The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen-Chapter 389-390

-Adjusting viewpoint...

A voice, too faint for my darkening ears to hear, brushed past.

-...You are a selfish woman.

-Ugly... selfish...

-A foolish person.

I couldn't hear it.

It was a voice that lasted for only a brief moment, so I couldn't catch it. Only one word was clearly audible.

'Selfish person...'

It was the word 'selfish'.

'Selfishness.'

Chaltia, unable to understand why the blue window had spoken the word selfishness, frowned and fell into thought.

She wasn't a person who sacrificed herself for others, but she thought of herself as someone who knew at least a minimum of consideration.

'Selfish...?'

The moment Chaltia tried to focus on the word 'selfish', the blue window began to speak with a cold voice, telling her to stop her thoughts.

-Viewing will begin in 10 minutes.

'Ha...'

With the blue window's words, Chaltia's vision brightened, and she frowned as she looked around.

'Why here...'

She hadn't known the viewing would proceed in this manner.

She had thought the 'side story' the blue window mentioned would be shown as a 'dream' or 'text', but contrary to her expectations, Chaltia was momentarily speechless at the vivid scene.

It felt as if she were truly standing in this place, within a hallucination where she could feel every smell, sound, and touch.

Just as a sigh was about to escape at the blue window's ability to convey a vividness unattainable even by magic, Chaltia came to her senses and looked around.

It wasn't an unfamiliar space...

Desks were everywhere.

This place, with its blackboard, was a place she had been with for over three years. She wasn't greatly surprised.

The place where Chaltia opened her eyes was none other than her own classroom.

It was utterly silent.

She couldn't hear the chatter of students walking down the hallway, nor the sound of a professor lecturing in the next classroom.

Only the sound of her own footsteps on the lonely hallway echoed. No other sound could be heard.

There were a few strange things.

'...It won't open.'

The classroom door wouldn't open.

'I can't see outside the window.'

-You can see after the viewing begins.

The view outside the window was blocked by an opaque barrier.

'Haa...'

What grand thing were they trying to show her? Chaltia, unintentionally trapped in an empty classroom for 10 minutes, sighed and decided to slowly walk around the room.

If it was showing her a glimpse of the future, she might be able to glean valuable information even from a changed classroom.

'...Hmm.'

The potted plants in the classroom.

The academy's motto, 'An Academy Equal for All,' was also hanging properly.

'...Nothing has changed.'

The classroom in the viewing looked no different from usual. Strangely...

'Why a classroom of all places...?'

It bothered her that she was being shown the inside of a classroom, given that she spent more time cooped up in her office than in the classroom. If they intended to show an impressive scene, the office would have had a greater impact than the classroom.

'Let's stop thinking...'

Chaltia decided to stop her complicated thoughts and looked at the clock, which pointed to 11:08.

After all, she would know everything in two minutes.

What the blue window wanted to do, what it wanted to show her, she would know if she just waited a little longer, so Chaltia sat by the window and waited for the time to pass.

-Tick.

'...'

-Tock...

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'Hoo...'

-1 minute until viewing begins.

At the eerie voice of the blue window, Chaltia swallowed hard and prepared herself.

She thought this was the beginning.

She didn't know what it would show her, but.

'I'll make the most of it.'

Chaltia resolved to absorb all the information the blue window spewed out. Even if it was her own tragedy. She would obtain it, tooth and nail.

-Viewing begins.

With the starting notification, the sound of someone's weak footsteps began to reach Chaltia's ears.

-Trudge... trudge...

And.

[The protagonist of the viewing arrives.]

With the voice of the blue window, the door began to open.

-Bang!

Chaltia's eyes widened as she saw the woman who opened the door. Standing before her was a person who looked exactly like her.

The version of herself in the viewing, clenching her fists and holding back tears, had roughly opened the classroom door and was hanging her head low.

'Me...?'

Chaltia, seeing the version of herself in the viewing, stood blankly. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to see her own dejected self.

'It's me...'

It would probably feel bad to see even a perfectly fine version of herself, but to see one on the verge of tears...

'...'

It didn't feel good.

The version of herself in the viewing didn't seem to see me either, paying no attention and trudging towards a desk.

A sound was heard.

My voice, tinged with sadness.

"Why... why are you doing this."

The voice of her other self in the viewing, filled with resentment, seemed to be holding back tears that were about to burst forth.

"Why are you doing this to me..."

She looked sad.

No.

It seemed more fitting to say she looked pitiful. As if a hero who had returned alive from the battlefield was being treated poorly by the king, the version of herself in the viewing seemed to be filled with a deep sadness.

"It's not like I said I'd become king..."

'...'

"It's not like I tried to kill my other family members like my second older brother did!!!"

'...Ha.'

"I just wanted to live happily with my mom, I just worked hard because I didn't want to be treated poorly... Why...! Why...! Why are you doing this!!!"

Chaltia made a stern face, looked at the version of herself in the viewing, and clicked her tongue. She wondered if she would make such a face if she were to break down.

She didn't feel pity.

From the moment she decided to seize power, the future before her eyes was as good as foretold.

But.

"Why are you taking everything away. My mom... my life, why..."

It wasn't very pleasant to see myself broken by the grief of losing my mother.

The blue window had said.

That the version of herself in the viewing carried the wound of having lost her mother.

If.

If my mother really had left. She couldn't imagine what kind of expression she would be making now. She thought she might be making a face like the woman in front of her.

A little while after she had been watching herself with a desolate heart.

-Waaaaaaaaaah!!!

Cheers could be heard from outside the window.

Chaltia frowned and looked out the window. It was against the rules to shout so loudly at the academy.

But the version of herself in the viewing was deliberately ignoring the outside, and.

Chaltia, looking out the window, ended up with a look of dismay at the sight before her eyes.

[Congratulations to our seniors on their graduation.]

'Ha...?'

Her heart sank at the sight of herself, alone. It was just something that hadn't happened, but her solitary figure looked so lonely.

As Chaltia looked out the window with trembling eyes, the voice of the blue window reached her ears.

-Having been stripped of everything, you were on the verge of the academy's 'graduation ceremony'. Along with your classmates.

-Your classmates were enjoying this moment. The long journey had come to an end.

-But you, who had failed to make any friends, couldn't find anyone to share this moment with, and there was no one to give you a bouquet of flowers.

-You were a coward.

-You were afraid of standing alone at a graduation ceremony with no one to be with.

-You thought it was better to be alone than to be in a place where you were not welcome, so you were filled with sadness. Wondering why these things only happened to you.

-The world was truly harsh.

"Finally, we will have a congratulatory speech from the student council president."

"It's over!!"

"Student council president Leogard Tae-oh, please come up to the podium."

The moment the announcer's voice from outside the window called out an unexpected name, Chaltia clenched her fist. And at the same time, the version of herself in the viewing also bit her lip hard and let out a rough breath.

'Who... did you say?'

The blue window began to speak as if to resolve Chaltia's question.

-From the moment Leogard Tae-oh began to keep you in check, many rumors started to spread.

-Rumors began to spread that the bad things that happened at the academy were due to your incompetence, and rumors began to spread that you might be a collaborator with the heretics.

'Don't talk nonsense. Why would Tae-oh become the student council president...'

-Naturally, you were forced to leave your position as student council president.

-Bang!

"Why is this only happening to me!"

-You were finishing your academy memories alone in sadness. In an empty classroom filled with sorrow... you were chewing on your loneliness. There was no one to recognize you, who had only worked hard.

'...Ha.'

Chaltia, who was watching the viewing, let out a hollow laugh and clicked her tongue. She certainly thought that if he were the Crown Prince, he could do that.

Tae-oh was a skilled speaker. His magnanimous personality would have greatly helped him in making allies.

'...'

But.

'This is nothing... You made me go through all that just to show me something like this?'

She was at ease because the things the blue window had prepared were much weaker than she had thought.

Compared to the emotions she had felt so far, what was actually being shown was just her own ruined self, so it wasn't funny.

It was a scene she had imagined several times on her own. The situation if she were to start clashing with Tae-oh in earnest and lose.

"..."

Of course, it felt bad, but. It was something she could fully accept.

Chaltia silently watched herself and thought. Maybe this incident could serve as a stimulus to work harder, giving her a sense of urgency.

But.

Her upright heart did not last long. She was a person who could feel pain too.

-Screech.

The door opens.

Students who had finished the graduation ceremony were coming in to say their goodbyes.

Graduation caps were on the students' heads, and their faces were full of laughter.

Some were overcome with emotion and wiped away tears, while a few students touched the classroom desks with a bittersweet expression.

And.

"It's finally over!!!"

"Should we go out for a drink?!"

"Anyone who bails is dead!"

"Can I come too? I'm a commoner."

"Puhahaha!! Of course! Aren't you my friend?"

Everyone was treating the version of herself in the viewing like a ghost.

(...want to.)

A strange sound is heard.

(...I want to run away.)

The voice of her other self in the viewing.

No.

The voice of a cowardly heart began to be heard.

It’s heard faintly in her ear.

(Hurry…)

The whisper of a heart, never told to anyone.

(I wish it would end quickly.)

My inner thoughts.

(Should I just run away without going to the graduation ceremony?)

It was heard unreservedly in her ear.

Shartia's expression was hardening. Mentally, she had told herself it was no big deal. The hubris that she could easily overcome what the blue window showed was beginning to crack like a stone thrown at a glass window.

Because she thought she was different.

Because she had secretly believed that no matter what ordeal came, she wouldn't shrink back, but would strive and struggle to find a way through. Because she thought she wouldn't break...

'Don't be ridiculous.'

But the self in the viewing, sitting in the classroom, was being portrayed so pathetically, as if to shatter these thoughts.

Inside a classroom where studying no longer had meaning, she was pretending to write something, holding a pen.

To avoid being intimidated by their gazes.

(It feels like everyone is talking badly about me.)

She was simply spending the heavy hours writing the words 'I want to leave' on a blank white paper.

(I don't like it...)

(I'm scared...)

(Don't look at me. I won't pay attention to you either. Please...)

Her conceited heart began to slowly harden. The tyranny of the blue window, which she had thought of as 'mere,' was now starting to feel frightening.

Because the sounds coming from her own mouth... no, her own heart, were terrifying. She hated to see herself, who had always seemed strong and steadfast against the gazes of others, breaking down.

'Don't be ridiculous...'

'I'm not like that.'

'That's... not me.'

No matter how much she denied it in her mind, her firmly held resolve quickly crumbled at the sight of her own weakness. It was as if it were whispering, 'This is who you are.'

(I want to run away...)

It was not a pleasant experience.

Watching herself, who had endured so tenaciously with pride alone, break down was not an amusing sight.

'...'

The silence continued.

The me in the viewing.

And the me watching the viewing.

Both were tightly closing their lips, desperately wishing for this time to pass quickly.

"It's finally over~!!"

"Should we write something bad about the professor on the board before we go?"

"Good idea?! Let's start with the history professor."

Even though countless students were chatting amusingly in the classroom, only a chilly silence remained around her.

Every time a voice of laughter and chatter rang out.

(...Why am I.)

A sorrow cursing her own world echoed. And when talk of after-graduation parties rang out.

(...alone.)

The sorrowful voice of a heart swallowing solitude was spreading.

Meaningless words were filling the notebook. Words thought in her head like 'I want to go,' 'There's nowhere to return to,' 'I don't want to be here,' continued to fill the notebook.

She did not feel good.

Being broken.

Being intimidated.

Just imagining everyone turning their backs on her was hurtful.

One strange thing was.

(Is he not coming.)

It was the expectant gaze of the self in the viewing, who, even while cowering, kept glancing at the classroom door.

Every time the classroom door opened, the gaze of the self in the viewing, who looked over as if waiting for someone, held an expectation she herself didn't know.

Is someone coming?

Is she waiting for someone to give a bouquet to her, who is all alone? With that kind of expression.

About five minutes had passed since she started looking out the door with a pitiful expression. An unpleasant thing happened.

-Bump.

A group of female students wearing graduation caps bumped into her as she sat.

"...!!"

The me in the viewing, surprised by the not-so-small impact that even pushed the desk, looked up at the female students. I, too, looked up and glared at the female students.

It was clearly intentional.

'Who are they...'

A clear intention to bully her, who was alone.

'Discipline...!'

'I' would have surely shouted at the female student and questioned her about this incident. Because no matter how hellish the situation was, her personality was to say what needed to be said.

In the academy where everyone is equal.

To herself, a princess... how dare they.

But, contrary to her own boiling heart, the me in the viewing bowed her head deeply and bent down to pick up the pen that had fallen to the floor.

'What are you doing...'

-Screech...

'I said, what are you doing.'

(I don't want to...)

'You have to stand up and say something.'

(I don't want to....)

'I wouldn't do this. Even if I lost my mother, even if I have no one on my side, I wouldn't do this...'

(I don't...)

'Why...! You fool... Huh?'

She was trembling.

The me in the viewing, who had bowed her head to pick up the pen, was afraid of the female students.

(Please, don't talk to me...)

Far from getting angry, her hands were trembling slightly, as if she was hoping for this situation to pass without incident.

The voice shouting at the me in the viewing grows smaller. The head scolding the powerless and foolish self slowly droops.

At the fact that that fool is me.

Afraid that that is what I am.

It becomes scary to hold onto a sliver of hope.

'Why are you being such a fool.'

(Please... just let it go.)

'Why aren't you doing anything...'

A cold voice was heard in her own clenched-fisted ear.

"Ah..."

A voice laced with malice and sarcasm began to be heard coldly in her ear.

"...What."

"..."

"You were here?"

A conversation that denied her very existence.

A fist is clenched.

Because the me in the viewing is so foolish.

So angry at herself for being unable to do anything, a fist is clenched.

Why is she being so foolish.

She hasn't done anything wrong, so why is she so intimidated...! I couldn't understand the me in the viewing.

At the same time.

'...'

I was scared.

I was so afraid that my broken self would become like that.

Ignoring her complicated feelings, the female student continued to speak. She began to spew words that crushed the me in the viewing.

"I thought no one was here."

"..."

"There was an abandoned dog, wasn't there?"

"..."

"Why aren't you saying anything? Don't want to talk to us inferior people. Is that it?"

The inner voice of the self in the viewing, who was looking at the female student with a hardened expression, was different.

(It's the last day.)

(So. Please let it pass quietly.)

(I'm doing that too. Because it's the last day, I'm enduring being lonely, can't you endure it too?)

Contrary to her wishes, one of the female students burst out laughing, staring at the notebook on the desk.

"What did you write. Run away.... want to?"

"...!!!"

The wish of the me in the viewing, who hastily closed the notebook, was in vain as the female student snatched the notebook and began to read.

"Puhahaha!!! Look at this. It's a total spectacle! Hey everyone, listen to this!"

"Give it back."

"'I want to run away,' 'It feels like everyone has friends but me,' 'I'm a loner.'"

"..."

"Puhahat?! What is this! Who knew the great Shartia would write something like this? Ah, this is so sad."

"I said give it back."

"I don't want to~"

The female student said with a smiling-eyed grin.

"What, is that an order from the former student council president?"

"..."

"What are you going to do now that you're graduating."

"...This is an academy where everyone is equal."

"Not anymore. Once you graduate, you're nothing."

"..."

"Not the student council president who was such a bitch... and not royalty anymore either."

It was a murderous remark.

(...Don't.)

It was a remark that couldn't be dismissed as a joke. It was a cold remark that made her heart stir violently, unlike her outward appearance of maintaining an unshaken expression.

(Please don't.)

"I knew from the beginning you'd end up like this."

"..."

"I knew it when you gave demerits for bullying kids a little, and when you made people do community service for talking back to you."

"..."

"Really. How pathetic."

"..."

"What's the point of working your ass off at the academy. In the end, nothing is left."

The me in the viewing was clenching her fists, unable to say anything. Because no matter how unfair it was, there was nothing to say.

"Your mom was a commoner, so you must be a commoner too."

"...My father hasn't said anything about my status. What you're doing right now might not end with just contempt of royalty."

"Ooh, scary..."

The female student sneered at the me in the viewing.

"But, you know that the moment the Crown Prince becomes emperor, your life will fall to the bottom."

"..."

Her expression is changing.

(Stop...)

A crack began to form on the face of the self in the viewing, who was trying to remain calm even by force. The mask she had been wearing to show others that she was tough and unfazed was visibly crumbling.

(Please don't say anything.)

"I'm a noble and you'll be a commoner, you must not be able to handle the consequences."

"..."

"Did you really dabble in black magic? You can't be this stupid otherwise."

(I know, so stop....)

The head of the self in the viewing gradually lowers. I, too, couldn't lift my head.

-Tremble...

Because it was hard to watch the 'me' who looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. The emotions were contagious, and it felt like I would cry too, so I couldn't lift my head.

'That's enough.'

I wanted to stop watching now.

No more of this desperate sight.

I understood enough.

I wanted to stop watching now.

(Stop it...)

"Are you crying?"

(I said stop it.)

"Hey... she's crying."

(Someone...)

"Everyone!!"

(Help me.)

It was then.

-Screeeech.

"Shartia's cry... Ugh!"

The moment the classroom door opened, the body of the woman who had been tormenting her slumped to the floor.

"Who are you!!!"

A man was standing there.

"Ah... are you talking to me?"

A man with red hair and cold eyes stood tall, becoming a shadow for the me in the viewing.

The man shielded the crying me.

"I am Ricardo, a third-year from the Swordsmanship Department."

"..."

"Senior."

He was glaring as if to tear out the throat of the female student who had been threatening her.

"..."

The female student, with angry eyes, looked at Ricardo's face and bowed her head. The reason was unknown, but it seemed there was a reason she feared Ricardo.

"Is that him? The one who took first place in the ranking battles."

"That's right... I heard he's the youngest to awaken aura and a sword master."

"Really?! A sword master?!"

"It's just a rumor."

The murmuring conversations of the students were telling the reason why the female student feared Ricardo.

"But, I heard you're in big trouble if you get on his bad side."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Your family just goes bankrupt overnight."

"Crazy..."

"You be careful too."

In Ricardo's hands was a large bouquet of flowers. A bouquet of white irises that gave off a faint floral scent. A bouquet so large it would fill your arms if you held it.

Ricardo smiled slightly at the female student.

"Sorry...!"

And just like that, the female student who had been tormenting her began to run away.

It was absurd.

She wondered what this situation was.

But.

(He came...)

The me in the viewing, as if she had been waiting for Ricardo, was looking at Ricardo with the brightest expression she had shown so far.

Ricardo turned his body and looked at her.

"Hello."

And.

He handed her the bouquet in his hand and said.

"Congratulations on your graduation."

"..."

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"Princess Shartia."

The words that the me in the viewing had wanted to hear the most.