How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The structure of the political office was quite simple. Bayan found the Emperor’s office as Eve had taught him. In particular, the surrounding area was under strict security. There were knights lined up outside the door and soldiers guarding their positions in the hallway. Bayan hid in a very small shadow and carefully entered the crack in the door. He passed through the waiting room and went back through the gap in the door in front of him, and found himself in a room that looked like an office. But there was no one there. A voice came from the reception room attached to the office. Bayan went through that door as well. There were three men in the reception room. A person who looked like an Emperor and a gloomy-looking middle-aged man next to him. And there was a young blond man who looked like he had just come of age. He seemed to be one of the brothers Eve told about. The three people were discussing something in a dark atmosphere. The Emperor sitting at the head table spoke with a worried expression.

 

“But we can’t just leave it like this. If you marry Eve to the Grand Duke and he joins forces with the Crown Prince, it will be troublesome.”

 

The young man pointed out grumpily at those words.

 

“The three of us are already on the same side. Look at what the Crown Prince is doing to my mother.”

 

The Emperor’s confused voice continued.

 

“The Grand Duke hates Eve so much that I thought he would never join hands with Arentine even if their wedding was held safely.”

 

Bayan found it difficult to stay in the shadows, so he hid under a small table next to the window. As soon as he got under the tablecloth he came out of the shadows and he was back as a little cat. He’s only come this far, but already more than half of his new holy power has been used up. The speed at which holy power was exhausted was much faster than expected.

 

‘Maybe it’s because it didn’t come from the body of a saint.’

 

He couldn’t stay like this for long. Then he heard another middle-aged man’s voice.

 

“I had no idea that His Highness the Crown Prince would suddenly become close to the Princess.”

 

“Yes, but now that even the Grand Duke is helping the crown prince, we can’t just leave it like this.”

 

After a short interval, the Emperor continued to declare.

 

“This marriage should never happen.”

 

That voice contained a firm determination to disrupt the marriage.

 

“But time is running out… I guess I can only hope that Sorel does well.”

 

A middle-aged man standing next to the Emperor pointed out in a low voice.

 

“Your majesty. I’m sorry, but Princess Sorel’s plan seems a bit reckless.”

 

“Isn’t this something that can’t be helped now? The wedding is just a few days away.”

 

Vilos, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, suddenly intervened.

 

“Will we succeed?”

 

After a moment of silence, the Emperor muttered as if sighing.

 

“I hope it goes well. But even if Sorel’s job fails, I have another plan…”

 

As the Emperor trailed off, another silence came. Next, a middle-aged man’s cautious voice was heard.

 

“In my opinion, the second plan seems much more dangerous than Princess Sorel’s plan…”

 

“That’s right. So, if possible, I would like to solve it simply using Sorel.”

 

The Emperor sighed in frustration. Bayan was so confused that he could no longer hear anything from the Emperor.

 

‘Almost all my holy power has disappeared.’

 

While listening to the short conversation, his remaining holy power was quickly depleted. Now it was no longer possible to maintain his small body. This… 

 

Then the Emperor’s voice was heard.

 

“You should go back.”

 

Bayan lifted his face slightly beneath the tablecloth to see to whom the Emperor was speaking. A blond young man was getting up from his seat. The Emperor’s worried voice followed.

 

“Go to your mother and comfort her. In times like these, I need you to be by my side.”

 

Bayan squeezed out his last remaining holy power and hid in the shadows again. However, he now lacked strength, so he could not freely manipulate the shadows like he did a moment ago. A shadow flickered on the floor, just like a cat.

 

“Then I’ll just leave.”

 

The blonde had already opened the door and was heading out. Bayan hurriedly blended into his shadow and went out together. The blonde, Vilos, walked down the hallway for a few minutes. Bayan desperately crumpled into his shadow. But it didn’t take long before the limit came. The moment they passed through the hallway and the middle door, Bayan could no longer hide himself and jumped out into the hallway. As soon as he got out, he quickly hid behind a statue in the hallway before Vilos could turn around.

 

“Hmm?”

 

But Vilos seemed to sense something moving and stopped walking and turned around.

 

“Prince, why are you doing this?”

 

“I feel like something just happened.”

 

Before there was even a chance to escape, Villos walked behind the statue. Bayan tried to rush to the end of the hallway, but as soon as he took his steps, he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck. Vilos grabbed Bayan by the back of his neck with one hand and lifted him up to his eye level.

 

“What, you’re a cat?”

 

Bayan stunned the blonde kid and all the knights around him and tried to run away. Of course it could have been possible. If only he had enough holy power. But sadly, now that the effects of his holy power had run out, he was just an ordinary cat with no powers. A helpless black cat dangling from Vilos’ hand.

 

“Who owns this cat?”

 

Inside the imperial palace, there were maids who kept small pets in their rooms. Vilos shook Bayan slowly and looked at him with interest. Perhaps because it was caught by a stranger, the cat’s golden eyes looked very fierce and unpleasant. At that moment, an unexpected voice came from next to him.

 

“Vilos.”

 

He looked back and saw Eve coming towards him.

 

* * *

 

About ten minutes after Bayan entered the political office, she waited nearby and went inside. In case something happened, she planned to stay in the hallway of the political office and go into the office if Bayan didn’t come out. However, the moment she entered the hallway, she saw Vilos in front of me. And the black cat in his hand.

 

“Vilos!”

 

She walked down the hallway as quickly as she could.

 

“Ah, thank goodness. You have found Bayan.”

 

Vilos turned his head to her. He looked at her as if Bayan had found his savior. It’s the first time she had seen Bayan look so happy.

 

“Bayan, why did you suddenly disappear? I was worried.”

 

She quickly snatched Bayan from Vilos’ hand.

 

“Was it my sister’s cat?”

 

“Yeah, isn’t it really cute?”

 

Shelifted the Bayan and showed it to Vilos again. Vilos laughed as if it was absurd.

 

“Didn’t you overfeed the cat? It’s heavy.”

 

Bayan glared at him. She smiled as she stroked Bayan’s head.

 

“What brings you here?”

 

“I came here because I wanted to see my father before I go back.”

 

“I thought you were staying with your fiancé, but this is surprising.”

 

“Terence was talking to the nobles. Now that a great family member has suddenly disappeared, everyone will have a lot to talk about. Isn’t that right?”

 

A spark flew from Vilos’ eyes as he looked at her. He turned to glare at her.

 

“Please prepare well for the wedding.”

 

After Vilos went out of the political office, she held Bayan and walked to the other side of the deserted hallway.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

[I’m glad you came to look for me. My holy power disappeared much faster than I expected. It seems like I received it from sap.]

 

‘Oh my. It’s a good thing I changed my mind and came in after waiting outside.’

 

[The Emperor was talking about the wedding with the blonde man and the middle-aged man.]

 

As expected, she thought they were discussing that matter now.

 

[Sorel’s wedding plan must succeed. He said there was a second, more dangerous plan if it failed, but unfortunately I couldn’t overhear much of the conversation, so I didn’t hear what the plan was.]

 

‘Second plan?’

 

Sorel’s plan would be to stab herself with a dagger and frame Eve. What was the second?

 

“Still, you did well. Take turns telling me in more detail.”

 

She just held Bayan and headed toward the office door.

 

[Where are you going?]

 

“I want to find out on my own.”

 

Unfortunately, when she held the Emperor’s hand at the banquet hall, she couldn’t see anything. She was thinking of trying one more time before the day was over. When she arrived in front of the office, the knights bowed to her.

 

“Her Royal Highness.”

 

“I came to see my father.”

 

The knights went inside and informed the Emperor of her visit. She put Bayan down in the waiting room and went inside.

 

“Eve. What’s going on here?”

 

The Emperor and the leader of the Imperial Knights, Siren, were together in the reception room attached to the office. She walked to the Emperor with a smile on her face.

 

“I wanted to see my father and thank him again before returning to the temple.”

 

“Okay? That’s very polite…”

 

She rushed into the Emperor’s arms and hugged him tightly. The Emperor stiffened before speaking.

 

“Thank you, father.”

 

She held onto the Emperor’s waist tightly and desperately tried to focus his mind while suppressing his disgust.

 

‘Please come out with something.’

 

She wondered if it wouldn’t come out even though she was hugging it with her whole body because she couldn’t touch it like this.

 

“Hehe, You’re going to be a bride soon, so why should you still be this spoiled?”

 

The Emperor patted her back in a kind voice. She changed the subject, clinging to him.

 

“By the way, how is the investigation into the temple fire incident going?”

 

She had already heard everything from Arentine and wasn’t curious at all, but now she had to hold on to this person a little longer. The Emperor responded with a slightly uneasy look in his eyes.

 

“It turned out that it was led by Count Parmes.”

 

“Oh my god, how could something like that happen in Her Majesty’s own home…?…! They’re trying to take my life…”

 

When she shouted indignantly, the Emperor quickly calmed her down.

 

“Rather than targeting you, it seems there were various reasons.”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

Before the Emperor could answer, Gyren, who was standing next to him, spoke in a low voice.

 

“It is said that the Count had a grudge against the Grand Duke.”

 

“Against Terrence? Why?”

 

“It must be for political reasons.”

 

‘You think that even if you explain it to me, I wouldn’t understand, so you just told me that.’

 

She needed time to ask more questions. So she tried to drag him away, but the Emperor pulled her away a little and brushed her cheek with his hand.

 

“This father will solve the matter and punish the Count sufficiently. As I said before, don’t worry about anything anymore and just think about your happy future. It is unlucky for a new bride to see or hear bad things before marriage.”

 

How ominous. She had already almost taken poison, almost been caught in fire, fallen into water, and all sorts of other things have happened. Considering the incidents and accidents she had experienced so far, this was in fact no different from a marriage, but rather a survival game in which she had to risk her life. She couldn’t help but smile and take the Emperor’s hand.

 

“Yes, got it. father.”

 

The moment she concentrated until she died, her vision finally went black. It was the moment when new wisdom finally appeared.

 

After a brief moment of darkness, visibility became clear again. Every time the vision appeared, she woke up in a completely different place, but this time it wasn’t a new place. She was still in the reception room attached to the Emperor’s office. She was embarrassed to see the surroundings remaining the same, but then she saw the Emperor’s back in front of her.

 

The Emperor was wearing the same outfit as before.

 

‘Could it be tonight?’

 

She had been concentrating on the wedding and the dagger-related plot. She thought she would see something that would happen on the wedding day, but did she see something that would happen tonight? Then the Emperor’s voice was heard.

 

“The plan will proceed as is.”

 

It was a cold and dry voice, completely different from the kind tone in which he spoke to her just moments ago. The Emperor was saying that while looking at someone. She took a little step to the side. Then a person appeared facing the Emperor.

 

She is a woman with blonde hair and silver eyes. The person talking to the emperor was Sorel.

 

“Yes, father. Do not worry.”

 

Sorel was also wearing the same dress as at the dinner. After all, it’s today. This was going to happen tonight. Maybe after she left.

 

“Eve seems to be wary of you. Are you okay?”

 

“Don’t worry. If it’s the morning of her wedding day, she’ll be so busy that her vigilance will be low, so I can do it then.”

 

Sorel continued as she spoke confidently.

 

“No matter what happens, I will steal her sword without my sister’s knowledge and carry out my plan.”

 

The moment she heard those words, she felt her heart go cold. Her usual kind smile appeared on Sorrel’s beautiful face.

 

“Things are a little different, but I think we can succeed.”

 

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Translator Note: