another way…

“I’ll come back again.”

But oddly, it was Isella who popped into her mind.

The same Isella who had told her she was pregnant, who had come forward to Crown Prince Gueuze, and who had once sent Carynne to the executioner’s block.

“……”

Carynne knew she had to save Lewis. As much as she didn’t want to kill Isella, Raymond would want to save Lewis a thousand times more.

That was the man Carynne had fallen in love with.

***

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