The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 400



400 – The Suspicious Woman Who Arrived at the Mansion on a Rainy Day. -1-

Another peaceful day at Hamel’s mansion.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Give me food.”

“You ate 30 minutes ago.”

“But I’m hungry…”

Today, as always, I sat on the lady’s bed, gazing out the window, sharing a cup of tea and light conversation with her.

“Sip…”

“Slurp…”

“As expected, the aroma is wonderful, probably because it’s expensive tea leaves.”

“Hmm… No matter how much I drink, I can’t find tea delicious.”

“Actually, I feel the same.”

The lady and I nodded our heads and let out an awkward sigh.

If only we had guests, we could get rid of all this tea, but the chances of guests coming to the lady’s mansion were close to zero.

With a refreshing expression, the lady placed her teacup on the windowsill and looked at me.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Drink mine too.”

“No, thank you. It’s good for your health, so just drink it.”

“Is tea good for your health?”

“Since it tastes bad, it must be good for you, right?”

“That makes sense.”

“It’s too bitter…”

“Indeed. Just like my life.”

“Ricardo, your life is sweet.”

“Why is that?”

“The most beautiful person in the world is me.”

“Honey. Honey.”

“Eeeeeek!!!”

The young lady and I were exchanging trivial jokes while looking out the window.

-Swooosh.

It was raining outside the window.

Perhaps because the beginning of summer was approaching, the atmosphere of the mansion in the rain didn’t seem so bad. This is the perfect time to tell a scary story.

I looked at the young lady with a gloomy expression.

“Young lady.”

“Yes.”

“Shall I tell you a ghost story?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

I gave up at the young lady’s blunt refusal.

-Swooosh.

What should we play?

We had already folded paper cranes.

We had also made bath bombs, so we needed a new activity.

I thought about playing a game called Blue Marble that I had played in a previous life, but I figured the young lady, being a high noble, wouldn’t understand the commoners’ ways…

-I want to buy this.

“Isn’t this a deserted island? This land is not for living, but for resting…”

“Eeeek… Where can’t I live?”

“…”

After some time spent pondering over rarely thought-of amusements,

“Eek?”

The young lady, who had been gazing out the window, pointed to a corner of the yard with her finger and spoke to me.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Something’s wrong with Gomtang.”

“Gomtang?”

“He’s running around like a sick dog.”

“…”

-Gomgom.

-Mooong…

Whether he liked the rain or not, Gomtang was happily running around the yard with a tangtang in his mouth.

-Mooong…

-Gomgomgom…!

Why does seeing the pets getting along so well make me smile too?

-Mooong!!

-Gomgom!!!

Realizing the owner’s feelings anew, I nodded with a small smile.

“It looks nice.”

“It’s nice to see the emergency rations getting along.”

“It’s not emergency rations.”

“Ugh…”

-Swoosh.

“It’s raining a lot.”

After staring at Gomtang for a while, I turned my gaze to the rain outside the window and uttered some sentimental words. The weather called ‘rain’ had the effect of enriching a person’s sensitivity.

“There have been many events whenever it rained.”

“Right. We ate chocolate and meat too.”

“Why is it always related to food?”

“…Isn’t it?”

From noble mtl dot com

I chuckled softly at the lady’s cute complaint and nodded. There was nothing wrong with what she said.

“That’s true, but there are also memories. When it rains, you remember certain events.”

“When it rains? Hmm…”

“Think carefully. There must have been something memorable.”

“Hmmm.”

I began to recount the events I remembered to the lady who was frowning in thought.

“When it rained, wasn’t that when our fateful meeting began?”

“Right. I saved the dying Ricardo. He was ugly then, and he’s even uglier now.”

“…And when it rained, Miss soaked the bed thoroughly.”

“Eek?”

“Ahem… And you begged to sleep next to me because you were scared of the thunder. I still get chills thinking about how the master glared at me then.”

“What can I do if I’m scared?”

“There’s nothing you can do.”

It was also raining when I met Hannah, who said she missed the taste of cheap green tea…

Now that I think about it, there were so many memorable events when it rained that I could almost believe guests would come whenever it rained. I couldn’t tell Miss, but it was also raining when I parted ways with Mikhail.

“There have been so many things.”

“Ricardo, you’ve said everything, so I have nothing to say.”

“…”

“Ricardo, you’re no fun.”

“I’ll try to say less next time.”

The sulky Miss pouted her lips and let out a lazy yawn.

“Haam… But I hate it when it rains.”

“Why?”

“It’s gloomy. It makes me feel bad, and I can’t go outside.”

“Do you want to go outside?”

Three years ago, Miss would throw a pillow at the mere mention of the word ‘outside,’ but seeing how much she had grown in such a short time, I smiled and took a step closer, gently suggesting we go on a picnic for the first time in a while.

“Miss.”

“Yes,”

“Shall we go fishing when the rain stops?”

“Fishing?”

“Yes.”

“…I’ve never been fishing before.”

Seeing the young lady’s expression showing clear dislike, I began to captivate her heart with a bright smile.

“If we go fishing, we can grill the freshly caught fish right away.”

“Freshwater fish don’t taste good.”

“It’s because you haven’t tasted the real delicious ones.”

“I don’t like fish that look like Ricardo.”

“Where on earth do such handsome fish live?”

“Eek…”

“That hurts.”

The young lady’s indifferent reaction gradually began to soften. After all, it had been quite a while since we went out alone together.

“Fishing…? Hmm…”

Just a little more and she might give in.

In my previous life, whenever I had some leisure time, I would enjoy a bit of fishing, so I had a bit of a desire to go fishing after a long time. There’s no better pastime when you want to relax leisurely.

How fun it is to play while feeling the cool breeze and wasting time under the warm sunlight.

“Fishing is all about the charm of waiting. You’ll find it fun too, young lady.”

“It’s no fun if you don’t catch anything.”

“Who am I? Am I not the god of fishing?”

“Ricardo. Cannibalism is bad.”

“…”

“I will give you a piece of chocolate each time you catch one.”

“Eek?”

“If you catch one the size of a palm, I’ll give you a piece. If you catch one the size of a forearm, I’ll give you a big piece.”

The young lady, with a sullen expression, retorted to me.

“What if the fish eats me?”

“If its mouth is big enough to eat you… then it would be a target for extermination.”

“Hmmm.”

After pondering for a while, the young lady nodded and replied to me.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to go?”

“Yes?”

The young lady was staring straight into my eyes. She was telling me to stop if I was overexerting myself because of her.

“If you’re going because of me, it’s okay not to go.”

“…Oh.”

“You’ve worked a lot because of the crown prince. I don’t want you to get sick from overworking, so I’ll allow you to rest a bit.”

“Are you worried about your humble servant, my lady?”

The young lady gave a faint smile and said to me.

“Who else would worry about you besides me?”

“…I’m touched.”

“I take care of you because you’re mine.”

“Haha…”

Really, such a warm person.

I nodded at the lady’s suggestion and replied cheerfully. This kind of consideration was something I could appreciate even when I was in pain.

“I want to go.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I want to go fishing. It’s been a while.”

“Then I’ll make a special exception for you.”

“Thank you.”

“But you have to make a delicious lunchbox.”

“Of course. I’ll prepare a healthy lunchbox filled with bell peppers and carrots.”

“Eeeeeek!!!!”

“Hahaha!!!”

The lady and I, hoping the rain would stop soon, started singing inside the rainy window. It was the work song we sang every time we went fishing.

“Then, I’ll teach you a song that guarantees a catch when fishing.”

“Okay.”

“To catch fish.”

“To eat fish.”

“No, to catch it.”

“Eeeeek! So picky.”

“Let’s try again.”

“Okay.”

One, two, three.

“Shall we go to the sea to catch fish?”

“Shall we go to the sea to catch fish? But we’re going to the river.”

“It’s just song lyrics. And the next lyrics mention the river.”

“Eek…”

It seemed the young lady had no talent for singing.

It was around the time when I was feeling the young lady’s hopeless talent while singing for a long time.

-Gooom!!!

The young lady pointed at the bear visible outside the window and said.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“The bear brought something.”

“What?”

I slowly looked out the window and thought. No one should be coming to the mansion.

But.

-Let go of this!!!

The unexpected arrival of a guest made me let out a hollow laugh. I wondered why that person had come to the mansion.

– How dare a beast with ears!

Why do guests come to the mansion when it rains?

– That discriminator Shuen! I can forgive a demi-human, but I can’t forgive a beast!

I pressed my throbbing forehead as I looked out the window where the loud noise was coming from.

“Ricardo.”

The lady looked at me and asked.

“A strange person has appeared.”

I smiled at the lady and replied. He was indeed a strange person, but he was an acquaintance.

“My… friend.”

“Eek?”

– Let go of me!!!

The lady let out a small sigh and said.

“Ricardo has picked up something strange again.”