How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

At the Duke of Rohan’s words, a silence as heavy as a rock fell in the drawing room. The duchess’ white cheeks flushed red as the atmosphere suddenly became tense because of her husband. She furrowed her eyebrows and tried to dissuade her husband.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

The duke looked back and forth between her and Terence, ignoring his wife.

 

“I am with his Majesty the Emperor and Your Highness the Grand Duke. The 2nd Prince and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I don’t want to take sides with any of the four.”

 

‘Yeah, I knew this story would come up.’

 

She had asked the Duchess before her wedding to be a witness to the affairs of her Empress. The Duchess of Rohan was widely known as a gentle noblewoman, and the Rohan family claimed to be neutral. It was a perfect situation for a witness who happened to witness the incident. The Duchess cleverly brought in the elderly Marchioness Connell as her witness. Thanks to this, the incident ended as planned and no one suspected the two ladies. However, it was reasonable for the Duke of Rohan to think that she was taking advantage of his wife. Well, to put it bluntly, it’s not wrong. Because it was an undeniable fact that the duchess said she would help her, so she used her for her case.

 

The Duke of Rohan looked straight at her and spoke with determination.

 

“I think I have sufficiently repaid the past incident by helping with this matter. Please don’t use our family anymore under the pretext of being related.”

 

It was a polite statement in its own way, but it seemed like he was telling me not to go near his family anymore, since I had repaid my help with Diane’s work with an incident on her wedding day. There was a faint hint of disgust in the duke’s brown eyes. He seemed angry, thinking that she had tricked and taken advantage of his wife. Because she was a princess, he had no choice but to be polite. If she were an ordinary noblewoman, she thought he would have been outright angry. Well, Eve was originally a self-willed, evil woman, so it was natural for the Duke to think that way. Although she ended up being treated like a wicked woman who took advantage of an innocent noblewoman without her knowledge, she understood the duke’s feelings. As the owner of a large family, the safety of the family was probably more important than family or friendship. Because of what happened last time, the Duchess received the attention of the Empress, Vilos, and even the Emperor. The duke was a person who tried to remain completely neutral, so it was natural for her to be angry.

 

‘I don’t know if he will be able to maintain neutrality.’

 

In the future she saw, it seemed like a civil war would break out and the imperial family would collapse. In the meantime, could the dukedom have remained neutral? No, even if there was no conflict between Terence and the imperial family in the first place, it was unclear who would become the next emperor between Arentine and Vilos. Wasn’t it more dangerous to stubbornly remain neutral in times like this? The duke seemed to occasionally invite Arentine to her mansion, but wasn’t that a dangerous move?

 

‘It’s not known yet, but Diane likes Arentine.’

 

Moreover, no matter how much he denied it, the duke was Terence’s uncle. What would be the meaning of insisting on neutrality in a situation like this? She tried to shake off those thoughts and reply to the duke that she understood.

 

‘Yes, I understand…’ 

 

Terence, who had been watching silently, intervened in a calm voice.

 

“The Duke remains optimistic.”

 

“Grand Duke, what is that…?”

 

“The Emperor tried to use Princess Sorel and the Empress to trap me and my wife. He will attack and use anything for his own ends. Do you think that if the dukedom remains neutral, it will be safe until the end?”

 

The duke had no answer. Yes, a man called the Emperor was even using his wife and daughter to bring them down, so would he leave the duchy alone? In reality, it was already too late to maintain neutrality.

 

Terence looked directly at him and spoke with cold eyes.

 

“And now the duke has come to my mansion and is daring to threaten my wife. Do you think I will tolerate this rudeness just because you are related to me?”

 

“Grand Duke I…”

 

“Before you make excuses, first apologize to my wife.”

 

Terence interrupted the Duke and demanded an apology. Even though he spoke quietly, his cold voice contained a harsh reprimand. There was a quiet tension in the living room. The Duchess, who had been listening quietly to her, spoke belatedly to her husband.

 

“Yes, please apologize to the princess right away.”

 

“You…!”

 

“Terence is my nephew, and the princess is Diane’s benefactor. Is family more important to you than repaying the people who helped Diane?”

 

The Duchess warned her husband with her calm but cool demeanor.

 

“And if you’re unhappy with anything I’ve done, tell me. Please don’t criticize Terence and the princess.”

 

While the duke was angry, he also seemed embarrassed. While she sympathized with Terence’s words, he was angry that he was put in this situation. Part of him seemed perplexed that his wife would not take his side. While looking at the duchess, a sad expression appeared and then disappeared. The Duke eventually apologized to her.

 

“I think I was too rude. I apologize, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”

 

“…it’s fine.”

 

She understood his feelings, so she answered quickly.

 

“If you allow me, I’ll just head back.”

 

The duke got up from his seat without any chance to catch him. That was the end of the formal visit. The Duchess held her hand and apologized before following her husband outside.

 

“I’m sorry for being so rude, princess.”

 

“No. Never mind.”

 

She went out with the Duchess towards the entrance of her mansion.

 

“Father?”

 

Diane’s voice was heard from the entrance landing. Diane, who was upstairs, heard the servant and she was coming downstairs.

 

“Are you going back already? I lent my doll to Lot. Can I come pick it up next time?”

 

“Don’t do that, just take it. I won’t be coming here for a while.”

 

“…yes?”

 

Diane started walking down her stairs quickly, startled.

 

“Father, what do you mean?”

 

“I literally will never come here again.”

 

Diane’s face turned whiter at the Duke’s cold tone.

 

“That… ah…!”

 

Diane, who was quickly descending her stairs, suddenly stumbled, feeling dizzy. Diane stumbled to her side in the middle of her stairs and fell as she fell.

 

“Diane!”

 

Fortunately, her servant who was right next to her quickly grabbed Diane’s body and prevented her from falling down the stairs. A servant helped Diane and brought her downstairs. The duke, who ran up the stairs in her middle, hugged Diane. She also approached Diane.

 

“Diane, are you okay?”

 

Diane’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. When she looked still, she saw that her complexion was paler than before. Has her health worsened? Suddenly, her premonition to see Diane die came to mind. She looked at her pitifully and gently placed her hand on hers. At that moment, her vision suddenly became distorted and darkness came. It was a new foresight.

 

* * *

 

The moment darkness came, the bitter smell of grass hit her. When she opened her eyes, a luxuriously decorated bedroom appeared. It wasn’t a very unfamiliar bedroom. What was unusual was that the entire bedroom was full of dry grass. Dry blades of grass were tied not only to the table but also to the floor and ceiling. She realized belatedly where she was. This was Diane’s bedroom. In front, she saw a middle-aged woman wearing a black dress. She was the Duchess of Rohan. There was also the Duke next to him.

 

“Huh… Diane.”

 

The Duchess was crying, looking at the bed.

 

She slowly approached the bed. She saw Diane lying dead on the bed. The nape of her neck was visible through her thin nightgown. Like her white eyes, bright red spots remained here and there on her pure white skin. The Duchess was crying next to the bed, looking no different than before.

 

“Diane…”

 

The Duchess cried endlessly as she clutched Diane’s hand. The duke next to her also turned his head with reddened eyes. Tears fell from his brown eyes onto the floor. The Duchess shed tears and muttered bitterly.

 

“We’ve only just found out the cure, so why already…”

 

After hearing her words, she understood the situation.

 

‘No way… Is Diane dead?’

 

Diane, lying in her bed, was pale and cold. But she seemed to have less spots than before. 

She died while they were treating her, so that’s where she rested.

 

She quickly came to her senses and noticed the attire the Duchess was wearing. The Duchess was wearing a velvet dress. It wasn’t for winter, but it seemed to be a mid-season dress that could only be worn in early spring. She did the same with the clothes the duke wore.

 

‘But from the last prediction I saw, it seemed like Diane would die in late spring or mid-summer.’

 

At the time, the Duchess in the forecast was wearing the thin mourning clothes she wears in spring and summer. She did the same with everyone else she appeared with. But this prognosis showed that Diane died in the winter. Why did this change occur? There was only one reason that made sense. Diane’s death changed the future. She didn’t know why, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it.

 

The most important thing was treatment. In the last prediction, Diane said she died after finding out the cure. 

 

She looked around at the dry grass that filled the room. Was this dried grass the herb that cures Diane’s illness? It looked like small dried willow leaves, but she had no knowledge of medicinal herbs, so she didn’t know exactly what it was. The entire bedroom was filled with these leaves, so the bitter scent of grass mixed in the air like an air freshener.

 

She inhaled the scent deeply.

 

‘This smell… I feel like it’s not unfamiliar somehow.’

 

But it was definitely not a familiar scent. She thought she smelled it somewhere once. Where was it? At that time, a pitiful cry came from the Duke next to him.

 

“This is all because the princess kept calling Diane to help her with her wedding! What kind of selfish woman was she to take the sick child and force her to eat it!”

 

The duke scolded her with her red, bloodshot eyes. The Duchess stopped her husband, wiping away her tears with her handkerchief.

 

“Don’t say that. Diane survived this winter thanks to the princess. How much fun did she have? Lastly, just for a moment… She looked really happy.”

 

The Duchess burst into tears again before she could finish speaking. A cold chill seeped into her heart as she heard those words. The Duchess’ words were more shocking than the Duke’s resentment of Eve.

 

‘This winter.’

 

Just as she was frozen in a daze, her vision was covered with darkness again.

 

* * *

 

She shivered in shock and slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was the lobby of a familiar mansion. And then there was Diane, coming down the stairs. Diane was supported by the duke and she could barely stand.

 

“Diane…”

 

Diane comforted her with her corpse-pale face.

 

“…Princess, I’m okay, I’m okay. I did it because I tripped her.”

 

Diane didn’t lose her footing, although she did seem to get dizzy as she was coming down quickly. She didn’t say anything about it.

 

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

 

The duke studied Diane with anxious eyes and then carefully picked her up in his arms.

 

“I have to go back home quickly. That’s why you shouldn’t go out on a cold day.”

 

The duke turned to her and Terence and said goodbye.

 

“Then I’ll just head back.”

 

Diane waved her hand weakly at her, cradled in the duke’s arms.

 

“…Princess, see you later.”

 

She stood there blankly watching Diane leave. An icy realization dawned on her. The vision had changed. It said Diane would die as soon as this winter passed.

 

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