How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

Suddenly, she remembered acting in front of noble ladies in the past. Terence, who was surprised to hear her news and ran to her, came into the room with a shocked expression on his face. At that time, she thought his acting skills were really outstanding. The way he turned pale in genuine surprise made her realize that his pathetic performance back then was really just an act. No matter how good an actor he was, he wouldn’t be able to fake eyes that tremble with anxiety like that.

 

“Princess, are you okay? Rot is…”

 

“I am fine and Rot is fine. We both got out quickly.”

 

His eyes landed on Rot on the bed. The butler next to the bed quickly lowered his head and explained the situation.

 

“Your Highness, these two are safe. They fell into the pond for a moment…”

 

“Brother, I’m fine too. I’m not hurt.”

 

Rot interrupted the butler and tried to reassure his brother. Rot smoothed out the edge of the blanket, watching Terence’s eyes.

 

“Rot.”

 

After Terence confirmed that Rot was unharmed, he turned his questions to the butler standing next to the bed.

 

“What happened?”

 

The butler relayed to him briefly, as briefly as possible, what had happened in the garden. After hearing the situation, Terence looked back at her with a puzzled look on his face.

 

“You jumped into the water? Wearing those clothes in this weather?”

 

“I didn’t have time to take off my dress.”

 

She calmly gave a joke-like answer, but the other person’s reaction was cold. Terence looked at her for a moment, then laughed as if he was dumbfounded and asked again.

 

“Do you know how deep the pond is?”

 

“…”

 

How could she know that? This was her second time there. She had visited this mansion twice, but this was the first time she had seen the pond. She wanted to know how she could know. But Terence’s eyes looked serious when he looked at her, so she couldn’t help but keep her mouth shut.

 

“Have you thought about calling the servants?”

 

“The only people around were me and Rot.”

 

The servant she brought with her was sent to the other side, so she had no choice but to jump in. Because there was no time to wait leisurely for the servant.

 

“Don’t be angry. It was so urgent that there was nothing I could do.”

 

“I’m not angry.”

 

Terence calmly retorted. As he said, there was no trace of anger on his neat face. The expression on his face that faced her was anything from calm to cold.

 

“If you did it wrong, even the princess could be in danger.”

 

His tone was still hard and emotionless, but unlike his indifferent voice, his purple eyes were as dark as the night sky. It seemed like black fog was waving in the deep purple sky of the polar region. His dark, sunken eyes contained a variety of emotions. Anger, worry, regret. But what was deepest down was a bitter sense of self-reproach.

 

When she saw that, she was speechless and lost the desire to argue. At that moment, a sudden burst of crying broke the tense atmosphere.

 

“Well… Ugh…”

 

Rot, who was sitting on the bed, was crying as he looked at them.

 

“Brother, I was wrong… Waa… Don’t fight with the princess…”

 

Clear tears flowed like beads from his light purple eyes.

 

“Rot, don’t cry.”

 

She sat down on the bed and comforted Rot. Terence also went to the other side and comforted his brother.

 

“We’re not fighting.”

 

It wasn’t really a fight. It must have looked like they were fighting in Rot’s eyes. Terence sat down by the bed and put his arm around Rot’s shoulders. Although he didn’t seem to express much due to his personality, it was clear from just that small gesture that he cared for Rot very much. Their parents, the previous Grand Duke and his wife, passed away at an early age. Terence must have raised little Rot himself, so he couldn’t help but feel even more affectionate towards him.

 

‘The fact that he reacts particularly sensitively to accidents and dangers is probably due to his parents’ influence.’

 

Rot shrugged his shoulders and dropped his head, avoiding his brother’s gaze. Terence brushed Rot’s blond hair from his forehead.

 

“Never do such a dangerous thing again.”

 

Rot’s shoulders trembled slightly at his brother’s quiet reprimand.

 

“Huh. I won’t.”

 

Terence let out a long sigh and calmed down his emotions. And then he turned his head to her again.

 

“Princess, thank you for saving Rot.”

 

“Don’t say that.”

 

Terence showed unusual hesitation. He stared at her in silence for a moment and then lowered his head.

 

“I was very rude a little while ago. I think I lost my mind for a moment thinking that even the princess could have been wrong…”

 

It certainly seemed like he was completely shocked and out of his wits. But she didn’t feel like criticizing it. He was the one who rushed here from work after hearing that Rot and she had fallen into the water. He must have already heard that they both escaped safely and were not in danger. Nevertheless, Terence came into the room looking pale and exhausted. Even now, the way he looked at her contained a feeling of self-reproach. In fact, Terence did nothing wrong.

 

“I’m fine, so you don’t have to worry. And I didn’t go in without thinking.”

 

She went in without hesitation because she was confident in her swimming skills. But she couldn’t say it so honestly. Because she had no idea if Eve knew how to swim.

 

“I thought the servant who guided me would hear the sound of water and come running right away.”

 

Terence laughed a little when he heard her.

 

“Anyway, I’m really glad you’re safe.”

 

A strange feeling flowed through the purple eyes that looked at her, along with relief. He looked at her and Rot and quietly lamented.

 

“There are only two people who surprise me like this.”

 

“…”

 

Although these words were not full of passionate affection, she felt strangely embarrassed. She didn’t know why she felt so unfamiliar and embarrassed every time this man said something like that in front of people. The only people watching were Rot, Diane, and the butler. And anyway, it’s just a feeling of friendship or partnership.

 

‘Still, it seemed like he was sincere when he came running to me because he was worried.’

 

Of course, he was probably 90% worried about Rot and 10% about her. Still, she was surprised that this man had such an emotional side. He always controlled his emotions and only showed a relaxed appearance.

 

Diane, who was watching with a happy expression in the corner, made a suggestion to the two of them.

 

“Rot seems okay. Can he have dinner with us all?”

 

There was no disagreement with that opinion. From the beginning, she was planning to have dinner here and then go back.

 

“If you don’t mind, I will go back and finish the rest of the work and be back before dinner time.”

 

Terence said and stood up. Well, he ran to the mansion instead of working. She guessed he should go finish it. They stopped Rot from getting up to go see him off, laid him down on the bed, and went out.

 

Diane said she would look after Rot and she remained in the room. This time too, he seemed to be attentive so that she could talk alone with Terence.

 

Terence spoke to her first as she walked down the hallway.

 

“I heard you came today to prepare for the wedding. Are you ready?”

 

“There’s still a little bit left. I plan to finish deciding on the items today.”

 

All she had to do was choose the reception, dinner, and return gift… She guessed she could finish it before dinner.

 

“I happened to bring Sorel with me. She said it would be difficult to leave the imperial palace.”

 

She briefly explained how Sorel was brought in. But Terence didn’t pay much attention.

 

“Actually, I have something to tell you about Sorel.”

 

She looked around the surrounding hallways to see if anyone was listening.

 

“Please come this way.”

 

Terence led her to a door on the other side of the hallway. When she opened the door and went inside, she found a small room with a bookcase. There were two desks facing each other and a blackboard.

 

‘Ah, this is Rot’s study room.’

 

Terence approached her after closing the door. 

 

“I don’t know why, but Sorel was looking into this mansion.”

 

“The mansion?”

 

She told Terence the story of how Sorel insisted on following her here, and how she wanted to tour the mansion and see the bridal suite.

 

“It’s definitely suspicious.”

 

“It’s suspicious, but I don’t really know what the purpose is.”

 

Terence also spoke, touching the tip of his chin as if wondering.

 

“As far as I know, Princess Sorel has never participated in the Emperor’s plans. She’s been doing nothing but healing people with her sacred powers.”

 

It appeared that way in the original as well. Sorel, a good saint, said that she did not participate in the Emperor’s evil schemes and did not desire power or status. But now that her trust in the original had diminished, she didn’t have much faith in those words.

 

Terence asked as if he suddenly remembered something.

 

“I know you two weren’t on good terms before, so why did you bring her here?”

 

“Our relationship wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

 

She was about to insist, but when she met Terence’s ridiculous look, she changed her words. Well, this man must have witnessed Eve harassing Sorel a few times.

 

“I was thinking of trying to reconcile now. I thought it would be good to get Sorel on our side. But it was still impossible.”

 

Fortunately, he seemed to believe her when she said that she approached her first to use Sorel. She sent snacks first, so it’s not wrong.

 

“I tried to look into her future, but I couldn’t see anything.”

 

“You’ve seen Rot’s, right?”

 

“Yes, I wasn’t actually planning on seeing it, but I got lucky.”

 

Terence seemed satisfied with just having rescued Rot safely.

 

“As of now, there is no information to be certain, so we have no choice but to find out more. I will also investigate around Princess Sorel.”

 

They finished their conversation and went back out into the hallway and went downstairs. Terence greeted her in front of the mansion’s entrance door.

 

“Then I’ll see you again at dinner time.”

 

She was about to say goodbye and go back to work when a sweet voice cautiously intervened from behind.

 

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