How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

‘Why did I stay here and have a child instead of leaving?’

 

It was something she couldn’t understand at the moment. However, the moment her eyes turned to Terence in front of her, the answer to that question seemed to be within her reach. Could it be because this man didn’t want a divorce?

 

“So, Terence, you don’t want a divorce?”

 

Considering the atmosphere so far, it seemed like that, but she couldn’t believe this situation, so she asked. Terence remained silent instead of answering. The cool purple eyes gradually darkened. She swallowed dryly while looking at it. As the scene of the cemetery that she had seen through foresight came to mind, she unconsciously felt a chill of fear running down her spine. It gave her goosebumps to think that this man had killed almost everyone she knew in the future.

 

Even though it was for her revenge, it was scary. Anyway, looking at that expression, it looked like the answer was ‘I don’t want a divorce.’

 

“Why… You don’t even like me, so why bother living as a couple?”

 

Even if they become like a real couple in the future, that’s not the case now. Why was he trying to catch her?

 

“Ha…”

 

Terence sighed deeply and rubbed the area around his eyes with one hand. It was a mixture of absurd, shocking, and pathetic emotions. He turned his gaze to her again. When he looked at her, his face showed a cold mockery and a bitter expression.

 

“I don’t know about you, princess, but I don’t do things like this with someone I don’t have any feelings for.”

 

“…”

 

Something like this… By that, he meant the time they hugged and kissed a little while ago, right? The moment she understood the true meaning of those words, she felt like she had been punched in the back. While she was confused, Terence took his hand off her shoulder.

 

“All right.”

 

“…yes?”

 

She looked up to see what he was talking about, and he apologized with a bitter expression.

 

“I was rude today. If the princess doesn’t want to, I have no intention of forcing her.”

 

Saying that, Terence got up from the bed.

 

“You must be tired. Please rest comfortably. I have some work left to do, so I have to go down to the study.”

 

He turned around leaving those words behind. It meant that he was growing up alone because he had no desire to talk anymore.

 

“No, I…”

 

Hey, what if he just said that and left? She tried to grab him while saying that, but before she could even say ‘over there,’ Terence opened the door and went out. The door closed with a thud.

 

In an instant, she was left alone in an empty room.

 

‘…’

 

She was so confused that she missed her chance to answer, but Terence disappeared before she could catch him.

 

‘What if I just say that and leave?’

 

She was left alone on the bed, tearing out her hair. His calm voice that she had just heard lingered in her ears. He said he wouldn’t do something like this with someone he didn’t have any feelings for.

 

‘Does that mean he has feelings for me?’

 

She remembered Terence always being concerned about her safety. Looking back, he was quite kind to her. Even so, she never thought he would say something like that to her. She thought there was absolutely no chance of them doing well… Terence’s unfortunate appearance from the prediction flashed before her eyes. As she thought about it in relation to what she just heard, she began to understand it little by little.

 

‘Now that I think about it, because we were discussing divorce, I couldn’t tell you anything about the prediction.’

 

Yeah, well, she wasn’t in the mood to talk about the vision. She could tell him what she saw through foresight tomorrow when she came to her senses.

 

‘Please summarize only the necessary parts as briefly as possible …Let’s leave out the story of the child and Terrence and just talk about my death.’

 

She lay down on the bed helplessly and sighed. Suddenly, the scent of flowers filling the room made her heart feel heavy.

 

‘…I’ll have to have a proper conversation again tomorrow.’

 

* * *

 

That’s what she decided, but she couldn’t sleep all night, perhaps because her mind was so complicated. She tossed and turned until dawn and had trouble sleeping. Thanks to this, she started her day with a tired look on her first day as a newlywed. Her complexion was pale and there were dark shadows around her eyes.

 

Thanks to this, Nell and Chloe have been keeping an eye on me since morning.

 

“Your Highness, I have brought you tea.”

 

Nell looked at me and put the small teacup down on the table.

 

“…tea?”

 

As soon as she put down the teacup, the smell of bitter herbs hit her. She frowned without realizing it, but Nell explained clearly.

 

“It is said to be a medicinal tea that relieves fatigue and stress.”

 

“I see. Thank you.”

 

It seemed everyone noticed something was wrong last night. Well, last night she went out as soon as Terence came in the room, and he looked so upset, so of course they’d think the first night was ruined. Fortunately, no one wanted to ask what was wrong. Terence was said to have stayed in the study all night and left for the Knights’ headquarters at dawn. Outside the window were full of gloomy gray clouds. Yesterday the sky was so clear, but today it looks as gloomy and confused as her mood. At that moment, a pitch-black foot touched the chair in front of her. Bayan easily jumped onto the chair.

 

[I became a happy bride, but why did my face turn earthy overnight?]

 

“Bajan, you’re here just in time. I have something to talk to you about.”

 

[Hmm?]

 

Bayan sat down on a chair and put out his front paw at her words.

 

[I’m sorry, but I can’t do couples counseling.]

 

“…It’s not like that. It’s because I saw the wisdom.”

 

She explained to Bayan the scene she had seen with her foresight. Bayan didn’t have to worry about telling Terence, so he told him everything, including about the child and Terence. Fortunately, Bayan didn’t seem to care much whether they had children or not. What Bayan paid attention to was what he said.

 

[I detected the accident in advance?]

 

Bayan tilted his head as if he was lost in thought for a moment.

 

[Then it probably isn’t poison. I do not detect poison.]

 

Actually, it was not easy to poison the royal family. It’s more difficult now. Because this was the Grand Duke’s mansion. If the Emperor had the power to poison her here, she thought he would have rather poisoned Terence. Even listening to the conversation between the two, she thought she must have taken poison while pregnant, but she gave birth to a child while poisoned? So, it’s normal for a child to have some problem, right?

 

“Then what is it? Was it an assassination attempt disguised as an accident?”

 

So, did she get injured and die from the aftereffects? According to Bayan, she was the victim of an ‘evil trick.’ Since she didn’t know what it was, there were limits to guessing the circumstances of the incident.

 

Knock, knock.

 

The conversation was interrupted by a discreet knock. The door opened and a blond-haired boy came inside. It was Lott.

 

Lott cautiously entered inside, watching her from the doorway.

 

“Princess, I heard you got up. Did I interrupt you?”

 

“Welcome, Lott. No, I wasn’t disturbing you. Bayan and I were just looking out the window together.”

 

She quickly relaxed her expression and smiled. Even on his wedding day, Lott, who was not old enough to enter society, went upstairs just to watch the ceremony. Thanks to that, she was glad she didn’t see the chaotic situation after the ceremony. Lott was holding a large gift box in his arms.

 

“I came to give you a wedding gift, if it’s okay with you.”

 

She accepted the gift Lott gave her and opened the beautifully wrapped box. Inside was a round doll of a bride and groom that she had seen before. The bride and groom dolls made of clay were similar to those she had seen before, but there were a few differences. The bride’s dress changed to look more like her wedding dress. She thought it was probably modified a little after seeing the wedding. And the biggest change was the small black cat sitting proudly next to the bride. Lott said with a shy expression.

 

“I also made Bayan.”

 

“Wow, it was well made. It’s like a real bayan.”

 

Bayan was also well made, quite similar to the real thing. They had the same round black body, round face, small beard, and pointy ears. It also has a long black tail attached to its back.

 

[Am I this fat?]

 

In reality, Bayan grumbled in dissatisfaction as he looked at his overly round body. However, to Lott’s ears, all he could hear was the sound of meowing while looking at the doll.

 

“Bayan is meowing while looking at the doll. Do you like it?”

 

“I know, right. I think Bayan like it too.”

 

Lott smiled, happy to hear what she said.

 

“Thank you, Bayan.”

 

Bayan had a sullen expression, but Lott looked at Bayan with satisfaction and then turned his gaze to her. Then he smiled as brightly as the morning sunlight.

 

“It’s late, but congratulations on your wedding, princess.”

 

“…Thank you, Lot.”

 

As she looked at Lott’s innocent-looking face with only the remaining breast meat, the premonition from last night came back to her clearly. What happened to Lott in that future? Although he didn’t appear in the forecast, she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a happy and comfortable situation. While his older brother Terence waged an all-out war against the imperial family and slaughtered numerous enemies, Lott must have been in many dangers. 

If she didn’t want everyone to be unhappy, she had to survive and change that future in some way.

 

It’s not impossible. Just as she could change the future of her wedding day, she could change any planned tragedy by preparing for it in advance. While she was thinking that, Nell hurriedly came inside.

 

“The princess. A guest has arrived from the imperial palace.”

 

“In the imperial palace? Who came?”

 

Surely Sorel or Vilos were not here? However, an unexpected name came out of Nell’s mouth.

 

“Sir Sheldon, vice-captain of the Imperial Knights, has arrived. It is said that he has come to deliver a wedding gift for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

 

* * *

 

From dawn, the sky began to turn gray and cloudy, and the sun did not shine all morning. 

There was a quiet and gloomy atmosphere at the headquarters of the Knights, where the knights of the Grand Duchy of Lenz were located, from the morning. This was because his lord, Terence, appeared here in a depressed mood from the first day of his marriage.

 

“Ha.”

 

Camion let out a low sigh of her own as she made his way to Terence’s office on behalf of his men. Thanks to that, he had to report the knight’s absence. The superiors even drew Lott among themselves to somehow get out of work. Everyone went somewhere else, saying they were carrying out their mission, but the commander, Camion, could not escape. In fact, he wanted to run away, but because he pulled out the short stick, he had no choice but to take the lead. The penalty given to the loser of the lottery was the seemingly impossible task of finding out what was going on and helping.

 

‘I don’t know if it’s possible…’

 

The weather was gloomy and it looked like it might rain at any moment. Camion couldn’t understand why Terence was in a bad mood. The princess had liked Terence excessively for a long time, and now Terence seemed to be truly attracted to the princess. Since the two got married in that situation, wasn’t it actually a happy ending? But something had happened all night, and Terence’s mood had hit rock bottom, even worse than the gloomy gray sky.

 

Camion thought for a moment and then knocked on the door.

 

“Well, Your Highness. I have come to report on the situation in the imperial palace.”

 

A heavy, subdued voice was heard from inside the office.

 

“Okay, come in.”

 

Terence was sitting at his desk, looking at papers. Although his face was indifferent, the atmosphere was as dark and subdued as the sky seen outside the window. Camion had since reported on what he had been to the imperial palace.

 

“After interrogating the captured Empress’s maid, I got the answers I wanted. She says the Empress told her to watch near her greenhouse to see if anyone came near.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

Terence felt a little satisfied with the news. Now that things were like this, there was no way to avoid the Empress’s dethronement. Because she couldn’t confess that the Emperor himself ordered it.

 

“Arrest all of the Empress’s maids and her attendants, and also capture Princess Sorel’s maids. We also monitor the princess’s palace to make sure people don’t come and go without permission.”

 

Camion bowed his head, saying he understood, but he said nothing more. He looked at Terence for a moment and then spoke very carefully.

 

“Well, Your Highness, it’s late, but I would like to congratulate you on your official marriage…”

 

“…Okay, thank you.”

 

At this point, it was time to get to the point. Camion mustered up his courage and asked the question again.

 

“I… Excuse me, but what’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing happened.”

 

The answer was cold enough to make frost. Yesterday was the first night of the wedding. The fact that nothing happened was a huge problem.

 

“You look like you’re not feeling well, so I wonder if there’s anything I can do to help…”

 

“Ha.”

 

Terence snorted briefly and put down the document he was holding.

 

“Okay, I guess it’s better to tell you anyway. Anyway, you’ve probably been making all kinds of assumptions about us since morning.”

 

“…”

 

Of course it was. In fact, it wasn’t even morning, but everyone had been whispering anxiously since dawn. This was because the people on guard at the mansion reported that His Highness had been working in his study all night.

 

Terence leaned back in his chair and looked back at the gray sky filled with dark clouds. His neat face looked darker than the gray sky.

 

“The princess doesn’t like me.”

 

“…Your Highness, it may be presumptuous to say this, but it seems to me that the princess has been very fond of you for a long time.”

 

Camion could swear that he had never seen anyone more obsessed than Eve. Eve liked Terence so much that she would go to any lengths to get close to him. Princess Eve even hit the knights with the heels of her shoes. This was because the knights blocked the princess from going to Terence. They said that the princess could not only throw away her own shoes but hit them with her maid’s shoes too. She told her maid to do even that herself, saying she couldn’t get her hands dirty.

 

…He honestly thought she was crazy when he saw that.

 

“It was like that back then. But now…”

 

Terence was trying to say something but trailed off. It seemed to mean that the princess’s heart has completely changed now. Why? Why did she suddenly lose interest in the man she liked so much?

 

‘Is that why you just got out of the fight?’

 

After listening to his story, he realized what had happened. He guessed that this marriage was a choice to avoid a scheme on the Emperor’s part. It seemed that after the wedding was completed successfully, the princess kicked him out, saying she didn’t like him.

 

Whatever the reason, Camion didn’t think it would be that difficult. Clearly, Princess Eve was very fond of His Highness the Grand Duke until a month or two ago.

 

“Then… Have you told the princess about His Highness’s feelings?”

 

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