Page 180 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

The day before the final battle.

Hannah and I were walking through the streets of the capital to decorate the end of the duel.

You might say it’s absurd to go out before an important duel, but sometimes a change of mood can lead to better results.

Of course, I will have time to sharpen my sword for the last time after going out, but I also need time to feel the wind, not the smoke screen that scatters dust.

Hannah, who was excited about going out after a long time, was shaking her shoulders while looking at me. Her face wasn’t strange, and she wasn’t flipping her hair too much. Whenever I looked away, she would fix her hair while looking at her reflection in the window.

Hannah, whose eyes met mine at an unexpected moment, smiled awkwardly.

“hehehe.”

“Is there something on my face?”

“No. You’re just handsome.”

“I know.”

“...”

Despite my lame remark, Hannah smiled and nodded.

“I know too...”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

Hannah looked up at the sky with a pleasant smile on her face.

She enjoyed the leisure of touching the cherry blossoms falling on the street in full bloom.

Looking at Hannah, who was in a good mood, I thought, ‘Let’s open my wallet generously today.’ I’m not the kind of person who enjoys saving, but I tend to avoid overspending, so I thought I’d spend generously on my disciple, just for today.

Because today is that kind of day.

A day when it’s okay to spend money.

I discreetly glanced at Hannah’s ear. Her earlobe, without an earring, was very clean.

‘I hope I did a good job buying it.’

I bought it because I thought it would suit her, but I wondered if Hannah would like it. I’m not used to giving women accessories as gifts.

I might be okay with a Band-Aid that I always carry in my pocket, but to be honest, I didn’t have an eye for accessories like earrings.

I put my hand in my pocket and fiddled with the earrings while glancing at Hannah.

I didn’t know when to give it to her so that she would accept it naturally. If I just gave it to her and said, ‘This is a gift,’ it wouldn’t be touching, and Hannah wouldn’t like it. The gift should be given with the right atmosphere to make it more meaningful. It’s the first gift a teacher gives to their disciple, so it was a bit disappointing to give it to her like I was giving her a stone I picked up from the ground.

It wasn’t my first time giving her a gift since I had given her a sword before, but this was the first time I was giving her a gift while looking at her face, so in a way, it was my first time.

I looked at Hannah’s expression and thought about it over and over again.

“Hmm... The weather is really nice.”

“Yes, it is.”

“The flowers are in full bloom too.”

Hannah smiled as she looked at the flowers blooming brightly on the street.

“But the butler is prettier.”

“What?”

“You look more handsome and beautiful than those flowers.”

“What are you talking about? Such a bewitching statement.”

Hannah took a step forward with her luggage on her back and looked at me. A gentle spring breeze blew past Hannah’s hair, giving off a faint floral scent.

“What if it’s bewitching? I’m only doing it to the butler.”

“...Huh.”

I let out a dry laugh and raised my hand over Hannah’s head. Hannah looked up at me with a mischievous smile as she tousled her hair.

“You’ll lose.”

“You’re saying something obvious.”

“No, not that. Something else.”

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“What?”

Hannah smiled and grabbed my hand.

My mind went blank for a moment at the touch of her soft, enveloping hand, and Hannah pulled me along with a happy smile on her face.

“Let’s go quickly. I’m hungry.”

Smiling, I let Hanna pull me along.

‘Is it possible for spring to come to my life, too?’

It felt like flowers were blossoming in my gloomy life that had been tossed around here and there.

*

Inside the restaurant that was bustling with people.

We sat at the table we had reserved and silently poured water into each other’s cups, our lips pressed tightly together.

-Gulp.

“...”

-Chug.

I was not feeling good.

I had definitely entered the restaurant in a good mood, but as soon as I sat at the table, my refreshed mood had cooled down instantly.

It wasn’t because there were a lot of people.

I had made a reservation at a famous restaurant in the capital, so I expected that there would be a lot of people and had come prepared for it. It was just one thing. I simply didn’t like the people sitting at the table across from me.

Hanna was single-handedly emptying the water bottle.

As if trying to fill her stuffy insides with water, Hanna repeatedly poured water into her empty glass and drank it, then spoke to the person sitting next to her in a grumbling voice.

“When I begged you to come just once, you wouldn’t come no matter what....”

“hahahaha...”

“I can’t speak because I’m so speechless.”

I looked at the two men sitting at the next table with awkward eyes.

I emptied my glass with a bitter smile as I looked at the middle-aged man in a neat suit and the young man in a white academy uniform sitting there.

‘We wouldn’t be such easy opponents, though.’

It was funny that I was thinking this way. I was here to have a change of mood, too. I guess it would make sense if I thought of it as looking in a mirror.

I smiled and nodded.

“Isn’t that why we came here? Because we can win? We did, too.”

Rowan let out a dry laugh and nodded at my casual voice. It seemed ? NоvеⅠight ? (Read more on our source) like the Sword Master’s ears were good at picking up even small provocations.

I ended up laughing along with the Sword Master’s frank response.

Rowan crossed his arms and spoke to Mikhail.

“You did a good job with the homework I gave you. You achieved even better results than I expected.”

“You flatter me.”

“You can afford to be arrogant after achieving such great results in just 15 short days.”

“It is all thanks to Master’s teachings.”

I glanced at Mikhail, who was responding modestly, and then said to Hanna.

“Isn’t he lucky?”

“Yes.”

“He used to lose to me all the time at the academy, and now he’s acting all high and mighty.”

“Tsk.”

“He says he used to win every day. Oh, my.”

-Flinch.

I smiled as I watched Mikhail’s expression stiffen. It seemed like Mikhail had good hearing, too. I had planned on introducing him to the modern marvel of hearing aids when we got back to the ice palace, but it was a shame that it had come to this.

Thinking that my provocation had worked, I clenched my fist and looked at Hanna.

When our eyes met, I found myself smiling along with Hannah’s bashful grin.

“But if you drink this much water, what will you do when the food comes out? It’s not here yet.”

“It’s okay. I can eat anything you order for me.”

“You’re going to burst today.”

“hehehe...”

Hannah laughed brightly, shaking off her nervousness.

When she saw the waiters slowly bringing out the food, Hannah’s eyes widened and she said to me,

“Wow... This looks really expensive.”

“It is really expensive.”

“Then I’ll pay for some of it...!”

“It’s rude to do that to a butler who has a lot of money.”

As soon as I said that, a small jeer came from the next table.

“How could he have money? He’s nothing but a debtor.”

I couldn’t let that comment slide.

I listened intently to the provocation of the seasoned middle-aged man. It’s hurtful to be harassed for money when you have nothing else to harass you for.

Having barely paid off all my debts and become a nouveau riche, it’s unbearable to be looked down upon by a wealthy man for my money.

Of course, Rowan has much more money than I do, but it still feels bad.

Before my temper could subside, Rowan’s taunts continued unabated.

“This is no place for a servant of a fallen family.”

“Is... that so?”

“People should play according to their status. There’s an old saying that goes, ‘When a magpie follows a crane, its legs get torn apart.’ Isn’t that what you’re doing?”

“...”

I smiled and ignored his taunts.

I didn’t think I needed to respond. His taunts were directed at me, but they were completely off the mark. The only taunts that really got to me were the insults directed at the young lady.

Taunts about money or status didn’t do much damage.

Of course, his taunts weren’t directed only at me. Hannah must have been included in the target of his taunts, as well as his disciple, Mikhail.

I don’t know about Rowan, but Mikhail comes from the bottom. It must be embarrassing for him to hear this.

I smiled wryly as I looked at Mikhail’s stiff expression.

“Shall we eat?”

“Yes?”

Hannah, who looked like she was about to draw her sword at Rowan’s provocation, looked at me with her head tilted at my calm response. Hannah looked at me with her eyes asking, ‘Why are you just sitting there?’ I put a small piece of steak in Hannah’s mouth and said,

“Ah.”

“Ah...”

-Nom.

“Is it good?”

“Yes...”

“This is a restaurant that I carefully selected. Miss Hannah likes meat, don’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“I know everything.”

I said, thinking of the middle-aged man sitting next to me.

“Unlike who?”

Rowan’s expression hardened gradually at the mention of ‘who’.

Rowan, who had a heavy expression as if he would leave at any moment when I fed Hanna a piece of meat and she nodded her head in excitement while tightly gripping the fork.

“I can eat it...”

“Oh, please do.”

“Oh...”

-BAM...!

“Get out.”

“What?”

Mikhail, who had been eating steak noisily, looked up at Rowan, who had suddenly stood up, and began to pack up his things in a fluster.

“I just remembered some work I forgot.”

“Oh...”

“It’s not too late to celebrate after you win.”

I said, sitting with my arms crossed over the chair in an arrogant posture.

“Are you leaving already?”

Rowan left without answering.

Hanna spoke to Rowan as he was leaving.

“I’m going to win.”

“...”

“I’ll prove to Father that I’m not someone he needs this time.”

“...Get going.”

The restaurant fell silent.

I continued to feed Hanna.

“Now... you can stop.”

“What?”

“You’re only doing it because of Father.”

Looking at Hanna’s depressed face, I put the fork down on the table. Hanna fidgeted her eyes, at a loss for what to do, as I propped my chin up with one hand and stared at her intently.

I spoke to the shy Hanna.

“Is that not the case?”

“What?”

“I’m not feeding you because of him.”

I said, dipping the fork back into the dish.

“It’s because Hanna eats well.”

“What... That’s cheating.”

“I’m a bit of a cheater by nature.”

I put a piece of meat into Hanna’s mouth with a smile.

As the meat on the plate gradually dwindled, I put the fork down on the table and began rummaging through my pockets.

Hanna asked, a question mark appearing over her head at my busy movements.

“What are you looking for?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Hanna, can you put on earrings?”

“Yes... I can do it because I pierced it before. But why?”

I let out a small laugh and uttered, “That’s a relief.” Then, I took out two small earrings from my pocket.

“A present.”

Gold earrings with carved green emeralds.

Hannah looked at me with trembling eyes and held out her hand.

“I don’t think I’ve ever received a proper gift.”

I placed the earrings in Hannah’s hand and said,

“Let’s be together.”

*

And so, the day of the decisive battle arrived.