The Resetting Lady

[28]

“You’ve lost your memory.”

A small voice that could not be heard by Donna Bowen nearby tore through Karen’s brain without hesitation. I’ve lost my memory. I know the fact What are you talking about? You’ve lost your memory. It reverses all the memories so far.

Who is this woman? Why are you saying something when you’ve never appeared before? Does this woman know what she said?

“Come on in. It’s been so long. Really”

I followed Mrs. Dare into the dark house. The exterior was old, but the inside was neat. However, it is clean enough to manage it to the fullest extent.

If you look closely, the wallpaper faded and the wooden floor creaked every time it moved because it was old. The sound made Karen feel even more uncomfortable. Places that I’ve never come, people I’ve never seen before, all of them were uncomfortable. My mouth is parched. I wanted to drink tea.

“Come on, give me the best teacup!”

When his wife ordered, the maid hurried to the kitchen. Karen beckoned Bowen and Donna standing by the door.

“Donna, Bowen. Why don’t you go out and enjoy the festival?”

“How can I trust you?”

Donna answered with a voice.

But Karen hardened her face. I don’t want to care about you right now. I can’t afford it.

“There’s a lot to talk about between the priests. It’s been so long. You can stay in the guest room.”

“…I’m sorry, Karen, but we don’t have a guest room. In a maid’s room together…?”

Donna freaked out, peering contemptuously at the dirty clothes her maid was wearing.

“Well, no way. Then I’ll just wait with you.”

Donna refused by saying rude things, but fortunately Bowen grabbed Donna’s shoulder and pulled her before the loud noise. When I get back to the mansion, I’ll tell Helen about Donna’s attitude. Karen frowned and pointed her finger at the door for Bowen to see. Get out.

“I’ll be back around tea time in the afternoon. Donna, come on out.”

“Sad…”

“Come on.”

When the two were kicked out, the maid came out with tea and refreshments with a more relaxed expression. The reason was immediately apparent. The teacups were not enough.

Mrs. Dare sat down, holding hands. Only then did Karen concentrate on what she had to do.

“You don’t remember me?”

How far do I have to tell this woman? Karen closed her mouth and blinked. I was nervous.

“I knew it. It’s been like this since Mrs. Haier died. Lord, you’really..”

What is she talking about now? Her eyes turn toward Mrs. Dare. You have to ask.

“Why is my mother coming out?”

His voice went out sharper than I thought.

“How far do you know?”

I didn’t like her answering questions with questions, but I’m sorry for her. Karen turned to take the initiative.

“Madam, I’m very… It’s embarrassing.”

Karen lowered her eyes. In terms of status and home, this middle-aged woman must not have received a proper pension from her lord. In general, a tutor who has not married is introduced to another house after work. Especially if you have a permanent position. If you haven’t found a suitable place, you should stay with your pension. We often live together.

However, the condition of the house suggests that he did not leave the house due to normal circumstances. It is obvious that there is a reason why a tutor who taught Yeongju’s only daughter lives like this. It is beyond the eyes of the lord.

“I want you to tell me what you know, instead of trying to dig me up.”

“I’ll tell you when I know how much you know.”

“Madam.”

Karen has lived for 100 years with dozens of maidens even if she was embarrassed. Karen opened her eyes straight and looked at Mrs. Dare.

“I’ve lost my memory. Tell me what you know. I’m in a lot of pain right now. And if you can help me, I’ll make it up to you.”

“…that’s still the part.”

Mrs. Dare lowered the teacup and wiggled her hands. She was nervous, too.

“You’ve been like that since you were a kid.”

And Karen began to talk about an unknown past.

“I felt so precocious. I was smart, but… But it wasn’t the cleverness of a scholarly. It was a little different from the aristocrats of their age. Maybe it’s because Catherine raised him.”

“Did you get acquainted with your mother?”

“Do you remember Catherine?”

“Well… no, I can’t remember at all.”

Mrs. Dare gazed dimly at Karen in front of her eyes, as if drawing far away. The eyes that seemed to draw his mother through him were unpleasant. The lord sometimes looked at her that way.

“Lady Nora Katherine Haier. Her maiden name was Enid. Actually, Katherine… Yeah, I’m sorry. It was strange to be Mrs. Haier. To be honest, I never thought I’d live in a country like this.”

Karen kissed the glass to hide her trembling. It was not a familiar taste. At last, he soon opened his mouth to bitterness.

“Because I was always surrounded by men. I thought you’d get married to a good place. I mean, relatively, materially.”

Karen glanced sideways at Mrs. Dair’s house and she blushed.

“It was very crazy, and I never listened. He seemed weak at first glance, but he was very stubborn.”

From Karen’s point of view, words of little interest lengthened. Karen was a little impatient. It is not the love story of Karen’s parents that she is curious about. But Mrs. Dare kept talking about Catherine, Karen’s mother.

How beautiful Catherine was, how popular she was, and how many suitors loved her. Karen told anecdotes with a face full of pride that she watched it next to him.

Karen realized that she wasn’t a prophet-like person who offered the answer she had been expecting. It was disappointing. She just seemed like a middle-aged woman who loved to chat and missed her past days.

“You look so much like Catherine. I still have the portrait. See that wall over there?

There was a beautiful portrait of a woman very similar to Karen on the wall. Even if I die, Nancy will never let me do that. …when I die, this is the end of the story. I can’t do that. What’s wrong with that? A middle-aged woman who was talking as if she were proud of her glory, not hers, became increasingly burdensome.

“I hear that a lot.”

Karen seemed to have a twitch in her face from laughing politely.

“More than that, I want to talk more about my memory.”

“Oh, so.”

Mrs. Dare hung up awkwardly.

“You’ve been very wild since you were a child. Pretty, smart…And at least she was the only daughter of the best family in the area. And then one day, a lot… It hurt.”

“Dear, don’t interfere anymore. It’s none of your business.”

Dare’s eyes were dimmed by the memory that came to mind.

***

“Then the culture of the Orient… Karen, Karen?”

Dare felt like crying. The little girl she taught trembled all over again. The bright and spiritual vivacity disappeared after the age of seven, and the child was afraid and wept all day.

The well-built maid ran to subdue the girl who turned her body. Soon Katherine, who was completely ill, came to Karen, supported. Today’s study time was ruined like this. Rather than giving a class, he had to stand still without comforting himself. Dare felt a sense of shame.

“Madam, not like this.”

“…….”

Catherine held Karen tightly in her arms. The girl shuddered in her mother’s arms.

“It’s all right, Karen. You have a mother. It’s all right… Shh… Everything’s gonna be okay. Huh? Shall we have some snacks?”

The girl with her eyes fixed on her mother, cried for a long time.

“Mom, my life… What does it mean? If that’s the case with my life….”

It was my 10th birthday. The engagement of Karen and her relative, Duran, has been decided. It was an engagement that no one welcomed. Catherine’s illness grew worse and worse and she could hardly conceive any more.

She said in front of relatives and acquaintances. I think my life will not last long because I’m weak day by day, so I want to see my daughter’s engagement. Everyone thought it was a little strange, but they didn’t really oppose the parents’ engagement. The engagement was informal with the consent of the adults.

Karen looked as if she had chewed a bug, and Dulan’s face turned rotten when she saw it. Duran was eighteen years old and Karen was ten years old.

“You, you… die, really….”

“Try it.”

Karen showed her resistance to fate. Dulan was pushed into the room where the dogs were released and the door was closed. Then Dulan dragged a chair in front of the door to prevent him from opening it. If it had not been for the servant to open the door by putting Karen away and breaking the lock, Duran would have died on the spot.

“Carlan, apologize to Duran properly!”

It was already an event that the child could not be dismissed as a joke. However, Dulan’s parents were extremely poor, and did not want to miss the next permanent residence where everything, as well as tuition, would be given. Duran’s parents paid more attention to Karen, who seemed to have lost her mind, rather than to her skin torn.

I am the only one in this family who can play the role of a proper adult. Dare stretched his chest and pressed Karen hard. But after being dragged away by Dare, Karen took the first word off Dulan’s bed.

“Hey, why didn’t you just die then? I know your life.”

“Carran!”

Dare closed the car Karen’s mouth in astonishment. But it was late. Duran glared and glared at Karen and said grimly, vowing.

“…my, if I don’t kill you, I’ll eat my hat.”

But the shock was great, and Duran stuttered when he saw Karen afterwards. And since the following year, he has never visited the mansion of Yeongju.

Dare tried more and more to change Karen. I increased the class and told Karen stories that she was interested in. But that was only for a while. Karen’s seizures increased, Catherine also became sick, and the lord was silent. No matter how hard Dare tried to use his hands, everyone just avoided it.

There was nothing I could do. Instead of being a teacher, most of the days became when the doctor was with Karen. There were many days when I sat alone in the study room. Helen, the housekeeper, cut down on Dare’s salary. When asked if there was nothing I could do about it, Dare dropped his head.

It was that day. The day when a black gypsy woman replaced Dare’s station.

It was the year Karen turned 14.