The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 19

Morning at the Glorious Estate.

After preparing breakfast and stepping outside, I found letters in the mailbox. Letters in a mailbox that usually only gathered dust—two of them, no less.

“Oh….”

I pulled the letters out with an excited heart.

Perhaps, hoping they might be love letters.

A pink letter and a golden letter landed in my hands. As expected, they weren’t love letters.

“One’s for Miss Hanna… and the other is from the Imperial Family?”

A letter from the Imperial Family.

Not particularly welcome.

Setting aside my disappointment about the love letters, I went up to the second floor and opened the letter addressed to Miss Hanna first. The handwriting was neat. As expected of a successful noble, even their handwriting exuded nobility.

Of course, it wasn’t as refined as our Young Lady’s.

It was certainly better than mine.

[It seems the Academy matter is going to be difficult. While the seniors might be able to manage something, the professors are strongly opposed…]

Hanna’s letter ended with an apology and a promise to try speaking with them once more.

‘I’m already grateful enough, but how much more thankful does she want me to be?’

I decided to secretly gift Hanna a fortuitous encounter later. A sword should suffice… Should I swipe one from Mikhail?

After all, in the novel, Mikhail uses a Holy Sword. Swiping one or two swords shouldn’t cause any problems. If it does, Mikhail can just suffer a bit more—it’s not my problem to worry about.

Besides, it’ll make Mikhail stronger, so it’s a win-win.

After writing a letter full of gratitude to Hanna, I sealed it with wax.

“Terrible handwriting.”

“What’s wrong with my handwriting?”

“It’s so squiggly it’s hard to read.”

“You can’t even see it from where you’re sitting.”

“I can’t see it, but I can clearly tell your handwriting is a mess.”

The Young Lady, who had been spying on me from the bed, nagged after glancing at the handwriting on the letter paper.

If the Young Lady had terrible handwriting, I would’ve retorted with a ‘Ha! Look who’s talking.’ But when it comes to handwriting, the Young Lady is practically the strongest in the world.

She didn’t need a computer.

When the Young Lady held a pen, it became a keyboard.

And letter paper turned into A4 sheets. No matter what she said, I couldn’t argue back.

I wanted to ask the Young Lady to ghostwrite for me, but due to privacy concerns, I couldn’t.

I had put in a fair amount of effort, so was it really illegible to the point of being called terrible?

I asked the Young Lady with curiosity, and she frowned, saying she had never seen handwriting that made her feel nauseous before yelling at me.

“This isn’t my fault. It’s the handwriting style of this world that’s wrong. It’s all wavy and strange…”

“I write just fine.”

“You’re the strange one. My hand isn’t at fault.”

Today was one of those days when I particularly missed Hangul. I longed for its angular, clean lines.

Dismissing the Young Lady’s nagging, I organized the letter and began opening the other one I had set aside.

A Golden Letter Envelope

with the Imperial Red Seal stamped on it.

Olivia’s eyes widened.

“A letter from the Imperial Family?”

“It seems so… but there’s no reason for them to send one to us.”

“Isn’t it a ball invitation?”

The Young Lady snorted.

Like a beastkin wagging its tail, the Young Lady’s eyes sparkled as she extended her hand toward me.

“Let me see!”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“If it’s something upsetting, you’ll tear it up, won’t you?”

The Young Lady didn’t reply.

It seemed she had indeed planned to rip it up if the content displeased her. Retracting her outstretched hand politely, she waited for her turn.

I could see why the Young Lady might think that.

Just a year ago, ball invitations from the Imperial Family had arrived frequently. During the Empire’s founding festival, the Crown Prince’s birthday, and even the Third Princess’s birthday, it wasn’t uncommon to find invitations from the Imperial Family in our mailbox.

Although they’ve stopped coming now, the memories linger, and I couldn’t deny I was a bit nervous, too.

What if it really is an invitation?

I mulled over it in my mind.

Starting with concerns about whether to attend, to what outfit to prepare, and even planning what food to smuggle from the Imperial buffet.

We didn’t have the power to refuse an invitation from the Emperor. If we had to go, the Young Lady’s teaching of making the most out of it echoed in my heart.

As I mentally drank a bowl of kimchi soup, the Young Lady, equally excited about the possibility of attending a ball, snorted.

We locked eyes, and together, we slowly peeled away the wax seal.

The letter paper revealed itself in all its brilliance.

The Young Lady and I swallowed hard, waiting for its content.

Unfolding the letter paper, I read its content first and pressed my lips together.

“?”

“What is it?”

“…”

“You should see for yourself.”

I handed the letter to the Young Lady, silently questioning what on earth this was.

[There is an overdue fine.]

Overdue Fine: 700,000 Gold

If not paid within the designated period (three months), all properties under the name of Desmond Olivia will be seized.

Seizable Properties: Mansion near Hamel Mountain Range and 73 Types of Valuables.

“?!”

The Young Lady turned to the window in response. Clearing her throat, her earlobes reddened, and she refused to turn her head back.

Not a ball invitation, but a collection notice.

And not just any collection notice, but a seizure notice with a red sticker. A chilling air filled the room. It was clearly early autumn, but the atmosphere was colder than a winter’s icy wind.

“Oh… I didn’t see this coming.”

“…Me neither.”

“I did pay 300,000 Gold, but I didn’t think there’d still be this much left…”

“…How much is left?”

“700,000 Gold.”

“Hiccup…!”

The Young Lady hiccupped.

She quietly pushed the plate of chocolate on the bed away. It seemed she was preparing to start fasting.

I didn’t hesitate to move the Young Lady’s chocolate aside.

If we didn’t want to live under newspaper covers, we really had to save.

700,000 Gold.

With 10,000 Gold equaling about 10 million won, 700,000 Gold would be around 7 billion won.

‘…I’m in trouble.’

How could we possibly gather 7 billion won in three months?

Since we were credit delinquents, we couldn’t even take out a loan.

Hoping for an answer, I looked at the Young Lady, but she was staring at the window like a broken nutcracker doll.

“Wow, what nice weather!”

It was raining outside.

***

When you think about it, it’s a simple matter.

Earning 700,000 Gold is no big deal.

Sure, I’ve always struggled with money, but as a possessor, it doesn’t make sense to suffer over something as trivial as money.

Since I’ve managed to earn a fortune of 300,000 Gold before, earning 700,000 Gold should be just as easy.

With an unyielding heart, I stood before the wall of the mansion. As always, the warning sign was written in large, bold letters.

[Banish the Evil Villainess from the village.]

The warm-hearted message from the villagers, who previously suggested banishing me to the nunnery but now want me expelled from the village, left a corner of my heart burning.

“I guess I’ll have to overthrow the Guards soon.”

Thanks to the people who unleash their Artistic Soul on other people’s walls, I had given up on the exterior of the mansion.

Even if I erase it, they just graffiti over it again.

Thanks to that, my workload decreased, but so did my reputation.

A double-edged sword.

Giving up makes the heart feel lighter.

So, I decided to take this opportunity to actively utilize the mansion’s wall myself.

With a brush in hand, I began painting the wall with fluorescent paint. At that moment, One Teddy Bear flew at me from above.

Splatter. As I locked eyes with the Teddy Bear that met its end with a thud, the angry shout of the Master of the House came from above.

“Hey, you bastard!! Stop graffitiing!!”

I gave the Young Lady a small smile and put on earplugs.

If you’ve got complaints, maybe don’t become a debtor.

-Scribble…. Scribble.

It’s practically impossible to earn 700,000 Gold in three months solely as an Adventurer.

Especially when taking care of the Young Lady while earning money is already a challenge in itself.

Most Adventurers take high-paying requests that last one or two days, but that’s not an option for me.

I had to rely on quantity over quality.

Even Hanna, a B-Rank Adventurer, was away at the Academy, making it impossible to take on higher-grade requests.

So, the alternative I came up with was this.

[A prosecutor who captured the notorious “Adventurer Hunter” seeks work. ★Guaranteed anonymity★]

1. I’ll do any job.

2. I’ll accept any amount of money.

3. I’ll even find your lost puppy.

4. I also accept requests for wanted fugitives.

-Please write the details of your request below.

If there’s no high-paying work available, then I’ll just create high-paying work.

It was the best job opportunity I could think of.

Because I thought this was the only way to get emergency funds.

Our Mansion is located behind the Marketplace.

The Guards pass by our mansion, and so do the village merchants along its wall.

While it takes 30 minutes to reach the Marketplace through the main route, it only takes 10 minutes if you cut through the alleyways near the mansion.

So, many people passed by the mansion.

Perhaps because of this, couples used it as a dating spot, and unintentionally, the mansion’s wall became a community hub for the villagers.

-Let’s love each other forever. Ria♥Goff

└This woman cheated on me.

└What are you talking about? You cheated first.

└Lol. So satisfying~!

└Where do you live?

└Triggered, huh? Mad, huh? So mad you can’t hold it in, huh? But you don’t know where I live, do you?

In a medieval world without cell phones, Olivia’s Wall had become a place of communication.

It served as a kind of bulletin board.

Wouldn’t this be a decent way to make some money? Especially with my excellent credentials.

So, I decided to use the wall to find work. Covering living expenses with Adventurer tasks and taking on larger requests through the wall.

If I kept this up, I might be able to pay off the debt in no time.

While looking at the wall with a sense of pride, I noticed something was missing.

“Ah….”

Come to think of it, I forgot to write the minimum request fee.

Even deliveries have a minimum order amount; there’s no reason I should skip it.

[Minimum Request Fee.]

Hmmm…

[10,000 Gold.]

Perfect.

***

A day passed.

Standing in front of the wall.

“What is this?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Because someone had taken this half-joking endeavor seriously.

-Submitting a request.

●Request to track a Criminal who escaped during transport.

Request Fee: 300,000 Gold

#An additional 300,000 Gold will be paid for capture alive. If completed within a week, an extra 400,000 Gold will be paid.

For a moment, the image of a Donation Angel resembling an insect flashed through my mind.