Take Responsibility -2-
"Who's that?"
Olivia stared at the woman before her with bleary, just-woken eyes. A young lady with plain features and light brown hair. A question mark popped up in Olivia's mind.
I propped the drowsy Olivia up in bed and said, "She's from the Imperial Academy."
"The academy?" A brief moment of buffering. Olivia slapped her cheeks to jolt her brain awake.
"Ah... The aca-demy?"
"Yes. She came from the Imperial Academy."
"Why'd she come to our house?"
"She said she was bored."
What? Hanna shot me a baffled look. I turned away heartlessly.
Suddenly, the student council secretary had shown up at a dropout's house out of boredom. I felt a twinge of pity, but what could I do? If I said she had no business with the lady of the house but had come for a mere butler, Olivia would sulk. I could already picture her whining all day: "The butler gets more popular than me? This guy's the homeowner?"
Dealing with the aftermath was best left to Hanna, who'd woken her up, so I dumped the responsibility on her.
As their confused glances bounced back and forth, Olivia's voice rang out.
"She's gonna get me reinstated?"
"No. Do you want to go back?"
"Uh... Huh? No?"
The lady's true feelings slipped out. I flashed an awkward smile.
She looked up at me again and said, "Then she came to get revenge on me?"
"No... Probably not?"
Whoops. I hadn't considered the person's own take, so I turned to Hanna and asked, "Did you come for revenge?"
"Ah... No?"
"That's what she says."
Olivia nodded. She seemed more awake now.
"Ah...!"
Realizing it all added up with no downside for her, Olivia finally reacted with fervor, her eyes wide.
"The academy! Ooooooh!!"
I smiled contentedly at her enthusiasm. I'd predicted she'd react strongly to the academy. Mikhail—I'd nailed the algorithm forming in Olivia's head. How about it, Olivia? This butler's worthy of a filial piety award letter, right? Pay me back when you make it big. Pro butler material, if I do say so myself.
Sitting up in bed, Olivia looked up at me like a puppy eyeing a fun new toy, urging me to introduce Hanna. Adorable.
"Ahem. This lady here is none other than a student council member from the academy!"
"Student council!"
"The secretary, no less!"
"Secretary! History forger! Ooooooh!"
Clap! Olivia clapped her hands.
If she gave me reactions like that, I'd grill steak twice a week, but she always responded so blandly to me. Still, it was nice to see her laughing so lively after so long.
The sleep had long fled Olivia's eyes. Her fever seemed mostly gone too, and now her bright gaze was fixed on the awkwardly standing Hanna.
At Olivia's prodding to get on with it, I prepared for them to get to know each other.
"This is the lady I serve, the youngest daughter of the Desmont family, Lady Olivia Desmont."
"Ah... Hello."
Hanna eyed Olivia uncertainly. The girl sitting in bed was the dropout infamous at the academy as the villainess. White, messy hair. In her pajamas. She didn't look well at all.
Hanna had heard countless rumors from her seniors. All bad ones.
Pouring wine on dresses. Bullying. Using black magic.
Not exactly welcoming. She didn't want to get close. If anything, she wanted to snap at her. But the red-haired butler beside her was terrifying, so she couldn't utter a word.
Scary...
Even so, she had zero intention of being kind to Olivia. No matter how scary the butler was, this was the girl who'd tormented Senior Mikhail. Her pride wouldn't allow it.
I'll never forgive her!
"Miss Hanna."
"Hiek!?"
I called out to the grim-faced Hanna. She looked like she'd made some grand vow, but her face twisted hilariously when I addressed her.
"I know it's awkward, but could I ask a favor? My lady hasn't had company in ages—she could use someone to chat with..."
"Yes... Of course."
Hanna probably didn't welcome this. The thing with Ruin earlier, and now facing the infamous villainess in person. I'd feel the same.
The villainess was notorious even in town; it'd be worse at school. And with Mikhail as her biggest point of connection, we'd probably rub her the wrong way.
Still, I'd called Hanna because I wanted my lady to talk to someone new after so long. Endless chats with just the maid and butler would get stale—who wouldn't suffer staring at the same ceiling and faces every day? I'd brought her here hoping an academy student might share fresh stories to lift her spirits. One-sided wishful thinking on my part.
I'd gotten lost in thought. Earnestly, I asked her again. Whether my sincere plea got through, Hanna replied in a calmer tone than before.
"I'm the youngest of the Histania count family. Hanna Histania. Feel free to call me Hanna."
Thank goodness—no harsh words. I'd worried she might curse, but nothing rough came out.
The villainess furrowed her brow at the introduction. Sounded like a name from her mental noble encyclopedia.
"Histania?"
A fairly prominent noble house, apparently.
Then it's trouble.
Olivia files other families away with keywords. Like:
- The family with the playboy head.
- The family with three moms.
- The family wiped out by gambling.
She stores them that way in her head. If she just kept it internal, fine—but she blurts it out. Unfiltered.
I focused on her words with worry, and sure enough, a doomsday keyword emerged from her mouth.
"Ah. The family with nothing in their heads but swords?"
I wanted to applaud Olivia's words. The villainess's pure, unfiltered speech was as reliable as ever. Nothing was off-limits with strangers. She wasn't malicious—just brutally honest. Sometimes her hands moved before her mouth, but hey, there are guys whose magic flies before either, so this was tame.
Like it or not.
Aware or not of my concern, the villainess kept muttering to herself.
"Youngest, huh? So you're the knight commander's daughter. Got nothing in your head but swords too?"
Hanna's face flushed at Olivia's perfect villainess quip.
"Lady, that's rude."
"Ah, sorry. Haven't seen anyone in ages—got too excited."
At least she owned her mistakes. I wanted to clear up Hanna's misconceptions about her being the worst woman alive. Just talk more, and you'll see she's fine. But before I could say it...
Hanna was already broken.
"Ah... Yeah, you're right."
Seemed like clearing up the misunderstanding was a bust.
Hanna was flustered. From the butler beating down Ruin to being in the villainess's bedroom—everything from one to ten was a new experience today.
Especially...
"Ah, the family with nothing in their heads but swords?"
The blunt strike without warning left Hanna reeling, unable to hide her shock.
The Histania family. A house that rose to countship through swordsmanship honed since their ancestors, earning merits in war. A family built on swords alone—and one where swords were everything.
The villainess was right. Swords were all they had.
Inherit the headship with the sword. Pass down wealth with the sword. No talent for swordsmanship? Treated worse than a branch family member.
Dad was the imperial knight commander. Her brother, the youngest knight in the imperial order. Her sister had held the top spot in the swordsmanship department for four years now.
They all shone brighter than anyone.
She was the top first-year in swordsmanship too, but unlike her sister and brother who'd earned it with talent, she'd clawed her way there through blood, sweat, and tears.
Pulling all-nighters swinging her blade. Putting marriage on the back burner, building calluses on her hands, honing her skills to claim the year-top spot.
At first, she was proud of her effort. Dad had said hard work was a talent too.
But lately, she'd learned effort couldn't beat talent.
Before enrolling, she'd once stumbled on Dad sparring with Senior Mikhail.
-Your skills have grown even more.
-You're too kind!
-Hahaha...
It was dazzling. Someone making Dad smile with swordplay alone was cool; the two conversing through blades was awesome.
At the same time, she felt a wall. She'd never done that.
She'd never drawn a smile from Dad's lips, and honestly, holding onto year-top was a struggle.
From that day, Hanna lost interest in the sword.
And gained a new hobby: Mikhail.
She liked swordsmanship but hated it too. Backlash, probably. Her own mediocre talent made her admire Mikhail's genius, and since Dad approved of him too... She annoyed herself thinking like that.
The voice that had pricked her mood rang out again.
"How's the academy?"
A perfectly innocent question. Hanna replied indifferently, lacing it with arrogance—What's it to you, now that you're kicked out? She wanted to say it aloud but couldn't with the butler there.
"It's fine, I guess."
It's better without you. She kept that in her heart.
"Mm. I see."
Olivia nodded. Rumors said her legs were bad—was it true? Curiosity stirred, but she shelved the sensitive question.
Olivia tossed another at Hanna.
"How's Yuria? Doing well?"
Yuria. The girl she'd tormented most. Blinded by jealousy at first, but Yuria had endured with dignity and now topped the healing department. One of Hanna's idols.
Hanna snarked back again.
"Yes. She's doing great."
"Good."
That was when it came. Olivia's voice turned icy.
"But why are you talking like that? So nasty?"
The villainess's tone had chilled. Hanna's heart shrank.
"I'm being nice."
"Huh...?"
"You be nice too."
Warmth returned to the villainess's voice.
"Or I'll have to get mean."
Hanna was offended. Who are you to boss me around? The urge to snap rose to her throat, but a weird noise from behind stopped her.
-Urk... Hngh.
Snnf!
It came from the butler standing there. Fist in his mouth, nodding like a proud dad watching his kid nail their first errand.
Quietly behind her, the butler was thumbs-upping.
"Did I do good?"
The villainess beamed innocently at the sight.
What the...?
Hanna couldn't keep up with those two.