How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

While she was thinking about those thoughts, a middle-aged blonde woman who had been sitting quietly muttered in a worried voice.

“There is nothing to worry about as His Majesty is in command, but… Still, I can’t judge the outcome of the war yet, so I’m very anxious.”

She was drinking tea in silence and then quickly added to the story.

“Oh, don’t worry. The war will be won by our Albion Empire.”

When she suddenly intervened, the surroundings became quiet as if cold water had been poured on them. It must be surprising that Eve, who has no interest in international affairs, suddenly intervenes in the conversation. In fact, the original Eve did not have the intellectual ability to understand politics. It was said that even in the basic political science class taught by the tutor, she failed the exam and ended up as a failing student. It was a fact that everyone there knew.

The empress also looked at her with a suspicious look. The blond lady who had spoken out asked her with courtesy.

“It would be great if that happened, but… Any special reason?”

“Sure.”

She put down the teacup and explained in her usual manner.

“Rasken is busy with the succession race right now. The person who went to the battlefield is the youngest prince, right? It is said that the reason why Emperor Rasken sent the youngest prince to the battlefield was to put him aside from the succession plan. In such a situation, there is no way that the home country can properly support it.”

The blonde-haired wife and other noble ladies, as well as the empress, all looked at here in amazement.

She spoke calmly.

“That side will only take the time, so our Emperor, who is good at tactics, will easily come back victorious.”

In the original work, the emperor easily won the battle and returned to the system. If his plan went well, the Emperor would end the war sooner and return to the Isles. So she finished the explanation and leisurely drank tea. The surroundings fell into silence as if cold water had been poured on them. Belatedly, the blonde woman smiled and admired it.

“The princess is really smart. She knows well about the trends of the enemy country…”

“You are over-appreciating.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on her face. To think that stupid Eve could understand that situation. It was a look that nobody couldn’t believe.

It was surprising not to react to Sorel’s story, which was even more shocking. Several noble ladies glanced at the Empress and looked at her. The smile disappeared from her Empress’ good-natured face for an instant.

The Empress looked at her with expressionless eyes for a moment, then smiled warmly again.

“Our Eve must have studied a lot. As a mother, I am proud of you.”

The Empress praised her for her kind demeanor, then she added with a gentle smile.

“It would be nice if the Grand Duke recognized our Eve’s efforts too.”

The Empress let out a sigh as if she was truly sorry for her, then took the hand of the blond-haired lady next to her and handed her a favor.

“If the Duchess of Rohan has a chance to meet the Grand Duke, please tell him about our Eve.”

The Duchess of Rohan? She glanced again at the Duchess, who had her blonde hair neatly up. The Duchess of Rohan was the younger sister of the late Grand Duchess, and she was the Grand Duke’s aunt. She was not a very important character in the original story, but she was a kind aunt who helped her nephew, the Grand Duke, from time to time.

“Ah, yes, Her Majesty…”

The Duchess looked at her with troubled eyes as the Empress held her hand. The soft voice of her Empress continued.

“Don’t you think it’s too heartless to not come to see Eve even once when the wedding is less than a month away?”

Instead of looking for her, the Grand Duke had been avoiding Eve for a long time. Her tone was full of worries, but no one knew what the Empress meant. Even if she pretended to be so proud, it was a sarcastic remark that she was in a miserable situation where she was thoroughly ignored by her fiancé, the Grand Duke.

Even when the Empress quarreled with her, she still maintained a dignified appearance. 

To a stranger, she would seem genuinely concerned about her stepdaughter. The Empress and some of her close ladies covered their mouths with her fans and exchanged eye smiles.

“I’m fine, mother. There are couples who are lucky to get married and live well even if they do not get along at first.”

She said with an innocent smile on her face.

“I heard that His Highness the Grand Duke hates having a government or a concubine. It must mean that the marriage vows are so important to him, right?”

This world was a very unfair world in which polygamy was allowed only to men of the ruling class. Emperors as well as nobles had several side chambers in addition to their main wives. But the Grand Duke loathed men having concubines or mistresses.

‘It was stated in the original work that it was because his father, the former Grand Duke, was so horny that he upset the Grand Duchess.’

She smiled naturally and put one hand on her chest and continued as if she had promised.

“He will not be distracted by anything else and will be faithful only to me as his official wife, so I think the relationship will gradually improve. I will have to work hard to make that happen.”

The inside of the drawing room sank coldly as if frozen. Everyone knew that the current Empress was the emperor’s concubine. Although she was now an Empress, her past, which was her concubine, always stuck like a tag. As expected, the moment she finished her words, the empress’ face drained of blood.

As the smile disappeared from the Empress’s pretty face, the atmosphere around her also cooled. She sipped the remaining tea like an ignorant child and put the teacup down. Then, she headed back to the Empress.

“Right, actually I have a favor to ask you, mother.”

“A favor?”

“Yes, it is not a difficult request.”

Shelooked at the Empress while laughing.

To say something like that just a while ago and ruin her mood and ask for a favor. Everyone looked at her with ridiculous eyes, but she didn’t give in and kept her smile. It was because she had scratched the inside of the empress to say that from the beginning.

“Okay, tell me what you want to ask.”

The Empress, who managed to get her emotions under control, asked again with her benevolent smile. 

She smiled obediently and said.

“It’s Ensha’s holiday soon.”

The three days before and after Ensha’s Day were a period to honor the souls of the dead. Ordinary people commemorate their family and friends who have passed away, and the country holds ceremonies to honor former Emperors and heroes of the empire.

“Before going to the Grand Duchy, I want to go to the shrine and offer my prayers for my deceased mother and consecrate her mementos.”

When the topic of “her deceased mother” came up, the atmosphere became more subdued. So she quickly added.

“And since I’m going to the temple after a long time, I want to pray for the safe return of His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Hmm…”

A slightly troubled expression crossed the Empress’ face. She was in trouble.

Her stepdaughter said she would go to pray for her dead mother and her father who went to war, but nothing could stop her from going. In the four days after she woke up there, the Empress went out of the palace twice. Once she was going to pray at the shrine, and once she was going out to attend a banquet for her parents, the Counts. But both times they didn’t invite Eve to go with them.

Now that the Emperor, Crown Prince, Second Prince, and even Sorel have left the Imperial Palace, the Empress and she were the only ones in the Imperial Palace.

‘She’d probably take me out as a courtesy.’

Normally, the empress liked to take Eve with her. She was praised for being a good stepmother, and she could show everyone how wild and wayward Eve could be.

‘Seeing that she didn’t take me out, it must be that the Emperor told her to leave Eve inside the palace.’

The Emperor did not tell the Empress the details of his plans, but before he departed, he must have ordered Eve to be well guarded. That’s why they couldn’t take her outside and kept her inside the imperial palace. As usual, this time too, the Empress would have prevented Eve from going to the front in her stead. After all Eve was a troublemaker causing commotion wherever she went.

But today was different.

She pretended to be smart in front of the noble ladies and pretended to know about the situation, and implicitly insulted the Empress. The enraged Empress would deliberately send her out of the house in order to disgrace Eve. Especially if she went in her stead, she would surely be disgraced.

‘Because today is the day the Grand Duke goes to the temple.’

The Grand Duke secretly visits the Great Shrine every year just before Ensha’s feast day. On the day of the festival, the temple was crowded with visitors. To avoid being noticed, the Grand Duke went on the eve of the festival, he would visit the temple for a while during the evening when there were few people.

And that was today. That was a fact that only a very few people, including the imperial couple, knew about.

The Empress looked at her in silence for a moment. They seemed to be checking to see if she knew the Grand Duke was coming to the temple today and did that on purpose. She deliberately smiled with an innocent face.

She didn’t forget to glance at the Empress with her expectant gaze. She exuded her atmosphere of ‘I’m pretending to be nice because I really want to go out’. There was no such thing as a complicated scheme, just like pretending to be a good daughter because she wanted to meet the Grand Duke she had a crush on.

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