How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

All three of them looked up at the same time.

 

‘What? Who came upstairs?’

 

She waited for a while, but couldn’t hear anything anymore. She looked down and made eye contact with Mikhail. It seemed he had similar thoughts to her. That was when they exchanged anxious glances in silence. Suddenly, a strange vibrating sound started coming from the ceiling.

 

Drurr.

 

At the same time, the surrounding area shook as if there had been an earthquake. The ceiling began to crack along with an ominous pattering sound. Broken fragments fell from the ceiling. 

 

‘What, what? Is it an earthquake?’

 

A large piece of stone fell next to the door and shattered into pieces.

 

“Grand Duchess!”

 

Mikhail wrapped his arms around her to protect her. She hurriedly held Bayan in her arms and lowered her head. Stone debris fell like rain, and dust rose everywhere. Fortunately, the vibrating sound ended quickly. After the sound died down, she slowly opened her eyes. And she was shocked to see what was inside the room.

 

The ceiling was split in half with the door and them on either side. The ceiling on their side was cracked but still intact, but the ceiling on the door side was more than half down.

 

‘Oh my God…’

 

A stone slab split in two was barely supporting the collapsing ceiling. It was a large stone slab attached to the door. It appears to have split in half as it fell to the floor. The stone slab and the surrounding decorations were broken into pieces, and half of the stone wall surrounding the slab and door was torn off and fell to the ground. The most serious problem in the mess was that the slabs and rock fragments had completely blocked the door to the library.

 

“The door…”

 

Mikhail reached through the rubble to remove the slab blocking the door. However, a stone slab larger than the door broke in half and blocked the door, which was beyond his ability to do on his own. The stone slab seemed like it wouldn’t budge even if we both lifted it together.

 

“I think it would be difficult to clean it up by hand.”

 

Mikhail placed his hand on the handle of his sword.

 

“Please step back for a moment. I’ll have to cut the slabs.”

 

It looked like he was trying to cut a stone slab with a sword. She hastily stopped him.

 

“Stop! What if the ceiling collapses?”

 

Two stone slabs supported the ceiling, which was split in half. If you touch it incorrectly and the ceiling above it collapses, you will be in a situation where nothing can be done. In severe cases, there was a possibility that the ceiling on their side would collapse as well, causing them to be crushed to death.

 

Mikhail let go of his sword and glanced around the room with anxious eyes. It seemed like he was trying to find another exit. She also looked around. The stone wall surrounding the room was almost intact.

 

“If we tear down this wall… I could go to the next room.”

 

However, it did not seem that the wall made up of bricks would collapse so easily. Would the room next door be okay before that? If the next room was also in this mess, there was a chance that if the wall was touched by mistake, both sides would collapse.

 

“What on earth was that just now? Is it an earthquake?”

 

“Well…”

 

Mikhail looked at the wall where the diary was contained with a confused expression. As soon as she took out this diary, the room shook and a stone slab fell, blocking the door. Wasn’t it too elaborate to be a coincidence?

 

‘Could it be that I brought this out and this place collapsed?’

 

Was this some kind of trap? What on earth was in this diary? She looked at the diary with a devastated feeling and then looked around. A half-collapsed ceiling, rubble, and a door blocked by a stone slab in a secret room-like underground library.

 

‘Are we trapped here now?’

 

She muttered without confidence.

 

“Soon… Someone will come to our rescue. Did you tell anyone else that you were coming here?”

 

“Huh. I told them to come pick me up if I don’t come out for two hours.”

 

If not only this place collapsed but the building was also shocked, they would come to rescue them before that happens. But could they ever pinpoint where they were? Mikhail spoke with worried eyes, probably thinking the same thing as her.

 

“As I said, this place has a complicated structure… Even priests cannot find their way quickly unless they are people who worked here.”

 

Then they would be stuck here even longer. It’s possible that while searching somewhere else, you accidentally touch the wall and this place collapses.

 

‘What should I do…?’

 

She looked at the small wire mesh attached to the ceiling. There’s a tangle of dust, but she thought that’s the vent. However, it was only about the size of the palm of one’s hand, making it difficult for Bayan to enter. Did that allow air to pass through? If you’re stuck here for two hours, won’t you suffocate?

 

She exchanged glances with Bayan, who was in her arms.

 

Bayan responded quickly.

 

[If you give it more sap, it can hide in the shadows and go out there. I will bring the knights here.]

 

It was a very good method. In fact, it was the only safe escape method in the current situation. Just one thing. Except that Mikhail is staring intently at them right in front of him.

 

“There is a way to get the knights here right now.”

 

“Which way?”

 

She looked straight at Mikhail and received another promise.

 

“I feel like I’ve already said this several times, but I promise you this time too. I said I would keep the secret.”

 

Mikhail looked directly at her and then looked at Bayan in her arms for a moment.

 

“I promise.”

 

She took out a bottle of sap and gave Bayan a very small amount, just like she did before she came here. As soon as it licked up the sap, Bayan went down to the floor and was instantly sucked into the floor.

 

Mikhail, who was watching, seemed startled. A black shadow glimmered where Bayan had disappeared. The shadow passed over a floor full of stone debris, quickly climbed up the stone wall, and disappeared into the vent.

 

Mikhail looked up at the vent where Bayan had disappeared with a slightly dazed expression.

 

“That cat… I expected it because I saw it find that location a little while ago, but it turned out to be no ordinary animal.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Well, Bayan already became suspicious when he found the diary.

 

“Bajan will bring the knights here.”

 

She just said that without explaining Bayan’s identity. Mikhail didn’t seem to want a further explanation either. She felt it last time too, but she liked Mikhail’s heavy and cautious mouth. 

 

There was nothing they could do but stay here until Bayan called the people. If you touch this or that for no reason, it will be more dangerous.

 

Mikhail came closer to her again, pushing away the pieces of stone on the floor.

 

He said, looking at the diary in her hand.

 

“I came here several times when I worked here, but I had no idea such a book was hidden there. Is that what you came looking for from the beginning?”

 

“No, I didn’t even know something like this existed. I don’t even know what this is yet.”

 

She opened the diary once again. There was a diary with dates written all over it, starting from the first page. Since only the date was written and no year, it was impossible to know exactly when it was written. There was no name of the owner of the diary.

 

“It looks like a diary, but I can’t tell who wrote it.”

 

She quickly skimmed through the content starting from the first page. There were miscellaneous records of daily life. It was filled with the names of nobles that she had never heard before, who they did with whom, where they went, what dresses they bought, and everyday records. Considering that there was sacred power here, it seemed that the owner of this diary was a princess, or at least a high-ranking noblewoman.

 

Then, a hint appeared in the middle.

 

[I took the flower tea made from flower petals to the tea room in my palace…]

 

If you look at the words ‘my palace’, does that mean she was a princess? As she thought that the diary was owned by a princess, she paid more attention to its contents. However, even after reading several pages in a row, there was no mention of sacred powers, let alone magic. She didn’t think it’s very helpful. She looked intently at the first few pages and skimmed the back pages. All about the dance, the weather, the garden, the food, the book she read today. It was full of useless content like this. It seemed to be a diary written by a princess, but somehow there was no story about the imperial palace or the royal family. Even the diary was completely empty after half the time. She came all the way here and found it, but she was disappointed.

 

‘But I guess I’ll take it and look at it more closely. At least I want to know who this is.’

 

She flipped through the blank paper one last time before closing the diary. She caught a glimpse of a strange trace between the rapidly turning pages of white paper. In the middle of the clean, blank backs, there was something that looked like graffiti written in black paint.

 

Hmm?

 

She flipped the page forward again and found the part where the trace was written. After flipping through several blank sheets of paper, a page with letters appeared. The yellow paper was full of black stains. When she looked closely, she saw that it was letters written haphazardly in what looked like ink on white paper. Even so, it was erased and smudged from time to time, so she couldn’t read what it was saying. It was written well on the front, but why did it only write here like this? With that in mind, she read the squiggle. Past the blurry letters, the first recognizable word came into view.

 

[Curse.]

 

The moment she saw that, she got goosebumps all over her body. She had a gut feeling that this was what she was looking for. She quickly read the next sentence.

 

[Even if the curse on the saint really existed, I never gave in. And now the price…]

 

A curse on a saint. Was the person who wrote this really a saint? Didn’t give in? What did she mean by that?

 

However, there was no detailed explanation. Looking at the scrawled letters, it seemed like there was no time to write in detail.

 

[I don’t have time, but I… Found it. I hope this record will be helpful to future saints.]

 

What was she looking for? She was curious as to what she had found, but the letters in the middle were so blurred that she couldn’t read them.

 

[Remember this. To prevent the curse, you must…]

 

The letters on the page were broken off there.

 

‘Must? What must I do?’

 

They say it’s a way to prevent the curse, but what if we stop here? She needed to know what to do and quit.

 

She quickly turned the page to see what was next. The moment she turned the page, she saw a sentence that was more scribbled than on the previous page.

 

[Your soul has to be alone.]

 

She stared blankly at that short sentence for a long time.

 

‘Alone? What does it mean to be alone?’

 

Was she saying she should not get married and live alone? Or did it mean to go somewhere with no one and be alone? Fortunately, there was further content after that. There was very small text written at the bottom of the page. So faint that it’s almost unrecognizable.

 

[J… Get rid of it.]

 

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