The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

50 – Stop Being Obstinate-2-

Swoosh.

Yuria slowly opened her eyes.

As the bright streetlight illuminated her eyes, her brows furrowed. Did she momentarily lose consciousness? The scene before her wasn’t the dark alleyway but a well-lit street with shops and peaceful couples passing by.

Her wrist, still smarting from the grip of the large man, was a painful reminder, yet the surroundings remained peacefully indifferent to her troubled heart.

She relaxed.

Thoughts of safety washed over her, and her body grew weak.

“How fortunate…”

Passers-by are like that.

Even the street lamps are moving.

Is it safe now…?

‘The street lamp is moving…?’

Yuria touched the lying floor.

The floor felt soft to the touch. When she looked down, she saw a pink and glamorous cushion.

“Uh…?”

Yuria felt a sense of unease.

As she filled her mind with worries, she felt a faint vibration from her back.

A sharp yet relaxed voice came from next to her, like that of a cat.

“It’s narrow….”

Princess Olivia, who was sitting in the corner of the carriage, hunched her shoulders and appeared in Yuria’s sight.

Olivia, wearing a black dress on her white hair.

When their eyes met, Olivia turned her head awkwardly towards the outside.

“The weather is…. nice.”

Yuria’s head throbbed at the sight of the princess speaking awkwardly while looking at the darkening sky.

Since when has she been like this?

Yuria had come for a preliminary survey with Mikhail and Ruin, but while the two went to buy a gift for a brief moment, something happened.

Yuria saw a small beggar put the pouch containing the coins into a tin can, and then she accidentally discovered him getting hit in the alley and chased after him…

Ah.

As the puzzle pieces of her memory fit together in her mind, her vision began to widen.

-Ask!

-…I have something to say.

-Ask…!

Her face flushed hotly.

‘She’s gone mad…!’

Finally, the red-haired butler came into Yuria’s view. The butler named Ricardo, who was sweating and pulling the carriage with vigor.

‘Once again…causing trouble.’

Ricardo turned around, confirming that I had woken up, and greeted with a small laugh.

“Have you woken up?”

A voice filled with concern.

It was the voice that had supported me when I was feeling down at the academy.

“Sorry for fainting suddenly… it was rude of me.”

“…Just leave it be.”

“I didn’t think about that. hahahaha…”

Ricardo, who was pedaling the rickshaw, awkwardly laughed and apologized. He led the conversation by saying things like how sorry he was for laying me down in a humble place and if my buttocks were uncomfortable.

It was awkward.

Sitting on the rickshaw was also awkward.

And the debt I owed Ricardo was also on my mind, once again.

“Ha… I’m going crazy.”

I couldn’t lift my head.

It was awkward.

And I didn’t know what to say.

I should say thank you, but the words didn’t come out of my mouth. Maybe it was because of my stubbornness, or because there was a noble lady next to me.

I didn’t know what expression to make.

-Sigh…

“Uh… um…”

Olivia is watching my every move.

I couldn’t casually strike up a conversation.

She sent me a look that said, “Please don’t talk to me.”

As the rickshaw passed over a bump, my buttocks let out a “thud” sound.

“Ouch…”

Seeing my grimaced expression, Olivia went further to the side and timidly tapped the rickshaw floor.

“Sit here…”

My harsh voice reflexively came out.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Olivia turned her head sullenly and muttered.

“It’s my rickshaw…”

I don’t know what to say to Olivia.

To Olivia, who tormented my past… I didn’t think any good words would come out.

I didn’t want to pretend like nothing happened, and I had decided not to forgive others like a fool after what happened between the two of us.

Sitting crouched in the car, I waited for time to pass.

When Olivia started to doze off, Ricardo, with his red tousled hair, gently lay her down in the corner of the car and said, “You must have been very surprised.”

“…”

Her lips didn’t move in response to the sudden words of comfort. Asking gently would be unfair.

She just looked at her palm in silence.

Her fingers, fidgeting and picking at her nails, seemed to be feeling the shame deeply.

Ricardo awkwardly smiled and changed the subject of the conversation.

“Where are your companions?”

“…They are in the square.”

“The square? You came the complete opposite way. Who did you come with?”

“Michael and Luan.”

Ricardo remained silent.

Awkwardly, he mumbled, “I see,” and quietly headed towards the square.

By the time her companions searching for her began to appear.

Ricardo, who had kept silent, left the car in an empty place and opened his mouth.

With a small and quiet voice.

“Yuria, are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

His concerned voice sounded more sweet than ever. Why does it resonate so deeply, even when he’s speaking formally?

She didn’t like how her heart was pounding.

Ricardo took a deep breath and said, “It seems like we always meet in these kinds of situations, and I’m always worried.”

Always…

Doubts began to form.

Doubts about him showing up as a hero in moments of danger every time. Yuria was about to ask Ricardo about it, but he spoke first, providing an answer to her doubts.

“Just in case you’re wondering, this is not something I made up.”

“Ah… I know.”

“It’s written all over your face, full of suspicion.”

Yuria covered her face with her hands.

As if it was so obvious. She thought.

Ricardo awkwardly smiled and reached out his hand towards me, who was sitting in the rear car.

“Can you walk?”

“…Yes.”

“Thank goodness.”

I looked out at the plaza. When I saw Ruin running around frantically, trying to find the disappeared me, I waved my hand. I slowly raised my hand, signaling him not to worry, that I was here.

“Just a moment.”

Ricardo carefully grabbed my wrist with an urgent voice. Seeing the bruise on my wrist, he let out a deep sigh.

My heart trembled.

“What is this?”

“Ah… It seems like I got hurt earlier. It’s okay.”

“What do you mean it’s okay…!”

Ricardo’s genuine irritation echoed in my ears. Taking out ointment from his bag with just his palm, Ricardo squeezed the ointment into his hand and roughly said,

“What do you mean it’s okay? Your wrist is bruised.”

He had said the same thing when I was being harassed by the noble girls and crying.

– Are you here? You run so fast.

– Why… did you follow me?

– This is something important, isn’t it?

I remembered the face of the red-haired maid who picked up the pendant thrown into the pond by the noble girls and tightly clenched it in her hand, while laughing foolishly.

The image of her coming with seaweed on her head and presenting my mother’s heirloom. It keeps overlapping.

-Sob… Th-thank you…!

-Why are you crying again?

-I… I’m not crying.

– You’re such a fool. Really.

Every time, I get confused. Is this person really a bad person, or a kind person who acts well?

It keeps making me misunderstand.

“All right. Don’t carry anything heavy, and have Ruiz get you some water.”

Ricardo knelt down and applied ointment to his wrist. Watching him crouch and apply the ointment felt strange and reminded her of the beginning of the semester when she first thought of Ricardo.

Ricardo nagged.

It wasn’t the kind of nagging that Mikhail or Lwin used to do, but a very practical one.

“Why are you going in there when you can’t even catch a goblin by yourself?”

“Just a goblin…”

“A person who hasn’t even learned Fireball trying to catch a goblin.”

“…”

“It could have been really dangerous.”

Yuria responded to Ricardo’s words. She thought she had done the right thing. She had learned that in the academy and had lived believing that doing the right thing was justice.

Yuria expressed her annoyance to Ricardo.

“Even so, if it weren’t for me, that kid would have kept getting beaten. He might have gone hungry tonight.”

“It’s possible. He could have been beaten to death or had the money he begged for stolen, leaving him hungry and crying tonight.”

Ricardo said it emotionlessly, as if it was nothing.

Just like he himself.

“But, Yuria, you were almost in danger.”

Her fists clenched.

Why does he worry about me?

You’re the one who’s been tormenting me.

If he had been consistent, she could at least hate him.

So she expressed her annoyance even more.

“However, you can instill hope. Hope for tomorrow. Hope that there aren’t only bad people in the world. Somewhere in the world, there are proper adults…!”

Ricardo awkwardly smiled and said.

“Still, it was dangerous, wasn’t it?”

Ricardo turned away, looking at the brightly lit square.

As the lamplight cast a chilling light on Ricardo, Yuria swallowed hard.

“What if, in that one in a million chance, Yuria is wrong?”

“Wrong?”

“Excuse me?”

“What if I’m the one at fault? Isn’t that what you want, Mr. Ricardo? Even now, at the Academy, aren’t you hoping I’ll make a mistake?”

Ricardo awkwardly smiled, scratching his head. He muttered, “Well, I suppose…”

“But if something were to happen to you, Yuria, it would hurt me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just like that.”

Ricardo casually turned around and pushed the stroller. As he gently laid the sleeping young lady’s head on the soft cushion, he continued to walk forward silently and said, “And, Yuria.”

Ricardo hesitated with his words. He stared at the alley ahead in silence, gripping the handle tightly.

“Not everyone is good, Yuria.”

Ricardo looked at the square. When he saw Ruin’s face as he noticed me and ran towards us, he lowered his head and pushed the stroller.

Ricardo, gradually moving away, said to me one last time, “Don’t be too naive.”

His words carried various meanings.

I thought I couldn’t control it.

And at the same time, my heart raced. Yuria asked Ricardo, who was leaving.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really a bad person?”

Ricardo answered with a small smile.

“Yes. I’m a very bad person.”

***

A dark alley where the evening shadows had fallen.

The noisy conversations of the street urchins echoed through the quiet of the early morning.

The rowdy laughter and stories that spread in the late-night alley were a time for each one to boast about who was more trash.

“If it weren’t for that guy, we could have made a lot of money.”

“hahahaha, this little brat’s acting skills are improving day by day.”

“Looks like I need to learn some acting from him. I thought I’d get caught for sure.”

“hahahahaha! Are you okay with the hit you took earlier?”

– That’s right, and if you say it hurts, you should have died a long time ago.

They were hooligans eyeing Yuriya.

Starting with rumors about Yuriya, the hooligans’ talk escalated to crossing the line.

From a corner of the alley, a chilly voice was heard.

“Do you guys think the same way?”

A black shadow loomed at the entrance of the alley. The moonlight concealed the red-haired man’s face.

The hooligans drew daggers from their sleeves. The sharpened blade glistened with red hair.

“It seems like your calculations are off, right?”

The red-haired man approached, dragging his sword on the ground. Ssreeek. The sharp sound of the blade scraping against the ground echoed in the alley.

“You have to do bad things while looking at your opponent. That’s the only way to survive on these streets for long.”

I raised my sword.

To settle the earlier calculation.

I saw familiar faces.

The kid Yuriya had saved.

The big man who had grabbed Yuriya’s wrist.

Even the skinny guy who had sprinkled powder on a handkerchief.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at their frightened expressions.

I looked at them and said, “I won’t kill you. I’m not that bad of a person…”

“Instead, give up your business. It should be enough for the cost of your lives.”

The red-haired man became soaked in blood.

*

Groans could be heard.

The ground was drenched with blood, and the hooligans were carrying their fallen comrade back into the deep alley.

-Thud… thud…

A new customer is coming.

A man whose silhouette is cast as a tiny shadow in the moonlit alley.

I looked at him and said, “It’s been a while.”

The supporting male lead with silver hair holding a sword.

“Mr. Mikhail.”

He was staring at me as if he had seen trash.