TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 39
[10 minutes until the viewing begins.]
It’s a familiar room.
Not her own room, plastered with photographs of Mikhail, but a room filled with plain furniture.
A year ago. It was the room Ricardo used.
Olivia, who opened her eyes on the cold floor of the room, let out a sigh.
“You really came…”
She came again. To the past.
At first, she thought she was simply crazy, but now she was starting to accept it—she had come to the past.
She didn’t know if it was punishment for the way she had lived or a Gift of God to encourage her to live kindly from now on, but resignation came before denial.
Her hands were trembling. The scene she was about to witness played vividly in her mind, and cold sweat wouldn’t stop dripping from her palms.
Olivia wiped her sweat on her dress.
‘I want to run away.’
She looked down at her toes with eyes full of worry.
Clean, smooth legs.
Olivia wiggled her toes.
“…”
She wasn’t happy.
If this were reality, she would have been jumping in joy. The first time she came, she had even bounced on the bed with excitement, but now, her moving legs brought her no joy.
She would have preferred if they didn’t move at all.
If she tightly closed her eyes and rolled over, everything might end. But…
“I have to see it. I can’t just keep running away.”
It was her choice.
A choice made with great courage, because she didn’t want to hide and pretend she didn’t know. Looking at her fidgeting toes, Olivia summoned her courage and slowly got up.
The current time was 4:50 a.m.
Ricardo lay on the bed, breathing evenly. He was asleep in sky-blue pajamas covered with teddy bear patterns.
Looking at Ricardo’s peaceful face, sleeping with his mouth slightly open, Olivia gave a complicated smile.
“Sleep well.”
Ricardo was sleeping so soundly that it felt a little cruel to wake him. Olivia reached out and stroked Ricardo’s Red Hair.
[Observer’s Perspective. You cannot interfere with the subject.]
“Right.”
Back then and even now, it was the Blue Window that prevented her from touching his body.
“Haa…”
Olivia let out a long sigh.
The quiet estate.
That day, only Ricardo and I were in the estate.
All the Servants had submitted their Resignation Letters.
Because I had driven them out.
In the silence that filled the room, Olivia lifted her head and looked upstairs.
By now, her Past Self would be casting Dark Magic. She would be laughing maniacally while doing so.
And then.
After about 10 more minutes, she’d realize she had failed.
Olivia took a deep breath.
Her hands kept trembling from the tension.
There were still 10 minutes left.
Simply sitting still would only make her more despondent, so Olivia got up from her seat and looked around the Butler’s Room.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve been here. The wardrobe, the table…”
The Butler’s Room was ordinary.
This wasn’t the current room, converted from a dress storage, but Ricardo used to occupy the second-best room in the estate.
The Butler’s Room was the same as it had always been.
Still clean.
Still neatly organized.
With the fragrant scent of lilac lingering in the air.
As expected of Ricardo. The room was spotless.
When I’d been estranged from Ricardo during his expulsion from the Academy, I hadn’t visited his room, but it had been decorated like this.
Seeing Ricardo’s Room after so long brought back memories.
I touched the Golden Butler Badge he had proudly shown off, saying he had truly become a Butler.
I brushed my fingers over the Academy School Uniform from those days.
Lost in old memories, Olivia couldn’t bring herself to take a step.
Especially that table.
On the table in the center of the room was a Chocolate Cake from the Dessert Shop he often visited.
An untouched Chocolate Cake.
A single fork placed beside it, waiting for its master.
Olivia’s footsteps stopped.
It was as if he had prepared it, expecting me to come to the room after calming down.
Olivia clenched her fist tightly.
“Idiot.”
Olivia sat down next to the sleeping Ricardo. Then, she lifted the blanket covering Ricardo. Just in case.
She clung to a small hope.
It was a bad thought, but.
If his hand had been injured from this point onward, perhaps the past she was about to witness would feel a little less painful. It was a despicable thought, but she wanted to alleviate even a small fraction of the guilt weighing on her heart.
Otherwise, truly… she thought she wouldn’t be able to look at Ricardo’s face.
The wounds on Ricardo’s body looked so painful, and just thinking about them made it hard to breathe.
Swish. Olivia lifted the blanket.
Slowly, Ricardo’s body came into view.
A clean body without scars.
And spotless arms.
Olivia, her strength drained, lowered her head.
Too clean. It was far too clean.
Like a blank canvas with nothing written on it.
“What am I supposed to do…”
She felt like she was going crazy.
She wished someone would come and tell her it was all just a dream.
That she was actually having a Nightmare.
And that she’d wake up soon.
But her wildly pounding heart told her that this was no dream.
Olivia murmured.
“Is this because of me?”
While stroking Ricardo’s head.
“…Then what am I supposed to do?”
Tick-tock. As time passed, Olivia’s heart pounded harder. As the minute hand moved relentlessly to point to the promised time, Olivia’s chest thudded violently.
The time was 4:59 a.m.
The moment had come.
[The viewing begins.]
***
Tick.
-Yawn… Slept… well?
Yawning lazily as he woke up, Ricardo reached for the Water Cup on the nightstand. Then, with trembling eyes, he muttered to himself.
-What is this.
Looking at the Empty Space, Ricardo tilted his head in confusion.
-Huh…?
Ricardo cursed.
-F*ck!
Bang. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ricardo got out of bed and ran toward the door. He flung the door open and, disregarding all the virtues he usually preached about as a Butler, dashed toward the second floor.
-F*ck… F*ck…!
Uttering rough words, the Butler’s urgent footsteps echoed as he climbed the stairs.
Olivia, panting heavily, followed behind Ricardo. She had poor stamina and wasn’t used to walking, let alone running. In an instant, Ricardo disappeared from her sight.
“Huff… Huff…! Wait for me…”
-Crash!
The sound of something tumbling down the stairs was heard.
Thud… Thud… The sound of Ricardo rolling down the stairs. A heavy, dull noise of bones breaking followed, but Ricardo gritted his teeth, grabbed the railing, and stood up.
Even as he fell, Ricardo was looking at the second floor, his trembling eyes fixed desperately on a single door as he resumed his frantic dash.
-Please. Please… Please, Young Lady!
She couldn’t keep up.
Neither mentally.
Nor physically.
Like a child rushing to their parent’s deathbed, Ricardo dashed forward with desperate urgency.
Clutching her chest, which felt like it was about to burst, Olivia chased after Ricardo.
Standing in front of the door, Ricardo was gasping for air.
[No Entry.]
[Especially. Ricardo is forbidden from knocking.]
-Haa…
Letting out a Deep Sigh, Ricardo knocked on the door.
-Young Lady. It’s Ricardo.
There was no response.
As expected.
The entire room was under Silence Magic.
No sound from inside the room could escape, and no sound from outside could enter.
Ricardo banged on the door roughly.
-Young Lady.
There was no response.
Ricardo pounded on the door with his fist.
Desperately slamming his fist against the door, hoping it would reach her, Ricardo ground his teeth at the unyielding silence.
-Then, I’ll open it.
With a cracking sound, the door swung open.
Standing before the Opening Door, Ricardo froze as if time had stopped. He couldn’t step inside, nor could he utter a word. Trembling, Ricardo stood still, his face pale, stammering.
-Y… Young Lady?
Ricardo spoke in a trembling voice.
Looking into the room filled with Black Smoke.
With quivering pupils, he called out to his Past Self.
I covered my nose.
There was A Pungent Smell.
The stench of a rotting corpse.
I felt nauseous.
Ricardo spoke again.
-Young Lady Olivia?
His hands shaking uncontrollably, Ricardo, standing at the doorway, called out her name in a voice that sounded as if he were about to cry.
I pushed past Ricardo and stuck my head inside the room.
And like Ricardo, my body froze solid.
‘What…?’
The floor was charred black.
White ash was scattered everywhere.
Moonlight seeping through the curtains shone pitifully on a woman crouched in the center of the room.
A woman whose Entire Body was blackened and bleeding from various places.
It was me.
The Villainess I was a year ago.
Her form was so disfigured that it was hard to believe she was a Noble Lady.
Her body had turned black.
A Foul Odor emanated from her.
‘That’s… me?’
Her face was streaked with tears.
Blood trickled from her lips, which she had bitten to endure the pain.
The Past Self, curled up and groaning, looked at Ricardo standing at the door and spoke in a dying voice.
Stretching out her hand, in a hoarse voice.
-Oh, Mikhail.
-You must be busy… Sorry.
-But Mikhail… I’m in so much pain…
-I’m really, really in pain… It hurts so much…
Ricardo’s expression hardened into a cold mask.
The moment Mikhail’s name came out of my mouth. His face turned rigid, and he began to briskly walk into the room.
Looking at me collapsed on the floor, he thought.
‘Crazy Woman.’
Truly…
‘She’s a Crazy Woman.’
What’s so special about love?
How could love be so important?
Why is she calling Mikhail’s name in this state?
And.
Ricardo, why does your face look like that?
Clenching her fists, Olivia watched Ricardo briskly approach her fallen Past Self.
Ricardo spoke to the me lying on the floor.
-Yes…
In the gentlest Voice he had ever used.
-It’s Mikhail.
Pretending to be Mikhail, he embraced the me lying on the floor.
I know how much Ricardo hates Mikhail. He couldn’t even stand to be near him, let alone say his name.
Because Mikhail was the reason I had fallen apart.
I know Ricardo well.
I know how much Ricardo loathes Mikhail.
The sight of him, pretending to be Mikhail, hugging me tightly with an expression of relief…
‘Hic… Ha… No… It’s not Mikhail…’
It tore my heart apart.
Ricardo held me in his arms and patted my back gently.
My Past Self, in Ricardo’s arms, smiled brightly. And like a fool, she said this.
-Mikhail… It’s you…
-It’s Mikhail…
Holding my broken self in his arms, Ricardo said.
-Yes… I’m very late, aren’t I?
Holding me as if I were a delicate Glass Artwork that could shatter with the slightest touch, he whispered softly.
-I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt anymore, Young Lady.
Ricardo’s Pajamas began to turn red.