How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

She suddenly changed so drastically that he couldn’t get used to it, but he understood why. As far as he knew, Princess Eve grew up in a peaceful environment, protected like a flower in a greenhouse. It would shock even the toughest of her to find out that her biological father was plotting to eliminate his political rival by murdering her.

‘Now that she knew about such a shocking incident, she must have come to her senses, albeit belatedly.’

In fact, from his point of view, it was better for him to divorce. Unless she was his wife, he had no reason to hold her accountable to him, nor had he to share in his property. Instead of monopolizing her abilities as the princess, al she had to do was protect her. So he should be happy that Eve offered him a divorce, but strangely, he felt more displeased than relieved when Eve told him that she wanted a divorce. Why?

When he thought that far, the carriage stopped in front of the front gate of the Duke’s residence.

“Y… Your Highness.”

Kamion, who had been waiting for his answer the whole time he was here, asked again.

“But why are you taking so many knights with you?”

His gaze turned to the knights of the Grand Ducal family outside the carriage.

This time the answer came back.

“I was asked to.”

* * *

She looked around the mansion, checked and prepared everything. Now she thought he wouldn’t have much to do until the ball, but she was wrong.

“Woe, Her Highness the Princess. The reception room is ready.”

“A reception room?”

It turns out that guests who arrive early spend their time in the pre-arranged first-floor reception room until the ball begins.

“This is it.”

The maid in charge of her guidance feared that she would offend her, so she trembled pitifully as she opened the door to the reception room. Could she be the only one using this place? Of course not. There were five or six young women in the waiting room. Seeing that they were all dressed in fancy evening dresses, they must have been invited to the ball. Ladies with different hair colors and eye colors all stare at her. And all the same hardened from shock.

“Wow, Princess.”

These were the eyes looking at the monster that suddenly pops out of the closet.

“Everybody was here.”

As she entered, the women got up belatedly and bowed.

“We Greet the princess.”

“Okay. It’s been a while, everyone.”

She had no idea who it was. Fortunately, it’s okay if she didn’t know the name now. Because Eve originally hated the ladies, so she didn’t meet them personally and couldn’t even memorize their names properly. In fact, the servants used to whisper that Eve did not have enough memory to memorize the names and backgrounds of the nobles. After being greeted, she sat down at the table. There were teacups and snacks on the table.

She guessed it’s meant to help kill time while waiting. She tasted the tea and ate the sweet cookies from the bowl. Meanwhile, the ladies stood up from their seats and only looked at her. The ladies poked at each other at the speed of light while I glared at my refreshments. It was as if they were pushing each other to talk to her.

Finally, a platinum-haired lady who had been pushed by the others came up to her and spoke to her cautiously.

“It is an infinite honor to meet Princess Eve in this place. Oh, please forgive me for not going out to greet the princess because I didn’t hear they saying that she was coming…”

“Ah. Originally, I had no plans to attend.”

She interrupted the pitifully trembling platinum-haired lady.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to attend social events because I was getting married. The Grand Duke asked me to come, so I had no choice but to attend.”

“Gran… His Highness the Grand Duke?”

“Last time we met at the Great Temple, and he asked me to attend the ball.”

What a lie! Because the second time they met in the Great War, we decided to meet at the ball.

“He really asked you to come to the prom?”

The other person asked back in surprise, but she continued her conversation while holding the teacup with both hands.

“Yes, he wanted to dance with me today, so he asked me to come. It’s a request from my fiancé, so there’s no way I could refuse it.”

“His Highness, the Grand Duke? His Highness, Grand Duke Lenz?”

The blonde hair looked confused as to whether they were talking about the same Grand Duke as they all knew.

“Is there any other Grand Duke in our Empire?”

After a slight hint of displeasure, the Platinum-hair lady hurriedly came to her senses and lowered her head.

“Ah, no, Princess. There is only one Grand Duke in the Empire, of course, His Highness Grand Duke of Lenz.”

“Yeah, that’s fine if you know.”

Shock, horror, and confusion rippled in the eyes of the other ladies while the blonde hair lowered her head and trembled. It was not difficult to know what people were thinking: Eve had finally gone insane. After chasing the Grand Duke like that, her mind eventually went away.

No matter how much she thought about it, that was the only common sense answer. After all 

Eve was crazy and delusional. Even though Eve was sane, she committed riots and did all sorts of things, but how much more terrifying would it be if she lost her reason?

She sipped hot tea as she watched the pale and shivering ladies. The reaction was a bit violent, but not bad.

‘Well, if you see it yourself, you’ll know.’

The prom was less than an hour away.

* * *

The ball was originally set in form from beginning to end. The manner of inviting guests, the method of starting a ball, as well as the types and order of dances, all had rules set by etiquette. However, even in the same way, the atmosphere was very different depending on the personality of the host. From the hard and boring court ball to the light and prodigal masquerade ball. The beauty of the prom was that it changed in a variety of ways even in the same format. 

The ball of the Duchess of Rohan was conducted in a noble and dignified atmosphere, just as his aunt, the Duchess, liked.

“Long time no see, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

As soon as he entered the ballroom, several nobles greeted him first. Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since he attended a prom. He had never really liked these social gatherings.

Other nobles were well aware of that fact, so they did not dare to come close to him easily. All they could do was keep an eye on him and barely say hello. At least a few nobles who could be said to be on the same side greeted each other and exchanged a few small words.

“I heard that you will be going on a campaign soon. How are the preparations going?”

“I heard that His Majesty the Emperor, who is on the front line, is only confronting because the battle has been lulled…”

“The supply corps are leaving to transport military supplies…”

As if it was a promise, there was no talk about the marriage. Due to the timing, marriage came first, but everyone was talking about war. Come to think of it, it seems that he has been very displeased with the topic of marriage. Even in conversations, if someone brought up the topic of marriage or Eve, he would turn around and walk away.

‘It’s no wonder that everyone can’t bring up the topic of marriage in front of me.’

Then he heard someone’s voice beside him.

“The princess is coming? Eve?”

A few steps away, people were whispering.

“His Highness the Grand Duke came, but what was the Duchess thinking of inviting the Princess as well?”

“Is he the kind of person who won’t come because the princess was invited?”

He was.

“Wasn’t the princess on probation?”

By the time the conversation had reached that point, Terrence turned his gaze toward it. Those who were whispering looked at him and hurriedly shut their mouths.

“Terrence.”

A quiet voice called to him from the other side. It was her aunt, the Duchess of Rohan.

“Terrence, you’re here.”

“Aunt.”

Terrence gave her a lighthearted greeting. Although he had a rough relationship with the Duke of Rohan, he always maintained a good relationship with his aunt, the Duchess.

The smiling Duchess whispered, lowering her voice.

“I don’t know if you heard, but the princess is here.”

“I know.”

His calm reply gave the Duchess a look of nervousness on her well-groomed face. The Duchess came closer to him, nervously clasping her hands.

“Can you bear with her a little today, even if you see her?”

The Duchess looked at him almost imploringly. Terrence was taken aback by his aunt’s eager eyes. In the meantime, he had never met Eve and it ended well, but he had to ask for it separately like this.

“Do not worry. It won’t be a big deal.”

When the Duchess heard that, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Yes, thank you.”

However, despite the Duchess’ request, Eve did not appear until the first and second dance times had passed. He heard that the princess arrived before him, but he didn’t know where she was or what she was doing.

‘When are you planning to come?’

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