The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

38 – The Secret of the Man This Woman Sees -1-

Late dawn.

Olivia, who returned to the room on Ricardo’s back, couldn’t fall asleep easily.

Even when she threw the pillow high.

Even when she turned her body towards the window.

Even when she pressed her forehead against the pillow and lay down.

Sleep wouldn’t come, and her eyes remained wide open.

Olivia placed her chin on the pillow and murmured like an unemployed person.

“I’m tired…. but I’m not sleepy.”

The scar she had seen in Ricardo’s room earlier kept flickering in front of her eyes. The grotesquely distorted skin and the arm that had turned black. It wasn’t a scene that could easily be forgotten even if she wanted to.

“It was really creepy.”

The faint smile on Ricardo’s face kept coming to mind, making her feel uneasy.

For sleep to happen, both the body and mind should be in a peaceful state, so that a good quality sleep can be attained.

If this stuffy feeling continues, she wouldn’t be able to sleep, and she would spend the night with wide open eyes until the morning sun rises.

Olivia let out a sigh.

Leaving only one light turned on on the bedside table, Olivia whimpered softly.

“For the past three days, I felt good….”

But now, I feel stuffy.

*

Three days ago.

Every time Olivia looked at the calendar, she felt good.

[☆ September 21st ☆]

* Foolish butler’s birthday!

* Remember to think about a birthday present!

* Give him a surprise!

Excited for the birthday party of the foolish butler who forgets his own birthdate every year. It wasn’t a party with guests but a party enjoyed between the two, but Olivia was thrilled because it was the first time the butler had taken care of his own birthday since his leg injury.

Ricardo had no particular interest in the once-a-year birthday.

“Birthday? Oh, why bother with that? Just eat a bowl of seaweed soup and be done with it.”

“Seaweed soup?”

“A soup made with kelp broth.”

“Sounds like it wouldn’t taste good.”

Last year and the year before that, just before his birthday ended, he would say, “Oh right, today was my birthday, wasn’t it?” Then he would go to the kitchen alone and finish with seaweed soup.

Olivia thought it would be the same this year.

She wanted to show him how exciting and enjoyable a birthday could be for someone who neglects their own, and sets their soul on fire for the butler who takes care of her birthday.

So Olivia prepared a surprise.

She read it in a book.

From a philosophical book titled, [You Shouldn’t Do That, Dad!].

Ricardo’s beloved book filled with the truths and insights of the world. Ricardo said it was full of things that would be helpful in life.

Since he suggested they read it together, she colored half of the book with a black pen and handed it to him, but the contents inside were the real deal.

Extramarital affairs and fights with thieves.

How to hit with less pain.

And even how to drop a cunning fox.

Ricardo’s beloved book filled with things helpful in life.

Among them, on page 134.

It was written in detail about how to create unforgettable memories.

“My father was hiding in my closet.”

The rest of the contents couldn’t be discerned due to Ricardo’s black pen, but as a knowledgeable person who read a lot of books, she could roughly guess the next contents.

The daughter-in-law must have loved the father-in-law’s surprise a lot. Every time the father-in-law appeared, the daughter-in-law’s face would turn red.

Inspired by this, she prepared a surprise party for Ricardo.

She worked hard for three days.

She wanted to make a statement.

I was curious about what day September 21st was, and I barely managed to hold back my curiosity about whether I would like the gift Ricardo had prepared.

I didn’t ask if he would like it because it would be obvious if I did.

When I received the gift that the maid had sent, I couldn’t stop laughing. I forgot about Uriah’s words that she couldn’t treat her leg and wholeheartedly prepared for Ricardo’s birthday.

His birthday came quickly.

While Ricardo was practicing with his sword, I was tucked into the tray that the maid was pulling.

The tray, which couldn’t bear the weight as light as a feather, was slightly crushed, but it was because it was cheap. I thought the butler would forgive me.

The butler’s room, which we arrived at after some difficulties, was more shabby than I thought.

Ricardo had converted a warehouse that stored outdated dresses into a room. It was a poor environment where it couldn’t retain heat and had no soundproofing.

There were no interior items.

Just a simple room with no luxury items.

I felt a sense of melancholy in the room that was created solely for the purpose of hearing my voice.

A book unfolded on the desk caught my eye.

A medical book covered in handprints.

Next to it was a thick notebook filled with writing.

[Regarding Neurology.

*Once a nerve is severed, it is difficult to regenerate, especially the central nervous system… ]

This isn’t it either.

I should look for a different book.

[Regarding Rehabilitation.

*Rehabilitation is a miracle. If done consistently, someday miracles can be hoped for… ]

Should I try it every week?

So that the young lady isn’t too exhausted.

A thick notebook filled with difficult-to-read writing was placed on the desk. Olivia clung tightly to the wrapped gift.

A butler who studied and piled up knowledge. Ricardo, who used to bury his head on the desk when he opened a book in the Academy, was now sitting at this small desk studying, and it made Olivia feel uneasy.

I should have prepared a better gift for him.

I should have prepared a tie from a tailor shop that noble gentlemen frequently visit, instead of a scarf or gloves sold at the market… Of course, even if I save up all the gold coins in the piggy bank, it would be far from enough to buy that small tie, but Olivia felt unsatisfied and clung tightly to the gift in her hands.

Time passed, and it was time for the maid to go home and for Ricardo to return to his room.

Olivia held her breath in the wardrobe.

Creak. Ricardo, drenched in sweat, opened the door and entered.

“Sigh… It’s tough.”

With a sigh, Ricardo, who had a sword at his waist, stood beside the chair and unbuttoned effortlessly.

Olivia clenched her fists at the sight of Ricardo, who was baring his chest without even realizing he was in this room.

“…Sensual.”

Temporarily forgetting her mixed emotions, Olivia concentrated on the surprise party, covering her mouth with her hand.

“I had no idea you were here.”

Silly Ricardo.

You’ll be surprised when you come out of the closet.

“I want to tease him quickly. I want to. I really want to.”

Ricardo slowly undressed, undoing the buttons of his sweaty shirt, revealing his fiercely sculpted abs. Gulp. Olivia involuntarily swallowed.

Her face was flushed. She didn’t know where to look, and though she covered her eyes with her hand, her fingers were spread wide.

“Uh…!”

Taking off his pants would be awkward.

I feel like my head’s about to explode.

Olivia was tense, her face turning red.

“If you’re going to take off your pants, then go out right away.”

With her fingers stretched out, Olivia stole glances at Ricardo’s body.

Ricardo unbuttoned the shirt sleeves. Then, he began to take off the sweaty shirt.

Gulp. She swallowed.

This wasn’t just peeking; it was a surprise party. So, Olivia concentrated and focused her gaze on Ricardo, hoping he would understand.

As Ricardo slowly revealed the white bandages, Olivia was at a loss for words.

“Huh?”

There were bandages.

Bandages wrapped tightly around his body under the clothes.

This wasn’t a battlefield.

Ricardo, with half of his body wrapped in white bandages, stood before her.

“What’s this?”

In an instant, anxiety overwhelmed her.

Something was definitely wrong.

The bandages wrapped around half of his body were strange.

He had clearly mentioned his arm, but why were the bandages so wide, which was strange.

‘Tattoo? No, Ricardo said he only had a tattoo on his arm.’

‘It’s nothing. He just wrapped bandages to cover the tattoo.’

She denied it forcefully.

She knew what was behind the bandages, in fact, she knew the truth, but she denied it to herself.

She could have guessed after seeing the blue window last time. She thought she was mentally prepared.

During Ricardo’s vacation, she planned to ask and talk about it.

“Ricardo clearly said he was not hurt.”

Her heart still didn’t feel ready.

She looked at Ricardo, her hands trembling. Ricardo was removing the bandages wrapped around his body.

As Ricardo removed the bandages while looking in the mirror, his hidden wounds gradually revealed.

Thud. Tears fell down her cheeks.

“No… no!”

[Ricardo’s hidden secret revealed. 1/1]

“No…! Ricardo clearly said. He definitely said that!”

She threw a meaningless tantrum.

She denied and denied again that the decaying right arm was not related to her, that it had nothing to do with her.

But the vivid blue window in front of her… damn that blue window captured her as she tried to escape.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

Uriah’s words echoed in her mind.

-“Huh? Didn’t you say it was a wound from a runaway black magic?”

-“Right.”

-“But why is it so clean? This doesn’t make sense.”

-“It doesn’t make sense?”

-“Usually, if black magic fails, your mana circuit burns out on the spot and you either die instantly or slowly suffer while your body gets consumed. But Olivia is clean without any externally or internally decaying parts.”

The words Uriah said while looking at her with wonder came back to her instantly.

– “It’s a miracle. A miracle.”

-“Her leg should have rotted away if things were normal.”

-“Since divine power doesn’t work, it is true that she was injured because of black magic…”

The distorted scars, starting from her chest and resembling burn marks. And her right arm that had turned black.

It felt like time stood still.

During the three seconds, dozens of thoughts crossed her mind, and her lips trembled as if they were broken.

So that’s what Ricardo meant by tree bark.

The one that resembles tree bark.

He was talking about that arm.

So those black, split wounds are the bark?

Olivia trembled.

It would have been better if she didn’t know.

It would have been better if she had just been ignorant and shamelessly carried on.

It’s a really bad thought, but Olivia couldn’t bring herself to look at Ricardo’s face.

She wished the closet door wouldn’t open.

She wanted to run away.

Her immobile legs had never felt so resentful before.

The butler’s hand was getting closer and closer.

Olivia silently pleaded in her heart.

“Don’t open it.”

“Please, don’t open it.”

“Please… I’m not ready in my heart yet…”

But time did not wait for the fragile heart, and Olivia’s eyes met the startled expression of the butler.

“Ah.. Miss?”

The guilt I committed, and Ricardo looking at me as if I had committed a crime.

The first words that came out of Ricardo’s mouth in his bewildered state shattered my heart.

“Ah… It’s because I tripped.”

At that moment, I thought.

‘I’m really trash. Me.’

***

In an empty room, Olivia looked at the blue window in front of her with empty eyes.

[Q. The secret he hides has been revealed]

The day her master, who she had served for 13 years, collapsed.

Ricardo was there in that spot.

No one knows what happened that day.

Alone. One person.

Only her butler knows the truth of that day.

Ricardo has been trying to hide the events of that day for a lifetime. The secret of that day that he tried to pass quietly without anyone knowing.

(!) Uncover the secret of that day.

1. See the secret Ricardo is hiding. (1/1)

2. Touch the secret Ricardo is hiding. (1/1)

〈29th Interlude〉

[You can read ‘The Man’s Secret.’]

[Would you like to read it?]

Olivia nodded her head.

“I’ll read it.”