The Lady's Butler: I Reincarnated To Serve The Villainess

Renelle remained frozen in place as different scenes played before her, how long had she been here?

She had no idea.

All she knew, was that she watched as the emotionless young Adrian grow up into the very same Adrian she knew.

And at this point, she had realized that her butler, unlike her, was not a regressor, from watching him all these ’years’.

She watched as his ’guardians’ kick him out the moment they legally could, providing him with the barest of minimum, until they completely stopped.

Renelle watched as Adrian tried to be normal just to be part of a society, he tried smiling even though his eyes remained blank.

He got so perfect at simulating emotions that one wouldn’t be able to tell whether they were real or not, but somehow, she could tell.

The only time he truly didn’t need to was back in his apartment when he read a certain manhwa,

The Saintess And The Silver Crown

And that was the reason why she remained frozen throughout this, not because of Adrian’s expression, but because of the manhwa itself.

Or rather, the characters in it.

Adrian sat on a chair, a few years older now, a teenager perhaps, his posture was relaxed, one leg slightly stretched out as he held a glowing rectangular device in his hand.

"How cliché," he muttered as he scrolled through the story again, at this point the story had been completed, and yet he kept reading it over and over again.

She, just like him, had seen these pages multiple times already, but her brain struggled to accept that her world was nothing but a picture book in Adrian’s.

Renelle continued wondering whether or not this was a trick of the dungeon, only for her thoughts to be interrupted by Adrian suddenly speaking up.

"If she had someone who didn’t abandon her," Adrian suddenly said as he stopped on the page where the prince stabbed her, "would it change anything?"

"Would she still end like that?" he stayed on the page for a while longer, "I want to see that."

The expression on his face was one she had seen a few too many times on the face of her butler.

His obsession started from here, this very moment.

Renelle watched the world around her deconstructed itself, something that she was used to at this point.

She opened her eyes to find herself in the streets again, but this time, instead of where the metal carriages passed, she was standing at the side with other people who couldn’t see her.

On the opposite side, was Adrian who seemed like he hadn’t slept for hours, judging by the bags under his eyes.

He was calmly waiting for something, perhaps the larger carriage that carried multiple people?

But the next second, something unexpected happened.

One moment, Adrian was standing at the sidewalk and the next, he was right in the middle of the streets with a large carriage headed towards him.

Without thinking, her legs carried her towards him...or at least tried to, but just before she could reach him.

BAM!

***

"Adrian!" Renelle screamed as her eyes snapped open, visibly shaken by the scene of her butler being hit by a truck.

It took a couple of seconds, but she finally managed to calm herself down and notice that her surroundings had changed again.

She seemed to be inside a place similar to a stone temple, and on each wall were texts similar to the ones they had seen on the door of the dungeon.

"I-I’m back?" She questioned, as this looked very different from the modern architecture she had somehow gotten used to seeing.

"I guess you found out," a familiar voice came from her side, causing her head to immediately snap towards it.

Standing there was her butler,who also seemed to have just woken up from whatever trail this dungeon had created for them.

Renelle had a lot of questions, but the moment she saw him standing before her and very much alive, all that was thrown out the window.

Without her conscious command, her body moved and before Adrian could react, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck and without saying anything, just stayed like that.

He was a bit surprised by the sudden unexpected hug.

From the memories of Renelle that the dungeon had shown him, he had concluded that she had seen the same.

Most likely his actual memories, not the previous Adrian’s, which meant she had found out he was from Earth, rather than a regressor as he claimed.

A hug was the last thing he expected.

Adrian didn’t realize it, but he felt a sense of relief that she had actually found out that he wasn’t the previous Adrian.

It felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Renelle, on the other hand, continued hugging him for a while longer, until she finally calmly down and assured herself that he was alive.

And that’s when the embarrassment set in.

So much so that she found it hard to let go, since she was certain that looking at his face right now would just make her even more embarrassed.

Unfortunately for the two, their moment wouldn’t last forever, as a voice suddenly interrupted.

{Ah, young love,} the voice said, {what I would give to experience it again.}

Renelle immediately let go of him, much to Adrian’s disappointment.

The two then turned towards the voice and there they saw what seemed to be a holographic old man standing.

He was translucent, with a golden glow covering him and there was a smile on his face.

Adrian frowned as he spotted the old man, well, calling him old was a bit of stretch since he seemed to be in his early forties.

He could’ve sworn he had seen him somewhere before, but he didn’t have to think long.

Noticing their gazes on him, the old man stood straighter and looked at them with a smile, the exact pose of the golden statue in the center of the academy.

That meant one thing, this old man was,

"The founder?"