The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 124

Crackle…

The sound of firewood burning echoed in the Young Lady’s room.

The Young Lady, who had woken from a nightmare, leaned against my shoulders, broader than the Pacific Ocean, and opened her drowsy eyes.

Late into the night, the battle between the Young Lady, who tried to undress me, and the possessor, filled with Confucian ideals, dragged on. Eventually, as night fell, the exhausted Young Lady raised a white flag and proposed a truce.

-I won’t look! It’s dirty and unfair…!

-I must be the only butler in the world being sexually harassed by the lady I serve.

-What are you saying! You even know the color of my underwear.

-That’s because I prepare them for you, isn’t it? For reference, today it’s a modest sky-blue teddy bear….

-Eeeek! Shut up!

As always, the Young Lady loved playing pranks that exceeded my expectations.

Waking up from a dream and saying she wanted to see her butler naked—what kind of nonsense was that? It was harmless sexual harassment, really.

Besides, I’d been secretly snacking on her treats every night lately, so my abs had faded, making it a bit embarrassing to show them. After all, it was a butler’s duty to reveal impressive abs only when properly prepared.

If she had asked a month ago, I might have feigned shyness while subtly showing off my abs. But after being subjected to food harassment at Desmond, my faded abs were now something I found quite difficult to display to the Young Lady.

The Young Lady, who couldn’t possibly understand a butler’s desire to always present his best self, looked at me with coy eyes.

“I hate you.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“I still hate you.”

“I can show you my arm, though.”

Intrigued, the Young Lady rolled her eyes and stared at my rough hands.

“You’ll show me?”

“It’s just an arm, so why are you saying it so suggestively?”

“That’s because Ricardo is a pervert.”

“…That’s.”

Hard to deny.

The Young Lady rolled up my sleeve and stared blankly at my arm, where veins bulged. Looking at the arm that pulsed with the heartbeat, she smiled in relief and murmured, “Oh…”

Then, she poked it with her finger.

“Hmm.”

And then… she bit it.

“Young Lady.”

“Hmm?”

The Young Lady, still biting my arm, rolled her eyes to look at me. My arm, now covered in saliva, was screaming in protest.

It felt both enviable and irritating at the same time.

“This isn’t for eating.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you biting it?”

“Testing if it’s healthy.”

Meeting my ambiguous gaze, the Young Lady, perhaps embarrassed, released her bite and wiped the saliva from her lips.

I couldn’t understand why she didn’t wipe the saliva off my arm, but I thought to myself that, in terms of cleanliness, she was the world’s worst villainess.

“You pass.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yes.”

Still, hearing that I passed was a relief, I suppose.

The Young Lady nodded and leaned against my shoulder again, staring at the flickering bonfire.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

The Young Lady, who had just given me a passing grade, looked melancholic. I wondered if it was because the passing grade wasn’t entertaining enough, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Perhaps still unable to escape her nightmare, the Young Lady, teary-eyed, kept holding my hand and continued her seductive flirting.

“You know.”

“I’m listening, but could you let go of my hand first?”

“Why?”

“Because having the most beautiful woman in the world hold my hand is such an honor that I can’t control my heart. I’m afraid I might collapse from a heart attack.”

“Hehe… What are you saying?”

Pleased by the compliment, the Young Lady smiled a small smile and held my hand even tighter.

“No… Sigh…”

I had meant it sincerely, but it seemed the Young Lady took it as a joke. Honestly, my heart might really give out, but the Young Lady, with her unnecessarily seductive breathing, buried her face in my shoulder and swallowed her pleasant smile.

Staring at the softly flickering bonfire, the Young Lady asked me in a low voice.

“There’s something I’ve been curious about. Can I ask?”

“If you ask, it will hurt.”

-Softly…

Hearing my lame joke, the Young Lady opened her eyes sharply. It was a joke I had studied from books, but her cold reaction made me feel strangely disappointed, and I let out an empty laugh.

“Just kidding.”

“It’s not funny, so stop.”

“I’ll try to refrain.”

“Don’t try, just don’t do it.”

“Hmm…”

The Young Lady was firm.

A brief silence followed, and I wondered what kind of question she was going to ask. Judging by the atmosphere she set, it seemed like it would be a rather heavy topic.

Pretending to deliberate, I nodded.

“Depending on the question, I’ll answer.”

“Expensive.”

“Since the Young Lady I serve is priceless, I hope you understand that I must set a high rate.”

“…Alright.”

The Young Lady, who enjoyed such jokes, smiled a small smile and shyly lowered her head.

“You know.”

“Yes.”

“Ricardo, you…”

The Young Lady exhaled deeply and asked in a trembling voice.

“Why are you by my side?”

“That’s quite a sharp question.”

“I decided I had to ask today.”

“Couldn’t it be a little less piercing?”

“I don’t think I can, because today’s nightmare was too scary.”

“That’s… a terrible nightmare, then.”

The Young Lady lowered her head, waiting for an answer. Her fingers fidgeted nervously in my tightly held hand, as if she was afraid to hear the response.

From her trembling touch, I could sense her worry—whether I was staying by her side because of the Head of the Household’s request, or perhaps because I was determined to collect overdue wages.

The Young Lady explained once more why she was asking such a question, her small, trembling voice making her seem like a bad person. She wondered aloud if there was any reason for me to stay by her side, now that her ties were severed.

“I don’t listen, I have no money, so why are you by my side?”

“Hmm…”

“I can’t even walk anymore, and like you said, Ricardo, my personality is awful, so why…”

The Young Lady’s voice was as small as a cat hiding in a mouse hole. It felt both heavy and desperate, as if she were pleading for me not to leave.

“Why are you by my side? You know, Ricardo… I can’t do anything for you anymore.”

“I can’t buy you fancy clothes like before, or indulge in luxuries, or even proudly tell others that you serve the Young Lady of the House of Desmond. So why are you staying?”

Listening to the Young Lady’s lament without responding, I was quite surprised.

For a villainess, her self-awareness was remarkable.

I was taken aback that the Young Lady, who always lived basking in her own greatness, was having such thoughts. At the same time, I felt guilty for making her say such things.

I wondered if she wouldn’t have needed to say this if I had worked harder, and I felt a pang of regret.

The silence between us, filled only with the sound of firewood burning, stretched on.

The silence born from her fear of what she might hear and my hesitation over what to say made our clasped hands sweat.

Had a single log burned completely in that silence? With difficulty, I opened my mouth.

“Indeed.”

Foolish as it may sound, as always, my answer began with “Indeed.”

Because I didn’t know the reason either.

If I had truly sought success as the Young Lady mentioned, I would have abandoned her long ago and pursued a different path. That way, I could have made a name for myself as a prodigy surpassing Yuria and Mikhail.

Yet, I valued the existence of the Young Lady more than success.

Honor.

Wealth.

Success.

These things paled in comparison to the joy I found in spending time with the Young Lady. Carefully, in a calm voice, I offered the answer she had been waiting for.

“I think being by the side of someone as radiant as you has raised my standards.”

“…”

“Isn’t it like a display case filled with many gems?”

“Gems…?”

“Yes, gems. Among the many gems, when you find one that truly catches your eye, the others simply fade into the background. To me, you are that gem.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Hmm. It means I prefer you over success.”

“…”

“It would be troublesome if you fell for me. I’m a greedy person, after all.”

“Shameless.”

“What can I say? I’m just that great.”

Tossing out a silly joke, I smiled.

“Anyway, I enjoy being with you, Young Lady.”

It was embarrassing and cringeworthy to say such things aloud, but the soft atmosphere created by the bonfire made it easier to voice such sentiments.

“The bond we’ve shared since childhood has polished the luster of the gem.”

“The intense fistfight we had during our first meeting felt like carving a raw gemstone out of an ordinary rock.”

“And…”

Pinching the Young Lady’s cheek, I gazed at the flickering bonfire.

“What can I do when the raw gemstone that is you is so beautiful? Gems are meant to bring joy just by looking at them, aren’t they?”

“Ugh… Let go.”

“No. Let’s polish this gem’s shine a bit since it’s been a while.”

“Ughhh! It’s going to tear!”

“Puhaha!”

With a small smile, I looked at the Young Lady.

“This is what I like. Watching you live with such pride is entertaining.”

My old stories are dull.

The tales from my first meeting with the Young Lady to now feel uninteresting and mundane.

So, I plan to set aside the stories of the past for now.

Sometimes, I ponder deeply about the reason I serve the Young Lady.

Why would I stay by the side of someone who grumbles and gets annoyed so often?

But.

To me, the Young Lady was like a shining gem. Though her personality could be a handful, the memories of sitting beside her as a filthy beggar in the slums, begging together, were the funniest and most radiant moments.

Perhaps that’s why I feel so attached to her.

Suddenly, memories of the past came flooding back.

The image of the Young Lady dozing off at her desk during etiquette training.

On a day when the warm sunshine illuminated her. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

-Ah. This is driving me crazy.

She was like the spring day’s sunlight.