The Villainess is a Marionette

Chapter 56

Furthermore, it wasn’t just Jeremy who felt this change.

The employees of the Kedrey mansion began to whisper that their master had transformed recently.

“I’ve never seen Master ponder over clothes so much! I think it took him twice as long as usual.”

“Aren’t you misunderstanding it? Even if it did double, it just went from five minutes to ten.”

“I’ve also never seen the master consider wearing cufflinks other than the ruby ones!”

“He’s allowed to consider things.”

“How about when he dashed over to meet the court lady from the princess’s palace that one time? Could it be that the court lady has captured his heart?”

Among them, Baston puffed out his chest and proudly stated,

“Tsk, tsk! How can you serve our master when you don’t even understand his heart? The master clearly…”

Slap!

Jeremy hit Baston on the back of his head.

“Speak carefully. Care-ful-ly!”

“Tsk.”

Jeremy sighed and shook his head.

They were supposed to go to the cathedral to take care of the duke and duchess’s divorce suit. They had even donated a huge sum of money to do so.However, on that scheduled day, they had to hurry so that Raphael could visit the imperial academy.

Finalizing the divorce meant that he would no longer be the successor but the duke himself. Originally, he intended to prove his eligibility as the successor by marrying or gaining military control.

Nevertheless, all his marriage candidates ended up having issues. All of them. Recently, the imperial palace had been very noisy.

They couldn’t let Duke Leo continue in the role as the head of the family forever.

The vassals were all pressuring Raphael to take care of the divorce so he could take over as the new duke.

It was rare that they were unified in thought. It was time to finish his parents’ divorce and take over as the head of the family.

Was he saying that meeting the princess was more important than succeeding the duchy?

Looking at the political struggles that occurred these days, in fact, it seemed important to be on friendly terms with Princess Cayena.

Jeremy watched over his master choosing his outfit.

Raphael wore a fancy silk shirt that he did not usually wear. The maids’ eyes flashed when Raphael said he would put some product in his hair.

When Raphael wore his straight hair down, he was definitely cool, but he looked sexy with his hair pushed back.

As if the servants had been waiting for the day, they all agreed to make Raphael into the most attractive man in the capital.

‘Hmm. To think he would put up with all that.’

It was a spectacle for Jeremy, who knew that Raphael was sensitive to others’ touch.

Finally, Raphael, who lifted up his usual ruby cufflinks, glanced at the blue diamond cuffs that he had noticed before. He thought it would be much better to wear those cufflinks today. Up until that moment, he felt strangely expectant.

When she appeared with a young, uninvited guest at the academy, he even thought about childishly taking her away.

But things didn’t go as expected.

Raphael felt an unfamiliar anger when Cayena left, pale and without even a faint smile. It was anger toward himself.

Jeremy, who had been quietly keeping guard by his side, opened his mouth.

“Master. I am sorry to say this, but…”

Jeremy glanced at the place where the princess disappeared.

“…From my point of view, Her Highness’s response seems natural.”

He had been watching Raphael and Cayena dine from a distance, like a shadow. Because he did, he was able to hear their conversation.

Raphael looked at Jeremy with tired eyes when Jeremy continued talking.

“Hasn’t the relationship between you two been one-sided?”

The besotted princess had bothered Raphael by doing everything she could. But Raphael had not been interested in Cayena. There wasn’t a single soul who didn’t know that.

“It seems that it’ll be difficult for Her Highness to see that you now favor her.”

She was a princess who had been treated like a rock on the side of the road.

Cayena had said in a roundabout way that she knew that truth. That’s why she pledged not to be rude to him in the future.

Jeremy came to fully understand that Raphael had some kind of interest in the princess.

He also realized that Raphael was quite awkward at sharing his feelings.

“As Her Highness used to do in the past, you can’t push your emotions on someone, and expect to be understood.”

Raphael realized that he had been arrogant.

After the princess changed, she consistently told him that she had organized her heart.

She acted accordingly as well. She avoided contact, was considerate, and sincerely wished for him to be happy with someone other than herself.

She had been acting very mature.

It was just that, similar to an immature child, he didn’t like it. Raphael wiped his face with his hands like he was washing his face without water.

It was embarrassing. How many times had he felt such an emotion?

The moment he realized how ungentlemanly he had been, he was truly ashamed. He also felt sorry.

She had never stopped acting like an adult this whole time.

Even in the midst of that strained dinner before, he noticed that she was eating without showing her emotions.

“…I have to see Her Highness.”

He moved as soon as he felt regret.

He wanted to apologize to Cayena. He wanted to ask her to forgive him for his immaturity.

But… Cayena had vanished.

Raphael’s mind became cold.

When did he last experience this terrible anger? It seemed that today was a day for feeling many unfamiliar emotions.

Shortly, they discovered a dead man, completely naked, tucked away in some corner of a stable.

The circumstances of the kidnapping were completely revealed.

Raphael personally interrogated the assailant whom he had caught earlier.

It was to shorten the time by dealing with the man mercilessly.

There were many ways a person could feel pain. During the war, Raphael was struck by a spiked whip and was poisoned as well.

He knew quite well what would drive someone mad.

“Aaaagh—!”

Jeremy, who stayed by Raphael’s side, thought it had been a long time since he had seen Raphael be so merciless.

To be honest, he felt nauseous.

The cruel side of Raphael’s characteristic formality revealed itself.

The assailant spit out information before he would go mad.

“Th-they said they were going to the temple…!”

“Which temple?”

“I don’t know… Kkghh!”

Raphael sighed.

“I don’t know why I have to waste time like this.”

He picked up a hot iron poker.

Then, he pointed it at the left eye of the man. The man trembled, then anxiously babbled as if he just thought of something.

“Ah, ahh! I think I heard it’s the southern temple. Th-that’s right. It’s the south!”

Thud.

Raphael tossed the stick back into the brazier.

“Someone must have rented the annex if it’s the temple to the south of the capital. Search the entire place.”

Then the knight said carefully,

“In order to do that, you have to dispatch all the knights. Only the duke has the authority to do that…”

Usually, Raphael didn’t care that he was only the successor.

No, he preferred it. But today, the situation aggravated him.

Raphael said to Jeremy,

“Contact the cathedral right away.”

Olivia was under the protection of the Kedrey duchy.

She looked back on the situation like a wax statue. It was a peculiar expression since she did not cry.

“It was weird. In front of the carriage, she suddenly sent me off to the library… That’s right, the coachman… I think he was someone else.”

Olivia grabbed one of the duchy’s employees and said,

“Please take me to the imperial palace as soon as possible.”

By that time, a carriage to send her to the palace had been urgently requested and was already entering the academy.

Olivia nervously persevered until they neared the palace.

Everything would be fine. Her Highness was a wise person, and she would come out unscathed.

When the carriage stopped at the imperial palace, Olivia grabbed the hem of her skirt and began to run.

Who could understand the situation immediately and inform the Emperor?

Olivia saw a familiar woman in the distance and yelled.

“Vera!”

Vera looked at Olivia with surprised eyes. Some kind of intuition caused her to harden her face and hurry toward Olivia.

“Olivia! What happened?”

Olivia’s face finally twisted and lost her composure. She said, “Her Highness has been abducted!”

Vera felt like fainting.

~~~