The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 74

The day after the first snow fell.

Outside the window, a heavy snowfall began.

The snow that fell throughout the day blanketed the streets in white, and the mountain range, once vibrant with autumn leaves, was transforming into a snowy expanse, like shaved ice.

“Snoooow!!”

The Young Lady opened the window and reached out her hand to touch the snow.

Wrapped tightly in a blanket, the Young Lady ignored the butler’s warning about catching a cold and attempted to make contact with the snow.

“Ricardo, it’s snowing so much outside.”

The Young Lady, with bright, shining eyes, gazed out the window as she spoke.

After glancing at me briefly, the Young Lady scooped up some snow from the windowsill with her finger and brought it to her mouth.

“Ew… It tastes bad.”

The Young Lady pouted, complaining that nature’s gift tasted awful.

“Eating it is prohibited.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you eat it?”

“It looked delicious.”

It was a reason that made sense. I nodded at the Young Lady’s logical explanation and turned my gaze to the snow falling outside the window.

Snowflakes were falling heavily in Hamel.

The first snow we saw yesterday was beautiful, but why does today’s snow feel like a catastrophe? Just like the first snow during my training days seemed beautiful at first but became a disaster the next day, the thought of shoveling snow filled the butler with gloom.

‘When will I finish clearing it all?’

A reluctant butler.

The Young Lady had flung the window wide open and was savoring the winter. She touched the snow fluttering in the wind with her hands and softly watched as it melted in her palm, a mischievous smile on her face.

“Oh…”

-Whoooosh!

“Ugh…”

A strong cold breeze blew, and snow whipped into the Young Lady’s face.

“Eek! It’s cold…”

Covered in cold snow, the Young Lady froze in place.

“Achoo! Ugh, it’s freezing.”

The Young Lady’s favorability toward snow was dropping in real time. I closed the open window and began nagging her.

“I told you not to open the window because you’d catch a cold.”

“The wind hates me.”

“It’s because the Young Lady is too beautiful.”

“Hmm…”

Hugging the blanket tightly, the Young Lady nodded.

It was a day when I absolutely didn’t feel like working.

I wanted to laze around under the blanket, but my empty wallet rudely pushed me forward.

I had spent a lot of money yesterday.

And the Young Lady’s birthday was approaching.

Overcoming the weight of reluctance pressing on my shoulders, I grabbed the coat hanging on the chair.

A black wool coat. It was a birthday gift from the Young Lady three years ago, holding a bit of sentimental value.

It was also the most expensive piece of clothing I owned.

As I draped the coat over my arm, the Young Lady tilted her head, a question mark forming above her.

“Where are you going?”

“To search for treasure.”

“Treasure hunt? I want to go too.”

“It’s outside, though.”

“…”

Excited by the idea of a treasure hunt, the Young Lady glanced at the fierce wind blowing outside and shivered.

“If I go out, I’ll freeze to death.”

The Young Lady quickly gave up on the treasure hunt. She looked out the window and suggested that I stay home with her and embrace the life of the unemployed, saying it was too cold to go outside.

“They say leaving the house is a recipe for suffering.”

It was a tempting proposal, but since the treasure hidden in the cave wouldn’t wait for me, I regretfully declined the Young Lady’s suggestion.

“I have something I must do. Starting tomorrow, I’ll become a passionate unemployed person.”

“I’m not unemployed. I’m a security guard protecting the house.”

The Young Lady was offended by my dismissal of her two-year-long, dedicated job.

She handed me a warm Gomtangi and said,

“Take this with you. It’ll keep you warm.”

-Gom?

Gomtangi, who had gone from being a pet dog to a hand warmer.

Gomtangi licked the Young Lady’s hand with a puzzled expression.

“Eek… That tickles.”

-Gooooom.

“Stay still. Ricardo needs to take you.”

-Gooooom…

Like the Young Lady, Gomtangi disliked going outside.

“Pfft… It’s fine. It won’t take long, so I don’t need it.”

I returned Gomtangi to the Young Lady’s arms and fastened Tirbing, the black blade, to my waist.

Before leaving the room.

I turned my head to look at the Young Lady holding Gomtangi tightly.

“Is there anything you’d like me to bring back?”

“Hmm… Something warm.”

“Then I’ll bring green tea.”

“That’s not for humans to drink.”

Teasing the Young Lady was the most fun thing in the world.

The Young Lady waved her hand, cheering on the young butler to bring back something delicious.

Her pale wrist stood out starkly.

‘I must get her a gift…’

If I didn’t, I’d regret it.

Gripping the doorknob tightly, I thought about the fortuitous encounter mentioned in the novel and bowed my head toward the Young Lady, who was waving at me.

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay. I’ll keep the house safe.”

“Yes.”

With a creak, the door closed, and soon, I could see myself walking through the snowstorm outside the window.

-Whoooosh.

Snow piled up on my head as I walked.

“Eek!!! Ricardo’s turning into a snowman!!”

Smiling at the Young Lady’s horrified voice, I continued toward my destination.

The destination was where the Escape Mastermind was.

According to the novel, if he succeeded in escaping, he would hide in a hideout in Hamel’s mountain range.

I silently wished for his prison break to be successful.

‘Will he be there?’

It was about time for him to escape.

I found myself missing insects for the first time in a while.

***

Inside a dark, gloomy cave.

A man in prison clothes shivered from the cold, hugging his knees.

The man’s name was ‘Pascal.’

He was a villain who had massacred numerous adventurers.

“Ugh… It’s so cold…”

Shaking his frail body, Pascal struck stones together to light a bonfire, resembling a primitive caveman.

Clothes tattered into rags during the prison break.

His hair, uncut during his time in prison, was matted and glistened with grease.

Snap…

The sound of flint striking echoed hollowly throughout the cave.

“If it weren’t for that brat, I wouldn’t have had to endure this humiliation.”

The red-haired swordsman who had interrupted him while he was focused on his art in the mountains of Hamel.

Pascal resented him.

The kid who had disregarded his art.

And now, Pascal hated the kid who had made it impossible for him to look in the mirror with a seething intensity.

Since that day, Pascal could no longer look at mirrors.

-Mantis.

-Insect Expo.

-Wow… How can a person’s face look like that…?

Whenever he looked in the mirror, he thought of a mantis.

Though the idea of resembling an insect was shocking—especially for someone like Pascal, who was even afraid of cockroaches—the most terrifying thing was admitting the resemblance every time he looked in the mirror.

When he saw his reflection in the puddle within the cave, Pascal shook his head in vehement denial.

“No, I’m handsome. The ugly one is that guy, not me.”

Determined to get revenge, Pascal struck the flint again.

He kept striking the flint repeatedly, vowing to himself that one day he would have his revenge.

“I’ll kill him.”

Brutally.

“I’ll get my revenge.”

Pascal cursed the kid in his heart, vowing to return the humiliation he had suffered tenfold.

As his boiling emotions reached their peak, with a sudden “whoosh,” the dry twigs began to catch fire.

Feeling the warm heat on his hands, Pascal hurriedly started feeding the firewood he had prepared into the flames.

“…See? I can do it too.”

Pascal felt a surge of satisfaction.

“Sniff…”

A small tear escaped from Pascal’s eye. Overcome with emotion, he found himself crying uncontrollably.

“Yeah… I just need to start over from the beginning.”

After all, he still had dark magic.

Dark magic that could control people.

It was such powerful dark magic that even the heretics had tried to recruit him.

When they first made their offer, he had refused for the sake of his free artistic pursuits, but now he couldn’t afford to be picky.

The moment he resolved to join the heretics and exact his bloody revenge.

-Step.

Footsteps echoed from the edge of the cave. Pascal quickly grabbed his dagger.

‘Tch… A pursuer? I erased my tracks thoroughly, though.’

Pascal thought that a skilled pursuer must have followed him, despite his efforts to cover his tracks. He swallowed nervously.

It could be an adventurer.

Or it could be a pursuer.

But it was probably the latter.

Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

It might be an opportunity to replenish his depleted dark energy.

The method of replenishing dark energy varied from person to person.

Some used emotions as fuel.

Some paid with memories.

A famous dark sorcerer from the Empire used body parts as a price for dark magic, which imposed many restrictions.

But in return, the effects were explosive.

His method was murder.

The most common and widespread way to replenish dark energy.

Thinking of the danger as an opportunity, Pascal gazed at the burning bonfire with wistful eyes.

‘I should put it out, shouldn’t I…?’

Pascal didn’t want to part with the hard-earned bonfire, but the approaching footsteps forced him to make a decision.

“Damn it…!”

Pascal tightly shut his eyes and stomped out the bonfire with his bare feet.

The searing heat burned his soles, and he almost let out a groan.

‘Hold it in… Hold it in…’

Pascal endured it with the spirit of art, covering his mouth to suppress the pain.

-Step… Step…

-He should be here somewhere.

The intruder’s voice echoed off the cave walls.

A young man’s voice.

He sounded like he was in his twenties.

If he played it right, Pascal thought he could win.

He was confident in his ambush tactics.

Pascal, who hadn’t spent his time in prison idly, began infusing his cherished dark energy into his dagger.

The dagger shimmered with a black hue.

-Hiss… He should be here somewhere.

As the man’s muttering voice drew closer, Pascal extended his crouched legs in one swift motion and lunged toward the black shadow.

‘Got him.’

Pascal ambushed at the perfect moment, catching his enemy off guard.

Pascal felt a chill run down his spine.

He thought it was such a flawless ambush.

The circumstances aligned, and his desperation shone through, leading him to believe he had succeeded in a perfect ambush. Pascal felt a surge of exhilaration and flashed his signature sly smile.

“Kekeke… What an unfortunate turn of events…”

Pascal slowly raised his head.

He wanted to see eyes filled with despair.

Bloodied and drenched in fear, he wanted his opponent to show him those fearful eyes. Pascal smiled wickedly as he looked at the man before him.

And then Pascal’s face turned pale with fear.

“Huh…?”

A man with red hair.

The man Pascal most wanted to meet after his prison break, but now the one he least wanted to see, was holding the dagger—meant to be his finishing blow—with an expressionless face.

With just two fingers.

The man checked his clothes for scratches, sighed in relief, and spoke.

“Wow~ Long time no see!”

The man who had sent Pascal to prison waved cheerfully with a bright smile.

“I thought you’d have turned into a pupa by now, but you’re alive and well?”

Pascal shouted at the man.

“No…!!!!”

“Why do you always pick on me?!!!”

The man chuckled softly and said.

“I didn’t want to waste money on the Insect Expo…”

Pascal lunged forward.

Determined to escape at all costs, even if it meant using up all his remaining dark energy, he ignored the pain in his chest and swung his fist at Ricardo.

“Mantis Fist…!”

Seeing the mocking expression on his opponent’s face, Pascal held back tears and muttered.

‘Damn it.’

Pascal resolved that, revenge or not, he would never get involved with this man again.