The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

49 – Don’t cross the line. -1-

[Tuesdays are off.]

-Clap. Clap.

The young lady wiped her eyes.

I also wiped my eyes.

“Ricardo, it feels like dust got in my eyes.”

“Me too.”

I let go of the bicycle handles and looked at the clear sky. A clear sky without a single cloud, it’s a good feeling to devour meat on a day like this…

The young lady and I were both broken by the sign declaring a closure.

For about a minute, we stared at the empty air without saying a word.

The young lady looked at the sign hanging in front of the door with trembling eyes and I sensed that something was seriously wrong, so I tightly shut my lips.

The young lady flopped down on the rickshaw.

“This is unbelievable.”

“It’s clear that the world is trying to starve me to death.”

The young lady, staring emptily at the sky, poured out her resentment towards the world.

Although the cushion on the rickshaw floor was soft and not uncomfortable, the expression on the young lady’s face as she cursed the world with empty eyes was overwhelming.

If I were to hand her a bottle of soju in her hand, she could create Seoul Station, lying on the floor like a homeless person.

The young lady muttered.

The world was oppressing her.

“This is aristocratic abuse. We have to hold a trial.”

“…Do you have money?”

“No.”

She became even more depressed.

Finally, her rare outing ended in failure. She mustered up the courage to go out, but what awaited her was a sign saying “closed for holidays”. She didn’t even prepare for dinner, and it was a moment when her grand plans went down the drain.

The young lady looked at me. A young lady demanding an alternative. I awkwardly smiled and whistled.

If we can’t eat what we anticipated, any food we eat will be disappointing. There was a time when the director of the orphanage said today’s dinner was chicken and brought tteokbokki, but the tteokbokki I had back then was really tasteless.

Continuously, the thought of chicken lingered in my mind, and because I remembered making a sad face and whining while eating tteokbokki, I couldn’t easily suggest another option.

Is there no way?

Other than the friends of the forest, is there nothing that can fulfill the hungry stomach of the young lady?

Watching the young lady who seemed to have lost the purpose of life, I cautiously asked.

“Do you have anything you want to eat?”

“…No.”

The irritated young lady stuck out her lips and let out a sigh.

“Don’t do that, shall we go eat something else? It’s good to save meal coupons.”

“…”

The young lady, who didn’t want to just go back, nodded her head slightly. Although our rare dining out ended in failure, the outing was not over yet.

I grabbed the handle of the rickshaw and rolled the wheels. The young lady’s bottom might hurt on the bumpy road, so I looked back slightly, but the young lady, staring emptily at the sky, didn’t seem to care whether her body jolted or suddenly stopped, she was enjoying the reality check of life.

“I’m upset. I wanted to eat a lot of meat.”

“I wanted to eat a lot of meat today too. It’s a pity.”

“Hmm… Riccardo.”

“Yes.”

The lady, lying in the rickshaw, glanced at me and brought up a small talk, while savoring the autumn breeze.

“Do you have something you want to eat, Ricardo?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

The lady nodded her head slightly.

As the lady didn’t like the phrase “anything,” I pondered carefully.

What food could she like, that wouldn’t be boring…

Steak wouldn’t work.

And the cake she likes…

It wouldn’t fit the lady’s question. If I mentioned cake, she might just say let’s go back.

-Vrrrm.

The sound of the rickshaw’s wheels rolling became a little longer. The lady stretched her neck forward and glanced around.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.”

Here…?

A place where street vendors set up, a market.

It was a marketplace full of street food like chicken skewers and cotton candy. The lady’s eyes sparkled as delicious smells wafted in the air.

I quickly decided on dinner tonight. I didn’t intend to, but I was luckily able to overcome my indecisiveness.

I turned around and asked the lady.

“How about eating here? Let’s eat everything we want like at a buffet.”

“R… really?”

I nodded my head.

“It brings back memories, doesn’t it? If you’re okay with it, we can quickly solve dinner here and maybe even buy a bath bomb and go in.”

“A bath bomb…! Mint chocolate scent bath bomb!”

“No, not that one.”

The lady vigorously nodded her head and accepted.

I held onto the rickshaw’s handle and sent the lady a look asking if she was ready.

“Then gear 4.”

“Huh?”

From Noble mtl dot com

The lady tightly grabbed onto the rickshaw’s handle and swallowed her saliva with a gulp.

“Shouldn’t we go to the second floor?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t control the speed because I’m a racehorse.”

The young lady’s timid opinion couldn’t persuade her explosive legs.

We have seatbelts, so it should be fine to speed up.

The young lady closed her eyes tightly, confidently gripping the handrail of the rickshaw.

“Go… Go!”

The young lady’s scream echoed through the streets.

***

“Yum. Delicious. Ricardo, you should try it too.”

The young lady, holding a skewer in each hand, extended one towards me as we walked along the well.

A skewer with a strange appearance.

A frog, the protagonist of this trembling skewer, with its front and hind legs skewered, gave me a happy smile.

The peace-loving young lady of this era, who cared more about taste than appearance, handed me the frog skewer and said, “It’s delicious.”

“…”

“Is it really tasty?”

“…Yes.”

I nodded and pointed to the chicken skewer in the young lady’s left hand with my finger.

“Can I have that? It looks delicious.”

“This…? No, I can’t. Sorry.”

The young lady looked at me with a refusal in her eyes. It seemed like she had saved it to eat herself, and taking that from her would be truly delicious. When I showed her a pair of cat-like, sparkling eyes, the young lady put half of the chicken skewer into her mouth and offered it to me with trembling hands.

“…Miss, are you perhaps an Ultraviolet Alien?”

“Ultraviolet Alien?”

“A creature that divides everything in half like that.”

“It’s a bad creature.”

“You too, Miss…”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

I munched on the skewer the young lady offered as we walked.

As the streetlights came on, people began to gather.

The family who came to enjoy the night market.

The couple on a date.

And even the children from the poor neighborhood who were hiding in the crowd, trying to pickpocket.

As more and more people started gathering on the street, the young lady slowly squeezed herself into a corner with her backpack.

She glanced around nervously, lowering her head awkwardly and chewing on her empty skewer whenever our eyes met. I traveled to a place without people, driving the backpack.

More people gathered.

More eyes staring at us.

The young lady began to panic.

“Sniff…”

“There are too many people.”

The nobleman who cares about people’s gaze.

To the lady who used to be satisfied with the gaze and lived for show-off, the sympathetic gaze must have felt burdensome.

Because she had always received admiration rather than sympathy in her lifetime.

Seeing the young lady embarrassed by her own miserable appearance, I tapped my hungry stomach and said aloud.

“Ah… I’m full!”

The young lady looked at me.

As her pale face came into view, I regretted not saying that earlier.

With a trembling voice, the young lady asked me.

“Are you… full?”

“Yes, I’m full. I picked up a lot of food, so my stomach is already full.”

The young lady regained her color in her face.

She seemed desperate to go back. Desperately.

Just in case, I asked the young lady.

“Are you full?”

The young lady, who said she was full while tapping her stomach, nodded.

“Yes, I’m full.”

The young lady’s lips trembled, but she didn’t say that she wanted to go back. She just looked at me, trying to gauge my reaction. Maybe she thought it would be a hassle if she just went back. Maybe she was worried that she would ruin the outing because of herself.

She continued to glance at me through her hat, hesitant to speak.

Honestly, I felt a little disappointed.

I was still hungry, and we hadn’t walked around much yet. But fulfilling the master’s wishes is the virtue of a servant, and there’s always next time. I comforted the young lady with a gaze that said not to worry.

“Shall we start heading back now? If we buy the bath salts and go back, the timing should be just right.”

“…Really? Won’t you regret it?”

“No.”

The young lady’s expression brightened.

“Then, shall we go?”

“Yes, I will drive slowly.”

Without hesitation, I pulled the rickshaw. On the way to the store, we chatted about which bath salts to buy, agreeing not to buy the mint chocolate one.

“Ricardo.”

The young lady pointed to a dark alleyway with her finger.

A shady alley where the poor residents live.

Hamel’s red-light district behind the bright streets. It wasn’t a dark red-light district like kidnapping or forced labor, but the young lady, pointing to an alley where orphans or street thugs live, had a puzzled expression on her face as she spoke to me.

“That’s not Uriah, is it?”

The young lady called out a familiar name.

A name that shouldn’t be mentioned here.

“Oh, no way.”

“It’s over there. The one with pink hair.”

I had a doubtful feeling, but my steps were already heading towards the alley. The slums were dangerous.

Especially for a woman.

Why would Uriah, who only sees the bright side of the world, go there? No, if she were the protagonist, it would be enough even if she went in. Uriah was a naive fool with a wide style.

I sighed deeply and drove the rickshaw closer to the alley. Loud noises could be heard.

– What are you doing right now!?

– Don’t worry about it, just keep going, miss~

The condescending voice of a thug.

I heard the voice of a familiar woman.

I sighed.

Is that woman fearless or something?

Based on how the thug was speaking as if nothing had happened, it seemed like he was alone. If someone had come with him, the main characters would have taken care of it.

As the intense voices went back and forth, my footsteps quickened.

” I definitely saw it. I saw someone taking money that I gave to the child. Give it back!”

“No, you must have seen it wrong, lady. Did I take your money?”

-…No.

The situation seems to be taking a turn for the worse.

The thugs who heard the noise were gathering in the alley one by one, and Yuria was alone.

– Come to think of it, Miss. You look quite valuable, don’t you?

– …What are you saying?

– It looks like it would sell for a good price.

– Let go of this!

– Sir, can’t we just put her to sleep with some medicine?

They briefly parked the carriage in an empty place.

I sought permission from the young lady.

“Miss…”

***

Yuria was taken aback.

She had tried to rescue the poor child, but then these big men came rushing in.

The man approaching with a dagger was frightening. The man trying to grab her hand and pull her deeper into the alley was even scarier.

She couldn’t escape from the tight grip.

There was no one to help.

Yuria’s legs, trembling with fear, wouldn’t obey her.

“Let go of this! I’ll scream!”

“Go ahead, scream. Who’s going to come?”

The big man grabbed her wrist forcefully and tried to pull her deeper into the alley.

It was terrifying. Too much.

If only someone would help.

She resented her past self who had said she wouldn’t learn harmful magic to use against people, even if she knew she would be scared like this.

She felt like tears were about to fall.

Was it a mistake not to have just ignored the child’s cries, or was it a mistake to wander the streets alone?

Regardless, it was scary and frightening.

The words of a male student from the academy passed through her mind.

– Don’t be so touchy. I’m not making fun of you, Yuria. I’m just worried about you.

What good would it do to regret it now?

Yuria struggled to break free, but all that came back were vicious curses.

“Stay still for a moment! Before I kill you…”

That’s when it happened.

“Kill? Who?”

A man’s figure appeared between the alleyways.

“Don’t breathe. The air is getting thick.”

A familiar man with red hair.

At the same time, the man she despised the most was walking slowly with red eyes.

And then…

“Talpal! This is my territory!”

The villain perched on his back became visible.

“Ricardo! Ask!”

“That’s something I should say.”

“Ask!”

“No, aren’t you in a hostile mood right now?”

“Grrr! Ask!”

“Haa…”

Yuria lost her strength in her legs and hesitated in that spot.

“Ricardo! Yuria is dead!”

“Don’t kill someone who’s perfectly alive.”

“Eek…!”

As her eyes closed, the screams of the gangsters reached her ears.