The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 36

Another sunny morning.

As always, I put on my crisply ironed butler suit and black shoes, striding energetically toward the Young Lady’s room on the second floor.

The time was now 10 a.m.

Normally, the Young Lady would be having breakfast at this hour, but because I overslept, I failed to align with her belly clock.

I thought to myself.

“Overslept again. Am I going to get scolded by the Young Lady?”

Ever since I realized my right hand could no longer hold a sword, I had been desperately devoting myself to swordsmanship to find an alternative, which naturally led to more frequent oversleeping.

Fortunately, the Young Lady wasn’t fond of mornings, so oversleeping by an hour wasn’t a huge problem. Still, guilt over neglecting my duties as a butler made me button my shirt quickly and dash down the corridor.

At that moment, I encountered the maid carrying a laundry basket in the corridor.

“You seem busy, Butler.”

The estate’s sole maid greeted me with a gentle smile. A professional smile directed at the person who, in practice, was her employer.

I found satisfaction in the professionalism of the maid’s demeanor.

I bowed my head in greeting.

“Good morning.”

“Yes, good morning. Oh, by the way, did the Young Lady say anything yesterday?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Ah… surprise…”

The maid trailed off.

She glanced at me as if she had something to say, but then muttered, “Never mind,” leaving me feeling uneasy so early in the morning.

Unable to tolerate my curiosity, I asked the maid.

“Hoho. It’s nothing. I was just saying the weather is nice.”

All I got in return was the maid’s eye smile. She implied I didn’t need to know and that I’d find out later, but it felt like something was being plotted behind my back, which made me uneasy.

Would it hurt to clue me in if it’s something good?

Even bad news hurts less when you know it’s coming.

“Don’t keep it to yourself. Let me in on it too.”

Despite my persistent questioning, the maid just smiled kindly, carrying her laundry basket as she left. She maintained her ambiguous smile, chuckling softly as she headed to the laundry room, leaving my curiosity gnawing at me like any typical Korean who can’t stand not knowing.

It felt like I had forgotten something important as I left the entrance.

While I was glaring at the maid with a hint of resentment for presenting me with a riddle so early in the morning—

-Aaaah!!! Air raid alarm!

The Young Lady had woken up.

***

The Young Lady rubbed her eyes as she looked at me.

From bottom to top.

From top to bottom.

She scanned me and then nodded.

“I thought you were jerky.”

“In what way, exactly?”

“Your red hair.”

“Do you want to eat it?”

“Yes.”

Deciding on jerky as today’s snack, I handed the Young Lady the honey water I had prepared, hoping she would wake up quickly.

Gulp. After finishing the honey water, the Young Lady looked at me again. With sleepy eyes, she stared at me intently, as if inspecting my face for something.

“Hmm…”

What is it?

“Hmmm.”

Resting her chin on her hand, the Young Lady observed me closely.

Perhaps noticing that I hadn’t washed my face before coming to work, the Young Lady couldn’t seem to take her eyes off my unusually handsome face.

“Is this your first time seeing a good-looking person?”

“Ugh.”

The Young Lady grimaced in disgust.

What’s wrong with my face?

Since no one cared about my wounded pride, I flicked the Young Lady’s forehead to vent my frustration.

“Ouch… Why did you hit me?!”

“Consider it an employee benefit.”

“Eeeek!!”

After a pillow flew through the air and the battle ended, the Young Lady, her hair now a mess, patted the spot next to her on the bed.

“Ricardo. Come sit here.”

The Young Lady, still lying on her unmade bed, asked me to sit beside her. Having just hit her square in the face with a pillow during our fight, I approached her without a word.

The Young Lady gazed softly at my face.

“Something’s off.”

“What is?”

The Young Lady began fiddling with my face.

She stretched it sideways, then up and down. Just as I often teased her by playing with her face, she treated mine like clay.

Perhaps because her vision was still blurry from sleep, the Young Lady pressed my cheeks like a fish with both hands, bringing her face closer to mine.

It was close.

Too close.

“What are you doing?”

The Young Lady spoke to me.

“Ricardo.”

Her expression carried a hint of concern.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I responded with a blank expression.

“I’m not unwell. I’m so healthy it’s a problem. Didn’t you see me throwing that pillow earlier?”

Suddenly asking if I’m sick—

Why would she say that?

Thinking it might be because I overslept, I flexed my left arm, showing off my bulging biceps.

“Doesn’t this look fierce?”

The Young Lady didn’t even pretend to listen.

With concern still in her eyes, she spoke again.

“Your eyes look really tired. Like you’d collapse if someone nudged you.”

“My eyes?”

I turned my head to look at the dressing table beside the bed.

“Oh…”

Looking into the mirror, I saw my face, faint dark circles giving it a decadent charm. It seemed to be the aftermath of overexerting myself with swordsmanship practice yesterday.

I did look a bit like someone who wasn’t well, but not to the extent that the Young Lady needed to worry. It was as if she’d seen something strange at night and felt compelled to ask.

It seemed like the Young Lady’s concern had grown ever since the bathhouse incident.

Shaking my head lightly to reassure her, I said,

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I just didn’t wash my face today.”

The Young Lady backed away.

“Ugh… Gross.”

“Cleaner than your pockets, Young Lady.”

“My pockets are clean.”

The Young Lady, oddly defensive about her pockets, grabbed a wet towel and wiped her face roughly before inching back toward me. Her small, strained movements tugged at my heart, making her seem both pitiful and endearing.

The Young Lady took my hand.

A soft sensation enveloped the back of my hand.

“Ricardo. Don’t get sick.”

“I’m healthy.”

“Still. Don’t get sick.”

The Young Lady met my gaze.

Like an orphanage teacher offering kind advice, saying, “Please, play nicely without punching your friends in the face,” the Young Lady firmly held my hand and gave me a heartfelt request.

“No matter what happens, you must not get sick. I hate it when you’re unwell.”

She asked me once more.

“Understood?”

I nodded.

***

After finishing a late breakfast, just as the Young Lady’s belly clock started ringing again.

She spoke to me while I was brushing my teeth.

“Rihardo. (Ricardo)”

“Let me know when you’re done brushing.”

“No.”

The Young Lady, speaking through white foam, made me want to flick her forehead. But seeing her unusually obedient behavior today, I decided to hold back.

She got out of bed without dozing off again.

She didn’t eat chocolate before brushing her teeth.

She even worried about me not getting sick.

The Young Lady’s commendable behavior today was so extraordinary that it made me want to open the hidden snack storage for her.

I listened closely to what she had to say.

“Hey, do you know what day it is today?”

“Today?”

I pondered deeply.

It wasn’t the Young Lady’s birthday, which is in winter.

It wasn’t the Head of the Household’s or the Deputy Head of the Household’s birthday either.

Then…

“The Young Lady’s Day of Magic?”

“Shut up!”

It had been a while since the Young Lady cursed.

I asked the fuming Young Lady.

“Then, what day is it today?”

“You don’t know?”

“No, I don’t.”

“You really don’t know?”

The Young Lady smirked mischievously.

She seemed to know something significant.

For someone like me, who even remembers her first birthday celebration, this side of her, commemorating something, felt quite unfamiliar. The Young Lady, acting as if she knew something while teasing me…

It was somewhat terrifying.

The Young Lady said to me.

“You really don’t know?”

“No…”

“Really. Really. You don’t know?”

“So, could you just tell me…”

The Young Lady lay on the bed, laughing gleefully. Like a villainess plotting something amusing, pounding the bed with her fists… Ah, she really is a villainess.

Anyway, with a happy smile like a villainess, she looked at me, her bright, shining eyes fixed on me, making my ears grow hot.

I said to the Young Lady.

“Young Lady. On your chest.”

“On my chest, what?”

“The… the…”

The white foam splattered on her chest, which had swelled ominously, made me think improper thoughts.

The Young Lady casually wiped it off with her hand and put it into her mouth.

“What are you doing? That’s filthy!”

“It’s fine. It came from my mouth, so it’s clean.”

The Young Lady puffed out her chest proudly with a satisfied expression. Honestly.

It was quite a sight, and it lifted my mood.

***

Late in the evening.

After finishing my swordsmanship practice in the yard, I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

“This should be enough.”

The ground was littered with countless sword marks.

From ones as small as a pinky finger.

To ones large enough for a person to fit inside.

Having grown accustomed to wielding the sword with my left hand, I let out a deep sigh I had been holding back.

‘This should be enough to not hinder the next story.’

Even if not at Ballack’s level, I should be able to handle Pascal or Mikhail with ease.

Perhaps, compared to the precise strikes of my right hand, the powerful single blow of my left hand might actually be better.

I looked down at my right arm with a sense of regret.

My right arm trembled slightly.

It didn’t seem willing to move easily.

Until my Dark Magic Resistance improved, it seemed unlikely my right arm would regain its function. Well, since it’s come to this, I might as well work on compensating for my weaknesses.

If I forced my right hand like I did during the Ballack incident, the aftereffects might spread even to my still-functional left hand.

I hoped there wouldn’t be any major events in the meantime, but with Mikhail’s Awakening Event just around the corner, I couldn’t afford to sit idle.

Mikhail is an exceptionally capable guy, so he’ll manage on his own, but there’s always the possibility of an unexpected situation. It’s better to be thoroughly prepared.

What’s the point of worrying now?

I dusted myself off and stood up.

***

Before returning to the Young Lady.

I stopped by the room at the far end of the second floor and unbuttoned my sweat-soaked shirt.

The shirt, damp with sweat and clinging stickily to my body, was difficult to take off, but the thought that I had given my best effort today brought me satisfaction.

As I removed the wet shirt, the white bandages wrapped around my arm reflected in the mirror.

Starting from the sleeve of my right arm and extending to my chest, the bandages were visible.

I chuckled at the sight of myself looking like a mummy.

It reminded me of a character from a game I often played in my previous life.

A character who cried rivers of tears while searching for a friend. Was it Amumu? Anyway, strangely enough, it reminded me of our Young Lady.

If I told the Young Lady she resembled such a character, she’d probably deny it and throw a fork at me.

The image of the Young Lady’s despondent face after losing her chocolate overlapped with the game character’s expression, and a small laugh escaped me.

I’ll save that for later.

It’s a childish joke, but when it comes to teasing the Young Lady, I can’t help myself.

Am I aging backward?

“Crazy bastard.”

After catching my breath, I slowly unwrapped the bandages.

Starting from the sleeve of my right arm, I unraveled the sweat-soaked bandages all the way to my left chest.

Scars began to emerge slowly.

Starting with the grotesquely warped burn scars on my back and chest, the torn flesh scars gradually came into view.

If the Young Lady saw this, she’d probably run away in disgust.

Especially the wound on my right arm, where the black necrosis was progressing, oozing pus and making me grimace.

“Tsk… It seems a lot better than yesterday, though…”

It didn’t hurt.

Occasionally, when the necrosis progressed, I’d feel a sharp sting, but that was all.

No, perhaps it’s more accurate to say I’ve gotten used to it.

After a year of repeated regeneration and necrosis, the pain I endured had become something I was accustomed to.

“It’s really disgusting.”

I looked into the mirror and had various thoughts.

From worrying about what to do if the Young Lady ran away after seeing this scar, to how I could hide it in the future.

And what if it spread across my entire body?

“It feels hopeless.”

What weighed on my mind the most was the thought of what would happen if the Young Lady discovered this scar.

If she did find out, what should I say? At the moment, I couldn’t think of an appropriate answer.

Should I just laugh it off?

Or should I admit it cleanly?

Perhaps, at that moment, I would say something—anything—that wouldn’t hurt the Young Lady. She scares easily, after all.

By the time I reached out to the wardrobe handle to take out a new shirt,

I slowly began to remember what day it was today.

September, the autumn season when the leaves ripen.

Around this time, the Young Lady always said something to me.

-Happy birthday.

Last year, my birthday had passed unnoticed because the Young Lady had collapsed.

I let out an empty laugh.

“Ah, so today is my birthday.”

A foolish smile crept onto my face.

Not realizing it myself, I had even mistaken it for the Day of Magic and jumped to conclusions with the Young Lady.

Only now did I understand why the Young Lady and the Honorable Maid had been acting awkward since morning.

They could’ve just told me earlier.

Once again, I was the only one who didn’t know.

I should hurry and go complain to the Young Lady, asking why she was the only one who knew.

Knowing her personality, once today passed and the clock struck midnight, she’d definitely tease me, calling me a “Fool.”

I energetically opened the wardrobe door to change into a shirt.

-Eeeek.

The wardrobe opened smoothly without any resistance.

“Is it broken?”

Normally, there should’ve been a feeling of it catching on the hinges, but the wardrobe door opened so easily, as if even a small breeze could move it.

I thought it was broken.

After all, no one but the Honorable Maid would enter my room.

Thinking nothing of it, I reached into the wardrobe to grab a shirt.

“Huh?”

The inside of the wardrobe, where the shirts should’ve been, was completely empty.

-Hiccup…

Someone who shouldn’t have been there was staring at me with wide-open eyes.

“Ah… Young Lady?”

Wearing a pointed hat on her head,

hugging a chocolate cake and a gift wrapped in colorful paper tightly in her arms,

“Ah…”

The Young Lady, with a devastated expression, said this:

“Ah… If it hurts…”

Repeating the same foolish words.

“If it hurts… that’s not okay…”

Seeing the teary-eyed Young Lady, I blurted out a clumsy lie.

Hoping she would believe it.

“Ah, this… it’s because I fell.”

“Don’t lie!!!”

This time, it seemed my lie wouldn’t fool the Young Lady.