The Villainess is a Marionette

Chapter 6: Scene 2. Beauty That Calls to Death

“We need to reinvestigate the assassination attempt on the Imperial princess,” Rezef said, untying the strings of his cape. He looked like his soul had been drained out of him. Rezef turned to his adjutant, Zenon Evans. “How many times have we orchestrated the downfall of some noble? Choose someone among them with a family to support—someone who would willingly face the guillotine in exchange for money.”

“As you command.”

Zenon Evans thought that Rezef was acting rather strange. The prince often looked tired or irritated after visiting Cayena, but Zenon had never seen him look so dispirited before.

“…Also, place more people around Princess Cayena. Monitor her every movement.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The more Rezef thought about it, the stranger it was.

Rezef had always thought that Cayena was under his control. Could it be that it was the other way around?

He thought not. She wasn’t smart, sensible, nor wise enough to do so.

‘Then, is someone near her giving her advice?’

It could have been Count Hamel, but why would he reveal his own weaknesses to Rezef like this?

Before Zenon left to carry out his order, Rezef called to him again.

“Find me information on Olivia Grace.”

“As you command.”

Zenon left. Rezef’s head was a mess of thoughts, and he ran his hand through his hair.

“What are you really up to, Cayena?”

The Emperor was old and sick. He was as good as dead, already. Though he had children born out of wedlock, Rezef and Cayena were his only officially acknowledged children. The only other person with a claim to the throne was the Emperor’s half-brother, Archduke Heinrich.

Ordinarily, Heinrich would have no claim to the throne at all, as he was a bastard child, not recognized by the church. Furthermore, he suffered from an incurable disease, and nobody paid attention to one who only had death in his future.

But suddenly, a young aristocrat appeared, calling himself Heinrich’s son. His name was Yester Heinrich.

After being claimed by the Archduke, Yester quickly positioned the Archduke’s mother to the position of Empress, and he was thus recognized as a potential legitimate successor to the throne.

People talked, wondering if the Emperor’s old age or illness had caused him to act so irrationally. But that hadn’t been the case. It was Yester who manipulated and ruined the Emperor by taking control of the family of the Emperor’s lover, Catherine Lindbergh.

“To think that he would take her hostage…”

The Emperor, instead of leaving Catherine and her family to their doom, legitimized Archduke Heinrich.

“If only I had an army…!”

Rezef felt his anger flare every time he was made helpless by Archduke Heinrich’s so-called family. Family? It was more like a gang.

Rezef had been thinking of using Cayena to send Archduke Heinrich into hell, but the events of today forced him to revise his plan.

Rezef had spent a long time breaking in Cayena. He had slowly tied her hands and feet, made her reliant on him for everything until she couldn’t do anything on her own. He thought he had succeeded, but that was before he talked to her earlier today.

Rezef laid down on the sofa. He couldn’t forget the blue eyes that looked at him straight. They were completely different from her previously empty eyes that had only seeked out pleasure. Rezef had never seen such a profound gaze from anyone among his peers.

Did his older sister always have such beautiful eyes?

“Cayena…”

Rezef covered his eyes with his hand, blocking the light from the windows. Then, he lifted his hand again. It was the same hand that Cayena had kissed.

“My foolish but beautiful doll.”

With his other hand, he gently touched the back of that hand. Then, examining the hand, he slowly lowered it, letting it brush against his lips.

Her eyes had looked at him coolly and directly…

“What should I do with you?” he whispered.

Scene 2: Beauty That Calls to Death

The fever gave way to nightmares.

“You can do it well, right? Subordinate Jung.”

The nightmare was a jumble of scenes from her workplace and the Imperial family.

“And yet you call yourself the Imperial princess!”

“It’s all your fault!”

“…!”

Cayena’s insides twisted in pain as her eyes flew open.

‘…It was just a dream.’

She lay still on her bed, staring blankly as the tears ran along the side of her face. Then, she came to her senses.

The tears were meaningless. She had already become numb to the sorrow and pain from her memories.

“Are you awake, my lady?”

Vera came to her side and began to wipe away Cayena’s tears with a towel dipped in lukewarm water.

‘What sort of nightmare had made her cry like this?’

“You should drink some water, Your Highness.”

With that, she brought over some lemon water for Cayena.

It had already been two weeks since Cayena spoke face-to-face with Rezef. Since then, Cayena had been subdued. It wasn’t just that she was recovering. She needed to act unassuming to allay Rezef’s suspicions.

Rezef was truly evil. He was someone who would kill the “culprit” who poisoned Cayena without mercy. For his own safety, he would sacrifice others without hesitation.

One typical victim of that behavior was Cayena herself.

‘My marriage shouldn’t affect the flow of the story. I just need to find a position that would be difficult for others to manipulate.’

Only then would she be safe, and the story would not collapse without her.

Rezef was suspicious, and he would continue to test Cayena.

‘I do need to stop him from killing Olivia, though. But I’ll only interfere up to that point.’

In any case, Cayena was the one who had attempted to poison Olivia, having been tricked by Rezef. Even though her crime had been erased with her return to this life, she couldn’t forget what she had done.

Cayena didn’t want to be manipulated anymore. And she was sincere in her request to Rezef about choosing her own husband.

‘Though, the person I will marry won’t exist in this world.’

Cayena intended to make up a person whom she would “marry.”

‘Until then, I just need to continue surviving and keep Rezef happy.’

“Your Highness, they say that the culprit has been arrested,” Vera said, interrupting her thoughts.

Cayena wiped her mouth with a silk handkerchief and replied, “Is that so?”

‘So he did as I told him to.’

Cayena was not in a rush. She only had to wait for the right time until Rezef moved as she wanted.

“Today is the day of his execution. Will you be going to see it?”

Cayena shook her head. She had no desire to watch something so dreadful.

In this time period, people gathered to see executions. Now, Cayena only felt repulsed by the practice.

The aristocrat who had poisoned Her Imperial Princess Cayena kneeled in front of the guillotined. All eyes were on him as he spoke.

“I did it because I loved her too much! Not even death can stop my love for her!”

The criminal was an unknown aristocrat who had fallen from grace. The nobles clamored among themselves, asking if this man had been present at the banquet hall.

‘To think that he would find someone willing to die in just two weeks.’

The nobles were hesitant to talk about the poisoning case since rumors said that the princess’s condition was serious.

Rezef’s supporters were making a fuss about how Rezef, though he was young, should be officially appointed as the crown prince.

The nobles who supported Archduke Heinrich were trying to hush them and the incident. “Prince Rezef isn’t the only one who can succeed the throne! We can’t be too hasty.”

However, their words were drowned by a well-timed article in the gossip columns, describing how Princess Cayena’s beauty had led to someone’s death.

‘He had to buy off the newspapers as well. He must have been busy.’

Gossip flowed easily from people’s mouths, and Archduke Heinrich’s people had been devoted to pushing forward their agenda. Now, though, Heinrich was pushed out of the public eye by the incident.

Heinrich’s people had been overshadowed as everyone was much more interested in talking about Cayena’s beauty.

“You’ve always been beautiful, but people are really noticing it more now, aren’t they, Your Highness?”

Cayena laughed at Vera’s words.

Cayena’s beauty was already famous, but now, the word ‘beauty’ alone seemed to be lacking to describe her.

‘A beauty that calls to death.’

One gossip magazine had likened Cayena to a rose with a poisonous thorn. The rumors and attention she received continued to grow smoothly, and when Cayena cancelled her appearances at the parties she had previously scheduled, the excitement turned into madness.

Already, stories of the poisoning incident were being told to further the word of Cayena Hill’s beauty.

“They say that the nobles are looking forward to your coming-of-age ceremony.”

The ceremony would involve an unprecedented number of suitors.

“You may get engaged to someone soon. Do you think Lord Kedrey would be a good match?” Vera asked carefully.

Cayena knew that her answer would be parroted straight back to Rezef. She pretended ignorance.

“I’m not sure. It seems like it might be too much trouble, considering that the Emperor would not approve.”