The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 5

Today, the estate was peaceful as always.

I thought I’d ditch the feverish Lady Villainess and slack off, but an unwelcome guest arrived.

‘I thought I wouldn’t have to see them for a while.’

While steeping some cheap green tea, I looked at the two people sitting at the table.

A design with an impressive golden embroidery on a clean white base.

It was the same as the school uniform I wore a year ago.

A woman who didn’t bother hiding her displeasure and a man with a familiar face lazily scanning the room with his eyes.

Those two were waiting for me to sit at the table.

“You’re Miss Hanna, correct?”

I placed the green tea I bought for 1 shilling at the marketplace in front of the guest and spoke.

Hmph. Did she recognize it as cheap green tea just by the smell? Hanna’s face twisted the moment she saw the tea.

Even watching her made me feel annoyed.

Isn’t it too much to react like that without even tasting it? I put a bit of effort into it, after all.

The green-haired man, who seemed to find the situation amusing, was also quite irritating.

They were the ones who suddenly showed up.

It was bad enough they interrupted my precious rest, but now they were even stealing my tea. These ruffians were truly unpleasant.

For the sake of the Young Lady’s reputation, I decided to endure it.

After a brief tea time, Hanna nodded.

“I am Histania Hanna, a 1st Year Swordsmanship Department student serving as the secretary of the Imperial Academy Student Council.”

She spoke coldly.

It was obvious she wanted to get straight to the point, so I figured we’d get along well.

I didn’t want to deal with guests any longer than necessary either.

‘Let’s get this over with quickly.’

The desire to resolve this swiftly.

If she came because of debt, she’d kneel.

If she came to seek revenge on the Young Lady, I’d draw my sword.

No matter where the conversation went, as long as our opinions aligned, it would end quickly.

Just as I was about to speak to confirm her purpose.

“Hey, Ricardo.”

The green-haired ruffian called out to me.

“Did you call for me?”

“Did you call for me? Puhaha… This is killing me. Seriously.”

Spinning a teacup around in his hand, the insolent handsome man smirked.

His appearance, resembling faded green tea, and his casual use of “Hey” toward me were both unpleasant to behold.

I recalled memories of my previous life and smiled with a capitalism-trained expression.

Of course, I didn’t forget to add a hint of sarcasm.

“You must be out of your mind, showing up unannounced like this.”

“Haha. You’re just the same as before.”

The smirking green-haired man seemed to know me.

Of course, I knew him too.

Ruin and I were Academy mates.

I was 22 years old.

Back when I enrolled late at the Academy to match Olivia’s admission date, enduring the harsh environment while being spoken down to by younger students.

Ruin was always second place, sucking his fingers behind Olivia.

I remember him solidifying his position as the obsessive male lead who constantly followed the heroine around in the original work.

Especially in the novel, he was a problem character who acted cocky just because he knew a little Fireball. It was so annoying.

I didn’t treat Ruin kindly.

He was also a character who bullied Olivia in the original work, and his cocky demeanor didn’t suit my preferences.

Female readers praised that as Ruin’s charm, calling him a decadent handsome man, but to me, he just seemed like someone who hadn’t learned proper manners. Possessing this body only made me feel that way more.

So I ignored him.

Even when he spoke to me at the Academy.

Even when he picked fights with me.

I ignored him, thinking, “Why should I care?”

Perhaps because of that.

Ruin became a Golden Boy.

I conveyed the nuance of, “Don’t bother us. You obsess over the heroine, and I’ll focus on our Lady Villainess. Let’s just live separately,” and ignored him.

But Ruin seemed to take that as a provocation.

“Hey. Are you listening to me?”

I had momentarily spaced out, reminiscing about Ruin’s past as a Golden Boy.

While I could ignore the faded green tea’s words, I couldn’t afford to miss anything related to money, so I snapped back to attention.

Thud.

Ruin provocatively placed his foot on the table. The already worn table seemed to scream, as if it was about to give up.

-Eeeek.

“I’m sorry. I was momentarily lost in thought…”

“What…?”

“I was so nervous because such an esteemed guest arrived.”

He smiled as if he was pleased.

“Anyway, it’s been a while. About a year, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“We haven’t seen each other since you were chased out by us.”

Us.

The Crown Prince, Mikhail, and others.

He must be referring to the heroine’s supporting male leads.

Ruin had a wistful look, as if reminiscing about his glorious past. I corrected his edited memory, worrying about his youthful dementia.

“I wasn’t chased out. I took a leave of absence.”

“Puhahaha! Oh right, right. That’s why you left.”

Suddenly, Ruin, who had been laughing, turned serious.

Goosebumps rose on my shoulders.

Not because I was scared. Just.

‘How old is he? He still hasn’t grown out of Eighth Grader Syndrome.’

It was like looking at my own Eighth Grader Syndrome days.

The typical behavior of thinking the other person would be scared if you laugh and then suddenly turn serious.

It was like looking in a mirror, and it was unpleasant.

“Act like you usually do, Ricardo. You used to speak informally to me.”

I placed my hands neatly on the table and spoke.

“I am now a butler of the Desmond Family, and I cannot speak informally to guests visiting the estate.”

“What butler? For a household that’s practically falling apart.”

“That’s not true. The Desmond Family is still thriving. It’s just the Young Lady I serve who has fallen.”

I had no intention of responding to his cheap provocations.

With a mountain of work to do, there was no point in getting angry and fighting. There was nothing to gain. Unless he offered money, which he wouldn’t, fighting was pointless.

So I ignored Ruin.

Dealing with a whining Golden Boy wasn’t good for my mental health.

I looked at the person who seemed more capable of conversation.

[Histania Hanna Lv. 28]

[Job: Academy Student]

[Favorability: -20]

[Favorite Conversation Topic: Mikhail]

[Disliked Conversation Topic: Swordsmanship]

Why is yours in the negatives?

I was quite shocked by the brutally low favorability score floating above her head.

‘Am I really that ugly?’

Or was it that the butler’s hospitality didn’t meet her expectations?

I may have served cheap green tea, but it was the most expensive tea in our mansion. I even tried to make a show of it for the guest who had come after a long time, but this kind of attempt to assassinate my favorability was troubling.

‘Still so lacking.’

Both as a butler and as a human being, I still felt inadequate in many ways.

“Miss Hanna?”

“…”

She ignored my words.

Instead of replying, she slammed a letter onto the table.

“What is this?”

The woman called Hanna crossed her arms.

The sight of her crossing her arms arrogantly in front of a senior was unpleasant.

She looked like someone who’d collapse if I gave her a flick on the forehead.

Because I’m a kind person, I mentally engraved the ‘Patience Symbol’ in my heart and waited silently for her to speak.

“The Student Council President said so. To re-enroll.”

“The Student Council President?”

Student Council President. Who could it be?

The Heroine still had a long way to go before becoming the Student Council President.

I asked with curiosity.

“Who is the current Student Council President?”

“Princess Chartia.”

Princess Chartia. The Empire’s 3rd Princess.

If I recall correctly, she was one of the many supporting characters in the original work who liked Mikhail.

I seem to remember that, unlike Olivia, who clung pathetically, she confessed cleanly and was rejected just as cleanly.

I nodded.

Princess Chartia.

Although we didn’t have much interaction, I remembered her as someone who wasn’t too bad.

I quickly read the letter placed on the table and slid it forward with a whoosh.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s the right time yet.”

“Damn.”

A vulgar curse rang out. Hanna furrowed her brows.

She glanced at Ruin, who was sitting next to her.

Ruin, still arrogantly speaking with his hands in his pockets.

He gulped down the carefully brewed tea and swished it around his mouth as if gargling.

“Ptooey.”

I was taken aback when he even spat it out. Even Hanna, his companion, seemed unprepared for his behavior.

Ruin spoke.

“What do you mean, the timing isn’t right? You’re just too embarrassed to do it.”

I listened to Ruin’s words. I quietly paid attention, thinking, ‘Let’s hear what he has to say.’

“Am I wrong?”

Ruin tilted his head toward me. He seemed eager to see my reaction, but I simply shrugged in response.

Perhaps he found my reaction easy to provoke. He continued spouting nonsense.

“Olivia’s fallen to ruin, so who would want to come back? It’s as good as your source of money being dead, isn’t it?”

-Nod, nod.

I nodded.

“That’s true.”

-Tsk.

Ruin clicked his tongue at my bland reaction.

“Acting like it doesn’t bother you. But it’s true, isn’t it? Your master became a cripple because of Dark Magic.”

“That’s right.”

“Who would want to return to serve a crippled master?”

Puhaha. Ruin laughed out loud.

I silently observed him.

“Senior…!”

Hanna, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn’t help but grimace at Ruin’s abusive words. It seemed she hadn’t expected him to go this far.

Originally, Hanna had intended to give the Lady Villainess a stern word or two herself, but seeing her senior thoroughly cross the line left her brain feeling frozen.

A butler who quietly listens to insults about his master.

Cheap green tea that’s already irritating.

And now, a senior behaving like this. At this point, she couldn’t think of any way to handle the situation.

The only person who came to Hanna’s mind was Mikhail.

I quietly observed the two of them.

It couldn’t be anything but an amusing spectacle.

A woman who had ignored me in every way but tried to intervene when a fight was about to break out.

A wizard laughing arrogantly as if he were superior.

If you think about it, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

I was practically forced to take a leave of absence.

The Young Lady inevitably became disabled.

But it was true that it didn’t feel good.

‘Should I fight?’

In modern times, as anonymous spaces developed, what grew the most wasn’t strength or knowledge.

It was the art of verbal combat, honed to an extreme.

From the moment modern people touch a keyboard, they refine the skill of mentally destroying their opponent until the day they die.

I had grown up in such a brutal world of games. As an orphan, I had no choice but to become strong to protect the mother who might be somewhere out there.

That’s how I came to know Ruin’s weaknesses better than anyone. Perhaps even better than he knew himself.

Because I had read the original work.

And because the Favorability System also revealed his weaknesses.

But the reason I didn’t provoke him further here was simple.

Because the Lady Villainess might hear.

I always had to be cautious.

If the tender-hearted Lady Villainess overheard the sound of a fight, the mansion might become a sea of tears for days.

She already had a high fever, and if I made her angrier here, she might truly explode.

But I couldn’t just let this slide.

I quietly mulled over the sentence that would provoke him the most. A calm yet reckless sentence that would spark his temper.

“That’s right. That’s why I’m too embarrassed to re-enroll right now.”

“Right?”

Ruin chuckled.

He laughed as if to say, ‘Now you know your place,’ looking satisfied.

But his expression soured at the words that followed.

“Because the Disciple of the Tower Master, who lost the top rank to an ordinary Noble Lady, is now the 2nd Year Top Student. Wow…”

I smirked maliciously.

“Truly, the standards have fallen…”

It happened in an instant.

“You f*cking bastard.”

A Red Sphere formed in Ruin’s hand.

Hanna, sitting beside him, failed to notice. It was too fast for her eyes to follow.

Was this the difference between a 1st Year and a 2nd Year?

The wall that still felt so distant made Hanna move belatedly.

“Senior…!”

-Bang────!

It was at that moment.

Ruin’s head, which had triggered the Magic.

Was smashed into the floor.

The old table shattered into pieces.

Ruin’s head, which had been about to scream, was buried in the floor.

Hanna blinked her eyes.

She couldn’t see.

No, the correct expression was that it wasn’t visible.

When she closed and reopened her eyes, everything had already ended.

The one who had accomplished all of this in the blink of an eye grabbed Ruin’s struggling hair and whispered softly.

“Shut your Mouth. The Young Lady is sleeping.”

The Butler’s Red Eyes flickered crimson.