The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen chapter 73

73 – The Poor Butler’s Birthday Gift -1-

Inside the peaceful young lady’s room as usual.

Having read an article predicting the worst cold of the century, I was preparing to go out after a long time, in order to spend the cold winter warmly.

I will go out and buy snacks for the young lady, order firewood, and buy blankets and furry clothes.

Wearing a black butler uniform, I looked up at the young lady, who was extending her white foot.

The chubby-faced young lady.

She pouted her lips and glared at the socks in my hand.

“I don’t want them.”

The young lady turned her head away sullenly. She was throwing a tantrum like a teenage girl who would refuse to go to school unless she was wearing a trendy Paddington coat.

“I don’t want red socks. They’re old-fashioned.”

“Well, fashion tends to repeat itself.”

“Ricardo can’t wear clothes anyway.”

“What’s wrong with my fashion sense?”

The young lady sighed deeply after glancing at me, who stubbornly insisted on wearing a butler uniform all year round.

“You always dress so monotonously.”

“But I wore different clothes today.”

“They look the same….”

“They’re not the same. The shirt pattern is not usual. I went through a lot of trouble to choose it, but you don’t even notice.”

“It’s the same thing!”

Why does it matter what my butler uniform looks like?

When I first started wearing the uniform, she praised me, saying that I would do well. But now, she has become a young lady with a lot of complaints.

Wasn’t that a compliment…?

Anyway, the young lady seemed unwilling to understand the butler’s intention of wanting to wear warm furry socks so that his feet wouldn’t go numb in the cold weather.

She said she wouldn’t go out unless it’s black socks. Her stubborn insistence actually sparked a sense of challenge in me.

“Are you not going to wear shoes? Then I want to be more amazed.” said the lively frog-like Simbo.

Red has always been considered a symbol of good luck… Just as in the past, when people would buy red underwear with their first paycheck, I had a favorable opinion of the color red.

The young lady shook her head.

“Oh no! I don’t like red socks. Give me black socks.”

“Don’t throw a tantrum. You want to change to black because it’s cute.”

“Heuh! Black socks!”

The young lady stubbornly tried to win with cuteness. I wanted to show her that I could throw a tantrum too, but I held it back because I was concerned about her delicate stomach after breakfast.

“I’ll show you next time.”

I said with a serious expression, anticipating tomorrow when I would lie on the floor and throw a tantrum.

“It’s too much trouble to take them out.”

“What’s so troublesome! Just take them out of the wardrobe.”

“That’s troublesome.”

“Ee-eek…!”

The young lady threw a pillow.

*

There was a momentary clash of opinions.

We had friction over the somewhat childish topic of socks, but we reached an agreement with just one piece of chocolate.

We can tolerate that level of spending.

The young lady, sitting on the bed, looked at her feet wearing red socks with a chubby expression. Although we reached a peaceful agreement, she was not in a good mood.

I straightened my back and extended my chubby cheeks toward the young lady who was making a chubby expression.

“eeek… they’re ripped!”

Once again, I felt the soft cheeks of the young lady.

Perhaps because it was winter, they seemed dry.

“I should buy a moisturizer.”

Whenever the season changes, the wallet always suffers. The monsters hide because it’s cold, and the holes where money comes out become relatively scarce.

Since I also had a purse of money given to me by Malik, I thought I could tolerate some level of spending, and I mentally organized the things I needed to buy today.

“Uuee… Riccardo, you’re like a rich man.”

“I am indeed rich.”

“…You admit it quickly.”

I said to the young lady, patting her on the back.

“Come on. It’s been a while since I treated you.”

The young lady replied with a serious expression.

“Ricardo pays for everything every day.”

“…”

The young lady stated the obvious.

***

The streets of Hamel were cold.

“Sigh…”

The young lady, with her back hunched, opened her bright eyes and exhaled a cold breath.

Whenever she resisted coming out, she would open her curious eyes and blow warm breath. I thought it was a good thing she came out.

The young lady was wrapped up in a round blanket.

Though people’s attention was drawn to her appearance, wearing the rolled-up blanket like a backpack, and going out, wondering if she might be cold, the young lady who accepted the powerful enemy called cold did not say a word.

“It’s because of the red socks.”

Instead, she found another reason.

When the young lady, who blew out white breath, saw a street vendor selling chicken skewers, her eyes widened.

Drawn in by the sweet smell of meat, the young lady pointed to the street vendor with difficulty, taking her hand out from the tightly wrapped blanket.

“Ricardo skewers!”

“No. Impulsive spending hurts the wallet.”

“It’s okay for the wallet to hurt.”

“Then, our mansion will also become cold.”

“That can’t happen.”

The young lady swallowed her saliva and looked at the street vendor with eyes filled with regret.

“Sk…ewers.”

“Aigoo, I really want to eat.”

I chuckled softly at the young lady’s whimpering muttering, making a disappointed expression, and headed towards the street vendor selling skewers.

“One spicy flavor and one medium flavor, please.”

The young lady, with a happy smile, trembled inside the blanket. An excited young lady who moved busily.

The young lady, in a hurry to calculate, said to me.

“Wait…! I’ll pay!”

She was a young lady who found a gold coin in her chest pocket.

I placed silver coins on the table with a small smile as the lady took a long time to find her treasure.

“I’ll buy it. Please save it for me next time.”

“I found them all!”

The lady said as she took out a chocolate. She shook her head and concentrated on searching again.

“I’ll pay for it.”

“I’ll pay next time, so Ricardo shouldn’t interfere.”

I nodded in agreement with the lady’s words. I need to keep calculating. I didn’t want to give the lady’s gold coins to others.

The old lady making skewers looked at the lady and me with curious eyes. The noble young lady using a quilt as a bag seemed so unfamiliar.

I hope she doesn’t ask any strange questions…

The lady seemed oblivious to people’s gazes compared to her first outing, but she might get flustered if she hears a difficult question like “Are you carrying something heavy on your back?”

I glanced at the lady who blew out a puff of air in anticipation of eating chicken skewers and let out an awkward laugh.

“Could you hurry? It’s cold outside.”

The old lady laughed cheerfully and moved her hands quickly.

“Yes, but how many students are there?”

“What?”

“How long have you been dating?”

She seems like a nice person.

I decided to become a regular customer in my heart.

“…We’re not a couple.”

I heard the lady’s voice from behind.

The lady spoke informally to someone she just met.

I gently nudged the lady on my back, pointing out her mistake. Speaking informally to someone you just met is not polite.

The lady realized her mistake and bowed her head slightly towards the old lady, expressing a bit of apology.

“We’re not a couple… um.”

“Oh really? hehehe…”

The old lady smiled warmly.

“You looked good together, being handsome and beautiful students. I was going to give you some special treatment if you were dating.”

The lady’s eyes wandered at the mention of “special treatment.”

“What does special treatment mean?”

“Why? If I give you special treatment, are you going to start dating today?”

“No, that’s not it….”

The young lady looked at me with a troubled gaze.

“Oh my, oh my, I’ve done it again. Please understand, I’m just an old lady.”

The auntie offered a chicken skewer with a friendly smile. Auntie offered a set of spicy, medium, and mild flavors.

“This is on the house!”

“hehehehe!”

Her eyes sparkled.

The young lady, who took the skewer, smiled happily and greeted the auntie.

“Thank you.”

“Young lady…”

“Thank you.”

She was a well-mannered young lady.

Before leaving the food stall.

“Hey, student!”

The auntie called me and tossed a coin onto the table with a tingling sound.

“Do your best.”

Indeed, aunties were sharp. I bowed my head and expressed my gratitude.

“I’ll try my best.”

My face turned hot.

*

My hand was full of receipts.

Since I had taken the young lady shopping and had no money left, I paid a small fee and asked for delivery.

The young lady looked at the crumpled receipt and her eyes rolled.

“One…two…three…heehee!”

She was more scared of money than ghosts.

Before the family’s support was cut off, it was an amount of money that could be used lightly, but now the weight of the money felt heavy to the young lady, making her shoulders tremble.

“Ricardo is rich.”

“Yes, I am rich.”

“Really?”

“No…”

The young lady let out a sigh and hugged me tightly.

“I’m sorry…”

I felt a warm and comforting sensation.

It felt like becoming wealthy.

A natural smile formed on her lips.

“It’s okay.”

As we strolled through the bustling streets, we engaged in various conversations. Talks about buying more chocolate, getting bug repellant for the house, and buying snacks like beef bone soup.

In the midst of discussing the long-awaited topic of an open wallet, the young lady stopped mid-sentence when we passed by a sparkling jewelry store.

“Wow… it’s beautiful.”

The young lady admired a bracelet adorned with diamonds.

Although it wasn’t the kind of bracelet that high-ranking noble ladies would wear, it was still incredibly expensive considering the money we had.

The young lady clenched her fists upon seeing the dazzling bracelet through the glass window, while holding the receipt in her pocket.

I silently lowered my head and counted the number of zeros written on the bracelet.

“Three, four… five…”

A bitter laughter escaped me as I contemplated the outrageous price.

I glanced at the pouch containing gold coins, but my sense of regret only grew stronger.

I felt even more disheartened because it would take until next year to receive the settlement fee for the recipe.

“Her birthday is approaching too…”

I cautiously asked, peering at the young lady on my back.

“Do you want it?”

“N… No!”

The young lady exclaimed, startled.

She shook her head and spoke.

“N-no… I don’t.”

She wasn’t good at acting.

The young lady mumbled softly, tickling the hearts of the servants.

“It’s… too expensive…”

She felt conflicted.

In more ways than one.

Without changing my unwavering steps, I turned towards the mansion.

Thud. Thud. Something with a cold form melted and greeted me as I trudged back to the mansion with heavy steps.

“Look at that, Ricardo.”

The young lady spoke while looking at the sky.

Snow falling white.

The first snow of the year is falling.

From Noble mtl dot com

“It’s winter.”

“Yeah… it’s winter.”

The first snow is falling.