The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Chapter 36

36 – The Exposed Secret -3-

Another sunny morning.

As always, Durin, wearing his butler uniform and black shoes, walked energetically towards the second floor where the young lady’s room was located.

The current time was 10 in the morning.

Usually, this would be the time when the young lady would have finished her breakfast, but because I overslept, I couldn’t synchronize my alarm clock with hers.

I thought to myself, ‘I overslept again. I wonder if the young lady will scold me.’

After realizing that my right hand could no longer hold a sword, I desperately devoted myself to finding an alternative, which naturally led to me oversleeping more often.

Fortunately, the young lady wasn’t usually close with the morning hours, so even if I overslept by an hour, it wasn’t a major problem. However, I still felt guilty for not being faithful to my duties as a butler, and I hurriedly buttoned up my shirt while occasionally running through the corridor.

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In that moment, I met the maid carrying a laundry basket in the corridor.

“You seem busy, Sir Butler.”

The only maid in the mansion smiled kindly at me. She would greet the practical smile with the boss who paid her salary.

I returned the smile with satisfaction at the professional maid’s appearance.

I bowed my head to greet her.

“Good morning.”

“Yes, it’s a good morning. Oh right, did the young lady say anything yesterday?”

“I haven’t heard anything.”

“Oh… Surprised…”

The maid’s words became vague.

She glanced at me, as if she had something to say, but then quickly said “nothing.” It was quite awkward for her to act like this from the morning.

Unable to bear the curiosity, I asked the maid.

“hehehehe. It’s nothing. Just that the weather is nice.”

That was all the maid’s laughter conveyed. She said I would find out later that “it’s better not to know,” but I was anxious because it seemed like everyone else except for me was doing something wrong.

It’s better to know in advance and suffer less if it turns out to be bad.

“Don’t keep it to yourself, let me know too.”

Even with my persistent questions, the maid continued to smile kindly and walked away with the laundry basket. I felt quite bothered as a Korean who couldn’t bear the curiosity, seeing her ambiguous smile until the end and heading towards the laundry room.

It felt like I had left something behind when I walked out of the entrance.

And at that moment, I sent a resentful gaze towards the maid who had given me riddles since morning.

– aaargh! Air raid alert!

The young lady woke up.

***

The young lady, now awake, rubbed her eyes and looked at me.

From bottom to top.

From top to bottom.

She examined me, then nodded.

“I thought you were beef jerky.”

“Where?”

“Redhead.”

“Do you want to eat it?”

“Yeah.”

Today, I had decided on jerky for a snack and handed her the water I had prepared with the hope that she would wake up quickly.

Glug. After finishing the water, the young lady looked at me again. She stared at my face with sleepy eyes, and this time, she seemed to be looking closely to see if something was on my face.

“Hmm…”

What is it?

“Hmmm.”

The young lady propped her chin and watched me intently.

Was she noticing that I hadn’t washed up before coming to work, or was she just staring at my good-looking face? I didn’t know.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen a good-looking person?”

“Ew.”

The young lady looked disgusted.

Since no one cared about my wounded heart, I took out my frustration by playfully tapping her forehead.

“Ugh… why did you hit me?”

“Consider it an employee benefit.”

“eeek!”

After the pillow-fighting chaos had ended, the young lady, who now had disheveled hair, patted the side of the bed.

“Ricardo, come here.”

The young lady asked me to sit on the bed that hadn’t even been tidied up. Without making a sound, I approached her side after giving her a pillow injury during the pillow fight.

The young lady stared closely at my face.

“That’s strange.”

“What are you saying?”

The young lady lightly touched my face.

She moved her hand from side to side, up and down. Like how I playfully touch her face, she touched mine as if poking a sore spot.

Maybe it was because of my tired eyes, but she pressed her hands against my cheeks like pressing on a pufferfish, bringing her face closer.

Too close.

“What are you doing?”

The young lady spoke to me.

“Ricardo.”

With a slightly concerned expression.

“Does something hurt?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I replied to the young lady with a puzzled expression.

“It doesn’t hurt. It’s too healthy. Didn’t you see me throwing the pillow earlier?”

Suddenly asking if something hurts.

Why would she say that?

Thinking it was because I overslept, I bent my left arm to show off my bulging biceps.

“Aren’t you fierce?”

The young lady pretended not to hear.

With worried eyes, she spoke again.

“Your eyes look very tired. It seems like they could fall out if I poke them.”

“My eyes?”

I turned my head to look at the vanity table next to the bed.

“Um…”

When I looked at my face in the mirror, I could see faint dark circles under my decadent face. It must have been the aftermath of practicing swordsmanship too forcefully yesterday.

I did look like I was in pain, but it wasn’t enough for the young lady to worry about asking if I saw anything strange at night.

Since the incident at the bathhouse, the young lady seemed more concerned.

I lightly nodded my head to alleviate her worries and said,

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, actually, I didn’t wash up today.”

The young lady seemed a bit embarrassed.

“Oh… It’s embarrassing.”

“My pockets are cleaner than yours.”

“My pockets are clean.”

The young lady, asserting her pride in a strange way, roughly washed her face with a towel and then quietly approached me. She inched closer, shuffling and guiding herself with her hands. It was both endearing and heartwarming.

The young lady took my hand.

A soft touch enveloped the back of my hand.

“Ricardo, you mustn’t get hurt.”

“I’m healthy.”

“Still, you mustn’t get hurt.”

The young lady met my gaze.

It was as if she were kindly advising a friend, like an orphanage teacher saying, “Please, don’t hit your friend’s face and play nicely.” The young lady firmly held my hand and earnestly spoke to me.

“No matter what happens, you mustn’t get hurt. I don’t like it when you’re hurt.”

She emphasized again.

“Do you understand?”

I nodded in agreement.

***

After finishing a late morning meal, around the time the young lady’s pocket watch chimed again.

The young lady spoke to me while I was brushing my teeth.

“Ricardo. (Ricardo)”

“Tell me when I’m done brushing.”

“Heero. (I don’t want to.)”

The young lady spoke as she spat out white foam. I wanted to scold her, but on this particular day, seeing her obediently follow my instructions, I decided to be patient.

She didn’t go back to bed.

She didn’t eat chocolate before brushing her teeth.

She worried about not getting hurt.

The young lady’s behavior, which went beyond being impressive and even led her to open the hidden snack cupboard, was so exceptional that I paid close attention to her words.

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

“Today?”

I pondered for a moment.

It’s not the lady’s birthday since it’s winter.

It’s not the birthday of the master and mistress either.

Then…

“The lady’s magical day?”

“Shut up!”

It’s been a while since the lady cursed at me.

I asked the spirited lady.

“So, what day is it today?”

“I don’t know?”

“Yes, I don’t know either.”

“Really, you don’t know?”

The lady chuckled mischievously.

Seems like she knows something amazing.

As someone who has even prepared for the lady’s birthday party, this side of the lady, who remembers special days, felt quite unfamiliar. The lady who knows something and pretends not to know…

It’s scary in various ways.

The lady spoke to me.

“You really don’t know?”

“No…”

“Really. Really. You don’t know?”

“Well, then please tell me…”

The lady lay down on the bed, giggling ‘kyarur’ as she pounded the bedroughly with her fist, like a wicked witch decorating something interesting… Ah, she really is a wicked witch.

Anyway, she smiled happily like a villain, and as her sparkling eyes looked at me, my ears grew hot.

I spoke to the lady.

“Lady. On your chest.”

“On my chest?”

“Tha… that…”

The white foam smeared on the horribly swollen chest. The white foam that splashed while brushing my teeth gave rise to impure thoughts.

The lady casually wiped her hand and put it in her mouth.

“What are you doing? That’s dirty!”

“It’s okay. It came out of my mouth, so it’s clean.”

The lady proudly puffed up her chest with a satisfied expression. Indeed.

It felt good to have witnessed something nice.

***

Late evening.

Having finished my sword practice in the yard, I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“This should be enough.”

There were numerous sword marks on the ground.

From the size of a baby’s finger to ones big enough for a person to step into.

I let out a deep sigh that I had been holding in until now, having become accustomed to wielding a sword with my left hand.

“This should be sufficient until the next story.”

Even if not for combat, I should be able to handle Pascal or Mikhail with some ease.

Perhaps aiming for a powerful strike with my left hand, rather than using my right hand to meticulously probe for weaknesses, might be better.

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

A slight tremor persisted in my right arm.

It didn’t seem like it would move easily.

Not until my resistance to black magic increased. Since it had come to this, I might as well strengthen my weaknesses and make the best of it.

If I forcibly used my right hand like during sword practice, it might exacerbate the aftereffects even in my unharmed left hand.

I hope there won’t be any major events in the middle, but the event right in front of me is Mikhail’s awakening event. It’s not a situation where I can just sit idly by.

Mikhail is such a talented guy that he’ll probably handle it on his own, but just in case. It’s better to be thoroughly prepared…

What’s the use of worrying about it now?

I brushed off the dust and got up from my seat.

***

Before returning to the lady,

I entered a room at the end of the second floor and unbuttoned my sweat-soaked shirt.

The damp shirt clung to my body, making it difficult to remove, but I felt satisfaction in the thought that I had done my best today.

As I took off the wet shirt, a white bandage wrapped around my arm was reflected in the mirror.

Bandages that extended from the right sleeve to the chest.

I chuckled at the sight, reminiscent of a character from a game I often played in my past life. A character who wept profusely while searching for a friend. Amumu, that was the name. Anyway, it oddly overlapped with our young lady.

If I were to tell her she resembled such a character, she would probably scoff, dismissing the notion with a wave of her fork.

A small laugh escaped me as the pitiful expression of the chocolate-thieving young lady mingled with the expression of the in-game character.

I should use this in my writing later.

It might be a childish prank, but when teasing the young lady, age and maturity were the last things on my mind.

Perhaps I was reversing my age.

“Crazy fool.”

I took a deep breath and slowly unwound the bandage.

Starting from the right sleeve, I unraveled the damp bandage all the way to my left chest, revealing scars slowly emerging. Grotesque scars, twisted like burn marks, starting from the burns on my back and chest, were gradually coming into view.

Scars that might make the young lady recoil in horror if she saw them.

Especially the wounds on my right arm, where black necrosis was progressing, made her furrow her brow, the pus oozing down.

“Ugh… It seems better than yesterday….”

It didn’t hurt.

I only felt a sharp pain occasionally as the necrosis progressed.

No, had I become accustomed to it?

Over the course of a year, the pain I endured from the cycle of regeneration and necrosis had made me think that perhaps I had indeed grown used to it.

“It’s really disgusting.”

I contemplated various thoughts while looking in the mirror.

From what the young lady might do if she saw these scars, to how I could hide them in the future.

And if they spread all over my body.

“It’s frustrating.”

What bothered me the most was the thought of the young lady finding out about these scars.

If she did, I couldn’t think of a suitable response in my current state.

Should I just laugh it off?

Or should I confess openly?

Maybe, at that time, no matter what I became, I would have said words that wouldn’t hurt the young lady. She was easily scared.

By the time I reached out my hand to the wardrobe handle to take out a new shirt.

I slowly started to remember what day it was today.

September, the autumn when the leaves were turning red.

Around this time, there was something the young lady would always say.

“Happy birthday.”

Last year, my birthday passed because the young lady collapsed.

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Yeah, it’s my birthday today.”

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A foolish laugh came out.

Without knowing that, I made up some excuse about it being a magical day to the young lady.

Now, I finally realized why the young lady and the maid were acting awkwardly towards each other since morning.

They should have told me earlier.

I was the only one who didn’t know.

I should hurry and complain to the young lady. Why did she know about it only?

Knowing the young lady’s personality, I could tell she would make fun of me for being foolish when the clock struck midnight and announce the end of the day.

I forcefully opened the wardrobe door to change my shirt.

*Creak*

The wardrobe opened without any resistance.

“Is it broken?”

Normally, there should have been a feeling of being caught by the key, but the wardrobe door opened easily, as if it would open with even the slightest breeze.

I thought it was broken.

Since no one except the maid would enter my room.

I didn’t pay much attention and tried to take out a shirt from the wardrobe.

“Huh?”

The wardrobe where there should have been shirts was empty.

*Sigh…*

Someone who shouldn’t be here widened their eyes and looked at me.

“Ah… young lady?”

Wearing a pointed hat on their head.

The young lady tightly held a chocolate cake in her hand, wrapped in a fancy packaging.

“Ah…”

She said with an expression as if the whole world had collapsed.