The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Darbav Wanting to See Little Olivia

***

Inside the silent mansion.

Darbav, sitting on the sofa, took a sip of tea and nodded.

“So…”

Darbav opened his mouth slowly, fixing me with a sharp gaze. His eyes demanded the truth, no more lies.

“Where is Olivia?”

“Father.”

“You said Olivia had become younger, but where has she gone?”

Darbav was deliberately ignoring the young lady sitting right in front of him. He was intensely disregarding the young lady who was waving her hands in front of his face, exclaiming “Oh…! Invisible person!” with delight.

“Ricardo. Father can’t see me.”

“Young lady, please stay still. It will enhance your invisibility skill.”

“Hup!”

Darbav clenched his fist as he watched the young lady hold her breath to strengthen her invisibility.

“Bring Olivia here.”

“Ooh…!”

“I mean bring the Olivia who promised she wouldn’t marry anyone but her father.”

“Father, I never said such a thing.”

‘Urgh…!’ Darbav slammed his fist on the desk and vented his frustration at the young lady’s response that left no room for hope.

“Why…”

“…”

“Why, I ask. I was sure I’d be able to see the pure white Olivia.”

“The young lady has always been dark-hearted from the beginning.”

“Urrrgh…!”

Darbav, looking as if he might cry at any moment, gazed at me with eyes full of resentment. His eyes conveyed envy, wondering why only he couldn’t see what I could see. 𝘳�

“I suppose that’s true, so I can’t make excuses.”

“She was somewhat white in various aspects, though.”

-Nod nod.

Looking at Darbav, I wondered, ‘He must be an incredibly busy person, so why is he here?’ Surely, seeing the young lady’s younger self was precious, but not enough to abandon work. Of course, if it were me, I’d drop everything to come too.

I gave Darbav a bitter smile and offered mild consolation.

And then.

“Stop it.”

“Don’t you feel wronged? That you can’t see Olivia’s innocent appearance again…”

“What is this nonsense? Right, Kyle?”

Rosanna, the young lady’s mother, lightly pinched Darbav’s thigh as he clenched his fist in frustration, giving him a meaningful look.

Then, smiling gently at Kyle who was calmly drinking tea, Rosanna asked, seeking a positive answer from her reliable eldest son.

“Kyle…?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s really nonsense.”

-Rattle rattle rattle.

“Kyle?”

Kyle’s teacup was shaking violently. Glancing at me with envious eyes, Kyle muttered, “Don’t you have any photos?” showing his reliability as the future head of the Desmond family.

“When will we be able to see her?”

“Haha…”

“If you let me know in advance, I’ll make sure to clear my schedule.”

“That’s something only the young lady knows.”

The Desmond family had gathered to see Little Olivia. The busiest people in the empire had made the precious trip, but the young lady, who had regained her dark magic, was nonchalantly snorting and eating jerky.

“Father.”

“Yes.”

“Want some jerky?”

The young lady showed her lack of filial piety by offering the jerky she was chewing to Darbav. Despite having a bag full of fresh jerky in her hand, she deliberately offered the one she was eating. I smiled bitterly at her unfilial behavior, thinking ‘What should I do?’

Even for a doting father, he still held a noble position…

“Thank you.”

Nevermind.

I nodded, acknowledging my mistake in underestimating the resilience of the Desmond family. I shouldn’t have expected common sense from the Desmonds.

As I refilled Darbav’s empty teacup, I carefully changed the topic of conversation. After all, these weren’t people who had the leisure to come all this way just to see Little Olivia.

“So, what brings you to Hamel?”

“We came to see Olivia.”

“…”

Kyle also nodded, agreeing it was an obvious question, and Rosanna, whom I had trusted, nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“How about your work?”

“Tomorrow’s me will handle it.”

The head of the Desmond family truly had a novel belief system.

In the novel, he had a more brutal and cold image rather than this free-spirited one. I wonder where things went wrong. I let out a small laugh and gently blended into their lifestyle.

The teacups kept being emptied.

Perhaps because expensive black tea was served, our conversation turned to more sophisticated topics. We discussed recent happenings and politics.

-I’d like to drop a meteor on the Imperial Palace.

-Is there a reason?

-Just because.

-I suppose that makes sense.

As Darbav was calculating the coordinates of the Imperial Palace, he began to take interest in a black creature that sauntered over and sat down, pushing its head forward.

“What’s this…?”

Darbav raised a questioning eyebrow as he looked at Gomtangi.

Kyle knew about Gomtangi’s existence, but Darbav, who had seen Gomtangi when it was younger, cautiously reached out to pat its head with curiosity.

-Goooom.

“Oh.”

Gomtangi seemed to like Darbav’s touch, closing its eyes contentedly and surrendering to his caress.

“Magnificent…”

I smiled slightly at Darbav’s question and uttered the excuse I had made countless times before. Although I had somewhat accepted it by now, it would be difficult for Darbav to accept. So I spoke with a white lie.

“It’s a dog.”

“I see.”

“It’s a dog the young lady is raising.”

“I’ve never seen this breed before.”

“Neither have I.”

“Hmm…”

Darbav smiled softly and stroked Gomtangi’s head as he spoke.

“It’s an excellent bear.”

As expected, my clumsy lie didn’t work. I was foolish to think I could deceive him.

-Bear bear.

Darbav looked at Gomtangi with nostalgic eyes and said.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

“The old days, you say?”

“Yes.”

Darbav glanced at Rosanna, who was looking at Gomtangi with pitiful eyes, and smiled bitterly.

“Rosanna used to raise a bear too, you know.”

“…Pardon?”

“I still remember that fellow running around with the name Sagori.”

“Uh…”

“It would sometimes bite me, but if it weren’t for that fellow, we wouldn’t be here now. You know.”

“You must have loved it very much.”

“No. We fought every day.”

“What?”

“I had to fight not to be eaten. It would growl so fiercely when wagging its tail at its owner. I almost dropped a meteor on its head.”

How should I think about this?

I smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to react to the Desmond family’s unusual fond memories.

“But it was an angel that brought love, so isn’t that good?”

Darbav nodded with a wistful smile.

“That’s true.”

Gomtangi, as if understanding Darbav’s nostalgic feelings, whimpered “Bear” and acted cute.

“We’ll take good care of…”

-Bear!

“…”

I stopped mid-sentence as I saw Darbav’s hand disappear into Gomtangi’s mouth. Gomtangi was gently biting, not to hurt, while drooling and acting cute just like it did with the young lady.

“Haha.”

Darbav chuckled and nodded.

“This one’s the same too.”

Darbav disliked bears.

And.

“It’s like seeing our baby’s old self.”

Rosanna liked bears.

*

Inside the darkened mansion.

After putting the young lady to bed, I came down to the living room of the mansion and met eyes with three people waiting for me on the sofa.

Darbav, Kyle, and Rosanna, who were staying overnight at the mansion due to the late hour, looked at me with gentle smiles.

Rosanna, looking at the neatly cleaned ceiling of the mansion, spoke in a kind voice.

“You’ve managed the mansion well.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, managing a mansion alone must be so difficult. As expected, Ricardo is good at housekeeping.”

“You’re too kind.”

I smiled slightly and placed whiskey glasses and a bottle of whiskey on the table.

Darbav watched the liquor being poured into the glasses with a heavy expression. Unlike earlier when we were having light conversation, Darbav sighed deeply, tapping his finger on his brow as he slowly swirled his glass.

“You’ve worked hard alone.”

“Not at all.”

“Don’t say that…”

Darbav chuckled and raised his glass. We sat here late at night, after the young lady had gone to bed, using alcohol as a medium.

It seemed necessary to have a serious conversation.

It wasn’t anything grand, but Darbav was deeply troubled by a single sentence written in the letter.

“Haa…”

Darbav put down his glass and said.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes.”

“The contents of the letter. Is it all true?”

“Yes.”

Darbav tapped his fingers on the table and lowered his head.

[The young lady used black magic.]

“This has become complicated. Were there any witnesses?”

“No. The survivor was unconscious at the time and doesn’t remember anything.”

“That’s fortunate. The contents of the letter would require an interpreter of Rosanna’s caliber to read, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

“…”

“So that means no one knows except for us here.”

We couldn’t come to any definitive conclusion. After hearing about what happened that day, Darbav sighed and simultaneously let out a worried sigh, furrowing his brow in deep thought about the young lady’s black magic that exceeded expectations.

Kyle emptied his glass and said.

“Is it possible to heal Olivia’s legs using black magic? In a way that doesn’t burden you.”

I shook my head and answered Kyle.

“It’s impossible. But I’ll contact you separately about that part as it can be resolved soon.”

“…”

Kyle looked at me with trembling eyes. Though he didn’t know everything, Kyle’s eyes, aware of the inside story, refused to leave me.

“You’re also a member of the Desmond family. Don’t get hurt recklessly.”

“Thank you.”

A moment of silence passed.

Time weighed heavily as we considered how to approach this issue. Though the conclusion of ‘turning a blind eye’ had already been reached, it was taking a long time to accept and judge that decision.

In the long silence, Darbav cautiously opened his mouth.

“This is a big problem.”

“…”

“I was planning to hold a ball in Olivia’s name soon.”

“…”

“This is troublesome.”

We all shared one worry.

We feared the young lady might cause trouble due to her temper.

End of Chapter