The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 125

The Girls’ Dormitory.

A place filled with dreams and hope, where the laughter of an excited girl echoed.

“Wow…”

A girl lay on the bed, clutching her trembling chest.

The girl with pink hair was Yuria, the heroine of ‘The Academy’s Strongest Favor Me.’

Feeling good since morning, Yuria lay on the bed, staring at a sealed letter.

[Sender: Ricardo]

Holding the letter, which carried the scent of lilac perfume and a red seal, close to her chest, Yuria smiled pleasantly in the morning sunlight.

It was the first letter she had ever received from Ricardo. Even during her time at the Academy, she had never received one.

She didn’t know what it contained, but Yuria was sure it wouldn’t be something stiff or formal.

Today’s letter marked the beginning of something different from before.

Though things were still awkward and lingering feelings remained in their hearts, starting from the point of being ‘friends’ felt like a different kind of closeness to Yuria.

How should she put it? Perhaps it was a feeling of excitement.

Yuria felt emotions she had never experienced with others from just one letter.

Though things were still awkward with Ricardo, Yuria held onto the hope that someday, they could approach each other like before.

She didn’t want to keep bringing up the accursed karma of the past forever. It would take time, but someday… Yuria shyly smiled and hugged the letter tightly again, hoping that the halted relationship with him could progress.

“Ha… This feels nice.”

What could be written in the letter?

Surely, it would start with a greeting expressing concern for her health in the cold weather. Something like, ‘The weather in Hamel is very cold. I hope you haven’t caught a cold in this chilly winter.’

And then, the next line might begin with trivial stories.

Lighthearted tales of daily life.

Perhaps about what he ate today.

Or amusing things she didn’t know about, written casually.

And maybe, he’d mention that he missed her…

“What am I thinking…”

Her face flushed as she scolded herself for her silly thoughts.

Like a sausage side dish she wanted to savor slowly, she wanted to cherish and hold onto this feeling. Despite once disliking him, she couldn’t stop feeling excited, and a smile lingered on her lips like a fool.

Yuria wanted to indulge in this feeling a little longer. Somehow… this time of excitement was just too good.

“I don’t know…”

Yuria liked Ricardo.

Though she was shy and reserved, when it came to the realm of love, she was quick to be honest with herself.

Yuria admitted that she liked men with red hair, a cold appearance, and a fiery personality.

She couldn’t pinpoint the exact time or date, but at some point, Ricardo began appearing in her dreams, and she liked how he would sit beside her when she ate alone in solitude.

No matter what others said.

Even if people sneered, calling them a pair of lowly individuals, Yuria liked Ricardo’s kind smile.

It made sense, after all.

There was no one else by her side.

Though Mikhail and Ruin, now her closest friends, were by her side now, they hadn’t been there during her difficult times. Perhaps that was why she relied on and liked Ricardo even more.

With an excited smile, Yuria gently closed her eyes.

She kept thinking about it.

When she was crying at the recycling station, Ricardo had approached her nonchalantly and started a conversation. His calm demeanor lingered vividly in her mind.

When she was being bullied, Ricardo had quietly approached her and asked, “Why are you crying here?” His calm voice seemed to echo clearly whenever she closed her eyes.

Perhaps, little by little, I began to open my heart to Ricardo.

Of course, a big part of it was that Ricardo’s face matched her ideal type, but she also felt a masculinity in him that she couldn’t find in Mikhail or Ruin.

Though they were all friends, the weight they carried felt different. Back when they weren’t close, Mikhail, Ruin, and even the Crown Prince had merely been bystanders.

That’s why she had been so disappointed in Ricardo.

She had been even more devastated by Ricardo’s cold behavior when he suddenly turned distant.

And.

She felt an even greater guilt for stabbing Ricardo with her own hands. He had been hated for something he didn’t do and criticized for his courage.

What should she say? Yuria couldn’t find the correct answer.

Exhaling, Yuria opened the envelope with trembling hands.

A letter from Ricardo.

Yuria had no idea what Ricardo might have written.

That’s why she felt even more anticipation.

And nervousness.

-Rip…

Sliding the letter paper out of the envelope, Yuria closed her eyes tightly with an excited heart.

She counted to three in her mind.

One.

Two.

Three.

What could it be…

What words might it contain?

With an excited heart, Yuria opened her eyes, and the first thing she uttered was an exclamation filled with complex emotions.

“…Huh?”

Seeing the contents of the letter, Yuria let out a startled sound.

And for good reason.

“What did he write?”

She couldn’t read it.

Ricardo had warned her about his terrible handwriting, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

Yuria furrowed her brow, struggling to read the letter.

“Hel…lo… there…”

For the first time, Yuria was grateful for the boring ancient language classes she had taken. She had thought they were useless, but now, they were proving valuable.

Thankful that her studies were helping her read Ricardo’s letter, Yuria praised her past self. ‘I’m glad I endured and learned.’

Squinting her eyes, Yuria put in all her effort to read the letter.

It was precious.

Even with the terrible handwriting.

For Yuria, who had grasped the thread of her first love, it was happiness.

*

Morning at the glorious estate.

Two foolish ones, sitting on the bed with the Young Lady, were enjoying the warmth of black tea and the joy of success.

“Slurp… Hmm… It has quite a heavy flavor.”

“Indeed… Bitter yet rich.”

Having always drunk cheap green tea, the Young Lady, now sipping expensive black tea, spoke with refined vocabulary. With her fingers hooked around the teacup handle, she took a ‘slurp,’ felt the cold breeze, and took another ‘slurp,’ embodying the image of a noble.

They say the environment shapes a person. It seemed to me that money was what turned the Young Lady and me into people.

Sipping the black tea crafted with a craftsman’s touch, the Young Lady and I exchanged elegant smiles.

It felt as though we understood each other.

What we both desired, that is.

“I can’t taste anything.”

“Yeah. It used to be delicious, but now it feels bland and tasteless.”

Setting down her teacup, the Young Lady offered a wise conclusion. She admitted that her palate, accustomed to cheap food, wasn’t ready for such luxurious black tea.

Of course, I felt the same way.

It was undoubtedly delicious, but something felt lacking. I wasn’t particularly interested in tea, so I couldn’t pinpoint it, but it wasn’t to my taste.

With a truthful brow furrowed, the Young Lady stuck out her tongue and spoke to me.

“Let’s have cocoa.”

“I’ll prepare two cups, including mine.”

“Add marshmallows to mine.”

“That’s not allowed; you’ll gain weight.”

With a sullen expression, the Young Lady lowered her head but nodded at the butler’s firm words.

“Then chocolate.”

“That’s even more unacceptable.”

“Boring.”

The Young Lady was someone whose whims outweighed her needs.

At that moment, as I was descending with the cup of black tea still in hand,

The Young Lady, who had been staring blankly out the window, suddenly shouted upon seeing Gomtangi roaming freely in the yard.

-Gooooom!

“Be quiet!”

-Gooooom!

“I said, be quiet!”

“Just leave it be. Isn’t she just excited?”

“But it’s still noisy.”

The Young Lady threw a piece of jerky from her treasure pouch at Gomtangi, telling her to shut up. Perhaps because she was from a wealthy family, she made sure to reward generously, and I nodded in acknowledgment.

But.

Why is Gomtangi barking?

Gomtangi rarely has a reason to bark.

When Gomtangi barks, it usually means there’s a guest at the estate, but my firm belief was that no one would visit this estate.

After all, all the debts had been paid off, so there was no reason for debt collectors to come.

I tilted my head in confusion and walked toward the Young Lady.

“Didn’t you hear something?”

The Young Lady, resting her chin on the windowsill, replied with an indifferent expression.

“No.”

“Really?”

At that moment, a man’s shout echoed from the window.

-Let go…!

Recognizing the strangely familiar voice, I furrowed my brow in confusion and looked at the Young Lady.

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

-Let go! You bear brat!

-Bear.

-I said, let go!

-Gomgom!

-Let go before I scorch you with fire…!

-Gooooom!

“Young Lady?”

The Young Lady pretended not to hear the man’s screams coming from outside the window. She simply stared blankly with a calm expression.

As if nothing was wrong, the Young Lady, who was curiously gazing outside, spoke to me.

“Gomtangi is playing with grass.”

“Grass?”

“Yeah… A toy resembling green algae came by.”

I slowly turned to look out the window.

And I saw Gomtangi holding onto someone’s pants and strutting across the yard.

“Ah.”

I turned around and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

“It’s nothing.”

I was startled, thinking it was a guest, but thankfully, it wasn’t.

That’s not a guest, after all.

I silently cheered for Gomtangi, hoping she would thoroughly clean up the yard.