The Villainess is a Marionette

Chapter 86

Translator: thursdays PR: scarcecrow

Cayena’s figure appeared at the entrance.

Zenon could hear involuntary murmurs of astonishment, and it wasn’t just one person. The majority of the councilmen gulped or widened their eyes, and Zenon, too, was briefly mesmerized by her appearance.

Chancellor Debussy looked stunned. After a moment, his expression suddenly crumpled. Contrary to his expectations, he could find no fault in Cayena’s outfit.

Dressed in cool colors like she knew this day would come, she exuded a flawless dignity. Her silver dress, blue cape, and the pearl circlet on her head were neither excessive nor insufficient for reflecting her current position.

Cayena looked around in a prideful manner. She showed no sign of meekness in the conference room filled with ministers and other authorities.

Finally, she opened her mouth.

“It looks like everyone has arrived.”

The councilmen, who had lost their focus because of Cayena’s entrance, snapped back to attention at her words. No one had remembered to greet her, so awestruck as they were by her spirit and beauty. They quickly went down on one knee to pay respect.

“We greet Her Highness, the Princess.”

Cayena did not allow them to stand back up. She crossed the conference room, walking neither too quickly nor slowly.

Standing in front of the golden throne, Cayena said, “You may rise.”

The councilmen stood up silently, unable to speak. The fuss from a moment ago had disappeared like it had been nothing but a lie. The silence could not be looked down on.

Cayena had taken the first move.

“Why are you not sitting down?”

They had considered her to be a sheltered flower raised in a greenhouse. Now, they confusedly sat down at her command.

“Let us begin the council meeting.”

The councilmen couldn’t easily open their mouths. They just looked at each other in silence.

‘It’s just a meeting.’

It was a meeting like the many tedious ones she’d attended in her last life. She had gone to meetings with executive directors, board members, presidents, vice presidents, and even chairmen.

In the end, the state council meeting was a matter of laying out the agenda items and arbitrating the different ideas of the branches of administration.

The council soon recovered and proceeded with the assembly.

“Then, I will tell you which is the most urgent matter on today’s agenda. It’s been mentioned a few times before, but the budget of each group is…”

Cayena noted that some faces hardened as soon as the budget was mentioned. She silently listened to them as they continued the meeting.

“Most of the troops defending the capital are from the central army. Do you mean to let our defense be breached by reducing the budget?!”

“We aren’t at war right now!”

Apparently, the target today was Jed, the commander of the central army.

“The military budget was the first to be cut last time. You intend to do it again? Are you kidding me?”

When Commander Jed shouted in fury, the chancellor clicked his tongue.

“Oh my. Aren’t you speaking too roughly in Her Highness’s presence?”

At those words, Jed snapped at Debussy. “Isn’t it the administration’s poor management that caused this scarcity of funds?”

“What, what?!” The chancellor’s face turned red. He slammed his hand on the table. “It’s because we feed and house those that don’t even work that things have turned out like this!”

Jed stood up. With his stark expression, he looked as if he was a breath away from pulling out his sword.

In the blazing silence, Cayena abruptly said, “Then, wouldn’t things settle if there was a use for the central army?”

What was she talking about?

That was what everyone’s faces seemed to express to Cayena.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Is there anyone here who has thought about how to maintain the central army while spending less money?”

They only blinked.

“Does it make sense that the empire’s power will weaken if we reduce the military budget, Chancellor Debussy?”

In response, Chancellor Debussy smiled leisurely and handed a document to a servant. The servant delivered the document to Cayena.

“As you can see, it is very expensive and unnecessary to maintain the army when we are not at war, Your Highness.”

That was the reason he used to continuously decrease the military budget. It was a political decision to reduce Jed’s influence.

“That’s why we have to cover the cost of that budget elsewhere.”

Chancellor Debussy looked around the conference room. He was looking in order to gain agreement. Everyone nodded and sympathized with the words of the chancellor.

Cayena smirked as she skimmed the document Chancellor Debussy gave her.

Last night, she compiled some data regarding state affairs. Vera, who was by her side, handed out some papers to the council.

The councilmen’s eyes were glued to the papers.

‘Huh? The princess prepared something?’

The cabinet meeting had definitely been organized last-minute. The agenda hadn’t even been announced. And yet, the princess had prepared something. It was incomprehensible.

Furthermore, it was obvious that Cayena had spent a fair amount of time getting dressed for the occasion. The time she spent getting her outfit ready must have been considerable, so when had she prepared this?

They felt that something was off.

“There hasn’t been a plague in the capital for nearly 10 years.”

That was Chancellor Debussy’s greatest achievement during his tenure. A minister replied in his stead.

“Yes. It has been that way since we reorganized the water and sewage system.”

“That’s likely the reason the population of the capital has tripled over the years. However, we have not cultivated more land, and only the slums and shantytowns have increased.”

Saying that, Cayena tapped the documents she had brought. The chancellor’s eyebrows twitched.

“Like that, the number of households unrecorded in our register increases, making it easier for public order to collapse. Am I wrong?”

The councilmen, still looking puzzled, acknowledged her words.

“…You are correct.”

“I checked on it, and the number of times the central army had been mobilized to ensure the city’s safety has increased over the years. The frequency has increased dramatically in the last five years in particular.”

Commander Jed glanced at Cayena with considering eyes. He didn’t expect her to look into that matter.

The councilmen began to eye each other more as Cayena continued to speak. The princess had clearly prepared well for the council meeting. This was no longer a place where she could be humiliated.

“There hasn’t been any part of urban development in the meantime, apart from renovating the water and sewage system. What does this mean, Chancellor Debussy?”

Her question shut the chancellor’s mouth, and he was as silent as a mouse.

Cayena handed over the documents she had prepared to Chancellor Debussy. Boiling on the inside, he couldn’t even think of touching them. He tried to calm himself.

How dare this greenhorn pretend to be knowledgeable and teach him?

“As you can see from this,” Cayena said, pointing to the papers as Chancellor Debussy did earlier, “the capital’s population has increased, but land was not developed. Naturally, the price of housing has skyrocketed. The homeless population has increased.”

She turned her gaze to Commander Jed.

“Commander Jed, what is the ratio of people in the central army who hail from the capital?”

Jed replied eagerly, as if he had been waiting. There was a strange glee in his voice.

“It’s about 30 percent.”

At his reply, Cayena looked pitifully at the council.

“If anyone understands what this means, can you tell me without holding back?”

“Umm…”

They regarded the Central Army as a bottomless pit for funds, but they had not thought to look deeper.

They should have considered the salary of the knights. If a knight from around the area wanted to be a citizen of the capital, they had to buy land and figure out the taxes.

“Do you think you can afford a house in the capital, with prices going through the roof and the salary of a knight?”

“That’s…”

There was no way they could afford it. Naturally, most knights were stationed in the imperial capital. Having troops stationed in the imperial capital was the norm, and to do that, they needed the budget.

One minister cautiously said, “There has been no problem until now, but…”

“That’s because we had been at war.”

There were no problems because they had received reparations through war, but now, things were different.

“You don’t mean to start a war to steal from weaker nations now, do you?”

Chancellor Debussy said sarcastically. In the end, her words just pointed out the problem. She hadn’t provided a solution.

“Then, will you use the central army to develop more land? Wouldn’t that add to the expenses? It would be nice for them to be more useful, but at the heart of it all, we’re trying to cut the budget.”

Cayena shook her head.

“I mean to give the reclaimed land to the knights instead of wages. Can’t they just settle down there, getting married and living life? Then, they won’t be tied to the imperial city. They will just have to commute.”

In that case, the capital’s population would grow more stable and the burden on the budget would naturally decrease.

As the land was cleared, the number of residential areas would increase. As residential areas increased, new commercial areas would arise. In other words, the capital city would expand.

“Ah, that’s…!”

The councilmen dropped their jaws.

They had been obsessed with the idea that the army should be stationed at the capital at all times. And they didn’t know there were so few soldiers native to the capital.

Zenon had encouraged the chancellor to use today’s council meeting to tame Cayena. But rather than them defeating her spirit, she had crushed them.

‘Princess…!’

Zenon stared at Cayena with his face completely twisted.

Their eyes met for a moment. Cayena’s indifferent eyes glanced at him and turned away.

Zenon felt humiliation.

“So, does anyone have anything else to say on this matter?”

Nobody could say anything anymore.