Page 390 of The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

A faint voice echoed in her ears.

(Hurry...)

A whisper of the heart that she had never shared with anyone.

(I wish this would just end already.)

Her inner thoughts.

(Maybe I should just skip the graduation ceremony and run away.)

The voice lingered without hesitation in her ears.

Shartia’s expression grew stiffer with each passing moment. She told herself it was nothing. She had been arrogant enough to think that what the Blue Screen showed her could be easily overcome. But that belief was starting to crack, like glass struck by a stone.

She thought she’d be different.

She had believed, deep down, that no matter what trials came her way, she wouldn’t cower and would fight her way through with sheer determination. She thought she wouldn’t break...

‘Don’t make me laugh.’

Yet, the version of herself she saw sitting in the classroom through the viewing looked utterly pathetic, as if it was intent on shattering those convictions.

Pretending to write something with a pen in a classroom where studying had lost all meaning.

Trying not to shrink under the weight of their stares.

(It feels like they’re all talking about me.)

Spending the heavy moments scribbling on blank paper, writing, “I want to leave.”

(I hate this...)

(I’m scared...)

(Don’t look at me. I won’t care about you either, so please...)

Her once-arrogant thoughts slowly began to harden. The tyranny of the Blue Screen, which she had dismissed as ‘nothing much,’ suddenly felt terrifying.

Because the voice coming not from her mouth but from her heart frightened her. She hated seeing herself—once strong and unfazed by others’ gazes—falling apart.

‘Don’t be ridiculous...’

‘I’m not like that.’

‘That’s... not me.’

No matter how much she tried to deny it in her heart, her resolve crumbled quickly at the sight of her fragile self. It was as if it whispered, “This is who you really are.”

(I want to run away...)

It wasn’t something she could laugh off.

Seeing herself, who had held on with nothing but pride, breaking apart wasn’t even remotely amusing.

‘...’

The silence dragged on.

Both the self within the viewing and the self watching it tightly pressed their lips together, desperately wishing for time to pass quickly.

“This is it~!!”

“Should we write some insults about the professors on the board before we go?”

“Sounds good! Let’s start with the history professor.”

Even though the classroom was filled with students cheerfully chatting, a cold silence seemed to hover around her alone.

When their laughter echoed once—

(...Why am I...)

—the sorrow of cursing her own existence resonated in her heart. And when talk of after-parties following the graduation ceremony filled the room—

(...why am I all alone?)

A voice soaked in sadness swallowed her solitude.

Her notebook was filling up with meaningless words. “I want to leave.” “I have nowhere to go back to.” “I don’t want to be here.”—thoughts that circled endlessly in her mind continued to fill the pages.

She felt terrible.

Broken.

Shrinking.

Just imagining everyone turning their backs on her felt like a wound reopening.

But there was one curious thing.

(Is he not coming?)

Even while feeling so small, the self within the viewing kept glancing nervously at the classroom door.

Each time it opened, her gaze flickered toward it, like someone waiting for a visitor.

Was someone supposed to come?

Was she waiting for someone to hand her a bouquet of flowers, as if celebrating her? Her expression seemed to hold that kind of hope.

About five minutes had passed as she wore that pitiful expression, staring at the door, when something unpleasant happened.

—Thunk.

A group of female students in graduation caps bumped into her desk as they walked past.

“...!!”

The impact was strong enough to make the desk rattle, and the self within the viewing, startled, lifted her head to look at them. She also raised her head to glare at them.

It was deliberate.

‘Who are they...?’

A deliberate [N O V E L I G H T] act to torment someone who was alone.

‘A punishment...!’

‘If it were me,’ she thought, she would have shouted at the girls and demanded an explanation. No matter how hellish the situation felt, she wasn’t the type to stay silent.

After all, in this academy where everyone was supposed to be equal—

Even as a princess—how dare they.

But, contrary to her surging emotions, the self within the viewing simply lowered her head and bent down to pick up the pen that had fallen to the floor.

‘What are you doing...’

—Scrape...

‘What are you doing?!’

(I hate this...)

‘Stand up and say something.’

(I hate this...)

‘If it were me, I wouldn’t act like that. Even if I lost my mother, even if I had no one on my side, I wouldn’t act like this...’

(I hate...)

‘Why...! Why act so stupidly...? Huh?’

She was trembling.

The self within the viewing, bent down to pick up her pen, was afraid of the girls.

(Please, don’t talk to me...)

Far from getting angry, her small, shaking hands seemed to plead for the situation to pass without incident.

The voice that had been scolding her for being weak and pathetic gradually faded.

She couldn’t bear the thought that this pitiful figure was her.

That this was who she truly was terrified her.

She was too scared to cling to even the faintest hope.

‘Why are you acting like such a fool?’

(Please... just let it go.)

‘Why aren’t you doing anything...?’

A cold voice pierced her ears.

“Ah...”

A voice dripping with malice and ridicule began to ring in her ears.

“...What the.”

“...”

“Oh, you were here?”

A conversation that outright denied her very existence.

Her fists clenched.

Because the version of herself in the viewing looked so pathetic.

Because she was furious at how helpless she seemed, doing absolutely nothing.

Why was she acting like such a fool?

She hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was she shrinking back like that?! She couldn’t understand the self she saw in the viewing.

And at the same time—

‘...’

She was scared.

She was terrified that she might end up looking like that—broken and pathetic.

Without caring about her turmoil, the girl continued to speak. She relentlessly poured words meant to crush the Shartia in the viewing.

“I thought no one was here.”

“...”

“But look at that. There’s a stray dog.”

“...”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you too good to talk to idiots like us?”

While the Shartia in the viewing maintained a hardened expression, her inner voice told a different story.

(It’s the last day.)

(So just let it go quietly.)

(I’m enduring this loneliness because it’s the last day. Can’t you endure it too?)

But contrary to her desperate wish, one of the girls glanced at her notebook and burst out laughing.

“What did you write here? ‘I want to run away...?’”

“...!!!”

Despite the Shartia in the viewing hurriedly closing the notebook, the girl snatched it away and began reading aloud.

“Pfft! Look at this! It’s hilarious! Hey, listen to this, everyone!”

“Give it back.”

‘I want to run away.’ ‘It feels like I’m the only one without any friends.’ ‘I’m a loner.’

“...”

“Pfft! What the hell is this? Did the great Shartia actually write something like this? This is so sad it’s funny.”

“Give it back.”

“Nope~”

The girl smirked as she spoke.

“What? Are you giving me an order as the former student council president?”

“...”

“Too bad you’re graduating. There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“...This is an academy that treats everyone equally.”

“Not anymore. After graduation, you’re nothing.”

“...”

“You’re no longer the student council president you acted so high and mighty as... and you’re not even royalty anymore.”

The words were brutal.

(Don’t...)

It was too cruel to be brushed off as a joke. Despite the unshaken expression on her face, the Shartia in the viewing was trembling inside.

(Please stop.)

“I always knew this would happen to you.”

“...”

“You handed out punishments just because kids teased others a little, made them do community service for talking back to you—I knew this day would come.”

“...”

“Seriously. How pitiful.”

“...”

“What’s the point of working so hard in the academy? In the end, you have nothing left.”

The Shartia in the viewing clenched her fists but said nothing. Even though it was unfair, she couldn’t come up with a single word in her defense.

“They said your mom was a commoner, so I guess you’re just a commoner too.”

“...My father has never said anything about my status. What you’re doing right now could be considered an insult to the royal family.”

“Oh, I’m so scared...”

The girl sneered as she looked at Shartia.

“But you know, once the Crown Prince becomes Emperor, your life’s going to hit rock bottom.”

“...”

Her expression began to change.

(Stop...)

The Shartia in the viewing tried to maintain her composure, but cracks began to show on her face. The mask she had desperately worn to look unfazed was slowly falling apart.

(Please, don’t say anything more.)

“I’ll still be a noble, but you’ll be a commoner. Are you prepared for that?”

“...”

“Did you really dabble in dark magic? Because you’d have to be cursed to be this stupid.”

(I know... so just stop already...)

The Shartia in the viewing slowly lowered her head. And she, too, couldn’t lift her own.

—Shiver...

It was painful to watch herself on the verge of tears. The emotions were so overwhelming that even she felt like crying.

‘Enough.’

She wanted it to stop.

She had seen enough despair.

She understood now.

So she wanted it to stop.

(Stop...)

“Are you crying?”

(Please stop.)

“Hey... she’s crying.”

(Someone...)

“Everyone!!”

(Help me.)

It was then—

—Clatter!

Just as the classroom door burst open, the girl tormenting her collapsed onto the floor.

“Who the hell are you?!”

A man stood in the doorway.

“Oh... are you talking about me?”

A man with red hair and cold eyes stood there, casting his shadow over the Shartia in the viewing.

He stood boldly in front of her, shielding her as she cried.

“I’m Ricardo, a third-year in the swordsmanship department.”

“...”

“Senior.”

He glared at the girl who had been bullying her, his expression sharp enough to cut.

“...”

The girl’s face stiffened as she looked at Ricardo, then lowered her head. She didn’t know why, but there was a clear reason for her fear of him.

“Is that him? The one who ranked first in the duels?”

“Yeah... They say he’s the youngest aura user and a Sword Master.”

“No way! A Sword Master?!”

“That’s just a rumor.”

The murmuring students revealed the reason why the girl feared Ricardo.

“I heard that if you make him your enemy, your family can be ruined overnight.”

“What?!”

“Seriously, be careful.”

In Ricardo’s hand was a massive bouquet of white irises.

The flowers gave off a faint, sweet scent and were large enough to fill his arms completely.

Ricardo smiled faintly at the girl.

“Sorry...”

And with that, the girl who had tormented her ran away.

It was absurd.

She couldn’t even process what had just happened.

But—

(He came...)

The Shartia in the viewing looked at Ricardo with the brightest expression she had ever shown, as if she had been waiting for him all along.

Ricardo turned toward her.

“Hello.”

And then—

He handed her the bouquet and spoke.

“Congratulations on your graduation.”

“...”

“Princess Shartia.”

It was the one thing she had wanted to hear the most.