How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The moment the cold water touched her body, goosebumps appeared all over her body. The water was so cold that her skin felt painful. The pond was much deeper than she thought. The depth of the water was well beyond the height of an adult. If she hadn’t been able to swim at all, she would have been in danger, let alone saving Rot.

 

‘I’m glad I learned swimming when I was in school.’

 

She quickly went into the pond and grabbed Rot. He was struggling in the ice water. She held on to one of Rot’s arms and swam out to the edge of the pond.

 

“Princess!”

 

Hearing the sound of water, nearby servants came running to the edge of the pond. As she came out to the water, her water-soaked dress became soggy and it caught her foot. She put Rot down by the pond and sat down.

 

“Cough!”

 

Rot sat down next to her, coughing and spitting out the water he had swallowed.

 

“Rot, are you okay?”

 

“Cough… I’m fine, it’s okay…”

 

Fortunately, Rot was safe. He didn’t appear to be injured except that his entire body was frozen solid when he came out of the ice water.

 

‘It’s fortunate that he was rescued as soon as he fell into the water.’

 

That pond was too deep for a 9-year-old child. Even adults would have been dangerous if they couldn’t swim.

 

She stood up carrying the heavy dress, and then also helped Rot stand up.

 

“We’re wet, so we need to go inside quickly.”

 

If you stay out in the cold garden all wet, you will catch a cold.

 

Rot was trembling pathetically. Water dripped from his damp golden hair.

 

“It’s cold, right? Go in quickly.”

 

She walked towards his mansion with one arm around Rot. As she entered the building, the water droplets that fell from her body left traces on the marble floor.

 

“Her Royal Highness…! Master Rot!”

 

The servants saw the two of them drenched in water and came running to them. Among them, she asked the first person she saw.

 

“Bring me a towel or blanket.”

 

The servants hurriedly went somewhere and brought towels. As she went upstairs, she wiped the water from Rot’s face with a towel. The butler also came running here as if the news had been relayed.

 

“Princess, what is this… Master, are you okay?”

 

The butler looked at the two of them with a thoughtful face.

 

“Rot fell into the water. Bring a change of clothes and prepare bath water in Rot’s bathroom.”

 

“I understand, princess.”

 

The butler hurriedly gave orders to the gathered servants with a worried look on his face.

 

“Quickly prepare a bath and bring a blanket.”

 

Next to him, Sorel was seen, whiter than snow.

 

“Sister…”

 

“Oh, I went out to the garden and Rot fell into the water, so I tried to help him and this happened.”

 

“Are you both injured?”

 

“Luckily I wasn’t hurt. Still, I think it would be a good idea for Rot to see a doctor.”

 

As soon as her words fell, the butler next to her answered.

 

“I’ve already sent a call to bring the doctor, Dr. Harper.”

 

It’s definitely nice that the work gets done quickly. Soon the maid brought a warm blanket. As soon as she wiped the water off her body with it, the maid took Rot upstairs. Next it was her turn.

 

“Princess, please come this way. The bath water is ready.”

 

She asked Sorel’s understanding before following the butler.

 

“Can you wait in the reception room for a moment? I’ll change my clothes and leave.”

 

“…Yes, got it.”

 

Leaving Sorel behind, she followed the butler’s guidance and headed to the guest room in the main building of the mansion. The butler opened the guest room door and said.

 

“This is the place. The waiting maids are also ready.”

 

“Thank you. Oh, could you come here for a moment?”

 

SheI dragged the butler behind the guest room door.

 

“Princess. Is there anything else you need?”

 

The butler asked with a puzzled look.

 

“That’s not it, you showed Sorel around the mansion earlier, right?”

 

Before going out to the garden, she left Sorel in the care of the butler.

 

“Where did Sorel look? Is there a place she particularly wanted to see?”

 

The butler was not at all embarrassed by her strange question and immediately gave an answer.

 

“There was no special place. She said he would like to take a look at the banquet hall, the first banquet hall, and where the princess will be on her wedding day.”

 

Where was she going to be on her wedding day?

 

“A place like the bride’s waiting room?”

 

“That’s right. She said the Princess would like to see where she will be until her wedding begins.”

 

The moment she heard those words, a feeling colder than the ice water settled on her chest. This was where she was until the wedding began. There was also a popular belief in this world that bad luck would come if the groom looked at the bride in advance on the wedding day. The bride stayed quietly in the waiting room, preparing for the ceremony with her bridesmaids. In other words, the bride spends most of her time in the waiting room before the wedding. The place where Eve was murdered, which did not appear in the original work. The most likely location for the assassination was the bride’s waiting room.

 

‘Could it be that they still have a plan to kill me on my wedding day?’

 

But she didn’t understand. Even if they kill her right now, it would be the Empress or her family, the Counts of Parmes, that would raise suspicions. There had been two incidents involving the Empress so far.

 

‘Or is there some other conspiracy going on?’

 

After much thought, she asked the butler for a favor.

 

“Could you please keep Sorel in the guest room until I call again?”

 

The tension seemed to be evident on her face, and the butler nodded with a serious attitude.

 

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell them to take her to the reception room.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

After sending the butler away, she went into the guest room. Two maids were waiting for her inside the room.

 

“Princess, I have been ordered to serve you.”

 

“Thank you. I want to take a bath first.”

 

“There is bath water here.”

 

She was guided into the bathroom by the maid. There was warm bath water infused with fragrant herbs in the bathtub. She took off her damp dress and washed her body with steaming hot water.

 

“I have prepared a change of clothes for you.”

 

After drying herself, she went to the bedroom and found everything completely prepared, from underwear to petticoats and corsets. And there were five dresses neatly placed on the bed. For a moment, she wondered where she could suddenly get clothes like this. Come to think of it, she heard that noble family mansions prepare spare clothes in case they need to be given to guests.

 

“Thank you.”

 

All five dresses seemed to fit her body well. Everything from the fabric to the design was luxurious. It was a dress worthy of being worn by a noble lady of high status. The Grand Duke’s family must be wealthy to prepare something like this for guests.

 

She chose the most plain gray dress. Two maids stood next to her and helped her put on the dress. Both were very careful and kind hands.

 

She changed her clothes and went up to Rot’s room. In the room were Rot, the butler, and Diane.

 

“Princess!”

 

Diane, who had gone to see the dinner party, apparently heard the news late and came running.

 

“I heard what happened. I said something stupid and it ended up like this…”

 

Diane was blaming herself. It turns out that Diane asked Rot to bring her flowers.

 

“No, Sister Diane. It has nothing to do with flowers. I missed the ball and went in to catch it, and this happened.”

 

Rot, who was sitting on the bed, comforted a listless Diane.

 

“Rot, are you okay? Is there any more pain?”

 

Perhaps because he had taken a bath in warm water, Rot seemed to have regained much more energy than before.

 

“Yes, princess. I’m fine now.”

 

Rot hesitated, as if embarrassed, then raised his head again.

 

“Is the princess okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

 

“As you can see, I’m fine. I also changed my clothes.”

 

But after hearing what she said, Rot lowered his head even further. A small hand grabbed the soft bed blanket.

 

“…sorry. It’s because of me.”

 

“Don’t say things like that.”

 

She put her hand on Rot’s shoulder and patted him.

 

“I’m glad Rot is safe. Instead, don’t do anything dangerous like that anymore, okay?”

 

It was said that when you are young, you grow up having accidents, but you should never do anything dangerous like this in the future. She was glad she saw it in advance because if she hadn’t, it would have been a big problem. Rot nodded his head furiously, as if he had realized something.

 

“Yes. I promise.”

 

The butler, who had been listening quietly, joined the conversation with a worried look in his eyes.

 

“Master, you have been examined by a doctor. Fortunately, there are no major problems. The princess is also seeing a doctor…”

 

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”

 

She was not a child like Rot. Just going in and out of the pond for a short time wouldn’t hurt her. It was a bit cold because it was a frozen lake in the middle of winter. A maid came in carrying a warm teacup on a tray.

 

“I have prepared warm medicinal tea for you two.”

 

The maid also handed me a teacup filled with warm tea. So she suddenly realized that the servants’ perspectives on her had strangely changed. Was it because they saw her jumping into the water to save Rot? Until a little while ago, people here controlled their emotional expressions and remained calm and polite. But now everyone was treating me with friendly expressions. At that time, noisy footsteps were heard outside the door. Without warning, the door burst open and someone came inside. The person who came in was Terence. The butler next to Rot was surprised and quickly bowed.

 

“Your Majesty the Grand Duke.”

 

Terence entered the room without answering. He had a calm expression as usual, but his normally indifferent purple eyes were shaking uneasily. His hair, which was always neatly organized, was also a little disheveled.

 

“Princess.”

 

Terence approached her with a pale face.

 

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