The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen chapter 102

102 – Hoping to Become Friends Again -1-

Another peaceful morning today.

Yuria, waking up from sleep, was battling the monster called hangover.

“Ugh…”

How much did she drink yesterday?

The rampant hangover was tormenting Yuria’s insides, and the dizzying headache brought back memories of yesterday.

-We… are friends again.

“Aaaah!!! Crazy woman…!”

Like a girl reminiscing her adolescent years with passing, warm memories like a panorama, Yuria kicked the blanket with her foot.

“Ugh!”

Yuria glanced at the clock.

[10:10]

Wanting to hide her flushed face as the pushy sun rose, Yuria covered her fiery face with the blanket and sighed.

“Ugh…”

Yesterday’s memories were vivid.

Drinking.

Talking with Ricardo.

And then, Ricardo got hurt.

Although he is someone I dislike, the feeling I had when I saw him injured was not pleasant. It’s natural to feel satisfied when someone you dislike experiences misfortune, but strangely enough, my heart ached.

And I grew to dislike Ricardo even more every time he got hurt.

So, I must have blurted out the heated words to Ricardo, “Let’s be friends again.” Because that was the only thing that came to mind in that moment.

I couldn’t say anything harsh.

Our relationship was awkward to the point where apologizing for past events seemed uncomfortable. If I were to apologize for hurting you in a close relationship, who would be able to accept it graciously?

Ricardo would probably say it’s okay.

Uriah wanted to apologize.

She wanted to apologize to Ricardo for her mistakes in the dungeon. That’s why she thought that another clarification about their relationship was necessary.

In order to apologize, there needed to be progress between us. And deep down in her hidden feelings, she wanted to become closer to Ricardo.

So, she had no regrets.

It was something she said in the heat of the moment, but she actually felt relieved that they were able to clarify each other’s perspectives.

And Ricardo’s hand, too.

On the way back home.

Ricardo, who carried her, kept telling her. It’s not Uriah’s fault, really, it’s not Uriah’s mistake, so don’t worry, he said it to the point where it felt like a broken record.

She didn’t believe his words, but thanks to his continuous comforting, she was able to lighten the heavy burden of her emotions, at least a little.

Yuria, who blinked her sleepy eyes under the blanket, tightly hugged the handmade doll with red yarn hair and tried to calm her burning heart.

Her heart was pounding.

Realizing that she had sprouted a seed of hope in a relationship that seemed to have reached its end, Yuria smiled modestly.

About ten minutes passed like that.

Lying in bed, Yuria pushed aside the blanket and blankly stared at the clock.

“It feels like I forgot something important.”

As she watched the ticking clock hands, she strangely felt a foreboding sense of having forgotten something very important. A foreboding sense of having forgotten a very important promise.

Yuria looked at the round clock on the desk.

The second hand of the clock, as always, was quietly doing its job, ticking away without fail.

It was 10 o’clock…

“It feels like there was an important promise…”

As she gazed at the clock, it seemed like a forgotten memory was about to resurface. Something related to time…

“What is it…!”

She couldn’t recall it at all.

With an uneasy feeling, Yuria furrowed her brow and had a staring contest with the clock.

She pondered for about 5 minutes like that.

“Ah…”

The forgotten memory came back to Yuria, and she felt a chilling shiver run through her body. It was like cold sweat was breaking out all over her.

Yuria quickly got up from the bed and looked at the clock again.

[10:25]

“Hey, you… idiot…!”

-We’ve arrived.

-…So you’re not going to answer?

-Answer what?

-About being friends again. You didn’t answer.

-Hmm…

The conversation with Ricardo on the way to the dormitory last night came to mind.

-That’s a bit…

-Are you… not interested in being friends with me?

-No. It’s not that, I just wondered if it would really be okay.

It wasn’t okay.

The words I blurted out then were fueled by intense emotions, but the lingering resentment was a problem that time would resolve.

That’s why I made a somewhat unreasonable request of Ricardo yesterday.

-Then…. let’s start from tomorrow.

-Start what?

-Our relationship. Let’s start from the beginning. And slowly become friends again. If it still doesn’t work out, then we can end our friendship.

-Haha… that would be a problem. I have so much charm that I might become closer with Mihail or Lúin instead.

-I know…

-Yes?

-Nothing… So, how about tomorrow?

-Yes?

-Tomorrow at 12 o’clock… I have some free time.

-It seems like you have some free time for a very impure reason, doesn’t it?

-Anyway… what do you think?

Yuria roughly opened the wardrobe.

There’s nothing to wear.

To be precise, there are plenty of clothes in the wardrobe, but it’s true that there’s nothing to wear out today.

Whatever she wears, she wouldn’t like the clothes she picks in such a tight time.

She had to think about what to wear at least two hours ago. The remaining time was extremely tight.

No matter how fast she showers and dries her hair, it takes 30 minutes. It takes an hour to put on makeup.

And it takes 30 minutes to get to the fountain, the meeting place. There was no time to leisurely choose clothes.

Yuria grabbed her hair and ran into the bathroom, resenting her past self for being late.

“Ugh…!”

The worst.

Seriously.

“You idiot…!”

***

12:30 PM

The grand clock tower stood majestically, pointing to 12:30.

I stood alone in front of the fountain, facing the cold winter wind in solitude.

I came to the meeting place 30 minutes early just in case, but Yuri was nowhere to be seen, and I let out a deep sigh.

“What’s going on?”

From Noble mtl dot com

Yuri, who usually keeps time as sharp as a knife, was 30 minutes late, and I found myself seriously contemplating the situation.

“Hmm…”

I thought about whether she overslept due to drinking too much the night before, or if she forgot about our plans because of alcohol-induced dementia. It’s common for memories to fade after drinking.

The worst-case scenario would be if Yuri changed her mind and didn’t show up at all…

Not expecting much, I decided not to resent Yuri for making that choice, and I put my hand in my pocket, blowing warm breath into the cold wind.

“It’s a bit chilly.”

As expected, it’s dangerous outside the comfort of a blanket.

Many people passed by the fountain.

It was near the academy and a bustling commercial area. Standing alone by the fountain where many couples passed by and students walked around made me feel unnecessarily self-conscious.

The people who were standing with me were meeting their companions and leaving one by one, but I was still standing there alone for an hour. I could hear the murmurs.

“Hey, look at that guy… is he crazy?”

“Is he waiting for his girlfriend?”

“I guess so… it’s strange for someone with that face to be alone.”

“But he’s been standing there for a while. Is he waiting for someone?”

“Really? Should we go talk to him?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Why~ just in case. He might be a lifelong single guy who’s never had a girlfriend.”

“It’s oddly stinging.”

The giggling of the schoolgirls passing by the fountain made the corners of my mouth curl upwards. It bothered me to be called a perpetual solo, but since it was true, there was nothing I could do about it.

And they say I’m good-looking.

Then I must be the epitome of perfection.

“As expected, being good-looking is the best.”

For the first time in a while, I wasn’t wearing a uniform. I had on a black suit and a black coat. I had bought the clothes that young people wear these days and put them on while on my way here.

I also earned a lot of money.

I had made an appointment to meet Yuria. I didn’t want to show up looking the same as always; it wouldn’t be proper. So, when I sneaked a spray of the perfume she uses and brought my sleeve up to my nose, I took a whiff, worried that the scent might be too strong.

“It seems alright.”

I nodded slightly at the faint lilac fragrance I could sense.

“When will she arrive?”

It was already 12:45.

The crisis of my carefully prepared appearance losing its meaning had arrived.

“What if she doesn’t come…?”

If I had known this would happen, I should have followed the young lady.

She went for a walk with her foster mother and the next foster mother. She said she was going to the hospital and would also spend some money. She invited me to go with them, but I had a prior engagement, so I declined. But I couldn’t help but think that I might have refused for no reason.

Not because I wanted to follow her.

But because I had a feeling that something might happen.

I worried that the Deathmont family might do something strange. I even thought about going now just in case, but I still believed that nothing would happen if I went with the next foster mother.

Kyle, who had a rational judgment and a cold personality, would handle it on his own.

Time passed by.

After 10 minutes.

After 15 minutes…

When 30 minutes had passed and the hour hand of the clock tower, standing tall in the middle of the fountain, pointed to 1 PM, I felt a gust of wind.

It could be that the sudden appointment slipped from Yuria’s memory, or perhaps she wasn’t ready to come out yet.

“Should I go to the boss?”

In the moment of thinking about whether to do some part-time work even though there was nothing to do, while heading back home.

“Just a moment!”

Huff, huff…!

The person I made the appointment with came running across the fountain, making rough breathing sounds.

Pink hair flowing down to the waist.

Wearing a tight white turtleneck.

Yuria, wearing a pink cardigan over it, shouted at me, breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry…! I’m so late, aren’t I!?”

I chuckled and said, “No, I just got here too. Ah… more importantly, I’m freezing.”

“What?”

Yuria looked at me with a startled expression.

“You’re dressed too lightly.”

I took off my coat and draped it over Yuria’s shoulders.

“You look beautiful. Very much so.”

Yuria blushed and murmured softly.

“It’s charming…”