Before the Villains’ Ending

The Crown Prince, Damon Ed O’Brien, hated the Grand Duke. No, to be honest, he was indifferent to everything except Beatrice. He would not have hated anyone ‘especially’. Yes. The male character was just as heartless to others as he loved the heroine.

At least that’s what she saw him do.

“It looks like you still haven’t broken your stubbornness.”

He finally showed an expression that exceeded the limit of patience. She looked up at him with a sad face. She didn’t feel any fear or dread, almost the only advantage of being possessed.

If you look at all the powerful people in the empire, the strength of each individual was there. They are just different fields.

For example, Grand Duke Calix in superpowers, Kastiel in simple swordsmanship, and Taylor in murder with the pistil. Or something like that. Moreover, the original work did not describe the crown prince as the strongest man. He was only described as a strong person equal to the others in that he encompassed all four without a fixed field. Although he possessed a superpower, that was the reason it was not as prominent as Calix.

Although it was explained that living was exceptionally thick, the living she experienced in this world was not as scary as the original characters’.

So she didn’t feel afraid at all about the setting that someone killed or was trying to kill someone else, except for her ending described in the original work. After all, it was a created set, and she had only a limited ability.

She got up after she finished knitting, which she had enjoyed outside of the novel that started after the probation issue. She was able to greet him with a refreshing feeling even though she hated the man in front of her because it was enough to kill time.

“I greet the other sun of the empire. The protection of the goddess will always be directed towards you.”

If that goddess truly existed, someone should examine whether there were any problems with the balance that she used for justice. Thinking such a foolish thought, she corrected the earlier rudeness. A short-term nerve transfer followed.

“I came to notify you because it seems that you are still thinking of continuing the foolish struggle. The imperial family’s support for Eilish ends today. The execution date has not changed either. It’s a pity that your family fell because of you.”

He added. The Marquis will be sad.

“… ah.”

After tidying up her clothes, she made eye contact with him and smiled brightly. In the end, if it was decided that way, the route would only be changed to an all-out war instead of negotiations, and if it was a simple bluff, there was nothing she’d be able to do…

“As much as you want.”

The foolish prince had to know. About the policy his father made. The title of baron could be bought and sold for large sums of money. Or, it was also not uncommon for a baron to be given his title as a reward for making a big contribution. Such was the case with Kastiel.

If she had to play the role of a child of the Marquis, she was planning to actively use the law, so the non-threatening threats did not have much effect. Above all, he was unable to completely bring down the Eilish family.

“I’m just following the will of ‘His Majesty the Emperor’.”

Since he wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t read the sarcastic tone, the prince had to clench his fists. The sarcastic appearance was interesting, so she kept her eyes on it for a while.

Despite being the male lead, in the end, he was the crown prince. Even if the actual sovereignty is in his hands until the end of the novel, wasn’t the current Emperor lacking as a ruler of a country? She turned her gaze, which had been fixed on the prince, out the window.

The easy way was going very hard. It was the Crown Prince who had a lot to lose when he and she confronted each other, even if it was treason and evil, and excluding everything.

Her father seemed to value honor, but for her it meant nothing. Besides, it was a fact that anyone could see that the emperor’s body hadn’t been in good shape lately.

As in any fantasy novel, tacit blood-splitting succession and rebellion are not uncommon at this time, and even if the rebellion was subdued, it would be important to appease and balance those who belong to the aristocracy like Eilish, was this kind of coercion on Eilish in such a situation?

Perhaps if he had been a mere tyrant, she would have done the same, but Beatrice? She didn’t think the male lead was stupid. However, she didn’t think the character could escape the original.

Damon had to suppress his tyrannical tendencies if he thought of Beatrice as an ‘obsessed man’. To put it simply, the prince had to appease the nobles instead of suppressing them.

‘Did he want it to be too big? No, he didn’t.’

His priority in the original work was always Beatrice. The only difference was whether he couldn’t control his emotions or not, and like the Grand Duke, he was always afraid that he would be abandoned. If he wanted a stable future with Beatrice, it would have been ‘foolish’ to have such a disruption with her.

But why?

She struggled to organize her thoughts by churning through her complicated mind. It continued until the prince criticized her.

“Ha, young lady. It seems that you are not as desperate as I thought.”

He twisted his lips. She narrowed her eyes for a short while as if trying to understand his intentions, then asked innocently again.

“Should I be desperate?”

“If you value your sister, you must be sincere to some extent.”

“Oh.”

The crown prince was an excellent strategist when it came to political strife. That was an indisputable fact. Still, he did not know what was behind the ending he had created. Or maybe he’s just ignoring it. How many main characters would care about the end of the villain?

The important thing was that he underestimated her more than he thought. She was the same, just by taking the initiative in the conversation with the atmosphere and urging a set answer.

It was a pity. She disrespectfully took a step in front of him to remind him of reality. Was it because he was really weak to the fact that the villain was beaten by the protagonist? If asked, he could immediately answer that it was not.

Because there was no cliché as common as the defeat of a villain.

They were generally destroyed by being caught by the main character, beaten back by chance, or overtly caught for one reason why they have no choice but to lose. But in her case it’s not because she was weak.

The main characters shouldn’t be arrogant.

She stared intently into the prince’s golden eyes. Coincidence didn’t happen as often as one could think.

“Your Highness, please.”

She continued, as if singing in a resentful tone.

“Your Highness, why do you think the nobles of the imperial family would have borrowed money from Florencia? At that interest rate?”

“…”

“Now I’m telling you to look at reality a little more clearly.”

The quality of the joint project between Florencia and Glacies could not be said to be good, even in empty words. They would do anything for money, and her sister was evil enough to be a part of it, based on the original description.

Florencia was a person who could stand by and watch the evil deeds of others. She pondered over the list of some of the debtors in the ledger.

Loans can only be applied for above a certain amount. It was a system that might seem simple and convenient in that the loan limit was not set otherwise, and you only had to tell the reason for borrowing money. Glacies shared the amount borrowed and the reason for the loan in exchange for information usage fees, and Florencia matched the amount they wanted by combining her funds and Glachies’ capital.

After signing a pledge specifying a delivery date with a huge interest rate, real estate and objects are secured as collateral. If you were an aristocrat who had a corner to go abroad, you could hire a guild member to monitor it, so from the moment they received the loan, their ‘ownership’ was entirely dependent on the wicked woman and the guild.

“They never thought my sister would hand over the entire business to me.”

She brushed away the fluttering hair in front of her eyes with a careless hand and waited for the prince to react. When the due date passed, the items taken as collateral belonged to Florencia. Occasionally, if the collateral was a confidential matter belonging to the imperial family or a great noble, Glachies would give the money to Florencia and take it instead. After that, an astronomical amount of interest would be charged.

The more the debts piled up, the more difficult it was to pay them. Some would swear that they would have to pay the money back before that happens, but well. No one could afford to borrow large sums of money. No one could afford drugs, gambling, or the amount of hit-and-run to clean up the government that took its weakness, and the collateral gangs who were looking for property in every case. Never.

Florencia and Glacies knew that very well. That paying back money was only a few stories.

She stretched out her mouth and smiled. The languid and boring face suddenly turned into an arrogant sneer, just like her older sister’s. When Florencia began to antagonize Beatrice, the nobles foresaw her doom. That’s also the case because it’s not once or twice that Florencia was humiliated and intimidated by the crown prince or other candidates for the male lead in front of Beatrice.

So they did not pay back the money, predicting the downfall of the villain with a comfortable mind. Beatrice boasted that she would ‘save’ those who had been using loans due to Florencia’s ruse, and they did not doubt that promise. The results were disastrous.

She wouldn’t know if Florencia was alone. When it comes to money, the Glachies were more ruthless than the crown prince or the former Grand Duke. And they were also a group of people who had the patience to wait patiently until interest rates rose sufficiently. They didn’t care that their business partners had changed.

“Do you understand now?”

She smiled and explained.

“Your Highness has won, but there is no guarantee that it will happen twice.”

The prince, reflected in his scarlet eyes, gritted his teeth and smiled viciously. She shut her mouth, puzzled by the sensation she had felt before, as if a knife had cut her throat.

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

The prince was wearing a mercilessly distorted smile. But that face was that of someone she had seen somewhere.

‘I want to be sure. No, no.’

It was only then that she took the strength out of my trembling body. Something she didn’t know existed. The original work may have omitted the circumstances of the main character. The justification was added to simply needing time to prove her sister’s innocence.

The prince tried to cover up his anxious tone with composure, and then said exactly this.

“But there’s not much time left until that second victory. So you can look forward to it. Let’s get over that arrogance for the time being. You Damn Eilish.”