How To Survive As a Villain on the Verge of Death

The emperor smiled happily as he entered the inner room of the abandoned palace. The abandoned palace where the Empress was staying has been transformed into a completely different place. The gloomy and lonely old room became a cozy space filled with luxurious furniture, carpets, and tapestries. Thick velvet curtains were hung on all the windows, and the ornate glass lamps used in the empress’ palace were placed on the tables. Now, it could be said to be a noble lady’s inner room.

 

“Has there been any news from Eve?”

 

As soon as the Empress saw the Emperor, she started by asking him about Eve.

 

“It hurts a lot. She hasn’t been able to leave the mansion for several days. They say the family doctor resides in the mansion.”

 

“Good for you.”

 

The Empress held the Emperor’s hand with a smile on her face. The emperor told her about the magic to comfort her in her imprisonment. He wanted his beloved wife to have her hopes up for something.

 

“It will take time, but Eve will eventually die.”

 

“I guess so. Sorel will die too.”

 

The Empress seemed to like that part too. Ever since she came here, she has resented Sorel as much as Eve. Sorel was almost dying from the aftereffects of her magic, but she was going to die with Eve anyway.

 

The emperor smiled and nodded his head.

 

“Of course. Everything will be fine.”

 

Even the Grand Duke would be shocked when Eve died. He must have been putting Eve’s precognitive abilities to good use for a while, but he would be embarrassed to suddenly lose a good hand.

 

“After we get rid of Eve, we will have the opportunity to get rid of Arentine as well.”

 

The emperor planned to eliminate Arentine as well during that time. After Arentine disappears, only Vilos was left as his child. If he has no choice but to make Vilos his successor, no one will be able to oppose him. After hearing those words, the empress hugged the emperor with happy eyes. She may not be able to become empress again, but all she needed was for Vilos to become crown prince. Then she will be able to live comfortably as an empress even after the emperor dies. Everything was working perfectly together. It was the beginning of a happy spring. They both felt great satisfaction.

 

The emperor whispered to her as he hugged her.

 

“It’s your birthday soon. I will stay here with you today.”

 

* * *

 

The knights guarding the front of the inner room stood quietly looking into the darkened hallway and then exchanged glances with each other. Both were new knights of the Imperial Knights. Since His Majesty the Emperor was staying here today, both of them had to stand guard inside this quiet abandoned palace. Originally, there was supposed to be one more knight with a slightly higher rank, but today, due to a sudden change in schedule, he said he would only come in the early morning. They didn’t know why the schedule suddenly changed. They were both heirs to prestigious families, but here they were ordinary new knights, so they had no choice but to do as they were told.

 

Even if His Majesty the Emperor were to stay there, since it was an abandoned palace, the guards could not be deployed too loudly. Still, two or three knights stood guard in front of the inner room, and guards stood guard on the stairs downstairs. To begin with, this place was deep inside the imperial palace, so there was no way for anyone suspicious to come here. 

Before you reach this place, you will be caught by the soldiers and knights standing guard. 

While they were killing time in a daze, the door to the inner room suddenly opened behind them with a creaking sound. They turned around in surprise and saw the Empress looking at them through the slightly open door.

 

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

 

The Empress had been dethroned, and she was now an ordinary Lady, but the Emperor had ordered them here to always call her Her Majesty and treat her with courtesy. The Empress had a long cloak over her nightgown and she was smiling as she looked out at them. The white smile seen in the darkness felt somehow eerie.

 

“Everyone has been working hard until midnight.”

 

The knight bowed his head politely.

 

“Don’t say that. It is an honor to serve you both.”

 

“Thanks to you guys, I feel at ease. Ah yes?”

 

The Empress stopped speaking, turned her head, and exchanged glances with the person in her room. The knights stood stiff and tense. There was only one person the Empress could talk to in there. In the darkness, a deep smile was clearly visible on the side of the Empress’s face.

 

“You guys must be tired. Why don’t you come down and have some tea?”

 

The two hesitated with embarrassed looks on their faces. This was the first time they had both seen the Empress be so friendly.

 

“Your Majesty, we must protect this place…”

 

“Don’t do that, just go away for a while. Have the kitchen maid take the warm medicine tea. After you finish drinking it, bring it to us.”

 

Although the knights were young, they were not so immature that they did not know that this meant asking them to leave.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

The Empress closed the door as soon as she heard her answer. The Empress’s laughter was heard behind her closed door. The knights turned around with embarrassed expressions and walked toward the stairs.

 

‘…You two get along really well.’

 

To the extent that he wakes up and does that instead of sleeping. But we didn’t dare say it out loud, so we just exchanged glances and went down the stairs. Both of them were walking without thinking about anything, so they didn’t notice the black cat hiding on the window frame in the corner of the hallway.

 

* * *

 

The emperor was dreaming. It was the dream of the former empress, the mother of Arentine and Eve. The former empress was a princess from a foreign country. She was not a very beautiful woman, but she was a kind and gentle woman. After she came to the Empire, she tried to adapt to the culture and win the favor of her husband. Even in her sick and weakened state, she tried her best to please her husband. She wanted him to give attention to their children.

 

‘That stupid woman.’

 

But the emperor did not like her. From then on, his heart was focused on the current empress. If the marriage had not been arranged by the previous emperor, he would never have married that woman. However, she could not be killed carelessly because she was a princess from a foreign country. The former Empress was sick and dying, and one day, a few days before her death, she asked him to hold her hand. Her hands, white and dry as a corpse, were trembling. But he rejected her request.

 

‘If you come back alive, I will hold your hand anytime.’

 

He said that while smiling. But even then the emperor knew that she would die soon. It seemed that the former empress also knew. Because she looked so sad when she heard that.

 

Before he even opened his eyes, he felt heat on his face.

 

“What is this…?”

 

The emperor came to his senses in surprise. Flames were rising all over the bedroom. Flames were rising from all over the place, so much so that it was impossible to tell where the fire started. The room was filled with acrid smoke. The emperor covered his mouth with his sleeve and hurriedly stood up. He stretched out his hand to wake the Empress who was lying next to him, but the seat next to him was empty.

 

“Empress…?”

 

He was surprised and looked for the empress, but found no one in her bedroom. The bedroom door was also tightly closed. Outside the bedroom, there was a small room that was used as a living room and relaxation room, and you had to pass through it to go out into the hallway.

 

‘Were you surprised when you saw the fire and went out?’

 

The Emperor got up from his bed and rushed to the door, intending to chase after the Empress. There was already a fire burning next to the door. The handle was already heated.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

As soon as the emperor burned his hand, he screamed because it was hot. He endured his pain and turned his handle. But the door didn’t budge. The surprised emperor desperately pulled the door, but it was locked. This door could only be locked from the inside. It was clear that someone had locked the door from the inside. But how? The Empress had already gone out, so who locked the door? He belatedly looked around the room to find the key, but it was nowhere to be seen. In the first place, the drawers and closet were engulfed in flames and could not be accessed.

 

The Emperor desperately knocked on the locked door.

 

“Empress! Is there anyone?”

 

But there was no answer from outside. Meanwhile, the fire was spreading by the minute. A flash of flame rushed towards him, burning the carpet. The emperor stood close to the door and avoided the flames. He wondered if it would be a good idea to go out the window to avoid being exposed to the fire. He quickly looked at the window. At that moment, he saw something outside the window.

 

There was something black moving on the window frame.

 

‘That…?’

 

It looked like a small wild animal. Because of the smoke rising in the room, he couldn’t see what was exactly. Outside the window, the wild animal raised its paw on the glass. At that moment, the carpet in front of the door rushed towards him. The emperor was covered in a large cloth without any chance to escape. At the same time, a glass lantern flew over his head.

 

The oil in the lamp spread and the flame quickly engulfed him.

 

“Aaaah!”

 

The emperor screamed and fell to the floor, struggling. Only then did he hear a knock on the door outside.

 

“Your majesty! Your Majesty, are you okay?”

 

Knights and soldiers who came up after seeing the fire were knocking on the door. The bedroom door as well as the door to the inner room were locked tightly and could not be opened. The soldiers broke down the door with great difficulty. But when they got inside, the bedroom door was already burning.

 

* * *

 

It was early morning the next day when an urgent report came from the imperial palace. Before daybreak, the imperial palace servant knocked on the door of the mansion. Thanks to this, she had to wash her face and put on a dress early in the morning. She sat in front of the dressing table with her eyes half closed. Terence smiled and said when he saw that.

 

“His Royal Highness asked me to come in alone.”

 

Terence had already washed himself clean and was dressed in neat attire. By the way, he had good physical strength.

 

“I should go too.”

 

For the past few days, she had been feeling sick and confined herself to my bedroom. Officially, she was still a patient, so she guessed only Terence was called to the palace. But she also wanted to go and see the situation in person.

 

“The work ended as expected, so there is no need to worry.”

 

Terence had already received a report from his spy before any communication came from the imperial palace. Of course, she also heard that Bayan’s work, who came in next, went well as expected.

 

“It’s all thanks to you, Bayan.” She looked back at Bayan, who was stretched out on the cushion, and said so.

 

As soon as Bayan returned to the mansion, he was as limp as a discarded fur scarf. Overnight, he showed a vision to two knights and the empress, locked the door, sprinkled oil in the room, and set it on fire. It was said that thanks to this, he used up all his holy power.

 

[I am exhausted. I can’t even breathe.]

 

Bayan, who returned to the mansion, slumped and muttered.

 

She gathered up the last remaining holy power and gave it to Bayan. Thanks to this, he was now drooping as if he was sleepy.

 

After experiencing this incident, she understood why previous emperors developed a spell to kill saints and kept it hidden. Since she could kill the emperor like this if she wanted to, they would not have felt at ease even if it was their own daughters or sisters. There may not have been many saints with strong divine powers like Bayan.

 

“Bayan, thank you very much.”

 

She patted Bayan’s head while saying thank you.

 

Bayan answered, lifting only his head.

 

[This was possible because the saintess regained her holy power from the blonde and became stronger.]

 

Actually, when they first met, Bayan made it seem like her sacred power and Sorel’s were almost similar. He said she was a little stronger. But now she had almost all of Sorel’s holy power, so her power had increased almost twice as much as when she first started.

 

‘Looks like I’ve gotten pretty strong.’

 

In any case, Bayan’s existence would have to be kept completely hidden in the future. She put on her coat over her dress and got into the carriage. She dressed up to her liking, but she had only roughly washed her face and tied her hair.

 

The day was dawning darkly in the sky. As soon as they arrived at the imperial palace, they were guided to the emperor’s palace.

 

“Her Highness and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke have arrived.”

 

Before the door was even opened, a nervous shout came out from inside.

 

“So you’re saying it’s my mother’s fault now?”

 

It was Vilos’ voice. Through the open door, she saw a very angry Vilos and Arentine glaring coldly at him.

 

Arentine found them and looked surprised.

 

“Eve, you’re here too. Are you okay?”

 

“Yes, I’m fine. What about father?”

 

“That is…”

 

Arentine turned his head with a sad expression.

 

The subjects gathered near the bed moved to their seats.

 

The emperor was lying on a large bed with a luxurious canopy.

 

The emperor looked miserable, with bandages wrapped all over his body.

 

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Translator Note: