The Reason The Villain Covets Me - Chapter 8

“What test do I have to take?”

“First, say three futures that would be useful to me. Let’s see how much I can use the information you give me.”

Theodore demanded the future with impunity. He was a man who had a habit of demanding others for what he wanted using his authority. Perhaps he wasn’t even aware of it.

Annette felt suffocated by the man’s arrogance, but she persevered.

“Annette, so did the owner of this body tell you about the book you’re in?”

“No.”

“Two coffins. That’s the title.”

“Two coffins?”

Theodore showed curiosity. He must have figured out what “coffin” meant.

“One is the emperor, the other the empress. So it means both Crown Prince Hugo and his lover Yvone.”

The plot of “The Two Coffins” was very clichéd.

It was just a silly story whose purpose was to show the love between Hugo and Yvone. A simple story with a boring ending where the two protagonists kiss wearing the emperor’s crown.

All the characters, except the protagonists, were used as tools to give them love and honor.

Annette and Theodore were dressed to further glorify the imperial crown of the protagonists.

After all, villains were just beings who sacrificed themselves for the sake of the main characters.

Hardship loomed before the protagonists, but nothing they couldn’t pass. There was adversity, but it retreated smoothly. The trials were merely a device to nurture love.

In a world where the hero was created to be emperor, do you understand how far-fetched the words “you will win the imperial crown” are?”

“Does that mean I should give up?”

“It means don’t be arrogant. And know that without me, you will not be able to change the outcome.”

“Then you are the goddess who will grant me my wish.”

“I am not a god, but I am the only one who can make your wish come true. So.”

Theodore’s mouth went up as if to taunt Annette.

His anger at the fact that his fate had been decided led to his sarcasm toward Annette.

He could not accept the fact that he was born for Hugo’s victory rather than the finger-pointing that he was born as an illegitimate child.

Why on earth should he exist for the love of others? Why should his existence be worth anything to others?

Should he still be grateful for the fact that he had the key to change the world? Theodore lost his temper over the fact that a dying woman was the only clue to changing his destiny.

“Three things you want. I’m going to tell you, and I want you to listen very carefully.”

Annette listed what Theodore should throw away, what he should take away, and what he should take.

“When you find them, you will at least begin to think I am a competent con artist.”

Annette offered her wares, and it was Theodore’s choice whether or not to purchase them.

Theodore stared at Annette in the eyes to figure out if she was telling the truth. Those who looked directly into the predator’s eyes were bound to get scared and tell the truth. But in Annette’s eyes, Theodore only saw his reflection, not fear.

Annette did not tremble wasn’t because she was not afraid of Theodore. She did not shake, so he could not read the truth.

Rather, Theodore felt caught up in the way Annette looked at him.

Her eyes were a dazzling yellow-green, like leaves bathed in strong sunlight on a summer day.

Her skin was dry from being locked in a moldy room, but her eyes did not lose their light. She had borrowed Annette Scheringen’s body, but only one eye belonged to the goddess who had entered it.

His goddess opened her mouth and gave a stern warning.

“But if your promise is false, I won’t leave you alone. Send me back at all costs.”

Annette’s determination to survive was not light.

* * *

After Annette came to her senses, Theodore returned to Lidere’s mansion.

Now only the servants remained in the villa. The guards moved out of Annette’s sight, so that all Annette actually saw were Liza, the nurse, and Emma, the maid.

Liza easily figured out the identity of the poison Annette had taken and also obtained an antidote.

This proved that she was a competent medical professional.

However, apart from Liza’s skill, the deciphering process was tedious.

The poison was draining away, and instead, the pain was overwhelming. Each time the poison revived the sensations it had killed one by one, the side effects increased. She had a fever and chills. Just drinking water made her nauseous, and she vomited it all up until it bubbled up from her gullet.

Still, she struggled to stay alive.

Liza was endlessly amazed by the Grand Duchess’s tenacity to live.

Frankly, she thought it was impossible to recover from her condition, where she could have died right now. However, Annette had endured with her weak body without giving in.

“Am I going to die?”

“Oh, no… Grand Duchess.”

“It’s all right to say it comfortably. No, if you’re uncomfortable just say so. But please don’t call me Grand Duchess.”

Annette shook her head disapprovingly.

“I’ll be sick of hearing it when I go to Lidere, but right now I don’t want to. Just call me Annette.”

“How dare I call the Grand Duchess by her name.”

“Because I really don’t hate it.”

She had a look of sincere contempt. She had become a coveted royal wife, but Annette was not the least bit pleased. Liza wondered what the reason was for her becoming a grand duchess with such aversion.

When she first heard that Annette was the Grand Duchess, she thought it was a lie.

However, there was no reason for the royal family to put on a play just to fool a nurse. So she thought that they were a married couple, but they were not quite right for each other.

They were both beautiful, the first she had ever seen in her life, but they were so full of their own glamor that they did not fit together.

Annette was too small and weak to withstand Theodore.

Of course, as she watched Annette come to life, her thoughts changed.

If her eyes resembled spring shoots, her vitality resembled the green of summer. Theodore’s chillingly blue eyes were also strong enough to break through and sprouted to life.

If Theodore was ice, Annette was fire. The reason for their attraction and the reason for their avoidance were so opposite to each other.

“I can’t die like this. If I die, I will die back in my world.”

Annette sometimes said things that Liza didn’t understand.

The place called “her world” was not a reference to the territory of Lidere or Scheringen. She(Liza) didn’t know what kind of place it was, but it was the reason she (Annette) held on to her life greatly.

“I won’t be completely normal when the detoxification is over, will I?”

“I don’t think your body will be exactly the same as it was before. But fortunately you won’t be sick, so as long as you don’t ingest the poison again, you can live a normal life.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Annette whispered and smiled to herself. She had a habit of substituting her personal lamentations with laughter.

Annette’s smile was gorgeous, but she had an eerie energy at the moment when the grief hidden in it was reflected.

“Still, I will live less than my original lifespan, won’t I?”

“As long as it’s well managed, you’ll as well as others. It is a deadly poison only if you take it for more than a year, but since you only took it for about three months, you’ll get over it well enough.”

“I won’t die within a year or two.”

“Yes.”

“That’s enough.”

“What do you mean enough?”

“Time to prepare to return to my world.”

Annette stared at her thin hands. The pain felt raw, but she still felt like she was seeing someone else’s body.

Her determination to go back seemed unfathomable.  It was fortunate.

Unfortunately for Liza, who was doing everything in her power to save her, but Annette didn’t care if her body ran out of life. If she used it all up and left for her world, that would be the end of it.

It was none of her business what the fate of this body would be left behind after she figured out how to put Theodore on the throne and leave.

If the evil villain Annette was the culprit who brought her here, it would be a pretty good revenge.

Annette gritted her teeth and gulped down the porridge. It was food that didn’t need to be chewed. It was her will to survive, even if she had to swallow something. She had to eat and survive.

From now on, Annette had to tear and chew the main character of the novel and throw it to Theodore, not something like watery porridge.

The hero’s life would have a happy ending no matter what, but it was not a hard road to win against such a life.

Annette confirmed what she was about to do.

First, she had to create a relationship with the protagonists so that they would be enemies but not pretend. She had to fight the criminal allegations against Annette and exonerate the charges. At the same time, she had to use the power that the label of a brutal murderer who could also kill her father gave her. She had to obtain the title against her relatives who wanted to take the position of Marquis of Scheringen. She had to use her family to increase power for Theodore.

There was too much to do to die.

Annette had thus secretly restored her health.

In front of the villa, the endless vineyard unfolded, ripening day by day.

Like a farmer tending his grapes, Annette took care of her body.

As the summer sun ripened, Annette regained her will and health.

The hot season deepened, and the grapes, which had not yet borne fruit when Theodore first brought her here, took the shape of fine berries.

Theodore did not stop by the villa once until the grapes had changed color, and Annette used her resentment against him to fertilize her body.

It was a summer they welcomed in different places.

***

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