Page 236 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

-“Hey, kiddo.”

The nightmare unfolded again today.

The nightmare that brought unbearable sadness and occupied the dream world with a light heart.

Under the dark bridge.

The rainy sky.

The impossible boy.

The nightmare that unfolded in the most unfavorable environment of his life was reflecting the young girl who had been small.

The boy walked towards the girl sitting with her legs folded, wearing a bitter smile, and hesitated on what to say.

-“The stars are really beautiful tonight.”

A gentle voice.

The boy spoke to the girl who didn’t respond, didn’t eat the food he brought, and didn’t say thank you, in a voice that wasn’t reproachful.

The girl, as always, didn’t respond. She only hid her face between her knees, waiting for comfort.

Under the sky where the stars fell and the Milky Way unfolded, the boy started talking to the girl as always.

-“You know...”

-“...”

-“I don’t have a mom.”

-“...”

-Ugh...

-Sigh.

-I don’t even know my face or who I am. I don’t have a dad either. What’s going on? I’m not Park Hyeok-geose.

-Park Hyeok-ku-geose?

-...

The girl laughed.

She burst into laughter at the boy’s joke.

And.

The nightmare began to seep out, tainting everything with its dark hue.

-Run away.

-Ah... ah...

-Don’t look back and just run.

The boy who couldn’t escape and the girl who had no choice but to escape.

The dark nightmare that brought both sweetness and fear today began to unfold slowly.

-Never mind, I’m a person who keeps promises.

And frighteningly,

“Stop...!”

Mikhail, who had opened his eyes, let out a hot breath and got up from the Academy’s bed.

“Haa... haa...”

His forehead was drenched in cold sweat.

His shirt was soaked with sweat.

Mikhail covered his face with his knees.

“Please...”

The memories remained vividly.

The gentle voice remained.

The breathing that had made his heart race remained.

The sorrow that had made his heart ache remained, refusing to be erased.

“...”

The boy’s face, always shrouded in black, did not appear, but the painful heart and the deep-seated worries within it continued to torment Mikhail’s chest today.

He couldn’t erase it even if he wanted to.

The past memories that hurt his chest so much he couldn’t think straight.

Mikhail clenched his fists, unable to share his sorrow with anyone.

“Please...”

Mikhail wanted to break free from this shackles. It was a selfish thought, but if he could cut it off cleanly, he wanted to erase the memories entirely, to the point where his heart ached.

Mikhail, who had hidden his face between his knees, muttered softly.

“I just want to stop now.”

The regret about living with the name Mihail had not disappeared.

He wanted to live like a boy, remembering his youthful appearance.

The desire to wear pretty clothes like ordinary women had been erased for a long time.

He had dreamed of such things in the past, but now, after all this time, that mind had long since disappeared.

Mihail closed his eyes and endured the sorrow. Even the trembling of his shoulders and the night breeze couldn’t help.

“It seems like the nightmares have gotten worse since that day.”

After losing to Hannah, the frequency of nightmares had increased, bringing both peace and despair, making the sorrow even more intense.

Memories he wanted to forget more than ever had resurfaced since he let go of the opportunity he had grasped.

The survival of that child.

Mihail, who had been deceived by the blue window’s prank with the name Lee Min-hyuk, knew it was a lie, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry.

Maybe it was an illusion.

Maybe he had drawn his deepest desire, but...

“...”

His sweat-drenched hair seemed to have no intention of drying easily. His wet shirt was also clinging to his skin, making it hard to lie down.

“...”

Mihail let out a deep sigh and got up from bed.

Under the moonlight, his bare legs walked towards the window, his lower body not wearing pants.

– Thud.

Mihail, leaning against the window frame, wore a faint smile and muttered.

“You know...”.

“Am I really not foolish?”

Mihail spoke to himself, looking at the moon, without an answer.

“I cry and get disappointed on my own...”.

“I want to show you a cool side, so I torment myself all night, like a scarecrow.”

“If it were you, you’d probably say I’m foolish, right...”.

Mihail let out a deep sigh and bowed his head.

“What would you say to me now?”

You’d probably think it’s pathetic.

If it were him, he’d definitely say, “Why do you live so hard?”.

Mihail took a breath of the night air and opened his lips. He hoped the cold air would clear his suffocating heart.

“Yeah, I still can’t call your name properly.”

Mihail smiled slightly and carefully spoke the name from his memories.

“Iku...Min-hyuk.”

The clumsy pronunciation flowed out of Mihail’s mouth, and his face turned red with embarrassment.

“It’s been over 10 years, and I still can’t call your name properly, what a fool.”

No family.

No friends.

No one to rely on, but he kept calling out to his friend, and Mihail felt sorry.

“Sorry, for keep calling out to you.”

Mihail stood leaning against the window for a long time.

—Whoa!

In Mihail’s room, where the wind was blowing, a white one-piece dress was fluttering. It was a dress that held a small, childish desire to show off to a boy someday.

It was hung in the closet, fluttering.

***

“Tsk!”

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

The young lady, sitting on the bed, was spewing out harsh words. With a furious expression, she glared at me, throwing the red-wrapped candy bag on the floor and venting her anger.

“Eek!”

“Why are you like this? I bought candies because you ran out of chocolates.”

“...”

The young lady scowled, looking at the meaningful picture drawn on the red wrapping paper.

“It’s not candy.”

“That’s right.”

“Why is there a flower drawn on the candy.”

“Maybe it’s a candy made of flour.”

“...How do you make candy with flour.”

“Hmm... well?”

The young lady clenched her fist and glared at me, as if threatening to throw all the candies on the bed out the window if I didn’t tell the truth.

“...Hmph.”

As expected, the young lady was like a dog.

I nodded my head, telling the young lady the truth. The truth was that the snacks I bought weren’t chocolates.

“The truth is, it’s a product I developed with Malik this time.”

“Why did Ricardo make candy.”

“I wanted to give you something delicious.”

“Oh... cool.”

“I know.”

“You’re shameless.”

I nodded lightly, responding to the young lady’s small rebellion. The phrase “you’re shameless” was actually a compliment.

“Anyway, I brought it for a taste test.”

The young lady, holding the candy in her hand, glared at me fiercely.

“What’s in it.”

“...It’s a secret.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s not something you’ll die from eating.”

The young lady gazed at the wrapping paper with a faintly opened eye, wondering if this was really the candy she knew.

I couldn’t tell the young lady the truth.

“...”

I knew she would get extremely angry if she ate it.

The young lady glanced at me and began to open the candy bag. I smiled faintly, familiar with the sweet aroma of the candy, and nodded my head towards the young lady, who was unable to resist.

“It’ll be sweet and delicious.”

“...”

-Hap!

“Maybe so.”

As soon as I put it in my mouth, I truthfully told the lady sitting on the bed, while creating a safe distance by backing away from the bed where there were many things to throw.

I had to keep a distance from the lady’s attacks on the bed.

The lady’s face slowly turned pale.

“uuu!”

As if energized by the newly made candy’s effects, the lady made a developer’s heart-wrenching expression and began to clench her fists.

“Uiiiiiiiiik!!!!!!”

I told the lady the truth.

“Actually, this candy is the ‘Mandrake’ candy made for high-aged groups...”

“Uik?”

The lady’s reaction, with a strange expression as if she had eaten a person-shaped cookie, made me certain that the Mandrake’s effects were good.

“How is it? Isn’t it overwhelming?”

“Uik?”

The lady, who spat out the candy with a ‘ueok’ sound, raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

And.

“Zzipal!”

I could hear the lady’s loud, joyful scream.

“I’ll report you to the Aristocrat Abuse Committee!”

“There’s no such thing.”

“I’ll make it! I’ll make it!”

The lady, who gazed at the candy mountain on the bed with resentful eyes, had an expression that seemed like she would burst at any moment.

What’s the problem with making a candy mountain?

I smiled wistfully at the lady’s harsh evaluation of the masterpiece I made, inspired by the Hong Sam candy from my past life.

I carefully unwrapped the packaging of the candy the lady threw and put it in her mouth, whistling.

“Uiiiiiiiiik!”

The lady’s taste was decisive.

I wrote down the lady’s reaction in my notes and nodded.

[Does not suit children’s taste.]

‘Ah, the lady is an adult, after all.’

I quickly drew a line under my note and rewrote the answer.

[Poison for the evil woman.]

It seemed that getting help before launching the product would be very beneficial. Malick said it was delicious, but we had to test it on various people.

We also had to decide on the region to launch the product.

I thought that if we added a premium label, we might get a slightly higher profit.

I handed the lady a rectangular object with tears welling up in her eyes, giving her an experimental fee. Even if she was an evil woman, I had to give her a labor fee.

“Uik?”

The suspicious lady looked at me with a questioning expression, but I reassured her by opening a chocolate packaging and handed it to her.

“It’s chocolate.”

“Is it something tasteless?”

“I’m not that much of a devil.”

“...Devil.”

“If you don’t like it, take it back.”

“Sorry.”

The lady held the chocolate in both hands and nodded her head.

I looked at her cautiously and asked, “Lady?”

“Yeah.”

With chocolate smeared all over her mouth, she turned to me and replied.

“If the chocolate tastes like Mandrake, what would you do?”

“...Hmm.”

The lady furrowed her brow, deep in thought, and replied carelessly while chewing on the chocolate.

“I’ll hit you.”

“That’s right.”

“Yeah.”

“So, if the chocolate is correct, but it has Mandrake inside, what would you do?”

“Huh?”

The lady looked at the cross-section of the chocolate and made a sad face.

“Are you trying to assassinate me?”

“No, I’m just curious. And the chocolate is expensive, so we can’t make it carelessly.”

“Sigh.”

The lady nodded her head and replied.

“I think it’s fine as long as it tastes good.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“Lady?”

“Yeah?”

Actually...

“Nope.”

I swallowed my words and shook my head.

The lady, who had experienced the worst thing in the world, made a disappointed face and clenched her fist.

“Heehee! What’s with this?!”

“That...”

“Yeah.”

“Want another one of these?”

“Hehe...!”

The lady loved chocolate.