The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 130

In the dark space.

Ruin, with his head lowered, clenched his teeth as he thought about what had happened with Hans.

The conversation he had with Hans on the day Hans escaped from the underground chamber was disturbing Ruin’s thoughts.

-Hey. Let me ask you one thing.

-…

-Why did you do it?

-…

-No matter how much I think about it, I just can’t understand.

-…

Hans hadn’t opened his mouth. He simply kept his lips tightly shut and his head bowed in response to the question.

Seeing him with his head lowered like a criminal, Ruin couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

He never imagined that the model student, who spent every day with a thick book tucked under his arm in the library, would end up like this.

-Why did you turn to dark magic? I’m asking you!

He never thought that Hans, who had always been soft-spoken, smiling, and too kind-hearted to even kill a bug, would plot something so sinister.

That’s why it was even harder to believe.

Perhaps he had clung to a sliver of hope.

Ruin knew that erasing the Tower Master’s magic and meeting Hans alone was a mistake.

Without the barrier, there was no telling what Hans might do. Hans was someone Ruin couldn’t handle, and the Tower Master had warned him to stay out of it for a reason.

He also knew that his friend had become a bad person.

That Hans was a criminal who had killed someone. Ruin was aware of it.

But the fall to darkness of an old friend wasn’t something he could easily accept, and it led him to make the foolish decision to erase the Tower Master’s magic. They had been close friends for over ten years. Ruin wanted to trust his own doubts.

-Why…

The childhood he had shared with Hans kept whispering feelings of mercy to Ruin.

-Why did you do it…?

The hope that his friend might have a reason for his actions began to surface.

The Tower Master always said this.

Why do you live without thinking?

The Tower Master had scolded him for foolishly losing his temper, causing incidents, and ruining things by making dumb choices when a little patience could have led to better outcomes.

It was an obvious truth.

I knew it too.

How bad I am at controlling my anger.

I knew that I was the kind of fool who would throw punches before speaking, who would try to solve problems with force rather than rational conversation, and that I had many flaws as a person.

But what could I do if that was the best way? That’s how I had lived until now, and that’s how I had been treated. I couldn’t change such a long-standing habit overnight.

Still, just this once, I had tried to stay calm.

I had tried to follow the Tower Master’s advice to hold back my anger and have a rational conversation with Hans.

Because I wanted to believe.

That there was another reason.

That there were unavoidable circumstances.

I wanted to hear from Hans himself that he had made that choice because of such circumstances.

Because he was my friend.

-Ha… Ruin.

But his friend didn’t say what Ruin wanted to hear and instead answered with a cold smile.

-Do you really not know?

The close friend who had been bowing his head let out a deep sigh and finally opened his tightly shut mouth. His voice, cracked from exhaustion over time, was filled with irritation and anger.

Hans spoke in a voice that suppressed his emotions. It sounded like he was gritting his teeth to hold back his anger, and Ruin could hear it clearly.

-Why did I do it?

-…

-Ruin, are you asking me why I did it?

Hans slowly lifted his drooping head, and his eyes were filled with deep hatred.

It was the first time. The first time Hans, who had always shown an innocent smile, wore such a cold expression.

The killing intent pouring out of the restrained Hans. It seemed as though the swamp of emotions he had suppressed for so long had intensified during his time in the dark prison.

-Clang!

The chains binding his hands clattered as Hans shouted.

-Don’t act so carefree. What do you even know to be spouting nonsense?

-That’s why…

-You don’t know anything.

-That’s why I’m asking! Why did you do it?!

-Ha… Seriously.

Hans let out a dry laugh.

It wasn’t a sneer but a hollow laugh that escaped as he inhaled the damp air of the prison.

-Do you know what it feels like? To feel like your name follows me wherever I go?

-What?

-Even when I achieved something new in magic. Even when I discovered an undiscovered formula. Do you know what it feels like to always have your name following me?

-…

-It’s disgusting.

-…You could’ve just ignored it. Damn it, you could’ve just ignored it! If you’d told me who was doing it, I would’ve helped you!

At that moment, Hans gave a bitter smile and spoke to him.

-It was you.

-What?

-It was you! You humiliated me right in front of my face, mocking me for barely managing to cast a single fireball and sneering, asking if that could even be called magic! That’s why! That’s why I chose this damn path!

Hans, with his hands bound by chains, glared at Ruin with bloodshot eyes.

-I’ll take everything from you.

-…

-Everything you love, everything you cherish—I’ll take it all away.

And then Hans said the words that broke the last thread of his reason.

-Yuria…

The moment Yuria’s name, someone Ruin had thought of as just a friend, spilled from Hans’s lips, his heart seemed to freeze over.

-Yes, Yuria, the one you love.

The moment malicious words about Yuria flowed from his old friend’s mouth.

-I’ll kill her.

For the first time, Ruin wanted to kill him.

In truth, Hans hadn’t mentioned Ricardo even once.

Ruin had wanted to give the Tower Master a plausible excuse and avoid worrying him.

So he had come up with a convenient excuse.

The real reason behind Hans’s prison break…

Ruin had been hiding the fact that it wasn’t the provocation between Ricardo and himself but the threat to Yuria’s life that had caused it.

Hans, with blazing eyes, had crossed a line he should never have crossed.

-You’d better protect her well. There won’t be a second time. I’ve got nothing left to lose now.

Unable to hold back, Ruin threw a punch.

And he fell right into Hans’s trap.

***

After being thoroughly rejected by the young lady with a reading allergy, I sat blankly with her, staring out the window.

“Hmmph.”

“You want to look at a magic tome?”

“No.”

“Ah, then here it is.”

“I’m not going to look at it.”

“I see. Then we’ll look at it this evening.”

“I said I’m not looking at it!”

As always, the clueless young lady failed to understand the butler’s feelings.

Knowledge, when accumulated, is meant to be helpful in life, but the Young Lady seemed determined to build a wall against it, hardening her brain in the process.

I placed my hand on the Young Lady’s temple and rotated it in circles.

“Eeeek!”

“Proper blood circulation is essential for developing the will to study.”

“It’s spinning…! The world is spinning!”

“How about now? Do you feel like studying…”

“No! I hate studying!”

Despite the excruciating pain that felt like her temple was being pierced, the Young Lady resolutely declared her severance from academics.

‘Is there no other way?’

It would be great if the Young Lady learned magic, but her will to avoid it was so firm that forcing her seemed inappropriate.

I disliked making her do things against her will.

I twirled the Young Lady’s head while gazing at the cloud-filled sky.

Oh…

Could it be snowing soon?

On gloomy days like this, it always felt like a guest with a story to tell would show up.

I recalled the sword-wielding girl who had visited the estate on a rainy spring day. She had come with a clumsy excuse about wanting to drink cheap green tea, but that day, she had been crying and carrying a heavy story.

The weather that day had been similar to today.

The sky had been filled with clouds, and rain had fallen.

That’s why I felt even more uneasy.

I despised troublesome situations.

Though there were no expected guests at the estate.

“Come to think of it, it’s about time to start.”

“Start what?”

Hearing my muttering, the Young Lady turned her head to look at me. Her hair, disheveled from the intense torment, had stray strands clinging messily to her nose bridge.

The stray hairs tickling her nose bridge made the Young Lady furrow her brows.

“Ah… Ah… Achoo!”

-Softly.

“What is it?”

“Runny nose.”

“Why is that…”

The Young Lady held up her hand, showing the runny nose smeared on it. Startled by her intention to wipe it on my sacred butler’s attire, I quickly stepped back and handed her a handkerchief from my inner pocket.

The Young Lady blew her nose with a loud sniff.

Shaking her shoulders, she smiled with a pleasant expression.

“So, what is it that’s about to start?”

“Ah… Choosing tonight’s menu.”

“Meat.”

“Beef stew packed with paprika?”

“Eeeek! Stop abusing nobles!”

“I’m sorry. Noble abuse is my hobby, and I can’t resist it.”

“Eeeek! I’ll starve instead!”

Gradually, the episode where Yuria gets kidnapped was approaching.

The heretics, who had noticed Yuria’s possession of the Eyes of Divinity, were drawing closer to their plan to abduct her.

It was a matter that would resolve itself if left alone, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit worried.

Was I staring blankly out the window for a moment?

The Young Lady, brushing away the stray hairs on her face irritably, pointed toward the mansion’s front gate with a small question, “Hm?”

“Ricardo. Someone’s coming.”

“Huh? There’s no one expected to visit.”

“No, look. A broom is walking over.”

“A broom?”

I lifted my head and looked down at the estate yard.

Huh. It’s true.

Someone was walking over.

Outside the window, a familiar male figure was approaching.

Green hair.

The supporting male lead, resembling a broom.

Ruin was walking over with a grim expression.

-Gooooom!!!

Of course, he was being dragged by Gomtangi, who had grabbed his leg.

-Let go, you bear brat!

-Gooooom!

It didn’t seem like an imposter.