How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

Terence was looking at her with frighteningly calm and cool eyes. She felt like the atmosphere around her was becoming heavy. The door to the bedroom opened with a click, and Nell appeared.

 

Nell found them and asked with a happy face.

 

“You two are back. Your Highness, would you like for me to prepare a change of clothes? Or water for washing…”

 

Nell’s lively voice gradually quieted down, as if she sensed that the atmosphere between the two of them was unusual.

 

“…It’s okay, Nell. I’m going out for a moment.”

 

Nell looked at the two of them with anxious eyes and then hurried out. She didn’t forget to take Bayan with her.

 

After the door closed, we stood facing each other in the reception room for a moment. She didn’t know that just staring at him in silence could be such a burden. Unable to bear the uncomfortable atmosphere, she broke the silence first.

 

“I’m sorry for going with Mikhail without telling you in advance. They said they would find books related to witchcraft…”

 

“So you went into that dangerous underground library with Lord Sheldon?”

 

Terence coldly interrupted her and asked back.

 

‘You’re angry after all.’

 

“I thought it would be okay since I was only visiting for a short time. It didn’t seem that dangerous.”

 

“The basement collapsed. If you had made a mistake, both of you could have died.”

 

“It was fine when I went in. It was because of this that the basement collapsed.”

 

She showed him the diary she was holding and explained what happened. She was thinking of just going and looking for a book for a while. Who would think that place would suddenly collapse? But Terence was still angry even after hearing the explanation.

 

“Have you ever thought of coming with me? Didn’t you at least think of contacting me in advance?”

 

“I know you’re at work, and I didn’t want to bother you with this.”

 

Wouldn’t it be strange to contact someone at work and ask for permission to go to the library with Mikhail? She understood he was angry, but he didn’t understand it.

 

“I know you have an uncomfortable relationship with Mikhail, but it’s not like I have to contact you in advance and get permission.”

 

But Terence didn’t seem to think so.

 

“Ha.”

 

After hearing her answer, Terence laughed as if it was absurd. He looked back at her and declared firmly.

 

“For the time being, you will not be able to leave the mansion without my permission.”

 

“W-what?”

 

“I can’t let someone go out alone if they don’t recognize the danger.”

 

“So you’re trying to lock me up just because you’re in a bad mood?”

 

Why did he make his own decisions? She was shocked.

 

Dark, sunken purple eyes stared at her closely. Terence asked in a calm voice.

 

“Do you think I’m offended just because you were with Mikhail?

 

Then what was it for?

 

“I felt it before.”

 

When she couldn’t answer, he asked with a shocked look in his eyes.

 

“Why do you trust Michael so much?”

 

“What?”

 

She looked at him wondering what this meant, and Terence said it was obvious.

 

“Mikhail caught the attention of the emperor and rose to that position. I don’t understand how on earth you thought of trusting and following someone like that. Are you sure he won’t lead you into a trap?”

 

“…”

 

That’s because Mikhail was the male protagonist of this world. After watching the original work, she liked Mikhail from the beginning and trusted him. But it wouldn’t seem that way to Terence. 

 

Eve in the original had no contact with Mikhail at all. But suddenly, she found herself hanging out with Mikhail often and trusting him, so it was natural to think it was strange. From Terence’s point of view, he didn’t trust Mikhail at all.

 

‘I can’t tell you that I’ve seen the original, and it’s frustrating.’

 

Actually, she didn’t believe him simply because she saw it in the original. Sorel, who appeared like an angel in the original, was completely different here. However, from what Mikhail had experienced so far, he was by no means a mean person.

 

“Mikhail has already helped me many times. I thought he could be trusted that much.”

 

She added, recalling a memory from long ago.

 

“I said I had a premonition before. I definitely saw a scene in the future where Mikhail helps you and the Grand Duchy. So it’s trustworthy.”

 

Although there was no such foresight, she remembered that at the time, the contents of the original work were made up as if they were foresight. She told him that she saw a scene where Mikhail informed Terence of the Emperor’s plan to target the Grand Duchy.

 

“There is a difference between helping the Grand Duchy and harming you, Eve.”

 

But Terence disagreed with her.

 

“Mikhail is a descendant of the grand duke family with inheritance rights, so you wouldn’t want the family to fall apart. However, if the emperor orders it, I can participate in any harm to you.”

 

“But even when I went down to the underground library to receive the sap from the sacred tree, Mikhail accompanied me. I got out without incident.”

 

“Chloe was also there at that time, right?”

 

“It’s the same this time too. There were knights you sent out there. How could Mikhail harm me in such a situation? And to be exact, I wasn’t alone. Because Bayan was also there.”

 

“I didn’t know that Shinsu was strong enough to defeat a knight. He hasn’t received any holy power, so he can’t communicate with other people yet, right?”

 

“In times of emergency, he can go out and call people.”

 

Bayan went out a little while ago and brought people with him. Of course, if Mikhail suddenly attacked her, Bayan wouldn’t be able to stop him. But there was no way Mikhail would attack her in the first place.

 

“I understand that you are upset because of Mikhail. I’m sorry about that, but I didn’t risk following him.”

 

Terence stared at her face in silence. As if he was trying to figure out if what she was saying was true.

 

“Ha… All right.”

 

Then he finally sighed as if he had given up.

 

“You can go outside if you want.”

 

Before she could say anything, he put a condition on it.

 

“Instead, I will personally take you wherever you go from now on.”

 

“…yes?”

 

Was he saying that when she went out now, he would accompany her like a guardian? No, what kind of child was she?

 

“I don’t think it would be dangerous if we went out together?”

 

“Wouldn’t it be less dangerous than going out alone with the emperor’s servant?”

 

As she looked at him dumbfounded, Terence turned away, ignoring her.

 

“You must be tired. Please rest.”

 

He just tried to go out.

 

‘No, what if he stops talking and leaves?’

 

She quickly ran after Terence and tried to stop him.

 

“No, over there…”

 

That’s when she grabbed his arm. For a moment, her eyes turned black, as if a black veil had been covered over her.

 

‘Why does foreknowledge come out in a situation like this?’

 

Sometimes, she was astounded when premonitions appeared out of nowhere like this. 

 

The world, which had been completely black, became dimly bright. As soon as her vision became brighter, an ice-cold wind passed by her skin. The bitter cold permeated her body vividly. She was standing on a blanket of white snow under the dark night sky.

 

‘Where am I…?’

 

The scent of a foreign fire permeated the refreshing scent of frozen snowflakes. When she turned her head, she saw a bridge with a collapsed railing. Acrid smoke was rising from the bridge as if there was a fire. Only then did she realize where she was. She was standing under a collapsed bridge, on the white snow that fell on the frozen river.

 

It was dark here in the middle of the night. The trees along the river and the buildings visible beyond the riverbank were all immersed in deep darkness.

 

‘Why did this kind of foresight suddenly appear?’

 

She didn’t even know where this was in the first place.

 

As she looked around, she saw something in front of her. Someone was lying on the ice.

 

A person?

 

She walked there quickly. A man in black robes was lying on the frozen river with his eyes closed. Next to him, a woman in a light blue evening dress was losing her mind. Long red-blonde hair spreads out among the disheveled snowflakes. The closer she got, the clearer it became who the two people were.

 

‘Terrence…?’

 

It was the two of them. Terence was lying on the ice, holding her protectively. In his arms, the skirt of her dress was covered in dust, and her red-blonde hair, which she had carefully put up, was a mess.

 

She looked at them to see if they were both dead, but at that moment, she grimaced and turned over as if she was in pain.

 

“Ugh…”

 

As soon as she came to her senses, she saw Terence and shouted.

 

“Terrence!”

 

After struggling to get up, she hugged Terence, who was lying on the snow.

 

“Terence? Terence, wake up…!”

 

She touched Terence’s face with trembling hands. Terence was as pale and pale as a corpse. Her hands holding him were trembling.

 

As she watched, she felt like her heart had become cold. Even though she knew that it was not reality but an illusion that appeared as a premonition, she felt a deep sense of fear. Why so… was this really what would happen in the future?

 

Fortunately, Terence slowly opened his eyes.

 

“Eve…”

 

He called to her in a voice that seemed broken.

 

‘When on earth is this going to happen?’

 

She came to her senses belatedly and looked around to find something that could be a clue. This was definitely something that would happen in the future. Considering that it was winter, was this an accident that would happen soon?

 

They were both dressed in formal clothes. Was he on his way to a social gathering somewhere? Smoke was still rising from the bridge. The two of them seemed to have fallen down from there. At that time, someone grabbed the broken railing and shouted in this direction.

 

“Your Highness the Grand Duke!”

 

They were knights of the Grand Duchy. They found them and were coming down the bridge. The moment people started running this way, everything disappeared into darkness without warning.

 

That was the end of the vision.

 

“Ah…!”

 

The moment she returned to reality, she exhaled in surprise.

 

“Eve? Eve, why are you doing this?”

 

Terence, who was about to go out, caught her with a puzzled expression.

 

“Where are you uncomfortable?”

 

He seemed very surprised. It seemed like she suddenly lost her mind in a daze rather than trying to catch him.

 

“…I saw a foreseeing just now.”

 

“What kind of prognosis was it?”

 

“You were the one getting hurt. It felt like I fell off the bridge…”

 

Why was she lying there in the middle of the night? What happened? Smoke was rising above the bridge. Could it be that a bomb exploded? After hearing her explanation, Terence frowned in disbelief.

 

“You saw that just now?”

 

They were arguing about going out a little while ago. She couldn’t believe that at that moment, she saw a future where we would go out together and get hurt. Even when she saw it, it felt like a lie.

 

“It may sound like a lie, but it’s true. It came out a little while ago when I grabbed your arm.”

 

Terence spoke as if it were absurd, but he didn’t seem to doubt her words. He probably thought that there was no way she could fake her wisdom. It’s such an important thing too.

 

“For the time being, there are no other events we will attend together other than the Duke of Rohan’s family banquet.”

 

“There’s still a lot of time left for dinner. Will the river still be frozen then?”

 

“Well. By then, although it might snow occasionally, the river won’t be that frozen.”

 

The Rohan family’s dinner was a spring event. Although spring was still far away, the nobles said they would hold a small event called Spring Welcoming to coincide with the melting of the ice. So this happened before the Duke’s dinner? Were they going to get into an accident when they went out together? Was this also the Emperor’s doing? Or someone else…

 

“Until we get more clues, it would be best to be cautious about attending social gatherings… Eve?”

 

“Yes? Yes… is it so.”

 

Terence, seeing her lost in thought, called her concerned. Even as she answered him, her mind was still blank. It was because of the premonition she had just seen. Specifically, because of Terence’s injured appearance there.

 

‘…’

 

From the time she first came here until now, she had always been the one in danger. Most of the predictions showed her death or accidents aimed at her. It was her first time seeing Terence hurt.

 

The moment she saw Terence lying helplessly, she felt intense fear. She was so scared that she might lose him.

 

‘I like this guy.’

 

It’s funny, but that’s what she thought at that moment. She felt even more fear seeing Terence injured than when she saw the prediction of her own death.

 

“Eve.”

 

Terence anxiously held her hand, as if her fear was evident on his face.

 

“It will be okay. We have already overcome several crises thanks to your abilities. The accident and the magic you just saw. We will be able to stop them all.”

 

His calm voice had the power to calm her mind.

 

“Yes it is.”

 

As long as this person was by her side, everything would be okay. It was vague, but she felt that way.

 

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Translator Note: