The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

In a narrative not included in the reading…

Olivia was searching for Ricardo, who had vanished before her eyes after uttering an ominous farewell. She was looking for him with uneasy eyes.

He had disappeared.

Foolish.

Stupid.

The insolent butler who teased his master…

He had lost his existence before her eyes with a painful smile.

The warmth of Ricardo's embrace that had hugged Olivia was fading away. The warmth that had comfortably remained in her heart was dissipating into the cold wind.

"Ricardo?"

Olivia looked around frantically for the vanished Ricardo. She found it annoying that the butler who had all the airs just disappeared. Olivia kept looking around.

"Where did you go…?"

Olivia's eyes were trembling with anxiety.

"Don't play tricks on me. Okay?"

Her heart was strangely pounding.

Tears seemed ready to fall from her eyes. She called out Ricardo's name desperately, but the only response was the sound of the hollow wind.

Something…

Her heart was uneasily frightened.

She was scared.

"Ricardo…"

Olivia thought it was all just a stupid prank by the butler.

An event by the butler to cheer her up from a sulky mood.

Because it had to be.

If it wasn't Ricardo's prank…

She couldn't handle it.

Olivia called Ricardo's name with a trembling heart.

"I'll get angry. If you don't come out in 3 seconds, I'll get angry… okay?"

Humans have various senses.

The five senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. And one extra sense that exists beyond these was weighing heavily on Olivia's heart.

Intuition.

The intuition whispering that she would never see Ricardo again was oppressively bearing down on her.

A suffocating heaviness was beginning to strangle Olivia's chest.

Suffocating.

The heavy emotion was slowly reddening Olivia's sharp eyes.

Olivia murmured with trembling eyes as she touched the ground where Ricardo had disappeared with her bare hands.

"It's strange… Ricardo was right here a moment ago…"

Olivia looked at the Royal Academy students who had been pouring malicious insults on her.

"Huh?"

Even if they cursed her, even if they threw rotten eggs, she wanted them to answer her desperate question. So Olivia asked with a trembling voice.

"I can't see him."

"He's not visible…?"

"He was right by my side until just now, Ricardo even played a trick… I can't see him."

Their silence made her heart…

Pound as if it was about to burst.

Her mind denied that it was the butler's trick, but deep in her heart, hidden away, it kept giving negative answers.

That it's not a prank.

That what she's denying is true.

It kept whispering in Olivia's ear.

"Right…? I'm asking."

"I'm asking…"

"I'm asking. I'm asking! Right? Why isn't there any reply. Why!"

Despite Olivia's loud inquiries, the crowd remained silent.

Olivia was afraid of the silence.

"Why aren't you saying anything… after all that talking, why won't you say anything…"

-Thud… Thud…

Suddenly, the Royal Academy students and Michail, Ruin, who had been nodding off after Ricardo's disappearance, closed their mouths as they saw a woman approaching Olivia.

"I…"

Yuria clenched her teeth.

With weak steps, Yuria stood in front of Olivia, her shoulders beginning to tremble. The vibration of emotions she couldn't accept was heavily pressing down on Yuria's shoulders.

Yuria murmured quietly as she looked at the spot where Ricardo had vanished.

"Did you think I'd be grateful if you left like this…?"

"You thought I'd be happy that a bad person like you got punished."

"Why don't you give me a chance… you said you'd apologize… why won't you even talk."

"What's all this."

Olivia looked at Yuria, her fists clenched.

Thinking that Yuria might know where Ricardo was, that someone as beloved as her would surely know where Ricardo was, Olivia reached out her trembling hand to Yuria.

"Listen…"

"…"

"I can't see Ricardo."

"Let go."

"Ricardo was definitely in front of me, that's something Ricardo shouldn't touch… the person who gave me that stone said it was really dangerous and that I should always keep it."

"Let go."

"Yuria, I can't see Ricardo…"

Yuria tore off Olivia's hand roughly.

"Let me go…!"

Tears were brimming in Yuria's eyes. Her rough hands pushed Olivia's body, and she fell sprawling on the cold ground.

Yuria glared at Olivia.

"Don't you still get it?"

"I'm a fool, so I don't know. So…"

Olivia looked at Yuria, holding back her trembling heart. She was a fool. Even though she was a celebrated genius, when it came to relationships between people, she was a fool.

Olivia asked Yuria, the last person she wanted to rely on.

"So tell me…"

Thump, thump…

Olivia pounded on her suffocating chest.

"It's too suffocating… My chest feels strange, like it's shrinking…"

"It's like… my heart is shrinking, and now I feel like I won't see Ricardo anymore…"

Hot tears began to flow down Olivia's cheeks. Even though she tried to deceive herself over something trivial… even though she whipped herself, saying it was nothing… the anxious thoughts whispered chilling words in her ear, making her tears flow.

"My heart hurts strangely… so tell me, okay?"

Olivia grabbed Yuria's hand again.

"I'll beg you like this. I'll even stop liking Michail. So tell me."

Kneeling before Yuria, Olivia cried out desperately.

"I can't be without Ricardo."

"How well he treated me. I couldn't do anything for him, and letting him go like this isn't right."

The emotions of Olivia, who had let go of something precious, began to unravel the tightly wound bandages.

The emotions, friendships, and attachments she had built up over 13 years were crumbling all at once.

"I haven't even given you a proper gift. I've said so many harsh words… you can't leave like this, right?"

Olivia buried her forehead in Yuria's hand.

"Please… just say something!"

Yuria glared at Olivia, veins in her eyes. She just bit her lips and sat miserably on the ground, shaking her shoulders uncontrollably.

"I clearly told you."

"Ricardo is sick… so sick he seemed like he might die!"

"I was scared of you, afraid of what you might do to me for a single word I said! But I told you because I thought Ricardo was going to die. Do you get it?!"

"But what did you say?"

"I am…"

"What did you say!"

"I am a fool…!"

Yuria laughed hollowly and grabbed Olivia by the collar.

"You know why I can't speak… why are you pretending not to know!"

Yuria's eyes, filled with resentment, glared at Olivia.

"It's because of you."

Olivia bit her lip and shook her head.

"No… I didn't know."

Yuria laughed in contempt.

"It's your fault Ricardo died."

Ricardo's face kept appearing in Yuria's mind.

The image of Ricardo, clinging to a thread that seemed ready to snap at any moment, yet smiling, was flickering in front of Yuria's eyes.

Even though she hated him.

Even though he was the person who tormented her.

Because he was her first love.

Her heart hurt too much.

"The person who always did bad things…"

"The person I thought I wouldn't care about at all."

"The person who tormented me whenever I tried to get better…"

Thunk… The sky began to darken, and soon the clouds burst into tears.

The falling downpour soaked Yuria and Olivia.

"Why does it hurt so much."

Yuria looked at the sky with a thick emotion.

"Ricardo was in a lot of pain."

"…"

"He couldn't walk on his own, his body was covered in black scars. His breath was terribly rough… and his eyes were dead."

"My chest hurts so much…"

Olivia shook her head nonstop, unable to comprehend the barrage of questions about responsibility.

She didn't know.

Because she thought such a thing couldn't happen.

But.

The reasons for Ricardo's pain spilled from Yuria's mouth were pointing only to her own responsibility.

"Foolishly, not even a word about being in pain…"

"Foolishly smiling and saying it's okay… you know!"

Amidst the pouring rain, Yuria shouted at Olivia.

And then.

The arrow of blame wasn't only directed at Olivia.

"What are you talking about. That Ricardo came."

A platinum blonde figure pierced through the students and made their appearance.

Chartia.

After finishing her busy duties, Chartia, breathing heavily, stood in front of Olivia, where everyone's gaze was turned.

"Where did he go."

Chartia looked around.

Everyone was silent.

And those crying were watched as Chartia spoke with a voice filled with anger.

"Where did that bastard go."

There was no answer.

Yuria bowed her head.

And Olivia was just looking down at her own hands, trembling.

"I'm asking you! Where did that fool go!"

Chartia asked Yuria with a shaking voice.

"The student council made a wrong judgment."

"You…?"

"Three days ago, that guy gave me a bundle of weird papers."

Chartia was confused.

Because she hadn't seen the documents due to being busy, and their contents were so different from what she knew.

Chartia had no choice but to be flustered after seeing the truth of what Ricardo had been hiding so carefully.

"The incident in the dungeon. The arson at the academy. All the things we thought were Ricardo's doings…"

"…"

"Not related to that guy at all. Those bastards kept blaming Ricardo, so we punished him… son of a bitch."

Chartia said with trembling eyes, looking at Yuria.

"He had nothing to do with it."

Chartia asked Yuria with a trembling voice.

"Don't you remember anything? You must know something."

"I…"

"You said Ricardo came out after saving you. Michail, you also saw Ricardo saving Yuria, right."

The arrow of responsibility began to spread in several directions.

And then.

"Stupid idiots."

With a murderous voice, she squeezed their breath.

"Do you know what we've done?"

Chartia spat out the truth to them.

"If it weren't for that guy here…"

The cold truth.

"We would have died long ago."

***

Olivia opened her tightly shut eyes and looked at the ceiling.

"Ricardo…"

A warm touch was felt.

The warmth of someone stroking her head was felt.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

When she opened her eyes, Ricardo was there, smiling kindly.

As always, he was smiling warmly at her with his voice.

"But there is no chocolate."

Foolishly so.