Page 149 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Another peaceful day at the lady’s mansion.

“After this... what was it again.”

In the kitchen, where I stood due to the lady’s grumbling about hunger, I tied an apron around me and started cooking.

“It’s been a while, so I’m a bit confused.”

Tonight’s menu was somewhat special.

A dish not found in this world.

A dish that must be eaten for the New Year.

Although it was well past the New Year, it was a menu chosen with a fresh start in mind.

As I busily moved around the kitchen, I greased the frying pan and read the recipe written in my notebook with my finger.

“Separate the egg whites and yolks, cut the rice cake diagonally and soak it...”

I stumbled a lot while cooking alone. Even though I was considered a pro at cooking, making unfamiliar dishes was challenging.

Tonight’s dinner was rice cake soup.

Every New Year in my past life, the lady’s favorite dish was rice cake soup.

Of course, it needed more meat than rice cakes.

As I made rice cake soup, I turned off the heat and got lost in thought.

Because of the ominous hallucination I had seen earlier.

The fantasy of the lady’s corruption.

The hallucination with the title “The True Meaning of Vitality” made me feel the emotion of fear.

I was dying in the fantasy as I used vitality, my lifespan decreasing and the vitality draining from my face.

Despite that, I saw a foolish version of myself, smiling and thinking it was good to see the lady gradually recovering while consuming vitality and suffering.

Viewing myself from a third-person perspective was more enlightening than I had imagined.

Maybe it was because of the handsome face. I felt a mix of emotions as I admired the foolish behavior and thought it was attractive. I wondered how someone could be that foolish, yet at the same time, I understood his heart.

I also smiled while watching the lady regain her energy.

“Uwah...!”

“I’ve finally taken a step, lady.”

“Uwah! I can walk more!”

“Truly living up to the title of the greatest villain on the surface!”

“Don’t curse at me!”

“Praise... no, I mean, I’m sorry.”

I was smiling as I looked at the lady’s legs moving slowly. Quite amusing, isn’t it? Even though it was me who was getting worse as the lady’s legs improved, there was no sense of regret in the reality where I happily thought, ‘It’s fortunate’ while laughing, both in the real me and the fantasy me.

I felt good watching the lady take hesitant steps with trembling legs. The anxiety in my heart, the fear of the existence of vitality, all seemed to vanish as I saw the lady’s face, energetically laughing, as if washed away.

In one corner of my heart, a bitter feeling of not being able to see the lady for long swept over like waves, but as I looked at the lady’s face, laughing and wiggling her toes, that feeling seemed to disappear as if to say, ‘When did I ever feel that way?’

Honestly, even thinking about it, I must be a fool.

The me in the fantasy seemed to vaguely guess at the existence of vitality. I could intuitively feel what vitality meant.

Sometimes staring out the window with vacant eyes, sometimes smiling while looking at the lady in a daze, the fantasy me seemed pleased. Truly.

And as time passed, the moment when the lady walked entirely on her own.

-Thunk...

I found myself facing the scene I feared the most.

Seeing the lady embracing me with a satisfied smile, then witnessing her sad cry.

-Ricardo...?

Up until here, everything was fine.

The strong lady would soon rise. She was the lady I believed in, the lady I had seen until now, and so I smiled wistfully at the sight of her sadly crying.

‘Yet, you shed tears for me,’ I thought.

But the lady did not leave my side, staying by me, calling my name.

Even after a day.

Even after two days.

She stood there, calling my name.

-...

Three days passed, the moment the lady acknowledged my death. My misconception that she would quickly overcome it began to fade.

“You must be tired, right?”

-...

“Isn’t that so? Ricardo.”

Seeing the lady’s halted tears, I sensed that something was seriously wrong.

The lady’s tears.

And the dark power emanating from her surpassed my thoughts by far.

-Gugugung...

It was a magic I had never felt before.

Perhaps darker and thicker than Rowen, no, it exuded a dark and intense black magic residue that couldn’t be compared even to the beings called apostles appearing in the latter part of the novel.

“I will save you.”

From the trembling voice of the lady imbued with a resolute ‘han’ emotion, I realized that the ending I had in mind was not the best.

‘This is not a happy ending,’ I thought.

What would happen next, what the lady would do, I, as a foolish person, could not know.

Such content was nowhere in the novel, and there was no information about a lady using black magic. That’s why I felt even more scared and immense fear.

At the same time, I could find a new goal.

I reconsidered the things I had given up on. Whipping myself for trying not to reach higher by lowering my own limits, I thought of a higher goal.

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

I thought of looking up higher and reaching even the darkest places. It must be the best thing I could do.

Why didn’t I know? There was a better way.

If there is no way, becoming the one who creates a way is the possessor, and making it possible is the possessor.

The word “give up” didn’t suit me, so I corrected the foolish thoughts of my past self who had shown me the worst future and felt grateful to the future me.

I am a greedy person.

I want to enjoy more.

Since having the happiness that I couldn’t have is a natural right, I could say that.

Let’s run towards a happy ending. As I made that resolution and gathered my thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Ricardo! Meat! Meat! Meat!”

I smiled at the lady sitting in the restaurant and thought to myself, ‘Happiness is right in front of me, where are you trying to run away?’ I replied in a light voice to the waving lady,

“Aren’t the cows that become dinner pitiful?”

“Ricardo. The world is inherently cruel.”

“I see. Then, to emphasize the importance of health to the lady, I will only put half the usual amount of meat.”

“Evil! Demon!”

“Demon? Where in the world can you find a kind butler like me?”

“Nowhere!”

The lady picked up her fork in annoyance.

With a violent look indicating her willingness to throw the fork if she rebels further, I smiled and said,

“Meat is the culprit of obesity.”

“I haven’t gained weight!”

“Lies.”

“Grrr!!!”

The lady’s fork flew towards me. Although the speed and accuracy of the flying fork had improved compared to before due to practice, it was still far from hitting me at such a pathetic speed.

I quickly turned my head and dodged the fork. -Clang. With a small smile, I created a small static electricity on my finger and sent it towards the lady’s forehead.

“Ouch!”

The lady felt a tingling sensation from the static electricity, causing her hair to stand on end. Startled, she looked at me and said,

“Eek...!”

“Why are you like that?”

“Something tickled.”

“That’s a sign of meeting your destiny companion.”

“Really?”

“Do you believe that?”

“Grrr! Don’t tease me!”

Indeed, teasing the lady is the most fun thing in the world. The lady stared at me with a puzzled expression.

“What was that earlier?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That. The sparkly thing. Wasn’t it Ricardo who did it?”

The lady, holding out a clean rice cake soup bowl, had a completely [N O V E L I G H T] inconsistent expression as she spoke.

It was amusing to see her holding out an empty bowl and asking about magic, so one might think that such questions should be asked in a serious place, but the lady, unable to contain her curiosity, was questioning me about the static electricity she felt earlier.

I pretended not to notice while whistling.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Lies.”

“How can you be so sure?”

The lady nervously pressed down her disheveled hair and replied in a nervous tone.

From Noble mtl dot com

“Ricardo smiled.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Don’t lie. I saw it all.”

Perhaps those who have experienced magic firsthand understand it better.

The villainess who once wielded magic violently seemed to be more perceptive than I had thought.

Whether it was due to being a highly skilled writer or for some other reason, the lady, irritated yet burning with curiosity, focused on the stirring ladle as she spoke to me.

I looked at her while shaking the ladle up and down.

“Uh...”

Her expression varied: when a little meat was put in, she had a trembling look on her face, and when a lot of meat was added, her eyes sparkled brightly as she exclaimed, “Oh...!” It seemed like she was more focused on the meat filling the empty bowl than on the magic.

I smiled faintly and said to the lady, “It’s a secret.”

“Unfair!”

I held out a bowl filled with plenty of meat.

“Great!”

I do enjoy such everyday moments.

So, I must become stronger.