The Villainess is a Marionette

Chapter 17

Cayena turned to the servants, who had just been standing around, dumbstruck.

Coolly, she asked, “Why are you just standing there and watching?”

Though she didn’t raise her voice, but they heard the power behind her words and kneeled.

“We apologize, Your Highness!”

They had seen her angry and throwing fits before, but this was the first time she criticized them so coldly.

They knelt on the floor and asked for forgiveness. They felt as if they had to do so. Even Rezef stood there, looking dazed.

“Clean up the area.”

It was only then that the servants began to clear out and clean the rooms. Cayena clicked her tongue at the lax discipline.

“Vera.”

Cayena looked meaningfully at Vera, as if telling her to take the other ladies-in-waiting out of there.

Vera understood right away and quickly entered the room to usher out the ladies.

“If I had known that you would do this, I would have fired Lydia at once,” Cayena said. She rolled up her sleeve and loosened the gauze on her left arm, revealing the red wound. “Nobody would want to enter the palace if we punish them severely for something that won’t even leave a scar.”

Rezef carefully held Cayena’s pale arm and looked at the bright red burn.

It wasn’t as bad as he had thought, but he was still angry. How dare that woman challenge the authority of the imperial family?

“Injuring the body of the imperial family is lèse-majesté, sister.”[1]

He was of the mind that if Cayena wished for it, he would hunt down Lydia and slit her throat.

But Cayena only shot him a stern look. “It was only an accident.”

“Still. It must be quite painful.”

At his words, Cayena laughed dismissively. “If it didn’t hurt, it wouldn’t have left a mark. But I just need to apply ointment for a few days.”

In return, Rezef cajoled, “Why don’t you send her to the laundry room?”

Sending a sheltered noblewoman to the laundry room was a very harsh punishment. It was like hell, even for commoners.

Cayena furrowed her brows. “I appreciate your concern, but you’re being very scary.”

Rezef blinked slowly at her remark, then smiled as if he had given up.

“Did I scare you?”

“No, not a bit.”

Rezef laughed at her coquettish response. Cayena shook her head.

“Have you calmed down now?”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s have some warm tea together.”

Cayena held his hand and lightly pulled him along.

It was like a blurry childhood memory of when they had explored the palace together.

Rezef responded to the touch softly, like a feather. It only took a moment for him to be swept up by her.

He may have had nannies, court ladies, and aides who cared for him, but it felt different when it was Cayena.

To begin with, she was the first person to scold him like this. The feeling of being scolded was quite odd.

“Please give that to me.”

Rezef took the gauze from Cayena’s hand and carefully wound it around her arm.

It was not uncommon to get injured during training. As such, Rezef became skilled at dressing injuries.

Cayena watched him as he gingerly wrapped the gauze over her burn.

She could see that he had calmed down.

When he raged, the people around him were always flustered and punished his target for upsetting him.

Nobody had tried to guide Rezef to the right path.

That was why Rezef was impatient and easily angered. It was because he always did as he pleased without receiving punishment nor opposition.

After receiving acknowledgement from the Emperor, his behavior only worsened.

It wasn’t hard for Cayena to think about how lonely he must have been.

She raised her free arm and began to stroke Rezef’s head.

“…”

Rezef’s hands faltered for a moment, then continued to wrap the gauze.

Strangely, he felt as if he had been praised.

He had brokered trade deals with other kingdoms for the Hill family and taken the wealth of powerful nobles into the state coffers. All of that was expected of him, and there was nothing to praise him about.

So he couldn’t believe he was being commended for simply wrapping a bandage.

Rezef thought it was laughable that Cayena was trying to act like a sister. But… he liked it.

“Are you very busy? I think it’d be nice to go to the garden and drink tea.”

He smiled gently, his heart suddenly feeling charitable.

“I’ll do as you say, Cayena.”

Rezef took off his cape and placed it on top of Cayena’s shoulders. She had only been wearing a thin dress.

Cayena wrapped the cloak around herself and gave a small sigh.

If she had come any later, Lydia’s arm would really have been cut off. There was no mercy in Rezef’s cruelty.

She spoke to Annie, the maid who had been waiting on her.

“Prepare tea and refreshments on the table in the back garden.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Rezef felt light-hearted, as if he had completely forgotten that Lydia had upset him.

Tenderly, he escorted Cayena, placing a hand on the small of her back.

The guards and aides stepped back and parted, leaving a path open. They looked bewildered, as if they thought that everything that had happened was but a dream.

It was only natural. It was the first time they had witnessed the effect that Cayena’s words and actions had on Rezef.

Zenon Evans, in particular, had a grim face due to this discovery.

Even though Rezef was a rude bastard, he was still easier to control than Heinrich.

Rather, Zenon had been glad that Rezef was so unruly as it raised his position as an aide.

But Cayena suddenly had a strange influence on Rezef.

‘I’ll have to keep an eye on her.’

Zenon watched the princess with sharp eyes.

Despite all the eyes on her, Cayena calmly walked away with Rezef still acting as her escort.

‘Anyway, rumors of today’s incident will spread. It’ll be advantageous in many ways.’

Cayena was a princess who had no real power.

In addition to having a bad personality, she was someone who could easily be cut off from the Imperial family. It was obvious that she would not have enjoyed the luxury she had without her outstanding beauty.

However, that same Cayena calmed Rezef’s anger as if she had become a beast trainer.

It was clear what sort of ripples this incident would have.

‘Even the Emperor leaves Rezef, who is like a wild horse, alone.’

But was Rezef the only wild horse here? Cayena was much the same. In that aspect, the two were indeed brother and sister.

‘I’m glad that at least I have come to my senses,’ Cayena thought.

The Imperial Palace was a hotbed of power, and it would later become a weapon for Rezef.

In his first life, Rezef killed countless innocent people, including Olivia, with that power. He also brought about his own demise.

Now, Cayena could prevent that tragedy.

In fact, in the first life, Cayena never thought that the empire would end like this because she had been killed by Gillian before Rezef was killed by Raphael.

She had no special attachment to her family.

Though she felt sorry for Rezef, they were not very intimate as siblings. After all, she had been used and abandoned by him.

‘Still…’

She felt some responsibility because he was still her younger sibling.

‘I decided to act more like a proper princess until I get out of here.’

Wouldn’t one of her duties be to take care of her unruly younger brother?

Sitting at the table in the garden, Cayena was finally able to examine Rezef’s face in detail.

“You look as if you’ve become a little thinner in the last few days.”

Rezef’s bony frame looked a little more prominent.

It was clear to her eyes that he had skipped meals because he was busy with work recently.

So she had prepared an apple pie with a lot of cinnamon, the spice that he liked. If she hadn’t read the novel, she wouldn’t have known he had such a preference.

“I haven’t had much of an appetite.”

As Rezef said that, he remembered the apple pie in his study.

He called in an aide.

“Bring the apple pie that my older sister made over here.”

“As you command.”

Cayena took a sip of the tea that had just arrived and asked, “Was the pie to your taste?”

“Extremely so.”

Rezef wore a gentle smile, relaxed and pleasantly refreshing like the spring breeze.

With his good-looking face, he was as beautiful as a picture when he smiled like that.

A plate with the apple pie that Cayena baked was soon put on the table.

“Don’t skip meals too much, even if you don’t have an appetite. It’s especially important since you do sword training, too.”

“Yes, sister.”

Rezef answered just like that, but inside he felt strange. Weirdly, she seemed to know him well.

She was someone who had little interest in others. It was unusual for her to know that Rezef would soon have a lot of hunting events because of the coming season and that he constantly trained with his sword.

But now, she seemed to know him well. She even made a pie that suited his taste perfectly.

For the first time in his life, it felt like there was a place on this planet for him to just breathe.

‘I didn’t expect that Cayena could ever make me feel this way.’

Her talents had never really stood out before.

‘Is this how it feels to find a gem?’

Her lemon-colored hair glistened like a jewel at this moment, and her long, gleaming eyelashes were like a work of art.

Her flawless skin and perfect bone structure used to make her seem just like a doll.

But now, he felt a distinct liveliness in her.

It was so different from before, as if God had brought the doll named Cayena to life.

Was she always this beautiful?

Rezef found himself suddenly expecting things from Cayena, who had always felt like an “other” to him.

He had never felt this satisfaction when he got his hands full of treasure or when he hurt Heinrich, whom he hated.

“My sister is truly a beautiful person.”

So he said that with renewed appreciation.

Cayena put down the teacup and opened her eyes wide. She looked at him. Her eyes curved into a gentle smile.

“You don’t have to say that. I’ll still bake you another apple pie next time.”

She waved off his words as a joke. Rezef burst into laughter.

‘My doll.’

No. It wasn’t appropriate anymore to call her a doll.

Rezef found a new word that suited her very well.

‘My peace.’

My tender and beautiful peace.

~~~

[1] Lèse-majesté is an “offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign” or state. (Definition courtesy of Wikipedia.)