The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 149

Another peaceful day at the Young Lady’s estate.

“What was it again… uh, what comes next?”

Due to the Young Lady’s scolding about being hungry, I was in the kitchen, wearing an apron and cooking.

“It’s been so long since I made this, it’s confusing.”

Tonight’s dinner menu was a bit special.

A dish that doesn’t exist in this world.

A food that must be eaten to celebrate the New Year.

Although quite some time had passed since the New Year, I chose this dish with the thought of at least trying to capture the mood.

Moving busily around the kitchen, I poured oil into the frying pan and read the recipe written in my pocket notebook, tracing it with my finger.

“Separate the egg whites and yolks, slice the rice cakes diagonally, and soak them…”

Since I was cooking alone, there were many moments of fumbling. No matter how much of a professional butler I was, making unfamiliar dishes was always challenging.

Tonight’s dinner menu was rice cake soup.

In my previous life, rice cake soup was a dish I ate every New Year, and it was one of the Young Lady’s favorite foods.

Of course, it had to contain more meat than rice cakes.

As I was making the rice cake soup, I turned off the stove and fell into thought.

Because of the ominous hallucination I had seen earlier.

Although seeing the Young Lady’s adorable appearance had calmed me down, it was still difficult to fully regain my composure.

A vision of the Young Lady falling to darkness.

The hallucination shown to me by the status window, which had only ever displayed text before, instilled a sense of fear in me.

In the hallucination titled ‘The True Meaning of Vitality,’ I was dying.

The more vitality I used, the shorter my lifespan became, and my face lost its color.

Yet, as I overused my body by using vitality, I saw myself smiling foolishly, pleased at the sight of the gradually recovering Young Lady.

Observing myself from a third-party perspective was more moving than I had anticipated.

Was it because I saw my handsome face? As I indulged in self-admiration, I felt conflicted emotions, thinking even my emaciated appearance looked good. How could such a foolish person exist? Yet at the same time, I understood that fool’s feelings.

After all, I too had smiled while watching the Young Lady regain her energy.

-Eeeek…!

-I’ve finally taken a step, Young Lady.

-Eeeek! I can take more steps!

-As expected of the greatest villainess in the world!

-Don’t insult me!

-It’s a compliment… no, I’m sorry.

Watching the Young Lady’s legs slowly improve, I found myself smiling. Ironically enough, as her legs got better, my condition worsened, yet in reality and in the hallucination, neither version of me felt any emotion of regret.

Seeing the Young Lady take trembling steps with her shaky legs made me feel good. The uneasiness in my heart and the fear of vitality seemed to vanish completely when I saw the Young Lady’s lively smile.

A bitter feeling surged like waves in a corner of my heart, knowing I wouldn’t be able to see the Young Lady’s appearance for much longer. But whenever I saw her wiggling toes and her cheerful, grinning face, those feelings disappeared as if they had never been there.

Truly. Even I thought I was a fool.

The version of me in the hallucination seemed to have a rough idea of what vitality was. It was something I could instinctively sense.

Staring blankly out the window with empty eyes or smiling while watching the Young Lady, the hallucinated version of me seemed genuinely happy. Truly.

As time passed, the moment came when the Young Lady could walk entirely on her own strength.

-Thud…!

I witnessed the scene I feared most.

The Young Lady, smiling as if satisfied, hugged me tightly while crying sorrowfully.

-Ricardo…?

Up to this point, it was fine.

The strong Young Lady would soon rise again. That was the Young Lady I believed in, the one I had always known, so I smiled bitterly as I watched her cry.

‘At least you’re crying for me,’ I thought.

But even after a long time, the Young Lady didn’t leave my side and stayed in place.

A day passed.

Two days passed.

She remained there, calling my name.

-…

On the third day, when the Young Lady finally acknowledged my death, she began to erase the misconception I had that she would quickly overcome it.

-You must be so tired, right?

-…

-Right? Ricardo.

Seeing the Young Lady’s halted tears, I realized something had gone terribly wrong.

Her tears.

And the dark energy erupting from her far surpassed anything I could have imagined.

-Rumble…

It was a power I had never felt before.

Perhaps even greater than Rowen’s, no, darker and denser than the apostles introduced later in the novel, the remnants of dark magic flowed from the Young Lady.

-I’ll bring you back.

From her trembling voice, heavy with the emotion of ‘grudge,’ I realized that the ending I had envisioned was not the best.

‘This isn’t a happy ending,’ I thought.

What would happen next, what the Young Lady would do—I, in my foolishness, couldn’t predict.

There was no such content in the novel, nor any information about the Young Lady using dark magic. That’s why I was even more terrified and felt an overwhelming fear.

At the same time, I found a new goal.

I reconsidered the things I had given up on until now. Whipping myself for lowering my own limits, I began to aim for greater heights.

Sword Master. Let’s start with that as a goal.

I decided to aim higher, to reach a far-off place. That would be the best effort I could make.

Why hadn’t I realized it before? There was a better way.

If there’s no way, a possessor creates one. That’s what a possessor does.

Since the word ‘give up’ didn’t suit me, I felt gratitude toward the future version of myself who had shown me the worst possible future, and I corrected my foolish past thoughts.

I am a person full of desire.

To enjoy more.

To claim the happiness I hadn’t been able to have—it was my rightful privilege, so I could declare it.

Let’s run toward a happy ending.

As I resolved this and regained my focus, a familiar voice called out from behind me.

“Ricardo! Meat! Meat! Meat!”

I looked at the Young Lady sitting in the dining room and smiled, thinking to myself.

‘With happiness right in front of me, where would I run away to?’

I responded lightly to the demanding Young Lady.

“Don’t you feel sorry for the cows that became tonight’s dinner?”

“Ricardo. The world is inherently cruel.”

“I see. Then, to emphasize the importance of health to you, Young Lady, I’ll only add half the usual amount of meat.”

“Eeeek! Devil!”

“A devil? Where in the world could you find a butler as kind as I am?”

“Nowhere!”

The Young Lady grumbled as she picked up her fork.

Her violent demeanor, showing her intent to throw the fork in her hand if she resisted any further, made me smile as I said,

“Meat is the main culprit of obesity.”

“I’m not fat!”

“That’s a lie.”

“Eeeek!!!”

The Young Lady’s fork came flying at me with a ‘whoosh.’ Her skill had certainly improved, as the speed and accuracy were better than before, but with such a clumsy throw, she was still far from hitting me.

I turned my head swiftly to dodge the Young Lady’s fork.

-Crackle.

With a small smile, I generated a tiny static electricity with my fingers and sent it flying toward the Young Lady’s forehead.

“Ack!”

The Young Lady’s hair stood on end from the sharp static electricity.

Flustered, the Young Lady looked at me and said.

“Eeeek…!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Something crackled.”

“That’s a sign you’ve met your Destined Partner.”

“Really?”

“Do you believe that?”

“Eeeek! Don’t tease me!”

Teasing the Young Lady is, as expected, the most fun thing in the world.

*

The Young Lady was glaring at me with a sullen expression.

“What was that earlier?”

“What are you referring to?”

“That. The crackling thing. Wasn’t it something Ricardo did?”

The Young Lady, holding out her empty rice cake soup bowl, spoke with an expression that lacked any consistency.

It was amusing to see her holding out an empty bowl while asking about magic. Normally, such questions would be asked in a serious setting, but the Young Lady, unable to suppress her curiosity, was questioning me about the static electricity she had felt earlier.

I whistled and feigned ignorance.

“It wasn’t me.”

“Liar.”

“How can you be so sure?”

The Young Lady, pressing down her disheveled hair, replied irritably.

“Because Ricardo laughed.”

“I didn’t laugh.”

“Don’t lie. I saw it all.”

Perhaps it’s true that those who’ve experienced magic firsthand understand it better.

The Villainess, who had wielded magic for acts of violence, was sharper than I had expected.

Maybe it’s because she’s the author-certified most talented person, but the Young Lady, despite her irritation, was burning with academic fervor as she focused her gaze on the moving ladle and spoke to me.

I shook the ladle up and down as I looked at the Young Lady.

“Ugh…”

When I scooped a small amount of meat, she frowned with trembling eyes, but when I scooped a lot, her eyes sparkled brightly as she exclaimed, “Oh…!” Her expression seemed more focused on the meat filling the empty bowl than on magic.

With a small smile, I spoke to the Young Lady.

“It’s a secret.”

“Eeeek!”

I handed her the bowl filled with plenty of meat.

“Great!”

As expected, I enjoy this kind of daily life.

So.

I must become stronger.