How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

“Do you know what line it is now?”

 

Looking out the window, the sun was setting. Had he been here all afternoon? She slowly went down the Sashi Bridge.

 

“I thought you’d stay longer today because of Sorel’s business.”

 

Terence said as he approached her.

 

“Princess Sorel’s work was quickly completed. As soon as the emperor began discussing it, she issued a punishment.”

 

“What kind of punishment is this?”

 

“They say they are temporarily depriving her of her imperial status and imprisoning her in a villa.”

 

“You mean to strip her of her identity?”

 

What that meant was explained in detail in the original work. Since she was the emperor’s daughter, she was still called the princess, but this meant that all the privileges and official status she enjoyed as a member of the imperial family, as well as the annual pension she received, would all disappear.

 

“The duke was planning to demand a harsher punishment somehow, but it is said that the emperor handed down a much harsher punishment than expected, so he returned without saying anything.”

 

From now on, Sorel would not be treated well by the royal family and would spend her life as a prisoner. That was enough punishment for her to satisfy the duke.

 

“Why did he impose such a harsh punishment?”

 

Even so, she was just trying to interfere with Diane’s treatment, so wouldn’t that be a bit of a harsh punishment? From the looks of it, she was Sorel. She was the only precious princess in the current imperial family who could use the Holy Power. She thought he would only lightly punish her with probation and protect her.

 

Terence also spoke as if he was surprised.

 

“Well, people think the Emperor sacrificed Princess Sorel to prevent the Duke from turning to the Crown Prince’s side.”

 

He might have that reason, too. She was also thinking that if they successfully prevented this incident, the Rohan family would turn to their side. But even so, wasn’t this a bit harsh?

 

“There were even rumors that the Emperor hated Princess Sorel because of the dethronement of the Empress.”

 

“It is strange that even though His Majesty the Emperor resented Sorel, he abandoned her without protecting her at all.”

 

For some reason, she had a strange feeling. There was no reason for the emperor to strip Sorel of her status and imprison her in her villa. So, did he severely punish Sorel with the intention of capturing the Duke’s heart? It’s been a few years since she was stripped of her royal status, so she just needs to come up with a good reason and have it reinstated. With that in mind, she grabbed the ladder and went down. Was it because she was too lost in thought?

 

While trying to go down to the next compartment, her foot slipped. In an instant, the center of her body sank into the air.

 

“Ah…!”

 

She fell down without even having time to grab the bookshelf next to her.

 

“Eve!”

 

Terence rushed over and grabbed her.

 

“Be careful.”

 

It was fortunate that she fell after getting more than halfway down. If she were to snap, she would have sprained or fractured her ankle. It was an instant, but the thought of almost falling gave her goosebumps on the back of her neck. Terence held her in his arms and helped her get down to the ground carefully.

 

“Ah… thank you.”

 

She got down to the floor, leaning on his body. When she suddenly came to her senses, she felt ashamed and embarrassed. They were in close contact with less than an inch of space between them. Since their last outing, she had often spent evenings with Terence.

 

As time passed, a comfortable and gentle feeling grew between them. Still, she felt a subtle sense of tension every time they came into such close contact.

 

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt. From now on, please call a servant to do such dangerous work.”

 

“…All I have to do is put books on the bookshelf.”

 

Who calls a servant to do something like this? But she almost fell off the ladder while putting the book back, so she didn’t have anything to say.

 

“I’ll be careful next time.”

 

Terence, who was smiling at her, fixed his eyes on the floor. The smile disappeared from his face, as if the warmth was slowly cooling off.

 

She followed his gaze and looked down. She saw a flower rolling down on the floor. Flowers of sacred trees dyed pink. It was a wedding gift from Mikhail.

 

‘Oh right. I brought that.’

 

She put it in her pocket to look through the book and see if there was a spell similar to that pink flower. There was no proper information, let alone a similar spell, so she forgot about it for a while. It looks like it fell out of her pocket when she slipped off the ladder.

 

‘Why did it fall at a time like this?’

 

Terence stared at the pink flower that had fallen on the floor in silence. 

 

A heavy silence suddenly fell in the library. As if he sensed that the atmosphere was unusual, Bayan, who was lying down with a book next to me, was slowly disappearing behind the bookshelf.

 

“Ah… uh… This is it.”

 

She picked up the flower that had fallen on the floor while keeping an eye on Terence.

 

“Actually, I saw a new prognosis today.”

 

She said it bluntly and started with the main point. Because right now she wasn’t in the mood to explain things step by step.

 

“I finally found out why I died.”

 

Terence, who was as cold as a stone statue, reacted to those words.

 

“What method was it?”

 

She explained the foresight she had seen through the Duchess. After hearing the entire explanation, Terence showed an unusually embarrassed look.

 

“Sorcery?”

 

He double-checked her words in disbelief.

 

“Did I say that?”

 

“According to the conversation between the two, it was definitely like that.”

 

There was no way the duke and duchess would have lied while talking alone, so Terrence must have said that to them. There was no way Terence would have hidden the truth from anyone else, nor from his aunt, the Duchess.

 

“It’s something unexpected.”

 

The story was so unexpected that it was understandable that she was confused. Although no information had been released so far, she could not be sure, but Terence seemed to have been implicitly guessing that she had been poisoned. If she died after slowly wasting away for a year, it sis highly likely that it was poison.

 

“Honestly, I can’t believe it. This is the first time I’ve heard that witchcraft can kill someone.”

 

“Aren’t there some people who believe in witchcraft? There is also a store in the downtown area.”

 

“Of course, there are people who really believe in superstitions, but most people don’t think they’re real.”

 

Terence continued as if explaining common sense.

 

“Legends and fairy tales sometimes feature curses through witchcraft, but few people would think that would be possible in reality.”

 

“As expected.”

 

If you think about it based on Bayan’s explanation, true shamans are very rare, and the magic spells that those few shamans succeed in are all trivial, so they would have been treated as superstitions until now. She also told Terence the story about witchcraft she heard from Bayan. To put it simply, it was almost impossible to kill someone with witchcraft, and it was difficult to make them sick. It was said that casting a spell on a saint was even more difficult.

 

“Then I think it makes even more sense.”

 

“I think so too. But so far, witchcraft is the only hint.”

 

Terence’s eyes turned to the pink flower in my hand. He seemed curious as to what this had to do with it.

 

“Bajan said this is a real witchcraft item. Mikhail made it himself.”

 

“Lord Sheldon practices witchcraft?”

 

Terence’s eyes became even more confused. Well, it didn’t really suit Mikhail, who seems as gentle and sincere as a priest, to practice witchcraft.

 

“…Of course, Mikhail probably doesn’t like witchcraft. He said he learned how to make this from someone.”

 

At those words, Terence looked at the flower with a strange look.

 

“Lord Sheldon’s biological mother was an ordinary maid. I don’t think she liked witchcraft.”

 

“Then…”

 

Could it be Sorrel? In the original work, there was no mention of Sorel learning witchcraft. Of course, in the original work, there was no mention of Mikhail learning how to make magic tools. In fact, she couldn’t even fully trust the contents of the original anymore. Because she was not sure how much was true and how much was false. She shouldn’t be sure of anything until she finds out for herself. After thinking about that, she looked up at Terence and said.

 

“I have to go to the imperial palace tomorrow. I was thinking of going there at least once.”

 

She remembered that Arentine had sent her a message before asking her to go to the imperial palace. Mikhail caught the emperor’s attention with his excellent swordsmanship and rose to the position of vice-commander of the Imperial Knights. It seemed unlikely that it was a coincidence that Mikhail learned how to make magic tools. If she really died from witchcraft, the culprits would definitely be members of the imperial family, excluding Arentine.

 

‘As expected, it would be better to find out about Michael first.’

 

She organized her thoughts like that while looking at the pink flower in his hand. Now that Sorel has been stripped of his status and kicked out, it would be a good idea to find out what the atmosphere is like in the imperial palace. Terence may have been thinking the same thing, but he didn’t try to stop him, but he still looked disturbed.

 

“Take enough knights.”

 

“I’m going to the imperial palace to meet the crown prince. There won’t be any danger, right?”

 

But Terence refuted sternly.

 

“There is no harm in being careful. If it is an attack in a completely unexpected way, the princess is virtually defenseless right now.”

 

It wasn’t wrong. What if it was really an unknown force like witchcraft that took her life? Unless she figured out a way to block it, it was like walking around enemy lines bare-handed. While she was thinking that, she suddenly felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

 

“It’ll be okay.”

 

Terence comforted her in a quiet voice, as if her expression had suddenly become serious. Serious purple eyes stared at her with confidence.

 

“I will ask them to search the country right now for information on witchcraft. I won’t let anyone harm you, Eve, no matter what.”

 

“…”

 

She guessed she once again developed a lot of affection for this man. Even with this small consolation, the vague feeling of anxiety subsides a little. She wordlessly wrapped Terence’s hand on her shoulder.

 

“Thank you.”

 

She felt a soft, fluffy warmth like a cotton ball tickling her heart. Bayan, who had run away while observing the atmosphere behind him, was coming back this way. Bayan found them facing each other affectionately and went behind his bookshelf again. Suddenly it reminded her of her child who appeared in Foresight. She didn’t tell Terence that she had seen the child. If this man knew about the child, how would he react? Would he have been sad to know that he disappeared in the second prediction? In the second future that changed, she died before giving birth. The first future Terence survived, raised his child, and took revenge on the royal family. What would happen in the second future where they have no children? For some reason, she had a dual feeling of being curious and not wanting to know.

 

* * *

 

As she told Terence, she headed straight to the imperial palace the next day. Just like last time, Bayan was also there. If she wanted to find items related to witchcraft, she needed Bayan by her side. It’s not that old, but it felt unfamiliar when she went to the imperial palace. Was it because she had just adapted to the grand duke’s mansion?

 

As soon as she entered the imperial palace, she headed to the crown prince’s palace. Arentine, whom she met after a long time, didn’t look much different from before.

 

“Eve, you’ve finally come.”

 

Arentine spoke calmly, but it sounded like he was complaining, wondering how long ago he last contacted her and only now visiting. She guessed it sounded like that because she felt sorry for no reason.

 

“I was too busy adjusting to work at the mansion.”

 

“Is it very difficult?”

 

In an instant, deep concern appeared on Arentine’s neat face.

 

“Well, it must be difficult for you to do something like that. Couldn’t some tasks be left to the butler or the head maid?”

 

He suddenly started to worry seriously about her. Anyone who hears this would think that she sweeps, cleans, and cooks the mansion by herself. He even looked at her blank face and asked:

 

“If you find it difficult to talk, shall I speak to the Grand Duke?”

 

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Translator Note: