The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Occasionally, I have thoughts like this.

Another peaceful day in the lady’s room.

The lady, sitting on the bed, was rubbing her sleepy eyes as she gazed out the window at the bright morning.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sleepy.”

“It hasn’t even been 10 minutes since you woke up.”

“That’s why I’m sleepy.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the lady yawning.

“Yaaawn…”

Is it true that beautiful women sleep a lot? Every single time, the lady seemed to be locked in a battle with sleep, so much so that even the Sleeping Beauty from the fairy tales would have had to admit defeat.

Beauty must be proportional to sleep.

I faintly smiled as I started brewing some tea. There’s no drink better at waking someone up than tea. As the hot water soaked the dry tea leaves, the subtle aroma of the tea began to fill the room.

“Mmm…”

The gentle fragrance of the tea must have pleased her, as the lady scrunched her brow and sniffed the air, which seemed to clear her drowsy eyes. Seeing her brightened expression, I smiled and asked,

“Doesn’t it smell nice?”

“No.”

“…”

Her firm response caught me off guard. The lady frowned slightly as she looked at the cup where the red tea was steeping.

“It smells musty, probably bitter too, but it does seem healthy.”

“If it’s healthy, isn’t that good?”

“Healthy things usually taste bad.”

“But these tea leaves are very expensive.”

“Ugh…”

The lady spoke with a serious expression.

“Even so, I don’t like things that taste bad.”

It seemed that in this world, expensive things weren’t always the right choice. The lady, who didn’t care for romantic ideas, resolutely rejected the well-prepared tea and turned her gaze back to the window.

As she gazed out at the breezy scenery, she began rummaging through her little treasure pouch, pulling out some snacks, and started tossing them toward the window.

“You eat some too.”

-Growl!

“You eat this too.”

-Growl!

The lady’s kindness toward Gomtangi made me smile as I reached for the tea cup. It seemed that I would be the one to drink the tea after all.

As the slightly bitter taste of the tea spread across my tongue, I smiled peacefully.

‘Well, that was a waste.’

It seemed that refined things and Desmond didn’t get along well. Darbav didn’t care much for tea either.

An hour passed.

After breakfast, the lady had once again curled up in bed, trying to get back to sleep. I sat beside her bed, enjoying the rare moment of leisure.

As I relished in the peace and quiet, I turned around and picked up the newspaper that had been left on the desk to read.

“What are you doing?”

The rustling sound of the newspaper caught the lady’s attention. She turned to look at me and asked. ‘You should go lie down too,’ she said, patting the space beside her on the bed invitingly. It was tempting, but I smiled and politely declined her offer.

“I’m nourishing my mind.”

“You don’t need much of that. With what little you do have, you’re not getting any smarter, Ricardo.”

“…That comment really hurts, you know.”

“It’s fine. I’ve given up on nourishing my mind.”

At the senior’s advice, who had given up on nourishing her mind, I chuckled and stretched her cheek playfully.

“What do you mean, given up? Given up on what?”

“Ouch…! It’s going to rip!”

“I’m fine with that.”

“I’m not!”

As always, the lady’s cheeks were soft.

The newspaper was packed with articles about various topics around the empire. There were reports on politics, adventures, and economics—gossip that would get the public excited.

The lady had even appeared in the news occasionally.

-Special Report! The second daughter of the Desmond family rises to the top of the Magic Faculty…!

-Special Report…! The second daughter of the Desmond family, Olivia, expelled for using dark magic….

-The decline of the Desmond family begins.

Of course, the coverage was rarely positive. In her own way, the lady was a celebrity who regularly appeared in the newspapers.

She was famous; that much was certain.

I took a small breath and began reading today’s articles aloud for the lady.

“Well, at least there’s no crossword puzzle today.”

“How boring.”

“Indeed.”

What kind of content will fill our lack of worldly knowledge today? I wondered with a bit of curiosity as I skimmed through the articles.

Usually, the front page of the newspaper featured the most sensational gossip in the empire.

This house went bankrupt.

A noble family’s heir caused a scandal. The first-page stories were always something that would make people buzz with excitement.

Narrowing my eyes slightly, I began reading the front-page article.

“Still, there’s an interesting article today.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the Royal Academy.”

The mention of “Royal Academy” caught the lady’s attention slightly, and she glanced over at the newspaper. She acted disinterested, but it was clear that the mention of the academy had piqued her curiosity.

So I tilted the newspaper toward her and began reading the article aloud.

“Special Report: ‘The Royal Academy is No Longer Safe!’ it says.”

“Why?”

“You’ll have to read to find out.”

Nodding, the lady signaled me to continue, so I quickly skimmed through the article’s contents.

A photo of the Academy in chaos.

A picture of students receiving treatment for their injuries, their faces blurred out.

An image of a wounded Chartia being interviewed. Even at a glance, it was clear this wasn’t a positive article.

It seemed like something had gone wrong.

Although I wasn’t shocked, knowing the details from the novel, the lady wouldn’t have known.

I had thought the academy would have kept the press in check, but things seemed to have spiraled out more seriously than expected.

Seeing a damaging article like this printed so prominently on the front page suggested that dealing with it internally was overwhelming.

With a bitter smile, I subtly covered the article with my hand. Fortunately, the lady hadn’t yet seen it, so there was a questioning expression on her face.

“Why are you hiding it?”

“I need to censor it.”

“So mean, Ricardo, you’re trying to enjoy it all by yourself.”

“I think the content is less entertaining than you’d like.”

“Ugh…”

The lady pursed her lips in a pout and voiced her dissatisfaction. Sulking because she thought I was keeping it to myself, her complaints only made me smile awkwardly as I folded the newspaper.

“In exchange, I’ll make sure to get you chocolate ice cream for a snack today.”

“Ice cream?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“I’ll give you an entire tub.”

“Oho…!”

The lady nodded with satisfaction and closed her eyes.

“Then I’ll go back to sleep.”

I nodded and tucked the blanket around her. Sitting down at the bedside table, I began quietly reading through the article.

-A heretic High Priest, Shulia, disguised as a professor, launched an attack at around 1 PM yesterday.

-The full extent of the damage is still being investigated, but the estimated cost is around 2 million gold.

-Over 500 injured, with no reported fatalities…

-Thanks to the efforts of well-trained academy students and the intervention of ‘Heinrich,’ Master of the Magic Tower, the heretic was successfully subdued. This incident is expected to bring about both serious concerns and positive outcomes…

‘This isn’t as bad as I thought.’

It seemed they had handled the situation remarkably well. Likely due to pressure from the royal family, the article wasn’t heavily criticizing the academy. The fact that there were no fatalities was itself a good outcome. I thought they had done well to keep the situation under control.

‘I honestly expected more damage. But they did well considering.’

This was the first battle against heretics that I hadn’t been involved in. It must have been difficult for the students to handle, especially since it was their first time experiencing such pure malice and a fight centered on killing intent.

Even though the Master of the Tower made the battle somewhat less taxing, just enduring it was commendable. They deserved praise.

I smiled contentedly, thinking I probably didn’t need to interfere anymore. If they kept handling future challenges like this, I felt confident that both the main characters and supporting characters would grow and adapt.

I felt a sense of accomplishment, knowing that my efforts hadn’t been in vain.

Indeed, worrying unnecessarily does no one any good.

I smiled softly and closed the newspaper.

The lady was fast asleep.

Breathing gently, she lay there like the very picture of Sleeping Beauty, her hands neatly folded on her chest.

“Meat… Zzzz…”

Seeing her like this, she seemed every bit the refined noble lady, but as soon as she opened her mouth, out came the villainess, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Sometimes, I think like this.

I wonder what it would have been like if the lady wasn’t a villainess?

How would it be if the lady preferred tea over chocolate, and I served a more refined, sophisticated lady?

-Mr. Ricardo, you’ve worked so hard today.

-Is it tough for you? Please, sit here and rest.

-Me? Eat first? No, you go ahead, Mr. Ricardo.

Whenever I have such thoughts, I give a wry smile. The lady just isn’t that type of person.

I like her the way she is now.

I like her straightforward demeanor and her little bouts of childishness. Perhaps that’s why I’ve served her until now and why I’m content with this life.

Whatever it is, I just like the lady.

I smiled gently as I gazed at her. Watching her furrowing her brow as a fly landed on her cheek, I smiled and thought about the future.

A future we’d share together.

A future where we’d laugh together.

And a future where we’d walk along the beach together.

Just imagining it made me happy.

[Would you like to use the Hand of Rehabilitation?]

So I have no regrets about my choice.

End of Chapter.