The Villainess is Afraid of Thunder and Lightning (2)
The Villainess is Afraid of Thunder and Lightning (2)
Who exactly is Renoa?
The bloodless and tearless villainess of the Edelheid Ducal House.
A Black Mage who tramples over others' lives on a whim if they offend her.
That is the Renoa I know.
Although there might be many differences between her current self and her future self, I believe the roots aren't much different.
'But what is this?'
The Renoa before my eyes was far too different from the cruel villainess I knew.
She was curled up like a shrimp, covering her ears tightly. With her eyes squeezed shut and her body trembling pareureu, she looked like a terrified rabbit.
-Kwakwang!
A roar that shook heaven and earth erupted once more.
"Euk......!"
Renoa bit her teeth together as if they might break, swallowing a suppressed groan.
As I stared blankly at that pitiful yet somehow cute sight, I recalled what Bibi had said before she left.
-Please take good care of Agassi while I'm away. Especially in weather like this.
'So that's why she said that.'
Renoa's personal maid, Bibi, knew. She knew that she was weak against thunder and lightning.
Something else came to mind.
'Come to think of it, lightning magic worked well against Renoa.'
When subjugating the Black Mage Renoa, using lightning-type magic dealt more damage.
I thought, 'She's a Black Mage, so she's weak to flashy attacks like light,' but she was just scared of lightning.
To think such a hollow truth was hidden.
The lightning subsided.
Renoa slowly opened her tightly shut eyes. Her low-set green eyes scanned the surroundings before meeting mine head-on.
"......."
"......."
A strange atmosphere flowed.
Could there be a more awkward silence?
I could see her pale cheeks flushing red.
"Shall I hold you?"
"Get out...!"
I was kicked out.
As night fell, a torrential downpour began in earnest. The sound of rain battering the window was incessant.
I lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"I'm bored."
I ate dinner alone, and I can't even train because the weather is like this.
It's not like there's anything else to do.
"Will a Gallery not appear for me?"
These days, in possession stories, Galleries are the mainstream instead of status windows. If I shout 'Gallery!', won't it pop out?
But looking at my current state, even if a Gallery appeared, it would definitely be something like the [Slave Minor Gallery].
All sorts of slaves would be there, debating who's more pitiful.
'I'm living a really hard life too.'
Of course, I eat well, rest when I want, am adored by the older sisters, and even though the owner has a cranky personality, she's eye candy!
Anyway, the future is dark!
I'm living a truly pitiful life!
There really can't be a slave more pitiful than me, heuk-heuk.
-Kwareureung!
A sound like the sky splitting echoed. The thunder and lightning had been continuing for a while.
"Is she okay...? She didn't faint, did she?"
Maybe it's because I saw something so shocking earlier, but Renoa's image keeps flickering in my mind.
I don't know how she handled it in this kind of weather normally, but at least right now, Bibi isn't by her side.
Since Renoa isn't close with the other servants, she might be shivering under her blankets all alone.
'It's hard to imagine, though.'
But well, the image I had of Renoa cracked a long time ago.
'Should I go? Should I not? Go? Not go?'
If I meddle, won't I just get scolded for nothing? It'll end on its own once time passes anyway.
It's better not to go after all.
Let's just sleep.
-Ureureung, kwang!
"Augh, seriously."
I kicked off the blanket and jumped up.
Let's just go take a quick look.
When else would I see something this precious?
Renoa liked the dark.
Because sunlight was rudely dazzling. Standing under bright light made her feel like everything about her was being stripped bare.
Days overflowing with all sorts of colors were tiring, and she liked the night, which was a monochromatic darkness.
Because no one came to find her in the dark. Because she didn't have to endure anyone's gaze.
She also liked rainy days.
Because when the sound of rain poured down, the mansion's suffocating silence was buried.
At the same time, the sense of isolation, as if she were the only one left in the world, gave her a sense of relief instead.
-Kureureung, kwang!
Renoa, covered in blankets on the bed, flinched.
She hated thunder and lightning.
She hated it absolutely terribly.
She didn't know the reason. She had hated thunder and lightning since she was a child, before she had memories. She had tried many times to overcome it, but it was impossible.
Just as herbivores fear carnivores, she couldn't erase the instinct engraved in the body named Renoa.
So on days when it thundered, Bibi would stay by her side, but of all days, she was away on vacation today.
She was stuck spending the night alone.
Renoa's arm poked out from under the blanket. She fumbled around the nightstand next to the bed, looking for a water bottle. Perhaps because she was nervous, her throat kept feeling parched.
But because she had been drinking without stop, the water bottle was empty.
Instead, she tried ringing the bell to call a maid, but whether it was buried by the sound of the wind and rain, no one came no matter how long she waited.
"Haa......."
In the end, she had no choice but to go to the kitchen and get it herself.
Renoa forced herself up. She put on her slippers and infused mana into the lantern to light it.
She tottered over and opened the door.
"Hmm.... What should I do? Maybe it's right to just go back after all."
A hallway filled with darkness. A single, alien shadow was cast long. It didn't stay still for a moment, moving left and right.
As Renoa extended the hand holding the lantern forward, the owner of the shadow slowly revealed their silhouette.
"......Irion?"
"Gongnyeo-nim?"
It was Irion.
Instead of his usual apprentice knight uniform, he was pacing the hallway wearing an indoor tunic.
Renoa was surprised by his appearance for only a moment before her face hardened and she frowned.
"Why are you here at this hour?"
Renoa trusts no one. It was only natural if that person was a slave.
She had imagined several times that Irion might stab her with a knife while she slept.
Of course, as long as there was a subordination contract, he couldn't harm his master, but even so.
"Ah, well, that is......."
"Speak."
"I kept worrying because of what I saw this afternoon......."
"......."
Renoa bit her lower lip firmly.
She never met anyone on rainy days, but because the thunder struck at that exact timing, she had shown the slave something he shouldn't have seen.
Renoa narrowed her eyes and glared with a menacing look.
"It seems you've forgotten your place because I've been letting things slide, but don't get cocky. Do I look so pathetic that I'd need the concern of a mere slave—"
-Kwang! Kwakwang!
"Hit!"
In an instant, the hallway turned pure white.
The voice finishing the sentence cracked ridiculously.
The dignity that had been emitting sharp toxicity until just now vanished without a trace.
"......."
"......."
A suffocating silence settled over the hallway once again.
Realizing what sound she had just made, Renoa's entire body trembled pareureu.
She gripped the lantern so hard that even the halo of light illuminating the hallway fluctuated as if an earthquake had occurred.
Her pale cheeks and ears flushed bright red as if they might burst. She was at the point where tears might well up at any moment from shame.
'If I tease her any more, she might bite her tongue and die.'
Irion didn't even dare to play a prank. He desperately held back the laughter trying to leak out and maintained a serious face.
"Ahem, where is Gongnyeo-nim going at this late hour?"
"......."
"Gongnyeo-nim?"
"......Water."
Did she drink all the water?
But there should be someone on duty in the antechamber nearby. If she rang the bell, they would come running.
'Did they not hear it because it was buried by the noise?'
Thus, it wasn't hard to deduce that Renoa had come out herself.
"I understand. Then, I shall be going, so I wish you a peaceful night......."
-Kureureung, kwang!
The hallway was dyed white once more, as if a flashbang had gone off.
"......."
"...Shall I go get it?"
Instead of answering, Renoa moved her head up and down very slightly.
It was a shy attitude, so subtle that one wouldn't notice without looking closely.
"Understood. Please rest in your room for a moment. I'll be back quickly."
I stopped by the kitchen and got a water bottle.
Marie-nuna, who was on night duty, was waiting in the kitchen, and she didn't think much of my visit.
Since I was in my growth period, I often stopped by to get late-night snacks.
Naturally, I hid that I came to get water for Renoa.
A slave performing personal tasks for the Gongnyeo in the middle of the night. It was the perfect material for strange rumors to start circulating.
"Gongnyeo-nim, I've brought the water."
"......Come in."
A small voice, like an ant crawling in. I opened the door and entered Renoa's bedroom.
This was the first time I had entered Renoa's bedroom.
After all, there would be no reason for a slave to enter a noble's bedroom except in very special cases.
Renoa was sitting on a large canopy bed. Demurely, with the blanket pulled up tight to her neck.
Approaching the bed, I picked up the empty glass sitting on the nightstand.
-Jjoreureuk.
"Here is the water. I brought warm water."
"......."
There was no answer.
Instead, the blanket that had been covering her up to her neck without a gap wiggled, and a single white, slender hand popped out from the crevice.
Renoa drank the water slowly. The sound of her swallowing the water, kkolkkak, kkolkkak, could be heard.
Having emptied the glass in an instant, Renoa reached out her hand again. She tilted the empty glass.
I filled the water once more without a word. This time too, she gulped down the water in an instant.
Only after emptying two glasses in a row did her thirst seem quenched, and she placed the empty glass on the nightstand. She let out a small breath.
"......That's enough. You may go now."
"Yes."
"Erase today's events from your head. That's an order."
"Yes."
Renoa stared at me with her usual murderous gaze, as if nothing had happened.
'Does this woman not know the words "thank you"?'
I thought maybe I shouldn't have come after all, but if I had left her alone, she would have thrown another fit tomorrow.
Thinking of it as preventing it in advance, I got off easy.
"Have sweet dreams."
I was about to say goodbye and return to my room.
-Kureureureung, kwangkwangkwang!
The biggest thunder and lightning of this downpour erupted.
As for me, I was only surprised the first time; now I'm used to it, so I just brushed it off.
-Kkuuk.
My clothes were pulled taut. Looking back, Renoa was pulling on the hem of my clothes.
While trying her best not to show her restless expression.
"Specially.... I'll specially allow you to stay by my side just for today."
"No, I don't really want to stay."
Why should I?
What kind of things would I have to hear if I stayed?
At that, Renoa's expression momentarily turned into the most resentful look in the world before becoming menacing again.
"It's an order. Stay here."