The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen chapter 89

89 – Our Family -2-

“…Sob.”

The young lady’s room in the mansion.

With Rosanna and Darvab’s help, the young lady and I, almost driven away by the wrath of Kyle, managed not to be expelled and stayed in the mansion.

The morose young lady was blowing her nose with tissue, her eyes filled with sadness, and I was consoling her, handing her a tissue, with my equally troubled expression.

– Why do you come here, not knowing where you are?

– …I’m sorry.

-How dare you show your face after you’ve wrecked the family.

-I’m sorry…

-Get out. I don’t want to see your face.

Kyle had been affectionate towards the young lady.

To anyone looking, they were a sister and brother who had a good relationship and depended on each other heavily.

Up until the age of 14, Kyle had such a severe case of sister complex that he dreamt of marrying his younger sister.

-When I grow up, I’m going to marry Olivia.

-A sister complex?

-Sister complex? What’s that?

-It’s an insult.

-…?

Although he gave up this childhood dream upon reaching adulthood, I remember Kyle as a caring and protective older brother to Olivia, up until she entered the academy.

He even offered her his favorite treat, chocolate.

-Here, Olivia, eat this.

-No, I don’t like dark chocolate. It’s too bitter for me.

True, his offers were consistently rejected due to the young lady’s child-like taste, but Kyle cherished Olivia and treated her with such care.

Despite grumbling about me always sticking close to the young lady, Kyle treated me kindly enough to share his chocolate.

-Here, eat this.

-Giving me half a piece instead of a whole one is a bit stingy, isn’t it?

-Be honored that I’m giving you anything at all, commoner.

-I would consider it an honor not to accept, nobleman.

-Offensive!!!

But even with his severe fondness for his sister, Kyle couldn’t handle the weight of black magic.

Two years ago.

When the young lady fainted due to black magic, it was the first time Kyle grabbed me by the collar.

-Why… didn’t you pay more attention to her? If you had just cared a little more for Olivia, this wouldn’t have happened.

-I am sorry.

-That damned sorry… Is everything over with an apology? Do you think it all ends with that word, when the scandal could jeopardize our family’s standing?

-I will try to do something about it, so…

-What could you possibly do…!

It was not a pleasant feeling being grabbed by Kyle, who was so deeply fond of the young lady. I was already troubled by my failure to prevent her black magic, and being scolded only worsened my mood.

The turmoil of that moment was indescribable, both emotionally and physically.

And today, Kyle told Olivia to leave.

It might have been a spur-of-the-moment outburst driven by fatigue, but I could see the sincerity in Kyle’s eyes filled with anger. Kyle didn’t look like the always caring brother who looked after Olivia, but rather like someone gazing at an outsider.

This must have been a tremendous shock for the young lady who had only seen her brother’s kind and gentle side.

So now, the young lady is crying, and we’ve come to the decision that we should mark the lord’s birthday and quickly return to the mansion.

With reddened eyes, she quietly began to speak.

“Ricardo… I know I’ve done a lot wrong. It’s so upsetting.”

The young lady’s voice quivered as she spoke. Tissues dampened with her sniffles piled up on the table like a mountain, and sorrowful tears flowed from her eyes.

“I know it too. I know that I’ve been a burden to the family and to my brother… I’m so sad I can’t stop crying.”

The young lady kept repeating the same words.

Her mournful voice pained my heart, but since this was a problem she had to overcome, I said nothing and simply stayed by her side.

I wanted to help the young lady, but this was not something found in novels.

The extrinsic things are all that I could assist with. Fighting, earning money, or cheering up the young lady—apart from these, there was nothing I could offer.

There was no place for me to intervene.

It was a problem the young lady had to solve on her own, so all I could do without a word was hold a tissue to her nose.

“Sniff!”

After blowing her nose, the young lady again buried her face in her palms with a sorrowful expression.

“Hic… hic… I’m so sad.”

I glanced at the young lady and asked in a soft voice, unable to ignore her pitifully trembling shoulders.

“Miss, do you resent Master Kyle?”

“Why…?”

Her tear-brimmed eyes turned toward me. I responded to her as though it were an obvious matter.

“I was thinking of hitting him with a flick.”

From Noble mtl dot com

“Ricardo, you’re not close with my brother.”

“What can I do. If the miss says she resents him, then he deserves it.”

“You can’t do that. You’ll be chased away, Ricardo.”

“I won’t do it.”

The young lady looked at me with incredulous eyes. I felt a strange satisfaction at her gaze, which seemed to ask what sort of person I was.

“So, miss. Do you resent Master Kyle?”

She shook her head vigorously.

“No. It’s right that I’m the one at fault… I don’t resent him.”

“You seem to understand.”

“I’m not such a shameless person.”

“Oh. What a surprise. I thought the miss would be ready to storm off to Master Kyle and cause a scene.”

“I’m not a crazy woman.”

“It’s a joke.”

The lady’s sobs began to slowly subside with the indifferent humor. The trembling of her shoulders and the flowing sniffles were also subsiding, slowly washing her upset face away.

I dared to voice a somewhat outrageous idea to the lady. I wasn’t sure if it would help, but we had to face this problem together.

I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Lady, if you don’t hate Kyle, how about apologizing?”

“I said I’m sorry. But you said you don’t like it.”

As the lady’s once halted sobbing threatened to break out again, I didn’t waste time and spoke my outrageous thought again.

“Not just saying you’re sorry. I mean a plausible apology. Go to the room and say, ‘It must have been hard. I’ve been sorry.’ How about we try that?”

Blushed at my daring remark, I awkwardly scratched my head while speaking shyly.

“We haven’t offered anything, haven’t done anything good, so though gifts aren’t prepared, isn’t our heart ready? Of course, we won’t kneel. It goes against our pride.”

“Ricardo’s knee is heavy.”

“My knees come at a high cost. Pay the overdue wages, and I’ll bow to you.”

“But I have no money.”

“Then I will never kneel for the rest of my life.”

“…”

I didn’t resent Kyle’s behavior. On the contrary, his actions and words were what I expected and we deserved his resentment.

He ruined the family.

I thought I would have behaved just like Kyle if I were in his shoes. Probably even worse. Kyle’s action of telling me to leave and hiding in his room even made him appear compassionate.

That’s why I dared to suggest it to the lady.

Let’s have an honest discussion.

Just now, I proposed to do what we can and told the lady, and she hesitated a little and told me the question in her heart.

“I… don’t know how to apologize.”

“You did well when you saw my hand last time.”

“That’s because Ricardo did something wrong. Lied and hurt me…”

“Isn’t this situation similar to that?”

“It’s different. I haven’t apologized to you before. And I haven’t apologized to anyone else other than Ricardo.”

The lady lowered her her head and wore a gloomy expression. The person furthest from the concept of apology was the lady herself. She was unable to gather her courage easily.

“What if my apology makes him angrier? Our relationship could get even worse.”

“It’s natural for Kyle to be upset. Lady.”

“I know, but… If I apologize half-heartedly… I think you’ll dislike me more.”

“Miss.”

I gently laid my hand on the miss’s tousled head, smiling faintly. The soft sensation of her unkempt white hair seemed to invite me to stroke it for a long time.

“As for Master Kyle, he cares very much for you. Perhaps he may be waiting in the room for you at this moment.”

“No, he really hates me. Didn’t he tell me earlier… to leave?”

“So, he kicked you out?”

“No… “

The miss murmured reluctantly, her face downcast.

“I think I would have chased me away right now if I were him.”

“Oh… you finally learned how to empathize. That’s a bit surprising.”

“Of course.”

The miss shrugged and nodded, her face sullen. She proudly displayed her maturing heart as if to say she has grown up. I silently admired her amazing growth, but in a different respect.

“You are impressive.”

“Hmm.”

“You’re still growing…”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind.”

The miss tilted her head slightly with a blank expression and a question mark hovering above. I mischievously deceived her by acting as if it was nothing.

“Miss.”

“Huh?”

“When you learned I had injured my arm, how did you feel?”

“I… “

She twiddled her fingers together and replied in a small voice that resonated in the room.

“I was furious. Because Ricardo got hurt.”

“Exactly? I think Master Kyle would have felt the same. Just as you were angry when someone got hurt, Master Kyle might have been furious because you were hurt. That’s just a cautious assumption; I could be wrong.”

“…If not, what should I do?”

I messed up her hair with a grin, casting a can’t-be-helped expression. Gently entangling her hair with my fingers, I broke into a ‘Pfft’ chuckle at her raised messy hair.

“If not, there’s nothing you can do. Apologize again, and if he doesn’t accept, apologize again. Someday, he would finally accept your apology.”

“But…”

I met her dejected gaze, continuing softly. I expressed my hope that her face, which suits a smile more than tears, is lit up with happiness.

“Miss, will you not see Mr. Kyle in the future?”

“No… I want to keep seeing him.”

“What about Master and Lady Rosanna?”

“I want to keep seeing them.”

“Then…”

I lifted my head and spoke to the Lady.

“Go and apologize sincerely. If necessary, I’ll smack Mr. Kyle on the forehead.”

“… you don’t like Ricardo.”

“I don’t like him either.”

“…”

A moment of silence passed.

The Lady rolled her wheelchair towards Kyle’s room.

“I’ll be back.”

A sorrowful cry came from Kyle’s room.

– Uhhhhh…! I’m sorry, brother!