How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

She lowered her head to hide her red face. She was even more embarrassed because Terence was staring at her intently.

 

“Are you uncomfortable holding hands with me?”

 

“Oh, no. It’s not like that, um… When we decided to date, something felt different than before.”

 

Before, she thought, ‘Even when I hold hands, I’m just holding the hand of a very handsome man’. She felt like she had to focus. Now, the point that ‘I am holding hands with my lover’ was emphasized, and she felt embarrassed for no reason. Was it because it’s her first time dating? She seemed to lack immunity to unfamiliar situations.

 

Terence kept his mouth shut and said nothing. For several minutes he held her hand in silence, and then she heard Terence’s quiet voice again.

 

“If you don’t mind, after this matter is over…”

 

Terence trailed off, uncharacteristically. It was a voice filled with faint tension.

 

“Shall we go out to dinner outside the mansion?”

 

She looked up at him with a dumb expression. This incident probably referred to each person’s responsibility. Terence worked in the imperial palace. She worked for Diane. When you have free time, why not go out and buy dinner?

 

‘No way, we’re dating now… Are you applying for a date?’

 

She was so embarrassed that her mouth moved without realizing it.

 

“Well, the food at the mansion is delicious…”

 

The moment she spoke, she was even more embarrassed and quickly shut her mouth. What did she just say? To someone who asked, ‘Should we go on a date at a restaurant?’ she said, ‘I don’t want to.’ It’s like saying, ‘Our food is delicious.’ Was this a common-sense answer to a situation like this? She was so embarrassed that she ended up saying something stupid. It was such a stupid answer that she wanted to slap herself. However, Terence did not show his disappointment and proposed again.

 

“Then, let’s eat in the garden pavilion or the tea room on the first floor…”

 

“Oh, no. Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I want to go out and eat.”

 

She hastily cut him off and strongly insisted that she definitely wanted to leave.

 

“Is there a place you particularly want?”

 

She thought for a moment and said.

 

“What about the tea garden we went to last time?”

 

“Tea garden?”

 

It was the place where she met him before. A greenhouse garden near a downtown area.

 

“I really liked it when we went there before.”

 

Actually, she didn’t know of any other place to go on a date. She had to have been somewhere. She couldn’t ask him to go to the ice cream shop she went to with Lot. She thought the tea garden she had been to before would be the most convenient. Because that place was owned by Terence in the first place.

 

“Then let’s go there.”

 

Were they officially dating? She didn’t know when each person’s work would be finished. Still, the thought of going out to dinner and spending time alone together sometime soon gave her a strange tickling feeling. She cleared her throat and let go of Terence’s hand.

 

“Hmm. I can’t see it.”

 

Common sense would have it that there was no way she could have seen the foresight while her mind was so distracted. Terence didn’t look very disappointed.

 

“Let’s try again next time.”

 

She withdrew her hand and changed the subject.

 

“So are you staying at the mansion today?”

 

“I’m sorry, but I have to go to the imperial palace again.”

 

Right. Well, it was still broad daylight. She guessed he came to stop by the mansion and rest for a while.

 

“How are things going in the imperial palace?”

 

She suddenly became curious about how the Empress’s case was being handled, so she asked. Considering that Mikhail had come to deliver the Emperor’s orders to the High Priest, she had a rough guess as to what direction it was going.

 

“Soon, a decree will be issued dethroning the Empress.”

 

“So that’s what happened in the end.”

 

Considering that it had been less than a month since the wedding, it was a very quick solution. It was so certain that she couldn’t even defend it.

 

“What will happen to her as Empress?”

 

“If we follow the precedent, she will be imprisoned for life or executed, but the emperor is trying to protect his empress at all costs, so killing her will be difficult.”

 

Although it was expected, a very cold end awaited her.

 

“I wonder if there’s even a need to kill her.”

 

The Empress just did what Sorel and the Emperor told her to do. If you think about it, almost everything she did was just faithfully following the emperor’s orders.

 

“Sorel, the princess is not dead, so she will not be executed. She will probably be locked up in a prison in the imperial palace.”

 

Her imprisonment will lead to a miserable life for her, but her Emperor or Vilos will still take care of her.

 

Terence added, as if it was an afterthought.

 

“His Royal Highness asked me to convey her regards. If it’s okay, she also asked me to come to the imperial palace.”

 

“You mean Arentine?”

 

Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen him since she got married. She received a wedding present. Should she return the favor and visit at least once?

 

‘I will go and see how the imperial palace works, once Diane work is finished.’

 

* * *

 

It was exactly two days later that the doctor came back to the mansion.

 

“Your Majesty the Grand Duchess…!”

 

Unlike last time, the doctor came to see her with a happy face.

 

“As you said, we have been testing a new treatment on a patient. We saw truly amazing results in just one day.”

 

Although it was all expected, she looked very surprised when she heard what he said.

 

“Is that really true?”

 

The doctor reported the treatment results in an excited tone. As expected, when they tested it on another patient, the rash began to disappear within a day. The patient said he was very surprised that his condition improved quickly, even though it wasn’t a very difficult method.

 

“If the Duchess allows, I would like to try this method on the Princess right away.”

 

While saying that, the doctor quietly revealed his inner thoughts.

 

“I’ve just discovered this method, so I still need time to observe it more closely… As you know, the princess is currently in a very critical condition.”

 

So it meant that it would be a good idea to try this new method right now. If they did more experiments and research, Diane might die. Of course she agreed with his thoughts.

 

“I think so too.”

 

The question was whether the Duke and Duchess would accept the method they had discovered only yesterday. Since there has only been one successful case so far, there was a possibility that it may be considered uncertain and rejected. The Duchess might grant permission if she asked, but the problem was the Duke. In the first place, because of the machinations, they had ordered the test to be done on another patient first.

 

“If it’s okay, let’s go to the Duke’s house together now.”

 

Since this was the method she found, it was natural for her to go with it. After sending a message that she would visit the duchy, she immediately headed to the duchy of Rohan’s mansion with the doctor. She went with the hope that the duke would be away today as well. However, as soon as they arrived at the mansion, the Duke of Rohan and the Duchess came out to meet them.

 

“Welcome. Thank you for visiting.”

 

The duke bowed his head stiffly next to the duchess, who gave her a friendly smile. The Duke and Duchess seemed very surprised to see her come with the Duke’s doctor. Actually, there was no reason to bring a doctor from another family. The duke, who had only nodded to her, asked the doctor a sharp question.

 

“What’s going on with you all of a sudden?”

 

“Duke, I think I have found a new treatment that can cure the princess.”

 

“A cure?”

 

At those words, the Duchess also looked back at the doctor with surprised eyes.

 

“Actually, this is not me, but Her Highness the Grand Duchess here found out the method.”

 

When the duke heard that I had found out, disappointment immediately appeared in his eyes.

 

“If we’re talking about scented candles, haven’t we already failed?”

 

“At that time, I took some scented candles and tested them. This time we definitely found a cure.”

 

The doctor told her the same thing he told Eve. Including that she taught them fumigation using scented candles. As soon as the Duchess heard her explanation, she said with joy:

 

“You better go talk to Diane.”

 

The Duke still looked in disbelief, but the Duchess ignored him and headed toward Diane’s bedroom. She followed her with her doctor. The Duke reluctantly followed them. When she opened the door to her inner room, she saw her maid putting away her medicine bowl.

 

“What about Diane?”

 

“She is taking her medicine and resting.”

 

The Duchess opened her bedroom door and she went inside. Diane was lying quietly on the bed, covered with a blanket. Diane, with her eyes closed, looked more tired and pale than before as she lay under the white sheets. She was thin and had no blood whatsoever in her face. She looked whiter and colder than the white snow on the window sill. Even though she knew she was asleep, the sight of her gave her goosebumps. She remembered Diane’s body, which she had seen in a vision earlier. The Duchess placed her hand gently on Diane’s shoulder.

 

“Diane. Please stand up for a moment.”

 

Diane’s eyelids fluttered, slowly revealing her blue eyes.

 

“…mother?”

 

Diane looked back at her parents, the doctor, and me with blank eyes. The Duchess said with a very excited expression.

 

“Diane, I hear you found a treatment that works for your illness. I treated another patient two days ago and the results were very good. perhaps…”

 

The Duchess was filled with joy at hearing this hopeful news, and quickly continued her explanation. As she listened to her explanation, life slowly returned to Diane’s eyes.

 

“She is what the princess was looking for?”

 

“Yes, princess. If you don’t mind, I brought some scented candles so you can try them out right now…”

 

As the doctor was trying to persuade Diane, a gruff voice came from behind.

 

“Well, I guess I just watched the progress for about two days. How can we be sure it’s not a temporary effect?”

 

It was the Duke of Rohan. He looked at her doctor with an unpleasant expression and questioned her.

 

“But Duke. Temporary improvement is also important now…”

 

“If this is the first treatment you try, isn’t there a possibility that unexpected side effects may occur later?”

 

“I looked closely at the scented candle, but there was no poison or bad ingredients at all. As I said, it is a grass that is already made into incense and burned in temples. If there were any side effects, they would have already appeared when the princess went to the temple.”

 

Well, if there were any side effects, Diane should have gone to the temple.

It must have appeared while you were praying. However, even after hearing the doctor’s explanation, the duke stubbornly denied it.

 

“But I’ve never used it this way before. Bad symptoms may appear later.”

 

She listened to their conversation and carefully intervened.

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

Another patient who was seen as a prognosis seemed to have been receiving treatment for a while, but there seemed to be no particular side effects. It was said that this treatment cured a long-standing illness. In the first place, unless the scented candle itself was toxic and contained ingredients that worsened Diane’s illness, there would be no side effects.

 

“It’s not like you’re squeezing the juice and making it into medicine, you’re just boiling it and steaming it. There won’t be any problems.”

 

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty The Grand Duchess. My daughter’s disease is a long-standing chronic disease, so we don’t know what variables will appear.”

 

The duke spoke politely in his own way, but his eyes were filled with displeasure as if he were wondering what you knew about medicine. This duke still starts a fight every time he sees me. She wondered if they would object even more fiercely when she told them she had found out. Of course, she had no knowledge of medicine at all. But she knew one thing for sure. This was a sure cure for Diane’s illness.

 

Then she heard a quiet voice from the bed.

 

“I want to try it.”

 

The noisy sound of conversation disappeared in an instant. Everyone’s eyes turned to Diane. Diane turned to all of us and she said:

 

“It’s not even painful. I want to try it.”

 

Her face was still as pale as a corpse, but there was a strong will in her clear eyes.

 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

 

The Duke of Rohan approached the bed, restless like a child. His eyes, as he looked at Diane, were full of tender sadness and concern.

 

“It might not work.”

 

Watching that, she realized one thing. The duke didn’t mean to pick a fight with her. She was being sharp because she was afraid Diane would be disappointed and hurt again. Because Diane has done this countless times since she was a child. She desperately hoped that she might be cured, but in the end she was disappointed and resigned. She must have gone through countless experiences that ultimately left her with nothing but pain and despair. So, once again, she was trying to prevent herself from trying anything she is not sure about, so that she did not get hurt because of vague hopes.

 

Diane, who was listening to the Duke, turned her gaze to Eve. A smile as clear as sunlight crept into her face, as white as her eyes.

 

“Princess, no, Her Majesty the Grand Duchess came here for me. It’s okay even if it doesn’t work out. I want to give it a try.”

 

“Diane…”

 

The Duke of Rohan was about to say something again, but the Duchess interrupted him and suggested:

 

“Why not try it out a little bit first and observe the progress?”

 

The duke still had an expression on his face, but she could no longer object. In the end, he overcame her stubbornness and accepted.

 

“Then let’s do it.”

 

The Duchess immediately ordered her maid to be at her side.

 

“Bring a vessel to boil water.”

 

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Translator Note: