The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 27

The Young Lady reached out her hand toward me.

“Show me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your hand.”

The Young Lady glanced at her right hand hidden behind her back and spoke.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Pretending not to know and whistling, the Young Lady threw her cherished toy, the Yellow Rubber Duck, at me.

-Quack.

The Yellow Rubber Duck met a glorious demise.

I picked up the Duck Doll that had fallen to the floor and threw it back at the Young Lady.

“Quack!”

This time, a sound of glorious demise came from the Young Lady.

The Young Lady glared at me fiercely.

She stretched out her hand toward me, beckoning. What am I, a dog? Should I really give her my hand?

I, too, crossed my arms and displayed my will to resist. Examining someone’s body without permission? Even in the Land of Eastern Etiquette… well, maybe not.

Anyway.

This time, I couldn’t go along with the Young Lady.

“Give me your hand.”

“No.”

“Give it.”

“I don’t want to.”

It was like a back-and-forth battle of wills, akin to Bori-Bori-Ssal.

The Young Lady reached out to grab my hand, while I kept just enough distance to avoid her grasp, teasing her in a way that resembled playing Bori-Bori-Ssal.

As you know, in Bori-Bori-Ssal, offense is more advantageous than defense. As a master of Bori-Bori-Ssal in my previous life, who turned elementary schoolers into unicorns with forehead flicks, dodging the Young Lady’s slow grip was easier than making those kids cry.

The Young Lady pouted and glared at me.

She seemed to dislike my teasing.

“Why are you hiding it?”

“The chocolate is in the refrigerator.”

“Oh…! I see.”

The Young Lady, delighted by the hidden treasure trove, shook her head vigorously when she realized my scheme to change the subject.

“No! Not the chocolate, your arm. I definitely saw it!”

She said she definitely saw it?

I didn’t think she would notice.

Though she’s usually slow, her sharp eyes at moments like this were sharper than a Sword Master’s.

I quickly hid my hand behind my back, but in that fleeting moment, it seemed the Young Lady caught a glimpse of the scar on my arm.

One fortunate thing was that the Young Lady hadn’t seen it clearly.

Judging by her gaze still fixed on my wrist, it seemed she had only seen the faint silhouette through my wet shirt.

I thought perhaps I could let this slide naturally.

After all, ignorance would be better for both the Young Lady and me. Isn’t it better to let sleeping dogs lie?

I tried to think of an excuse to give the Young Lady, but her piercing glare made it hard to come up with one.

‘I need to come up with a good excuse.’

A clumsy excuse would only make it easier for the Young Lady to catch on.

But why was she so curious about this?

Awkwardly, I glanced again at my right hand hidden behind my back.

The faintly visible Black Silhouette through the wet fabric might spark curiosity, but it wasn’t something so fascinating as to risk one’s life over.

It wasn’t a tattoo symbolizing Heretics.

It wasn’t a tattoo representing Yuria’s fan club.

It wasn’t a tattoo containing the secrets of a household.

It was just an ugly scar that would make anyone go ‘Ugh…’ upon seeing it.

Especially. A scar I didn’t want the Young Lady to see.

It was unsightly.

And I didn’t want to show it.

Of course, I had thought that one day I might get caught.

After all, I couldn’t live my whole life wearing only Long Sleeves.

I had planned to slowly reveal it when the scar faded over time, making up an excuse about getting injured while working. I didn’t expect to get caught like this.

Still, the fortunate thing was.

I had already thought of excuses in advance.

Worrying about what to do if I got caught, I had come up with excuses while cleaning the estate, and they were still in my head.

No matter what misunderstanding the Young Lady had, I could give a plausible response.

If she said it was dirty.

-It’s because I didn’t wash.

If she asked why there was such a big mark on my arm.

-There’s a huge birthmark on my arm.

If she said it was scary.

-Ugh. The Black Flame Dragon lives in my right hand…

With these excuses ready, I wasn’t scared. Of course, my heart was pounding like crazy, but I could handle this naturally.

The Young Lady was reaching out her hand to me.

I was awkwardly hiding my hand.

Our awkward gazes met.

After about a minute of silence.

The Young Lady, unable to bear the wait, spoke first.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“Actually, I already know everything.”

She said she knew everything.

I swallowed dryly.

Since when did she know?

I hadn’t shown any signs.

I had been wearing shirts that didn’t reveal much, even under light sweat or moisture. They were hot, but they didn’t show anything. How did the Young Lady find out?

A whirlwind of thoughts raced through my mind. I hadn’t prepared for the possibility of getting caught.

If I had been caught.

The atmosphere in this estate wouldn’t be very pleasant.

Tension filled the bathroom.

The Young Lady spoke to me with cold eyes.

“You know, Ricardo, humans are creatures that can make mistakes.”

“…Yes.”

“They can also have secrets they can’t talk about.”

“That’s true.”

“Right, sometimes, like me, they might hit someone or make someone bald.”

“That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

The Young Lady opened her eyes sharply.

“Listen to me.”

At this moment, she truly felt like the Youngest Daughter of the Desmond Family. The content of our conversation might belong in a confession at a cathedral, but the pressure and atmosphere she exuded felt like that of the head of the Desmond Family.

The Young Lady said.

“I have secrets I’m hiding too.”

“You, Young Lady?”

“Yes.”

The Young Lady rummaged through her chest again.

“Actually, I stole some chocolate today.”

“?”

Showing the melted, gooey chocolate, she smiled.

“A whole three pieces.”

The Young Lady laughed wickedly.

I genuinely wanted to flick her forehead.

-Under the bed.

-Between the pillow covers.

-Inside the hair.

Watching the Young Lady continually reveal the locations of the emergency food supply, I had a hunch.

The Young Lady was barking up the wrong tree.

I was a fool for being so tense.

From the beginning, the Young Lady was someone far removed from being perceptive. When everyone talked about black bean noodles, she was the kind of person to shout about spicy seafood noodles alone.

I was a fool to think that such a Young Lady had caught on.

My previously tense mind began to work actively again.

Lying in the bathtub like a slime, the Young Lady slowly opened her mouth.

“Ricardo, you got a tattoo, right?”

As expected, the Young Lady was off the mark.

Her consistent demeanor put me at ease.

“…”

“You did get a tattoo, didn’t you? Are you hiding it because you know I hate tattoos?”

“So, you found out after all.”

At my awkward smile, the Young Lady grinned, seemingly convinced her deduction was correct.

The Young Lady, pleased that her curiosity was resolved, looked delighted.

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

To avoid suspicion and make her think, ‘Ah, so I was right,’ I began acting with all my might.

“Was it that obvious?”

“Yeah. Pretending not to know was hard.”

“I tried to hide it as much as I could, but I guess I can’t fool the Young Lady’s eyes.”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?”

The Young Lady thumped her chest.

I was grateful she was completely fooled.

Since it had come to this, I decided to thoroughly deceive the Young Lady.

Once someone mistakes a lie for the truth, turning that lie into reality isn’t too difficult.

The secret about this scar was something only I knew, and as long as I stayed quiet, it would remain that way.

Falsifying it wouldn’t cause any problems at all.

I smoothly spouted the lie I had crafted in my head.

“I secretly got a tattoo a while back.”

“Right?”

“I’m sorry for hiding it. It’s a bit of an odd tattoo to show others.”

“Hmm… Really? When did you get it?”

The Young Lady asked a sharp question.

“About… a year ago?”

“What?! You got it that long ago?! You sneaky butler! And you’ve been hiding it until now!”

Feeling betrayed, the Young Lady threw a rubber duck at me.

-Quack.

I dodged it again this time.

“That attack was rather fierce just now.”

When I gave her a thumbs-up, the Young Lady growled, “Eeeek,” venting her anger.

Panting with frustration, the Young Lady spoke.

“Next time, I’ll definitely hit you.”

“I’m sorry. Dodging weak attacks has become a habit.”

“Eeeek!”

It was about time to leave the bathroom.

Three hours had passed since the Young Lady had immersed herself in the bathtub, and by now, she seemed far removed from being human.

The Young Lady, now a slime, gurgled, “Hoeek.”

She seemed to have completely forgotten about the tattoo.

-Splash splash.

The Young Lady was playing catch with the rubber duck, throwing it against the wall.

-Quack!

“Heave-ho!”

-Quack!

“Ho-Hit-Cha!”

The rubber duck made increasingly pitiful sounds as it hit the wall. Feeling sorry for the toy duck suffering under its master, I stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get a towel.”

“A towel?”

The Young Lady tilted her head and looked at me.

At the mention of a towel, she bristled like a cat, showing extreme wariness.

But I couldn’t back down.

It was time to clock out.

I conveyed my intentions clearly through simple gestures to the Young Lady.

I pointed at the Young Lady.

‘You.’

I pointed outside the door.

‘Go out.’

Then, I pointed at the floor.

‘Right now.’

“Eeeek!”

The Young Lady threw the rubber duck at me.

***

Sitting on the bed, the Young Lady entrusted her hair to me.

The Young Lady wanted me to dry her hair with aura.

She was wasting high-level skills on something trivial. If Hanna saw this, she’d freak out and pull Olivia away.

After all, precisely controlling aura was one of the most challenging tasks.

Even Sword Masters couldn’t do it, but I wondered if the Young Lady realized how amazing I was.

Judging by her drowsy eyes and murmuring, “Ah, so nice,” she seemed completely unaware.

“Heueum… So nice.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah.”

While drying her hair.

The Young Lady spoke nonchalantly.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask what kind of tattoo you got?”

For once, the Young Lady asked a polite question.

Normally, she would have said, “Show me!”

Seeing her leaning against me and asking politely, I felt proud, as if she had grown.

“It would be difficult to show you…”

“Yeah, I won’t look. Actually, I don’t want to see it.”

“Is that so?”

“I hate tattoos.”

I felt a pang when she said she hated it.

It hurt my heart, as if I were watching a daughter running away from her bearded father.

I thought deeply to myself.

What did my scar look like again?

It was cracked like drought-stricken land.

And there were blackened marks here and there. What did it resemble?

Since lies are more believable when based on truth, I decided to come up with a plausible excuse.

After about three minutes of deliberation.

I thought of the closest resemblance.

“Tree bark.”

“What kind of bark?”

“Tree bark.”

The Young Lady looked at me.

The Young Lady’s expression subtly changed.

It was a completely different expression from when she was bathing.

She looked at me with an expression as if she were about to cry.

Why was she acting like that?

Did I brush her hair too harshly?

When I was lost in various thoughts and unable to move easily.

The Young Lady asked me in a hoarse voice.

“Why? Is it because of a tree?”

“Just because.”

I had only thought of what it most resembled.

I didn’t expect her to ask why.

I gave the Young Lady a plausible answer to her question.

“It’s just, it’s sturdy and solid. It also provides shade.”

“Really?”

The Young Lady nodded.

“It’s like you.”

The Young Lady, who answered me, was staring blankly at the ceiling.

The Young Lady, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling for a while now. I asked her in a small voice.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Huh? Nothing.”

The Young Lady trailed off her words.

“Just.”

-A quest has been triggered.

“Because tattoos are scary.”

[Q. The Secret He’s Hiding.]

The day the Master, whom he had served for 13 years, collapsed.

Ricardo was there.

Nobody knows what happened that day.

Except for one person.

Only her butler knows the truth of that day.

Ricardo has been trying to hide what happened that day for his entire life. The secret of that day, which he wanted to quietly bury without anyone knowing.

(!) Uncover the Secret of That Day.

1. See the secret Ricardo is hiding. (0/1)

2. Touch the secret Ricardo is hiding. (0/1)

Reward: Access to the [29th Side Story] “The Man’s Secret.”

Olivia already knew everything.