The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 115

Olivia, who had been dazed by the sudden appearance of the Blue Window, barely managed to hold on to her senses at the faint sound of Ricardo’s labored groans.

“Haa… haa…”

Whether he was in great pain, Ricardo’s raspy breathing reached Olivia’s ears faintly.

Olivia flustered, unable to do anything.

She shook her head in panic, alternating her gaze between her trembling hands.

“That…”

Olivia was scared.

Because Ricardo, who had always shown only a healthy appearance, was in pain. The ominous words of the Blue Window were frightening, but what scared her more was the fact that Ricardo was suffering.

He always gave her a cheerful smile.

Even when he tripped and fell, he would joke with a calm smile, “Hmm. It seems my head is harder than the stones.” Seeing Ricardo in pain was unfamiliar to her.

It wasn’t a hallucination from the Blue Window; this was the first time Olivia saw Ricardo suffering in reality.

Ricardo always smiled and hated showing any signs of weakness. That made her even more flustered and scared.

What should she do?

What should she start with to ease Ricardo’s pain? She knew nothing.

Olivia had always been the one receiving care, and as a noble, she had never thought of taking care of someone else. Her mind felt like a blank sheet of paper.

“Uh… what should I do?”

To Olivia, the realm of caregiving was as unfamiliar as an uncharted world. That made it even scarier, as if her mind had burned to ashes.

With trembling hands, Olivia clambered toward the bed Ricardo was lying on, letting out little grunts.

It was dauntingly high for her to climb on her own, but she felt she had to see Ricardo’s face to feel reassured.

Though she couldn’t do anything for him, Olivia thought that just seeing Ricardo’s face might ease her trembling feelings a little. She gripped the bed sheet and mustered her strength.

“Eeeek…! Get up!”

The sheet was slippery.

The slippery sheet easily slipped out of Olivia’s grasp, making her gritted effort seem futile.

The old sheet, unable to bear the weight, tore, and once, Olivia’s lack of strength caused her to fall.

With repeated failures, small scratches began to appear on Olivia’s hands. They weren’t wounds deep enough to bleed, but they stung when touched by water.

Normally, Olivia would have whined, saying, “My pretty fingers are ruined,” and thrown a small tantrum, but right now, such trivial injuries didn’t matter at all.

“Get up…!”

After about five minutes of repeatedly trying to climb the bed, Olivia’s body finally began to ascend to where Ricardo was lying.

Sweat formed on her body.

It was hot and frustrating.

But the thought of finally being able to see Ricardo’s face brought a small smile to Olivia’s lips.

“Haa… haa… I made it up.”

Olivia wiped the beads of sweat forming on her forehead with her sleeve and looked at Ricardo lying on the bed.

“Ricardo… are you asleep?”

“Wheeze… wheeze…”

“Eeeek…”

Ricardo looked unwell.

His flawless white skin was flushed, and his exhaled breaths were rough, as if he were holding a hot iron ball in his mouth.

The sharp sound of his breathing echoed in Olivia’s ears, making her shrink her shoulders. She whispered softly into Ricardo’s ear.

“Ricardo, are you in pain?”

“…”

“You shouldn’t be in pain….”

Olivia racked her brain.

‘What should I do now…?’

Though she had climbed up, she hadn’t made any concrete plans about what to do next.

Olivia furrowed her brow and tried to recall the past. She repeatedly thought about her memories, wondering, ‘What did Ricardo do for me in times like this?’

“When I was sick…”

Hesitantly, Olivia brought her hand to Ricardo’s forehead.

When she had caught a cold, the first thing Ricardo had done was place his hand on her forehead. Thinking of the clumsy memories that lingered in her mind, Olivia murmured.

“I’ll check your temperature.”

Slowly… the moment Olivia’s small, delicate palm touched Ricardo’s forehead.

“Ah… it’s hot.”

Olivia quickly withdrew her hand.

It was too hot.

Ricardo’s forehead was burning so intensely, like grabbing the handle of a hot pot, that Olivia instinctively pulled her hand away.

An awkward silence filled the air.

Though she was clearly the only one unscathed in the room, Olivia felt deeply embarrassed by her clumsy actions and lowered her head, whining softly.

“Uh… um… sorry?”

Olivia muttered a small apology toward the unresponsive Ricardo, asking him to understand because she was startled.

It was her first time taking care of someone.

And Ricardo, who was sick, was at fault too.

So.

Olivia murmured softly, asking him to understand.

Olivia, with a bitter smile at her own pitiful inability to do anything, gently stroked Ricardo’s head.

Ricardo’s trembling hair.

Despite not receiving any care, it was incredibly soft. So soft that she wanted to keep stroking it.

It was always Ricardo who had stroked her hair, but stroking Ricardo’s hair for the first time didn’t feel bad at all.

On the contrary, it felt nice, like stroking a fluffy teddy bear.

The warmth of Ricardo’s fever lingered at her fingertips.

And Ricardo’s labored groans tightened Olivia’s chest.

“Why… are you in pain?”

They had promised to tell each other if they were in pain.

Olivia grew angry at the stubbornness of her foolish butler, who broke their promise.

Though she had always grumbled and gotten angry, Ricardo was her one and only butler and a precious friend who had always been by her side. Olivia clenched her fist at Ricardo’s foolishness in breaking their promise.

“Why are you so foolish…”

She hadn’t done anything for him.

She had only received from him.

She had only ever scolded him.

Her voice kept trembling.

Perhaps because her emotions were heightened.

Perhaps because she was upset to see Ricardo in pain. She didn’t know, but her voice kept trembling like a fool’s.

She didn’t understand why Ricardo was so kind to someone as foolish as her, and she was annoyed at herself for taking his care for granted.

She had never once questioned the reason behind Ricardo’s devotion.

Since childhood, she had taken his constant devotion for granted, and now Olivia felt ashamed of herself.

She had given nothing.

She had only taken.

She had only caused trouble.

That was why she was angry at her pathetic self.

And…

She was terrified of the story the Blue Window had shown her.

Because she didn’t know how she would appear.

Her past self…

The past self who had taken Ricardo’s devotion for granted…

Of course, even now, she was a shameless woman who took his devotion for granted, but back then, she had been colder to him than she was now. She was afraid of what terrible things she might have done to Ricardo when he was sick.

The most terrifying future.

And the mistake she most wanted to avoid.

Her past self…

She knew that her past self would have abandoned Ricardo in a cruel way.

She knew well that her past self wouldn’t even have done something as simple as placing a hand on the forehead of a sick person, and that terrified Olivia.

“Ricardo…”

Olivia looked at Ricardo.

“Don’t get sick. We were supposed to play today.”

Ricardo’s face, which always greeted her with a bright smile, seemed unusually fragile today.

Even his faint breaths.

Even his sweat-drenched body.

So Olivia decided to do what had made her feel the best when she was sick.

Since nursing was something difficult and unfamiliar to her, she decided to gift Ricardo the joyful memory she remembered.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Olivia spoke in a trembling voice.

“I…”

Olivia hugged Ricardo tightly.

She held him so close that it felt like her chest might burst.

“I’ll hold you.”

When Mikhail had broken her heart, Ricardo’s warm embrace had comforted Olivia, and she had loved it.

Shameless Olivia shyly returned the affection she had received from Ricardo.

“Get well soon…”

-Thump… Thump…

About ten minutes passed as the sound of a pounding heartbeat filled the silent room.

Olivia, who had dozed off, felt a familiar touch on her head.

Gently. A caring hand tidied Olivia’s disheveled hair. Rubbing her eyes, Olivia lifted her head toward the familiar touch.

It resonated.

The gentle voice she always heard.

“Young Lady, this kind of flirting is hard on a butler’s heart, you know.”

Ricardo, with a weak smile, uttered the playful words.

“Are you trying to kill me with cardiac arrest?”

The moment her eyes met Ricardo’s, a clear notification rang in Olivia’s ears.

-Ding!

[Successfully nursed Ricardo to satisfaction. (1/1)]

Olivia couldn’t lift her head.

Because it was absurd.

And because she felt sorry.

She couldn’t lift her head.

“Honestly…”

What a foolish person.