The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen-Chapter 367-368

Warm sun.

"Ahem."

Fresh breeze.

"Ahem hem."

And.

"Heeeeeeeek!!!"

Giant ice.

The young lady, seeing the ice that completely filled the western canals, let out a puff of steam from her nose and pointed.

"Ricardo!"

"Yes."

"Is it the sea?"

"...What?"

"Can I wear my swimsuit?"

What should I say? It was the sea, but seeing the sight that could hardly be called a sea, I was contemplating how to answer the young lady.

The sea?

Or what used to be the sea?

Unable to easily think of an answer, I gave an awkward smile and shook my head as I replied.

"It is a cold sea."

"Isn't the sea originally cold?"

"Let's just call it the future North."

"Heeeeeeeek!! The West is ruined...!"

"Isn't it amazing?"

"Ung."

Staring blankly at the frozen sea, I let out a soft sigh. I didn't expect it to be frozen to the point where the horizon was not visible. I didn't wish for this much.

It must mean Elysia's loyalty is that strong, but seeing what she had done, I thought the damage would be considerable. Well, it's not something I have to worry about.

The frozen sea was bringing a chill.

The sun was shining brightly in the western sky, but the wind blowing was incredibly cold.

The young lady sniffled at the chill from the frozen sea, which was cold enough for the western residents, who usually wore light clothes, to wear thick clothes.

"...Sniffle."

"Are you cold?"

"Ung."

"Then shall we return to the inn?"

"Ung."

It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped.

I could see the young lady's bikini after the work was done. I thought it wouldn't be too late to melt the sea after subduing the beasts and getting the Crown Prince and Wolfgang involved in the complicated incident. In any case, I was determined to see the young lady's bikini. I swear on my conscience that I harbored no selfish intentions. It was just that I thought she would be upset if she couldn't try on her new swimsuit.

Contrary to me, who had overcome my sorrow, Darbav had a look of having lost the world.

"Ah... no."

"..."

"If the sea for playing in the water is frozen... I can't see Rosanna's bikini."

Darbav, who wanted to drop a meteor on the western canals right now, was clenching his fists and holding back his tears. Because he couldn't do something that would benefit others.

"Huuuub... the meteor..."

"Be patient. I'll wear it for you later."

"There's no guarantee that 'later' will come in my life."

"...I'll wear the one you first showed me."

"Are... are you talking about the black one?"

"Yes. So, be patient."

Darbav clenched his fists and overcame the pain. Darbav, who perhaps felt a greater joy than when he had won on the battlefield, was enjoying the tragedy of the West with a smile.

"I feel like having a third child today."

"Personally, I want a younger sister who resembles the young lady. I'd prefer if she didn't resemble her in personality though."

"I'll try."

"What are you doing!"

"Hahahaha!"

"I'll be cheering for you, my lord."

The wizards of the West were shooting magic at the frozen sea. From fire magic to shock magic that breaks ice, they were making all sorts of efforts to clear the canals.

From a distance, it was a comedy.

The wizards looked like they were drilling small holes for ice fishing.

"It seems like it will take over ten days."

"That's right. It seems it will take about half a month of work to clear the sea route."

"The damage will be considerable."

"It might not be a bad idea to buy some land in the West at this opportunity."

"Not a bad idea."

The master of the tragedy could only clench his fists and let out a sigh.

"..."

Wolfgang Louis was speechless as he looked at the sea of the West.

"..."

His lips were moving like a goldfish, and he was clenching his fists and trembling. Because he too had no solution for the current situation.

Ships the size of medium-sized mansions were densely packed at the port, and the merchants were restlessly stamping their feet, puffing out cigarette smoke. Wolfgang probably knew too. That if he didn't quickly come up with an alternative, a riot would break out.

-Squeeze...

Darbav, who was looking at the frozen canals, slowly approached Wolfgang. And he placed a hand on his shoulder and said with a kind face.

"Hey, Marquis Wolfgang."

"..."

"If I were to see your face again, I would have to take back my words about wiping your family off the map."

"..."

"Because it seems it will disappear even if I don't wipe it out."

Wolfgang's complexion turned pale because of Darbav's sarcasm.

"The world is truly harsh."

"..."

"Who would have known that the sea of the West would freeze overnight. Looking at the scale, it seems that even decent wizards wouldn't dare to touch it..."

"It's fine."

"Is that so?"

"The West is not that weak."

"Hmm... I don't think so."

-Daddy!!!! I'm freezing to death!

At Olivia's words to return to the mansion, Darbav nodded and said to Marquis Wolfgang.

"It seems like it would be solved by dropping several meteors. Are there any wizards in the West who can use meteor?"

"...No."

"I see... It seems like it will take over 10 days, the damage will be enormous."

Louis glared at the sarcastic Darbav and let out a rough breath. It was clearly Desmunt's doing, but he was infuriated by the way he was pretending to be worried.

If it were up to him, he would have grabbed him by the collar right now, but Wolfgang Louis, who couldn't, only remained silent and suppressed his anger.

"I will escort you to the Wolfgang mansion."

Darbav waved his hand and replied.

"The Desmunts will go to their private villa. It will be better for the Marquis as well."

He felt a sharp gaze on his back.

The gaze of Wolfgang, who hated the person who had greatly shaken his family. And the cold gaze of the Crown Prince, whose hair had been pulled by the young lady, was felt from behind without concealment.

"...Desmunt Darbav...!"

"I will not let this go easily."

The young lady, who was in the Pexri No. 1, turned her head and said to the Crown Prince who was with Wolfgang.

"What are you looking at."

The Crown Prince glared at the young lady and replied.

"Today, I will definitely repay this humiliation."

"Tell that to your daddy."

"..."

"You can't mess with us."

-Squeeeeze.

The Crown Prince was suppressing his anger in the Wolfgang mansion.

"Phew...."

He was angry to the point of exploding at all the things that weren't going smoothly.

Insulting the royal family, hearing curses against the Emperor, and pulling the Crown Prince's hair.

Vowing to surely repay them for this, the Crown Prince was only letting out a rough breath while wetting his dry throat.

Louis was observing the Crown Prince, who was rubbing his dry forehead. The more negative feelings the Crown Prince had towards the Desmunts, the more he would gain.

Although there was a mountain of paperwork to be processed, he thought that taking care of the Crown Prince's well-being was the priority right now.

"I apologize for showing you an unpleasant sight."

At Wolfgang's apology, the Crown Prince shook his head and replied. It's okay.

"It's okay. The Desmunts have already shown me plenty of unpleasant sights, so I'm not surprised..."

"I should have insisted on escorting you in our carriage, I think I was short-sighted. I apologize."

"No, I was the one who insisted. Don't worry about it, Marquis, and focus on your work."

The Crown Prince shook his head and said.

"Let's stop talking about this and have a more constructive conversation."

"Nod."

As the Crown Prince's order fell, Louis clapped his hands and called the man beyond the door.

"Butler."

As soon as Louis's words fell, the butler, who opened the door, was coming into the room with a huge map.

The Crown Prince frowned as he looked at the old butler. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Who is that?"

Louis waved his hand as if to say not to worry and replied.

"He is the butler of the Wolfgang family. He has served since the time of my predecessor, so you do not need to worry."

"If the Marquis says so."

The Wolfgang's butler spread the huge map on the table. Louis, looking at the neatly spread map, pointed to the place marked with a red circle and said.

"This is where the sea route of the West passes."

"Hmm..."

"And this is."

Louis pointed to the place marked with a black circle and said.

"The habitat of the beasts."

"..."

"To be precise, the sea is frozen up to the entrance of the beasts' habitat."

"Movement will be convenient."

"That's right."

"We need to make Darbav and the beasts fight one-on-one, but if this happens, we won't be able to deal with Darbav, will we?"

"No."

Wolfgang shook his head and pointed to the place marked with a blue circle and said.

"We plan to split Desmunt's forces in half here."

The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows as he looked at the small island marked with a blue circle.

"An uninhabited island?"

"Yes, this uninhabited island is where the pirates live. The Desmunt's butler and other knights will move to subdue the pirates, and Darbav and Wolfgang's knights will participate in the beast subjugation."

"Certainly... if we do this, we can catch both the beasts and Darbav."

"If Darbav dies while subduing the beasts, it would be for the best, but it's not a bad thing to deal with Darbav after he's exhausted from the beast subjugation."

"Deal with... you mean, make him disappear."

The two were preparing for the great event with sinister laughter.

At the same time.

The Desmunts were also sitting at the table, discussing the operation.

"...They will surely be thinking this in this subjugation."

"To aim for father..."

"I, too, think they will aim for me in this operation, just as Ricardo said. There is no reason for the Emperor to suddenly target the Desmunts. The Crown Prince must have intervened."

Kyle, who was clutching a teacup, opened his fierce eyes and asked Darbav.

"It is too dangerous."

Darbav smiled faintly at Kyle's concern and shook his head.

"Kyle."

"Yes."

"Meteor is always right."

"..."

"You too, grow up to be able to use meteor soon."

"I will do my best."

I smiled faintly at Kyle, who couldn't erase his worries, and softly stated my thoughts.

"I will handle the beast subjugation."

"...!"

"And I plan to involve another force besides Wolfgang."

A smile bloomed on Ricardo's lips. More sinister than anyone else in this place.

There are three factions in the western sea.

One is the Wolfgang family, which holds the real power in the West.

The second is the pirates who prey on merchant ships.

The last, the third, was the former master of the West, the Duchy of Velian.

The reason the West could develop so much now was because of the Duchy of Velian.

One of the few sword masters in the empire.

A trade route opened despite the opposition of the imperial family.

The administration of the previous duke, who thought of the western residents more than anyone else, was the reason for the current West.

However.

That glory fell to the bottom when they lost their family head to a beast.

The Wolfgang family, which had been flattering the Duchy of Velian, began to gnaw at the duchy's power as soon as the head of Velian died, and gradually the influence of the West began to shift to Wolfgang.

-Hmm...

At my suggestion to bring in Velian, Darvav showed a less than favorable reaction.

-That doesn't seem like a very good idea.

He said that adding a new faction would be good because there would be more hands, but adding a clueless husk would be more of a hindrance.

There was nothing wrong with Darvav's statement, but I wanted to gain something from this subjugation. So I earnestly persuaded Darvav.

One of the treasures that appeared in the side story.

To obtain the [Dragon King's Jade].

This was one of the reasons I decided on the western trip. And on the side, I wanted to create someone to keep Wolfgang in check during the beast subjugation operation.

The Dragon King's Jade was a one-time use item, but it could be said to be a treasure coveted even by the emperor in this empire.

Because the 'Dragon King's Jade' was an item that allowed one to overcome death once.

"Hmm..."

I, who was walking along the western roadside with light steps, stopped in front of a huge deserted mansion. A mansion so huge it could be compared to the Desmunt mansion.

And I let out a low sigh.

"...Wow."

Because it looked as if the mansion was not being managed at all.

The mansion in front of me was so full of cobwebs on the windows that it was hard to believe it was a ducal family's mansion, and there were no knights guarding the entrance of the mansion either.

I let out a hollow sigh and shook my head at the sight of the mansion, which looked more like a fallen noble's than a ducal family's.

Because I thought the current duke's condition would not be good.

A son who lost his father at a young age and suddenly became the head of the family. He tried to lead the family on his own, but he must have collapsed, unable to overcome the sudden ordeal. That would be the current duke's state.

"...It's not going to be easy."

The previous Duke of Velian had one son.

He was 13 when the duke died.

And he was also 13 when he became the head of Velian. The hands reaching out to the young duke would have been full of malice, and I thought he might have closed the door to his heart after being betrayed so many times.

I would have done the same.

I thought it would take a lot of effort to win over the Velian family. I had planned to persuade them appropriately and restore the family's honor, but I thought things wouldn't go as planned.

I knocked on the main gate of the ducal residence and waited for someone to come out.

-Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Is anyone there?"

I was holding bread that the duke would like and was trying to be as polite as a noble as possible.

And so, 10 minutes.

"..."

20 minutes.

"..."

After 30 minutes, unable to overcome the boredom, I slowly began to enter the ducal residence.

Because I could feel that there was someone inside through my senses.

"Excuse me."

I passed the garden overgrown with weeds and went to where I could feel a presence. It would be a shame to go back without delivering the gift I had brought.

"Is it here?"

Seeing the relatively clean window, I peeked my head in and looked inside the mansion.

And.

"What is this..."

I discovered the duke's suspicious hobby.

At the same time.

"Uh...?"

"Ah...?"

"Hello?"

"Uh..."

I also saw the duke's secret.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!!"

The duke, who had changed into formal attire, came to me with tea.

His face was full of anger.

At the same time, it was full of hostility.

I know too. Why the duke is making such a face. Because coming to a ducal family's residence without a letter and entering without permission was no different from trespassing. Honestly, I would have nothing to say even if he reported me to the guards.

Even though I had become a criminal, there were many things I wanted to ask.

What was the duke making?

And.

How did he become a woman?

What kind of a novel has so many women disguised as men? Mikhail, who I thought was the male protagonist, turned out to be a woman, and the Duke of Velian, who appeared as a man in the original work, being a woman, what kind of situation was this?

Just as I was about to get angry at the novel, where nothing was right, the duke frowned and said to me.

"Who are you?"

"Ah..."

"Are you a spy sent by Wolfgang?"

"I'm sorry. I haven't introduced myself. I am Ricardo, the butler of the Duchy of Desmunt."

"...A butler?"

The duke let out a hollow sigh and spat out in annoyance.

"So now a butler is coming to the ducal residence?"

"...Haha."

"There should be a limit to looking down on Velian... trespassing, and even peeping into a noble's bedroom...."

"I'm sorry. I have nothing to say even if I had ten mouths."

"No, it's my fault for not coming out even though I heard the knock."

"I am grateful for Your Grace's mercy."

"What you saw..."

"I saw nothing."

The duke, as if satisfied with my reaction, chuckled and then asked me as if throwing a question.

"...Did the Duke of Desmunt order you to gather information? About what the western beast looks like?"

At the duke's slightly relaxed words, I smiled and shook my head. I knew what the beast looked like and what its weaknesses were from reading the novel.

"No."

"Then why did you come? It doesn't seem like you came to see my face."

"Hahaha...!"

In the novel, the Duke of Velian appeared when Mikhail's revenge began. Because Mikhail began to show strong hostility towards the West from the moment Wolfgang Louis killed his mother.

In the process, Mikhail visited the Velian family, and since they had the same hostility towards Wolfgang, they joined forces to defeat Wolfgang Louis in the novel.

"Speak without hiding anything, butler of the Desmunt family."

In the novel, the duke's personality was magnanimous.

It seemed he still had that personality now.

He didn't trust people but was cheerful, and although he didn't give his heart to anyone, he had an outstanding talent for making people feel comfortable.

It was the same relationship with Mikhail.

-Puhaha!! You're going to catch Wolfgang by yourself? I couldn't do it for 11 years after becoming the family head.

-...I can do it. No. I will definitely put Wolfgang in prison with my own hands.

-Interesting...! Can't you let me in on that too? I want to do what my father couldn't do either.

A relationship that was like friends, but at the same time, knew how to clearly distinguish between gains and losses.

Knowing that, I came to make a proposal to the duke, and I came here to make an offer that the current head of Velian, who harbored a desire to raise the family, could not refuse.

Because although many people were calling the current Duke of Velian incompetent, there was no one who had worked as hard as her to raise the family.

Having organized my thoughts, I spoke to the duke.

"I have come to make a proposal to Your Grace."

"If it's a proposal, isn't it proper for the head of the Desmunt family to come himself?"

"I apologize. I committed a rudeness because I wanted to see you in person and speak to you."

The duke's pupils were trembling greatly. Because a mere butler, not the head of the family, and from a ducal family at that, coming to make a proposal was a disgrace to the ducal family's honor.

It was an act of ignoring the duke.

And an arrogant act.

If Desmunt wasn't behind me, it was a rude act to the extent that there would be no reason to be criticized by the public even if he kicked me out and retaliated right now.

I also understood the duke's feelings, so I began to carefully utter the words I had prepared.

"I believe the greatest family in the West is the Duchy of Velian."

"..."

"I believe the current West remains intact because of the family head who loves the West more than anyone else and works in unseen places to protect it."

"Are you mocking me now?"

"No. I have come to offer Your Grace a proposal that will never come again."

"How arrogant."

"It is a proposal to make the Velian family the master of the West again. Wouldn't it be okay to refuse after hearing my story?"

The duke bit his lip at my unwavering gaze and then nodded. The duke, who had nodded as if to say he would listen to the story, opened his ears.

"I will listen to the story."

"...Thank you."

"A story that can save the ducal family...."

"..."

"If it's a lie, I will cut off your head."

I nodded and replied.

"Willingly."

The day dawned.

The faction aiming for Desmunt's neck and the faction seeking to reclaim past glory were facing each other, their eyes trembling.

Wolfgang's eyes trembled as he looked at the young head of Velian standing before him, with a look that said, why is that person here?

"Why is the head of the Velian family... here?"

"It is a place to fulfill my father's long-cherished wish, so I can't be left out, can I?"

"..."

"I express my gratitude for Wolfgang's sacrifice."

Wolfgang muttered to himself in a trembling voice.

"It wouldn't be bad... if I just wiped out the ducal family here."

The two factions were glaring at each other.

Even though the direction their swords should be pointing was in the sea, they were looking at each other and showing hostility.

On the right were Wolfgang and the crown prince.

On the left were Desmunt and Velian, glaring at each other.

Darvav smiled slightly and said.

"Shall we go? To catch the beast."

The time had come to subjugate the beast that had threatened the West for hundreds of years.