The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Yuria had an illness she couldn’t tell anyone about.

It wasn’t an incurable disease or one that put a limit on how long she could live, but rather a sickness of the heart that slowly ate away at her.

A disease that made her unable to trust promises.

This illness had tormented Yuria for a very long time. It was the reason Yuria became someone who had no choice but to be kind, someone who always had to show only her bright side to others.

The origin of this disease traced back to her childhood—when her mother made a promise to her. It wasn’t some grand, sorrowful tale with deep layers of tragedy. Instead, it began from something that could happen to anyone.

That day, like many others, the northern lands were cold and barren. Yuria’s father had left to look for a cure for her mother’s inexplicable illness, while Yuria’s mother lay in bed.

“Mom, don’t be sick.”

“Of course~ Why would I be sick?”

“*Sniff*… I’ll go up to the mountain and gather some herbs…”

“But… because you’re hurting, Mom…”

“Mom is fine.”

Her mother always reassured her that everything was fine while hooking their pinkies together, making promises.

“In the spring, we’ll go out and see the flowers together with Dad.”

“Yes… Pinky promise.”

“That’s right. But only if you become a good child who listens to Mom. Then, I’ll get better.”

“Okay.”

Her mother, who promised that they would go flower viewing once she got better, saying, “Mom is strong, so don’t worry,” wasn’t able to keep her promise.

Her condition worsened.

Debts began to pile up.

Her dad wasn’t around.

Yuria still clung to those unkept promises, holding out hope each time they hooked pinkies. She truly believed that one day, the promise would be fulfilled.

Was it naivety? Or was it simply because in the harsh and desolate north, her only family was all she could rely on? Every promise her mother made, her pinkie hooks, felt so heavy to the young Yuria.

“Mom…?”

But her mother broke that promise.

Lying before the stove filled with logs, she grew cold and rigid, no longer able to respond.

The one-sided vows they’d made with their hooked pinkies. The promise that if she became a good child, her mother would get better—every one of those promises was broken and locked away in a cold frame.

From that moment on, Yuria stopped believing in promises.

She couldn’t trust anyone. She developed a sickness of doubt, unable to believe in others.

Though she laughed on the outside, her heart was crying—a sorrow rooted deep inside the young Yuria’s chest.

Like a fool.

Yuria tried hard to be a good daughter for her father. He’d told her it would make things easier for him. She believed that if her mother, who was now in heaven, saw how hard she was trying, she would be happy.

“I’m sorry. We can’t make this month’s interest payment…!”

But darkness always came creeping in.

The promises were lies too. The promise from her father that he’d be there to celebrate her birthday if she studied hard, and the promise from the debt collector that they’d find her father if she told them where he had gone—none of them were ever kept.

So Yuria smiled.

Even though she couldn’t believe.

Even though promises were broken.

She always smiled to console the sadness within.

It was better that way. No matter how hard or lonely it was, if she smiled, everyone else would be happy. So she smiled and smiled again.

Yuria always wondered.

Was she a burden?

Would things improve if she smiled even more?

Could she be loved as long as she didn’t hold grudges against anyone? She constantly carried the weight of these heavy thoughts on her shoulders.

“Hello, ma’am!”

She approached people with a smile, and, in return, was rewarded with food. People would pat her head, calling her cute and sweet, offering her snacks that, back then, tasted so delicious.

“Tsk tsk… Poor little thing.”

Behind her, people always whispered about how pitiable she was, but Yuria didn’t shrink away in dejection.

After all, she didn’t trust them either. So there was no reason to feel hurt.

Yuria feared trusting others.

She knew this too. She was aware that her personal backstory wasn’t a valid reason to distrust others, and she had tried to fix it. But the situations unfolding before her only brought more pain and ate away at her heart.

Every time she opened up her heart, she was betrayed.

“Hey, I heard Ricardo was talking behind your back.”

“He only helps with homework because she talks to him.”

“Yuria~ Come play with us! Oh, and isn’t that item too cute? Seriously, you’re going to buy it for me?!”

In reality, she wasn’t all that cheerful, nor was she an idiot. Deep in her heart, the illness that had festered for so long turned her into the fool she saw herself as now.

She longed for affection.

She wanted to be loved.

She wanted to appear as a good child.

But such desires turned her into a monster, a ticking time bomb about to explode.

Her true feelings were different.

In truth, she wanted to curse sometimes.

She wanted to hate.

She wanted to complain.

But the pressure she felt from her own conscience made it impossible to do so.

There was, however, one person…

The illness of her heart completely disappeared when it came to that one person.

“I’ll protect you.”

“…”

“Even if you can’t trust me, it’s fine. Even if you hate me, that’s okay too. I’ll just do whatever I feel like anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because I just want to?”

Yuria understood. She was aware of why her emotions were always so unpredictable.

Deep down, she knew she was much sharper toward Ricardo than anyone else—but it was something she couldn’t easily change.

She easily exploded in anger.

“I trusted you.”

And then quickly felt disappointed.

“Wherever you are, trouble always follows, Ricardo.”

She realized that her outbursts and suspicions toward Ricardo were far more excessive than with anyone else. After all, Ricardo had never broken a promise.

“Haa.”

Sitting on a bench outside the hospital in the northern region, Yuria lowered her head, trying to push away her complicated thoughts.

She regretted speaking so harshly to Ricardo.

She always regretted it after the fact.

The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became.

Whenever she stood in front of Ricardo, whenever she saw him, someone she could depend on, she would let her guard down and begin to whine, bursting into tears.

When did this start happening?

Blowing out a cold breath, Yuria reflected on yesterday’s mistake with a gloomy expression.

She couldn’t find an answer.

She didn’t know how to apologize this time. She didn’t know what words to use to approach him. Had she just trusted him a little more, had she not doubted him—

Had she treated Ricardo the same way she treated everyone else, maybe things would have turned out differently.

Yuria scolded herself, lowering her head even further.

—

**Private Room in the Northern Hospital**

-Thud-thud-thud.

Thanks to some connections, after providing a brief statement, I was now comfortably hospitalized in a well-off hospital room, lying peacefully in bed and enjoying a moment of tranquility.

‘How long has it been since I’ve lain in a hospital bed?’

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been hospitalized. Other than when I was hit by a car in my previous life, I don’t think I’ve ever been admitted to a hospital. Relishing the somewhat familiar scent of the hospital, I relaxed and leisurely passed the time.

-Thud-thud-thud!

With one exception, of course.

My Lady, who kept running around noisily.

“Ricardooooo!”

The shrunken-down My Lady seemed to have reverted to her childhood energy, as she couldn’t sit still. Wearing her bear-shaped slippers, she eagerly pranced around, occasionally poking her face through the bed’s railings, exclaiming, “Oh no! Ricardo is dying!” before running off to raise an airborne alert.

“Eek! Air raid alert!”

She really was a handful now that she’d turned back into a child.

I chuckled and reached out to stop her before she could dash out into the hospital corridor. If I let her run around any longer, the peaceful healing time I’d been enjoying would go to waste. Holding onto her tiny head, I smiled softly as I spoke.

“*Cough* *cough*, Miss, could you get me some water?”

“Water?”

“Yes.”

“Ricardooo, drink it yourself.”

“…I’m a patient.”

I pointed to my hospital gown, emphasizing I was a patient. I could at least expect her to take care of me, right? With a half-lidded gaze, she nodded with an exaggerated smile.

“Got it. Then don’t die!”

“I won’t.”

“O-kay.”

-Thud-thud-thud!

She really was so cute.

I couldn’t help but think how adorable she was, even lamenting how temporary her shrunken size was. Her chubby cheeks and childish pronunciation made her almost unbearably cute. I never realized she’d been this adorable when she was younger.

I laughed awkwardly to myself and shook my head.

‘But I’m definitely not into children.’

My tastes were clear, after all. There was no way I could give up My Lady’s ‘treasure pouch.’ Without it, it would be like holding an empty pastry puff.

Choosing to trust My Lady’s words that she’d return to normal after a day, I leaned back and relaxed.

Part of me was just happy seeing her walk again, even if it was only temporary.

It wasn’t permanent.

Her body had regressed, reconnecting damaged nerves. It would be more accurate to say her body had returned to how it was in the past.

Once her dark magic returned, her legs would likely revert to their former state. It was unfortunate, but both My Lady and I accepted it and decided not to dwell on it too much. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy the present happiness.

As I heard My Lady’s hurried footsteps echoing down the hospital corridor, I smiled softly.

“Ricardooo!”

She came running back, a cup of water balanced on her head, her nostrils flaring proudly. Everything about her was so cute that it was almost criminal.

Her expression was stern.

Her cheeks were flushed red, and her shoulders rose and fell with each breath. She looked so shy, yet the sight was undeniably adorable.

Holding out the water cup she’d balanced on her head, she handed it over to me.

“Here’s your water.”

I glanced at the cup, which was now only half full after her little journey, and couldn’t help but laugh.

“My Lady.”

“Hm?”

“The cup is empty.”

“No, it’s full! I brought it full!”

“No, it’s not.”

“It is! I definitely… huh?”

Looking at the empty cup, My Lady blinked in confusion as though thinking, ‘How did it end up empty?’ She gazed back at me with bewildered eyes.

“See?”

“Hm.”

“Can you get more?”

“Nah, too much work.”

I carefully took the cup from My Lady and began drying her now-wet hair.

“Ugh…!”

As I gently brushed her soft hair, she closed her eyes tight and shook her head in protest, letting out small grumbles of “Stop it…!” as she expressed her displeasure.

Time passed.

The moon slowly began to rise outside the window.

The full moon hung in the northern sky, bathing the world in a soft glow.

Sitting side by side on the hospital bed, My Lady and I blankly stared out the window, pointing at the stars dotting the sky.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.”

“It really is. It’s the same stars we can see in Hamel, but they feel more special here.”

“Right.”

The sky, filled with the path of the Milky Way, softly began to sing a lullaby.

With My Lady sitting between my legs, sleepiness gradually washed over me as I hugged her close and lay back in bed.

“Eek!”

Squirming in my arms, My Lady seemed uncomfortable and tried to wriggle free. I buried my face in her hair and, with a drowsy voice, began to sing softly.

“Sleep, sleep….”

“Don’t sing me to sleep!”

“Sleep…”

“I’m a proper lady…!”

“It’s fine because you’re a little lady right now.”

“…Is that so?”

With her nose twitching, My Lady nodded and promptly nestled into my arms, falling asleep.

The sounds of peaceful breathing filled the room.

-Snore!

Well, mostly peaceful.

I closed my eyes and let the waves of drowsiness take over. I thought it’d be nice to fall asleep early for once, allowing myself to relax for the first time in a long while.

*

-Knock, knock.

The sound of knocking came from outside the hospital room.

-…

No response came from within.

Yuria, who was standing outside the door, bit her lip and bowed her head. She held a basket of fruit in her arms, hugging it tightly, while she stood silently in front of the unresponsive door.

After what seemed like 20 minutes, Yuria finally decided to leave the basket inside the room. She carefully reached for the door.

-Creeeak.

“Excuse m—”

“…”

Yuria froze, holding her breath at the sight that greeted her through the small opening in the door.

There was a woman, arms crossed, staring directly at her.

Seated in a wheelchair, Desmond Olivia looked calmly at Yuria with a composed expression.

“Come with me.”

“…”

Olivia, now back in her original body, wheeled herself out of the hospital room.

End of Chapter.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com