How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

It was late at night when she left the Grand Duke’s mansion and returned to the imperial palace. As soon as she entered the bedroom, she dismissed Nell, who accompanied her.

“Nell, go in first and rest. You must be tired too.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

After sending Nell away, she took a bath with the help of the other maids and sat down at the dressing table. While she was sitting in front of her dressing table, a familiar brown-haired lady combed her hair.

Shiny red-blond hair flowed through the comb.

‘Phew…’

She blankly leaned against the back of her chair. She was tired because she had been through so much in the past. She just wanted to close her eyes and rest for a while. But as soon as she closed her eyes, she remembered the story she had heard from the Grand Duke during the day. If the Emperor had sent a message to the Empress, would he be returning soon? The Emperor was the most hated person.

She hoped he wouldn’t come back until after the wedding if possible. Now that this has already happened, it would be impossible to marry without the Emperor.

She sighed and slowly closed her eyes. However, the moment her eyelids closed and her vision went dark, she felt a tingling pain in her head.

“Ah.”

“I’m sorry, Princess!”

It looked like the hair was tangled in a comb. The lady-in-waiting with the comb apologized in a trembling voice.

“No, it’s okay.”

Unknowingly, her hand went to the hair caught in the comb. The lady-in-waiting who was holding the comb also hurriedly reached out her hand to unravel her hair. At that time, the tips of her fingers lightly touched the hand of her maid. At that moment, my vision went dark, and a bright light burst out of the darkness.

* * *

The cozy bedroom disappeared and an unfamiliar landscape unfolded before her eyes.

‘Is it another vision?’

She knew from several experiences that this was a prediction of the future, but she still couldn’t get used to it. She looked around in the illusion. It was like a dark warehouse. The ceiling was covered with spider webs, and junk was piled up around it. A dirty window in one wall caught her eye. White snow was piled up on the dusty window sill.

A woman’s voice whispered low in the darkness.

“I guess I put it in little by little so it wouldn’t be noticeable?”

Following her voice, Eve went inside and saw two people standing opposite each other among the boxes stacked high. The person standing with his back to her was a young woman in a maid’s uniform. Only her back was visible, so her face was unrecognizable. The person across from her was obscured by the shadows, so she couldn’t tell what he was like or who he was.

The woman in a maid’s uniform answered in an anxious voice.

“I did as I was told. But what is it?”

It was an unfamiliar voice.

‘Who is it?’

The maid added nervously in a familiar voice.

“They said that as soon as the princess ate it, she suddenly made a fuss about her headache, so she was scared and thought she was going to die.”

‘What?’

The answer mixed with laughter came from the other side.

“It’s a concentrated medicine from the leaves of the coran.”

“Couldn’t the princess die like this?”

The moment she heard that, she was stunned. Because she realized who the voice was rather than the content. It was the brown-haired maid who had been brushing her hair a while ago.

“Don’t die. She will have a severe headache for a few days, but rest assured that it will not be life threatening.”

The woman across from her handed something to the maid.

“I’ll give you the money in advance, so leave after the wedding as promised.”

“All right.”

The maid turned her body. The face hidden in the shadows was clearly visible. As expected, she was the maid who was with her in her room. What was her name?

As she recalled the name of her handmaid, her vision was covered with darkness again.

* * *

She was startled and opened her eyes. There was a familiar mirror in front of her. The light from the candlestick reflected around the mirror and shimmered in gold. In the mirror, she could see herself with her long, red-blond hair undone against the softly lit room. Her already white face was hardened like wax.

“Princess, are you very uncomfortable?”

The lady-in-waiting who was untangling her tangled hair looked at her and asked anxiously.

“No, I’m a bit tired.”

She picked out the hairpins on the dressing table with a nonchalant expression.

“I guess it was because I went out one after another. I just need to rest tomorrow.”

She sighed as she placed a hand on her forehead.

“Oh, thanks for combing my hair. But what did you say your name was?”

“This is Lana. Princess.”

It’s Lana. She remembered the name well. At the same time, she remembered who this lady-in-waiting was. She was the handmaid who had a fight with Nell on the stairs before. 

Lana broke into a cold sweat as Eve stared at her and bowed her head.

“Well, before I was rude…”

“I thought you were being punished?”

“Yes, yes. I got a pay cut and did menial jobs for a while.”

Lana quietly raised her head and looked at Eve.

“Now the maid of honor has forgiven me, so I have been punished and returned again.”

When was the last time Nell fell down near the stairs because of this lady-in-waiting? She has been there for about three days. But she’s already done with her punishment? If she hadn’t seen the vision, she might have passed it by thinking that this was the original rule here, even if it was a little strange. It was only a trivial incident within the imperial palace, such as when her maids tripped over each other. However, having just seen the scene, she was able to notice something suspicious.

‘Someone deliberately released the bee and sent it back to me.’

She hid her inner feelings and pretended to be calm.

“It’s fine. You said you got all the punishment. That’s it. Go away now.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Lana, the lady-in-waiting, brushed her hair and went outside. Eve looked into the vanity mirror and was lost in thought.

‘Someone ordered her to put medicine in my food.’

There was a high possibility that someone was from the side of the Empress or the Emperor. 

But it wasn’t poison, it was a medicine that caused headaches. It’s too risky to kill her without the Emperor returning. They wouldn’t have been able to find evidence yet to pinpoint the Grand Duke as the culprit. And there was also the dishwashing problem.

The tableware used by the royal family, from bowls to spoons, were all made of silver with special magic. It was a magic that reacted immediately to the presence of poison. For such various reasons, poison could not have been used. However, if it is a non-toxic drug that simply causes headaches, it could be mixed into food without being detected.

‘It’s not about killing me, it’s about making me sick.’

She could understand why they were trying to make her sick. They were trying to postpone the wedding until they figured out the situation. Because if the bride-to-be princess gets sick, the wedding has no choice but to be postponed. If it’s not poison, but simply sick, no one would doubt it. It’s common to get sick while going out repeatedly in the cold winter.

‘He must have come up with this plan with that in mind.’

It is similar to what the Duke’s relatives did to Diane. Maybe he heard about Diane’s case and was inspired by it. Anyway, the lady-in-waiting who received the order, Lana, sooner or later puts medicine in the food Eve would eat. As a result, she would complain of a headache and said she was going to lie down.

‘If I chase Lana to another palace, I will be able to avoid immediate danger…’

But even if she got rid of Lana, there was a high possibility that another danger would arise. And the new danger may not be seen with foreknowledge.

‘Then I’d rather…’

She looked in the mirror and organized her thoughts. And as soon as the next day dawned, she called Nell.

“Go to Sir Mikhail Sheldon and tell him I want to meet him tomorrow at noon.”

“Sheldon?”

“Yes. If you tell him it’s a problem related to the past, he’ll know.”

She thought about it for a while and then ordered.

“And His Highness the Grand Duke. If you don’t mind, tell him I want to have tea with him in the afternoon.”

* * *

Around noon the next day, she headed for the large garden on the west side of the princess’s palace. The moment she entered the garden, she saw a wide spread snow-covered flower bed. The entire garden, the size of a small park, was made up of checkerboard-shaped lavender fields. And in the center was a small pavilion made of white marble. Eight marble columns supported the light gray roof, and in the middle was a small tea table. Half of the wall was open, and the other half was surrounded by a lattice pattern, so that even from the inside, the outside could be seen clearly.

That’s why she chose this place.

This is the center of the lavender field, which was open on all sides. Someone couldn’t sneak up on her, and couldn’t hide somewhere and overhear her words. Just as the Grand Duke took her to the terrace by the waterfall.

“Princess, did you call me?”

Shortly before noon, Mikhail arrived at the pavilion.

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Translator Note:

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