How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The content of what he said was bloody, but more than that, she felt like she was being hacked to pieces by the murder intent that he was emanating. As a person who has lived on the battlefield since he was a boy, he knew how to make people feel intimidated. Even though he was talking quietly, his cold voice made her whole body freeze.

“I don’t know what the trick is, but please return to the imperial palace while I let you go quietly.”

After that, the Grand Duke left her alone and turned away mercilessly.

She stood still, then followed his back with a belatedly tense look. Her heart still trembled, but at the same time it was absurd.

‘You’re accused of being a murderer because you talk like that!’

She thought it was pitiful to be falsely framed as a criminal, but now that she saw it, it’s not worthy of sympathy. He just didn’t have a chance, but he would have killed her. The eyes from earlier were definitely enough to kill Eve.

She glanced around at the Grand Duke’s attendants next to her, and they were all silently guarding their places with indifferent faces. Hearing these conversations seemed very familiar. The Grand Duke ignored me and turned around again.

‘Oh, no matter what. Can you treat your fiancee like this?’

She didn’t even like that guy in the first place, but she started to get angry when she was treated like that. Now that she was there, she would definitely make him take this flower. Although she was overwhelmed by the pressure of the opponent for a moment, there was no reason for her to be afraid of this man.

Eve was the Emperor’s daughter and the Grand Duke’s fiancee. He said he would kill her, but no matter how truthful he was, the Drang Duke couldn’t kill or hit her… At least not in a public setting like that.

She headed forward again, holding the bouquet in one hand. Then, she turned to the Grand Duke who was walking away and spoke in a hard voice as if arguing.

“Stop it, Your Highness. This is my order as the princess.”

For a moment, his attendants were staring at her as if they were looking at a crazy person. They thought of her as an ordinary stalker because Eve chased after the Grand Duke without her pride and caused trouble in all directions… No, she looked like an ordinary lady, but in fact, Eve was the Emperor’s biological daughter. Of course, the Grand Duchess was actually a family that was treated like royalty, so strictly speaking, their social status was the same.

‘Still, basically, the princess must be higher.’

No matter who was higher, her words worked. The Grand Duke, who was going ahead, stopped his steps and turned to her again.

“Did you just say an order?”

It seemed that he stopped because he was so angry rather than because of her order, but he stopped anyway, so it’s okay. She spoke calmly, ignoring his bloody expression.

“Isn’t it against the etiquette to leave before a lady, when the conversation isn’t over yet?”

The Grand Duke looked down at her with his astonished eyes. Now it was as if he was looking at a person who had lost his mind.

“Are you preaching to me about etiquette, Princess?”

It was a low voice, but in a tone full of ridicule, the inner meaning of whether the word etiquette came out on the subject of a serious stalker was revealed.

She replied politely with an elegant smile.

“We are about to become a couple. It is also the wife’s role to point out her husband’s shortcomings and give him advice.”

As the words ‘husband’, ‘couple’, and ‘shortcomings’ continued, the faces of the attendants who were watching became more and more blue. On the other hand, the Grand Duke just stared at her face with one eyebrow slightly raised. It’s a surprisingly calm response. Could it be that he sensed that her reaction was different from the usual Eve?

“I’m sorry if you were offended. I couldn’t help it because you didn’t listen to me. Please give me a little more time.”

She thought it was too much, so she looked at his eyes and asked carefully.

“All right.”

He answered indifferently and moved a little closer to her.

“I would like to hear how important it is to say that.”

His expression was calm, but his dark purple eyes were looking at her with a fierce gaze, saying that he would not send her back safely if she said something useless here.

“….”

If it’s not important, she thought he would really kill Eve. But she couldn’t get out of there anyway so she ignored his gaze and continued talking while placing her hand on the petals.

“I have been looking for these flowers to apologize to Your Highness, but they also have other purposes.”

Even though it was brought from a snowy garden, the pure white flowers were fresh and without a single scratch. She took her hands off the petals and stared straight into the Grand Duke’s purple eyes.

“There are fortnights left before the anniversary of the death of Her Highness, the late Grand Duchess.”

Grand Duchess Jeon, the mother of the present Grand Duke, died suddenly of illness at a young age. When the story of the Grand Duchess came out, the Grand Duke’s momentum became even more brutal.

“What does that have to do with the princess?”

“Well. The Grand Duchess was my godmother. And soon I will marry his son.”

In response to the other person’s cold questioning, sarcastic remarks came out spontaneously without her knowledge. It wasn’t on purpose so she adjusted her tone and spoke again.

“Other than that, it doesn’t matter much, but… Still, I wanted to take care of it. Because Her Highness had been really good to me when I was young.”

The deceased Grand Duchess was close to Eve’s birth mother, the former Empress, and became the godmother to the young princess. She had a pretty close relationship with young Eve, or that said the book.

She lowered her head slightly and put on a melancholy expression as if she was missing her late godmother.

“So, with the permission of the high priest, I got some flowers from the sacred tree. The Grand Duchess really liked this flower. When you visit the Holy Tree, you always look at the flowers near the flower bed.”

This was a story the Grand Duke told Sorel directly in the original story. It was something she recalled when she came to this temple and saw the Holy Tree. It must be true because what the real son said directly.

The Grand Duke slightly wrinkled his brow, but remained silent.

She carefully touched the pure white petals.

“Actually, this flower was originally meant to commemorate the dead.”

In fact, it was said that it was a flower used in that sense in ancient times. Over hundreds of years, it’s just changed into a token given to lovers. Originally, it was said that it was a flower of remembrance to pray for the rest of the soul. She put out a bouquet of flowers with my last hope.

“please accept this. Because Your Highness will hate me if I go there myself. I want you to put it in the graveyard of the mansion instead of me.”

No way, they say they are giving flowers in remembrance of their mother, but they can’t refuse even that. It was a calculation.

“… … .”

However, despite my fervent persuasion, there was no reply.

The Archduke was staring at me without making any expression that was terrifying.

… … Looking at him like that is more scary than when he gets angry.

I’ve said this, but it doesn’t work… … .

I watched it quietly, then softened my spirits.

“I really promise you.”

I begged again with an anxious heart.

“I-if you accept this, I won’t bother you again. Really.”

I looked at her more earnestly than the match girl saying, “Please buy me one match.”

In fact, I was in a more desperate position than a match seller.

If this failed, he would die in 40 days.

Even though I begged with earnest eyes, the Grand Duke still did not answer.

There was so much tension in the corridor that I couldn’t breathe.

I’m not asking you to pay money to buy it, but I just want you to take it.

As I stood there holding my breath, the Grand Duke, who had been silent, spoke slowly.

“All right.”

He held out his hand with a brief acceptance.

“Since the princess said that, I will accept it.”

It was a calm tone, but there was annoyance in his indifferent purple eyes, as if saying that he would accept it, so please stop disappearing.

“Thank you!”

It didn’t matter if he got angry and cursed at her as long as he accepted the flowers. So she smiled in relief and handed the flower into his hand. While handing over the flowers, she fingertips brushed the Grand Duke’s hand. At that moment, she lowered her head and whispered softly so that the people around them could not hear.

“Please… Please keep this flower by your side and take good care of it.”

A few doubts floated in his sharp purple eyes, then disappeared. It wasn’t clear, but the quick-witted Grand Duke seemed to sense something foreign in her voice. He stared at her intently, holding the flowers, then turned and walked away without answering.

She prayed earnestly as she watched the back of the Grand Duke as he left the temple.

‘Please. I hope that man finds the note hidden in the flower petals.’

If he didn’t, they both were doomed. No, in fact, she was the only one who perishes, and the Grand Duke suffers for a while and then recovers quickly.

‘Still, if possible, it’s better to live comfortably and not suffer from false accusations of murder.’

Nell, who had been watching her anxiously from a few steps away, ran up to her belatedly.

“Princess… Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She was completely exhausted, probably because she was finally relaxed. As she tried to turn around, her legs trembled. Nell helped her out quickly.

She grabbed Nell by the shoulder and turned to the other side.

“Let’s go back to the imperial palace.”

She had done all she could, so she needed to take a break.

—————————————————————

Translator Note:

Want to read more?