The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 37

The Young Lady was crying.

From her large tearful eyes, thick tears fell onto the wardrobe floor like late summer rain.

“It’s not true. I didn’t fall…!”

Shut inside a small wardrobe, the Young Lady cried pitifully like a drenched mouse. I wanted to say something, anything, but my lips wouldn’t move.

Because if I spoke now, I might end up telling another lie like before.

The Young Lady spoke to me, who stood there awkwardly.

“How does this look like a wound from falling…!”

As she questioned me accusingly, her chicken-droplet tears continued to fall without stopping.

She wiped her flowing tears with her sleeve, but as they kept streaming down uncontrollably, the Young Lady irritably rubbed her eyes. Even with runny nose and tears staining her hands, she didn’t care. She poured her grudge onto me with a pitiful expression, showing no sign of stopping her tears.

The Young Lady spoke to me once more.

“I’m not a fool. There’s no way I’d believe this….”

I knew it too.

That there was no way the Young Lady would believe such a lie. It was an excuse I blurted out reflexively in my panic, and even I wouldn’t have believed it.

But what was clear was—

That the Young Lady had discovered the scar I had hidden for the past year, and my lie had failed to deceive her.

“You said it was a tattoo… that it looked like tree bark…!”

“If you look closely here, it does resemble a tattoo.”

“How does that look like a tattoo! How could anyone think that’s a tattoo!”

There was a scar in the very spot where I had claimed it was a tattoo. Who would believe it was from falling?

Seeing the Young Lady crying while wearing a sparkling pointed hat, I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head.

I couldn’t think of an excuse.

I hadn’t expected to be caught like this.

Because I didn’t want to be caught.

If I had just one more month, when my dark magic resistance had increased and the scar on my right hand had faded a little more, she might have been less shocked than she was now.

It was a meaningless complaint, but a part of me wished I had been caught just a little later.

The Young Lady reached out toward my scar-covered right hand.

Her trembling hand, like an aspen tree swaying in the wind.

She had even thrown her beloved chocolate cake onto the floor to reach out.

“Stop lying… How could this be from falling…”

I carefully avoided the Young Lady’s approaching hand. As her hand faltered in the air, our eyes met.

“Why… are you avoiding me?”

The Young Lady asked in a trembling voice. Her voice carried worry, wondering if she had made a mistake or hurt me. I awkwardly hid my hand behind my back and shook my head.

“It’s not that.”

“Then why are you avoiding me…?”

“Because I just worked out and haven’t washed my hands. Haha…”

Sniff. The Young Lady’s tearful eyes trembled greatly.

“Do you… hate me?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Because I don’t want to show you.

My hands were dirty from training on the dusty ground for half a day, and if the Young Lady saw this scar and remembered that day’s incident, I wouldn’t know what to say to her.

So I brushed it off with a clumsy laugh.

“Why are you laughing…!”

The Young Lady shouted, her voice filled with resentment.

Every time she got angry, the pom-pom at the tip of her pointed hat shook. It wasn’t intimidating, but her trembling fists showed how upset she was.

The Young Lady said.

“You said it was a tattoo.”

“…”

“You said it was a tattoo…”

The Young Lady trailed off.

“You said it was a tattoo, so why… why are you lying?”

I spoke to the Young Lady in a calm tone.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“That’s a lie.”

The Young Lady huffed and puffed.

She didn’t seem inclined to believe me.

Frustrated, the Young Lady clenched her fists tightly. It was amusing to see someone telling me not to be hurt while clenching their fists.

As the atmosphere turned playful, the Young Lady, determined not to let it slide, bit her lip and spoke firmly.

“Give it to me.”

“I can’t.”

“Give me your hand.”

Her eyes said she wouldn’t give up no matter what, but this time, I couldn’t play along with her.

The Young Lady furrowed her brows.

She puffed out her cheeks like a child throwing a tantrum for a toy at a department store, glaring at me. But her tear-streaked eyes made her look anything but angry.

“It’s really nothing.”

I could hear the sound of her grinding her teeth.

“I told you not to lie.”

“I’m not lying. I’m just telling the truth.”

Squeeze.

The Young Lady’s hand gripping the dress hem turned pale.

“Ricardo. If you keep this up, I really won’t be able to handle it. I mean it… I don’t think I can handle it.”

The Young Lady shook her head.

Like a child begging for a toy at a department store, she pleaded with me not to lie.

And yet, I couldn’t grant her request.

“Please… please…”

Frustrated, the Young Lady pounded her chest with her fist. Not because she was angry at me for lying, but because she was angry at herself for making me lie.

Olivia didn’t want to hear kind words. She didn’t want reassurances like “It’s not your fault” or “It has nothing to do with you.” She wanted the painful truth, no matter how much it hurt.

And yet, she hated Ricardo for constantly avoiding her hand.

I avoided the Young Lady’s hand that sought the truth and hid my right hand behind my back.

And with a faint smile, I said.

“It’s really nothing.”

As I picked up the shirt that had fallen to the floor, I thought of what to say next. Something the Young Lady might believe a little more….

Ah.

‘No matter how much I think, there’s nothing.’

I had started off on the wrong foot.

Instead of saying I fell, if I had started with something dramatic like “Oh no, I’m doomed,” maybe we could’ve talked in a slightly lighter mood.

The Young Lady clenched her fists tightly and said.

“Liar.”

I responded to the Young Lady.

“I have a condition where my nose grows longer if I lie.”

“There’s no such condition.”

“There is, though.”

“Don’t joke around. If that were true, your nose would already be this long.”

The Young Lady stretched out her arms wide as she spoke.

This long.

How many lies had I been caught in for her to say that? As a self-proclaimed professional liar, my pride was hurt, so I asked her in defiance.

“It’s not that bad. Do you know how innocent I am?”

“That’s a lie too. You lied about the tattoo, and last time, you said you’d buy me a mountain of chocolate, but you didn’t.”

“I never made such a promise.”

Pause. The Young Lady hesitated, but soon, recalling my past offenses, she continued her rebuttal.

“Last time, Mikhail sent a letter asking how you were doing.”

“…”

“That’s something you wrote.”

“You caught me? I thought I perfectly copied his handwriting.”

“Mikhail’s handwriting doesn’t squirm around like a worm!”

“As long as it’s legible, isn’t that enough?!”

“It wasn’t legible. Ricardo had to interpret it for me to barely read it!”

The Young Lady, overwhelmed with resentment, clenched her fists tightly. Tears streaming down her cheeks soaked the wardrobe floor, and her sorrowful eyes trembled greatly every time they glanced at her right hand hidden behind her back.

I realized I had no talent for lying.

“So, Ricardo. Why did you do it?”

At the Young Lady’s worried question, I replied with a bright smile.

“Someone hit me.”

Thud. I could hear the sound of the Young Lady’s heart dropping. Her face instantly turned pale, and her hands trembled uncontrollably.

The Young Lady stuttered.

“W-Who hit you?”

“Hmm…”

I propped my chin on my hand and pondered.

Watching the Young Lady clench and unclench her fists was endearing, and as the atmosphere lightened a bit, my tense heart gradually eased.

“Who knows? If I told you who it was, would you scold them for me?”

The Young Lady awkwardly nodded.

With a determined fist, she vowed to punish them no matter what.

Seeing her like that, I chuckled softly.

“It was you, Young Lady.”

“Huh…?”

“You’re the one who hit me.”

“…”

The atmosphere instantly turned cold, and I panicked. I had said it as a joke, but the Young Lady, now dejected, lowered her head deeply, unclenching her tightly held fists and looking crestfallen.

“Do you really believe that?”

“But it’s true.”

“It’s a lie, though.”

The Young Lady looked at me.

“Your nose didn’t grow longer.”

“That’s not a real condition.”

“Ricardo said it was.”

“…”

I bent down to match the Young Lady’s eye level.

“Young Lady, if you live so naively, you’ll lose everything—your liver and gallbladder included.”

“Liver? Gallbladder?”

“They’re essential parts of your body.”

The Young Lady sniffled and looked at my face.

Her eyes were so swollen that if she opened them tomorrow morning, it would sound like an air raid alarm shouting, ‘Cheong-a… Cheong-a, Sim Cheong-a.’ If she cried any more, she might really turn into Shim Bong-Sa, so I grabbed her cheeks and stretched them as I spoke.

“Even if it was you, Young Lady, what can we do about it? It’s just unfortunate, isn’t it?”

“But still…”

“You probably got scolded because you did something to deserve it.”

The Young Lady bit her lip tightly.

Like someone who had secretly stolen snacks, she couldn’t meet my eyes and sniffled, holding back her tears.

I pressed her cheeks like a goldfish.

“Mmph! (What are you doing!)”

“This is unattractive.”

The Young Lady clenched her fists tightly.

Finally, seeing her act like herself again, I felt relieved.

“You know, Young Lady.”

I spoke in a low, calm voice.

“I’m quite the exaggerator when it comes to pain. Extremely so.”

“When I was young, I once tried to catch fish with my bare hands in a valley, but I tripped on some pebbles and scraped my knee. Do you know what I did then?”

“What did you do?”

“I cried my eyes out. All night long.”

“Remember when I was swinging a wooden sword and got a thorn stuck in me? I whined to you all day long, didn’t I?”

The Young Lady sniffled and nodded.

“See? I can endure anything except pain. Even the smallest wound makes me whine, so do you think I wouldn’t tell you if I were hurt?”

I gave her a reassuring smile, meeting her tearful eyes.

“If I’m ever hurt, I’ll tell you.”

The Young Lady nodded.

“Alright.”

And she added one more thing.

“But, this doesn’t feel right.”

The Young Lady lowered her head deeply.

“This isn’t right.”

Like a sinner, she shook her head and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

I handed her a handkerchief from my pocket.

“Why are you crying again, Young Lady?”

“Sniff… Sniff… It’s not right… This isn’t right…”

Saying it wasn’t right, the Young Lady burst into tears.

The Young Lady spoke.

“You’re not supposed to be hurt…”

With unfocused eyes, she stared into empty space.

“You’re really not supposed to be hurt…”

The Young Lady’s hand was touching the scars on my body.