How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The emperor was smiling, but his eyes were dark and harsh. Mikhail felt an ominous feeling. The gaze of Gayren, who was quietly observing him, also felt uneasy.

 

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will do my best to perform any mission.”

 

“The Crown Prince and Villos are planning to attend the Duke of Rohan’s banquet. You will escort those two people to the Duke’s house.”

 

Mikhail was taken aback when he heard the word dinner. Because it didn’t sound like a very important mission. The emperor explained the real mission in a friendly tone.

 

“And at the end of the feast you’ll give Eve a gift from Sorel. You have to do it secretly so that no one can see it.”

 

“…”

 

Mikhail’s eyes became even more perplexed when he heard that it was a gift from Sorel. After pondering for a moment, Mikhail finally asked a question.

 

“Your Majesty, this is a very presumptuous question, but why did Princess Sorel suddenly give the Grand Duchess a gift…”

 

“She said he wanted to send Eve a gift as an apology. She said it’s so important that even the Grand Duke shouldn’t know about it.”

 

The emperor smiled with a relaxed expression.

 

“I will deliver the gift on the day of the banquet. Can you secretly convey that to Eve?”

 

Mikhail realized what the Emperor meant. It meant attending the banquet and secretly handing Eve a gift.

 

‘Princess Sorel, who is confined in the princess’s palace, would suddenly send a gift to Her Majesty the Grand Duchess.’

 

That in itself didn’t make sense. Sorel may even now regret her actions and apologize to Eve. But if that’s the case, she could just send it to Eve right now.

 

‘Why do I have to secretly tell you this at the end of the dinner party? What kind of gift is this…’

 

Even her husband, the Grand Duke, secretly passed it on to her without his knowledge. No matter how much she thought about it, it was suspicious. But it was something she couldn’t refuse at this point. The Emperor and Gayren were looking at him closely as if trying to see through his thoughts. Mikhail bowed politely, receiving the gazes of the two people.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty. I won’t disappoint you.”

 

If something was suspicious, it was better to take charge of it himself. That way, he would be able to figure out what’s going on and warn Eve.

 

“Good.”

 

The emperor smiled in satisfaction and waved his hand.

 

“I’ll call you again before dinner. Stop walking away.”

 

Mikhail politely turned around and walked out. The moment the door closed, the smile disappeared from the Emperor’s face. He looked back at Gayren standing next to her.

 

“You look just as anxious as Michael.”

 

Gayren answered politely, but could not hide the anxiety in her voice.

 

“I apologize, Your Majesty. However, if Her Majesty the Grand Duchess has truly regained her precognitive abilities, I am afraid that this plan will really work.”

 

“Of course.”

 

After the incident caused by Sorel, the emperor closely observed Eve’s movements. The first thing that caught his eye was that Eve took off her gloves and walked around with her bare hands.

 

“Even though Eve’s abilities seem great, it’s clear that there are some limitations. It’s just a guess, but I think it has something to do with the skin.”

 

The Emperor asked Sorel in detail what happened when she met Eve, and also asked Villos many questions. There wasn’t a big harvest, but there was one thing that bothered him. When she met Villos, Eve held his hand and spoke to him. Even with bare hands.

 

“Eve tried to wear her gloves when she held my hand, father. I can’t believe that a kid like that suddenly got better from mycoliosis.”

 

He should have suspected that from the start. However, although Villos was puzzled, he could not connect it to the ability to foresee. This was because everyone was always convinced that Eve had lost her sacred powers. And in the past, Eve had no such restrictions at all.

 

“If she has the ability to see foresight only when she meet the other person in person. We could use that loophole.”

 

The Emperor and Gayren do not attend the banquet, and Villos does not know about this. Eve will only see Mikhail that day.

 

“Even after all this, if Eve finds out about this…”

 

Of course, this wasn’t a perfect plan either. First of all, they couldn’t be sure of success because they didn’t know exactly how Eve’s abilities worked. But one thing was clear.

 

“If I fail this time too, then there will be no doubt. Eve regained her precognitive abilities. It’s also an incredibly strong ability.”

 

The emperor spoke with eyes as cold as ice.

 

“Then it must be removed no matter what.”

 

In the past, while plotting against Eve, he carefully prepared to prevent the imperial family from being harmed. But now there was no time to think about the situation like that. What if Eve has truly regained her precognitive abilities, and has even become powerful enough to glimpse a significant future, unlike her childhood? He couldn’t give up such a dangerous princess to the Grand Duke. Now he had to kill Eve even if he was suspected. By any means necessary, the Emperor was determined to kill Eve.

 

“Princess Sorel… Would she agree?”

 

Gayren sounded worried again.

 

“Don’t worry. Sorel will listen to me.”

 

The Emperor gazed at the door through which Mikhail left with a relaxed smile.

 

“She will do whatever I tell her to do to save that guy.”

 

* * *

 

She asked, surprised to hear Diane’s words.

 

“You’re bringing up dinner?”

 

“Yes, actually, my mother was planning to cancel the dinner and host it again after her father returned.”

 

Diane gave an embarrassed smile as if she was in trouble.

 

“Before my father left for the estate, he wanted to attend a banquet. He said it was the first social event held at the mansion in a while and he didn’t want to cancel it. So we decided to move the date forward to next week.”

 

The Duke of Rohan must have wanted to show people that Diane had recovered so much. It would take about 2 to 3 weeks to return to the territory.

 

“My mother was very busy going around asking her guests for permission.”

 

Since she changed the date after inviting guests, it seems she went to personally apologize to important people. According to Diane’s explanation, the Duchess plans to stop by the Grand Duchess’ residence this afternoon. The duke’s dinner was scheduled to be held around the time the ice melted, fitting the name Spring. So even after seeing the accident happen, she thought it wouldn’t be the day of the duke’s dinner.

 

‘I can’t believe the date has suddenly moved forward.’

 

For some reason, she had an ominous feeling. So, could it be that an accident occurred on the day of the banquet? There seemed to be a clear connection between the premonition she had seen a few days ago and the dinner that was suddenly brought forward. Diane apologized with an apologetic look on her face as she just listened in silence.

 

“I’m sorry for the sudden date change. It’s okay if you don’t attend.”

 

She smiled at Diane, trying to hide her nervousness.

 

“No. Of course you should attend. I was thinking about that because I think I need to order the dress quickly. Then let’s quickly decide on a dress.”

 

It seemed like it would be very tight to make it within a week. She smiled embarrassedly, as if Diane thought the same thing.

 

“Since time is urgent, I think it would be okay for her to change a little of the dress she already has and wear it.”

 

“But since it’s been a long time since I’m attending, it would be nice to wear a new dress.”

 

She took out the books she brought from the mansion.

 

“I was looking through a dress textbook and looking for a few designs.”

 

They spread out a bunch of dress books on the table and chose a dress. Since Diane was still young, she mainly chooses bright and vibrant colors such as pink, light blue, and light green. Since Eve didn’t know much about dresses, she looked through the textbook in advance and asked Nell and Chloe for advice.

 

“I think this color will go well with Miss Diane’s hair color.”

 

She pointed to the light blue dress.

 

“It’s really pretty. I like it.”

 

While she was choosing a dress, she was also thinking about the accident that she had foreseen. What happens if an accident occurs on the day of the banquet? Who tried to kill her and Terence? In what way? She was frustrated because there was so little information.

 

‘Couldn’t we see wisdom through Diane?’

 

Now that things were like this, she needed to focus on the urgent issues right now. When she met the Duchess in the afternoon, she would hold her hand and try to see her in some way. She was thinking that as she turned the page. A cute dress came out with a combination of yellow ribbon, gold, and white on beige silk. Diane’s eyes lit up and she ran her hand over the page where her dress was.

 

“Oh, this is cute too!”

 

That was when Diane’s hand, pointing to her dress, touched the back of her hand. At that moment, her vision became distorted and pitch black darkness passed before her eyes.

 

‘Did the vision come out?’

 

* * *

 

The moment she closed her eyes and opened them, a completely different space appeared. A little while ago, she was watching Diane and worrying about what would happen on the day of the dinner. So she thought it might be a premonition of what would happen on the feast day. Where she was was a large hallway with people buzzing. A wide and grand hallway reminiscent of an academy or museum. And there were many people around. She had seen the premonition countless times, but this was the first time she had seen so many people there.

 

Where was she? People were entering the large door, making noise. She looked around and followed the people. The moment she passed through the door and entered, she stopped in place. Only then did she know where this was.

 

It was the judge. In the distance, in the front, there was a judge’s seat where the judges sat, and in front of it was a seat for the defendant. Unlike the courtrooms in the world I lived in, it was as big and grand as an opera house, but this was definitely a courtroom. It looked similar to the modern European judges seen in movies and dramas. There was a trial in this world. Until now, it didn’t really feel like there was a trial because the emperor had been roughly punishing people on his own. In fact, even if the emperor punished high-ranking nobles and members of the royal family, lower-ranking nobles and commoners would be tried if they committed a crime.

 

‘No, but who are you judging?’

 

At that moment, she saw familiar people sitting next to her. It was the Duchess in a simple gray dress and Diane in a dark blue going out dress. Diane was wearing a light blue hat with a veil, covering half of his face. She hurriedly ran towards it, passing the people. While this prophecy continued, she had to listen to their conversation at least a little bit. The Duchess was looking back at Diane with concern.

 

“Diane, aren’t you tired?”

 

“I’m OK, mother.”

 

“I think I brought him here for no reason. There is no need to see things like this.”

 

“Still, I wanted to come because it was my first time seeing a court. But it looks like the missionary is not coming.”

 

Diane spoke in a light tone and she looked around. Considering that she didn’t come, it looked like he’s safely at the mansion, fortunately.

 

“Your Highness is a member of the royal family, so it’s a bit strange to come to a place like this in person. Ah, it’s starting now.”

 

After a while, an old man who appeared to be a judge sat down. After everyone who had been making noise had taken their seats, the courtroom became extremely quiet. A door on one wall opened in heavy silence. And the soldiers brought a man.

 

She walked forward and stopped to get a closer look at who it was.

 

The first thing that caught her eye was the familiar silver hair. He had his head down so she couldn’t see his face, but she could tell who it was just by looking at him.

 

‘Mikhail?’

 

The man dragged by the soldiers was clearly Mikhail. He was dragged to his seat by the soldiers, looking miserable. Mikhail’s hands were handcuffed and his clothes were torn and stained with what looked like blood.

 

“Mikhail Sheldon.”

 

The old judge took the papers in front of him and called his name.

 

“You are accused of attempting to assassinate Grand Duke Lenz and Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess.”

 

…what?

 

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Translator Note: