The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Chapter 75: The Butler's Inadequate Birthday Gift (3)

"…"

Pascal, bound by the military police, looked at me with sheepish eyes. It seemed he wanted to discuss more with the insect expert he had met after so long.

His eyes, brimming with tears, looked at me, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling, resembling a female mantis as they did.

"Don’t cry. It makes me want to spray insecticide on your face."

"You bastard…"

"Arf."

If Homkeeper were in this world, it would have surely moisturized Pascal's face. Sadly, Homkeeper did not exist in this world.

‘Such a shame.'

I licked my lips and offered a few kind words to Pascal, who looked utterly dejected.

Told him not to be so glum.

He’s going to a better place.

Said it with the hope that he shouldn’t worry.

"Don’t feel too down. The breeding facility you're headed back to has improved since you were last there."

"They increased the staff managing it, and there're also more spectators."

"*sob*…! You son of a…!"

"Seeing how happy you are makes me feel proud."

Pascal ducked his head, overflowing with gratitude. As an insect collector, it was a touching moment for me.

I hugged Pascal's gaunt body tightly.

"You'll be missed."

Pascal bit his lip hard.

"*sob*… I don’t want to… miss you…!"

For a mantis, he was quite sentimental.

Held in my arms, Pascal spoke with a timid voice, a voice I never thought I’d hear from him.

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

As if that would happen. I politely declined Pascal's request to quit my side job as an insect collector.

"What if you’re caught by another insect collector? I at least spare you, but others might pin you into a display."

"Even pinning is fine, please… I’m begging you, I’ll give up on art and live honestly from now on, just leave my life. Okay? I'm begging like this."

"Ah, come now…! An artist shouldn’t speak so weakly."

A person who holds the title of artist should not lack such determination, especially one who lives off his art.

I couldn’t forgive Pascal's spirit as an artist for having been crushed by me, an insect collector. At the same time, I couldn't trust someone who said they wanted to live righteously.

"Try to live honestly. Then, you won’t catch my eye."

Pascal shed tears of emotion as I patted his shoulder with affectionate care.

"*sob*… Why always me…"

I received a purse from the hands of the guards, bidding my farewell.

"Then, Mr. Mantis, take care of the parasites, and let’s meet again next time."

Pascal cried out.

"Darn it…"

Sobbing profusely.

*

On my way to the jewelry shop with the purse, I couldn’t stop smiling.

Relieved I could buy the bracelet Olivia had wanted, and excited to see her happy face upon receiving the gift.

I couldn’t hide the grin leaping across my face.

"Maybe I'll buy the bracelet and some chocolate."

One must be careful with luxuries, but the reward for donating Pascal, a rare species of mantis, to the jail as an exhibit was quite generous, so perhaps this luxury was forgivable.

I nodded to myself as I looked at the heavy purse.

‘Let’s properly prepare for this birthday.'

Since I couldn't do so last year.

Olivia's birthday, which I had carefully observed every day for 13 years. When I first came to her house, I had given her a scarf I had knit by hand.

-Disparaging.

I had quickly realized I couldn't satisfy the tastes Olivia had acquired for high-end capitalism.

It was only natural to prefer money filled with earnest effort over mere sincerity, so I spent a day sulking in a corner of the mansion. But I felt fortunate to have realized this early and wanted to prepare lavishly for this birthday.

Because of my status as a commoner, I could never attend Olivia's birthday parties, and last year there had been an unfortunate incident.

This birthday, I wanted to prepare everything with my own efforts.

I always wanted to give Olivia the best gifts.

Even if what I got her ended up as trinkets stuck in a corner, I wanted to give it my best shot.

She had so much and had experienced plenty, and even if Olivia didn't fancy it, I wanted to give her a gift I had done my utmost to prepare.

Though I was a lacking butler with nothing in hand, not bending my own stubborn resolve was my one principle. It was also the only way I, a man usually shy, could express my heart.

"Sigh…"

Holding the purse in my hand, I straightened my clothes.

Wanting to appear like a reputable customer before entering the shop, as it made haggling easier and allowed me to pretend to be a regular.

As I was about to enter the store, brushing back my hair, I furrowed my brows at the spot where the bracelet had been displayed behind the glass until yesterday.

"Uh…?"

-Sold Item.

Where the bracelet stood guard until yesterday, there was now a small sign indicating it was gone.

The bracelet had ventured into someone else’s hands.

Pressing my face against the glass, I looked once more at the place where the bracelet had been.

-Sold Item.

The empty showcase greeted me, leaving behind only a black display where Olivia's gift had been sold.

With a feeling of emptiness, I placed the purse back down.

"This is an emergency."

Sold? I hadn't considered this.

I never thought it would sell so quickly in Hamel, not the capital. There were few nobles in Hamel, and not many customers who consumed precious metals.

At best, friends from the forest coming in for a meal were all I could think of – useless excuses.

It seemed my thinking had been too shallow.

I should've at least made a reservation. I regretted it, but yesterday's wallet situation wasn't generous enough for a booking fee.

And I berated myself, thinking if only I had the money then, maybe I could've bought it.

Dwelling on the past wouldn't change anything, but the regret of having missed the bracelet right before my eyes seemed destined to linger.

Just as I was about to leave the jewelry store with a heavy heart, I noticed a familiar-shaped bracelet in the hands of a shop assistant across the glass wall.

The bracelet Olivia wanted.

The assistant was heading towards the counter with the bracelet in hand.

I quickly opened the door and entered the store.

Willing to pay double, I wanted to ask if the bracelet wasn't already spoken for.

-Ding.

I called out as I opened the door and stepped in, taking a deep breath and shouting to the assistant tallying up the bracelet.

"That… that bracelet!"

"Yes?!"

"I was going to buy that…!"

The assistant, startled, looked at me.

And.

The man who intended to purchase the bracelet was also looking at me.

It was a familiar man.

A man with the color of faded green tea in his hair. Ruin. Intending to be the owner of the bracelet, Ruin looked at me and said,

"What? Isn't that Ricardo?"

"Pleasure to see you, Mr. Algae."

"Pleasure? What's there to be pleased about? I'm not happy at all."

Ruin, his hand in his pocket, smirked at me as I gazed blankly at the bracelet in the clerk’s hand.

"Ah…"

Ruin was wearing an arrogant smile.

"Are you buying this?"

Looking down at me with contempt, Ruin mocked,

"What to do? It was intended as a gift for Yuria."

With a shrug and an air of ‘it can’t be helped,' Ruin spoke.

"You should've come a bit earlier, I already bought it. Ah… but even if you’d come earlier, you might not have afforded it anyway. This is more expensive than you think."

"…"

"Live within your means."

My fists clenched automatically.

Ruin, having gotten the upper hand, was provocatively suggesting I had nowhere else to turn.

‘Should I steal it…?'

I'd save money, sure. But I didn't want to do such a thing for the gift I intended for Olivia.

I wanted to pay properly for it, and give her something I could be proud of.

So, I decided to swallow my pride.

Thinking that maybe Ruin would agree to it if I asked just once, I bowed my head and spoke to Ruin politely.

"If you don't want to part with this world, just put it down and leave."

"What?"

"Leave it. That bracelet."

It was the highest courtesy I could offer to the snotty Mr. Algae-head. If that didn't work, I'd knock him out and steal it.

Even if I didn't gift it to Olivia, battering the insolent Ruin's head and achieving some creative economics seemed not a bad idea either.

As I made my polite request, Ruin's expression hardened in real-time. Puzzled by what he had heard, he asked the clerk to confirm.

"What did this beggar just say to me?"

Ruin, only in his early twenties, seemed to have a hearing problem.

I realized my die was cast, and at that moment, as I was about to walk towards Ruin with the intention of purchasing a different bracelet,

"What's all this noise about."

The door marked [Workshop] opened, accompanied by the sound of steps. A dust-covered jeweler began to stride towards us.

The man, clad in a black apron, approached us with determination.

The clerk bowed at the sight of the man.

"Ma…Master! That's…"

The master waved off the clerk's apology with a shake of his head, took a deep sigh, and then turned to look at me.

"You should calm down a bit, Ricardo."

A man with brown hair.

Taken aback by the unforeseen arrival of the man, I asked with a flustered voice,

"What, how many jobs do you have exactly?"

"It's just a hobby I do when I’m bored."

Malik Histania.

He was the owner of the shop.

Malik, who exhaled a sigh, looked at the bracelet in the clerk's hand and said,

"Is it because of that?"

He then simply settled our dispute.

"That there, Algae-head."

"Algae?"

"Isn't it Algae? Anyway."

Malik spoke dispassionately.

"I won't sell it to you, so leave that and go."

The master's tyranny was absolute.

***

Three days later.

Morning came to Olivia’s mansion.

Olivia woke up earlier than usual. Maybe because today was her birthday, she left the land of dreams early.

"Hmm… Birthday… Today is my birthday…"

Deciding to start her birthday with solemnity, Olivia chose not to declare an air raid alert as she typically might.

Birthdays should be peaceful, after all.

"Haah… Ricardo."

Olivia rubbed her sleepy eyes and called the familiar name of her butler.

"Today is my birthday…"

Alone in her room.

It was lonely.

"Doesn’t he know?"

There was no sight of the butler who, on every birthday morning, greeted her with a bright smile and gave a gift.

Olivia, starting her birthday morning in the dark room with the curtains drawn, had a gloomy expression.

"He must be asleep…"

Olivia sighed as she rubbed her sleepy eyes.

With a bitter expression, she nodded her head.

"He could have forgotten."

After all, there had been a time when she'd been late in celebrating Ricardo's birthday. She was upset, but it couldn't be helped.

With a heavy heart, Olivia opened the curtains that covered the window.

Then…

A brilliantly decorated tree came into view.

Green. Red. Yellow.

A tree full of colorful ornaments. And hanging from the tree was Ricardo.

Dressed in red, with an ill-fitting fake beard, was Ricardo.

The flustered Ricardo, hanging from the tree, stammered as he spoke to her.

"Why have you woken up so early, Milady!"

The butler hung on the tree, adorned with odd ornaments.

He put a star at the top of the tree.

Wrapped glistening strands around it.

Olivia chuckled at the comical sight of her butler hanging delightfully decorated above the tree.

"Hehe…"

Ricardo shouted towards her as he peeked through the window.

"I wasn't quite ready yet… oh no!"

The tree swayed as the wind blew.

The image of Ricardo, hanging from the tree, started to drift away. Watching him, Olivia whispered shyly,

"That's dangerous…"

Telling her it's okay and to go back to bed, was Ricardo.

Olivia smiled and pulled her blanket up.

"Okay. I'm going back to sleep."

Her face, covered all the way to the top of her head with the blanket, was flushed.

"Idiot."