The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 62

Lunchtime at the Academy’s training grounds.

The students, having finished their classes, were heading to the cafeteria while chatting about what had happened during today’s lessons.

“The lesson content is so difficult.”

“The professor always talks nonsense.”

Students grumbled that the professor had too high expectations of them.

Among them, a group of female students was sharing girlish stories with bright smiles.

-Senior Mikhail, wasn’t he so cool today?

-Right? When he sparred with the professor, it was neck and neck. And that moment! When he sighed deeply and wiped his sweat—how sexy was that? I got scolded by the professor because I was staring blankly.

-You were staring way too obviously.

-Still, I got my daily dose of Mikhail today!

-Puhaha!

“Daily dose of Mikhail.”

It was a slang term used by the female students, meaning to cleanse their eyes, tired from looking at the burly male students of the Swordsmanship Department, by gazing at the handsome Mikhail.

“Sigh…”

Hanna let out a deep sigh as she watched the female students.

‘They should focus on their studies…’

Hanna was someone who couldn’t blend into such groups.

Passing by the female students, Hanna walked toward the training grounds. She wanted to swing her sword more, even if it meant skipping her meal.

Hanna was obsessed with practice, wanting to improve her swordsmanship even further and not waste any meaningless time.

‘I should boast to the butler…’

Hanna’s goals had shifted in a peculiar direction.

Hanna lacked social skills. She focused more on swordsmanship than on building friendships.

Even before meeting Ricardo, Hanna had prioritized swordsmanship over friendships. Moreover, being the youngest to awaken aura had caused her peers to view her unfavorably.

It was something she was used to.

People always envied those who excelled.

Hanna paid little attention to such gazes.

Instead, she faced a different problem.

‘This is driving me crazy. I keep thinking about him…!’

Lately, Hanna’s mind had been filled with thoughts of the red-haired butler. Whether she was swinging her sword or attending classes, she found it hard to concentrate because she kept recalling the butler she had met not long ago.

-Why do you think you can’t beat Mikhail?

-Miss Hanna, you can do it.

The butler’s unwavering faith in her kept coming to mind.

-Kyaah…! Ah~ I want to see Senior Mikhail again.

The female students were excited.

They seemed elated after hearing the news that Mikhail had awakened his aura and saved them in a dungeon.

Watching them, Hanna let out a deep sigh.

“Was I like that too…?”

As someone who had once liked Mikhail, Hanna found their behavior unpleasant.

Though she hadn’t gone as far as trembling with excitement at the sight of Senior Mikhail or making a fuss about picking up his discarded towel to keep forever, she had watched him closely in a similar way.

It wasn’t a desire to connect with him.

She had looked at him with eyes of admiration, but she couldn’t help feeling that she wasn’t much different from them.

‘Ugh…’

Hanna shuddered and got goosebumps at the thought of her past self.

“I should just practice.”

There was nothing better than practice to clear her mind of unnecessary thoughts.

Hanna silently grabbed her sword and began swinging it in the deserted training grounds.

What would the butler say if he saw her?

-What are you doing without eating? You’ll harm your body… Isn’t all this for the sake of living well? Come quickly. If you don’t, the Young Lady will scold you.

‘That’s probably what he’d say.’

Hanna smiled faintly but quickly shook her head, realizing something.

‘What’s wrong with me? I’m thinking about him again…!’

Hanna found Ricardo, who had taken up residence in her mind without permission, utterly exasperating.

Holding her sword, Hanna fell into deep thought.

‘This… can’t be love, right?’

It felt like something was missing for it to be called love.

He was the one who had freed her from the sealed cage she had been trapped in.

The feeling of wanting to repay his kindness, even with her life, couldn’t be called love.

He had helped her awaken her aura and was the first person to stand up to her father, the Empire’s only Knight Commander.

‘Benefactor seems like the right word.’

A father who showed favoritism.

An older brother who neglected her.

An older sister who treated her as if she didn’t exist.

The person who had freed her from the suffocating cage she had lived in wasn’t Mikhail, nor the professor, but a butler she had never met before.

That was why he seemed even more significant to her.

It felt different from the emotions of love.

Love… was an emotion that interfered with swordsmanship.

In books, love was described as a feeling that made your heart flutter and tingle.

It was a feeling of wanting to see someone repeatedly and always wanting to be by their side.

For Hanna, it was a difficult emotion to grasp.

She wanted to see him every day, but it was because she wanted to repay his kindness. She wanted to stay by his side forever, but even that felt like a way to repay his immense favor.

For Hanna, who had no experience with romance, love was an incredibly challenging concept.

While her friends were dating fiancés or boyfriends and enjoying a rosy academy life, she was solely devoted to swordsmanship.

Approaching people warmly didn’t suit her personality.

Hanna, who was blunt and preferred swinging her sword over playing around, seemed uninterested in romance.

Lost in meaningless thoughts, she stood still in the training grounds.

“…Hanna.”

A familiar face appeared before her.

A man with silver hair.

The most popular person in the Academy stood before her, holding a practice sword.

Hanna flinched in surprise at the unexpected appearance and spoke.

“Senior Mikhail.”

Mikhail stood in front of her, blocking her path with his sword.

Mikhail lightly raised his sword and politely asked Hanna.

“Would you spar with me?”

Sparring with Mikhail.

In the past, she would have trembled with excitement and stammered, “W-With me?” But now, sparring with Mikhail wasn’t something she particularly welcomed.

After all, she had received awards excluding the butler, and during the student council meeting, she had shown a defiant attitude toward her seniors.

She didn’t regret her actions. It was just that seeing his face now felt awkward.

Hanna forced an awkward smile and picked up her sword.

“Yes… I can.”

Mikhail nodded and pushed off the ground.

With a loud “bang,” their practice swords clashed fiercely.

Hanna’s sword, which prioritized speed.

Mikhail’s sword, which, though slower, focused on precise posture and delivering full power.

Though their swords clashed rapidly, Hanna’s sword reached Mikhail’s side first.

“Ugh…”

Mikhail furrowed his brow and twisted his body, narrowly avoiding Hanna’s sword.

Hanna didn’t give Mikhail any openings.

Once toward his neck.

And once toward his thigh.

And once more toward his side.

Hanna could clearly see the gaps in Mikhail’s technique. Swordsmanship that neither focused on defense nor committed to offense—awkward and indecisive.

Hanna clicked her tongue.

‘I used to think this kind of swordsmanship looked cool.’

It was swordsmanship completely devoid of killing power.

Swordsmanship focused on subjugation, not victory.

Hanna felt a sense of futility toward Senior Mikhail’s considerate and overly accommodating style of swordsmanship.

-You’re too focused on the basics. Up. Down. Side. Even if you match ten moves, my grandmother could predict your next attack.

-Isn’t building from the basics important?

-Basics are just that—basics.

The butler who had mercilessly trampled on her past self’s pride in her swordsmanship.

He didn’t go easy on her just because she was a woman. He knocked her down, picked her up, and knocked her down again, repeatedly helping her find a style that suited her.

And then.

-As long as I’m here, you won’t die.

She had even experienced battles where she gave it her all.

The Mikhail Hanna saw now evoked none of those feelings. His half-hearted swordsmanship, as if waiting for a hero to save him, and his purely passive approach felt tiresome to her.

Mikhail tried to summon his aura.

The golden aura emanating from Mikhail shimmered like a mirage.

“…”

It was clumsy.

Though her past self might have been the same, Senior Mikhail’s aura neither inspired fear nor seemed powerful.

It felt as though he wasn’t trying to kill his opponent but rather holding back for their sake. Hanna frowned and spoke to Mikhail.

“Senior. Aren’t you going to take this seriously?”

She didn’t want to keep sparring. She had thought that awakening his aura would make him a decent training partner, but….

This was no… Stick of Love or anything.

Disappointed by Mikhail’s performance, Hanna lowered her sword and said.

“I’m done.”

“What…?”

“What are you even doing? You have no will to win, no sharp attacks… Are you some street guard? What kind of swordsman only focuses on subjugation?”

With his dull, lifeless swordsmanship, Hanna turned her back and left the training grounds.

Mikhail stood blankly in the training grounds, staring at the sword in his hand with an empty expression.

***

After class, under the crimson-tinged sky.

Hanna let out a deep sigh as she stared absentmindedly at the red sunset.

-It’s a birthday gift.

‘I can’t get it out of my head.’

The sight of the sunset always brought back memories of that day.

The crimson-dyed sunset.

The warmth of the butler’s embrace, who had stood up to her father—who had easily defeated the strongest opponent she had ever faced and told her to lay down the sword—still lingered as if it were yesterday.

“Haah…”

Maybe I should’ve taken a leave of absence.

She missed the butler.

Hanna looked at the letter in her hand.

[Histania Rowen]

It was a letter from her father.

She didn’t even need to open it to know what it said.

It would tell her to lay down the sword because it was dangerous.

It was the same letter every time.

Despite proving herself, awakening her aura faster than her father, he neither acknowledged her nor showed interest, only responding with relentless pressure. Hanna sighed deeply.

“So annoying.”

At times like this, she couldn’t help but think of the butler.

Most people think of their parents when they’re struggling… but me, well…

Hanna brushed her dry face with her hand, letting out a deep sigh before standing up.

As she rose, gazing at the red sunset.

-Ding.

-A quest has been triggered.

[Q. What if he hadn’t been there….]

A strange blue window appeared before her eyes.