The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 116

Ricardo’s voice could be heard.

A voice that seemed like it would take ages to hear again scratched at Olivia’s ears like an awl scraping against an old pot, carrying a metallic tone.

The first words, always spoken in a bright voice, began as they always did, carefully gauging her mood.

Ricardo’s playful tone, which always managed to ease her heavy heart, started with a faint underline to lift her spirits, regardless of his own condition.

“Young Lady, this kind of flirting really hurts a butler’s heart, you know.”

The faint underline Ricardo drew left a scratch of laughter on Olivia’s heart, which had been shrouded in darkness.

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

The small smile he let out layered over the underline, drawing a helpless laugh from her.

At the same time, a notification sounded.

[Nursing Ricardo to satisfaction. (1/1)]

It generously rated her poor nursing efforts—efforts that hadn’t even included medicine, warm water, or a hand on his forehead.

Olivia couldn’t lift her head.

“What is this…?”

“What do you mean? It’s my review of waking up in the arms of the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Hmm… Could you do it more often from now on?”

Ricardo uttered immature words.

Covering his mouth, he teased his master lightly while trying to keep his cold from spreading.

Olivia bit her lip at Ricardo’s considerate gesture, urging her to stay away so she wouldn’t catch his cold.

Ricardo scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he glanced at the clock.

“Apologies. I must have overslept because I had such sweet dreams.”

Seeing Ricardo cautiously covering his mouth with his hand, Olivia lowered her head even further.

She found satisfaction in even the smallest actions.

She felt better because of the butler’s childish joke, meant to lift her gloomy mood.

Perhaps noticing her melancholy, Ricardo gently patted Olivia’s head and carefully opened his mouth to speak.

“How did you get here?”

“Gomtangi brought me.”

“As expected, she’s smart, just like her master.”

“She’s dumb.”

“…Are you talking about her master or Gomtangi?”

“Both.”

At Olivia’s firm answer, Ricardo let out an empty laugh and carefully pushed her shoulder away.

“You’ll catch a cold. Please go back.”

“It’s fine.”

“If there are two patients in the estate, it would be quite troublesome.”

“Even if it’s troublesome, it’s fine.”

“I’m saying it would trouble me.”

About an hour passed.

Ricardo gradually began to regain his energy.

The labored breathing, as if he had swallowed a heated iron ball, started to stabilize, and his unfocused, cloudy eyes began to clear.

Leaning against the bed, Ricardo pinched Olivia’s cheek with a playful smile.

Feeling the soft texture, Ricardo opened his mouth, and Olivia decided not to scold the particularly cheeky butler’s touch.

Because Ricardo was a patient.

She decided to let it slide for today.

“Wow~ I almost died. I even saw my late grandmother waving at me from across the river.”

“Ricardo, you don’t even have a grandmother.”

“It’s just a figure of speech.”

Stretching as if to feign normalcy, Ricardo’s trembling fingers betrayed his poor condition, something Olivia noticed immediately.

Even though she considered herself a fool who lacked awareness, she could at least tell that much.

His breathing was still rough.

If he were fine, he would have already gone to prepare breakfast, but Olivia knew he was stalling for time, lying in bed and spouting trivial words.

Olivia cautiously reached out her hand to Ricardo’s forehead.

“Does it hurt?”

“This kind of sudden action is called flirting, you know.”

“So… does it hurt?”

Ricardo placed his hand over Olivia’s and shook his head.

“No. I’m fine.”

Ricardo’s gentle smile accompanied the warmth of his fevered skin against Olivia’s palm.

Olivia felt as though her heart was shrinking.

“Don’t lie. You’re in pain.”

“I really am fine.”

Flashing his white teeth and flexing his sturdy biceps, Ricardo’s actions, having lost her trust, offered no comfort.

Olivia puffed up her cheeks and scolded Ricardo. Why was he breaking their promise? Didn’t they agree he would tell her if he was in pain? Filled with anger, Olivia spoke to Ricardo, who was awkwardly smiling.

“You promised to tell me if you were in pain.”

“…Haha…”

“How long has it been since we made that promise, and you’re already breaking it? Do you know how worried I was?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that… I was caught off guard because it came on so suddenly.”

“Liar.”

Olivia turned her head sharply, expressing her anger at Ricardo. A foolish butler like him wouldn’t understand even if she scolded him.

Always. Olivia knew Ricardo would never tell her he was in pain, no matter how many times it happened.

Even though she knew it wouldn’t help. Even though she knew she was clumsy and could only offer such inadequate nursing. Still… she wanted to do it.

That’s why she was even angrier, and her lips pouted involuntarily.

At the same time, she felt upset.

She felt useless for not even being able to bring Ricardo a cup of warm water.

Out of frustration, Olivia snapped at Ricardo in a brusque tone.

“Do you not trust me that much?”

“No. I trust you a lot.”

“If you trust me, then why don’t you tell me?”

“Because you would worry.”

Ricardo answered firmly.

“I dislike seeing you distressed more than I dislike being in pain myself.”

“I hate not knowing even more.”

“Then that’s unfortunate.”

As Olivia glared at Ricardo, who continued to give firm replies,

unable to endure the awkward atmosphere, Ricardo began to fumble with the blanket and tried to get up.

“I guess… I haven’t prepared breakfast yet. I should hurry and…”

“Don’t go!”

“Pardon?”

“Rest today.”

Ricardo gave an awkward smile and muttered a timid protest that he couldn’t do that.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“The honorable maid isn’t coming today, you know?”

“Then I’ll starve.”

“Oh…”

With his eyes shaped like crescents, Ricardo gave a dubious smile as if to say, “The Young Lady I know would die if she skipped a meal.”

Olivia shook her head firmly, declaring her resolve.

“Today, I’ll cook for you.”

“Pardon?”

“Porridge.”

“Did you say you’d kill me?”

“No!”

Rolling up her sleeves, Olivia spoke.

“I’ll make porridge for you.”

“Young Lady. I’m truly sorry, but…”

Ricardo spoke with a serious expression, his gaze conveying that no matter how unwell he was, he could never allow her to cook.

Taking a deep breath, Ricardo cautiously said to Olivia,

“Young Lady, your cooking is absolutely the worst.”

“Eeeek…!”

Olivia swung her small fists at Ricardo’s chest. Though she knew her feeble attacks wouldn’t faze his solid frame, she was furious at his infuriatingly dismissive tone.

“I’m going to cook!”

“I don’t want to die young. Do you remember when you claimed you made chocolate for Mikhail and forced me to eat it?”

“You ate it deliciously!”

“Collapsing isn’t what I’d call eating deliciously.”

Shaking his head, Ricardo gave a brief, despairing critique of Olivia’s cooking skills.

“I was confident in my poison resistance, but I never imagined it could be overcome. Perhaps thanks to my suffering, Mikhail’s life was saved. Not that he knows, of course.”

Olivia lowered her head and clenched her fists.

“So what!”

Huffing, Olivia hit Ricardo again, and in the face of her unyielding stubbornness, Ricardo finally raised the white flag.

Thus, the ‘porridge’ was made.

In front of Ricardo, who sat on the bed, was a bowl containing a mysterious black liquid.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Olivia held out the bowl to Ricardo.

“Here!”

“Judging by the color, it’s poison, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“Then torture?”

“Eeeek!! Just eat it!”

Ricardo tilted his head as he noticed the chocolate smeared on Olivia’s hands.

“Isn’t this just melted chocolate?”

“It is.”

“And you’re calling this porridge?”

“Chocolate porridge.”

Unable to access the kitchen, Olivia had melted the treasured chocolate from her pouch to make the porridge.

And then.

-Munch.

“Ack…!”

Ricardo fainted.

-Ding.

[Make porridge for Ricardo (1/1)]

Olivia’s cooking is terrible.

*

As always, night fell.

The night, which brought quiet news, was as silent as ever and carried with it a sense of fear.

Ricardo quickly regained his strength.

He claimed the porridge had helped.

Ricardo, who this time likened the experience to going on a date holding his grandmother’s hand, said that tasting the worst had increased his resistance and seemed oddly pleased.

“…Was it really that bad?”

Olivia tilted her head as she looked at the leftover porridge she had made. She considered taking a spoonful herself but…

Hearing Ricardo’s “Ack… If I die, please bury the forbidden books in my room with me,” she couldn’t bring herself to try it.

Lying on the bed, Olivia closed her eyes.

“Sigh…”

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Taking advantage of the chilling nighttime hours, the alarm clock rattled away.