How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

…what? Get rid of what? She tried to read more closely by holding the paper close to her eyes, but the letters were so small and faint that she still couldn’t see them clearly.

 

The word in front was J… It was all she could recognize. Three letters, no, two letters more? It’s so small and spread out that she didn’t even know how many letters there were.

 

J…? What words start with ‘J’? The first thing that came to mind was a shaman. (note: the original first letter does coincide) So, was it ‘get rid of the shaman’? Common sense dictated that if there was no shaman, he wouldn’t be able to cast a curse. This word seemed likely to refer to a shaman. But what did the saying that came before that you have to be alone mean? At first glance, the words to kill the shaman and the words to be alone seemed incongruous. Did this mean that she had to kill the shaman alone? Was there a reason why it had to be a solo crime?

 

‘Maybe it’s not a continuous sentence.’

 

The sentences ‘You must be alone to stop the curse’ and ‘Kill the shaman’ were likely different messages. While the phrase to be alone was scrawled in large letters, the phrase to kill something was written very small at the end.

 

‘But I don’t understand what you mean by saying that you have to be alone to prevent the curse.’

 

Did this mean that they should isolate themselves and not meet people? If the curse wasn’t some kind of contagious disease, what did it have to do with meeting people? Killing the shaman was equally daunting. You needed to know who the shaman was in the first place to kill him.

 

Suddenly, she remembered the owner of a witchcraft store she met when she went to buy scented candles. Surely that person was not a shaman cursing her?

 

‘I still don’t know what it is.’

 

She closed the diary in disappointment. However, it was a great achievement to have at least some clue about the curse targeting the saint. So she closed the diary and headed towards the collapsed stone slab. A suspicious diary hidden in a maze-like underground library. As soon as she took out the diary, the ceiling collapsed as if it had been waiting.

 

It couldn’t all be a coincidence.

 

‘The person who wrote this was probably the princess.’

 

She didn’t know what the circumstances were, but it seemed like she found out about the curse and had to hide it here in a hurry. Just by looking at the hastily scrawled words, she could guess how urgent the situation was.

 

‘Once I get out of here, I’m going to have to investigate who exactly wrote this.’

 

There were no names or dates in the diary, but if you compare the names of nobles and object names that appear from time to time, you would be able to roughly figure out what era the diary was written in. And a saint… In other words, there were at most two or three princesses in one generation.

 

When she closed the diary and raised her head, there were green eyes looking at her.

 

“Is there anything important written down?”

 

“Not really. It just talks about drinking tea and the weather.”

 

After that conversation, there was silence in the dark library for a while. She guessed Bayan got out safely. When he turned into a shadow, he would have been able to escape through even a small gap, so she guessed he would have succeeded in going outside.

 

They passed the time quietly while waiting for Bayan. There were no other books here, so there was nothing worth looking into. Then, a quiet voice came from next to her.

 

“His Highness the Grand Duke…”

 

“Hmm?”

 

She turned around without thinking and saw Mikhail asking in a slightly embarrassed voice.

 

“Does His Highness know that Her Highness is here?”

 

No. Terrence didn’t know. So she was a little nervous now too. They needed to get out of here safely before Terence found out and went back as if nothing happened. From the way Michael asked carefully, it seemed like he knew that Terence hated him. Well, it’s impossible not to know.

 

“Don’t worry. I said I was going to investigate.”

 

Mikhail spoke in a tone filled with self-reproach.

 

“I apologized to you because I felt like I made you both uncomfortable by visiting the mansion at that time.”

 

“No, you didn’t come because you wanted to.”

 

Mikhail just came to run an errand and investigate a case. To begin with, the mood that day wasn’t bad because of Mikhail. The atmosphere was cold because they had ruined the first night before. But it seemed that Mikhail was still paying attention to work that day. He said things were really bad that day.

 

She added in a light tone to reassure him.

 

“We’re doing well, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

 

Mikhail listened to her and said with a calm smile.

 

“I heard that you two are getting along very well.”

 

“Well, where did you hear that?”

 

“Rumors abound even within the imperial palace. I heard that you two often go out and spend quality time together.”

 

They only went out to dinner once. To other people, it seemed like that’s how the rumor spread. Actually, they haven’t attended any social gatherings and have been confined to the mansion. Things got cold for a while, and then she was distracted by Diane’s treatment. In the eyes of others, it seemed like they were so close that they stuck together.

 

Mikhail looked away with a slightly awkward smile.

 

“It may be presumptuous, but it’s really nice to see the two of you happy.”

 

Those were words full of sincerity. However, there was a faint hint of bitter sadness in Mikhail’s voice as he said that. Even in the dark library, the loneliness and thoughts that shadowed his green eyes were clearly visible.

 

She very carefully brought up the topic of Sorel.

 

“I heard that you went to the Duke’s residence with Sorel.”

 

Mikhail silently lowered his gaze.

 

“Before… When I heard about Princess Sorel’s behavior on your wedding day, I didn’t believe it. If I had heard about this incident from someone else, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

 

But this time, he saw it with his own eyes. She felt sorry for how absurd and astounding he must have been.

 

“I can’t believe Sorel would do something like that… It’s understandable to be disappointed.”

 

“I felt sad rather than disappointed.”

 

Mikhail spoke quietly with a dark look in his eyes.

 

“I thought of her as a friend, but it seems I was the only one who thought of her.”

 

Well, it was like that. Even in the original work, the two became friends and gradually became closer. Because they had similar upbringings, they were able to empathize with each other and become close friends quickly. Unlike the original, Sorel may have approached Mikhail to take advantage of him, but it seems that Mikhail was truly building a genuine friendship. On the one hand, she felt sad, but on the other hand, curiosity arose. Now the flow of the original story has been completely disrupted. What would happen to Sorel and Mikhail in the future? Although it was a bit strange to try to see foreknowledge in a situation like this. Still, if not now, she didn’t know when she would meet Mikhail again.

 

She held Mikhail’s hand as if to comfort him. Mikhail looked at her as if he was a little surprised, but when he realized that she was comforting him, he responded with a dark smile.

 

She concentrated while facing him. Thinking about Sorel and Mikhail’s relationship years later. But even after holding it together for a while, she couldn’t see anything.

 

‘It doesn’t work again.’

 

She tried to see Mikhail’s future before, but nothing came out. Maybe there was no longer any contact between the two.

 

‘Or not…’

 

Surely the two of them wouldn’t exist in a few years? Even if she thought about Mikhail’s death, she still couldn’t see anything, perhaps because her concentration was shaken. She glanced at Mikhail’s neat face and shook off her ominous thoughts.

 

‘Maybe it’s just that I can’t see foresight.’

 

* * *

 

Terence finished signing the document and checked the time. There was still some time left until evening. It seemed like work would end earlier than expected today. He ordered his aide at his side.

 

“Find out where Eve is now.”

 

Eve went to the imperial palace today and said she would stop by the downtown area. Was she still in the imperial palace chatting with the crown prince? Then, he wanted to go out to the downtown area with Eve just in time for her to leave the imperial palace. Since their last outing, their relationship has become very smooth. The two shared their daily lives together and occasionally spent time in the garden or tea room. Although they haven’t become as close as a couple yet, they have now become a relationship that feels like real lovers. It was a good start. If they continued to stay together, they would become closer. Of course, to do that, the crisis at hand had to be resolved.

 

That it’s a curse. Eve said that in the future she saw in her, she apparently cursed for death. 

She wouldn’t have said such a strange thing if she hadn’t had such strong convictions. Even if it wasn’t really because of a curse, there were some suspicious circumstances.

 

‘A curse.’

 

Although he sometimes heard people talking about black magic and all that, Terence had never seriously thought about curses or witchcraft. Can you really kill someone with a curse? He still couldn’t believe it.

 

‘If I had a shaman with that ability, I would have killed the emperor right away.’

 

If only the Emperor disappeared, most of the danger targeting Eve would disappear. After a longer time than expected, the aide came back and announced.

 

“It is said that er Highness went to the Great Hall.”

 

“The Great Temple?”

 

Why did she go there? Did she go to the temple to search because she couldn’t find anything great in the downtown area?

 

Terence gathered up his remaining work and stood up from his seat. As he went out, he ran into Camion who was entering his office. He ignored him and passed by, and as Camion hurriedly followed, he asked:

 

“Your Highness? Where are you going?”

 

“I’m going to The Great Hall.”

 

Instead, he planned to meet Eve in the temple, help her find information, and then return to the mansion together afterward. Terence immediately got into the carriage and headed to The Great Temple. Camion also noticed him and followed along.

 

After the carriage departed, Terence asked Camion.

 

“What happened with my question about finding a shaman within the empire?”

 

The reason Camion came to him in the first place was probably to report this.

 

“First, I investigated the stores in the system that are known to deal with witchcraft. There was no place where there was much trust…”

 

“The shaman’s abilities are not important. Find everyone who has even the slightest connection to witchcraft.”

 

Camion tried to put on a calm expression as much as possible, but his eyes were very confused. Why was he suddenly interested in witchcraft? He didn’t seem to understand whether they were investigating this or not. Terence suddenly remembered the rumors his subordinates had been whispering about in the past. The knights were perplexed by his sudden closeness to Eve and shared all sorts of strange speculations. One of them was the hypothesis that Eve had seduced him using black magic. Perhaps Camion was thinking about that now.

 

Even though he wasn’t asked, he continued to explain things point by point.

 

“As a result of my own research, it is said that it is impossible to control a person’s mind through magic. In fact, academics at the academy also said that there has never been a scientific proof of any magical effect…”

 

“How did you know the Academy said that?”

 

“I went and asked in person.”

 

Camion answered confidently.

 

Terence frowned and looked at him. This guy seemed to have thought that he was serious about the theory of black magic and was researching witchcraft.

 

“It has nothing to do with mind control, so just do the investigation as told. What happened to me telling you to look for a store related to witchcraft?”

 

“There is one store related to witchcraft even in the downtown area. However, the owner is currently missing.”

 

“He went missing?”

 

“We will have to investigate further to find out, but they say the store closed and disappeared somewhere.”

 

“…”

 

He thought Eve said she was going there today. If the door was closed, she would have left in vain. So it seemed like she went to the Great Temple early. Since they had time left, they probably wanted to look around the temple. As he thought about that, he quickly arrived at The Great Hall.

 

The knights sent with Eve were waiting near the chapel.

 

“Her Highness is in the northern library.”

 

Terence went straight to the library they told him about.

 

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