The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 40

The black spots that had covered my skin began to transfer to Ricardo’s hand.

Arms and back.

Legs and shoulders.

Even to the chest and abdomen.

As the black spots slowly spread across Ricardo’s body, the ones remaining on mine gradually faded.

‘…Is this it?’

Watching that scene, I murmured as if entranced.

‘Is this the secret you’ve been hiding…?’

My breathing grew ragged.

Because what I had feared was happening right before my eyes. Dark thoughts wouldn’t stop flooding my mind.

My hands trembled.

No nightmare could be scarier than this moment. Not even the nightmare where I had died before. I thought nothing could be more terrifying than this.

‘Ricardo… What are you doing?’

Ricardo held me tightly in his arms and began absorbing the rampaging mana. His shoulders quivered as he clenched his teeth, taking in the corrupted mana.

Dark magic is a convenient form of magic that produces powerful effects with just one medium.

Supernatural abilities.

Things that cannot be done with ordinary magic.

And even powerful means of attack.

Unlike magic that requires formulas, calculations, and mana, dark magic only needs a medium to produce its effects.

That is the very purpose of dark magic’s existence.

With powerful mana or offerings, dark magic can unleash overwhelming effects.

Back then, I had used my mana as collateral to activate dark magic.

If not for my twisted personality, I could have been selected as the next head of the Desmond family, given my vast mana. But I used that immense mana as a medium for dark magic, all for the sake of winning someone’s heart.

If such vast mana were to be corrupted and rampage due to dark magic, it would create a pain akin to a bomb exploding inside the body.

Bang. It would heat up the body from within.

Pop. Burns would start from the inside, accompanied by excruciating burning pain. And the necrotized skin would leave irreparable scars.

In the end, it would lead to death.

If one isn’t a fool, they can’t fail to understand what Ricardo is doing. No, they shouldn’t fail to understand.

Like the Eastern cupping therapy for stagnant blood, Ricardo was absorbing all the aftereffects of the dark magic.

In disbelief at the situation, I looked at Ricardo and spoke.

‘What are you doing…?’

I grabbed Ricardo’s shoulders, wanting him to stop, but the blue window blocked my hand.

[This is the observer’s perspective. You cannot interfere with the subject.]

I couldn’t touch him.

‘Don’t stop me….’

I whined at the oblivious blue window, but as always, it only repeated that interference was not allowed.

Biting my lip, I spoke.

‘I said don’t stop me….’

I couldn’t stop that fool from what he was doing.

All I could do was watch from the side.

Even as Ricardo shed tears and endured the pain, even as my heart pounded like it would burst, all I could do was watch.

It felt like my torn heart was festering. Seeing Ricardo’s wounds made it seem as though a massive wound had opened in my own heart.

I shouted at Ricardo.

‘What are you doing?!’

I knew my voice couldn’t reach Ricardo, but if I didn’t at least do this, I felt like I would go mad.

My voice trembled.

My legs gave out.

My breath quivered.

The sight of Ricardo’s arm turning black and his complexion growing pale filled me with dread.

The past version of me, held in his arms, buried her face into Ricardo’s shoulder.

-Mikhail.

-…

-Mikhail… My body feels so hot.

-I’m sorry. It’s just… I ran here in such a hurry…

‘What am I even saying….’

I hadn’t done anything for him.

Why would he find someone like me, who only knew how to get angry, endearing? If it were me… If I were him, I wouldn’t have done this.

If Ricardo had used dark magic like I did and collapsed on the ground… Could I have done what he’s doing? No, I couldn’t.

Tears flowed endlessly.

‘So please… I beg you…!’

Stop.

I wanted to believe it was just the residue of dark magic.

I hoped that, like chocolate smeared on a hand, the direct cause wasn’t me. That even if I was at fault, it was only a small nuisance, like a crumb.

If it had stopped at just that, maybe I could lift my head a little.

But.

This is real.

-Hah… Hah…

There’s no way to escape.

My legs gave out.

In front of Ricardo, who was gasping for breath, I buried my face in my knees and sobbed.

I couldn’t watch.

I didn’t want to see.

Knowing how much pain Ricardo must be in, seeing him dying—I couldn’t bear it. Even for a moment, I had experienced that pain, and it had left my body in this state.

I couldn’t watch.

The agony of flesh burning away.

The excruciating burning pain, the destruction of the magic circuit, and the sensation of the entire body being torn apart—these were happening to Ricardo without pause. I knew it all too well.

‘Stop it, you fool…!’

Crouching down, I shook my head desperately.

‘Huhuhu… Huaaah…’

Ricardo gritted his teeth and endured the pain. Stroking the head of his past self, who had buried her face in his shoulder, he spoke in a trembling voice without stopping.

-Does it hurt a lot?

-Yes. It hurts a lot. But right now, it doesn’t hurt as much.

-That’s a relief. Truly.

I clenched my fist tightly.

Wiping away the endlessly flowing tears and runny nose with my sleeve, I gritted my teeth and lifted my head.

I had to see.

I had to remember this with my own eyes so I could apologize when I returned. My heart felt like it would burst, and the flowing tears blurred my vision, but at this moment, I had to face the truth.

Only then could I beg for forgiveness and find out where he was hurt.

Ricardo wouldn’t show me.

Even if I cried and begged, he would smile foolishly and hide his wounds.

Grinding my teeth, I moved my crouched legs.

I had to see up close.

Only then could I understand.

When I reached Ricardo again, I took a deep breath. I resolved to capture everything in my eyes without missing a single detail.

Determined to return and beg Ricardo for forgiveness, I sniffled and drew in my runny nose.

‘I can do this.’

I had seen myself utterly broken.

I had seen Ricardo’s pain. I vowed that nothing would surprise me anymore.

But. At the sight that followed, my body moved reflexively as if my mind had gone blank.

-Cough.

“Huh…?”

Blood flowed.

From Ricardo’s mouth.

Fresh blood, bursting out like a dam breaking with a small cough, trickled down Ricardo’s chin.

Ricardo’s eyes widened.

As if he hadn’t expected this to happen, he kept coughing, his shoulders trembling.

-Cough… cough…

I couldn’t keep my composure.

-Ah… this is bad.

Ricardo covered his mouth with his hand. His hand trembled as he coughed, clearly in pain.

-Cough… cough… ugh… ah. Hah… hah…

“Mikhail, does it hurt?”

“No… cough… no, it’s nothing.”

When my past self, cradled in his arms, tried to turn my head, Ricardo pressed the back of my head with his right hand, burying my face into his shoulder. He held the back of my head with one hand to stop me from looking back, while covering his mouth with the other.

Watching that scene, the present me desperately grabbed Ricardo’s arm, the one pressing the back of my head.

Even if my hand was flung away.

Even if it passed through his body like a ghost.

Like a madwoman, I struggled to pry Ricardo’s arm away.

“Let go…!”

[This is the Observer’s Perspective. You cannot interfere with the subject.]

“I said let go!”

[This is the Observer’s Perspective. You cannot interfere with the subject.]

“You crazy bastard, let go… let go… let go… please…!”

[This is the Observer’s Perspective. You cannot interfere with the subject.]

“Let go… please…!”

As time passed, Ricardo’s complexion grew paler.

His entire body trembled like an aspen tree.

His eyes lost focus.

If only he would let go of that hand.

If he would let go of the crazy woman clinging to him and calling Mikhail’s name, he wouldn’t have to suffer like this.

What was so lovable about me?

What was so good about someone like me, who only cursed and was stubborn… that he would do this? My chest felt like it was going to burst.

I couldn’t see any way out.

“Don’t do it, you fool…!”

He was deteriorating.

His right hand was losing vitality, turning black.

The spreading black spots left scars all over his body, heating his flesh, and Ricardo’s magic circuit was tangled like a ruined thread.

Ricardo’s deteriorating form.

It was not a pleasant sight.

I felt so pathetic and stupid for being unable to do anything.

I hugged Ricardo and cried. I cried like I was losing my mind, and then I cried some more.

“Stop it… stop it…!”

Ricardo bit his lip.

In a small voice I couldn’t hear, he murmured.

-This hurts quite a lot.

-It must have hurt a lot.

-Really… I’m glad I came.

Truly, there was no answer.

It felt like my mind had gone completely blank, and I couldn’t speak. I could only cry like a fool.

Every time I saw Ricardo trembling, his hands shaking as if breathing was painful, memories of what I had done in the past came flooding back.

-You smell.

-Smell, you say?

-Yeah, it’s awful. You reek of rot.

Not long after his leg was injured, the words I had spoken came back to stab me like daggers.

-Get lost.

-I’ll wash thoroughly.

-Disgusting commoner.

Since that day, I remembered how Ricardo had sprayed himself with overwhelming amounts of lilac perfume, to the point of dizziness.

Olivia clenched her fist as she watched him.

“Ah…”

So that’s why.

The heavy scent of perfume.

The long shirts he always wore.

The sudden reason for grabbing his wrist and leaving the room.

It was all because of me.

I knelt on the floor, pressing my forehead against it.

Bending over, I clawed at my chest, trying to tear apart my maddeningly aching heart.

“Hah… haaah. Haa… it hurts… it hurts… my chest hurts so much…”

What is this?

What is this…

I didn’t know it would hurt this much.

“It hurts so much…”

I couldn’t lift my head.

“I’m sorry…”

I’m sorry for being so pathetic.

“I didn’t know it would turn out like this…”

I didn’t know you’d hurt this much.

“I’m really sorry…”

As I clutched my chest and cried, Ricardo’s voice echoed in the room.

A low, calm voice.

A quiet monologue tinged with a small question was heard.

-Will I survive?

It wasn’t a question directed at himself.

It was a question directed at his foolish, pathetic master.

All I could do was sit there and cry silently.

***

Blood.

My entire body was soaked in blood.

My past self was nestled in Ricardo’s arms, sleeping peacefully, while Ricardo lowered his head, stroking my sleeping hair.

Blood dripped onto his pajamas.

His entire body was drenched in blood.

His face was worn with exhaustion.

His lips were cracked like a desert.

His right hand, with bones exposed, dripped red blood.

I said.

“You said you couldn’t endure pain…”

Through sobs, I said.

“You said you couldn’t endure pain.”

I resented Ricardo so much for stroking my peacefully sleeping self without letting out a single scream.

Even as his veins swelled as if they would burst.

Even when Black Mana engulfed his entire body.

Even when his body suffered burns as a repercussion of the Mana, the butler endured it silently and whispered that he was fine.

I hated him so much.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

Ricardo lightly tapped his sleeping cheek and gave a small smile.

-I’m just glad you’re alive.

With those words, the long nightmare came to an end.

[Viewing has ended.]