How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

“That, that… I also saw the future because it was a few days ago. I don’t know if I can see that right now.”

“How often did it show up?”

“It doesn’t show up that often. It was about once every two or three days.”

Of course she wasn’t sure. She saw the first vision four days after she came there, so she just guessed that it would be about that frequency. If she could see everything she wanted to see, she would have seen and prepared for such an embarrassing request.

“I’m sorry, but I’m in trouble right now. Just because I want to see it doesn’t mean I can see it anytime.”

The Grand Duke seemed to lose interest when he heard the explanation.

“It’s an uncontrollable ability…”

He said it as if he was saying it was useless so she quickly added an excuse.

“It’s because it hasn’t been long since I’ve regained my abilities yet. The more I practice, the better I will become.”

Actually, she couldn’t be sure of that either. Even in the original work, Eve’s foresight ability was not described in detail. Since Eve died in vain before she could display any of her abilities,sheI couldn’t go into detail about it. In any case, what was certain was that foreknowledge could be seen only when the bare hands touched the person involved in the case. And when she touched the other person, she had to think about what she wanted to see so that the future related to it came out. That was why, when she passed the Duchess’s hand with the question, “Why is the duchess’ daughter suddenly ill and unable to attend her wedding?”

“Okay.”

However, the Grand Duke still had an indifferent face. It was clear that he didn’t believe a single word she said.

‘What if he just goes back like that?’

The Grand Duke was a more arrogant and cool-headed man than she imagined while reading the original. Well, it didn’t seem like a person of this size would easily believe that vision had suddenly returned.

‘Didn’t he suddenly ask about the color of his clothes? It’s fortunate that the original story briefly mentions the clothes the Grand Duke wore on his wedding day. Otherwise, I would have been unable to answer.’

She didn’t expect to be asked such a question. It was a question that completely caught the opponent’s loophole. Well, if she really saw that scene as a foreknowledge, she would remember the color of his clothes. Fortunately, there was a scene in the original story where the Grand Duke spoke to Sorel about the regalia.

He said that he had never worn it normally, but only that day he wore a black court regalia. Maybe it was when he took Sorel to the ball. This was the man’s reply when Sorel looked at him and said that it was the first time he had seen His Highness wear court garb.

Thanks to the original work, the question passed, but the Grand Duke still had doubts.

It couldn’t be helped.

Out of desperation, she decided to try an adventure.

“Fine. I’ll try my best if you want. Instead, His Highness must cooperate.”

“Do you need my help?”

“I’m afraid so. It’s because I’m looking at Your Highness’ future.”

The Grand Duke was watching her with an uninspired expression, telling her to try it if she wanted to. She hesitantly held out a hand.

“I… Then I’ll hold your hand.”

The Grand Duke frowned in displeasure. There were wrinkles between the well-shaped eyebrows.

She awkwardly withdrew her hand.

Well, Eve was a serious stalker. The stalker offered to hold his hand, but there was no way a good reaction would come out.

“Is that necessary?”

“I have to catch something to see it.”

She spread her bare hands and explained carefully.

“My precognitive ability is activated with my hands as the medium. I can only see a vision when my hands touch it.”

On the one hand, she wished that this man had refused to hold hands with Eve because she did not like him. Because there was almost no chance that the vision would appear here and now.

‘It would be nice if you gave up because of your hatred of Eve.’

But her wish did not come true.

The Grand Duke, who had been silent, took off his gloves and came closer to her.

“All right.”

“Yes?”

“You can grab it if you need to.”

The Grand Duke still had a reluctant expression, but unexpectedly, he held out his hand obediently. What, really? As soon as she looked away, he took another step forward.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, yes, then…”

She carefully cupped his hand. At first glance, it was a large and strong hand. She could feel the hard calluses on his palms. Her hands were cold from the chill of the winter night, but the Grand Duke’s hands were quite warm, contrary to their appearance.

She felt a strange pounding sensation from the warmth transmitted through her skin. And she suddenly remembered what Nell said at the temple.

It was said that if the hands were warm, that was a person with a warm heart.

The Grand Duke’s hand was warmer than hers. Couldn’t Nell’s truth actually be the opposite? The warmer the hand, the colder the person must be, right?

While she was thinking about that, she raised her gaze and saw the Grand Duke’s face looking down at her. Features that give off a strong impression like a man and create beautiful lines. The white moonlight casted a dark shadow on the well-groomed bridge of the nose and jawline. It was a face more beautiful than the statue standing by the window.

The truth was that aside from his personality, his looks were really perfect.

‘Holding hands with such a handsome man in the middle of the night in a dark place…’

Embarrassed and ashamed, but for some reason she felt like her heart was tickling.

‘Let’s focus, focus.’

IShe avoided the Grand Duke’s gaze and closed her eyes to focus on her foreknowledge. 

But even after waiting for a long time, nothing was seen. A few minutes passed in silence. A slow voice sounded overhead.

“How long do I have to hold it?”

“Now, wait a minute.”

‘Please.’

She closed her eyes and prayed fervently. 

‘Please show me one, please.’

Maybe that was the first and last chance. That man didn’t seem to believe about the eclipse in a few days if she didn’t prove her abilities right in front of him. 

How earnestly she must have been praying. In an instant, her vision was distorted.

* * *

In an instant, the dark chapel disappeared. It was covered in white everywhere, as if walking into a fog, and in the blink of an eye, it was transformed into a completely different place. It was in a luxuriously decorated room. There was no bed or desk in the large room, only a sofa, a table, a decorative cabinet on the wall, and a colorful console. It was probably like a resting room or drawing room in a mansion.

She could see the back of the Grand Duke sitting on a chair in the center. It was a fleeting moment, but she slowly approached him, as if she was walking close to him.

His stocky shoulders and nape of neck, wrapped in his military uniform, were visible. As she took a step closer, she saw what he was carrying over his shoulder.

The moment she confirmed that, her vision was covered with darkness.

* * *

“Ah…!”

She opened her eyes in surprise. When she came to her senses, she was back in the dark chapel, and the Grand Duke was watching her pale face intently.

“Did you see something?”

She recalled the vision that had passed by for a brief moment.

“Yes, I have definitely seen Your Highness.”

She felt as if she had opened the door for a while and peeped at the back of this man sitting in the room. It was a short scene, but the vision was so vivid and intense.

The vision appeared as she prayed earnestly for him to appear.

‘Can I have visions if I concentrate with earnest heart?’

It didn’t work when she tried it on Nell at the temple, but it appeared easily this time. Well, when she touched the Duchess’s hand, she didn’t even want to have a vision, but it suddenly appeared. So if she wanted to see it and focus on it, it would appear by chance, but sometimes it appeared randomly without her thinking about it.

She still couldn’t figure it out exactly. Anyway, she had seen two predictions so far.

Both times, Eve felt the same. As if she had entered the place herself, she looked around and moved closer, even peeping at what was in his hand. She thought it was simply showing a scene like a picture, but a much more specific and vivid illusion appeared. Maybe this would be more useful than what she thought.

“So… what kind of foreknowledge was it?”

The Grand Duke asked with a slightly curious gaze.

She came to her senses and recalled her memory. Apparently the Grand Duke was sitting at the table, looking intently at what he was holding in his hands.

“His Highness was holding a deck of cards.”

He was holding two cards. A trump card used in a card game.

“One was a heart, the other a clover. There were also numbers. Both were 7.”

Even in this world, there were games that could be enjoyed using cards. Card games were a common game enjoyed by male aristocrats in social circles. In the original story, there was no mention that the Grand Duke enjoyed playing card games, but if he attended social gatherings, he might have the chance to participate at least once in a while.

For example, it was said that it was not a very groundless scene.

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Translator Note:

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