The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 196

After the duel ended.

Mikhail was reflecting on his mistakes in the darkness.

-Stop it, senior.

Clenching his fist, he thought about how the outcome might have been different if he had swung his sword just a little faster at that moment.

It was a battle that brought many gains.

The rapid growth he achieved in a short time and the encounter with the Empire’s greatest Sword Master made it a battle where Mikhail had nothing to lose.

For Mikhail, this battle came with no penalties to bear. Perhaps the one who benefited the most from this battle wasn’t Hanna but Mikhail himself, to the point where there was nothing to regret.

Yet, Mikhail was confining himself in the darkness, relentlessly criticizing himself.

“Why did I do that? Why on earth…!”

“If I had focused from the start, I could have won. If I had avoided minor attacks and stayed calm, I wouldn’t have lost.”

“Why… why…”

Mikhail felt wronged.

It wasn’t because of the petty reason that he lost to a junior.

He was angry because he couldn’t uncover the past he hadn’t seen and confirm that child’s survival. He lost because of his own shortcomings.

Mikhail was desperate.

He had begged Ricardo, even kneeling, for the survival of his friend named Lee Minhyuk. He didn’t care what happened to his body; he just wanted to win, no matter what.

But Ricardo, unaware of Mikhail’s complicated feelings, spoke coldly.

-You know, don’t you? That you can’t win with that body.

Mikhail knew better than anyone the gap in their skills.

He knew that Hanna was stronger than him. That’s why it felt even more unfair. He had grown and worked as hard as Hanna.

If only he hadn’t been careless, if only he had paid more attention to minor wounds, the outcome might have been different. He hated his incompetent self so much.

“Please…”

Mikhail pleaded.

“Please, just give me one more chance.”

He begged to redo the quest he had failed to complete, saying he would do anything if only he could have that chance.

But the quest didn’t appear before him. Only the impenetrable darkness obscured his vision. Mikhail consoled his aching heart by pounding on his chest.

“Please…”

Mikhail’s darkness was long.

*

Late at night, at the Magic Department’s training grounds.

“Damn it…!”

Alone in the training grounds, Ruin cursed as he stared at the unyielding scarecrow target.

“Why is this happening….”

The scarecrow target, struck by Ruin’s magic, remained firmly in place with only slight scorch marks. Ruin conjured magic in his hands and fired again, but nothing changed.

“Damn it…! Damn it…! Damn it…!”

Ever since Hans had stolen his talent, darkness had been creeping into Ruin’s life.

“Why isn’t it working!”

“Why! Why isn’t it working!”

“Damn. It used to work just fine. Why is this happening!”

The ability that once made him shine, the one he thought would never disappear, was now gone. Ruin was being treated as a useless husk.

At this rate, he was certain to remain in the lower ranks during the upcoming ranking battle.

He had always mocked those in the lower ranks, telling them not to even try if they had no talent. Now, it was clear he would face the same mockery, disdain, and ridicule he had once dished out.

“Damn it!”

Frustrated by the unresolved issues, Ruin threw his water bottle to the ground.

With a loud ‘thud,’ the bottle cracked. Gritting his teeth, Ruin glared at the water spilling out.

Everything had gone wrong.

His relationship with Yuria.

His magic.

His friendships—nothing was going right.

The sudden downfall that had struck him was a burden far too heavy for Ruin to bear.

The Tower Master had said he would look for a solution, but Ruin knew it wouldn’t happen anytime soon, so he couldn’t hold out hope.

Until now, Ruin had deluded himself into thinking he was extraordinary. He had believed that even without a unique ability, he could achieve better results than others with his intellect and skills.

“What kind of genius of the century am I? I can’t even cast a proper Fireball now.”

Except for one person.

Clenching his fists and lowering his head, Ruin recalled memories of the past.

-I’ll crush you today.

-You’re noisy. Can you be quiet?

-Today, I’ll beat you and take the top rank…

-Shut up.

A wizard with black hair.

A woman with a vicious personality who looked down on everyone—Ruin had thought of her as the first wizard he could never defeat.

At least with the Tower Master, he could dream of catching up someday. But she was a prodigy of the same age as him.

Ruin still remembered.

The day he was defeated by the summoned creature she had created. He couldn’t even put up a fight against a creature that had only manifested one arm. That day, Ruin couldn’t even properly look at her face.

Her talent was overwhelming.

Her background.

Her total mana capacity.

And her magical talent—they were all in realms he couldn’t even imagine.

He never wanted to feel that way again. He never wanted to feel the helplessness of being unable to do anything. But now, Ruin felt he was about to experience those emotions again from the very people he had once looked down on. It was infuriating and unfair.

“Why is everyone against me?”

Ruin murmured as he faced the quiet night breeze.

“I’ve had a hard life too. Why can’t they just leave me alone?”

Venting his frustration into the wind, he continued casting magic. He pushed himself relentlessly, hoping to reclaim his former glory.

One hour, then two hours passed, and Ruin’s mana was nearly depleted.

Looking at the toppled scarecrow, Ruin let out an empty laugh.

“Damn it.”

There’s no answer.

Darkness was creeping into Ruin’s life.

An impenetrable darkness that he couldn’t resolve on his own was gradually consuming him.

*

At the same time.

Back at the Young Lady’s estate, I was pouring tea for the man sitting across from me with a pleasant smile.

“Drink up.”

“This is holy water.”

“Shut up and drink.”

Hans gazed reverently at the tea I poured and began to pray.

“Thank you for providing today’s daily sustenance.”

Watching Hans clasp his hands in prayer made my face flush, but I smiled and offered him a brief word of gratitude for his hard work.

While we were away, Hans had been in charge of maintaining security at the estate.

“Thank you for your hard work, Hans.”

“Isn’t it the duty of a devotee to protect the sacred grounds?”

“Have you decided to adopt the fanatic persona now?”

“I’m not a fanatic. The god I believe in may be indifferent, but at least they benefit me.”

“Sigh…”

Shaking my head, I closed my mouth.

Talking further about this would probably drive me crazy. Instead, I thought it was more important to ask about what had happened while we were away, so I carefully set down my teacup and spoke.

“Did you feed Gomtangi well?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Did anyone come by while I was away?”

“No one.”

“That’s a relief.”

Nothing significant had happened. I had worried that a thief might have broken in while we were away, but it seemed the Villainess’s Mansion still lacked popularity.

Thanks to the Young Lady’s name, the mansion had been kept safe. As expected, the Young Lady was someone the world could not easily handle.

While having a casual conversation with Hans for a while, I posed a small question to him.

“Is the Academy brainwashing proceeding well?”

“What?”

“Not you, Hans, but the others. The heretics who infiltrated the Academy.”

At the mention of the past, Hans clamped his mouth shut. Talking about an unclean past was understandably difficult.

However, since this was one of the reasons I had made Hans my subordinate, I smiled faintly and asked him again.

“Isn’t that right?”

“Haha… You really know everything. Just who in the world are you…?”

“Shh. Just tell me.”

“Understood.”

I nodded, satisfied with Hans’s compliance, and picked up my teacup with a contented expression.

Hans fiddled with his teacup and spoke cautiously.

“While I was there, recruitment within the Academy wasn’t progressing well. The vigilance had tightened, and the students were highly alert and quick to report anything suspicious.”

“That’s true. But you’re saying it’s still progressing, right?”

“Yes. Though we haven’t managed to recruit a single person yet.”

“Hmm…”

Having read the novel, I already knew.

How this story would unfold.

I had asked out of simple curiosity, not because I wanted to hear the outcome. Recruitment of the heretics had not progressed.

And so, one particular incident would occur.

One of the Archbishops who had infiltrated the Academy would be discovered by the students.

It was a simple matter.

Attempting to exploit a student’s weakness with sly words, only to end up being completely outmaneuvered.

The timing coincided with the upcoming Ranking Tournament, and the Archbishop, seizing the opportunity, acted—only to be caught red-handed. As a result, no casualties occurred.

Of course, there were many injuries, though.

I intended to leave this matter entirely to the protagonists this time.

They needed at least one experience of dealing with heretics without my interference. It was cold-hearted, but I planned to give them a slightly painful trial.

Mikhail had grown.

Yuria had grown as well, making them opponents who could at least put up a fight. Of course, winning would be impossible, but as in the novel, with the help of the Master of the Magic Tower, they would manage to win. In the process, Ruin would grow as well.

As I sipped my tea with a small smile, Hans cautiously posed a question.

“Um, may I ask you something?”

“Yes. You may ask two things if you wish.”

“Aren’t you worried that Ruin might learn dark magic? It seems dangerous if he does.”

I chuckled softly and answered Hans with certainty.

“He can’t.”

“What?”

“Ruin cannot learn dark magic.”

“What do you mean… Didn’t you say last time that his pride would prevent him from learning it?”

I set down my empty teacup and dismissed Hans’s concern.

“No, that was just something I said back then. This time, I’m talking about a fundamental reason.”

I dropped a sugar cube into Hans’s teacup and smiled.

“From the beginning, Ruin’s body has been incapable of mastering dark magic.”

I spoke with a faintly sinister smile.

“Because I made it that way.”

When taking something away, it’s important to eliminate any potential repercussions.

Well, if he ever tried to dabble in dark magic, he would likely suffer a severe mental shock.

Imagine trying to fall to darkness, only to be rejected by darkness itself…

I decided to stop my thoughts there.