How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

“Wah… Whoa…”

Diane hung her head and sobbed quietly. The Duchess immediately rose from her seat and took Diane into her arms.

“Diane, it’s okay. Don’t cry…”

“Sorry. Because of me…”

“Why do you say that… … This is not your fault.”

She must have been shocked because the maid who had been by her side until now had done this. Diane’s body, hidden in her dressing gown, came to her belated attention. Since it was winter, her dressing gown was a long dress that covered all her limbs, but her neck and wrists were still full of red spots. Perhaps her whole body was in this state. When Eve saw that, she felt sorry for her.

‘Is this disease incurable?’

Diane’s illness was not detailed in the original work. Whether she got better someday or whether she lived like this forever, nothing was written.

“Miss Diane. Do not cry.”

She placed her hand gently on her shoulder as if comforting Diane. And she quickly focused her mind. Could she possibly see a glimpse into the future related to her illness? She thought she might see something, but she still couldn’t see anything.

‘It’s a really strangely useless ability.’

If she was going to have foresight, it’d be nice to come out easily whenever she wanted to see it, right? Of course, she was able to prevent Diane’s accident thanks to her foreknowledge in the temple, but… At that moment, the vision suddenly distorted and a completely different space appeared.

* * *

The bedroom, which had an uncomfortable atmosphere, was changed into a room where a refreshing breeze permeated. It was a place that looked like the drawing room of a certain aristocratic mansion. Two people were sitting across the tea table. The person in front was a haggard middle-aged woman in a black dress.

‘Duchess?’

She looked even more weary and tired than now, but the person sitting on the sofa was clearly the Duchess.

She hung her head helplessly. Her lightly upholstered platinum feet were disheveled.

“How can something so resentful happen?”

The Duchess clutched her handkerchief with her trembling hands in her tears.

“I figured out a cure, but I never thought this would happen all of a sudden…”

She found a cure? The cure the Duchess was talking about must be a cure for Diane’s illness. She’s finally figuring out how to cure her.

‘But why are you crying? What happened?’

The man across from her comforted the Duchess.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much, ma’am. How could we have known that the princess would pass away so suddenly?”

What? What did she just hear? Diane was dead?

The Duchess’ confused voice continued.

“Poor Diane…”

Muttering plaintively, the Duchess put her handkerchief to her face and began to sob. Couldn’t she just stop crying and tell her what the cure was? But she, the Duchess, shed tears incessantly.

She realized a few things belatedly. The Duchess was not very different from what she was now. But what she was wearing was a very thin dress, unlike now. The man sitting across from her was also dressed in thin fabric.

‘Is it summer?’

It seemed to be summer, late spring, or early fall… It was not clear whether it was next year, the year after that, or three years later. It was the foreknowledge she had seen while thinking ‘the future related to Diane’s illness’.

She listened to the conversation between the two with concentration. She wanted to hear more about a cure, a hint, or something else to find out when. But she couldn’t hear any more. After that, her vision went black.

* * *

“Princess?”

Blinking her eyes, she saw Diane staring blankly at her. Her pale face was wet with her tears, but she was staring at Eve now wonderingly. It must have been that she had suddenly lost her mind and sat there blankly instead of giving her comfort. She continued comforting naturally again.

“Don’t beat yourself up. This is not Miss Diane’s fault.”

Terrence, who was watching them from behind, agreed with her.

“Yes, those who did this are bad. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Diane wiped her tears with the back of her hand, then she thanked Eve and Terrence.

“Thank you, Terrence. Princess, thank you.”

She quickly added before Diane could say anything else.

“If… If you feel better later, would you like to visit the princess’s palace?”

“Pardon?”

Diane was taken aback by her sudden offer.

“Yeah, but I…”

Since she didn’t go out in social circles, it must be difficult for her to officially visit the imperial palace. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t come in.

“If you come in quietly after saying it was to help with the wedding, no one will say anything.”

If she wore a dress that covered her body as usual and a veil, they wouldn’t even see her face.

“Actually, I haven’t made a dress yet. Before deciding on the design, I would like to get the opinion of Diane, the bridesmaid. Can you help me?”

She had no particular reason to keep seeing Diane, but she still cared for the poor young lady. According to the foreknowledge she has just seen, Diane would not live long and she eventually would die. She was the first person she met today, but she was so young that she felt sorry for her. According to the scene she just saw, there seemed to be a cure for her… Of course she hadn’t heard what it was. To keep having visions about it, she needed to see Diane as often as possible, so she was begging for more. Fortunately, Diane was also very happy to hear her.

“Yes, I like it.”

Yeah, she liked to go outside. It seemed that the disease would get worse if she stayed at home… It’s not going to be good mentally either. It was not for nothing that she recommended taking a walk to a depressed patient. A person was mentally healthy when they lived while breathing the outside air.

“I’ll take the dress manual.”

“Yes, I will be waiting for you. Please come.”

A shy smile bloomed across Diane’s pale lips. The Duchess next to her also looked relieved.

“Then I will go down first. A maid will be waiting for you.”

It seemed that the prom was almost over. So she said her goodbyes to Diane and went out with Terrence. She came out and the Duchess followed me.

“Princess…”

The Duchess slurred her words with an apologetic expression.

“Thank you very much for today’s work.”

She pursed her lips for a moment before she added quietly.

“I feel embarrassed because I seem to have misunderstood the princess too much.”

No, actually, she didn’t misunderstand Eve… She didn’t know how badly she thought it, but the original Eve was a more crazy villainess than the Duchess thought.

“Don’t talk like that.”

The Duchess smiled friendly and she bowed her head in front of her.

“I’ll go back later to thank you properly.”

Terrence, who was watching, gave a request.

“Auntie, I want you to keep the fact that we were involved in today’s work a secret.”

“I get it. Do not worry.”

The Duchess promised that she would keep the secret. Even from the point of view of the Duke’s family, they would want to keep it a secret that the princess and the Grand Duke were involved in the family’s disgraceful affair.

She separated from her and came downstairs. In the meantime, the ball downstairs seemed to be coming to an end as time passed.

“It was a long night.”

As she walked down the hallway, she sighed involuntarily. After the work was finished, she felt exhausted, perhaps because the tension was relieved.

She heard Terrence’s quiet voice beside her.

“Thank you.”

“What?”

“Thanks to the princess, I was able to save my cousin.”

Terrence was walking straight ahead, not looking at her.

“Honestly, I was amazed. Being able to see other people’s thoughts in such detail is that the princess’s ability is more useful than expected.”

“Thank you for recognizing it as useful.”

No further reply came back.

‘Should I tell you what I just saw.’

She just saw the future where Diane died. But she didn’t know when that would be. She didn’t have to worry him about it by telling him in advance.

“I have to stay and get things done here.”

They parted on the stairs to the second floor. Before leaving, he looked down at her and smiled.

“I hope to see you again soon. Princess.”

They would keep seeing each other even if she didn’t want to. She swallowed those words and came downstairs. She went straight back to the break room and found Nell.

Nell was with the other maids, and she came out at her call.

“Princess.”

“Nell, I have to go back to the imperial palace now. Get ready.”

Nell brought her coat and called for a carriage. When they went out toward the entrance of the mansion, the nobles who were preparing to return found them and stopped moving all at once.

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Translator Note:

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