The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

After a long morning of sleeping in, afternoon finally arrived at the lady’s estate.

From the quiet confines of her room, the sound of energetic grunts echoed through the air.

“Hiyahhh!”

A powerful shout that used every ounce of strength in her body.

Perhaps it was because we ate lunch so late, but the lady’s vigorous cries seemed more full of energy than usual.

“Hiyaaaahhhh… Yaaaah!”

Maybe the lesson here is that everyone should exercise. With that newfound insight, I sat on the bed, smiling at the lady as she worked out.

“Come on! Just a little bit more effort!”

“Ughhh!”

The lady frowned as she focused intently on her exercises. I had never seen her so passionate about working out before. Was she excited about our upcoming trip? I couldn’t help but admire her determination.

“Ugh… You said we’d decide where to go after waking up!”

“We agreed to decide while you were taking a bath.”

“That’s news to me…”

“It’s okay. I didn’t hear it the first time either.”

“Ughh…”

“Let’s use this momentum and do one more set!”

It wasn’t anything too intense.

She wasn’t lifting weights or doing Pilates. It was simply an exercise where she kept her feet planted on the ground and focused on strengthening her core by activating the muscles in her body.

Strengthening her core was key, and I had high hopes for the progress in her legs. I wanted to wake up the muscles she hadn’t used in a while by having her do this simple exercise.

Even once her legs fully healed, if her body didn’t keep up, it would be pointless.

The lady had been avoiding exercise for years.

She loved chocolate and ranked lying in bed as her favorite activity in the world. Honestly, she’d gained a bit of weight lately… Her cheeks had gotten fuller than usual.

Her leg muscles, which were vital for walking, must have stiffened up from lack of use. And with her strong dislike for exercise, her current physical state was steadily on its way to deteriorating.

At this rate, I could clearly see a future where she collapsed from lack of exercise even before her legs could heal. Because I wanted a better outcome, I continued to cheer her on.

“Let’s keep going! You can do it!”

“Ughhh! I…can’t…”

“You can do it.”

If the Hand of Rehabilitation were an ability that instantly healed both her body and legs, these exercises wouldn’t be necessary. Unfortunately, it wasn’t omnipotent, so the lady’s effort was crucial.

She needed to work on her muscles and mental fortitude.

As she hadn’t exercised in ages, the lady stared at the soles of her feet, planted on the floor, while furrowing her brow.

“Ugh! Ricardo! Didn’t I just move a little?! I think I stood up for like 0.1 seconds!”

“Oh…! It looked like you did!”

I clapped along, sharing my admiration as if her completely still legs had actually moved. You have to be careful not to discourage people with too much harshness or they quickly burn out.

Upon hearing my praise, the lady lifted her head and smiled brightly, bursting out in a fit of giggles.

“Aren’t I doing great?”

“Yes, you are~”

“I’m doing really great, right!”

“Of course. You’re doing amazingly well, my lady.”

Wiping the beads of sweat on her forehead with a handkerchief, I continued to shower her with praise for putting in such an effort.

Despite seeing no improvement, normally something that could crush her spirits, she didn’t show any signs of disappointment.

I was proud of her. Both for her persistence in these exercises and for Gomtangi, who was somehow managing to sleep through all the noise.

The lady’s grunts of determination continued.

*

Having pushed her limits with the exercises, the lady was now lying on the bed, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.

“Huff… Huff… Ricardo, I’ve worked so hard today. Don’t you think that old man with the long beard you’re always talking about will bring me a present?”

As she lay exhausted from her efforts, the lady started asking for a present from Santa Claus. I chuckled softly, preparing the bath and retrieving fresh clothes from the wardrobe.

“That old man doesn’t give out presents for hard work.”

“Then what?”

“You have to do good deeds if you want a gift.”

“He’s so strict!”

“The old man can’t afford losses either. Plus, he only works short-term during the winter.”

“Then I’ll just be good in the winter. Being good all the time is too hard.”

“If you live that way, the presents will probably be smaller.”

If Santa heard the lady’s mercenary plan of only being good during the winter, he would almost certainly clutch his chest in defeat.

As expected of a villainess, her instinct to maximize profit was truly impressive.

Having learned about Santa’s trade-offs, the lady gave up on the present and sprawled on the bed, releasing her exhaustion.

“Hmph… I don’t care!”

What might be an effortless exercise to someone else was like running a marathon for the lady.

Her lack of exercise until now certainly didn’t help.

Seeing how hard she’d worked today, I wanted to reward her and had planned to pull out the chocolate bar hidden in my pocket, but—

A strange noise stopped my hand midway.

-Crunch.

A chewing sound rang clearly in my ears.

‘Crunch?’ That’s not a sound I should be hearing right now. Why am I hearing it?

I turned my head to see what was happening and caught sight of the lady on the bed, her eyes glazed over as she lazily pulled chocolate out from her bag of treasures.

Her blank expression as she continued fishing for chocolates out of her bottomless pouch left me both shocked and amused.

“Nom nom, I’ll die if I don’t eat when my sugar levels drop.”

She was truly a remarkable villainess.

I carefully placed my own piece of chocolate on the table beside her bed and grabbed her hand to prepare her for a bath.

“Let’s go to the bath, my lady.”

“Ughhh…”

Without any resistance, she allowed herself to be dragged along.

Despite clinging to the sheets with a desperate will to stay in bed, nothing could overcome the resolve of the busy butler with so many things to do.

I needed to move quickly if I wanted to prepare dinner in time. And no, it wasn’t because I was excited about the bath. Definitely not for such a perverted reason.

As I pulled her along, the lady moaned and threw a small fit.

“I can’t move. I’ll die if I move right now.”

“It’s okay. I’ll do the moving for you.”

“…Oh.”

Satisfied with that reasoning, the lady let go of the bed sheets and, with a small grunt of determination, held out her arms for me to carry her.

“Then carry me.”

“With pleasure, my lady.”

“You can carry me in a more exciting way if you want.”

“Then how about we walk briskly today?”

“Mhm.”

-Step.

-Step.

“Hehe… Mint chocolate bath bombs.”

“You really like those, don’t you, my lady?”

“Yep.”

Watching her gleefully holding the bath bomb, I found myself lost in thought for a moment.

It wasn’t anything heavy.

Just a brief reflection, a pause to think about the things I’ve done for the lady so far. I allowed myself a minute to smile and wonder if I’d been doing my job well.

Taking care of someone was harder than I thought.

It was already hard enough to take care of my own body; looking after someone else’s health was far more difficult than I expected. For my own body, I might have been able to tolerate some discomfort, but with the lady, everything seemed to hurt her whenever I touched a sensitive area.

There was so much to protect.

Her pride as a woman.

Her health as a patient. If I prioritized my own convenience, the lady would only feel more uncomfortable.

Sure, it would’ve been easier if I just made her wear diapers, but I knew how badly that would damage her self-esteem.

Even though the lady was the one who put in the most effort, there were times when my caregiving fell short, and each day I had to tread carefully. Thankfully, the lady was forgiving enough to overlook and excuse my mistakes.

-Ughh…! I don’t want to move!

-It’s okay. Today should hurt less than yesterday. I’ll forgive you this time.

Even though it’s bothersome and tough.

Even though it’s a pain and there’s always so much to do.

As long as I could make the lady smile, that would be enough for me to endure all of it.

After all, I’m not a medical professional; I can’t exactly offer anything grand.

Before I knew it, we had arrived near the bathroom. The lady’s gleeful cheers pulled me from my inner thoughts.

“Ooooh…! Bath time!”

“Didn’t you just take a bath yesterday? You like them that much?”

“Mhm. Taking a bath makes me feel younger. My body is all like… ughhh… And then it feels so refreshed.”

Excited, she showed me the bath bomb in her hand with a big smile, her delight unmistakable.

I supposed it was a good thing that her hobby was something as harmless as bathing. Smiling lightly, I opened the bathroom door and carefully set her down on the floor.

As the sound of water filling the tub echoed through the bathroom, the lady rested her chin on the edge of the tub, watching the bath bomb fizz. While in her bathrobe, she kept staring at it blooming inside the water.

With her nose twitching, she breathed in the sweet and fresh smell.

Why anyone would like the scent of mint chocolate was completely beyond me, but watching the lady smile at the swirling bubbles, I found myself smiling too.

If only it wasn’t mint chocolate.

Fully dressed in the bathrobe by herself, the lady tied her robe securely and asked me to help her into the tub. As her soft voice echoed in the bathroom, I smiled and lifted her carefully.

“Ricardo, you’re super strong!”

“I know.”

“Your arms are so solid.”

“Ahem~”

“You’ve got veins too.”

“Ahem~!”

It turns out, praise really does make even the biggest whales dance.

*

In the darkened office of Darbav.

“…”

Having just finished a meeting, Desmond Olivia’s father, Darbav, sat quietly accepting the shadows that filled the room.

Looking serious, Darbav turned to his eldest son, Kyle, who had also just finished the meeting, and asked:

“It’s been a long time. Would you like to take a bath together?”

Kyle answered with a serious expression of his own.

“I refuse.”

Once again, it was another day where Darbav missed his daughter.

End of Chapter.