How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

“Okay, please take care of it.”

 

Chloe lifted the box of fake flowers and took it outside. Camion would help her enter the palace without being noticed, and Chloe would take care of hiding the flowers on the wall. In any case, Bayan could fool at least one person with an illusion, so it’ll be okay.

 

After Chloe and Camion were sent out, only Terence and she were left in the bedroom. Fatigue sets in late. She flopped down on the bed. Now that she thought about it, a lot happened today. Terence roughly put away the paint and clay spread out on the table and came next to her.

 

“I hope it goes well.”

 

“I decided to see what happens with Bayan, so it will be okay.”

 

Bayan decided to go to Sorel’s place again tomorrow and spy on whether their plan was going as planned. 

 

Right now, she had consumed too much holy power and had nothing to share, but after a day or so, she would have the strength to share a little more with Bayan. Since she wouldn’t need to see the foresight for a while, she was thinking of giving the amount recovered to Bayan.

 

“Has he thought about what to do with the Emperor?”

 

“We have to make it look like an unfortunate accident.”

 

She already had something in mind. She had devised a simple assassination method using her abilities and Bayan’s abilities. If all went well, they would be able to kill the emperor by disguising it as an accident, and those who were suspicious would not be able to say anything.

 

“It’s simple but good.”

 

Terence liked it when she explained the plan to him. She didn’t have time to make a more detailed plan than this right now anyway. Because they need to get rid of the emperor as quickly as possible. Terence thought for a moment and then said.

 

“Maybe I can make up for it further.”

 

Together they came up with a plan to assassinate the Emperor and corrected any shortcomings. A very easy plan has been completed that just requires setting the time and date correctly. After Terence finished talking, he stood up.

 

“It’s late.”

 

When she checked the clock, it was past midnight and approaching dawn.

 

“I’m going back now. You must be tired, so go to sleep quickly.”

 

Terence greeted her and stood up. It looked like he was trying to use the secret passage to get to his room again today. It took a little over a week to reopen the secret passage. After that, Terence would sometimes pretend to sleep in her room and go out through a secret passage.

 

‘Terence must be tired too.’

 

During this time, they made flower crafts together, called Camion and Chloe, and gave them orders. She felt a bit sorry for telling them to leave because it was all over.

 

“Excuse me…”

 

She spoke impulsively.

 

“Would you like to just sleep in today?”

 

Terence, who was about to go out, stopped and looked back at her. She felt embarrassed by his surprised face, so she quickly made an excuse.

 

“I wasn’t saying anything strange, I just meant that you must sleep here since you must be tired.”

 

Terence still looked surprised. The look in his eyes said that he never thought he would hear something like this now.

 

When she said this, she felt similarly embarrassed.

 

‘Why am I saying this on a day like today?’

 

After getting rid of the magic tool, she seemed to relax and become a bit strange. Actually, she was very anxious during that time. After the explosion, she didn’t have time to talk properly with Terence because she was busy practicing and experimenting with her holy powers.

 

“Are you sure it is okay?”

 

“Sure. It’s OK.”

 

Even though she said that, she couldn’t help but feel a slightly embarrassing tension. After hearing her answer, Terence went in to wash and change clothes. She wandered around the window, putting the paint she had put away in a box, drawing the curtains, and doing other things. After a while, he changed into his pajamas and came out. Since they occasionally ‘spent the night together’, she always had his pajamas ready in her bedroom. Of course, this was the first time Terence had actually worn it. Terence still looked great even though he was dressed simply in pajamas and a robe.

 

She felt embarrassed and turned around.

 

“Well, then…”

 

The moment she was about to go to bed, Terence grabbed her shoulder.

 

“Eve.”

 

She turned around in surprise and saw him wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. She was instantly pulled into his arms. When she raised my head in surprise, his hand cupped her chin and pulled her closer. And slowly their lips overlapped. A soft kiss broke the tension between them. Instead, it awakened a sweet and languid feeling.

 

No, why suddenly… She was embarrassed about what had happened, but even while she was thinking about that, her mind was being distracted by the sweet kiss.

 

“Eve.”

 

The moment their lips separated, he looked down at her and asked.

 

“If you don’t like it, reject it now.”

 

There was an uncertain tension in the purple eyes looking at her. He seemed afraid that she would reject him again like she did on the first night. Did she have any feelings of dislike at all? She asked herself: From the moment this man wrapped his arms around her in the explosion, her feelings about this man were made up.

 

Facing Terence dying because of her was worse than facing her own death. Wouldn’t that alone be a sufficient answer? She decided to be honest about her feelings. To be honest, it wasn’t that sudden. If it weren’t for her future death, she would have accepted this man a long time ago. Now that she was free from the danger of witchcraft, she no longer had any hesitation.

 

Instead of answering, she kissed him first.

 

Terence’s hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her deeper.

 

* * *

 

The emperor himself opened the box brought by the royal knight. Inside the small box was a sacred tree flower that had turned pitch black. The dry, crunchy petals were stained black and frayed here and there as if they had fallen from wear. There was something sticky between the petals. The emperor had seen this flower several times in the past. When Sorel’s mother, the shaman, was alive. She occasionally checked to see if it was safe. Outwardly it looked the same as he had seen it then.

 

The Emperor glanced at Sorel. Sorel, who was as pale as a sheet of paper, was just looking at him and observing his eyes. Sorel was tortured directly by Vilos for two days, and then she gave in. But the emperor never truly trusted this cunning daughter.

 

“Are you sure about this?”

 

He showed it to the shaman what was in the box. She was the owner of a witchcraft shop in Jedo. Among the witchcraft shops in the islands, there was only one operated by a real witch doctor. This old woman was the owner of the store and had basic magic skills. Compared to Sorel’s maternal family, her skills were childlike. Still, now a shaman was needed to translate the spell books and help with the rituals. So he secretly kidnapped her and locked her in the imperial palace.

 

The shaman looked at the flowers in the box and she answered confidently.

 

“Yes, yes. I’m sure. It definitely has a strong energy that I’ve never seen before.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

The emperor returned the box with a disapproving look. Of course, this shaman would have never seen or heard of a method of cursing a saint, so it was unreasonable to expect a more accurate answer than this. But now he had no one to turn to for advice other than this old woman. Well, since Sorel was locked up in her palace all this time, she probably didn’t have time to prepare fake flowers. Of course, there was a possibility that she prepared a fake before that, but seeing as the shaman was also confident, he had to assume that this was the real thing for now.

 

“Ok, fine.”

 

The Emperor handed Sorel a box and ordered.

 

“Then hurry up and cast a spell.”

 

“…Ah, I get it.”

 

Sorel took the box and held it in her arms, nodding her head.

 

‘This isn’t real.’

 

She knew the moment she saw the flowers the knight brought. Eve kept her promise to bring a fake. Almost all of her sacred power was gone, but she could feel that this wasn’t real. Now, this flower contained a weak energy that was less than a tenth of that of a real flower. Perhaps some real flowers were mixed in here to avoid arousing suspicion.

 

‘But unless it’s a perfect flower, there’s no way the spell will succeed.’

 

Sorel was deeply relieved and accepted the text translated by the shaman. In the room, preparations for casting a spell had already been completed. Unknown letters and patterns were carved using human bone powder, and all other auxiliary materials were placed in the appropriate positions. Finally, having been born with the blood of a shaman, all she had to do was cast a curse using this flower as a medium.

 

Sorel placed the black flower between the letters written on the floor. And he picked up a piece of paper with a translation of a book of witchcraft. Inside were detailed instructions on how to proceed with spells and techniques.

 

‘This is how it was done.’

 

She remembered the first and last time she tried witchcraft when she was young. At that time, with her heart swollen with anticipation, she read a book she did not understand. She suddenly wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t done that. At least her mother would be alive. If that were the case, the person casting the spell right now would have been her mother, not herself. She must have been forced and threatened by the emperor to put a curse on her life.

 

For now, she had no choice but to cooperate as Eve told her to survive. Sorel thought and read the spell written on the paper. While reading the spell, the letters on the floor slowly moved and were sucked into the flower in the center. Sorel drew blood from her own hand with her dagger and let it drip onto the petals.

 

To place a curse on her saint, she needed the blood of another saint who was her victim. As soon as the last spell was finished, the black flower turned into ashes and disappeared along with ominous gray smoke. 

 

Sorel sat down, her legs feeling weak. She felt like his entire body was losing strength in an instant. She was too weak to lift even a single fingertip. Even though she cast a spell with fake flowers, much of her vitality disappeared.

 

‘I can’t believe that just by casting a spell, my vitality disappeared like this.’

 

“Are you successful?”

 

The Emperor asked in a cold tone as he saw Sorel lying on the floor, gasping for breath.

 

“Originally, there was a separate witch doctor, and the saint who was the sacrificial lamb only offered her blood. Or so I heard.”

 

Now, it was inevitable that the shaman and the victim were the same person. He was worried that the spell might go wrong because of that. The emperor turned his gaze to the old shaman at his side. The shaman watched Sorel with a mesmerized expression and was startled by the emperor’s gaze.

 

“Well, that is…”

 

In fact, the shaman had no idea whether Sorel had succeeded or not. This was because it was a rare spell she had never seen before in her life. She just felt a strong energy from earlier. As a descendant of a low-level shaman, she could not discern what the outcome would be. She was not sure, but seeing that Princess Sorel was having a hard time, she guessed it was a success. The shaman felt sorry for Sorel.

 

Although she didn’t know how Sorel, a noble princess, could use her magic. Even if she survived after using such a huge spell, her health would be so damaged that it would be difficult for her to live well. Besides, if she wasn’t successful here, the emperor might have her do this spell again.

 

A low-level shaman like herself would die before even finishing the spell. So when the emperor asked the question again, the shaman simply answered:

 

“Yes, I think it was successful.”

 

“Thank goodness.”

 

The emperor was satisfied and grabbed the dagger that had fallen on the floor.

 

“Gayren.”

 

He called to his henchman who was standing by his door. Gayren slowly approached him. Then he pulled out his sword and cut off the shaman’s head with a single blow of his sword.

 

As the shaman fell, his blood splattered everywhere.

 

“Kyaak!”

 

Sorel, who was sprawled out on the floor, let out her scream in surprise. The emperor walked out of there without even looking back at her.

 

“Leave that kid where she belongs. I have to keep her alive until Ave dies.”

 

With those words, the emperor went out. The soldiers called by Gayren removed the shaman’s body and dragged Sorel away. Only after everyone had disappeared did the shadow that had been flickering by the window approach the floor. Bayan, who was hiding in the shadows and watching everything, looked back at the floor where the spell was written. Fortunately, the spell seemed to have failed as planned.

 

A strong ominous energy rose up, but it could not spread anywhere and disappeared.

 

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Translator Note: