Page 113 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

On the evening of the day I returned from the capital.

After a hearty dinner, I gently gazed at the young lady lying on the bed. Clasping both hands on her stomach, the lady, wearing a white sleep cap, stared at the fluorescent stars on the ceiling with round, cute eyes.

“One star. Two... three... I’m hungry.”

-Sniffle, sniffle.

“Please go to sleep quickly.”

“I don’t want to.”

“It’s getting late.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

The lady firmly expressed her determination not to sleep. This night was a declaration of rebellion against my insufficient efforts to put her to sleep. With sparkling eyes, she declared war on sleepiness.

While the lady stared blankly at the stars, she turned her head and asked, perplexed, looking at me standing awkwardly.

-Whaaat?

“What’s on my face?”

“Ugly.”

In response to the lady’s nasty personal attack, I lightly smacked her white forehead with a faint sound. The lady’s scream rang out, satisfyingly. I couldn’t help but smile at the gratifying reaction.

Rubbing her forehead with her fingers, the lady exclaimed, “It feels like I gained an extra head!” I exhaled a sigh and requested a retraction of my earlier statement.

“Where in the world can you find a handsome butler like me? Apologize.”

“There are many. So, no apology.”

“hehehe. Today, my forehead looks unusually broad. It’s good because there are many places to hit.”

I thrust my finger, loaded with a decisive snap, in front of the lady’s eyes. Startled by the quite menacing gesture, the lady tightly shut her eyes and screamed.

“Hee-hee! Spare me!”

With urgency, the lady fumbled to cover her face with the blanket, and a small smile crept onto my lips.

“Heh...! Don’t turn a good caretaker into a bad person.”

Back when she was a child, threatening to make her height shrink like a goblin if she went to bed late used to be an effective way to get her to sleep. However, the threat of losing the growth plate, a cruel reality limited to a special edition product for teenagers, no longer worked on the lady who had become aware of this harsh truth.

‘I want to put her to sleep quickly.’

I felt a hint of a cold, wanted some rest.

And an imbalance in sleep is not good for health.

In a leisurely voice, I whispered in the lady’s ear. Sleep quickly.

“Aren’t you tired? You were nodding off even in the carriage.”

“Hmm... that wasn’t me.”

“The person who drooled on my shoulder while sleeping, who was that?”

“A ghost.”

“If you keep playing around, a maiden ghost will come out in your dreams today.”

“Heek.”

Whether ghosts are scary or not, the lady, frowning, flipped the blanket over. Seeing the outline of her face popping out above the blanket, a small laugh escaped me.

Since a while ago, my head had been throbbing, making it difficult, but looking at the lady’s cute appearance, I felt that the fever had slightly subsided.

The lady pulled down the blanket, glanced at me sneakily, and said, “Still, what do I do if I can’t sleep?”

“What if the closet slowly opens at midnight, and a ghost comes out?”

“That is...”

The young lady, with sweat trickling down, avoided meeting my eyes. Then, with a bashful smile, she spoke to me.

“Ricardo will catch it for you.”

“I’m scared of ghosts too.”

“Really... Ricardo is a scaredy-cat.”

“hahahahaha...! Still, I’ll do my best to catch it. If I can’t, you’ll have to sleep with me.”

“I don’t want that. Ricardo snores.”

“Better than a ghost, isn’t it?”

I smiled and gently stroked the young lady’s head. As my fingers filled with the soft sensation of the tangled hair, a gentle smile formed.

“Ugh... I’m not a puppy.”

“It feels nice because it’s fluffy.”

“N-no! Stop it...!”

The young lady frowned, waving her hand. Despite her strong resistance, I playfully tousled her hair, considering there was bear soup sleeping by the bed.

“hehehe... you wore the hat for nothing.”

The young lady sighed, looking at the sleep hat that had fallen under the bed with a disgruntled expression.

“So, you should sleep.”

“Hmm...”

She shook her head, stubbornly refusing to sleep. It seemed she was in a good mood, probably because drowsiness hadn’t visited her for a long time.

“Not sleepy. I feel like I could stay awake all day.”

“Please refrain from making such dreadful statements.”

“Why?”

“Extended work hours are a social evil.”

...

The young lady pursed her lips and grumbled.

“Extended work hours mean I have to see my beautiful face more?”

She spoke shamelessly, like a villain.

But I had no words to refute her, so I sealed my lips.

It was true that the young lady was beautiful.

Even without the pumpkin carriage, she was a stunning beauty. Her elegant charm was further enhanced by her treasure pouch. It was unfortunate that she would say such shameless things with her own mouth, but I had to accept it as a given.

However.

“I’m handsome too. Handsome enough to make a living with my face.”

“Pfft.”

“What’s with that unpleasant laughter?”

The young lady covered her mouth with her hand, wearing a villainous smile. She opened her eyes, curved like a crescent moon, and shook her head.

“Ricardo, drawing lines on a pumpkin doesn’t turn it into a watermelon.”

“Where did you learn such sophisticated vocabulary?”

“I said that to my abandoned mother-in-law, who was once a spoiled daughter-in-law in ‘Father, you shouldn’t do that!'”

“...?”

“Why? It’s a wholesome philosophy book.”

“...?”

After the birthday incident this year, I had conducted thorough censorship, but there were still inappropriate contents lingering in the cherished books. I tilted my head in dismay as I took out the golden book from the desk next to the lady’s bed.

“This is confiscated.”

The lady, wearing a despairing expression, spread her hands wide and lowered her head.

“No...! She’s my mentor!”

“We don’t need such presumptuous mentors.”

“Taking away what was given is the worst thing in the world.”

“Did you learn that from this book?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Incineration.”

The lady clenched her fist tightly and let out a resigned sigh.

“Don’t burn it... It’s something precious.”

“Aren’t there other books?”

“It’s the one Ricardo gave me.”

Well, that’s cheating.

As I smirked at the lady’s sweet whisper while fidgeting with her fingers and making a sulky expression, a smile escaped from my lips. “No... ha.”

Already feeling feverish due to a cold, hearing the lady’s shy confession made my head feel like it was going to explode. It reminded me of the sighs from a past life, saying ‘hawawa...’

I couldn’t help but sport a foolish smile.

“Understood. ★ ?????????????????? ★ Instead, please go to sleep now.”

“Mm.”

“I promise.”

“I’ll promise.”

The young lady, who lay down with her eyes closed tight as soon as the promise was made, protruded her lips as if sulking and turned her body to lie down.

“Are you angry?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t sulk. I can sulk too.”

“Hmph!”

Not sure if there were rumors spreading around the neighborhood about her sulking, the young lady, who was grumbling with a disgruntled expression, I gently sat next to the bed and whispered softly.

“Tomorrow, I’ll show you around the mansion.”

“I’m sulking.”

“When you see the remodeled mansion, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I’ve also prepared a room with things you’ll like.”

“What is it?”

I smiled like a mischievous child and bit my lips.

“Secret.”

“Ugh...”

“If you don’t sleep now, I’ll show you around a week later.”

“How unfair.”

“People who are originally not good-looking tend to be unfair.”

From Noble mtl dot com

“Well... that’s true. I’ll forgive you.”

Now that the young lady showed curiosity and a desire to talk, I smiled and slowly stroked her hair.

“Then I’ll head home.”

“Yeah. Take care.”

“Have sweet dreams, miss.”

With a spirited “Utsya,” I attempted to rise from my seat.

– Thump.

Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks as the lady’s hand grabbed my sleeve.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes?”

The lady spoke to me, partially covering her eyes with a blanket.

“Are you in pain?”

“What?”

“Your face is turning really red.”

I touched my burning cheek and put on an indifferent expression. It’ll be fine once I sleep and wake up. Don’t worry.

“It must be because I saw the most beautiful lady in the world.”

Laughing at my playful response, the lady repeated the same question.

“Are you really not in pain?”

“My eyes are a bit sore.”

“Why?”

“Because your radiance is shining too brightly.”

“hehehe...”

The young lady shook my hand with a pleasant smile.

“Don’t get sick.”

“I always stay healthy because I don’t have picky eating habits like the young lady.”

“Good night!”

After turning off the lights in the room, I walked to the room, rubbing my warm forehead.

“I feel dizzy.”

Thinking that I would be fine after sleeping and waking up, I moved with unsteady steps.

***

So the next day, when the morning dawned.

Olivia, as usual, blew the wake-up trumpet towards the sky. Including Ricardo, who was sleeping in the next room, urging him to come quickly.

And hoping to quickly satisfy her curiosity about today’s breakfast menu.

As Olivia welcomed the morning sunlight, she shouted towards the ceiling of the mansion with a pleasant smile.

– Air raid alert!!!

Olivia’s voice resonated heavily through the mansion. If I wait for about a minute, Ricardo will probably open the door.

Olivia hid her twitching lips and looked at the door.

‘When will he come...?’

Even after a minute passed.

Even after three minutes passed...

Ten minutes passed, but the door remained closed.

Perplexed, Olivia muttered, “Huh?”

No one had come to visit Olivia.