How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The moment the blade fell to the greenhouse floor, unfamiliar footsteps were heard nearby. The Empress turned her gaze towards the source of the sound.

 

Men appeared from behind the bushes and grass beyond a few steps away. They were knights of the Grand Duchy. The moment the Empress saw them, she was startled and took a step back.

 

‘Why… Why are the knights here? Since when has it been around?’

 

The embarrassed Empress suddenly realized that her maid was waiting over there.

 

‘Where did that stupid thing go? Why don’t you let people know you’re approaching? …!’

 

Apparently, they were supposed to stand guard there and let them know if anyone came, but she couldn’t see where the maid had gone now. But she had no time to lament. The knights immediately entered the greenhouse. They opened the greenhouse door in a bold manner, as if they knew everything that happened inside.

 

“Your Majesty the Empress…!”

 

However, the moment they directly checked the situation inside the greenhouse, bewilderment appeared in the eyes of the knights. It was surprising. The princess was lying bleeding at the empress’s feet. But without a moment’s hesitation they seized the Empress as they had previously been instructed. The Empress screamed in shock only after her arms were grabbed.

 

“Can’t you let go of this? How dare you touch my body…!”

 

The brown-haired knight who entered the greenhouse last picked up the dagger that had fallen on the floor. It was Camion. He winked at his subordinates and then bowed to the Empress.

 

“Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness. I will take you to the main building.”

 

They only spoke politely, but in reality, it was like arresting a criminal. ven as she was dragged away by the knights, the Empress could not come to her senses.

 

He suddenly turned the window the other way. Two noble ladies appeared just in time. 

Knights of the Grand Duke family whose history was unknown since they have been here. Actually, if you think about it a little, you can probably guess what happened. The situation was so sudden that her reason was paralyzed and she couldn’t turn my head.

 

As she was dragged outside, she saw three women standing near the grass. The Duchess of Rohan and the Marchioness Connell were still staring blankly at this scene. Chloe, who was standing next to her, had a calm expression as if she understood the situation, but the Empress’s eyes did not see the face of a single maid.

 

“Princess!”

 

The Duchess, who belatedly came to her senses, ran to Sorel.

 

Sorel was still lying unconscious on the floor. The blood dripping from her shoulder turned Sorel’s gray clothes red. There was also blood on the greenhouse floor. Perhaps because of the heavy bleeding, Sorrel looked pale and pale. The Duchess took out her handkerchief and ordered her knights to staunch Sorrel’s wounds.

 

“You’re bleeding heavily. We must take the princess to the mansion immediately.”

 

One of the knights took off his cloak and wrapped it around Sorel’s body. The Marchioness, who had followed, was watching this development with interested eyes. She thought something was strange even when the Duchess suddenly showed her the greenhouse and asked her to go outside. The Duchess stopped in the bushes next to the conservatory and said she had something to say. She dragged herself behind her bushes. Then, as if to kill time, she began to tell a nonsense story about the quarrel between her niece and her husband.

 

Meanwhile, the maid brought in by the Duchess glanced towards the greenhouse as if examining something about her.

 

‘Now that I see it, it looks like she was waiting for this.’

 

Thanks to her, she had an interesting sight to see. The Marchioness noticed what was going on and she just watched in silence. Her knights carefully carried Sorelle and headed towards the main building of her mansion. Before that, the Empress was also being taken to her mansion.

 

* * *

 

“If it’s okay, I’d like to have a New Year’s ball here. I think it would be really beautiful to decorate the banquet hall as a ballroom.”

 

She said, sitting in the break room, drinking warm, steaming milk tea. The ladies gathered in front of her nodded their heads frantically and agreed with what she said.

 

“Well, sure, that would be really cool.”

 

“Please make sure to invite me too.”

 

“A ball at the Grand Duke’s residence, oh… I will be looking forward to that day starting today.”

 

We’ve been talking for thirty minutes since we came here a little while ago. To be exact, it wasn’t a conversation. Because she was talking and everyone else was just answering. She tried to spend time talking with them, but the ladies were so scared the moment she walked in that they could barely respond. It felt like interrogating criminals rather than chatting. When such scenes appear in dramas or movies, the prisoners rebel, but here, no one resisted the interrogation. No matter what she said, there were only good prisoners who nodded in agreement.

 

“It doesn’t have to be too difficult. Now I am a member of the royal family and a grand duchess at the same time. She’s just like an ordinary noble lady.”

 

Therefore, even though we said that we were of similar status to you, no one eased the tension. Rather, she looked even more frightened when she heard the words ‘prince and grand duchess.’ It seemed like she was saying that not only the Emperor but also the Grand Duke were now on her side.

 

‘…It will take a lot of effort to lighten the image.’

 

Now that she was the mistress of the Grand Duke’s family, she would be holding several social events at this mansion. It would be troublesome if no one wanted to attend social events at the mansion because they were scared of her. Of course, male nobles such as ministers and officials would attend to impress Terence. What would you do if you threw a ball with only middle-aged nobles?

 

‘How long should I stay here?’

 

She was taking her time in the break room as planned. Diane went up to decorate the bridal suite with her maids, and Chloe took her two ladies to the conservatory. Nell would be at the banquet hall with Terence, but I couldn’t go back to the banquet hall now.

 

Currently, both Vilos and the Emperor were guarding the banquet hall. If she stayed in the banquet hall, the Emperor and Vilos would know that their plan had failed and would try to call the Empress. So, she took the ladies here and wasted time creating an alibi.

 

“Princess!”

 

At that time, Nell opened the door and came inside.

 

“Princess, come out quickly! Princess Sorel…!”

 

The long-awaited result has finally arrived.

 

* * *

 

When she returned to the banquet hall belatedly, a chaotic situation unfolded, as expected. The guests were surprised and embarrassed. The Empress stands in the center, looking pale. The Emperor with a serious expression. And even the bloody dagger left on the table at the banquet hall. The friendly atmosphere disappeared as if washed away, and only heavy silence filled the air. In the meantime, when she appeared, everyone’s eyes were focused on her.

 

Terence was looking at her from one side. She exchanged glances with him, then turned to the people inside and asked.

 

“Sorel is hurt? Where is Sorel now?”

 

Arentine answered her worried question.

 

“Sorel is being examined by a doctor in a nearby guest room. Fortunately, they said it wouldn’t be life-threatening.”

 

Arentine spoke as if he was deeply relieved, but his eyes were cold. His eyes turned to the Empress.

 

The Empress was standing in the center of the banquet hall, looking as white as if she had seen a ghost. The emperor asked, looking at her and the two other noble ladies.

 

“How on earth did this happen?”

 

The Emperor’s face showed genuine embarrassment.

 

‘Well, there’s no need to act at this moment. I’m sure you didn’t know that this would result.’

 

The Duchess stepped forward, glancing at the middle-aged man next to her. Perhaps that man was her husband, the Duke of Rohan.

 

The Duchess said, ignoring the Duke’s hardened face.

 

“I saw Her Majesty stabbing Princess Sorel with a dagger in the greenhouse in her garden.”

 

At that one word, the banquet hall began to shake with shock. Marquise Connell, who was next to her, also agreed with the Duchess.

 

“I was walking through the garden with the Duchess of Rohan to clear my head, and when I got near the conservatory, I heard a strange noise. Suddenly, the glass window of the greenhouse turned the other way and I could see inside, and I saw Her Majesty the Empress…”

 

The Marchioness’s explanation was a little more detailed.

 

“Immediately after the window was turned, I looked inside and clearly Her Majesty was thrusting her sword into Lady Sorel’s shoulder.”

 

With those words, she all looked at the Ionis sword lying on the table. The pink blade was stained with blood and turned red. She trembled with a shocked expression on her face.

 

“Are you saying the Empress tried to kill Sorel with my dagger?”

 

Instead of answering, the Empress glared at her with eyes filled with resentment. She seemed to have belatedly figured out her situation. Well, even a person with a slow brain would have no choice but to realize the reality at this point. The plan failed miserably, and now she was accused of being the culprit instead of Eve.

 

“That’s not true, I didn’t try to kill Sorel!”

 

“Then why did you stab Sorel with my sword?”

 

“I am…!”

 

The Empress bit her lip while trying to refute Eve’s words.

 

‘You can’t say it was done to frame me.’

 

Since there were only two people in the greenhouse, they wouldn’t be able to accuse anyone else.

 

‘If it had been a little later, she could have denied that she did it.’

 

If the glass in the greenhouse had been turned after the Empress had drawn her sword, she would have been able to claim that she had discovered it after someone else had attacked Sorel. To prevent her from escaping like that, she deliberately made the Empress turn the window the moment she stabbed her sword. Of course, the one who turned the glass was Bayan, who was waiting hidden in the nearby bushes. He removed the fixture under the window and easily turned the window, allowing the Duchess and her party, who were waiting, to witness what happened inside the greenhouse. To achieve this, she converted one of the glass windows in the greenhouse into a revolving window.

 

“You tell me.”

 

This time the Emperor pointed to Camion. He must have brought the Empress with him, so he seems to be asking his opinion.

 

Camion bowed politely and answered.

 

“I was patrolling the area with my men when we heard a scream coming from the greenhouse.”

 

“You heard a scream?”

 

The Empress shouted as if it was absurd.

 

The greenhouse was tightly closed, so there was no way the screams could have been heard. In fact, the knights were hiding in the garden. The Duchess and her party had been instructed to appear after sighting the Empress. That way there would be clear witnesses.

 

“Yes, I heard the scream and rushed over, and found Her Majesty’s maid hiding near the greenhouse…”

 

Camion glanced at Eve and continued.

 

“Inside the greenhouse, Princess Sorel was lying down, and Her Majesty was next to her. We brought Her Majesty into the residence because she was in a panic.”

 

“You brought me here? You arrested me!”

 

Terence, who had been watching silently until then, calmed down the Empress with his calm expression.

 

“Your Majesty, please forgive my knights if they were rude. It seems the situation was so urgent that they had no time to be polite.”

 

The Empress looked at him silently. Fear began to appear on her face. Only now did she seem to realize clearly. That this was all a well-planned trap.

 

Arentine, who was watching the situation, asked as if to change the subject.

 

“Isn’t this dagger only for the royal family to use?”

 

The Marchioness answered with a puzzled look on her face.

 

“That… I knew that too, but it was clearly fine when the Empress was holding it.”

 

Everyone’s eyes focused on the bloody dagger. There was an atmosphere of confusion among the people. Many of these gathered here heard the Emperor’s explanations at the celebration. they had even personally seen the blade of the sword disappear when the Empress touched it.

 

“The Empress will be able to find out if she touches it herself.”

 

At Terence’s words, the Empress looked at the Emperor with trembling eyes. It seemed like he was looking for a savior, but the Emperor was frozen and staring at the dagger.

 

“…Touch it.”

 

“…your majesty!”

 

The Empress shouted in surprise, but the Emperor closed his eyes tightly and avoided her gaze. The Empress looked shocked, but for now, the Emperor had nothing to do about it. Because if he said there was no need to touch it, it would mean that the Emperor also knew all this.

 

Finally the Empress placed her hand on her dagger, her face as pale as a sheet of paper. The Empress’s white fingers gripped her handle, but her pink blade remained undisappeared. There was confusion and shock in everyone’s eyes.

 

“Then, is it true that Her Majesty the Empress was a member of the royal family? …?”

 

Someone muttered that.

 

“Your Majesty the previous generation… Her Majesty’s age…”

 

Some people questioned the Empress’s age, recalling their memories of the previous Emperor. People’s imaginations were running wild.

 

“Oh my god, that was true!”

 

To prevent further confusion, she intervened in surprise.

 

“I saw something like that while searching through ancient documents at the temple. There is a way to use this sword even if you are not a member of the royal family.”

 

“What? Is that really true?”

 

The Emperor asked in astonishment. He seemed surprised, wondering if such a document really existed.

 

“Yes, when I saw it, I thought it was just a legend and forgot about it, but it came to mind after I received this sword.”

 

Of course, there was no document containing such information. There were old libraries here and there in the temple. It was easy to write a few lines of text on one of them. It didn’t matter if it looked like it was written by someone later, rather than written in ancient times. It’s not wrong information anyway. It would be sufficient to say that a later Emperor or one of his successors wrote it to leave behind the truth.

 

She explained the meaning of ‘blood and heart’ as she had heard from Bayan.

 

“I can’t believe there was such a meaning there…”

 

Everyone seemed very surprised to hear what she said. The only people who weren’t surprised were Vilos and the Emperor.

 

Arentine said quietly.

 

“So that means the Empress used the blood of His Majesty the Emperor.”

 

She also agreed with what he said.

 

“It’s definitely not the blood of Brother Arentine or Sorel, so of course it’s my father’s blood. Isn’t that right?”

 

There was no way Arentine or Sorel would love the Empress. Now everyone seemed convinced that it was the Empress’s doing. She heard whispering from around her.

 

“But why did the Empress ask Princess Sorel”

 

“Isn’t Princess Sorel on good terms with Her Majesty the Empress?”

 

Although quick-witted people seemed to have already figured out how the situation was going, there were many who did not understand the situation.

 

“Huh…”

 

She covered her mouth with her hand and started sobbing. Thanks to this, people stopped whispering and focused their attention on her again.

 

“Well… How could this happen at the time I was supposed to meet Sorel in the greenhouse…”

 

After hearing those words, Arentine asked her urgently.

 

“You two were supposed to meet?”

 

“Yes, we were supposed to meet at the greenhouse, but I felt sick after eating the fruit, so I couldn’t go out and just stayed in the break room.”

 

The time she spent listening to the maid and going out into the hallway was about 5 to 10 minutes. The ladies who were with her were able to prove that she sat quietly in the break room after that. So she turned her arrow at the Empress again.

 

“I don’t understand. Why did you try to kill Sorel with my sword?”

 

Those gathered at the banquet hall were now looking back at the Empress and me with strange eyes. Among the many daggers the Empress had, she secretly stole the Emperor’s blood and stabbed Sorel with the dagger Eve had. That too in the greenhouse where Eve decided to go to meet Sorel. At this point, it was clear what the Empress was planning to do.

 

Arentine looked at her and asked her sternly:

 

“Her Majesty, aren’t you trying to accuse Eve of murder?”

 

“…What?”

 

“Otherwise, why did she steal Eve’s dagger and harm Sorel? It was known that this sword could only be used by members of the royal family.”

 

No one refuted his words. Because no matter who sees it, there is no choice but to infer that. The Empress turned pale and stiffened as she looked back at the Emperor. The Emperor looked at Arentine with his displeased expression.

 

“Arentine…”

 

But his words did not last until the end. At that moment, the Grand Duke’s butler entered the banquet hall.

 

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

 

The news brought by the butler interrupted the conversation in the banquet hall.

 

“Princess Sorel has awakened.”

 

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