The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen chapter 96

96 – I Am a Bad Person – 3 –

After a busy day.

I, who had brought the lady who rambled about how mint chocolate tteokbokki was the best creation to the mansion, took a stroll in the late-night capital.

“Mint chocolate is the evil of society.”

Muttering the nonsense the lady had spewed, I let out a deep sigh.

Even though it was late at night, the streets of the capital were crowded.

Security guards patrolling at night, adventurers unwinding at a tavern after a hard day’s work, and academy students burning with youth.

As I watched the people wrapping up their exhausting day, I murmured, “Young. They’re young.”

I, too, had such times.

Back in the days when I attended the academy.

It was a short period of less than a year, but I lived quite a student-like life.

Going to class and all.

Quest resolved.

Toppled the remnants of the heretics.

Hmm…

Those school days weren’t that great, looking back.

Upon reflection, I suddenly realized it wasn’t an ordinary school life. I corrected myself, saying I lived through a period where the word “busy” would suit better than leisurely experiencing youth like others.

Still, it was interesting in its own way.

Despite the lady corrupting my insides, just the fact that I entered the phase where the novel truly unfolded made it enjoyable.

The events I only read about were happening for real, and witnessing the protagonist, Yuria, grow was a fascinating and admirable feeling.

Yuria’s bullying incident.

The academy fire incident.

The process of Yuria and Ruin becoming friends, and more.

Experiencing things from the novel in reality brought about indescribable emotions. There were moments that made me cry and laugh, memories I didn’t dislike despite their hardships. Especially the memories with Yuria were a bit more special.

I intended only to observe, but we became close.

I tried to live for myself, but the memories of becoming friends weren’t easily forgotten.

Walking through the glittering downtown, I reminisced about the old memories.

– Why are you crying here?

– Huh…?

Thinking back to the first conversation we had, I gazed up at the brightly shining moon.

“It’s ridiculously bright.”

Long time no drink.

*

A pub near the academy.

In a quiet corner where only regulars frequent, Yuria sat with a gloomy expression.

Not many people come here.

A secluded pub where noisy adventurers or people with bad personalities don’t visit. The small bar, styled as a bar, was Yuria’s regular place where she could come alone without worrying about strange disputes.

Yuria, who didn’t particularly like alcohol, sometimes visited this pub when she felt down. It was also a place filled with long-lasting memories.

Yuria, hanging her coat on the chair, timidly raised her hand.

“Excuse me…”

The waitress, busy wiping glasses with a dry cloth, couldn’t hear Yuria’s timid voice.

Yuria turned her head and glanced around.

Lovers in love.

A place where students trying to end the approaching semester with laughter. Yuria hoped to catch the eye of the waitress as they made eye contact, but the busy waitress couldn’t notice Yuria’s gesture.

Glancing around, Yuria hunched her shoulders and muttered quietly.

“Can’t you hear…?”

Closing her eyes tightly, Yuria shouted louder towards the waitress than before.

“Excuse me… I’d like to order!”

But Yuria’s timid voice was drowned out by the voices of other customers, and the waitress couldn’t hear her.

“Ah…uh…”

Fiddling with her fingers, it took a while for Yuria to finally place her order when the waiter came over.

“Sorry about the wait. It’s unusually busy today. hahahaha…”

“No problem. I’ll have… a draft beer and some beef jerky, please.”

Nodding, the waiter noted down Yuria’s order.

“One draft beer and beef jerky, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you could just wait a moment, I’ll bring it right out!”

Yuria quietly replied to the waiter, “Take your time.”

“Sure thing~!”

After a short while, a bite-sized beef jerky and a cold beer were placed on Yuria’s table.

Staring at the beer silently, Yuria let out a deep sigh from the depths of her soul.

“Haah…”

A sigh filled with profound contemplation.

Perhaps burdened by inner turmoil, Yuria, who didn’t even like alcohol, gazed at the beer with a sorrowful look.

“Why am I so foolish.”

Yuria muttered bitterly.

“I can’t do anything right, and I keep misunderstanding things…”

In Yuria’s melancholic voice, the emotion of self-reproach was evident. Her self-esteem, already struggling to shake off the gloom from the hallucination she had experienced in the dungeon last time, was slowly diminishing.

She had been thrilled to discover her talent for divine power, but lately, it seemed there were more reasons for her to feel downcast.

Relationships with others.

And studying too.

As the grades went up, the worries gradually became heavier.

– Dad! I… got accepted to Hwanglip Academy!

– What!?

– Yeah! And I even got selected as a scholarship student, hehehehe!

– Our daughter is amazing!

– Well, well! Now, Dad should quit being an adventurer and just think about living on the salary our daughter earns!

From Noble mtl dot com

– Puhahahaha! Are you really quitting your job?

– Well, yeah!

– No. Even so, our daughter should earn her allowance.

– No. I’ll study really hard and earn a scholarship, so Dad, take a little break.

How thrilled Yuria must have been at the thought of becoming a daughter who could stand up to her father, who lived an uncomfortable life as an adventurer.

Thinking back to the moment when she received a scholarship through hard work and gave her father an allowance with a weary body still brings a lump to her chest. However, thinking about the present, attending school, Yuria was becoming melancholic.

Early in the semester.

Yuria was being ostracized.

– Why is she so stuck-up? Acting like nobility.

In the days when she thought that being active would bring more friends, Yuria encountered the wall of social status for the first time.

Disliking everything she did.

During the early days of the academy, where she received insults just by passing by. Yuria had a tough time mentally.

When I lived in a quiet countryside, my friends liked it when I laughed brightly and lived energetically, but the academy was different.

If I hung out with the boys, I was a fox.

Approaching the girls with a steel face, I was taunted as a naive girl.

Where should I adjust myself?

I pondered on how to avoid being taunted, tried to change myself, but all that came back was a cold response.

– Why are you pretending to be close?

– That’s why, you seem awkward.

It’s a thought I have when I’m alone, but in reality, Yuria hated academy life.

The academy life she had hoped for was cold, and despite the academy’s claim of no distinction between commoners and nobles, there was an invisible line clearly drawn.

In Yuria’s gray academy life, Ricardo became her only solace.

Confident unlike herself.

She fell for him at first sight.

During the freshman orientation.

The feeling she had when she first saw him was like saying “crazy” involuntarily.

Thick red hair.

Tall stature.

Distinctive features.

Yuria first felt the emotion of falling for Ricardo, who seemed fierce yet kind at the same time, when she met him for the first time.

The opinions of the surrounding students weren’t that great, but still…

– Is that him? Olivia’s butler?

– She must be right. Just look at her, she looks like a crazy servant.

– Money seems to be really important. Even a commoner like that could get into the Royal Academy.

– Hey, your voice is too loud.

– Why? I told you to listen. It’s the right thing to do.

Ricardo was infamous for his unpleasant personality.

Among the nobles, he was considered a lunatic.

Among commoners, he was labeled as a lowlife who sided with the nobility, fawning over them, and was surrounded by malicious rumors. However, Uriah was not swayed by Ricardo’s appearance.

She wondered why she disliked him so much.

He was so good-looking; she couldn’t understand why she didn’t like him.

It was a nasty thought, but at that time, she even felt relieved that there were fewer rivals. Just imagining it, but if she became his lover, it meant there would be no competitors to be jealous of.

Just like every student carries a first love in their hearts, in Uriah’s heart, Ricardo had established himself as an object of admiration.

When she became classmates with Ricardo, Uriah, for the first time, buried her face in the pillow and liked it.

– This is crazy… This is insane…! We’re in the same class! What am I going to do!!!

Especially because Ricardo’s behavior was so peculiar, she couldn’t stop laughing every time she saw him.

– Hey, commoner. Instead of me, go to the cafeteria and bring some bread.

– What?

– What? Commoner using informal language?

– Noble using informal language?

– This crazy bastard.

– Miss!!!

Ricardo, who never cowered at being a commoner, leaped about as if possessed, paying no mind to the onlookers.

It might be due to his sturdy background, but Yuria sensed that Ricardo’s behavior stemmed more from an innate confidence rooted in his fundamentally carefree nature.

During his early days at school, he engaged in both noble banter and fisticuffs. In competitions, he resorted to desperate tactics like throwing sand to secure victories.

Although the students’ opinions of Ricardo hit rock bottom, he carried on with life, unperturbed and ordinary.

Merely watching from the sidelines filled Yuria with joy and excitement… and simultaneous encouragement.

Yuria spent her school days in such a manner.

Then, one day.

Yuria found herself in a conversation with Ricardo for the first time, not by her own will but at the insistence of others. In her least presentable state, Yuria conversed with Ricardo.

[Fool.]

The day she ran away upon seeing the red scribble on her desk.

– Why are you crying here?

Ricardo had sought her out in her moment of tears.