How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

Second Prince Vilos, along with the Emperor, was one of the few true villains in this novel. 

It was said to be a handsome prince with shiny blonde hair.

 

‘He was handsome. Although she looks a bit mean.’

 

In the original work, Vilos did not have a large role. Because he sometimes did things that interfered with Sorel and Mikhail’s actions.

 

‘She didn’t get along well with Eve.’

 

Eve was not on good terms with the Empress, so she was also at loggerheads with Vilos. However, the scene where Eve and Vilos were together never appears in the original work.

 

“Vilos.”

 

She approached him, pretending to be happy.

 

“I heard you were coming, but it’s already arrived. I’m glad to see you come back safely.”

 

The smile disappeared from Vilos’ beautiful face for a moment. The people watching looked puzzled, as if she had gone too far. Eve was at odds with virtually every living, breathing person, but she hated the Empress and Vilos the most. Eve’s hostility toward those hats was difficult to distinguish between Sorrel and her superiority. Vilos narrowed his eyes and looked at her intently, as if trying to peer into her inner thoughts. Then she immediately smiled slyly again.

 

“I’m glad to see that you’re safe too.”

 

He said it was amazing that he was alive and well. Suddenly, the contents of the original came to mind.

 

‘This guy knew the Emperor’s plan.’

 

The Emperor did not reveal his plan to assassinate Eve to the Empress, but he told Vilos everything from the beginning. Looking at his face, with its serpentine smile, gave her an unpleasant feeling. She smiled innocently and accepted what he said.

 

“Huh. The evil maids tried to harm me, but thanks to His Majesty the Grand Duke here, I was safe. Aren’t you really glad?”

 

That innocent smile faded again at her answer. Silent tension spread among the nobles surrounding them. Vilos’ low laughter spread through the tense air.

 

“I should thank the Grand Duke. I can’t believe you protect my sister so dearly.”

 

Terence said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

 

“It is natural to protect your beloved fiancee.”

 

Vilos looked at her and Terence, who was protecting her, with a strange look.

 

“That was true. I heard it through rumors, but I didn’t believe it.”

 

The voice contained a bit of surprise and interest. Vilos, who was by the Emperor’s side, must have already heard their news.

 

“Vilos.”

 

She quickly grabbed Vilos’ hand. The moment she held his hand, she felt Vilos flinch as if he had been pricked by a sharp needle.

 

“It seems that Her Majesty the Empress was very surprised by this incident. “As her biological son, you, please comfort her yourself.”

 

The eyes looking at her became cold and hard at the words that were no different from provocation. Vilos looked like he wanted to push her away right away, but he couldn’t act rashly because of the attention of people.

 

Instead, he responded with mocking exclamation.

 

“You’ve become much more attentive now that it’s time for you to get married, sister. For worrying so much about my mother.”

 

Of course, she did not lose and accepted it with a friendly smile.

 

“Of course. Her Majesty the Empress is just like a biological mother to me.”

 

Vilos looked at her intently for a moment and muttered quietly like a snake stalking its prey.

 

“Sister, you’ve really changed a lot.”

 

Was it a bit excessive? Actually, she didn’t want to provoke this guy like this. But she couldn’t miss this opportunity. Even as they continued their conversation, she held Vilos’ hand with both of her hands and thought hard in her mind.

 

‘Show me a future involving weddings, fires, and assassinations.’

 

If not now, she didn’t know when she would be able to touch Vilos again. Vilos was not a younger brother who could be touched and held at any time. If you do it wrong, you may arouse suspicion, so you may not be able to continue trying to contact them.

 

‘Show me anything that has to do with me. Please.’

 

Eve’s precognitive ability appeared at any time with a probability as extreme as a random draw. However, as a result of using her abilities so far, she had sometimes been able to see foresight when she wanted to. This was the case when she met the Grand Duke in the chapel and concentrated to see what would happen that night, and when she held Diane’s hand and desperately tried to see foreknowledge, the future related to the illness appeared. She thought that if you hope for it very earnestly, it could show her a bit of a future related to anything. Of course, that didn’t happen every time, but now she wanted to put her hope in even that small possibility. So she concentrated desperately to see foreknowledge.

 

Meanwhile, Vilos turned to her and Terence and said goodbye.

 

“I’m a bit busy, so I guess I’ll have to go back to the imperial palace now. After seeing my sister and saying hello, I’ll leave.”

 

She squeezed his hand harder.

 

“I just arrived. Why don’t you go and have some tea? I also want to hear about the military achievements gained on the battlefield.”

 

“Haha. Is there such a thing as military honors? I simply stayed by his father’s side on behalf of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

 

Vilos smiled at her with meaningful eyes.

 

“I was originally planning to go to the imperial palace, but I’m glad I came here to see my sister first. Because I was able to see my sister happy.”

 

He came here to see her before entering the imperial palace. From that alone, she could guess why this guy came back to the system. The Emperor must have hastily sent his beloved son back in the name of keeping an eye on them and understanding the situation. With those words, his hand that was holding her naturally slipped away. She had no choice but to helplessly let go of his hand. As if her face showed disappointment, Vilos came closer to her with a satisfied smile on his face. Then this time he took her hand first.

 

Vilos took her hand and bowed his head politely. And he slowly placed his lips on the back of her hand. A dry kiss landed on the back of her hand. Because she looked so beautiful like an angel, even though it was just a simple etiquette, it felt like a painting.

 

“See you later, sister.”

 

It would be later that she would have the vision. As she was thinking about that, her vision finally became distorted.

 

* * *

 

The moment she closed her eyes and opened them, darkness came upon her. It was night there. In front of her, a man was stepping on the flagstones of the garden, heading somewhere. She could only see his face from behind, but even in the dark, the priest’s uniform the man was wearing was clearly visible. As she passed through the willow branches that hung like a forest, she saw a building immersed in darkness. Gray vines were wrapped ominously around the exterior walls of the building. Dry stems growing from the flower bed wrapped around the white exterior wall and extended all the way to the roof. She belatedly realized where this was. It was the lodgings of the temple where she was staying. At that moment, a burning flame was seen on the other side. It was in the direction of Rastana’s temple.

 

Temple?

 

‘Is the temple on fire?’

 

So was this a holiday night? She quickly looked around. There was no one near the garden. Normally, knights would patrol around the accommodation. Now the knights were nowhere to be seen. The unfamiliar man approached the outer wall of the dormitory without any restraint. The man looked inside through the window on the outside wall. Beyond the window, she could see a blurry figure of someone in the room. A woman with red-blonde hair lying asleep in bed.

 

‘It’s me, right?’

 

This was clearly her bedroom, and she was the one sleeping in the bed. It was very strange to see herself through someone else’s eyes. Even though she knew this was a premonition, it felt strange enough to make her stop for a moment. A man approached the window and set fire to a piece of paper hanging on the window frame. He was blown by the cold wind, and flames rose up in an instant. She instinctively looked into the glass window. The raging flames spread into the bedroom. But she was lying on the bed, not moving. She did do not wake up even though the flames burned the carpet on the floor. Neither Nell nor Chloe in the next room came to rescue her. She was staring at the bedroom being engulfed in flames, when suddenly a burst of heat flew into her face. She closed her eyes in astonishment as if she had been burned.

 

* * *

 

“…!”

 

And when she opened her eyes again, she was inside the marquis’s mansion. Right in front of her, Vilos was looking at her.

 

“Sister? Why are you doing this?”

 

A strange light flashed in Vilos’ eyes as he looked at her. She quickly hid her embarrassed expression, patted the back of his hand, and raised a friendly voice.

 

“Yes, you must be tired, but you held on for a long time. I was glad to see you returned safely.”

 

Then he slowly let go of her hand.

 

“Go to the imperial palace and say hello to Her Majesty.”

 

Fortunately, Vilos didn’t seem very suspicious. He withdrew his puzzled gaze and returned to his relaxed smile.

 

“All right. See you again soon.”

 

Vilos gave her one more look at Terrence and then turned away. That was the end of the uncomfortable meeting. After confirming that Vilos was out, she turned to Terrence.

 

“I’m a little tired. Shall we go rest for a while?”

 

Terrence’s meaningful gaze briefly settled on her face. But he immediately led her out of the banquet hall without asking any questions.

 

“Let’s go to the break room.”

 

When Vilos disappeared, people’s curious gazes scattered again. She took Terrence’s hand and headed to the break room. As she walked down the hallway, the scene she had just seen flooded her mind.

 

‘Was the fire in the temple the work of Vilos?’

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: