How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The flames that erupted from one side of the temple quickly engulfed the roof of the temple. She saw the knights near her lodgings running towards the temple.

 

“It has begun.”

 

She looked under the window. The culprit appeared after the temple caught fire. A man wearing a priest’s uniform was running near the bedroom. As expected, after the knights ran towards the temple, someone came out of the grass and ran towards here. Even in the dim moonlight, the priest’s uniform the man was wearing was clearly visible. The priest came right under the window where we were standing. Directly below this glass window was her bedroom window. A priest was seen standing in front of the window and looking around. She hid herself next to the glass window and looked down at him. 

 

At that time, Terence, who was behind her, pulled her into his arms. She was pulled into his arms without even a moment to do anything. When she turned around in surprise, she pointed to a corner of the garden.

 

“There’s someone over there.”

 

She looked where he pointed, but at first she found nothing. When she looked closely, a human figure was vaguely revealed between the dark blades of grass.

 

‘Someone was watching.’

 

It seemed that the priest’s role was to monitor the surroundings while the fire was being started. Well, when carrying out a plan like this, of course there would be people looking around. If she was not careful, she could get caught by the knights guarding the accommodation. They pressed themselves against the window frame next to the glass window for fear of being caught by the man. As they tried to hide together next to the window, they had no choice but to get close to each other.

 

He pulled her waist closer and her body came into contact with his firm chest. Even though her body only touched slightly, she could clearly feel the sleek and strong muscles hidden by the clothes. She was startled and stepped forward a little. A deep voice came from behind her.

 

“Why…”

 

She turned his head and saw Terence frowning in displeasure. Before she could reply, he quietly whispered to her.

 

“Even if you don’t like it, just hold on for a moment. There may be more people hiding.”

 

No, well, she didn’t hate it that much, it’s just embarrassing. She didn’t want to make any excuses, so she just did as he told her and held her breath. Now that she thought about it, she thought something similar happened last time. For a moment, she felt like she could hear Terence’s heartbeat. Maybe it’s the sound coming from her heart. Because from the moment she was held in his arms, his heart was pounding little by little.

 

She looked down the window. The priest looking inside the window was lighting a lamp. A small flame bloomed from a paper lantern hanging under the window. The small flame spread through the dry vines on the exterior wall and quickly spread to the entire window. And at the same time, men dressed in knightly uniforms burst out from inside the dormitory.

 

“Catch it!”

 

* * *

 

The night of the feast was quiet. It was only after the sun had set that the knights were able to relax at the entrance to the wall leading to the princess’s quarters. After watching people coming and going and guarding the lodging all day, she was mentally exhausted even though her body was fine. In the evening, some people returned to the knights’ quarters near the imperial palace. Those who remained also relaxed and rested.

 

“I can finally get some rest now.”

 

“Have all the people of the Grand Duchy gone back?”

 

“I didn’t see him leave earlier, but he must have gone back. Come to think of it, weren’t there a lot of people from the Grand Duke’s side today?”

 

“Since His Majesty the Grand Duke visited the princess, they must have come with him.”

 

They were all members of the Order of Knights directly under the Crown Prince. The story of Princess Eve and the Grand Duke has been the topic that people were most interested in these days. This was because the Grand Duke, who hated Princess Eve so much, suddenly fell in love with her. At first, there were some people who did not believe it, thinking it was too absurd, but… When the Grand Duke sent a huge amount of gifts and appeared in social circles with the princess one after another, she had no choice but to believe it even if she didn’t want to believe it. As if to prove the rumors, the Grand Duke came to the temple where the princess was staying every day. As if that wasn’t enough, the knights of the Grand Duke’s family were sent here to guard the princess.

 

“Wow, this is an amazing thing.”

 

“I know, right?”

 

The knights were conversing among themselves. Another knight next to her said.

 

“I asked a knight from the Grand Duke’s family, and they also said they didn’t know why the Grand Duke suddenly fell for the princess.”

 

“When I asked her, she actually asked me if the princess used black magic or something.”

 

“What? How crazy is that…”

 

The knight, who was frowning at the absurd sound, tried to ask, ‘What kind of crazy thing is that?’ but trailed off. It was because she thought that if it was Eve, he would still be like that. 

Of course, if Eve has the ability to interpret the black magic book. An uncomfortable silence passed between the knights who were talking. In any case, Princess Eve was the biological sister of her lord, the Crown Prince. He was someone they couldn’t just say anything about.

 

“But the princess has become calmer these days. She used to get angry when we even made eye contact, but recently she smiles sweetly every time we make eye contact.”

 

“That’s right. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her angry these days.”

 

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also asked you to take good care of the Princess. It must be because the princess has become very gentle. She used to hate her so much…”

 

His Highness the Crown Prince entrusted the knights to take good care of his sister, Eve. 

In the past, she thought she didn’t have much interest in princess Eve, but now he seemed to have some affection for his siblings.

 

“It seems like the knights of the Grand Duchy are a bit undesirable.”

 

“Because those guys are arrogant and trust their master.”

 

“Actually, the owner, the Grand Duke, is in love with the princess.”

 

In fact, the knights of the Grand Duke’s family regarded the young Grand Duke as an idol. 

It’s understandable that such a master suddenly fell in love with a princess with a bad personality. Their conversation could not continue any further. At that time, an urgent scream was suddenly heard from across the garden.

 

“Fire!”

 

At that voice, everyone’s eyes turned across the garden. Rastana Temple across from the garden. Flames were rising from the outer walls of the temple.

 

“Hey, the temple is on fire!”

 

As the knights looked at each other in confusion, a voice calling for help was heard from across the street.

 

“Help! The temple is on fire!”

 

“I guess I should go help you?”

 

It was the temple people’s duty to put out the fire, but perhaps because the event was over, there were hardly any people around. If done incorrectly, the fire could have spread here. Even if that wasn’t the case, she couldn’t just sit here and watch the temple burn.

 

“You all follow me. You stay here.”

 

Among the knights guarding the entrance, the oldest one singled out the youngest knight and headed to the temple, leaving him behind. Other knights guarding the lodgings also ran toward the temple with him. The young knight who remained in front of the entrance to the lodgings was looking toward the temple with an anxious expression. Although it was hard to see because of the distance, the flames were rising all the way to the roof of the temple. What if it all burns down like that? While he was watching anxiously by the entrance, a man quietly climbed over the fence of the dormitory. He was a young priest wearing a priest’s uniform. He didn’t need to change his clothes. Rather, if you wear this clothing, no one inside the temple will look suspicious. The priest climbed over the fence and ran to the back of the building. The destination was the window in the princess’s bedroom. The man who arrived in front of the glass window looked around, confirmed that no one was there, and then looked inside the window. The room with the lights off was dark and quiet. Even in the dark, one could vaguely distinguish the princess’s figure lying on her bed. Her reddish hair was clearly visible, draped over the pillow above her thick blanket. It was clearly Princess Eve.

 

The princess was deeply asleep and did not move. The priestess said that she kept a sleeping incense burning inside her bedroom. She also gave her sleeping pills to her maid waiting in her antechamber, so she was confident that neither of them would wake up, she said. The priest looked near the glass window. There were a few paper lanterns hanging under the window, but since it was the middle of the night, all the lights were off. However, she said that the priestess had sprinkled vaporizing powder on the bedroom window and exterior walls in advance to make it easier for the fire to catch fire. She said that although she was invisible, she was a powder that, when lit, instantly burst into fierce flames. The man quickly took out a match from his pocket and lit the paper in the lantern. To prevent the fire from spreading quickly, the dry ivy that covered the window was wrapped around the lamp. Thanks to this, as soon as the flames were ignited, the flames quickly spread to the entire exterior wall and flowed into the window. After confirming that the fire had spread into the bedroom, the priest quickly tried to escape. But he had no time to run away.

 

“Catch it!”

 

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Translator Note: