The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

Chapter 66: I really hate you, father

Having a drink with his son after a long while.

Rowen was in good spirits, enjoying a drink with his son Malik whom he had hardly seen lately due to the latter awakening his aura.

Malik always brought results that met expectations.

Though Rowen saw many shortcomings in his eyes, his son showed no deficiency in following the path he had walked.

He had begun to spend more time alone for training, but even that was pleasing to Rowen, as Malik was working hard for his own development.

If Hanna had been here…

He wouldn't have been able to greet her so warmly.

He would have spoken harshly, Rowen thought.

To quickly give up swordsmanship.

Because it's dangerous for you.

Even if Hanna argued that she had talent, Rowen thought he would stubbornly not bend his old-fashioned stubbornness.

‘I must be crazy after all.'

Rowen felt foolish about himself.

Drip.

Malik poured alcohol into the newly fetched glasses.

Rowen picked up his glass, filled to the brim, and said,

"So, what brings you here? You don’t just come by for no reason."

"Can't a son want to have a drink with his father?"

"Ha ha… I didn't raise you to be like that."

Malik smiled bitterly.

It wasn't just Hanna who had suffered under Rowen's insistence on the sword.

Clearing his throat, Malik spoke with a tension in his voice that shook Rowen with an inexplicable bitterness.

"Father, about Hanna."

A familiar name.

A name that one wouldn’t expect to hear from Malik's lips, and hearing it, Rowen gripped his glass tightly.

"Why do you bring up Hanna."

"Isn't she my sister? I just remembered her after a long time."

"…"

Malik just stared at the rippling glass. The very existence called ‘father' was as scary to him as it was to Hanna.

To Malik, just speaking of this matter required a great deal of courage because his father had always been a fearful figure who placed a heavy burden on his shoulders, much like it was for Hanna.

With the dew on the glass moistening his hand, Malik spoke cautiously.

"I know this may be presumptuous but… what if… you apologized to Hanna."

"An apology?"

Rowen's voice came out sharply.

An apology was a particularly uncomfortable word for someone as averse to it as Rowen.

Committing a wrong meant being prepared to be disliked. An apology wouldn't just erase that dislike, he believed.

Moreover,

"Why should I apologize to Hanna? Shouldn't it be Hanna who owes me an apology? Ignoring her father's letters to return, she has yet to come home. Do you think that is right?"

Rowen did not feel any wrongdoing towards Hanna. It was his own blunder in not being able to make her give up the sword that he blamed.

If being a strict parent was a sin, then every parent in the world was guilty.

Rowen didn't think that the ‘loving whip' meant for leading to a better future was wrong.

If that led to an apology.

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Then it was Hanna's fault for not following through.

Rowen could not accept Malik's request.

Malik's glass trembled slightly. His father's stubbornness was dreadfully palpable.

The father who had always imposed the sword.

The father who had been unreasonable towards Hanna now seemed unbearably stifling.

With a shaky voice, Malik said,

"Father, haven’t you always favored me? I've done the same too."

"Favoritism? No, it was a rational choice. I simply focused on nurturing you, the key that could illuminate the Histania name."

"Our family has grown enough."

"If I hadn’t been there, it would've gone downhill."

"That’s inevitable, isn't it? You and we are different…"

"What you just said is quite vexing."

Malik lowered his head.

"I'm sorry."

Rowen let out a heavy sigh. The future head of the family showed such an attitude; Rowen's concerns only grew.

Both Hanna and Malik.

It seemed like everything had gone awry after meeting that guy.

Rowen, looking at Malik with his head bowed, subtly asked,

"I met Ricardo, the swordsman you praised so courageously two days ago."

"Are you talking about Ricardo?"

"Yes. He treated me as a peddler."

"A peddler?"

A small smile appeared on Malik’s face, frozen with tension. ‘Crazy fool,’ he murmured in a voice too soft for Rowen to hear.

At the same time, he was eager to know what Ricardo had said to his father.

Thanks to a single comment from Ricardo, Malik had gathered the courage to seek forgiveness from Hanna.

However, Rowen’s reaction was different from Malik's expectations and his words cut down Malik's hope.

"That presumptuous fool. Having become the butler to that fallen Desmond girl, apart from achieving high status at a young age, he's got nothing else to his name. Seeing him blabbing nonsensically that I was wrong… it was just laughable…"

Rowen downed the alcohol and said,

"That insolent man telling me that I haven’t a chance of getting along with Hanna"

Malik asked Rowen,

What exactly did Ricardo say to hear such words? The Ricardo he knew wouldn't speak provocatively without reason.

Even if it was a stinging truth.

Because everything said was correct.

"What words did you say… to Ricardo?"

In response to Malik's question, Rowen confidently said,

"I asked him to make it possible for Hanna to give up the sword."

"Father!"

Malik slammed the desk and stood up abruptly, glaring at Rowen and expressing his frustration, ‘Are you still talking about that? Until when will you keep saying that?' But Rowen just sat at the desk with a smug expression, looking up at Malik who was standing before him.

"Malik. This is your second warning."

But Malik refused to relent.

"How long will you keep this up? Hasn't Hanna proven herself? She loves the sword, and instead of helping her…"

"You don't understand why I'm doing this."

Rowen recalled his memories and said to Malik,

"Hanna is young and incapable of deep thought. If she keeps running down that path, she will eventually fall into danger. It's possible to rush down a path of success with newly gained power, but it’s not safe."

"Why don't you help her, Father?"

"I’m too busy worrying about you alone."

"Speak some sense."

Rowen glared at Malik and said,

"Then you."

Rowen uttered words that touched the very core of their family's relationship with Hanna.

"You've been just as awful to Hanna. Ignoring her, discriminating against her… If you thought it was wrong, why didn't you stop it?"

"I…"

"Apart from who's inferior or superior, I'd like you to realize that you and I are the same."

Malik clenched his fists tightly and bowed his head.

Not a single word from Rowen was incorrect. Yet, he had apologized to Hanna and continued to treat her with the intent to seek forgiveness.

Because he had indeed been cruel to Hanna, just as his father said.

But before they became any more estranged, Malik sincerely wanted to seek forgiveness from Hanna.

Now that he has realized that, let’s apologize. He had come here to express his true feelings to his father.

Rowen looked at Malik standing silently and said,

"Regardless of what it is, my decision remains unchanged. Have I raised Hanna to be strong? If mere hardships break her, how is she meant to live in this world?"

Malik looked straight at Rowen and said,

"Isn't that just a rationalization to suit your own tastes?"

"Rationalization? That's laughable. I have never once regretted my choices in my entire life. My life has proven it, and so has your success, hasn't it?"

Rowen glared at Malik and said for the last time,

"This is the third time, Malik. If you go any further, I won't be able to hold back."

Malik clenched his teeth and said to Rowen,

"You'll definitely regret it. Just like I regretted it with Hanna…"

"Regret is something Hanna should be feeling."

Rowen was convinced by this conversation.

That making Hanna give up the sword was for her own future.

Even if it meant using petty methods, forcing Hanna to give up the sword was for her safety and the best solution for Malik to focus on success, Rowen firmly believed.

After a brief silence…

Rowen waved his hand to dismiss Malik, it was a waste of time to continue this unproductive conversation. Rowen waved his hand and said to Malik,

"Leave…"

Just as Malik, with his fists clenched, bowed his head and was about to leave the office…

Bang!

A loud noise came from outside the mansion.

The sound of something breaking followed by the panicked voices of the servants could be heard.

-Ah.. Miss…

-Where is she…

-Why is the miss here…

-Where is father…

It was a voice Rowen hadn't heard in a long time.

Not the voice of the young daughter who had asked him for sparring and guidance at the mansion, but a violent voice filled with loathsome emotions that came through the office door.

Thump thump thump…

As hurried footsteps came through the door, a servant gasped for breath and burst open the office door.

The panting butler of the mansion called out to Rowen in an urgent voice,

"[Gasp]… [Gasp]… Master… your youngest daughter has arrived."

For a moment, Rowen's heart, which had been firmly set, was greatly shaken. His resolve to make sure she would give up the sword the next time they met crumbled to the point where he couldn't think of anything.

He simply wanted to see her face.

"Hanna has come…?"

"Yes…! You should come out quickly! That.. That is…"

-Where is he!

Hanna's shout resounded throughout the mansion.

A shout filled with resentment.

Hanna's voice weighed heavily on Rowen's shoulders as he sat in the office.

About 10 seconds passed.

And as the sound of footsteps approached the stairs…

A familiar figure pushed aside the butler guarding the door and entered the office.

"Move aside, before I kill you."

"But miss… this is where the master is working…"

"Get out of the way before I kill you."

Rowen's daughter, bloodied as if she had been fighting orcs, was walking into the office.

Histania Hanna.

Hanna stood in front of Rowen, panting for breath.

Her eyes were bloodshot with resentment, and the sword in her hand trembled.

Her face, looking like she could cry at any moment as she looked at him, shook Rowen's heart deeply.

-I want to be a great swordsman like my father!

The daughter who once admired him with respectful eyes was nowhere to be found.

Hanna threw a letter at Rowen.

"Did you really have to do it this way?"

──────────────

-To Histania Hanna

Return to the family.

This is your final warning.

Come back and study.

I have prepared the most suitable tutors, there will be no deficiencies.

If you avoid returning to the family this time as well, I will have to use the worst method to get you back.

Even if it means engaging you.

──────────────

Hanna looked at the crumpled letter and said to Rowen,

"I really hate you, Father."

──────────────

1. Read the letter sent by Histania Rowen. (1/1)

2. Meet your father, Histania Rowen. (1/1)

3. Slay the elite orc warriors of Hammel Mountains. (30/30)

──────────────

Hanna was crying.

*

In a spot above the office roof.

Sitting on the roof with heartfelt sentiment and peeking secretly, a man softly laid his hand on his sword and sighed deeply.

[Limit Break is testing the efficiency limits of ‘Potion of Stealth'.]

A man who had erased his presence.

The red-haired man murmured softly while watching them.

‘Ah… I want to see the miss.'

Ricardo, who had come to steal the karmic opportunity, sensed that x was detected.