How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

Sorel has something to tell her?

 

“What do you mean?”

 

A smile appeared on Mikhail’s neat lips.

 

“Princess Sorel asked me to convey her thanks.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Thanks? What thanks? Oh yeah. She sent snacks to Sorel. She remembered it too late. The cookies made on the holiday were sent to Sorel as a gift upon his return. So much happened after that that she forgot about Sorel for a while.

 

“There’s nothing to be thankful for.”

 

She just sent Sorel the snacks that were being distributed here. Well, she accepted it calmly, but Mikhail told her one more piece of news in a slightly nervous voice.

 

“If you don’t mind, Princess Sorel said she would like to visit here sometime.”

 

“Really? Sorel said that?”

 

Why did she want to come here? Eve had never been close to Sorel, even if it was just empty words. She thought Sorel wouldn’t come even if she asked her to come. When she gave him a look of disbelief, Mikhail asked with an embarrassed expression.

 

“Shall I tell her that this is not possible?”

 

“No. I’m okay. I’d be happy if Sorel would come.”

 

Mikhail stopped walking.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“I still wanted to meet Sorel when she came back.”

 

If possible, she wanted to be friendly with Sorel. Sorel was the heroine of the original work and a saint with powerful healing powers, so there was no harm in keeping her close by. Her personality was gentle and kind, and she was always kind to those around her.

 

‘Her fault was that she was too understanding and kind.’

 

Thanks to this, throughout the time the original work was serialized, there were negative comments such as ‘The female protagonist is frustrating’, ‘She’s too passive’, ‘The female protagonist here has been crying for several episodes’, etc. Still, she tried her best to help Sorel and her people. In the original work, it was Sorel and Mikhail who uncovered the truth about Eve’s death.

 

“I will deliver this to Princess Sorel. She will be very happy.”

 

Mikhail, who said that, also looked happy. Mikhail seems to sincerely believe that they could reconcile. He gave her back the necklace before, telling her to give it to Sorell herself. She mostly just heard about her through rumors or through Sorel’s letters, and she never saw Eve torment Sorel in person, so she seems to be like that. Otherwise, it made no sense for her to think that the two could reconcile. Considering that Eve bullied Sorel in the original, it’s absolutely impossible. They walked along the garden path and headed to the temple. She didn’t have time to visit the imperial palace yesterday, so today was her first time seeing the temple on fire up close. When she looked at it up close, it looked worse than when she saw it from afar. The delicate and ornate exterior walls that she had seen on the day of the holiday were burned black, and traces of black burning were also visible on the roof. Soot was also spreading on the glass windows made of crystal. A reproachful voice was heard from next to her.

 

“I can’t believe this happened after I left. There is no shame.”

 

Mikhail, who was looking at the temple, lowered his head as if confused.

 

“What are you talking about? You went under orders.”

 

To be exact, it may have been part of the criminal’s plan to get rid of the Imperial Knights before the fire. Anyway, she received the order and returned before the incident occurred. Of course, it wasn’t Mikhail’s fault at all.

 

“No need to worry. Because no one was hurt and everyone is fine. I wanted to turn the wedding hall into a mansion anyway.”

 

Maybe it’s because he’s the male protagonist, but he feels an unnecessary sense of responsibility. Well, because of his personality, he was able to solve various problems in the original work. Sorel would go around the scene of the crime, pitching in here and there to help people. Mikhail looked at her quietly and said.

 

“As I said before, if there is anything I can help you with, please let me know.”

 

It seemed like he felt responsible for not being of any help this time.

 

“I’m thankful that everyone is trying to help me.”

 

She walked away and changed the topic.

 

“How is the situation in the imperial palace?”

 

“It’s confusing.”

 

Mikhail also walked in step with her.

 

“The count’s butlers and servants were arrested, and the knights searched the count’s mansion. I don’t think there have been any clear results yet.”

 

It’s only been one day since the search began, so the results probably haven’t come out already.

 

“Well, I think if there is a crime, it will be revealed.”

 

Since it must have been prepared on a whim, there must have been evidence left somewhere. Surprisingly, the Count’s handling of affairs was so neat that it was inevitable if no evidence could be found for punishment.

 

‘The Emperor will be so busy covering up this matter that he won’t have time to do anything to me, so that alone is a benefit.’

 

With that in mind, she entered the dormitory. Fortunately, it was cloudy today and there were no customers. As she walked down the quiet garden path and turned the corner toward her accommodation, she saw something next to the flower bed.

 

“What is that?”

 

Something was buried in the white snow. She walked towards it. There was something with pitch black fur buried in the white snow. Who dropped their fur scarf? At first glance, she thought it was a fur scarf that someone who came on a holiday had dropped off. But then she saw a small ear sticking out of the snowdrift.

 

An ear? She rolled the clump of fur to the side with her gloved hand. And a face buried in the snow appeared.

 

Cute ears and small nose. A small mouth and whiskers next to it.

 

“It’s a cat.”

 

Mikhail, who was watching, muttered something regretful.

 

Of course it looked like a cat.

 

‘I guess not?’

 

She checked the back of the cat’s neck as it lay on its side. She couldn’t believe it, but there was a mark that looked like a complicated pattern on the skin covered by the hair on the back of the neck. It was a pattern that looked like ancient writing, but the shape was very familiar. It was natural. Because it looked exactly like the blurry pattern on my amethyst necklace.

 

“He’s not moving. Is he hurt?”

 

Mikhail looked at the cat with sympathetic eyes. The cat was still unconscious, eyes closed and drooping. It looked like a common stray cat. But she definitely knew what this was.

 

‘What, why is there a divine beast in a place like this?’

 

This was a new beast that Sorel, the female protagonist of the original work, meets in the latter half of the story.

 

* * *

 

This cat was clearly the new beast that Sorel meets in the original work. Surprisingly, there were no monsters or dragons in this world. Magic also existed only at the level of alchemy or life science. There were no such things as powerful wizards or witches like in fantasy movies. Instead, there were saints or divine beasts who used sacred power. As mentioned before, saints who use sacred power are born only here in the royal family of the Albion Empire. According to legend, such an unusual power was the driving force that made the current imperial family the rulers of the empire.

 

‘Aren’t you saying that the empire was eventually created through the power of the princesses?’

 

On a subject like that, it is very unfair that the inheritance rights start with the princes. In any case, the princess was quite valuable to the empire, perhaps because of her sexual power. Of course, it seemed like there were more cases where princesses had useless sexual powers like Eve. Shinsu was a kind of familiar who followed such a saint. Although it was a smart and capable creature that uses various abilities with divine power, there were currently no divine beasts in the empire. Since divine beasts hag stopped appearing for several generations, they were now thought to be virtually extinct. However, in the latter part of the original story, Sorel met Shinsu. The Shinsu that appeared in the story was a unique creature that looked like a cat, but could talk and use sacred powers.

 

‘How did Sorel meet this divine beast?’

 

One day when Sorel visited her temple, she remembers that the divine beast appeared, and she said. Instead of sharing her holy power with Sorel, her divine beast helps her by freely using her various abilities with her holy power. However, it was more than a year after Eve’s death that the divine beast appeared. Shinso appeared after the events related to Eve had been completed and a completely different episode had begun.

 

‘But why did you show up already?’

 

And why was she buried in the snow so helpless? Shinso’s body, which I briefly touched, was as cold as ice. If she didn’t know he was Shinso, she would have thought he was a dying stray cat. He was still breathing, but she didn’t think she should leave him like this. So she took off the shawl she was wearing around her shoulders and wrapped it around the cat.

 

“Princess?”

 

“If I leave it like this, I might die. “I have to take him and take care of him.”

 

She stood up, holding the cat. Mikhail looked embarrassed, but she ignored him and ran to her dorm. As she entered the room, she saw Nell organizing the table.

 

“Princess? Oh my, the cat…”

 

“Nell, quickly prepare a warm towel. The cat was lying in the snow.”

 

Nell also looked embarrassed for a moment, but immediately headed to the kitchen to get a warm towel. She spread the blanket from the chair near the stove and laid the cat on it. After a while, Nell brought a warm towel. They covered the cat’s body with it and added firewood to the fireplace to warm up the room. But the cat in the snow still couldn’t come to its senses. 

The limp limbs were shaking listlessly. Her heart was beating, but she could barely hear her breathing.

 

‘What, why does Shinso, hurt so much?’

 

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Translator Note: