The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen – Chapter 202

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 202

Today, the Young Lady’s Room was peaceful as ever.

Sitting on the bed and gazing out the window, the Young Lady rubbed her sleepy eyes as she looked at the brightly shining morning.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sleepy.”

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

“That’s why I’m sleepy.”

Watching the Young Lady yawn, I let out an empty laugh.

Because the sight of the Young Lady, who claimed to be sleepy even after waking up at 10 a.m., was adorable.

“Haaaam…”

Could it be true that Beauty sleeps a lot? The Young Lady, who constantly battled drowsiness, could even outmatch the Sleeping Princess.

Indeed, beauty seemed proportional to sleep.

Smiling faintly, I began brewing black tea. There was no beverage better than tea to wake someone up. As the hot water streamed down and soaked the dry tea leaves, the subtle scent of black tea began to fill the room.

“Hmm…”

Perhaps enjoying the scent of black tea, the Young Lady, who had been frowning, sniffed and began to open her sleepy eyes. Confirming the clearer expression on the Young Lady’s face, I smiled lightly and spoke to her.

“The scent is nice, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“…”

The Young Lady’s firm response. With a sullen expression, she looked at the cup where the red tea was steeping and said.

“It smells musty, sour, and seems healthy.”

“Isn’t it good to be healthy?”

“Healthy things don’t taste good.”

“This is made from very expensive tea leaves.”

“Eeeek…”

The Young Lady spoke with a serious expression.

“But I still don’t like things that taste bad.”

It seemed that expensive things weren’t always the answer. The unromantic Young Lady firmly rejected the carefully brewed tea and gazed out the window.

Looking out at the gentle breeze blowing past the window, the Young Lady began pulling out snacks from her treasure pouch and tossing them outside.

“You eat some too.”

-Gooooom!

“Have this as well.”

-Gooooom!

Amused by the kind gesture of the Young Lady sharing with Gomtangi, I chuckled and picked up the teacup. It seemed this tea would be mine to drink.

Sipping the slightly bitter taste of the black tea, I smiled peacefully and thought.

‘What a waste of money.’

It seemed that fine things didn’t suit Desmond. Even Darbav wasn’t fond of black tea.

An hour passed.

After having breakfast, the Young Lady lay back down on the bed to nap, while I sat at her bedside, enjoying a moment of leisure.

In this rare moment of tranquility, I turned my head and started reading the newspaper I had left on the desk.

“What are you doing?”

At the rustling sound of the newspaper, the Young Lady opened her eyes and looked at me, asking. Her inviting hand gesture, patting the spot next to her on the bed and suggesting I join her, was tempting, but I smiled and declined her offer.

“I’m building some nourishment for the mind.”

“Ricardo, you don’t need much of that. You’re not going to get smarter with just that little bit of nourishment anyway.”

“…That’s quite a hurtful statement.”

“It’s fine. I gave up because I couldn’t build any myself.”

At the advice of a senior who had given up on nourishment for the mind, I chuckled softly and stretched the Young Lady’s cheek.

“What do you mean you gave up? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Eeeek…! It’ll tear!”

“I’m fine with that.”

“I’m not fine with that!”

As expected, the Young Lady’s cheeks were soft.

The Empire’s newspaper contained many Knights. It covered politics, adventures, and economics, filled with gossip topics that the public cheered for.

The Young Lady occasionally appeared in it too.

-Breaking News! Second Daughter of the Desmond Family rises to the top of the Magic Department…!

-Breaking News…! Second Daughter of the Desmond Family Olivia expelled for using Dark Magic…!

-Is this the start of Desmond’s downfall?

Of course, it was rarely for good reasons. Nevertheless, the Young Lady was somewhat of a famous person who frequently appeared in the newspaper.

If you were a renowned healer, you’d be considered a renowned healer.

Taking a small breath, I started reading today’s Knights with the Young Lady.

“There’s no crossword puzzle today.”

“Boring.”

“Indeed.”

What kind of content would fill the gaps in our sparse societal knowledge today? With anticipation, I began reading through the Knights.

Usually, the first page of the newspaper featured the Empire’s hottest gossip topic.

Which family had fallen.

Or some scandal involving the offspring of a noble household, starting with sensational topics that people would cheer for.

Narrowing my eyes slightly, I began reading the first page of the Knights.

“But today’s Knights seem interesting.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the Academy.”

At the mention of the Academy, the Young Lady subtly turned her gaze toward the newspaper. Pretending not to be interested, she seemed intrigued by the mention of the Academy.

Tilting the newspaper so the Young Lady could read it, I began reading the Knights aloud.

“Breaking News. ‘The Academy is no longer safe!’ it says.”

“Why?”

“You’d have to read to find out.”

Nodding at the Young Lady’s reaction, I slowly skimmed through the Knights’ content.

A photograph of the Academy in chaos.

A picture of students, their faces pixelated, receiving healing for their wounds.

And a photograph of Princess Chartia, covered in wounds, being interviewed. It was clear at a glance that this wasn’t good news.

It seemed like a mistake.

Knowing the details from the novel, I wasn’t too surprised. But the Young Lady wouldn’t know.

I had thought the Academy would suppress the media, but it seemed the situation had escalated more than expected.

Seeing unfavorable content prominently displayed on the front page, it seemed the internal handling of the situation had reached its limit.

With a bitter smile, I subtly covered the Knights in the newspaper. Thankfully, the Young Lady, who hadn’t seen it, had a question mark on her head.

“Why are you hiding it?”

“It needs to be censored.”

“You’re being unfair, trying to enjoy the fun parts alone.”

“It’s less fun than you’d think, so I can’t show it to you.”

“Eeeek…”

The Young Lady pouted her lips and voiced her complaints at me. At her whiny complaints about my unfairness, I awkwardly smiled and closed the newspaper.

“Instead, I’ll give you chocolate ice cream as a snack today.”

“Ice cream?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“I’ll give you one tub.”

“Hooo…”

The Young Lady nodded contentedly and closed her eyes.

“Then I’ll sleep.”

Nodding, I tucked the blanket over the Young Lady and sat at the bedside table, slowly reading through the Knights.

-A raid by Archbishop of the Heretics Shulia, disguised as a professor, occurred yesterday around 1 p.m.

-The detailed damage is still under investigation, but the estimated damage cost is around 2 million gold.

-The number of injured exceeds 500, while the number of fatalities remains at 0…

-This incident, thanks to the efforts of systematically trained Academy students and the successful subjugation of the Heretics alongside the Master of the Magic Tower ‘Heinz,’ is expected to bring both significant concerns and positive outcomes…

‘It’s not as serious as I thought.’

It seemed the incident had been resolved more impressively than expected. Since the Imperial Family’s influence prevented the Knights from criticizing the Academy, and with no fatalities, it was considered a sufficiently good outcome. I thought they had handled the matter within an appropriate range.

‘Honestly, I thought the damage would be worse. If it’s like this, they did well.’

This was the first battle against Heretics that I hadn’t been involved in. It must have been the first time they experienced Baseless Malice and a fight where Killing Intent was openly displayed, which would have been difficult for the students to endure.

Although the presence of the Tower Master had lessened the burden to some extent, I knew that just enduring such an ordeal was a challenging task. They deserved Praise.

With a Satisfied Smile, I thought that I probably wouldn’t need to intervene anymore. If they continued to handle matters like this, both the Supporting Characters and the main leads could grow in response to the upcoming Hardships.

Feeling relieved and strangely proud that my efforts hadn’t been in vain, I smiled faintly.

This is why unnecessary worries should be avoided.

Smiling softly, I closed the newspaper.

The Young Lady was sound asleep.

Breathing softly, she slept peacefully like a Sleeping Princess, her hands neatly folded over her stomach.

“Mmm… Meat.”

Seeing her like this, she looked like the perfect Noble, but the moment she opened her mouth, she transformed into a Villainess, which made me laugh repeatedly.

Sometimes, I have such thoughts.

What if the Young Lady weren’t a Villainess? I often imagine such scenarios.

What if the Young Lady, who politely brewed tea and preferred Black Tea over Chocolate, were the person I served?

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

-Are you tired? Please sit here and rest comfortably.

-What? You want me to eat first? Oh no, Mr. Ricardo, you should eat first.

Whenever I have such thoughts, I let out an Empty Laugh. The Young Lady doesn’t suit such things.

I liked the Young Lady as she is now.

I liked the straightforward and Whiny Complaints of the Young Lady. That’s probably why I’ve served her until now and why I find satisfaction in this life.

No matter what, I liked the Young Lady.

With a Small Smile, I softly gazed at the Young Lady. Seeing a fly land on her cheek, causing her to furrow her brow, I smiled and thought about the Future.

A Future together.

A Future where we laugh together.

And a Future where we walk along the beach together.

Just imagining it made me happy.

[Would you like to use Rehabilitation’s Touch?]

That’s why I had no regrets about my choice.