Page 151 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

In a dream that rose faintly as if shrouded in mist.

The dream’s owner sat crouched, tossing pebbles into the sewer where filth flowed.

The dream’s owner was a petite and delicate girl. She sat with silver hair sprinkled like the Milky Way in the night sky, her fragile shoulders hunched as if they could disappear at any moment.

Melancholic.

Everything was unfamiliar to the girl.

*Plop.* As the pebble fell into the sewer, the girl sniffled.

– Mom...

The world of the girl abandoned by her parents was too vast. Though cold, the world where parents protected her was everything to her.

Even being called dirty.

Even dropping a coin on the ground while pitying her was terrifying and challenging for the girl.

She always hoped.

That if she slept one night, she would wake up to her parents, who promised not to let go of her, coming to get her.

The girl comforted herself, telling herself she was different from the nagging kids, wandering around the place her parents abandoned her like an abandoned puppy.

– Why aren’t they coming...

Outside, the voices of laughing and chatting children could be heard.

The girl disliked the laughter of the kids who claimed they received a bag full of coins today.

Even if they bought a toy, the money would vanish. The girl couldn’t understand why they were happy.

The money was far from enough to escape the slums.

As the feeling grew gloomier, the sound of the girl sniffing intensified.

*Tock.* The touch of someone’s hand was felt on the girl’s head. A touch that seemed timid, ruthless, and warm, filled with playful affection.

Feeling a slight pain, the girl rubbed her forehead with her palm and turned around.

– Who’s there!

– Who else but me. The most handsome beggar in the world.

A boy with red hair stood before the girl.

Although his face was obscured by a black shadow, the warmth and playfulness in his voice indicated that he was smiling.

With a smile, the boy spoke to the girl.

– Hey, what are you up to?

– Don’t mind me.

– You’re quite sharp. Worried I might be the male lead?

– What!

– Nah~ You’re looking good as ever today.

The boy continued to smile lightly, unaffected by the girl’s negative reaction.

Ordinary kids would typically walk away when faced with the girl’s attitude, but the boy with red hair did not.

The girl disliked the boy.

The nagging little boy and his constant attempts at closeness annoyed her.

Thinking, *We’re different. You abandoned ones and I are different,* the girl pushed the boy away, irritated.

The seat next to you is empty?

The boy, seemingly oblivious, made a light-hearted joke as he sat down next to the girl. Sitting on the damp floor, the boy chuckled, but the girl pretended not to notice his smile.

Everything was new, and all the girl, a stranger to everything, could do was offer a cold rejection.

For a while, the boy sat next to her in silence, then started humming a tune.

“When Mom goes to the island’s shade...”

The boy’s singing, unfamiliar to her, didn’t sound bad.

“When Mom goes to the island’s net to gather clams... “

It was poignant, tugging at her heartstrings. It wasn’t a perfectly sung song, but somehow, despite her attempts to ignore it, it kept lingering in her ears.

“The baby stays home alone, watching over the house.”

The girl simply hugged her knees and listened to the boy’s song.

“The waves whisper... la-la-la... Is puberty approaching?”

The girl disliked the boy.

She disliked how he kept trying to act familiar.

And yet.

The girl liked the boy.

As the boy’s melancholic voice faded away, the girl turned her head to look at him.

“Was that sung well?”

“I’m terrible at singing.”

“You can sing better next time.”

The boy patted her head affectionately, smiling.

“Kid.”

As always, the boy reached into his pocket and handed her a piece of chocolate.

The girl didn’t mind the boy’s slightly dirty hands as he handed her the crumpled chocolate wrapper.

“Just for you.”

*

Late at night.

Mikhail, catching his breath, wiped the sweat off his forehead as he woke up from a nightmare.

It was that dream again.

The nightmare filled with old memories that never showed their faces, ? Nоvеl??ght ? (Exclusive on Nоvеl??ght) always hiding away, had returned.

He thought he had stopped having it for a while, believing it would fade away, but the dream that knocked on the door of forgetfulness was once again bringing back sad memories, pounding on his heart.

It was an old story.

A very old story.

In terms of years, it was a memory that was over ten years old, still haunting Mikhail.

“Enough, please stop tormenting me.”

How long will you keep tormenting me?

Isn’t it time to stop now?

I know. I’m a bad person.

But... I have to live my life too, don’t I...

Mikhail hugged his knees on the bed, burying his face. Feeling like tears would flow easily if he let go of his emotions, Mikhail, who felt his shoulders trembling, kept exhaling and inhaling deeply.

“Phew... Hoo...”

The mistakes of the past weighed heavily on Mikhail.

A little boy abandoned by his parents in the slums.

The gentle image of the red-haired boy, always calling himself a kid, was alive in Mikhail’s memory.

And the guilt for what he had done to the boy only grew stronger.

His vow to never kill a person with his own hands again, his pathological obsession with justice, all of it was insufficient atoning for his wrongs.

He knew.

How pathetic his stubbornness was.

And that Ricardo’s words were practical advice.

“Are you an idiot?”

Mikhail knew that the advice, spat out without consideration, was a cutting one.

But still.

There existed an unyielding stubbornness within him.

“Run away!”

“...”

“Don’t just stand there, run away...!”

All he could claim for leaving the boy’s side without protecting him was his crude stubbornness.

“Sigh...”

Mikhail slowly began to remove his sweat-soaked shirt.

Swoosh. The shirt, flowing down his slender shoulders, fell to the floor, revealing his pure white undershirt.

Mikhail’s body, with skin as white as jade, was too delicate and alluring to be called masculine.

Mikhail gazed at his reflection in the mirror.

“...”

Silently, he just lowered his head, gazing at his own reflection.

Should he go for a walk to soothe his restless mind?

Mikhail picked up a bandage from the desk and started wrapping it around his chest.

Silently observing himself wrapping his chest skillfully, a bitter smile crept over Mikhail’s face as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

“...Frustrating.”

*

“Huff! Hoo-hoo-hoot!”

Another peaceful day at the mansion.

The young lady throwing a rubber ball to the bear, who was playing with it in the yard, had a wicked smile on her face as she exercised her arms.

“Come here!”

-Bear!

“Hoo-hoot!”

The bear, fetching the ball like a boomerang, made the impressive young lady seem pleased. Though she did get riled up at the comparison between bear and human, saying, “Ricardo can’t do this,” she wasn’t one to be provoked easily, so I just smiled faintly, gazing at the spacious yard.

“Throw it.”

“Okay.”

“Throw it as far as you can. Let’s prove the difference between a lowly bear and a human.”

“Okay...!”

It was an act to uphold human dignity, so wouldn’t it be fair to give it a proper acknowledgment?

I was gathering my strength in order to catch the ball faster than Gomtang, placing the sword on the ground and tensing my legs.

“Whooooa! eeek!!”

The rubber ball flew with the lady’s fierce shout. Swallowing nervously, I put more strength into my legs.

-Thud.

I made an awkward expression as the ball fell to the ground weakly.

The lady looked at the fallen rubber ball with a cool expression.

“Hmm...”

Seeing my disappointed face, the lady awkwardly smiled.

“Heh!”

“...”

Awkward gazes crossed.

Perhaps too much passion isn’t good after all. I thanked the lady who taught me a more valuable lesson than I expected, and as I bent down to pick up the ball...

-Groooowl!

Gomtang wagged his tail and picked up the fallen ball, walking towards the lady.

“That cub of a bear.”

“Sigh. Lost to Gomtang.”

“Throw it again.”

The lady repeated throwing the rubber ball until her arm cramped.

“Stop...!”

“No, you can’t.”

“eeek!”

*

Hans was shedding tears of emotion.

“Magic...!”

The grimoire Hans received wasn’t a remarkable one. Of course, that standard applied to Ricardo, who knew a lot, but still.

The grimoire Hans received was one of the grimoires that had to be returned to the possession of the heretics.

It was a grimoire that Hans, the Archbishop of Greed and fanatic obsession with magic, had spent a long time finding. Maybe it was right to say it returned to its owner.

Grimoire ‘Black Barrier’

Having received the grimoire that was the most troublesome magic for the protagonist group and known as the ultimate defensive magic, Hans was swearing allegiance while swallowing tears.

And.

“Hmm...”

Olivia was watching the hidden Hans.