In a certain empty room of Olivia’s mansion.
In the darkness of the room, Hanna was lying alone, unable to sleep through the night.
She had gone recklessly to her father.
Felt disappointed in her father.
And had been rescued by Ricardo just that day.
Hanna's eyes stayed wide awake after such an impactful day.
‘She is my precious disciple,' he had said.
Hanna's face heated up as if scalded by the recollections of the day that sped past like a series of swiftly changing scenes.
"What should I do…"
The image of Ricardo kept coming back to her, causing Hanna to kick at her covers in frustration.
"He was incredibly cool…"
It was like a mont straight from a fairy tale happening to her.
Ricardo appeared in front of her, full of adversity, like a cot shooting across her path. His descent from the ceiling was graceless but to Hanna, it was the coolest thing.
His red hair fluttering amongst the dust shone brighter in Hanna's eyes than the red sun, and his calm deanor seed like that of a fairy tale prince.
Ti felt suspended. As if the butler and she were the only ones in that place, chills spread throughout her body and her heart swelled with emotion.
The butler whose gaze was solely on her.
And herself, crying in stifled frustration.
In the heavy gaze of the butler, Hanna could not help but admit it.
That she loved him. That man.
Lying on the bed, Hanna looked at her right hand in the faint moonlight that filtered through the window.
Her small, slender right hand.
When they had left the mansion, Ricardo's warmth from holding her hand seed still to linger there.
His hands, living a life as a butler, were rough and callused, but Hanna couldn’t forget the warmth she felt from them at that mont.
‘She is my precious disciple. You cannot mistreat her so lightly,' he had said.
Hanna clutched her hand, still retaining its warm sensation, tightly against her chest. She longed to feel it again; it cald her troubled mind.
She liked this warmth so much that she’d wish to run instantly to the butler to hold his hand once more.
"I must be crazy…"
Hanna thought to herself in the dark.
‘What am I to him that he does all this for ?'
She had given nothing in return.
Always just receiving.
Why would he stand up for her without hesitation?
She felt an apology growing inside, along with gratitude for Ricardo and the emotional debt that kept increasing.
‘I cry foolishly and give nothing in return… I've received too much.'
This ti Hanna felt sorry for placing the debt of her love onto Ricardo’s shoulders.
Honestly… today.
Hanna thought Ricardo would step back.
She thought he'd be crushed under her father's imposing presence, say sothing pacifying, and then disappear.
Everyone who had a complaint against her father did just that.
Every problem, whether it was business.
Or matters related to the domains.
They all bowed their heads before her father, admitted their faults, and yielded their will. Hanna thought Ricardo would do the sa.
It wasn't that Ricardo was weak; it was the natural thing to do.
She thought it wasn't her affair.
She thought he’d turn his back and leave her.
If she was in Ricardo's place, that was what she would have done.
However.
Ricardo did not retreat.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and stood up tenaciously.
‘Do you want to be laid to rest in a sunny spot?'
He spoke those penetrating words.
Watching Ricardo speak to her father – the words she had always wanted to say herself.
It was exhilarating, yet at the sa ti, she felt envious.
It was sothing she could never do.
Because she was scared.
Because she had been holding back all this ti.
Because she had been pushing down her emotions.
But Ricardo did it with apparent ease. He boldly stood up to her father, defended her honorably, and even took her by his warm hand out of the confines of the Histania na.
‘Again… it's the butler.'
Ricardo, who always opened the door when she was in a tough spot.
Hanna couldn’t deny it anymore.
She likes him.
-Thump… Thump…
Her heart was racing wildly.
As if it were broken, it seed to keep calling out Ricardo's na.
"Love…"
The emotion of love was too complicated.
And yet.
Hanna was starting to embrace the feeling of love.
It seed undeniable.
That she liked Ricardo.
Which woman in the world would not like a man who repeatedly saves her, no matter how plain-looking he might be? If soone is there for her at her toughest monts, extending a hand and always showing a bright smile, even an enemy would grow fond.
Their first encounter had been the worst…
But now, Hanna found herself constantly wanting to see him.
And he was rather handso too.
She was so smitten with Ricardo that she wondered if perhaps he might like her too.
There was no escape.
No way out.
Her throbbing heart urged her not to deny it, and what could she do against it?
She wanted to see him even now.
This incident had firmly established Ricardo's presence in Hanna's heart.
Soone she couldn't let go of.
The person she was most thankful for.
Hanna didn’t know if she could handle these new, tickling emotions, but one thing was clear: she wanted to keep her place by Ricardo's side.
She wanted to hold his hand and go to the sea, be led around busy streets by his rough touch.
"Now what am I supposed to do…"
Hanna muttered a mild reproach towards Ricardo, the one who had unsettled her heart, yet she smiled.
"If I fall for you any more deeply… really…"
The emotions that once lingered gloomily because of her father were fading because of one man.
So many things had happened.
And it was that man who had put an end to all those events.
Hanna liked him.
She had to return to the Royal Academy tomorrow… but she didn't want to go back.
However, for a better success,
For the opportunity to appear before Ricardo with pride, she needed a new stepping stone.
Now, not for the na of Histania but for herself, and to beco soone who would match Ricardo, Hanna decided to strive.
If she had resolved to present herself as a gift, it seed appropriate to have beautiful wrapping.
That was the best recompense she could do for Ricardo, and the sincerest effort for a debt she could never repay.
The last night in the villainess's house was drawing to a close.
The number of family mbers was increasing.
And Lady Olivia’s mansion remained a peaceful place, where she still loved to eat.
Hanna liked it here.
Her heart found peace.
After all, the person she liked most was here.
The peace that seed almost addictive was sothing Hanna deeply envied, but now it was ti to prepare to move forward.
She would indulge in the tranquility today.
And from tomorrow, she would live her life anew as Hanna of Histania. No, just as Hanna, she resolved and closed her eyes.
And then.
[Would you like to view it?]
After seeing the deferred truth, she decided to start anew.
Hanna clenched her fist.
Now she thought she could overco it. No matter how dreadful the past might be, she had decided not to go back there.
Knowing that avoidance wouldn't lead to answers, Hanna gazed at the blue window and muttered to herself softly.
"Yes. I’ll view it."
〈Side Story 41〉
[Viewing of ‘If He Hadn't Been There…' will now comnce.]
Hanna began to sink into a deep riptide.
***
[Ten minutes before the viewing starts.]
She opened her eyes in a familiar place.
The green grass.
The comforting chirping of birds.
It was the Hal Mountains' mid-slope, a place she had visited dozens of tis with Ricardo.
Hanna took a deep breath and inhaled the refreshing air. She opened her eyes aningfully, knowing she could cope with whatever was shown to her, and slapped her cheeks crisply to relax.
Her mind felt clearer.
The suffocating tension seed to have eased a bit.
"Whew… That's right, it won't be anything big."
Hanna prepared herself ntally.
She had let go of any lingering attachnt to her father and she had so predictions about what the past would reveal.
It might be shocking, but she was certain it wouldn't be any different from the present. She was no longer the weak person she used to be.
Had ten minutes gone by since she ntally prepared herself?
[Viewing will now begin.]
Along with the blue text, a familiar woman's face began to appear.
With brown hair.
The youngest daughter of Histania.
The face of her past self was floating before her eyes.
Her expression was not a happy one.
Her eyes were swollen.
And her steps up the mountain were exceptionally heavy.
‘Why… does this only happen to ?'
‘I can do well, too.'
‘I can try my hardest.'
The past Hanna was climbing the mountain, wiping away her flowing tears.
She was uttering negative words, lanting her lack of talent and looking vacantly with empty eyes.
How much had she cried? Her eyes were reddened, and the sword in her hand trembled.
‘I'll show them I can do it. Then Dad, Brother, Sister, they'll all see differently.'
The past self who yearned for her family's love.
It was a familiar sight.
‘Such a fool.'
Hanna quietly followed her past self.
And then.
-Crunch…!
Her past self, failing to wield the sword properly, collapsed under an orc’s club.
-Aaaaaah!!!
Hanna's face began to twist in fear.
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