How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The snow that had not yet melted left white shadows in every corner of the garden. She saw Sorel running somewhere ahead. And there was Eve next to her. Both Sorel and she were wearing the same clothes we were wearing now.

 

‘Then this is what will happen today.’

 

The two of them went down to the flower bed next to the garden path with pale faces. There were people who looked like servants gathered there. Looking at their clothes, they were all servants of the Grand Duke’s family. This appeared to be the garden at the Grand Duke’s mansion.

 

When her thoughts reached that point, she saw a familiar boy with blonde hair. A blonde boy who has lost consciousness and was held in the arms of a servant. The moment she saw that child, the blood in her entire body became colder than ice.

 

‘Rot?’

 

The child held by the servant was Rot.

 

“Rot! Rot, come to your senses!”

 

In the premonition, she hugged Rot and shouted. Rot’s entire body was soaked in water.

 

‘Did he fall into the water?’

 

Looking at his face as white as a sheet of paper and his pale lips, he must have been in the water for a long time. She belatedly saw the ice water next to the flower bed. It was a large artificial pond. The edges of the pond were covered with ice and snow, and there was dark blue water in the middle. Broken ice was floating on the pitch black water. Was Rot missing here? Why did he suddenly fall into the water? Soon after, the Grand Duke’s butler who was with him a moment ago arrived.

 

“Young master! Master Rot!”

 

The old butler hugged Rot with a thoughtful look on his face.

 

“Master, come to your senses!”

 

The butler, ignoring Sorel and she, hugged Rot and shook him, then turned his attention to the servants around him.

 

“What are you doing? Get a doctor right away!”

 

The butler shouted with a ferocious face, like a wild animal that had lost its young. The gentle demeanor from just a moment ago was gone. Two or three servants ran into the mansion. After that, the butler hugged Rot and stood up. The wrinkled eyes were red and wet. When she looked up to that point, her vision was covered in darkness again.

 

* * *

 

As if closing and opening her eyes, after a brief period of darkness, her vision became clear again. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the butler’s face looking at her.

 

“Princess? Why are you doing this?”

 

“…”

 

The butler was still staring at her in a gentle and polite manner.

 

“I was wondering which way would be quicker to get here from the banquet hall.”

 

She pretended to have a natural attitude and pointed at the blueprint again.

 

“I think this other banquet hall would be faster than this one. This is also a banquet hall, right?”

 

“Yes that’s right. This is our third banquet hall.”

 

“Yeah, this definitely looks better location-wise.”

 

She pointed at the blueprint with her hand and talked hard, but she had no thoughts about the banquet hall or anything like that in her head. Because she witnessed such an incredible scene, the wedding was erased from her mind.

 

‘Today, maybe a little while later, the lot falls into the pond.’

 

She didn’t know why she fell for it, but it was definitely going to happen within a few hours.

 

‘I’m sure he’s not dead, right?’

 

When she thought of Rot, who has lost his mind and is lying limp, she felt like her heart was being squeezed. When would this happen? He looked out the window, pretending to look at the blueprint. The sun was still shining outside the window, but there was a quiet atmosphere in the late afternoon. It seemed like there were about two or three hours left before the sun began to set. The scene shown in the forecast was also a clear afternoon. That meant that the lot would fall into the water within about two or three hours.

 

She chatted roughly before looking back at Sorel, who was watching from behind.

 

“Sorel, what do you think?”

 

“I think it looks good here too.”

 

Sorel, who was looking around the banquet hall, answered half-heartedly.

 

“If it’s this far, wouldn’t customers be able to walk long enough?”

 

“I guess so.”

 

She folded up the blueprint.

 

“Let’s take a look at the third banquet hall first and then decide.”

 

Then he called the butler who was standing a few steps ahead.

 

“Butler. Where is Rot now?”

 

The butler took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

 

“Until a little while ago, you were probably in the study room on the second floor of the main building. You are probably resting after class now.”

 

“Right. I said I would come back after class. When it’s over, I want to go to the banquet hall together.”

 

“I will find out where you are right away.”

 

The butler opened the door next to the hallway and rang the bell to summon a servant. He then gave an order to determine the whereabouts of Rot. It all happened quickly and naturally, but she was feeling sick to her stomach. Soon after, a servant brought news.

 

“It is said that Master Rot went out to the garden after finishing class.”

 

The word ‘garden’ sent shivers down her spine. She felt like her heart was going cold. She tried to keep a calm expression and turned her gaze to the window.

 

“Alone? It must be cold.”

 

She wanted to run out into the garden right away, but she couldn’t do anything because Sorel was behind her.

 

“Hmm. My head hurts as I keep choosing items. Sorel, if it’s okay, wouldn’t you like to go see the third banquet hall first?”

 

“Am I alone?”

 

“Huh. I’m going to look around the garden and find a lot before going to the banquet hall.”

 

‘If you ask me to go see the banquet hall first, there’s no way I’ll refuse.’

 

For some reason, Sorel seemed to want to tour this mansion alone.

 

“Is that so? Then I’ll go to the banquet hall first.”

 

As expected, Sorel was delighted and agreed.

 

‘Okay, let’s stay away for a moment.’

 

“Butler, please show Sorel to the mansion.”

 

Anyway, if the butler was by her side, she wouldn’t take her places he shouldn’t show her.

 

“I will call a servant to show you to the garden.”

 

“No, any servant here will do.”

 

She pointed to the young servant who had known Rot’s whereabouts. There was no time now to call a new servant or anything. Because every minute was urgent. Fortunately, the butler bowed politely and told her to do as she wanted.

 

“All right. Princess.”

 

She left the dinner hall and went out to the garden before those two left.

 

* * *

 

Rot dropped the ball he was holding on the floor and then kicked it back up with his knee. The ball rose above his head and fell helplessly to the floor. It was a ball made of leather bent into a round shape and filled with filling. He wanted to make it a little harder, but his older brother Terence said it was dangerous, so he had to make it softer. As he was helplessly rolling the ball with her foot, the glass window in front of him opened.

 

“Rot. What are you doing here?”

 

“Ah, Sister Diane.”

 

Diane opened the dinner hall window and called Rot. Rot picked up the ball from the floor.

 

“I was bored so I was kicking a ball.”

 

“Are you finished studying?”

 

“Huh. But they said I shouldn’t disturb the princess.”

 

He wanted to play with the princess today, but the butler had been nagging him all morning, telling him not to disturb the guests. Even the tutor did not disturb the princess after class, and asked her to play alone until His Majesty the Grand Duke arrived. So even after class was over, she went out to the garden and played alone.

 

“What is your sister doing here?”

 

“I was looking for a place for a reception.”

 

Diane turned her head for a moment to look inside the window.

 

“I thought it would be a good idea to have it here at the second banquet hall. It’s nice to see the garden and get lots of sunlight.”

 

The second banquet hall was smaller than the banquet hall in the center of the main building, but the wall facing the garden was made entirely of glass, so it was bright and fresh. In winter, you could also enjoy the view of the snow-covered garden through the glass window. He also thought that the pure atmosphere of the winter garden went well with the new bride’s dress. Rot listened intently to Diane, but she did not show much interest.

 

“I guess so.”

 

Although Rot found the wedding amazing, he wasn’t very interested in the event itself. At first, it was fun to watch the preparations, so he offered to help, but every time he did that, everyone waved their hands and tried to dissuade him, so he couldn’t do anything. In the end, while everyone in the mansion was running around frantically, he was left alone. He felt lonely for some reason because he felt left out.

 

Rot took the ball in both hands and rolled it, then saw Diane’s pale face and asked:

 

“Sister, are you feeling okay now?”

 

“Yeah, well…”

 

Diane trailed off as she tried to say she was fine. In fact she came in the morning and she took her medicine back to back. Today, she had to take cold medicine in addition to her usual skin disease medicine. It was a disease she had had since she was young, so she was used to it by now.

 

“Isn’t it okay to go out in the cold?”

 

“This much is okay.”

 

Even her mother, the Duchess, and even her nanny were all worried about her health. It’s a relief that she seems to be feeling well, but she cautions against going out too often in the cold winter, a concern her doctor also said.

 

‘But preparing for the wedding is fun.’

 

He had no idea the wedding preparations were this much fun. It was said that in a kingdom somewhere in the West, there was a job that prepares events such as weddings… He even wondered what it would be like to do something like that in the future. Suddenly, as he turned his gaze, a shimmering shadow caught his eye on the open window.

 

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Translator Note:

Next chapter I will take a little rest, o see you next year 😉
If I don’t read you until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year <3