The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

26 – The Secret He Hides – Part 2 –

Miss is acting strange.

Ever since she came back from her outing, she has been giving me strange looks and openly scanning my body, which made me feel quite strange.

“What’s going on?”

It feels like being harassed in the subway.

Is it because a pretty girl is looking at me?

It felt strangely pleasant.

-Zigzag

I quickly moved my hand.

The young lady moved her face in response to my gestures.

“Oh…!”

She seemed to find it amusing.

As I swayed my hand left and right, she followed by moving her head, and when I moved it up and down, she twitched her head.

“Down. Up. Left. Right. Again.”

We repeated this process dozens of times.

“Damn it!”

The young lady threw the fork she had been holding at me. Why would you peep at someone else’s body like that? I easily dodged it and handed her a new fork.

“Young lady.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you staring at me like that? It’s making me uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

“No, I am. I feel uncomfortable.”

The young lady looked at me.

Sitting on the bed, she glanced at me and nodded.

“I’m fine.”

It wasn’t like she was asking about her own feelings.

“Take responsibility for my wounded heart.”

She didn’t respond at all.

The young lady continued to eye my wrist. If there were temperature in her gaze, by now, my wrist would have suffered a third-degree burn from the intensity of her stare.

Normally, she would be happily enjoying her time, throwing forks and knives in anger at tonight’s dinner menu, which included bell peppers. But today, she seemed more curious about me than the food.

Prioritizing me over food, huh?

Am I now in the ranks of accomplished butlers?

I found myself feeling strangely pleased in this odd situation.

Even as I served the meal on the bed, the young lady’s gaze remained fixated on my wrist.

She tilted her head to get a look at the inside of my sleeve.

I lightly flicked my finger against my forehead.

“Ouch!”

The young lady clenched her fist.

“That hurt!”

“I hit you because it hurt.”

“Why did you hit me!”

“You kept looking at me.”

“I wasn’t looking.”

“Liar.”

The young lady quickly turned her head towards the window, avoiding eye contact.

“I wasn’t looking!”

Whenever she lied, looking out the window was always the same.

“What do you mean you weren’t looking? You were staring as if there was fire on my sleeve, I thought I was going to burn to death.”

“It wasn’t hot. I looked at it so coldly.”

“So you did see.”

The young lady couldn’t say a word.

She tightly shut her mouth.

The young lady fidgeted with her stew.

“Why isn’t there any meat in this damn stew! This is meat abuse. There is no respect for meat!”

“But it’s healthy.”

“I can’t admit that.”

I finished dinner by putting a bell pepper in the young lady’s mouth.

I should rest in my room today too.

That’s when it happened.

The young lady, after drinking milk, made a noise and asked me to work late. It made my heart, waiting for the end of work, stop.

“Oh, Ricardo, I’m going to take a bath.”

“What?”

What is this woman saying now?

When the maid mentioned taking a bath at the time of her leaving work, it was like a huge bomb being dropped onto my Confucian heart. I flinched.

The young lady looked up at me.

With eyes like a cat, she looked at me. With round eyes and a strong threat that if I refuse, she will go on a hunger strike, the look in the young lady’s eyes.

This time, I turned my head towards the window.

“Don’t avoid eye contact.”

“I’m not avoiding it, it’s just that the sun is too bright.”

“It’s 9 o’clock at night now, how is the sun still up!”

“Sometimes, it may be possible, right? The moon could also be tired.”

“Nonsense!”

“Woof.”

The young lady loved taking baths.

She loved immersing herself in hot water.

When she soaked her body in the bath, she became a slime, making squishy sounds. And when she got out of the bath, she hated making sounds like “eeek!” and coming out of the tub.

Perhaps collecting bath bombs was her hobby.

It was a clean and tidy hobby, so it was good, but the young lady went too far.

Mint-scented bath bombs.

Beef-scented bath bombs.

Lamb-scented bath bombs.

She collected strange bath bombs.

Since becoming a beggar, she had given up on her strange hobby. But the young lady still had not given up her desire for bath bombs.

“When we have time, shall we make bath bombs together?”

Thinking of something fun to do with the young lady made me feel proud, but thinking about her strange bathing philosophy made my shoulders shake once again.

When the young lady was 10 years old.

She said this while undressing at the valley.

-You see, bathing is when you undress! Bathing with clothes on is like doing laundry. Got it. Beggar!

-Put on some clothes.

-No, I don’t want to!

The young lady believed in bathing in the nude. Knowing the unique philosophy that bathing with clothes was no different from doing laundry, I knew the young lady.

In a nervous voice, I asked the young lady.

“Are we going to take a bath now?”

In response to the confirming question, the young lady gave a short nod.

“Yes. It’s all sweaty and sticky.”

“You won’t die if you don’t bathe for a day.”

“No, I might.”

“Well, I’ll heat up a towel then.”

The young lady said firmly.

“I’m going to soak in warm water.”

Adding a condition.

“Take off everything.”

Oh my, oh my. What is this woman saying right now, trying this with a grown man in front of her?

Contrary to my curious thoughts, my pupils shook greatly. I may have been quite handsome in this life or the previous one, but I was an inexperienced rookie in dealing with women.

An awkward atmosphere filled the room.

The young lady who loved baths.

The butler who wanted to protect the dignity of a man.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why…”

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“Well, aren’t I a man? A very handsome one, too.”

“You’re not that handsome.”

“Don’t lie.”

“…I’m serious.”

The young lady puffed her cheeks.

Although my heart softened at the sight of the butler refusing to do what she wanted, I couldn’t bend the meaning of this from time immemorial cohabitation between men and women.

“Hmm.”

The young lady glared at me again.

This time, she started giggling as she looked at my sleeve and body.

She truly seemed like a pervert.

“hehehehe.”

“What’s so funny about that laugh?”

“It’s nothing.”

But her gaze was fixed on the window.

“Let’s do it this way…”

***

“Eight!”

I threw the young lady into the bathtub with a splash. She splashed into the tub, soaking wet.

I felt a strange sense of joy as I looked at the young lady’s resentful eyes, dripping wet with water.

“hehehehe.”

With a refreshing smile, I showed a grin to the young lady, who then threw soap in my direction.

“Such a clumsy attack would take a hundred years to reach me.”

“Hmph.”

The young lady turned her head with a swish.

I wanted to pinch her inflated cheeks.

I dipped a finger into the bathtub the young lady was fretting in.

“It’s warm.”

The water temperature wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was just right, as the young lady would like it.

“How’s the water temperature?” I asked to confirm.

“Yeah, it feels like hot pot broth.”

The young lady responded with approval. In her own language, she called it “hot pot” when the water was warm and “braised pork” when it was cool. Today, it seemed like the water temperature was just right.

“Phew.”

The young lady was wearing her clothes.

In the face of my firm rejection, she took a step back.

“Well then, let’s do it like this. I’ll put on some clothes, and a bathrobe will do, right?”

The young lady put on a white bathrobe, pouting her lips. She murmured as she sprinkled water on herself.

“This isn’t a bath.”

“That’s right.”

“No, this is laundry.”

“Then let’s do laundry.”

I lathered shampoo in my hands and started massaging the young lady’s hair.

As I gave her a fantastic scalp massage, the young lady couldn’t regain her composure and let out a soft moan.

“Ohhh… it’s like a laundry cycle.”

“Please be quiet. Your concentration is drifting.”

“Huhh.”

The young lady couldn’t regain her composure.

As time passed, we reached the end of the bath.

I said to the young lady,

“Young lady.”

The young lady, sitting in the bathtub and nibbling on cookies, turned her head slightly in response to my question.

“Hmm?”

“I might need to be away for a couple of days next week, is that okay?”

“Why? Are you going bug-hunting again?”

“No, it’s something similar but different. I think I should go gather some herbs for Kiyeon.”

Two weeks later, there will be news of an unexplored dungeon discovered near the peak of the Havel Mountains. Just like in the novel. It’s an unprecedented dungeon, and many adventurers are gathering there. It’s an ancient labyrinth filled with various artifacts and gold coins. It’s a significant episode in the story where the female protagonist and Ruin spend time exploring the dungeon together.

During this process, there might be some friction between the female protagonist and Ruin, but they will handle that themselves. Ultimately, I plan to separate Kiyeon, who needs to be gathered, from Ruin and Yuri.

I’ll leave what’s necessary for the story and take what’s not necessary with me. I want to gather Kiyeon that could be useful before more people get their hands on it.

With my swordsmanship level at Lv. 6, I didn’t have to worry about dealing with cultists in the dungeon. In fact, I could even farm efficiently, which was a bonus. I could also pick herbs in the mountains for Hanna, send a sword to Malick, and loot some treasures while I was at it.

So when it was time to ask, I sought permission from the young lady.

She hesitated.

“Is it a dangerous task?”

“No, I’m just going to have some fun.”

“Is that so?”

The young lady didn’t look pleased.

It seemed like she thought I would be doing something difficult, like during the bug-hunting incident. To ease her worries, I mixed truth and lies.

“I’m planning to gather some mountain herbs. The weather is getting colder, and I want to prepare some herbal medicine.”

“Hmm.”

After a long period of consideration, the young lady nodded her head and sent a sign of acceptance.

“On the condition that you don’t bring anything too bitter, only bring back herbs that taste like chocolate.”

“Where in the world can you find such herbs?”

“They might exist.”

When the maid arrives for work tomorrow, I should ask her to adjust her schedule so that I can stay home for a couple of days.

“But speaking of which, Ricardo.”

“Yes?”

After a brief moment of thought, the young lady looked at my hand and spoke.

“Why is your forearm so dark?”

My forearm, charred and blackened, was visible through my wet shirt.