The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Chapter 228:

The Villainess Hosts a Tea Party (2)

***

In the quiet mansion of Darbav.

“…”

Sitting at his desk in the study, Darbav was reading a letter sent by Olivia and letting out a heavy sigh.

[To Father]

Father, I have no friends.

Ricardo says he has no friends either.

I tried counting on my fingers, but I gave up because it made me feel bad. I’ll just hold a small tea party at our house.

Darbav nodded with satisfaction at Olivia’s elegant handwriting. Whoever’s daughter she was, her penmanship was admirable enough to draw praise.

“Certainly.”

Although he felt bitter that the letter didn’t contain good news, Darbav still nodded with satisfaction at the letter his daughter had sent.

“I didn’t think she would have no friends…”

Darbav raised his head, recalling his Academy days.

-Darbav! Let’s eat together.

-Shut up, commoner.

-Darbav, are you eating alone again?

-What’s wrong with eating alone? It allows me to use time efficiently. Don’t think it strange.

-O…okay.

His excellent childhood.

Thinking of his past, where he had stood out from the start, Darbav folded the letter neatly with a gloomy expression.

“Like father, like daughter, I suppose.”

Darbav could understand Olivia’s pain. Although he had made friends while doing business, they remained merely business relationships.

Traditionally, a ball was a place to show off in front of many people, but dancing in front of people you’re not close to felt awkward, so he could understand Olivia’s choice to give up on the ball and change it to a tea party.

Although it wasn’t the goal he had wanted, wouldn’t this be fine in its own way? There was no need to rush to establish Olivia’s position; it could be solidified later.

Darbav nodded, blaming himself for not considering his daughter’s feelings.

“A tea party…”

Darbav called out to the man sitting next to him with an excited smile.

“Kyle.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Olivia says she’s holding a tea party.”

“Wasn’t she supposed to hold a ball?”

Darbav asked Kyle with a serious expression.

“Name just three close friends.”

“…”

Kyle couldn’t answer.

Darbav smiled contentedly at Kyle, who was following in his footsteps. Thinking how alike they were, he believed the future was secure with Kyle showing such excellent qualities as the next head of the Desmond family.

“Dad is proud of you.”

“…”

Kyle smiled bitterly.

*

Another peaceful day at the young lady’s mansion.

“Eeek.”

Sitting at her desk writing invitations, the young lady was wracking her brain trying to find friends.

“Young lady, so far we have Darbav, Kyle, Rosanna, Malik, and Hanna confirmed.”

“Wait a moment…”

The young lady was struggling to decide on the members for her rare tea party. No matter how much she searched her mind, there was no one to invite.

During her Academy days, people would come running at a single word, but now that she had fallen from grace, there was no one who would be happy to receive her invitation, leaving her with no one to invite.

The young lady was pressing her fingers to her temples, as if sending telepathic messages to her future self.

“Eeek…”

I laughed at the young lady’s strange appearance, as if she was asking her future self if she had any friends.

“Young lady, you won’t make friends that way.”

“Wait, I think I’m about to remember.”

Even with such a limited social circle, squeezing her brain wouldn’t change anything. I patted the young lady’s shoulder with a bitter smile.

“Young lady.”

“Eeek…”

“It might be a good idea to cancel now and wait for the next opportunity. We can always buy friends with money.”

“We can’t buy friends with money.”

“That’s right.”

“And I want to have a tea party. I want to have a pillow fight with friends after a long time, make snacks, and have a pajama party.”

I looked at the young lady with pitying eyes and swallowed my tears.

“Young lady.”

“Mm,”

“It’s not after a long time, you’ve never done it before.”

“…But they did it in the novel.”

“…”

The young lady wanted to have a pillow fight.

She wanted to have a party born from genuine friendship, not the superficial relationships tied by business, but something more structured and intense.

I wiped my tears with a handkerchief and carefully spoke to the young lady. I tried to convey that not having friends wasn’t her fault, but rather the fault of the novels that gave her such unrealistic fantasies.

“Shall we do it together?”

“…”

“Let’s have a pillow fight today, chat in our pajamas, and take a bath together. I’m fine with it.”

“You know we built separate bathrooms during the recent remodeling, right? We could have fun there and create the atmosphere.”

I smiled slightly and offered words of encouragement.

“With you, me, and Gomtangi, that makes three… no, three animals.”

The young lady lowered her head and clenched her fists.

“Ricardo…”

“Yes.”

“Ricardo, don’t you have friends?”

“…That’s a rude question.”

“But if it’s just the two of us playing, it’s not a tea party.”

“Hmm.”

I carefully opened my mouth towards the young lady.

“Then, may I invite my friends?”

“Friends?”

“Yes.”

“Ricardo, you have friends?”

I smiled ambiguously as I thought of a few people who came to mind.

“People you know too, young lady.”

“Who?”

I wrote down the invitations with a bitter smile.

-Yuria.

-Chartia.

These were all the people I knew.

*

Those who received invitations all showed different reactions.

Yuria felt excitement.

[Shall we play together at the mansion?] – Ricardo

“Wh…what?!”

Hanna showed flattery.

[I’m holding a tea party at the mansion. Come if you have time. Ricardo will provide food.] – Olivia.

“This is my chance…”

Chartia opened the invitation with suspicion.

[Don’t open this.] – Ricardo

‘I’m not going.’

The women who received the invitations with various feelings began to prepare. They were getting ready to attend the tea party by putting on dresses hidden in their closets or wearing earrings.

And so, a week later.

The day of the tea party dawned.

[1st Lady Olivia’s Tea Party]

After hanging a banner on the mansion’s wall, I stood next to the young lady and massaged her shoulders as her face turned pale with nervousness.

“Young lady. Don’t be nervous.”

“Sniff… I thought no one would come, but three people actually came…!”

Malik.

The Desmond family.

The Magic Tower Master.

Amidst quite a number of guests arriving, I spoke to the young lady with a lump in my throat.

“It seems we’ve lived quite well.”

“That’s right…”

I was glad we hadn’t lived a meaningless life. I had even considered catching orcs in a dungeon if necessary, but there was no need for that now.

I wiped away tears as I watched the carriages appearing beyond the mansion walls.

“Young lady…. More are coming.”

“Eeeek!”

“Smile.”

“Heheh…”

“That smile is scary.”

“Heeh!”

I gently touched the young lady’s cheek as she smiled awkwardly, then swallowed hard as I watched the women slowly walking up to the mansion’s main gate.

“Wow…”

Yuria in a light dress.

Hanna in a figure-hugging dress.

Chartia, worn out from work.

People more beautiful than flowers were walking into the mansion.

The three of them looked at the banner hung on the mansion wall with blank expressions and smiled awkwardly.

“Ahaha…”

“You prepared hard!”

“I want to go home.”

Among them, Hanna showed the biggest reaction.

“Butler!”

Hanna, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, had her brown hair tied to one side and was running straight into my arms.

The touching feeling of a disciple.

I smiled slightly and hugged Hanna tightly.

“It’s been a while.”

“Butler!”

“I saw in the newspaper. There was a big incident, but thanks to you, it was resolved.”

“No… It was all thanks to you, Butler.”

Yuria greeted me with an awkward smile.

“Hello.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Not at all. I received great help last time, so of course I should come. And…”

Yuria looked awkwardly at the young lady and bowed her head.

“Thank you for last time.”

“Mm.”

“There’s still… a lot to talk about, but I wanted to say this.”

“Thank you.”

As for Princess Chartia.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing at all.”

“Then I’ll leave.”

She wanted to go home.

*

After greeting everyone, Chartia shook her head with a hollow laugh.

‘…What’s with this lineup.’

The Desmond family, rivals of the Magic Tower.

-Father!

-How grand.

Kyle, known as the Iron-Blooded Prince.

-Ricardo.

-Kyle, I said you could invite other guests too, is there no one?

-…

And Malik, the next head of the Histania family.

-I’d like to talk business.

Finally, even the Master of the Magic Tower.

-You want me to install a teleportation device?

-Yes.

-…?

-Didn’t you say you’d grant one wish?

-Even so, this is… haha.

-I think this is a bargain.

-That’s impossible. Just the installation costs over ten million gold, asking for that is strange. Besides, calling me here along with the head of the Desmond family…

-Isn’t nothing impossible for the Magic Tower?

-…

-Are you below the Desmond family?

-…I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.

-I was about to tell you to leave as well.

Every single one was a big shot.

It was an excessive lineup for a fallen noble’s tea party. Chartia shook her head with a hollow laugh at the thought of these influential figures, who could control a fifth of the empire if they had time, gathering for just one noble lady’s tea party.

“This is crazy.”

Chartia clenched her fists as she watched Ricardo slowly walking out among the gathered people.

She didn’t know what words would come out of his mouth.

She didn’t think he had called these people just to hold a tea party. After all, rumors said the Desmond family was ruthless.

-Gulp.

Chartia tensed up. She was thinking of running away if there was any hint of rebellion.

“Thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

Ricardo looked at the guests with tear-filled eyes and said.

“First, let me briefly introduce today’s schedule.”

Making snacks.

Dinner.

Pillow fight.

Bath.

Chartia furrowed her brow and doubted her ears as she heard the schedule.

“Huh…?”

It wasn’t at all what one would expect to hear with this group of people gathered.

Ricardo continued to list the day’s schedule without pause. As more of the schedule came out of Ricardo’s mouth, the tension on Olivia’s face increased as a bonus.

“We plan to donate the snacks we make to charity organizations, so we’d appreciate your participation.”

“…”

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine, but I think the children would be so happy to receive the snacks.”

“…”

Chartia’s eyes widened as she heard Ricardo’s soft muttering. ‘Of course, it will go to the Unfortunate Villainess Olivia Foundation….’

‘Huh.’

Chartia wanted to go home.

End of Chapter