The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen - Chapter 223

Chapter 223 – The Stopped Affection Gauge (2)

Yuria’s eyes widened as she looked at the man in front of her. Then she quickly shook her head.

“No…”

It was just a pretty lie, after all.

Once again, she thought, it was just something he said to make her feel better.

“What’s pretty about me?”

There’s nothing about her that’s pretty.

Not on the inside, not on the outside.

Nothing was even remotely okay.

Every time she looked in the mirror, all she saw were more and more flaws, each one leaving a scar on her heart. She didn’t believe she was pretty. After all, there were so many other people more beautiful than she was.

So Yuria shook her head and denied Ricardo’s words. She wasn’t pretty.

“What’s pretty? I’m foolish and stupid… You’d be better off calling a stone pretty.”

If even she thought she was ugly, then how much more clearly must Ricardo see it? With fear in her voice, Yuria spoke cautiously.

“My hair color is as faded as withered balsam flowers. Every day, I get upset over trivial things, I doubt everything, and I cry. What’s pretty about that? Even I can see that there are so many people prettier than me, so why do you say those things?”

Ricardo, sitting on the railing, looked at her with a gentle smile. His hair, tousled by the northern winds, settled as he calmly gazed at her with serene eyes.

“Hmm…”

Ricardo made a soft humming sound as he spoke to Yuria, his voice low with a touch of curiosity.

“Really? I don’t think that’s true. That’s strange.”

With a voice carrying a small thrill, Ricardo took a step closer to Yuria. Ignoring the invisible line he himself had drawn, he approached her.

Yuria shook her head in denial.

“You’re lying.”

“Really?”

Even though she wanted to tell him not to come closer, the infuriating man didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping. He was knocking on the door of her heart as if he planned to move even closer if she pushed him away.

‘Why…?’

If it were her, she wouldn’t pay any attention to someone like herself. The question of ‘Why?’ kept striking at her heart, demanding that she open the door.

After all the misunderstandings.

After all her hatred.

Ricardo was now reaching out his hand, and his kind voice was making her feel uncomfortably exposed.

If only he’d yell at her.

If he’d just say, “I suffered because of you,” and make a big deal out of it, it would probably make things easier for her. But ‘Why?’… Ricardo’s lack of any expectation for a return was making her chest ache.

Ricardo’s voice, as sweet as sugar, carried on like always.

“I actually really like your pink hair, Miss Yuria. Some might say it’s faded like withered balsam flowers, but to me, it’s like a newly bloomed flower, and I find that lovely.”

“…”

“And I think your pink eyes are beautiful too. They remind me of gemstones—clear and pure. Even without saying a word, I feel comforted when I look into them.”

And so…

Ricardo continued to shower Yuria with compliments, turning the very things she despised about herself into elegant metaphors. As if it were the most natural thing to say, he spoke of how he saw Yuria.

Ricardo’s soothing words flowed endlessly, as though he were simply narrating facts.

But ‘Why?’…

With every compliment, doubts bloomed inside Yuria’s chest. Her heart pounded as the repeated question ate away at her, stirring guilt and sadness.

Despite knowing everything.

Despite carrying all the burdens alone, Ricardo’s straightforwardness was constricting her heart.

“And Miss Yuria, you also have… well, big breasts—ah, that came out wrong. I’m sorry, that was a bit perverted.”

Yuria, clenching her fists tightly, glared at Ricardo, who was now covering his mouth with his hand.

“…Don’t you feel wronged?”

With tear-filled eyes, she murmured, “What?” as she voiced the question welling up inside her.

“Why… Why do you say such things? I haven’t done anything for you. Why do you speak so well of me?”

“…”

“I get it now. I understand why you treated me the way you did. I still don’t completely understand everything, but I know why you acted cold towards me.”

Overcome with emotion, Yuria hung her head low and continued to speak to Ricardo.

“But…”

Because she really didn’t understand.

“But! I don’t understand why you’re being so kind to me now. Even though you were the one helping me, you took the blame. Why are you so nice to me now…?”

“Don’t you feel wronged?”

If it had been her.

“If it were me!”

If it had been her, she would never have done the same. She’d have been too scared and too focused on saving herself, pushing everyone else away.

“If it were me, I’d hate and loathe you so much! So why do you look at me like that? Why?”

With a bittersweet smile, Ricardo gazed at Yuria. He stayed silent, simply watching her tight fists tremble with emotion.

“I…”

Ricardo finally opened his mouth, his voice soft.

“I think of it this way.”

He spoke calmly, expressing his thoughts.

“If there are good people, then there must be bad people too, right? So that the good ones shine brighter.”

“…”

“If everyone is just averagely good, the truly kind-hearted ones would suffer more. So, if I’m going to live badly, I might as well do whatever I want. That’s what I thought.”

“If even one person recognizes those kinds of sacrifices, wouldn’t it be nice…? It would make things feel a little less lonely, make the suffering lighter.”

“Hmm… thinking about it now, maybe I was a bit too stubborn to see it that way. I think I convinced myself that my existence was more of a burden.”

Sometimes.

“Sometimes, I wonder if I was an obstacle. In some ways, I suppose that’s true.”

Yuria couldn’t understand Ricardo’s foolish kindness. However, Ricardo seemed resolutely okay with that, continuing to speak as if his persistence would eventually wear down her resistance.

Ricardo’s deep crimson nature was beginning to color Yuria. His essence was slowly creeping forward, spreading to her.

“That’s why I like you, Miss Yuria. No matter how unfair or sorrowful things get, you remain strong, selfless, and even a little too kind-hearted in a way that’s admirable. It’s something I could never do.”

“…”

“Well, truth be told, the biggest reason is that you’re beautiful, Miss Yuria.”

Ricardo chuckled softly, as if to ask, ‘Was that too direct?’ Then, stepping down carefully from the railing, he left footprints in the snow as he approached Yuria. Wary but gentle, he reached out and touched her cheek.

“Don’t cry.”

“Sniff…”

“I’m just keeping a promise I made.”

“But I couldn’t keep any of my promises…”

“From the start, it’s always been a one-sided promise that I made.”

A one-sided promise, made without her consent.

-I will protect you.

Yuria began to cry harder as she remembered Ricardo still holding on to that promise after all this time.

Why hadn’t she trusted him?

Why couldn’t she have given it a little more thought?

If she had opened her heart just a bit more…

If she had trusted him as much as she loved him, perhaps she wouldn’t be in this much pain now. She wept, blaming herself for having plucked the flower before it had a chance to bloom in her aching heart.

“Are you okay…?”

Yuria asked as she looked at Ricardo.

She looked at him with affectionate eyes, recalling the past memories in which she had hurt him. She remembered the wounds he carried, caused by her own hands.

“I hurt you, Ricardo… Are you really okay?”

Ricardo nodded as he answered.

“I’m fine.”

Yuria asked again, this time with more weight, remembering the time when she had wounded not just Ricardo’s heart but his very soul. She asked gently, with deep care.

“You suffered because of me… you were wrongly accused and had to endure so much. Are you really okay?”

“Of course. I’d do it again as many times as I have to.”

“Because of me…”

Yuria’s apologies kept pouring out. She continued crying as the snow accumulated endlessly, repeatedly apologizing and asking Ricardo for reassurance, until there were no more words left to apologize with.

She feared hearing a word of resentment, but asked nonetheless. The fear and sorrow continued beating within her.

And Ricardo, without fail, answered the same way each time.

“I’m truly okay.”

Many stories drifted away on the northern wind.

The time she had been locked in a closet for three hours.

The reason he had lingered near her shoe locker.

The retribution for the false rumors and those who had wronged her.

Ricardo spoke openly, hiding nothing from Yuria.

-The thumbtacks? I put all of them in Kyla’s drawer.

-…Really?

-Yes, I even added my name, written very clearly. You should have seen the look on her face—though only Olivia caught it.

-Olivia saw?

-Yeah. If she didn’t like it… huh.

-Pfft.

Laughter spilled from her lips.

Perhaps this was the conversation Yuria had longed for the most, the conversation she had missed more than anything. It wasn’t an extravagant gesture, but these little moments were exactly what Yuria had wished for. She clenched her fists and looked up at Ricardo.

“So…”

Under the white snow falling from the sky, it strangely felt like flower petals were swirling. The delicate pink petals, stirred by the spring wind, seemed to knock at the door of her heart.

Somehow…

In her steadily warming heart, Yuria felt a tinge of heat. She thought, as selfish and foolish as she may be, that she wanted to make another promise—just one more.

She stared intently at Ricardo, who was leaning against the wall beside her, and spoke.

“Ricardo.”

“Yes?”

“Can you make me one promise?”

“Sure, what kind of promise?”

With a subtle smile, Yuria buried her face in her knees.

“A promise that you won’t be surprised.”

“Sorry? What—”

-Pech.

Yuria grabbed his sleeve and gave him a small, gentle kiss on the cheek. She smiled softly, affirming that she was no longer lost, and spoke cautiously.

“You promised.”

Ricardo, startled, touched his cheek and stared at Yuria.

“Huh…?”

“It’s a token of our promise.”

“A… promise?”

“A one-sided promise that I made.”

A promise that she wouldn’t waver anymore.

Ricardo, his eyes trembling, looked at Yuria and awkwardly smiled as he said something he probably shouldn’t have in this moment.

“Just to let you know in advance, I’m not really into polygamy….”

“Oh, come on!”

Really, he was a man who didn’t know how to read the mood.

Yuria smiled as she looked at Ricardo.

*

-The limitation of ‘Affection Gauge’ from the past has been lifted.

(!) Yuria’s affection gauge has increased.

End of Chapter.