The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Inside the ballroom where the heretics’ attack had taken place.

“…”

Michail, regaining consciousness, got up with his tired body and placed a hand on his throbbing forehead.

‘What happened?’

There were no memories after defeating the Archbishop of Slander.

Was i vision was Ricardo’s back.

-It’s over now.

-I can still fight…!

-Isn’t it true that you couldn’t kill him anyway?

-Yes, it’s better to eliminate the aftermath.

“Ugh…”

His body ached as if it was breaking.

Mos were Yuria, Hanna, and the student president.

Unlike him, who had collapsed, Chartia and Hanna, as well as Yuria, were protected by the knights and were in good condition.

Michail decided to ask them later about what transpired and slowly let out a deep sigh.

“Is it over…?”

It had been a tough fight.

Facing an opponent he couldn’t reach.

Feeling the ominous premonition of possibly dying, something he hadn’t felt since his days in the slums.

The battle against an opponent using cursed magic didn’t go as smoothly as he thought and had many variables.

More than anything, it was terrifying to endure the killing intent while fighting. The Archbishop’s black sword, which exuded thick killing intent, was different from a sparring match.

Michail, looking at his weak self, gritted his teeth, blaming his lack of skill.

If only he had been a bit stronger, he could have protected everyone. The thought that there might have been casualties if Ricardo hadn’t intervened made Michail clench his fists, suppressing the anger welling up from within.

‘Damn it…’

‘Again… This time too…! It’s that guy? Damn it.’

Michail pounded the floor with his fist, venting his frustration. The fact that he had received a murderer’s help made him shiver and seethe with anger.

ed for personal gain. Michail was infuriated by having to accept that help once again.

Amid the flood of regret, Michail wondered about Ricardo’s whereabouts.

Ricardo was nowhere to be seen in the ballroom.

Michail raised his head and scanned , but Ricardo was nowhere to be found.

Not seeing Ricardo despite searching, Michail clenched his fists.

He thought Ricardo had hidden again.

Ricardo, who caused incidents and then escaped. Seeing Ricardo disappear to avoid unfavorable testimonies, Michail gritted his fists tightly.

“Ricardo…!”

Amidst the chaotic thoughts.

“Are you Cadet Michail?”

A knight with brown hair was walking towards Michail.

hts.

A knight with exceptional swordsmanship.

A knight of the empire who must graduate at the top of the Academy.

Malik opened his notebook and started questioning Michail.

“I need to ask you a few questions for the report. Can you comply?”

Malik asked Michail about what had happened in the ballroom, how the heretics had ambushed them, and who they were.

-What was the exact time and date?

-Around 19:20, I think.

-What was the scale and number of the enemy?

-…I’m not sure about that. It was too chaotic.

-Hmm… I see.

Michail suddenly felt a sense of disconnection with the knight’s questions. While it wasn’t strange to ask questions to understand the incident, he wasn’t asking the most important thing.

He wasn’t asking ‘who’ fought the battle, how the battle progressed, or who made the greatest contribution. This discrepancy made Michail feel uneasy.

Feeling the rising discomfort, Michail questioned the knight who was asking questions monotonously.

“Why aren’t you asking about the battle?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re only asking abous?”

“Oh.”

The man closed his notebook with a snap and answered Michail.

“We’ve already investigated that.”

“What?”

“Red hair. You know him, right?”

“…”

‘Ricardo.’

As soon as Michail heard the keyword ‘red hair,’ Ricardo’s face flashed in his mind.

ht the knight had received the wrong testimony.

Ricardo was always a liar. Michail didn’t understand what Ricardo was thinking.

Ricardo would have surely said,

‘I did it all.’

ht he would have said the same thing this time too.

But.

“That guy said if it weren’t for you, Michail, everyone would have died. He said you made the greatest contribution.”

“What…? What do you mean?”

“That’s exactly what he said.”

A foolish answer slipped out.

Michail couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“In the battle against the Archbishop of Slander, you and Chartia cooperated to achieve victory.”

“You also defeated the remnants of the heretics with the help of the Academy students. In that process, the fugitive Hans, a former Academy student, was severely injured and fled.”

Michail looked at Chartia, Yuria, and Hanna with trembling eyes.

Wanaze.

Chartia looked as if she couldn’t help it, Yuria had a gloomy expression, and Hanna of Histania was glaring at him as if she was filled with anger.

Michail, refusing to believe it, questioned the Royal Knights.

Saying they were mistaken.

That Ricardo wouldn’t have said that, and it must have been a misunderstanding of someone else’s testimony, Michail spoke in a tired voice.

“Wait a minute… I didn’t do any of that. The battle with the Archbishop was mostly Ricardo…”

“The testimonies are already over.”

“You should hear my testimony too.”

“No. While you were unconscious, we received testimonies from Yuria, the 3rd Princess, Hanna of Histania, and Ricardo, so further testimony is unnecessary.”

The knight cut off his words and turned around.

Michail extended his trembling hand toward the departing knight and spoke.

“Then where is Ricardo…!”

“Oh, that guy?”

Malik smiled slightly as he answered.

Thinking that the boy in front of him was experiencing the same thing he once did, Malik smiled and replied.

“He said he couldn’t stay out overnight, so he went back.”

“What…?”

“Anyway, keep that in mind.”

Malik chuckled and walked toward the ballroom to sort out the incident.

***

The mansion was peaceful today as well.

Having successfully completed the quest and ended the clash with the heretics, I was feeding the lady an apple in the Hamel mansion.

“Say ‘Ah.’”

“No.”

“Ah…!”

“Apples are bad. I like chocolate better.”

“I don’t grow such things. Open your mouth.”

“Ugh… Ah.”

The lady, munching on the apple, nodded and gave her opinion on the taste.

“Tastes good, right?”

“No. Is there no chocolate apple?”

“Such a thing doesn’t exist.”

“Ugh…! Make it!”

“I’ll try.”

“Okay.”

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, the lady was greeting the warm morning sunlight.

Having stayed up all night traveling by carriage, the lady couldn’t easily shake off the fatigue from the long journey.

Lacking sleep was a formidable enemy for the lady who loved to sleep. Sitting on the bed, she nodded off, fighting drowsiness.

Three days had passed since the end of the quest ‘Protecting Yuria.’

The lady still didn’t know that I could use magic.

I had been keeping it a secret because I wanted to surprise her. I was curious about her reaction when she realized that the idiot who couldn’t even cast a fireball was actually a master of great magic.

And I hadn’t checked the quest reward yet.

Information about Vitality.

I had intended to check it right after completing the quest, but I had been too busy, so I delayed it.

I planned to check it tonight.

As I fed the lady another bite of apple, I pondered the nature of vitality.

Vitality.

The power that moves life.

‘Hmm…’

Honestly, I had one guess, but I hoped it wasn’t that.

The word ‘vitality’ brought only one thing to mind.

I hoped it wasn’t what I was thinking, but if it wasn’t that, I had no other ideas.

‘Life span.’

‘Well, nothing worse than dying.’

With a light heart, I fed the lady an apple and waited for the evening to come.

End of Chapter