How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

“I want to see the princess often, so it hurts my heart that she can’t come out of the palace without permission.”

The Grand Duke said so to Arentine while holding her hand proudly.

“If it’s okay, would you allow the princess to go out? After discussing the wedding, I would like to take her to my mansion and show her where she will be staying after marriage.”

At that point, a look of surprise and bewilderment began to seep through Arentine’s nonchalant face. He didn’t seem to understand at all how this worked either.

“That… Your fiancé wants it, so I’ll have to give her permission. Since she seems to have already reflected enough, I will allow her to go out about marriage matters.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

The Grand Duke looked at her again with a look of deep relief.

“It’s good, Princess.”

She came to her senses belatedly and responded to the Grand Duke’s words.

“I know, right? I want to go to the mansion soon. I also want to see the garden you mentioned before.”

“You will like it. You can see it if you open the window in the princess’s bedroom.”

The two of them exchanged friendly conversations like a happy bride and groom ahead of a wedding. In a way, Arentine’s eyes looking at them became more and more confused while the expression of the Duchess next to them was no different.

“You two… I’m really happy that you two are so close.”

The Duchess said with a forced smile, but one corner of her eye trembled. She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t seem to control her expression.

The Grand Duke looked at Eve and gave her such sweet eyes that honey dripped.

“I’ve been very rude to the princess. I am ashamed to have misunderstood such a beautiful and kind person.”

To say that Eve’s personality, his stalker, was ‘kind’ was so unspeakably good. If it had been someone other than the Grand Duke, it would have been misunderstood as True Love by her.

“Well, that’s a really good thing.”

The Duchess’ voice was now even shaking. Regardless, the Grand Duke took her hand and slowly kissed it softly on the back. Eve was shocked that her expresion hardened, but it gave a shock like a storm to those watching. Since everyone around them was staring at them with their mouths open. What’s more, some of the noble ladies were so shocked that they dropped the fans they were holding. And even the attendants who waited on the guests stood in a daze, stunned.

Even so, the Grand Duke in the middle of the storm was not at all taken aback. He just studied her face with a worried expression.

“Princess, are you okay? You’re still not in good health, so maybe you were overdoing it because of me… If you’re tired, shall we go to the break room for a while?”

“…”

She just stared at him without answering. They had been arguing together until a moment ago, but she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t speak for a while. It was a plan to ‘appear to have gotten along well and protect them nearby’, but this was a bit… Wasn’t it serious?

‘I only thought about dancing one song, but it turned into a lover mode all of a sudden.’

This was more than enough to achieve the goal of attracting attention by creating a topic. Actually, it’s going to be a huge topic in the rumors starting tonight. The subject of the rumor would be that ‘a miracle occurred and Princess Eve succeeded in seducing the Grand Duke’, Or, it would simply say, “The Grand Duke is finally crazy.” Or maybe it’s both.

When she couldn’t answer, the purple eyes full of affection fluttered for a moment, revealing a glimpse of the cold light hidden in them. She suddenly came to her senses and spoke in an arrogant voice like the usual Eve.

“Oh, yes, it is a little difficult. After dancing, I get thirsty. Can I skip the next song and take a break?”

“Of course. Let’s go to the break room.”

“Great. Oh, excuse me first, brother.”

“…okay.”

As soon as she heard Arentine’s awkward answer, she turned to him while holding the Grand Duke’s arm. The Grand Duke took her with one arm as if to support her and led her out of the ballroom. The watchers parted like the ebb tide, giving the two of them a way. Everyone in the ballroom, from the guests to the attendants and the band playing the music, all looked at them with stupid faces. It was the first time in her life that she had received attention in front of so many people.

When she came out of the ballroom, a sigh leaked out. Still, after getting away from people’s eyes, the tension was relieved to some extent. As she walked toward the stairs without energy, she heard a calm voice next to her.

“I think this will be enough for today.”

The moment she turned her head, she met the gaze of the Grand Duke who was looking at her. He had a cold and indifferent expression as usual, as if he had never pretended to be a sweet lover. He changed as soon as he stepped out of the ballroom.

“Why do you look like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

‘… It’s amazing how quickly you change,’ She wanted to say, but if she said it honestly, he’d get angry.

It was foolish to incur this man’s wrath. He’s practically the only one trying to protect her.

“Certainly, it seems that this has been clearly imprinted on everyone.”

She thought it was too much, not enough. When it came to public opinion warfare in this way, nothing was more effective than shock therapy.

She cleared her voice and changed the topic. First of all, there was another urgent matter now. And that was Diane’s business.

“Did you bring enough knights?”

“Do not worry. We have enough waiting.”

“Thank god.”

The last time they met at the Great Temple, she had asked him to bring the Grand Duke’s knights to the ball. Right now, the Duke’s family probably didn’t have enough troops left. Most of the Duke’s forces would have been taken with him when he went to war.

‘Even if there are people left, I’m not in a position to ask the Duke’s vassals at will.’

However, the situation was different when it came to the Grand Duke. If she explained the situation to the Grand Duke and asked for it, he would do what she wanted. So, she asked the Duke to bring some of his family’s knights. She also explained what she had seen with her foreshadowing.

The moment she turned around at the end of the corridor, the Grand Duke asked a question as if he had been waiting.

“Are you sure what will happen today?”

“I am sure.”

The decoration of the hallway and the room, the location of the furniture, and even the dress the Duchess wore. The foreknowledge she saw was clear what was going to happen tonight.

“Miss Diane is going to pass out tonight after taking some pills with a suspicious powder.”

If she had told this to anyone else, they would have been perplexed as to what strange thing this was. However, the Grand Duke, who already knew her abilities, had no doubts.

“Did you find out who the culprit was, the maid?”

“No, I saw several of her maids while touring her mansion, but she had none of them.”

Would the culprit, the maid, be with Diane by now? She didn’t think it’s time for her medicine yet, but she thought that if the maid was the watchman in Diane’s room, she might already be in the vicinity of her bedroom. Suddenly, she understood why the culprit had chosen the day of the prom since now the mansion was full of guests and their attendants.

The Duke’s servants were constantly running around to serve the guests. On a day like this, everyone would be distracted, so it’s perfect for committing a crime. After feeding Diane, it would be easy to hide her medicine bowl and vial of powder. On a busy day like today, no one would notice the maid’s behavior.

“Has anyone ever held a grudge against Miss Diane?”

“Well.”

It seems that the Grand Duke didn’t even know. He said he didn’t visit here very often. After a moment of thought, he spoke in a calm voice.

“If you catch the culprit and ask him, you will find out.”

The two of them went through the hallway and came downstairs. Unlike the ballroom full of people, the downstairs was quiet. There were only occasional glimpses of the servants who moved after receiving instructions and the people guarding the inside of the mansion. The Grand Duke summoned his subordinates and gave them instructions.

“Place the knights on the third floor.”

“How many will we deploy?”

“Five or six would be enough.”

The Grand Duke gave detailed orders to his subordinates.

“Before the prom is over, I will ring the bell in Diane’s boudoir, so please wait quietly out of sight of her.”

The one who came running after hearing the Grand Duke’s order was a young man, tall and with scars on his face. She realized who he was. It was Kamion, the Grand Duke’s henchman. In the original book, he was the right-hand man of the Grand Duke and executed all sorts of conspiracies.

“I understand, Your Highness.”

After giving the order, the Grand Duke’s gaze returned to her.

“I will be with the princess in the music room.”

A questioning gaze briefly reached her, but he went outside to fetch the knights without delay. Fortunately, it seemed that he had not yet heard of what happened at the ballroom because he was waiting outside. After he left, she asked the Grand Duke with a little worry.

“Are you trying to catch her before the maid gets the pills?”

“Of course not.”

The Grand Duke said as if he were saying something obvious.

“We have to catch her on the spot so we can properly hear what’s going on. Didn’t the princess want that too?”

—————————————————————

Translator Note:

Want to read more?