Page 223 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Yuria gazed at the man in front of her with wide eyes, then shook her head.

“No...”

His words were just a pleasant facade, and I thought he was trying to make her feel better.

“What’s so pretty about me?”

Nothing about me is pretty.

Not inside, not outside.

Nothing is okay.

Every time I look in the mirror, I see more flaws, and I think I’m not pretty because I leave scars on my heart. There are many people who are prettier and more beautiful than me.

So Yuria shook her head and denied Ricardo’s words. I’m not pretty.

“What’s so pretty about me? I’m foolish and stupid... It’s better to say that a rock is pretty.”

I think I’m not good-looking myself, so how much more directly will Ricardo see it? Yuria spoke carefully, filled with fear.

“My hair color is like a faded peony flower, and I get annoyed and suspicious every day. I’m not pretty at all. I see people who are prettier than me all the time, so why would you say that?”

Ricardo, sitting on the railing, smiled softly and gazed at Yuria intently. He brushed his wind-blown hair aside and looked at Yuria with calm, gentle eyes.

“Hmm...”

Ricardo’s low, rumbling voice echoed, filled with a small doubt. He took a step closer to Yuria, his voice carrying a subtle excitement.

“Is that so? I don’t think so. It’s strange.”

Ricardo’s voice was like a gentle breeze, and he took another step closer, as if he didn’t see the line he had drawn. Yuria shook her head, denying him.

“You’re lying.”

“Is that so?”

Although I wanted to tell him to leave, that annoying guy didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. He was knocking on the door of my heart, trying to get closer.

“Why...?”

I wondered why he was interested in someone like me, and the question kept pounding on my chest, demanding an answer.

He’s misunderstanding me on purpose.

Ricardo’s gentle voice, which was too sensitive for Yuria, was like a soothing balm to my ears.

I wish he would just scold me instead.

If I could just blame him for all my troubles, my heart would feel much lighter. But Yuria’s heart ached, wondering why Ricardo didn’t expect anything in return.

Ricardo spoke in his usual sweet tone, like he was offering me candy.

“I think Yuria’s pink hair is lovely. Others might say it’s like a faded peony flower, but I think it’s like a freshly bloomed flower.”

“...”

“And I love Yuria’s pink eyes too. They’re like jewels, clear and pure, and they give me a sense of comfort even without saying a word.”

And then...

Ricardo continued to praise Yuria with a gentle smile, using his clever words to describe the person I was. ◆ Nоvеl?g?t ◆ (Only on Nоvеl?g?t) He was saying that this was the kind of person Yuria was, like he was stating the obvious.

Ricardo’s conversation flowed smoothly, like he was talking about something mundane.

“Why...?”

As Ricardo’s praise continued, the question in Yuria’s heart only grew stronger. Her heart was pounding, and the emotion of “why” was tearing her apart, filling her with a sense of guilt and sorrow.

Even though he knew everything...

Ricardo’s confidence, as if he was shouldering everything alone, was suffocating her.

“And Yuria has a big heart... Ah, I’m sorry, that was too much.”

Yuria glared at Ricardo, who was covering his mouth with his hand, and clenched her fists.

“...Don’t you feel guilty?”

She asked him, her eyes welling up with tears, as if demanding an answer.

“Why... do you talk like that? I haven’t done anything for you, so why do you speak so kindly to me?”

“...”

“I... I understand now. I understand why Ricardo treated me like that. I don’t understand everything, and there’s still a lot I don’t know, but I know why Ricardo was mean to me.”

Yuria’s emotions were overflowing, and she bowed her head, looking at Ricardo.

“But... I really don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand why Ricardo is being so kind to me. If anyone should be helping me, it’s him, but why is he being so nice to me...?”

“Don’t you feel guilty?”

If it were me...

“I would!”

If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to do it even if I died. I would be too scared to push him away.

“I would hate him to death, and I would resent him for it. Why are you making that face? Why!”

Ricardo gazed at Yuria with a faint smile, his eyes fixed on her clenched fists and her poignant expression.

“I...”

Ricardo opened his mouth slightly.

“I think that way.”

He spoke his thoughts in a calm, gentle voice.

“If there’s a good person, there has to be a bad person, or else the good person wouldn’t shine, right?”

“...”

“If you’re half-good, really good people might get hurt. Since I’m going to live badly anyway, I might as well do what I want. It’s like I’ve been holding back my words.”

“If even one person understands, it’s better, right? It’s less lonely and a bit less difficult.”

“Hmm, that’s right. I think I was too stubborn and didn’t think that far. I wonder if my existence has become poison instead.”

Sometimes.

“Sometimes I think like that. I wonder if I’m getting in the way. In a way, it’s true.”

Yuria couldn’t understand Ricardo’s foolish yet kind actions. But Ricardo seemed to understand that it was okay, and he was stubbornly trying to win Yuria over.

Ricardo’s deep red color began to spread to Yuria. Ricardo’s color started to seep into Yuria.

“So, I like Yuria. No matter how pitiful or sad it is, your stubborn and sometimes foolish yet sacrificing appearance is too cool. I’d die for it.”

“...”

“Well, the biggest reason is that Yuria is pretty, but that’s just it.”

Ricardo chuckled softly, saying “Haha, was I too direct?” as he carefully got down from the railing. Leaving footprints on the snowy balcony, he approached Yuria and gently touched his cheek.

“Don’t cry.”

“...”

“I’m keeping my promise, aren’t I?”

“I couldn’t keep anything....”

“It was a one-sided promise from the start.”

A one-sided promise without the right to refuse.

-I’ll keep it.

Yuria looked at Ricardo, who still remembered the promise, and burst into tears.

Why couldn’t I believe him?

Why didn’t I think a little more?

If I had just opened my heart a little more.

If I had believed him as much as I loved him, I wouldn’t have felt this pain. Yuria blamed himself for crushing the blossoming flower in his heart and burst into tears.

“Is it okay...?”

Yuria asked Ricardo, looking at him with affectionate eyes, remembering the painful memories of hurting Ricardo in the past.

“Is it okay... that I hurt Ricardo?”

Ricardo nodded and replied.

“It’s okay.”

Yuria asked again, this time thinking of the pain he had inflicted on Ricardo’s heart.

“Because of me, you were hurt and struggled... is it really okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay. I can do it many times.”

“Because of me...”

Yuria’s apologies continued, repeating them until the snow in the north piled up, asking Ricardo’s forgiveness over and over, crying and apologizing until there was nothing left to apologize for.

Just once, if he could hear Ricardo’s forgiveness, he would make it right. He asked with fear and sadness in his heart.

And Ricardo gave the same answer.

“It’s really okay.”

Many stories were carried away by the northern wind.

Including the three hours I was trapped in the closet.

And the reason I was wandering around my shoe rack.

And the revenge for the false rumors and the people I hated.

Ricardo told Yuria everything without hiding anything.

-“I put all the evidence in Kyla’s drawer.”

-...Really?

-Yes, I even wrote my name on it nicely. You should have seen that girl’s expression, but you only saw the lady.

-Was it Olivia?

-Yes. If you get angry, it’s... oh dear.

-Pfft.

A smile spreads across her lips.

Perhaps the conversation she had been longing for the most and missing the most was happening in Yuria’s reality. Yuria, who had been waiting for such a trivial thing, clenched her fists and looked at Ricardo.

“So, you’re saying...”

It’s as if flower petals are scattering strangely in the sky with white snow falling. Pink-tinted petals are swaying in the spring breeze, knocking on the door of her heart.

It’s strange, indeed.

Yuria felt warmth in her melting heart. Although she was selfish and foolish, she thought she had another chance to make a promise.

She looked at Ricardo’s profile, leaning against the wall, and said,

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Can you make just one promise?”

“What kind of promise?”

Yuria smiled slightly and buried her face in her knees.

“A promise not to be surprised.”

“What?”

-Yep.

Yuria grasped Ricardo’s sleeve and gave him a small peck on the cheek. With a small smile, she expressed her confidence that she wouldn’t waver anymore and spoke carefully.

“I promise.”

Ricardo looked at Yuria with a bewildered expression, touching his cheek.

“Eh...?”

“A sign of the promise.”

“The promise...?”

“A one-sided promise I made.”

A promise not to waver again.

Ricardo looked at Yuria with shaking eyes and said, “I... I should tell you beforehand, but I have a harem...”

“Ah, come on!”

He really was a man who didn’t understand the atmosphere.

Yuria smiled and looked at Ricardo.

*

-The constraint of past favorability ‘Limitation of Favorability’ is lifted.

(!) Yuria’s favorability increases.