How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

While she was in contact with Vilos, the priest had the foresight to set her lodgings on fire. 

If so, this may have been something that Vilos ordered, or at least something that had a lot to do with Vilos.

 

After seeing this prediction, she realized one more thing. Burning the temple was not simply to prevent the wedding. Vilos faked an accident and tried to kill her inside the temple.

 

‘Why?’

 

After pondering the question for a while, she was able to find the answer. Guarding the temple were the crown prince’s knights and knights sent by the Grand Duke. The intention was to place responsibility for the accident on them. The Grand Duke and the Crown Prince. Regardless of which of the two was responsible, it is beneficial for Vilos and the Emperor.

 

‘Maybe I’m not dead.’

 

Maybe she just got burned and injured. But even if that happens, this would be a mistake for the crown prince. Because the crown prince arbitrarily sent her to the temple and sent his knights instead of the imperial knights. And if she got injured in the fire, the wedding would be canceled as they wanted. Of course, even if she just dies in a fire at this point, they wouldn’t have any regrets.

 

‘I thought all I had to do was avoid the attempt to frame Terence by killing me…’

 

She had no idea that such an unexpected threat would come. When she thought about it, it made sense. Terence and she were already openly lovers. So even if she suddenly died now, few people would doubt Terence.

 

‘The plan the Emperor had in mind became impossible, so he came up with another plan to use me.’

 

Was this something the Emperor ordered? As soon as she returned to the break room, Terence looked at her with worried eyes.

 

“Princess, are you okay?”

 

“Yes, I’m fine.”

 

After making sure the door was closed, she turned to Terence.

 

“There are more important things than that.”

 

Terence looked at her blankly and said as if he had already expected it.

 

“You have seen a new insight.”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“Because you held onto the second prince’s hand and didn’t want to let go.”

 

Was it obvious like that? Actually, she held onto it for a long time. Actually, she couldn’t see it when we were holding hands, but the moment Vilos kissed the back of her hand, the vision appeared.

 

“I can’t help it, but I’ll have to think of a more natural way in the future.”

 

If she continued to hold onto others like this, they may one day arouse suspicion. Vilos also looked at her with an expression asking why she was like this. Fortunately, he didn’t seem suspicious.

 

“So what was the scene like?”

 

She told Terence exactly what she saw. As the explanation progressed, his face became colder. After finishing the explanation, she asked for opinions on her guess.

 

“As expected, they are going to cause the accident and blame it on Arrentine, right?”

 

“Maybe so.”

 

Terence agreed with her prediction.

 

“Even if the princess dies, she cannot escape the responsibility of being the crown prince. Maybe the Empress’s affairs will fall into disarray.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

First, she tried combining two types of foresight. In the first vision, she saw the Rastana Temple burning down. At that point, her accommodation was safe. In other words, the first place where the fire broke out was the temple. When she saw that, she thought they had set fire to the temple to stop the wedding. However, in the second vision, she saw a fuse setting fire to the wall of her accommodation. And the image of herself sleeping in her room. At that time, the temple was already engulfed in flames and was collapsing.

 

“I guess they’re trying to divert attention by setting fire to the temple and then setting fire to my bedroom.”

 

If you think about the situation, it was true. If a fire breaks out in a nearby temple, the people guarding the lodge would also run towards it. If she did something wrong, the fire could spread to where she was. Meanwhile, the criminal who was waiting in advance sets fire to her bedroom. On the other hand, she had another question. She was fast asleep even while the fire was burning. Was she asleep or did she take medicine? Even as the flames raged, she closed her eyes and lay like a corpse.

 

‘Have I taken sleeping pills? Or sleep scent?’

 

It was entirely possible to use something like a sleeping scent. Because there were incense burners everywhere in the temple. She kept burning incense in her dorm to get rid of the bad smell. In the imperial palace, flowers and scented candles were used to be placed in the rooms, and it was customary to burn incense in temples. Neither she nor Nell and Chloe knew much about scent. Even if they secretly mix something like a sleep scent into the incense burner, no one would notice.

 

‘I’m glad I saw the premonition in advance.’

 

This time too, she was able to know their plans in advance and prepare. With that thought in mind, she wrapped her hand around the glass bottle she was carrying in her arms. The sap of a sacred tree obtained from the temple’s basement. She always kept this elixir on hand in preparation for any emergency. Actually, now that she had this, she didn’t need to be in the temple anymore. The fire was planned under the pretext of a flower lantern event at the temple, so if she went somewhere else, the plan was bound to be canceled. But if the Emperor or Vilos tried to harm her unrelated to Terence, would they give up just because of a change of location? Perhaps, the moment you take refuge somewhere else, a new conspiracy may be hatched. However, unlike this incident, there was a possibility that the new plan may not be seen as foresight.

 

‘In that case, it would be better to use this plan.’

 

Terence seemed to guess what she was thinking.

 

“I’m sure you plan to resolve it this time as well, just like you did with the Empress.”

 

“Yes it is. We have to catch the culprit.”

 

The problem was that it was dark at night and only the back was visible, so I couldn’t see the criminal’s face properly. In this case, they had no choice but to wait for the culprit to appear in person. After hearing what she said, Terence looked at her with worried eyes for a moment.

 

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

 

“There is no danger as long as I don’t fall asleep. I already know how it will go, so if I fall asleep, Chloe can wake me up.”

 

Since she already knew the plan, there was little chance of her dying. To reassure him, she took out the bottle of medicine he was carrying in his arms.

 

“Even if I get hurt, I’ll recover quickly if I use this, so it’ll be okay.”

 

Even if she got hurt, if she used this elixir, she would recover in an instant. Terence looked very uncomfortable, as if he didn’t like something. But fortunately, he didn’t go against my opinion.

 

“Let’s investigate the backgrounds of the priests in the main shrine.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Even though protecting her was a condition of their contract, she still felt like she was receiving great help every time, so she expressed her sincere gratitude. However, after hearing what she said, Terence frowned with a complicated expression.

 

“I told you this before.”

 

He paused for a moment, looked at her, and sighed.

 

“Just because something can be treated doesn’t mean it’s okay to get hurt. If you want to keep your promise to me, princess, please cherish yourself.”

 

The quiet voice contained sorrowful concern.

 

‘Are you worried about me?’

 

She never imagined that that man would worry about her, about Eve. Terence was helping her only so that he wouldn’t be falsely accused. And he also had the purpose of using her abilities to suit his own taste. She thought it was just a relationship of cooperation for each other’s benefit and not a relationship worthy of such affectionate concern. The purple eyes looking at me had an uneasy look mixed with worry and concern. He seemed genuinely worried that she would get hurt. Well, a lot of things have happened in the meantime. There seemed to be a kind of camaraderie between them now. For whatever reason, she was grateful that someone cared about her and cared about her.

 

“Do not worry. I will be fine.”

 

* * *

 

It was the middle of the night, but the palace of the second prince, whose owner had returned after a long time, was as bright as day. Gyren, the leader of the Imperial Knights, calmly bowed as he watched Vilos enter the room.

 

“His Royal Highness.”

 

As soon as Vilos entered the living room, he slapped Gyren on the cheek. With the sound of her flesh making contact, Gyren lost his balance and stumbled. But he immediately straightened his posture and stood in front of Vilos. Vilos burst into anger as he saw the middle-aged knight commander standing with an indifferent expression.

 

“How do you handle things?”

 

“…I’m sorry, Prince.”

 

Gyren lowered his head deeply, Vilos’ handprints leaving his face. Vilos sat down in his chair. His head hurt from listening to his mother’s cries and complaints until late at night. As he quenched his thirst with a glass of wine, an irritated lament naturally came out.

 

“I can’t believe I was bullied by someone as stupid as Eve.”

 

She was captured when the Empress’s maid secretly gave her money to a criminal who was trying to drug her Eve. Thanks to her, other maids in the Empress’s palace were captured and interrogated. Even though she was the Empress, she was almost imprisoned in the imperial palace. There was no evidence that the Empress had ordered her to do so, but since she had been caught in the act, there was no way to deal with it right away. That alone was a pain in the ass, but there was a bigger problem. Grand Duke Lenz suddenly began to show affection for Eve. Not long ago, the Grand Duke began to show off his affection for Eve, as if he were infatuated with her.

 

His mother, the Empress, complained that she did not understand what tricks Eve had used to win the Grand Duke’s heart. But as soon as Vilos saw them, it was clear to him why. The Grand Duke realized the Emperor’s plan. That’s why he keeps Eve by his side and pretends to be an unsuitable lover. Looking at Eve’s arrogant behavior, it was clear that she knew this.

 

“How did the princess do that…?”

 

“She must have known because the Grand Duke told her.”

 

Gyren glanced at him with his questioning gaze. Well, even Vilos was curious about that part.

 

‘Why did the Grand Duke tell stupid Eve such circumstances?’

 

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