How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

Suddenly, the back door of the lodging opened and men dressed in knightly uniforms poured out. Men who appeared inside the dorm aimed at him and rushed towards him. The priest was grabbed by the men without even having time to do anything. Even in the midst of despair, he turned his gaze towards the garden. This was because he was worried about whether his companions who came with him would escape safely. However, strangers were also seen in the garden. The blades of grass shook ominously and the trapped comrade fell to the ground. At that moment, a man wearing a hood and a woman in pajamas appeared from the back door of the dorm.

 

“Your Highness, I paid the interest.”

 

“Good work.”

 

The hooded man stepped forward first. He also checked the situation in the garden and gave orders to his men.

 

“Turn off the lights in your dorm.”

 

The man turned to the red-blonde woman standing next to him. Only then did the priest realize who the woman was. She was clearly the princess lying in the bedroom.

 

‘How is she here, the princess?’

 

He clearly confirmed that she was lying in bed? He had clearly identified her red hair on the bed. But no one answered his questions. Immediately, someone hit him on the back of the neck, knocking him out.

 

The princess, Eve, stood still and looked at her quarters.

 

“Princess!”

 

Nell and Chloe, who came out of the dorm late, found her and came running.

 

“Are you both okay?”

 

Of course, the fire never reached where Nell and Chloe were. Because only the outside wall of the bedroom caught fire.

 

“Is the princess okay?”

 

Nell asked worriedly, looking toward the bedroom.

 

“I got out early so there’s nothing wrong.”

 

The knights and the servants who came late went into the bedroom and turned off the light. The flames on the bedroom floor slowly died out. The fire that spread to the bedroom burned some curtains, carpets, and furniture, but did not spread anywhere else. The cushions placed under the blanket and the red embroidery thread stretched over the pillows remained untouched by the fire.

 

* * *

 

The fire that burned the temple disappeared as dawn came. As the white dawn sky brightened, traces of the fire slowly emerged. More than half of the outer walls of the Temple of Rastana were burned black. On the other hand, the building she was staying in had only the exterior walls near the windows and the bedroom charred. Ugly black soot remained on the exterior walls, especially around the window frames. The bedroom floor and furniture near the windows were also burned, so she had to move all her belongings to another room.

 

“It went as well as I thought.”

 

Terence surveyed the signs of fire with satisfaction. He cleaned up the fire scene, returned to the mansion, and came back here in the morning. When he realized there was a fire, he wanted to avoid attention because the priests and priestesses came running belatedly. 

While he was at the mansion, he was moving luggage to another room and watching the servants clean up the fire.

 

“What about the priest?”

 

The fuse that started the fire was held by knights from the Grand Duke’s family. It seemed like he was in a temple, but she hadn’t seen him since dawn.

 

“I’m keeping it in my mansion.”

 

Terence continued his explanation by answering her questions.

 

“That priest was a priest who became a priest with the support of the Count Parmes family.”

 

“The empress’s family?”

 

The Count Parmes family was the empress’s family. He was originally a baron, but his title was raised thanks to the Empress.

 

“What about the person in the garden?”

 

Besides the priest, there was one more person caught in the garden. Because it was night, she couldn’t really see his face, but he looked like a woman.

 

“The person waiting in the garden was a young priestess.”

 

“You’re the one who brought the sleeping scent.”

 

She remembered the young priestess who came to visit, offering to change incense. Terence silently nodded his head.

 

“Is he also related to the Count family?”

 

“He was from the Parmes estate.”

 

If so, it meant that they were both from the Count’s side.

 

“The priest already confessed with his own mouth that he received the count’s orders.”

 

“You already confessed?”

 

“My men interrogated him all night long.”

 

Terence spoke calmly, but there must have been strong pressure from the Grand Duke family to confess like that.

 

“I will be taken to the imperial palace for an official investigation anyway, but I will not change my words once I get there.”

 

This seemed to mean that he was made to confess clearly. After listening to the whole story, she spoke honestly.

 

“Something is a bit awkward.”

 

Although we put a lot of effort into preparing sleeping incense and setting fire to the temple to divert attention, it was overall a crude and clumsy plan. What if some of the knights guarding the inn stayed behind instead of rushing to the temple? If she made a mistake, she might have looked down on the fire and been seen by her maid or other people. Aside from wearing a priest’s crown related to the Count Parmes family, it looks a bit sloppy.

 

‘Maybe it’s because it was a hastily made plan in a short period of time.’

 

Not even a week has passed since she came to this temple. There would not have been enough time to make a detailed plan and recruit people. In a hurry, he must have used someone from his side who was already in the temple. In the end, because of that, she was easily caught off guard.

 

“Yes, it wasn’t the Emperor’s doing.”

 

Terence seemed convinced that this accident had not been done by order of the Emperor. And she had the same thought. It was a plan too sloppy and crude to have been ordered by the Emperor.

 

“Then… Could it be that the Empress arbitrarily ordered Vilos to do this?”

 

It seemed like a conspiracy of the type the Empress would plan. This was especially true when they looked at the fact that she mobilized people from her own family, the count family. 

So, was this something the Empress did on her own by ordering her son, Vilos? Since her foresight came to her when she held Vilos’ hand, it was probably Vilos who carried out this plan. But there was no way Vilos could have done this alone. She thought there must have been an order from the emperor or Empress.

 

“Well.”

 

Terence added, giving a vague answer.

 

“No matter who did it, since the count family is involved, her position as Empress will worsen.”

 

The Empress was already in a difficult situation because of the previous incident. She was still trapped in the Empress’s palace, but now that even her own family was involved in this, she would be even more embarrassed. When they got there, Nell announced a visitor outside the door.

 

“Princess, the high priest has come to visit.”

 

“The High priest?”

 

Since something like this happened, it was worth coming to apologize, but she wondered why he didn’t come. He probably waited until the situation settled down a bit.

 

“Ask them to come in.”

 

After the door opened, an old man wearing a fancy priest’s uniform slowly came inside. He was a high priest whom she had met before. The old priest looked ten years older in just one day.

 

“Princess, I am sorry for causing you to experience such an unpleasant experience.”

 

He bowed deeply in front of her, sweating profusely. The wrinkled face facing the floor was full of fear. A priest and a priestess belonging to the main temple tried to set fire to the princess’s lodgings, so as a priest, it was impossible to avoid responsibility.

 

“How did this happen…? There is no shame.”

 

“The priest who started the fire was captured by His Majesty’s knights, so don’t worry.”

 

Those words drew my attention to Terence, who was standing next to her.

 

“Thank you for your help, Your Highness.”

 

The high priest also bowed his head and thanked Terence.

 

“I never thought they would do something like that… I still can’t believe it. What would have happened without your knights? They said that the Grand Duke’s knights were the best in the empire, and I guess that wasn’t a lie.”

 

The High Priest bowed to Terence in a honeyed voice. Terence spoke calmly without any significant change in expression.

 

“My knights searched the two men’s rooms. I believe you will understand that I handled it arbitrarily because it was an urgent situation.”

 

“Of course, Your Majesty. I just want to thank you for your help.”

 

Originally, it was impossible to search the temple without the permission of the high priest. But the high priest didn’t seem to care at all. Anyone who had risen to the position of High Priest knew that it was not the time to discuss such matters.

 

“Please investigate whether there are more people in the temple who are related to this incident.”

 

“Yes, princess. I will look into it and deal with it.”

 

“I moved my luggage to the next room. The burned bedroom won’t be usable, so I’ll move my room to another location for the time being.”

 

“Of course. We will make arrangements to move it wherever you like.”

 

Every time she spoke, the High Priest bowed his head in humility and answered. Even if she offered to use the temple’s main building as accommodation, he seemed ready to accept it. The idea was that she had to somehow please herself in order to preserve her position. If she went to the imperial palace and caused trouble, there was a possibility that she herself would be punished.

 

Knock, knock.

 

Then Nell opened the door again and announced another visitor.

 

“Princess, a message has arrived from the imperial palace.”

 

“Ask them to come in.”

 

When a new visitor arrived, the High Priest quickly left the place.

 

“Then I will leave now. If you need anything, please call me anytime.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Taking turns with the high priest, a knight who appeared to be in his late thirties entered inside. It was a familiar face. This man was one of the knights under the Crown Prince’s direct command and was guarding my lodgings. The knight bowed his head deeply with a dark look on his face.

 

“Princess, I deeply apologize for the unpleasant incident last night.”

 

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