How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

Since Mikhail wasn’t there, it seemed like he didn’t believe it when he heard the rumor that Sorel had said that.

 

“Huh. He must have been momentarily dazed from the shock of being injured and was making strange noises. The nobles who were with me also heard it… That rumor must have spread, right? It was a situation that could have been misunderstood.”

 

Although there was no evidence, it was a situation enough to raise suspicion. Since she hated Sorel so much, it would be natural for him to hold a grudge and collude with the Empress to frame her. Since Sorelle was a saint with a good and kind image, it is difficult for her to accuse her of this. But little by little, as these rumors begin to spread, her perfect image of Sorel will slowly crumble. She’s already spreading this rumor, even to a knight belonging to the Imperial Knights.

 

“They said that Sorell tried to frame me, that she conspired with the Empress and that she harmed her. But I trust Sorel.”

 

“…That’s right.”

 

Mikhail seemed to think that Sorel couldn’t possibly be like that, but as she looked out into her garden, her green eyes were filled with confusion, like dark gray clouds. Well, he hadn’t developed a relationship with Sorel as his lover yet, so he probably didn’t completely trust her.

 

‘How did Mikhail become close to Sorel in the original work?’

 

One day, Mikhail, who was patrolling the imperial palace, found Sorel wandering around the pond, crying. It was the day Eve threw away Sorel’s necklace. Sorel was crying by her pond, thinking about her necklace, a keepsake of her mother. In the original story, she thought that poor Sorel was lucky to have met Mikhail and received her comfort. Now that she saw it, it seemed like she took a deliberate approach. It wasn’t even the day she lost her necklace, but she was there crying when Mikhail passed by.

 

‘Considering Sorel’s personality, she must have targeted him intentionally.’

 

Did she think she was a good person to take advantage of? Thinking like that, she felt really sorry for Mikhail. In the original work, Mikhail had no family other than her dead mother, and she was not particularly close to anyone. It’s a pity that the only person he opened up to was Sorel. As they talked like that, she suddenly saw the greenhouse.

 

“Here.”

 

She opened the glass door and went inside.

 

“It’s amazing that a place like this exists.”

 

Mikhail looked around the greenhouse, but he didn’t seem to find anything special. They said it was a formal investigation, but it seemed like they were just looking around. The only thing he noticed was the revolving window.

 

“Was this window originally constructed like this?”

 

“Yes, since this greenhouse itself is a bit unique, I guess they wanted to create a unique secret entrance in the window as well.”

 

Of course, this repair was done right after seeing the greenhouse. Until then, the window was fine, but she told them to urgently repair it.

 

“As expected, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong.”

 

Mikhail finished his investigation briefly and came out of the greenhouse with her.

 

“Princess.”

 

The moment she came out of the glass door, Mikhail called her again. He took out a small package the size of his fist wrapped in colored paper from his arms.

 

“That…?”

 

“It’s a humble gift, but it’s a wedding gift I prepared.”

 

She took what Mikhail handed her, untied the string on his outside, and peeled off his paper. 

A beautifully blooming light pink flower emerged from between the papers. It was a very familiar flower.

 

“It is the flower of the sacred tree.”

 

Wasn’t this flower white? Was there a pink one too? Upon closer inspection, she found that the flowers of the sacred tree were dyed light pink and dried branches were woven together to make a corsage that was tied around the wrist. There were also several small pink crystals next to the flower.

 

“It’s pretty. what’s this?”

 

“They say it’s a talisman for happiness. Even though it’s a superstition, I think it has a good meaning.” 

 

Mikhail explained with a humble expression. She looked at it and realized who made it.

 

“You really made it yourself?”

 

“Yes, I learned how to make it before.”

 

Did he learn it from his biological mother? Or maybe he learned it when he lived in the temple. It was amazing that Mikhail, a knight, made something like this by himself. Color the flowers, weave the branches, and attach crystals. It seemed like a rather complicated and elaborate task. Mikhail was also good with his hands.

 

It reminded her of Terence, who was skilled at making flower lanterns. As expected, since they were brothers, were they similar in this way?

 

“I couldn’t see the ceremony because I was guarding the outside of the mansion, but I heard it was a very beautiful wedding.”

 

Mikhail spoke quietly with a sincere smile.

 

“I hope you two will be happy for the rest of your life.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

It must have taken quite a while to prepare, but it was a truly thoughtful gift. It that time, Mikhail saw her hand holding a flower and asked.

 

“Aren’t you cold?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I thought you didn’t bring gloves.”

 

She didn’t wear gloves today either, as she had become in the habit of walking around with bare hands everywhere. It must have seemed strange to go outside in the winter with bare hands. She massaged her hands and naturally made an excuse.

 

“I have dry skin and it’s uncomfortable to wear gloves.”

 

Suddenly it occurred to her that she had never caught Michael before. Mikhail had no idea about the Emperor or Sorel’s plans, so he didn’t think about catching them. In the original, Mikhail left the islands with Sorel. But that’s the original.

 

According to the prediction she saw last night, it seemed like a dark future filled with massacres awaits instead of such a peaceful future.

 

‘What happened to Mikhail in that future?’

 

Were they trying to protect Sorel like in the original? She was so curious that she unconsciously reached out to Mikhail.

 

“Thank you, Lord Sheldon. I will treasure this for the rest of my life.”

 

Mikhail seemed a little surprised, but politely took her hand and kissed the back of it.

 

“Thank you for allowing the investigation, princess.”

 

In that brief moment, she desperately tried to focus. Thinking that she would like to see Mikhail’s future after she dies. But no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn’t see anything. She thought her foresight was pretty good these days, but she couldn’t see it at times like this. She smiled, hiding her regret.

 

“No, of course you have to cooperate with the investigation.”

 

It was the moment when she was about to turn around and say that. Mikhail noticed something and stopped in surprise. She also looked in that direction and stopped walking. 

Terence and the butler were standing in front of the path leading from the garden.

 

* * *

 

All four people stood motionless as if the screen froze for a moment. Terence looked at the two of us with an expressionless face like a statue. She thought something similar happened in the past. Even when he was at the temple, he was caught by Terence with Mikhail. It was strangely embarrassing at the time, but even more so now. No, actually, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, right? It’s not like she was with her lover and got caught by her husband. Since she came here to investigate, she couldn’t kick him out, so all she  could do was show him around. She barely managed to raise her voice to break this uncomfortable silence.

 

“…You came early.”

 

Terence slowly walked towards her.

 

“I stopped by the mansion for a while and came back when I heard you were here.” he asked, smiling like a loving husband.

 

“It’s cold. Why did you come out here?”

 

He must have heard from the butler over there why she came here. He asks with a friendly smile as if he doesn’t know anything. It was even more creepy because he seemed like a husband really concerned about his wife’s health.

 

‘You’re angry.’

 

Terence always hated having Michael around. Unfortunately, something like that happened yesterday, and he saw a scene with Mikhail after half a day. She looked back at Mikhail and spoke very carefully.

 

“…Lord Sheldon has brought you a gift from your brother. She said she wanted to take a look around the greenhouse before she went back, so she was giving me a tour.”

 

His eyes turned to Mikhail.

 

“Why are you investigating here?”

 

The tone of voice was indifferent, but there was a cold thorn in the voice that anyone could hear.

 

“I came here with orders to investigate the structure of the greenhouse…”

 

“I am the one responsible for this, but who gave that order?”

 

Mikhail quietly lowered his gaze and answered Terence’s sharp rebuttal.

 

“Our leader gave the order.”

 

“How dare a knight commander send a subordinate to my mansion and make a rude request to my wife?”

 

In common sense, it wasn’t such a rude request for the Imperial Knights to ask to see the greenhouse where the incident occurred. He was not asking her to show him the interior where the hostess lives. But the moment she went to refute his words, Mikhail immediately bowed his head deeply.

 

“I apologize, Your Highness. No disrespect intended.”

 

Terence ordered the butler, ignoring him.

 

“Guide him to the outside of the mansion.”

 

The butler, who had been quietly watching all this, winked at Mikhail. Mikhail gave me a quick nod and headed toward the mansion with his butler. After those two disappeared into the distance, only the two of us remained in front of the greenhouse. There was a silence that was more uncomfortable and heavy than before. Terence was the first to break the silence.

 

“I think he told us a long time ago that he didn’t want that guy around us. Has the princess forgotten?”

 

“I remember too. But I said I was here to inspect the greenhouse, so I showed it to them because I thought they would continue to be suspicious if I didn’t show them and kicked them out.”

 

“Did you not have enough servants to send to the greenhouse?”

 

“I wanted to see for myself where and how much research was being conducted.”

 

As she was trying to respond to a question that had a cold mocking tone, she also threw it away sarcastically.

 

“I know Terence is uncomfortable with Mikhail, but I only briefly showed him to the greenhouse. I didn’t invite you here to get to know Michael.”

 

Moreover, it was Arentine who sent Mikhail in the first place. The knight commander probably ordered you to take this opportunity to inspect the greenhouse. Terence turned his attention to the pink flower in her hand.

 

“What is that?”

 

“…It’s a wedding gift.”

 

“The crown prince probably didn’t send it.”

 

“Mikhail gave it to me.”

 

The moment he heard her answer, the displeasure in Terence’s eyes deepened. Was this something that made him uncomfortable from the beginning? No, but this was a wedding gift. Moreover, in terms of her relationship with Mikhail, she is like a brother-in-law to her, so she acts like an in-law. She said Mikhail had prepared a wedding gift for her half-brother’s wedding. In fact, they had a fight just one day after getting married and her husband left the house. Well, now they were fighting again because of her husband’s half-brother. It was such an eventful marriage that the gift wishing her happiness was worthless. Even today was the first day of marriage.

 

As she slipped the gift into her dress pocket, she asked the most fundamental question.

 

“Why on earth are you so angry?”

 

“I’m not angry.”

 

Terence denied her words in a cold tone.

 

“It’s just unpleasant to see the princess with Lord Sheldon.”

 

‘…That’s what you’re angry about, right?’

 

“Do not misunderstand. “The only reason I held Mikhail’s hand was to see foreknowledge.”

 

“I know.”

 

Why was he doing this when he knew that? In the end, the problem wasn’t Mikhail.

 

“Is this because of what happened last night?”

 

“It has nothing to do with what happened last night.”

 

At this point, she was so dumbfounded that she started to get angry. She was still tired because she couldn’t sleep. She was feeling dizzy after trying desperately to concentrate just now. At that moment, the words she had thought in her head came out just like that.

 

“Then why are you so nervous? When you do this, it seems like you’re jealous.”

 

Terence’s eyes turned cold at those words. He closed his mouth with a cold expression. It was only when he saw that icy face that he realized he had made a mistake.

 

‘A… I said something so strange.’

 

There’s no way this guy could be jealous. However, she could not pick up the words that had already been spoken. An uncomfortable and awkward silence fell between the two. After a moment of silence, Terence spoke as if it were absurd.

 

“I don’t think that’s what someone who pulled out Lady’s hair because I tried to talk to her would say.”

 

“…Well, that was a long time ago. I don’t do that anymore.”

 

‘Ah. I had forgotten for a moment that Eve had been tormenting Terence’s neighbors with all kinds of groundless jealousy.’

 

She answered shamelessly, trying to hide her embarrassment. For a moment, Terence’s purple eyes sank as dark as the gray clouded sky. He asked in a low voice.

 

“Does the princess have any feelings left from back then?”

 

Could it be that she still likes him? There’s no way she had anything left in her mind from those days. Because she was not the real Eve. From the beginning, she neither liked nor resented this man.

 

“What about Terence?”

 

She turned her arrow back at him to avoid an uncomfortable question.

 

“Terrence used to hate me.”

 

That was the part that puzzled her the most. Why did he act like he had feelings for her when he obviously hated Eve so much?

 

“It’s not that I particularly disliked the princess.”

 

Terence confessed honestly in a calm voice.

 

“At that time, I never took the princess seriously. I dismissed her as just dust or natural disasters that bothered me. I thought she was not worthy of feeling good or bad.”

 

“…Wow, you said that.”

 

She was able to realize again what it feels like to be so shocked and at a loss for words. She was so shocked that she had nothing to say.

 

“I’m glad you didn’t think I was worth hating.”

 

She spoke with as much sarcasm as she could, but there was no reply. Complex emotions hovered like dark clouds in the dark purple eyes looking at her.

 

“Not now.”

 

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