Page 228 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Darvab’s quiet mansion.

“...”

Darvab, sitting at the office desk, read a letter sent by Olivia and let out a heavy sigh.

[To Abi]

Abi, I don’t have any friends.

Ricardo doesn’t have any friends either.

I counted on my fingers, but it didn’t feel good, so I gave up. Let’s just have a small tea party at our house.

So, please send me some money.

Darvab nodded in satisfaction at Olivia’s beautiful handwriting. Whoever’s daughter she was, her handwriting was impressive.

“Indeed.”

Although the letter didn’t have good content, Darvab was still satisfied with the letter sent by her daughter and nodded her head.

“I didn’t think about not having friends....”

Darvab thought back to his academy days and lifted his head.

“Darvab, let’s eat together.”

“Shut up, commoner.”

“Are you going to eat alone again, Darvab?”

“What’s wrong with eating alone? I can use my time more efficiently that way. Don’t think it’s weird.”

“Hmm...alright.”

Darvab thought about his impressive childhood.

He folded the letter neatly, his expression gloomy as he reminisced about his past, which was different from others from the start.

“It’s like father, like son.”

Darvab could understand Olivia’s pain. Although he had made friends while doing business, they were only business acquaintances.

The ball was a place where one showed off themselves in front of many people, so it was understandable that Olivia had given up on the ball and opted for a tea party instead, not wanting to dance in front of people she wasn’t close to.

The original goal wasn’t a small gathering, but this was okay too. Olivia’s position would be solidified later, so there was no need to rush.

Darvab blamed himself for not considering his daughter’s feelings and nodded his head.

“A tea party...”

From noble mtl dot com

Darvab smiled ? Nоvеl??ght ? (Exclusive on Nоvеl??ght) faintly and called out to the man sitting next to him.

“Kail.”

“Yes, father.”

“Olivia is hosting a tea party.”

“Didn’t she decide to host a ball?”

Darvab asked Kail seriously.

“Let’s just say three close friends.”

“...”

Kail didn’t answer.

Darvab smiled wistfully as he looked at Kail, who was following in his footsteps. He thought that Kail, who was showing great promise as the future head of the Desmond family, would have a bright future.

“I’m proud of you, son.”

“...”

Kail smiled bitterly.

*

Today, too, was a peaceful day at the young lady’s mansion.

“Hehehe.”

The young lady, sitting at her desk, was struggling to find friends to invite to her tea party.

“Miss, the confirmed guests so far are Darvab, Kail, Rosanna, Malik, and Hanna.”

“Wait a minute...”

The young lady was having a hard time deciding on the tea party members. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t come up with anyone to invite.

In her academy days, all it took was one word and people would flock to her, but now that she was a fallen lady, there was no one who would be happy to receive her invitation, and her list of invitees had dried up.

The young lady was tapping her forehead, sending telepathic messages to her future self.

“Hehehe...”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the young lady’s strange behavior, as if she was asking her future self if she would have friends.

“Miss, even if you do that, friends won’t just appear.”

“Wait a minute. I think it’ll work out.”

It’s not like our social circle is that wide. It’s not like things would change even if we forced it, but I gave the lady a sympathetic smile and patted her shoulder.

“Lady.”

“Hmm...”

“Wouldn’t it be better to cancel now and wait for the next opportunity? You can buy friends with money, after all.”

“You can’t buy friends with money.”

“That’s true.”

“I want to hold a slumber party, too. I want to meet up with friends after a long time, have a pillow fight, make some snacks, and have a pajama party.”

I looked at the lady with pitying eyes and swallowed my tears.

“Lady.”

“Yeah,”

“It’s not like we’ve never done it before, but we’ve never had a chance to.”

“...like in the novels.”

“...”

The lady wanted to have a pillow fight. Not a party born from complicated relationships bound by business, but a party that starts from a deep, systematic friendship.

I wiped away my tears with a handkerchief and spoke carefully to the lady. I implied that it’s not wrong to not have friends, and that novels that give people such illusions are bad, trying to comfort her heart.

“Shall we do it with me?”

“...”

“Let’s have a pillow fight today, wear our pajamas, gossip together, and take a bath together. I’m fine with that.”

“You know they built a separate bathhouse during the remodeling, right? We can have a blast there and feel something.”

I smiled faintly and made a joke.

“If we include Gomtang, that’ll make three... no, three of us, I suppose.”

The lady bowed her head and clenched her fists.

“Ricardo...”

“Yes.”

“Does Ricardo not have friends?”

“...That’s a rude question, but.”

“It’s not like having a party with just Ricardo is a slumber party, though.”

“Hmm.”

I carefully opened my mouth, facing the lady.

“Can I invite my friends, then?”

“Friends?”

“Yes.”

“Does Ricardo have friends?”

I smiled ambiguously, thinking of a few people who came to mind.

“You know them, lady.”

“Who?”

I smiled wryly and wrote out the invitations.

-Yuria.

-Shatiya.

The only people I knew were here.

*

Those who received the invitations showed different reactions.

Yuria was thrilled.

[Shall we play at the mansion?] – Ricardo

“Uh... um...?!”

Hanna was flustered.

[There’s a tea party at the mansion. Come if you have time. Ricardo will provide food.] – Olivia.

“This is an opportunity...”

Chartia had doubts as she opened the invitation.

[Don’t open it.] – Ricardo

“I’m not going.”

The women, each with different minds, began to prepare after receiving the invitations. They put on dresses hidden in their closets and wore earrings, getting ready to attend the tea party.

A week later...

The day of the tea party arrived.

[The 1st Olivia Lady’s Tea Party]

After hanging a banner on the mansion’s wall, I stood beside the lady, patting her shoulder, which was pale from tension.

“Ma’am, don’t be nervous.”

“Heehee... I thought no one would come, but three people did...!”

Malik.

The Desmont family.

The Matopju.

Among the many guests who arrived, I forced a smile and said to the lady.

“It seems we’ve done well.”

“Yes...”

I thought it was fortunate that we didn’t live a futile life. We might have had to catch an orc in the dungeon, but that wasn’t necessary.

I glanced at the carriage visible beyond the mansion’s wall and wiped away tears.

“Ma’am... they’re coming again.”

“Heehee!”

“Smile.”

“Hehehe...”

“Aren’t you scared when you smile like that?”

“Heehee!”

I gently touched the lady’s cheek, which was awkwardly smiling, and held my breath as I watched the women walking slowly towards the mansion’s main gate.

“Wow...”

Yuria, who came dressed in a light, flowing dress.

Hanna, who wore a dress that revealed her figure.

Chartia, who was worn out from work.

Beautiful people, more lovely than flowers, were walking into the mansion.

The three of them looked at the banner hanging on the mansion’s wall, awkwardly smiling.

“Ahaha...”

“You’ve prepared well!”

“I want to go home.”

Among them, Hanna showed the biggest reaction.

“Master!”

It had been a while since I last saw Hanna, and she had tied her brown hair to one side, rushing into my arms in an instant.

I could feel the sentimental heart of my disciple.

I smiled slightly and hugged Hanna tightly.

“It’s been a while.”

“Master!”

“I saw it in the newspaper. There was a big incident, but thanks to you, Hanna, it was resolved.”

“No... it’s all thanks to you, Master.”

Yuria gave me an awkward smile and greeted me.

“Hello.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“No, I received a big favor from you last time, so I had to come. And...”

Yuria looked at me awkwardly and bowed her head.

“Thank you for last time.”

“Uh-huh.”

“There are still many stories to be told, but I wanted to say this, so I came.”

“Thank you.”

Princess Shartia asked.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on.”

“Then I’ll leave.”

I wanted to go home.

*

After finishing our greetings, Shartia let out a dry laugh and shook her head.

“What’s with these members...”

The rival of the Ma Tower, the Desmond family.

– Ah, Abbie!

– It’s a grand occasion.

The Iron-Blooded Noble, Kyle.

– Ricardo.

– Lord Kyle, can I call other guests too?

-...

And the next head of the Histania family, Malik.

– I want to discuss business.

Finally, the owner of the Ma Tower himself.

– Can you install a teleportation device?

-Yes.

-...?

-Didn’t you say you’d grant me one wish?

-That’s true, but...this is absurd....

-I think it’s a pretty good deal, considering.

-That’s impossible. The installation fee alone exceeds 10 million gold, and you’re asking me to install it? Plus, you’re summoning the lord of Deathmount and calling me out....

-There’s no such thing as impossible in the Magic Tower.

-...

-Are you below Deathmount?

-...I have something to attend to, so I’ll go first.

-I was about to say the same.

Each and every one of them was a heavyweight.

The members of the fallen noble’s tea party were an excessive lineup. If they had the time, they could occupy one-fifth of the empire. Shartiya laughed dryly, shaking her head at the thought of these heavyweights gathering for a single noble’s tea party.

“This is crazy.”

Shartiya clenched her fists as she watched Ricardo slowly walk into the crowd.

She had no idea what he was going to say.

She didn’t think he had called these people just to hold a tea party. The rumors said the Deathmount family was ruthless and merciless.

-Gulp.

Shartiya tensed up, thinking she might need to make a run for it if things got out of hand.

“Thank you for taking the trouble to come.”

Ricardo’s eyes were filled with emotion as he gazed at his guests.

“Let me briefly introduce today’s schedule.”

Make pastries.

Dinner.

Fighting over cushions.

Bathing.

As Shartiya listened to the schedule, she furrowed her brow, questioning her own ears.

“What...?”

This lineup was impossible to work with.

Ricardo continued to rattle off the day’s schedule without pause. The tension on Olivia’s face grew with each passing moment.

“We’ll be making pastries to donate to a charity organization, so please participate if you’d like.”

“...”

“If you don’t want to, that’s okay, but the kids will really enjoy receiving the pastries.”

“...”

Shartiya’s eyes widened as she listened to Ricardo’s muttered remarks. ‘Of course, it’ll go to the Olivia, the Evil Noblewoman, Foundation....’

‘Ugh.’

Shartiya wanted to go home.