Chapter 124

Crackle...

The sound of burning firewood echoed through the Young Lady's room.

Having awakened from her nightmare, the Young Lady opened drowsy eyes while leaning against my shoulders-broader than the Pacific Ocean.

The standoff between the Young Lady trying to strip off my clothes and this possessor filled with Confucian ideology had dragged on until late into the night. Now that evening had finally arrived, the Young Lady, exhausted from the fight, raised a white flag and proposed a truce.

"I'm not looking! You're dirty and petty..."

"I'm probably the only butler who gets sexually harassed by the Young Lady he serves."

"What are you talking about! You even know what color panties I'm wearing."

"That's only because I'm the one who prepares them for you. For reference, today you're wearing modest sky-blue bear..."

"Eeek! Shut up!"

As always, the Young Lady enjoyed pranks that exceeded my expectations.

What kind of talk was it to say she wanted to see her butler naked the moment she woke from a dream? Wholesome sexual harassment, that's what.

Besides, lately I'd been secretly stealing the Young Lady's snacks every night, which had caused my abs to blur-making them rather awkward to show. No matter what, it was a butler's duty to display impressive abs when properly prepared.

A month ago, if she'd asked to see them, I would have been willing to pretend to be embarrassed while subtly showing off my abs. But now, with my abs blurred from the food assault I'd suffered at Desmond, it was quite difficult for me to show them to the Young Lady.

The Young Lady, who couldn't possibly know the heart of a butler who always wanted to show only his best side, opened fresh eyes and looked at me.

"I hate you."

"It can't be helped."

"I still hate you."

"I can show you my arms, though."

Intrigued, the Young Lady rolled her pupils round and round as she looked at my firm wrist.

"You'll show me?"

"It's just one arm. Why are you saying it so suggestively?"

"That's because Ricardo is a pervert."

"...That's."

I couldn't deny it.

The Young Lady rolled up my sleeve and stared blankly at my forearm with its protruding veins. Seeing the forearm where she could feel the beating of my pounding heart directly, the Young Lady smiled with relief, going "Oh..."

She poked it with her finger-poke.

"Mm."

Then she bit down on my arm-chomp.

"Young Lady."

"Hmm?"

The Young Lady, biting my arm, rolled her pupils to look at me. My forearm was screaming, covered in saliva.

I felt both somehow envious and furrowed my brow.

"It's not for eating."

"I know."

"Then why are you biting it?"

"Testing if you're healthy."

Meeting my ambiguous gaze, the Young Lady seemed embarrassed and released her mouth, wiping the saliva from her lips.

I didn't know why she wouldn't wipe the saliva on my arm, but I thought she was the world's worst villainess when it came to cleanliness.

"You pass."

"Is that good?"

"Yeah."

Still, since she said I passed, it must be good.

The Young Lady nodded and leaned against my shoulder again, gazing at the burning campfire.

"Ricardo."

"Yes."

The Young Lady who'd given me a passing grade looked depressed. I thought maybe it was because I'd received the pass so boringly, but that didn't seem to be it.

Still unable to escape her nightmare, the Young Lady kept looking at my body with glistening eyes, continuously holding my hand and engaging in bewitching flirting.

"You know."

"I'm listening, but before that, could you please let go of my hand?"

"Why?"

"Because the most beautiful woman in the world is holding my hand, it's such an honor that I can't control my heart. I'm afraid I might collapse from a heart attack."

"Hehe... What are you saying."

Pleased by the compliment, the Young Lady smiled slightly and gripped my hand even tighter.

"No... Haah..."

It was a sincere statement on my part. But it seemed the Young Lady would take it as a joke. I really felt like my heart was in danger and I might collapse. The Young Lady, whose breathing was unnecessarily bewitching, buried her face in my shoulder and suppressed a pleased smile.

The Young Lady gazed at the gently burning campfire and asked me in a low voice.

"There's something I've been curious about for a while. Can I ask?"

"If you ask, it'll hurt."

Jigsi...

The Young Lady opened sharp eyes after hearing the lame pun. It was a gag I'd studied from books. Feeling a strange disappointment at the Young Lady's cold reaction, I let out an awkward laugh.

"I'm joking."

"It's not funny. Banned."

"I'll try to restrain myself."

"Don't restrain yourself, just don't do it."

"Hmm..."

The Young Lady was firm.

As a brief silence flowed, I wondered what question the Young Lady would ask. Whatever she was going to ask, since she'd set the mood before speaking, it seemed like it would be a fairly heavy topic.

I pretended to ponder, drawing it out, then nodded.

"I'll answer depending on the question."

"Expensive."

"Since the Young Lady I serve is an even more expensive person, I hope you'll understand that I have no choice but to set the unit price high."

"...Fine."

The Young Lady, who enjoyed this kind of teasing, smiled slightly and shyly lowered her head.

"You know."

"Yes."

"Ricardo."

The Young Lady exhaled deeply and asked in a trembling voice.

"Why are you by my side?"

"That's quite a sharp question."

"I made up my mind to ask today no matter what."

"Couldn't you be a little less sharp?"

"I had such a terrible nightmare today that I can't help it."

"Well, that's... quite the bad nightmare."

The Young Lady lowered her head and waited for an answer. Her fingers, clasped tightly in my hand, squirmed as if terrified to hear the response.

I could feel from her fidgeting touch that she was worried-worried that perhaps I was only by her side at the Head's request, or that I was desperately clinging on just to collect my overdue salary.

Once again, the Young Lady recited to me the reason she was asking such a question. In a small, trembling voice, she painted herself as a bad person, asking why anyone would stay beside someone who had lost all her connections.

"I don't listen, I have no money-so why are you still by my side?"

"Hmm..."

"I can't even walk anymore, and just like Ricardo said, my personality is foul, so why..."

The Young Lady's voice came out small, like a cat backed into a mouse hole. Muffled, yet at the same time clinging, as if begging me not to leave. It felt heartbreaking.

"Why are you by my side? Ricardo, you know it too... that there's nothing I can give you anymore."

"I can't buy you fancy clothes like before, can't indulge in luxuries, and you'd probably be too embarrassed to even say you serve a Lady of House Desmond in front of others-so why do you stay?"

Listening to the Young Lady's lament without answering, I was quite surprised.

For a villainess to have such excellent self-awareness.

I was more than a little shocked that the Young Lady, who always lived for her own self-satisfaction, was harboring such concerns. At the same time, I felt sorry for making her say such things.

If only I had worked harder-would the Young Lady not have needed to say such words? That regret weighed on me.

A small silence stretched between the Young Lady waiting for an answer and me, accompanied only by the sound of crackling firewood.

The silence born from the Young Lady's fear of what she might hear and my contemplation of what to say made our clasped hands grow sweaty.

After about the time it took for one log to burn through, I opened my mouth with difficulty.

"You're right."

Foolish as it was, as always, my answer began with "You're right."

Because even I didn't know the reason.

If I had wanted success as the Young Lady said, I would have abandoned her long ago and sought another path. Then I could have made a name for myself as a genius surpassing Yuria and Mikhail.

And yet, I valued the Young Lady's existence more than success.

Honor.

Wealth.

Achievement.

Time spent with the Young Lady was more enjoyable than any of those things. In a calm voice, I carefully offered the answer the Young Lady had been waiting for.

"Being beside the Young Lady who always shines, my standards seem to have risen."

"..."

"Aren't there many jewels displayed in a showcase?"

"Jewels...?"

"Yes, jewels. When you see a jewel you like among many jewels, the other jewels no longer catch your eye... To me, the Young Lady is like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well. It means that to me, the Young Lady's existence is better than success."

"..."

"Please don't fall for me. I'm a very greedy person, you see."

"How shameless."

"What can I do? I'm just that impressive."

I smiled as I tossed out the silly joke.

"Anyway, I enjoy being with the Young Lady."

It was embarrassing and cringeworthy to say with my own mouth, but the subtle atmosphere created by the campfire made me utter such face-burning words.

"The affection we've shared since childhood polished the jewel's luster."

"The intense fistfight we had at our first meeting seemed to cut and shape what had been just an ordinary pebble of a raw stone."

"And..."

I pinched the Young Lady's cheek and looked at the blazing campfire.

"What can I do when the raw stone called the Young Lady is so pretty in itself? Isn't that what jewels are-something that makes you feel good just by looking at them?"

"Ugh... let go."

"I refuse. Let me polish this jewel's luster after so long."

"Ughhh! It's tearing!"

"Hahaha!"

I looked at the Young Lady with a slight smile.

"I like this. It's fun watching the Young Lady live for her own self-satisfaction."

My old story is an uninteresting one.

I think the story from my first meeting with the Young Lady until now is boring and trivial.

So. I'll set aside the story of the past for now.

Sometimes I think a lot about why I serve the Young Lady.

Why would I have any reason to serve by the side of a Young Lady who grumbles and gets annoyed?

But.

To me, the Young Lady's existence was like a shining jewel. Even though her personality was absolutely terrible, the memory of sitting beside a filthy beggar in the slums and begging together was both the funniest and most radiant moment.

That's probably why I'm so attached.

Suddenly an old memory came to mind.

The memory of the Young Lady nodding off at her desk during etiquette lessons.

On that day when warm sunlight shone down on the Young Lady, I let out a laugh without realizing it.

- Ah. This is driving me crazy.

She was like spring day's sunlight.