The Villainess is a Marionette

Translator: thursdays PR: scarcecrow

With the death of Clarence Elivan, there remained few people whom Cayena could emotionally rely on.

Rezef planned to seduce Julia by pretending to offer her the position of a princess.

‘That court lady, Vera, seems to have gone over to my sister.’

He probably couldn’t win over Susan. That woman was very difficult and ill-tempered. Furthermore, she didn’t think much of the imperial family.

‘And that Olivia woman…’

Rezef tapped on the table. A deep valley appeared on his forehead as he furrowed his brows.

‘She reminds me of Sister…’

Of course, there were crucial differences between the two. But strangely, they were similar. It got on Rezef’s nerves.

‘She’s an unpleasant woman.’

Olivia didn’t pay attention, awe, or fear to Rezef—she didn’t even care for his appearance.

Her eyes were indifferent to him, feeling neither hate nor like. Yet, when she looked at his sister, those green eyes came alive.

“But Cayena is mine.”

Not that long ago, the same had happened with Ethel. And it wasn’t just them; more and more people seemed to admire Cayena and want her attention.

Rezef had the thought that he should start cleaning up Cayena’s surroundings.

“Jamil.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“There are some members of the princess’s palace that managed to keep their places, correct?”

“There were two maids, Donna and Annie. They’ve been promoted to junior court ladies.”

“Which of the two has more difficult circumstances?”

“Donna is working to support her family. Both of her parents are sick, and the palace medical staff says she always comes for medicinal herbs.”

Rezef grinned.

“So it’s that way.”

Jamil bowed his head as if he understood Rezef’s meaning and disappeared.

Looking refreshed, Rezef came out of the secret office and entered his study.

He rang a bell to call for a servant.

“I’ll spend teatime with my sister today. Prepare something healthy and notify her.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

They had been so busy with the many things happening these days that they had had little time to see each other. Rather, his sister spent much more time with Raphael.

‘I have to prevent her from meeting with the duke.’

He clicked his tongue, unhappy.

Duke Kedrey was not someone he could take lightly. Furthermore, a single glance showed that Cayena and the duke had a close relationship.

“But I can’t leave them as they are.”

These days, it seemed like a bad idea for Cayena to even walk outside. Every time Rezef’s sister went out, there was some sort of incident and a swarm of flies trying to stick to her.

“When would it be the best time to seize the throne?”

Knock, knock.

A servant entered and said, “The preparation is complete. Her Highness says that you can come at any time.”

Rezef rose from his seat. “I’ll go to her palace now.”

Cayena organized her work and let out a small sigh. She had to take account of the powers she had received as the state’s deputy, and she had to think in advance what measures to implement to prevent Rezef’s faction from bothering her.

‘I also have to practice magic.’

A light breath spilled out of her lips.

“His Highness, Prince Rezef has arrived.”

Cayena stopped rubbing her hand over her eyes. This was the first time she was facing Rezef since hearing the tragic news about her nanny.

The gloomy emotions she forcibly pushed down under her workload stealthily re-entered her heart.

‘I have to smile. I have to act normal.’

Cayena thought to herself firmly.

Rezef was a sharp child. His sensitivity for how others felt about him in particular was nearly supernatural.

“Tell him to enter.”

The door opened, and Rezef came in. The siblings’ eyes met.

Cayena realized that she couldn’t hold up a front the moment she saw Rezef’s serene face.

‘Rezef killed my nanny.’

Rezef thought nothing of other people’s lives. It was no skin off his back to kill someone. He was a child who thought anything that tried to climb higher should be killed. That was why he killed Madame Elivan: to punish Cayena, who had upset him. He had no consideration of how much Cayena cherished the woman.

Once again, her fingertips were cold.

“Sister…”

Rezef smiled pleasantly and tried to step closer to her, but his footsteps soon stopped. The smile in the corner of his mouth began to turn stiff.

His sister’s eyes were different from usual.

Her eyes were empty. Rezef could not find the slightest hint of affection inside them. There were none of the warm, caring emotions that he should have felt from her. He froze in his spot. Suddenly, his sister felt distant.

When he felt like his heart sinking coldly, Cayena’s blank expression was wiped away like it had never been there. However, that moment had felt like an eternity.

Cayena’s eyes curved beautifully, and she wore a familiar smile on her lips.

“You’ve been working hard without taking a break. What’ll you do if you become ill, Rezef?”

He could feel the usual warmth from her. Gentle and peaceful attention poured out from her. The breath he had been holding returned to him.

He must have been mistaken earlier. Now that he looked more closely, Cayena did seem tired.

Rezef had heard that she couldn’t sleep properly, and after working so hard, her cheeks were a little gaunt.

“Sister, you seem to be the one pushing yourself.”

He walked to Cayena faster than normal.

She leaned back in her tall chair. Rezef was happy to sit on the carpet.

Then, naturally, there was a friendly touch on top of his head. Thin fingers swept over his radiant golden hair.

Rezef finally felt relief.

He smiled gently. Everything was the same as always. When he came to see her, Cayena would make room for him by her side. She showed him affection like a reward.

He soaked up that affection, healing his mind and heart.

Rezef rested his forehead on Cayena’s knee and murmured, “I was worried, Sister.”

He really was worried.

He nearly set fire to the capital out of the fear that those disgusting bastards would take his sister away.

It didn’t make sense. She was supposed to stay here like this, not greeting anyone else kindly.

That was too…

He would want to kill them.

Rezef hugged Cayena’s leg.

“You’ve had a lot of work these days, haven’t you?” Cayena said soothingly.

“It seems too dangerous outside the imperial palace, Sister.”

That was what he sincerely thought.

The world outside the palace was dangerous. People kept trying to steal or threaten what belonged to him.

He had to quickly make the world safe. Rezef wanted to create a world where everything would be fine even if he stayed still.

“In any case, we need to establish a system so that we can be flexible in a crisis.”

Cayena informed him of what she had just done.

“Rezef, I’ve appointed you as the next leader of the central army after me.”

If Cayena was unable to lead the army, then Rezef, as its next leader, would do so. In a way, it looked like she had handed Rezef authority for free. But the truth was different.

“If I disappear for 24 hours without a word, the power will automatically be handed over to you.”

If Cayena disappeared, this would ensure that the blame would be pointed to Rezef’s faction.

Rezef simply replied, “I see,” as if he hadn’t understood the political bomb she had planted.

Then, Cayena’s gaze turned to the attendant who accompanied Rezef. The attendant was holding a tray.

“What’s that?”

At her question, Rezef pulled his face away from her knee and replied, “I prepared something nutritious for you.”

He took Cayena’s hand and pointed to her slender arm.

“Look at you. You’ve lost weight.”

Her wrist was clean.

“What are you doing that for?” Cayena asked, tilting her head.

Rezef felt something was strange, but he brushed it off and smiled at her again. “You’re too skinny, Sister. If you really care for me, please take care of your health as well.”

Cayena softly shook her head. “To think I’d hear this sort of scolding from you.”

Rezef smiled a little and asked the attendant to bring the tray over.

The cover was removed to reveal a boiled poultry dish with medicinal herbs. Cayena didn’t want to eat anything because she had no appetite, but Rezef looked at her with such anticipation that she had to lift her spoon. The smell was nice and savory. She first swallowed the thick soup.

“Mm. It tastes good.”

“I heard you had trouble sleeping. Eat some more and take a…”

Then, Cayena quickly covered her mouth and coughed.

“Cough!”

Dark red blood seeped through her fingers.