The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 191

30 minutes ago.

Mikhail, who was dragging a fallen teddy bear across the floor as he walked, was wiping his nose.

“Sniff… I’m such a fool.”

He felt awful.

He had said something far too harsh. Even if it was a joke, he had uttered words that should never have been said, and Mikhail hated his own mouth for it.

-You don’t even know what your mom looks like!

It was something he blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Everyone else’s parents had come to see them, but he had been left all alone. Feeling bitter and angry, he had thrown a tantrum. It was a careless slip of the tongue, spoken without considering how the other person might feel.

If only he had been a little more mature.

If only he had thought about how the other person might feel.

He wouldn’t have made such a mistake.

Mikhail had carelessly touched and torn apart his pain.

He knew very well that the boy hadn’t shared his deeply hidden secret to hear such cruel words. Perhaps he had wanted comfort, or maybe he had revealed his pain in hopes of receiving solace. But foolishly, at that moment, Mikhail had prioritized his own stubbornness over empathy, acting like a selfish child who only wanted his own feelings to be understood.

And so, he had torn apart the boy’s secret as if he had found a weakness to exploit.

Mikhail regretted it.

Writhing in guilt, he kept walking, wishing he could turn back time to before he had said those words.

Endlessly, without stopping.

When he came to his senses, he found himself standing in a familiar place. As if drawn there by a magnet, absurdly enough. He had shouted so confidently that he wouldn’t come here, yet here he was, standing underneath the bridge.

“He’s not here…”

Hugging the teddy bear tightly, Mikhail murmured softly at the absence of the boy. He had thought the boy might be here first, but his absence made Mikhail’s chest ache.

Was he too angry?

No, of course he would be angry.

If it were me, I wouldn’t want to see my face either after hearing those words.

Feeling dejected, Mikhail leaned against a pillar and crouched down. The rain soaked his clothes, and he felt cold, but there was nothing else he could do.

Without the boy, he was just a helpless fool.

The weather was gloomy.

His heart was restless from the goodbye.

The guilt from saying such cruel words weighed heavily on him, and the gloomy mood refused to lift.

The longer he was alone, the deeper Mikhail’s emotions sank into the darkness.

Mikhail practiced how to apologize.

He wanted to apologize as soon as the boy returned.

“I was too harsh… I just, I was… Ikuminhyuk… no, Ikkumin… fool…”

Even his muttering didn’t come out right because the boy’s name was so difficult. Why did he have to have such a hard-to-pronounce name that even made cursing impossible? Mikhail grumbled to himself.

‘Fool.’

Mikhail had relied on the boy a lot.

Emotionally.

Physically.

He had depended on him greatly.

He was his savior of life and the first friend he had ever made, so it was only natural to rely on him.

A hero who appeared like a prince from a fairy tale. A friend who came close to listen whenever things were tough. Maybe it was because he felt so comfortable. He had been too intoxicated by the small happiness.

The boy had always listened to his stories without getting angry.

He had thought the boy would listen to him this time as well. No matter what he said, Minhyuk had always listened to him. He had assumed it would be the same this time too.

Even though he was just a kid like me.

How much time had passed in lamentation?

The sound of unfamiliar footsteps began to reach Mikhail’s ears as he crouched.

Mikhail jumped to his feet.

“He’s here…!”

He had decided to apologize.

He thought he had to apologize before it was too late. He wanted to say he had been too harsh, that his foolish self had made another slip of the tongue.

That it wasn’t right.

That his endless waiting must have hurt even more, and that he, who knew nothing, who had only ever received help, had made a terrible mistake.

Without even lifting his head, Mikhail ran toward the direction of the footsteps and shouted.

“I’m sorry…!”

“…”

“I’m… sorry. I said terrible things, yelled at you without understanding your feelings, and only said bad words. I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I was just so upset earlier… You must have been hurting too, even more than me…”

“…”

“I’m sorry for being such a fool. I won’t do it again. I really won’t. Will you forgive me…!?”

Silence fell.

A silence without any response brushed past Mikhail’s skin.

“Heh heh…”

A chill ran through Mikhail’s entire body.

“Heh heh heh…”

A middle-aged man’s voice, as if he had found an amusing toy, reached Mikhail’s ears. The sinister laughter, like that of a man gossiping on the street, made Mikhail slowly lift his head.

Curious about who the unwelcome guest was in their secret place.

“Who…”

Slowly, the face of the uninvited guest came into view.

Dark skin.

A face full of blemishes.

And the grotesque expression of a man covering his mouth with his palm, his shoulders shaking, began to fill Mikhail’s vision.

“Are you…?”

The man responded with a fishy smile.

“Me?”

The man spoke to Mikhail, who nodded hesitantly.

“Someone who gives the gift of happiness.”

It was bizarre. Everything about the man—the words he spoke, the faint foul odor emanating from his body—was bizarre.

Swallowing hard, Mikhail asked.

“Are you… a good person?”

“Hmm…?”

“Then are you a bad person?”

“Hmm…”

The man answered with a faint smile.

“You’ll find out when you experience it, won’t you?”

The man slowly reached out his hand toward Mikhail. The giant hand was about to touch Mikhail’s shoulder when, instinctively, Mikhail took a step back.

Because there was a strange smell.

A stench so strong it made him frown, a stench of blood emanating from the man’s hand. Mikhail flinched and furrowed his brows.

He knew it was rude to avoid it, but if he hadn’t, he felt like he might have thrown up.

“Cough… Ugh…”

With trembling eyes, Mikhail looked up at the man, wondering if his action might have hurt the man’s feelings.

But.

“Kid, you have quite the instincts.”

The man clapped his hands with a bright smile, as if he found Mikhail’s reaction amusing.

“Ah… Mister…?”

“What’s wrong, kid?”

“You smell weird, Mister.”

Hugging the teddy bear tightly, Mikhail kept moving farther away from the man, his guard up.

One step.

-Plod.

Two steps.

-Plod.

The farther Mikhail tried to distance himself, the man continued to approach without giving him any space.

“Why are you acting like this? I’m not a bad person.”

“Minhyuk told me not to follow strangers.”

“And who is this friend of yours?”

Mikhail shook his head.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“Why not?”

The man began rummaging through his pocket.

With a jingling sound, countless gold coins spilled out onto his palm. Smiling kindly, the man spoke to Mikhail.

“I’m the kind of person who gives things like this.”

Mikhail shook his head.

There was a red mark on the gold coins the man pulled out. Though he couldn’t be certain what it was, Mikhail’s instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong, and his eyes began to tremble violently.

‘Blood…’

He was terrified.

The situation unfolding before him was far too frightening for young Mikhail to handle. It was even more terrifying than encountering a delinquent.

With a trembling voice, Mikhail said,

“I don’t need it…”

“Really? Don’t kids like you usually love things like this?”

“I do like it, but… I don’t need it.”

“With this, you could buy everything you want, everything you want to eat.”

“We already have plenty of that.”

“Really?”

The man spoke with a sinister smile.

“Is that friend of yours the one who gets it for you?”

“Huh…?”

“I’m talking about the one you mentioned, Minhyuk. Is he the one who brings it to you?”

“Ah… no?”

“Liar…”

Mikhail tried to steady his pounding heart and desperately thought of a way to escape this place.

Hugging the teddy bear tightly, he searched for an opportunity to get away from the man. But the man didn’t let him go easily and asked strange questions as Mikhail tried to move farther away.

“Is that friend the most precious person to you?”

“…Huh?”

“Tell me. Is that friend the most precious person to you? Someone tied to your most precious belongings or cherished memories?”

The man spoke with a sinister smile.

“Then I’ll trade it for what you hold most dear.”

Shaking the jingling money pouch, the man gestured toward Mikhail. The chilling sight of the man’s devilish smile sent shivers down his spine.

Feeling an instinctive hunch that he shouldn’t answer the man’s words, Mikhail firmly shut his mouth.

“I don’t need money…”

“Who said it was money? It could be something else, couldn’t it?”

The man’s eerie smile gradually began to fade.

“Kid, I said it’s what you hold most dear. It could be today, or it could be a happy memory.”

“I’m leaving… My mom is calling me.”

“Kid, I’m someone who brings happiness.”

“I’m going home.”

“Is that so?”

In an instant, the man snatched Mikhail’s teddy bear. Looking at the teddy bear, which was covered in stitched marks, the man let out a small laugh and began to reach behind his waist.

“Then I’ll take this instead.”

“Ah… You can’t…!”

“There’s no such thing as ‘can’t’ for me.”

With those words, the man pulled out a dagger from his waistband. Moving so quickly it was impossible to follow with the eye, the man plunged the dagger into the teddy bear’s belly, licking his lips like someone savoring a delicious meal and letting out a satisfied “Mmm.”

Watching the man with his eyes closed, Mikhail thought,

This is my chance to escape.

Now, with his eyes closed, this moment was the only opportunity Mikhail had to run away. But Mikhail’s feet wouldn’t move.

He couldn’t let go of the teddy bear his mother had given him.

He couldn’t abandon the teddy bear his friend had stitched up and his mother had told him to always keep with him. Torn between his options, Mikhail hesitated, unable to act.

About three minutes passed as Mikhail wavered.

The man spoke with a sinister smile.

“Kid. Run away.”

“…”

“I just saw something so delicious, you see.”

“…”

“If you don’t run now, I might do something reckless, Imperial Army or not.”

“…”

Mikhail ran.

He quickly snatched the teddy bear from the man’s grasp and dashed desperately behind him.

“Huff… Huff…”

He couldn’t let himself be caught.

If he were caught, something terrible would surely happen.

Mikhail ran with all his might.

But.

“Kid. You’re being too greedy.”

-Clatter!

The man’s hand swiftly reached out and grabbed Mikhail’s nape roughly. Overwhelmed by the intense impact, Mikhail struggled, reaching out toward the teddy bear that had fallen to the ground.

“Let me go…!”

“No.”

“Please let me go…!”

“I said no.”

The man spoke with a laugh.

“Doesn’t this seem fun?”

As the man’s grip tightened fiercely, Mikhail’s eyes began to fill with tears, like a rabbit’s.

And then.

“I was wrong…!”

Overwhelmed by an unbeatable fear, he began to plead.

It was suffocating.

As the man’s hand touched his neck, the foul odor became even more overwhelming. The stench was so nauseating it felt as if it would turn his stomach inside out.

Looking at the struggling Mikhail, the man said,

“Where is that kid, Lee Minhyuk?”

“…”

“Ah…”

Then, seeing a boy running toward them from a distance, the man let out a small smile.

“That must be him?”

The man smiled as he looked at the boy in front of him.

And the boy.

“Let go.”

With a deadly glare, he radiated killing intent.

It was the first time.

He had seen such anger.

And then.

“I said, let go.”

Mikhail had never seen such a frightened expression before.