The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 154

The serene Young Lady’s estate.

After lunch, I enjoyed tea time, dunking a rustic scorched rice cracker into my teacup and nodding in satisfaction.

“Hmm… Scorched rice really is the best remedy for overeating.”

Scorched rice, infused with the sentiment of Koreans.

It’s nothing more than well-cooked rice toasted over a flame, but I thought there was nothing better to soothe a bloated stomach. After all, this world doesn’t have digestive aids like Gas Whalmyungsoo.

Having overindulged during a rare visit to Friends of Forest, my stomach hadn’t settled, but eating the scorched rice seemed to bring me relief.

Scorched rice is definitely better than an Americano.

As I placed the steaming scorched rice on the table and faced the cold breeze—

“Ricardo.”

The Young Lady, sniffing at the nutty aroma, looked at the teacup holding the scorched rice and spoke.

“What are you eating?”

“It’s scorched rice.”

“Scorched rice…?”

“Ah. Perhaps ‘nurungji tea’ would be a more accurate term?”

“Nurungji tea?”

“Think of it as a drink that older men enjoy.”

“Are you an old man, Ricardo?”

“No, I’m not.”

The Young Lady leaned closer to the scorched rice on the table, sniffing repeatedly.

She seemed curious about the brown liquid before her eyes.

Resting her cheek on the table like a cat, she rolled her eyes and asked,

“Is it tasty?”

“Not really. It just has a nutty flavor.”

“Hmm…”

The Young Lady cautiously glanced at me before slowly reaching out toward the scorched rice on the table.

Finding her hesitant movements endearing, I pretended not to notice, turning to the window and murmuring, “The weather is nice,” to hide my smile.

“Oh…”

With a clinking sound, the Young Lady blew on the teacup to cool it, her breath brushing past as she did.

A small, delicate sound of sipping followed, accompanied by her soft exclamation of surprise.

“Oh…!”

Trying scorched rice for the first time, the Young Lady’s eyes widened in amazement.

It seemed this commoner’s food suited her taste.

Amused by the Young Lady’s unexpectedly unrefined palate, I smiled as I looked at her.

“Is it good?”

“Eek…?!”

Caught sneaking a taste, the Young Lady quickly pulled away from the teacup, feigning ignorance.

“I didn’t eat it!”

Turning her head toward the window, she muttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” but her sulky expression as she fiddled with the teacup betrayed her.

“I only had a little.”

“I didn’t say anything, though.”

“Weren’t you about to say something?”

“Have I ever scolded you for eating something?”

“Yes, you have.”

“…That’s true.”

Seeing her reply so dejectedly, I smiled and met her gaze.

“So, was it good?”

“Yes. It’s a curious taste. Very nutty, with a healthy feeling. I can’t describe the flavor, but it’s oddly addictive.”

“Oh… It seems you’re getting older, Young Lady.”

“No, I’m not! I’m still young.”

“That’s how it is for everyone.”

“Tsk…”

Pouting at my teasing, the Young Lady slid her now-empty teacup toward me and said,

“Want to trade? Mine’s cocoa.”

“That’s a bit shameless, don’t you think?”

“I left one sip for you.”

“What good is one sip? And this isn’t even a full sip—it’s less than half.”

“If you drink it with your eyes closed, it’ll feel like a full sip.”

“…”

“No?”

Faced with her downcast expression, I shook my head and surrendered to her whining. Scorched rice was easy enough to make again.

Since it wasn’t a complicated dish and didn’t require expensive ingredients, I nodded at the Young Lady, who was staring intently at the brown liquid.

“Alright, fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hehe… Thanks.”

A villainess who likes scorched rice despite being a noble. Her peculiar taste amused me.

“No matter how I look at it, you don’t seem like a noble, Young Lady.”

“I am a noble, though.”

“No, I mean your taste isn’t very noble. You’ll eat just about anything you’re given.”

“That’s not true. Carrots, bell peppers, eggplants…”

As she counted off her dislikes on her fingers, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Most nobles preferred elegant and luxurious foods, but the Young Lady was far from that—at least when it came to food.

And her shy “thank you” as a villainess was touching.

In the past, the Young Lady never used to say thank you.

-I’m not thankful!

-I… I… I want meat.

-It’s only natural for a butler to do this.

Time seemed to have softened her.

Before her collapse, the Young Lady had been like a rabid dog. The comparison was harsh, but back then, she was always grumbling.

-I won’t eat it!

-Please eat.

-I told you I won’t eat it. Bell peppers and eggplants just don’t go together!

After her collapse, she had no choice but to eat only what I prepared, which led to a lot of complaints and irritation.

Perhaps it was this time together that brought us closer.

Good things come from bad situations.

During her Academy Days, the Young Lady had been a strong-willed person. She still was, but it had been more extreme back then.

She insulted commoners.

She looked down on anyone she deemed beneath her and treated them without hesitation. Above all, she was fully aware of her own superiority.

After losing her leg in the Dark Magic incident, much of her coldness had faded, but who knows how she’d change if she regained her old self.

The Olivia I see and the one others see are likely very different.

In the novel, the Young Lady was the very definition of a Crazy Woman.

True to the title of villainess, she was fierce and never backed down—a supreme villainess.

Like Darbav, she was gentle to her own people but excessively cold to outsiders, as described in the novel.

The only difference was that, in the novel, the villainess had no allies.

Regardless, I liked the Young Lady both now and in the past, so it didn’t matter to me.

“It’s delicious…!”

Watching the Young Lady clench her fist and sparkle with excitement, I smiled.

I guess I’ll have to make more.

I headed to the kitchen to prepare more scorched rice, while the Young Lady smiled and emptied her teacup.

*

The corridor in front of the Student Council Room at the Academy.

Executives who had come out to hold a meeting about the incident that occurred even before the new semester began were entering the Student Council Room one by one.

The 2nd Year Top Student.

The 3rd Year Top Student.

The Treasurer, General Affairs Officer, Disciplinary Committee members, and other students with executive qualifications were entering the Student Council Room.

And in front of that door stood a man with light green hair, wearing an anxious expression as he waited for someone.

“Why aren’t they coming…”

‘Tap.’ Ruin, biting his nails, muttered to himself in an anxious voice. He had arrived earlier than anyone else, but the person he was waiting for was nowhere to be seen.

Since that day, Ruin had been under immense mental strain because he could no longer use his Unique Magic.

It was the magic that had allowed him to stand above others, his own unique talent.

Now that the Unique Ability that enabled him to efficiently generate Fire Magic had disappeared, Ruin’s body was like a blank paper.

Although he could still use magic, his learning was slow. Having spent his entire life studying and mastering Fire Magic, the absence of his Unique Ability, the Fire Script, was a matter directly tied to his downfall.

Ruin’s self-esteem plummeted.

And there was only one person who could solve this problem for him.

Although they couldn’t resolve the fundamental issue, there was only one person who could ease the worries weighing on his heart. Yuria.

Ruin was waiting for Yuria.

To confess his mistakes and explain the situation he was in.

Ruin, who wanted to whine and ask for comfort because he was struggling so much, stood in front of the Student Council Room door for a long time, waiting.

About ten minutes passed like that.

From a distance, a familiar silhouette appeared, walking toward him.

‘Yuria!’

Ruin smiled.

Yuria, walking down the stairs, was as beautiful as ever. He thought she would, as always, greet him with a gentle smile and worry about his troubles as if they were her own.

Ruin, who had been leaning against the corridor wall, straightened up and walked toward Yuria.

With hurried steps, quickly.

He walked toward Yuria with an awkward smile, and as soon as she stood before him, he spoke in a trembling voice.

“Yuria. I missed—”

Without even looking at Ruin, Yuria spoke.

In a cold and hard voice, she spoke emotionlessly.

“Could you not talk to me?”

“Huh…?”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

‘Thud.’ Yuria brushed past Ruin’s shoulder without looking back and walked away.

Ruin, who tried to follow her with trembling eyes, turned around with faltering steps, as if his strength had left him.

He wanted to talk to her.

To confess his mistakes.

He thought that if he apologized, Yuria would surely forgive him. Ruin desperately tried to chase after her.

But.

“Senior.”

His junior did not allow it.

“You’ve done something interesting, haven’t you?”

“What?”

“I heard from Yuria. I know what you did.”

Histania Hanna looked at Ruin with a bright smile.

The dry smile and hard expression in Hanna’s voice were nothing like the junior he had known until now.

Her eyes, which had once been timid and subdued, now looked at him with genuine interest, so much so that they sent chills down his spine, as if they were filled with anger.

Hanna let out an empty laugh and said to Ruin.

“You really stand out in comparison, don’t you?”

Hanna’s words returned to Ruin like a dagger, sharper than anything else.