253 – If Only She Could Walk -2-

‘Drip’ A small tear fell from the lady’s eye. It wasn’t a tear filled with sorrow, but one heavy with worry that wet the floor.

She clenched her large eyes shut.

The lady, trying to hide her tears by rubbing them with her small, delicate hands, was crying like a child.

“Sob…”

“Ah.. Miss, why are you crying?”

Even the playful, awkward smile.

“Don’t cry, it’s not like that.”

The usual lies were choked by the lady’s tears, making them hard to utter. I couldn’t think of what would be the best thing to say, or how to get out of this situation.

For now, just…

“Don’t cry.”

I didn’t want to see the lady crying.

“Sob… I won’t cry.”

The lady kept shedding tears. She bit her lip hard, trying to hold them back, but once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop.

Like a child who can’t stop crying once they’ve started, the lady sobbed, shaking her shoulders.

It felt as if time had stopped.

“…”

My hands didn’t know what to do, and the noise of the lady’s sobs seemed to trap me in this moment.

‘What should I do…’

I couldn’t think of anything to say.

As I was flustered by the sudden tears, the lady slowly opened her mouth. Chewing on her clumsy pronunciation, she spoke with sadness about what my existence meant to her.

“Without Ricardo, I can’t go on.”

“…”

“It’s incredibly sad and hard.”

‘Thump thump’ The lady said, pounding on her chest as if to make a hole in it.

“It’s like… this heart is empty and hollow, and even eating chocolate doesn’t seem to fill the stomach. If Ricardo disappears, I’ll be in big trouble.”

I watched the lady with my mouth firmly shut, feeling grateful and sorry at the same time.

Thinking that it would make the lady happy if it was for her sake, I couldn’t easily open my mouth.

The lady is a villainess, after all.

I never deeply considered that there would be no one to worry about a vagabond from the slums, but I thought it was a wound festering from within.

Because I’ve been alone for so long.

Even if I chose sacrifice, all that returned was cold criticism and contempt, so perhaps I’ve been harboring such thoughts without realizing it.

“Don’t go!”

“…”

“Don’t run away! Stay with me!”

My heart felt warm. It was foolish, but I felt a surge of emotion, and the feeling of not being alone made me gaze intently at the lady and shake my head.

“Why would I disappear? I’m right in front of you.”

“You’re not!”

“Am I a ghost before your eyes?”

“Hic… No.”

The lady shook her head vigorously in response.

“Ricardo is so dumb, he seems like he might disappear.”

“…”

“It feels like he won’t be there when I wake up from sleep! Do you know how many dreams I’ve had of Ricardo disappearing?”

“Is that so…?”

“Disappearing because he’s hurt.”

“…”

“Disappearing because he’s done something bad.”

“There’s no one as good as me in this world.”

“And!”

The lady lowered her head and spoke in a small voice.

“Disappearing because of me.”

“…”

“Stupid! Getting beaten up like a fool! Being insulted!”

The lady clenched her eyes shut and shouted.

“Fool! Idiot! Mutt!”

As if revealing to me that the image I had seen in passing was indeed me, the lady trembled with her fists shaking, eaten up by fear. She shivered with her shoulders, spitting out worries that the reality might turn out like the dreams she had.

“I can’t have anything bad happen to Ricardo.”

“You’ve lived well without me, haven’t you?”

“I can’t live!”

The lady shook her head vehemently.

“I can’t live. Without Ricardo, I’d die. I used to want to marry Ricardo off to a good place so I wouldn’t be a burden!”

“You used to?”

“Now, I’m going to stick to him like glue!”

I chuckled softly, adding a playful tone to the lady’s words. Although her crying face was cute, the lady was undoubtedly prettier when she smiled.

I decided to lighten the darkened mood with a bit of teasing.

“So, are you saying you’ll marry me? I think I need to do some more calculations.”

“Uh…”

“You seem to dislike the idea.”

“Uh-uh… I’ll think about it.”

I laughed quietly, stroking the lady’s hair. As her soft, fluffy hair brushed through my fingers, a pleasant laugh escaped me.

“We still have a long way to go.”

“Hmm..?”

“I told you to listen to me.”

The lady nodded, promising to become a villainess who would listen to my words from now on.

I carefully bent my knees to look at the lady. With her cheeks puffed up and biting them, she looked straight at me with fierce eyes.

“What are you looking at!”

“Just because you’re cute.”

“Then look.”

“Hehe… I was going to anyway.”

“Hmm.”

I carefully observed the lady.

Her small frame.

Her eyes.

And her white hair.

She appeared as the most beautiful and precious person in the world, someone worth giving my all to, shining and beautiful beyond measure.

“Ricardo…?”

What started as a bad relationship had transformed into friendship, and as time passed, it evolved into an emotion heavier than friendship.

As time went by, I found joy in the moments spent with the villainess, and her laughter alone was enough to make me smile.

Yes, unrequited love.

It was my undeniable stubbornness. Even if someone said no, even if they told me not to fall in love, it was my stubbornness that couldn’t be bent.

“My lady.”

That was the weight of my emotions.

The lady carefully placed her hand on my cheek and stretched it out. Making a long face, she put on a pout and said in a gloomy voice,

“I don’t have to walk.”

“…”

“It’s okay if people call me a fool.”

“…”

“It’s okay if people point fingers at me for being a deficient villainess.”

“…”

“It’s okay if people say I look pathetic. Ah… but this makes me angry, so I won’t tolerate it.”

“Pfft…”

“Don’t laugh! I’m trying to have a serious conversation!”

“You’re just too cute, I can’t help it.”

“Eeeek… Hoo… So, Ricardo.”

The lady, having stretched out her cheek, now pressed it down, making it look like a pufferfish. Trying not to laugh at her comical face, the lady composed herself and said calmly,

“Don’t get hurt.”

“…”

“Don’t disappear from my sight, don’t die, and live a long life with me.”

“What about my marriage then?”

“That is…”

The lady’s eyes rolled around as she pondered.

“That… that is…”

“Are you going to take care of it for me?”

“No…! I don’t like Ricardo because he’s ugly!”

“Phaha… Just kidding.”

I carefully took the lady’s shoulder and pulled her into my embrace. I could feel her hot breath on my chest, warming my ear.

Her small shoulders trembled, not knowing what to do, and even her cute gestures of pushing away with her hands were felt through my chest.

“…You know, Miss.”

“Mhm.”

I whispered my wish into the lady’s ear.

“I wish you could be the happiest person in the world.”

It was a small wish, one that others might dismiss as trivial, but I voiced it with a sincerity that was harder to come by than anyone could imagine.

“Just like you said, I want to see you walking on your own two feet.”

Because I’m sure you would love that.

“I want to boast that you’re second to none.”

“That’s true even now.”

“You’re so perfect, it’s almost a problem.”

“That’s also true.”

“Pfft…”

“And I wish that everyone else would see you as the best, even if I’m not by your side….”

-Thump!

The lady slapped my mouth with her palm and glared at me. Her eyes scolded me, telling me not to say such things, questioning where I got the audacity to utter them.

“Thump!”

“…”

“Without Ricardo, I can’t manage. Who will run my chocolate errands…!”

“That’s right too.”

“Don’t even joke about such things. Got it!”

I was grateful that the person who used to tell me to get out and couldn’t stand the sight of me was now relying on me like this.

I hugged the lady tightly and said,

“Yes, I understand.”

So please forgive me this time.

“The things you worry about won’t happen.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m someone who takes great care of myself. Don’t worry.”

I spent the night holding the lady close.

And Olivia was.

“After becoming a wonderful person….”

Muttering to herself alone in her room.

***

The following day.

“Air raid alert!!!!”

The lady woke up, rubbing her eyes.

Not as little Olivia.

“No…”

As Olivia.

She returned to her original form, shocking the Desmond family who had brought the bell.

*

In front of Hamel’s quiet mansion.

– Bear?

Gomtang, who had been guarding the house alone after a long time, raised a question mark at the sight of a lady beyond the mansion’s entrance.

– Bear bear?

The lady with silver hair and a sword at her waist was hiding behind the mansion’s wall, peeping inside.

A woman peeking out with a small envelope in her hand.

Gomtang raised an exclamation mark in his mind, recalling what his master had said in the past.

– If a thief comes, bite. Got it?

– Bear.

– Do you understand? Look, if they try to climb over the wall like this…

– Bear bear.

Gomtang looked up at the woman in front of him.

And then.

– Bear?

“An intruder?”

Hans, hiding in the doghouse with Gomtang, was also on edge, watching the intruder.

Gomtang was hungry.

– Bear.

Not for feed, but for meat.

– Bear bear bear.

Even as a kind-hearted pet bear, Gomtang nodded at the sight of the woman who wouldn’t climb over the wall.

-Grrr-grrr.

Gomtang, like his master, disliked anything bothersome.