The Villainess is a Marionette

Translator: thursdays PR: scarcecrow

“So, there was a rebel spy in the imperial palace,” said Cayena.

“…Excuse me?” said Mrs. Helier. “A spy?”

Cayena ordered the knight, “Apprehend the traitor.”

“I am no traitor, Your Highness! Truly, I’m not. I merely received this gift from the Sovenin family! If there is a problem with these items, then they must be the traitors!”

Then, Mrs. Sovenin’s complexion abruptly changed.

“Wh–what are you talking about? Those jewels aren’t from my family!”

Mrs. Helier’s face looked more like a demon than her usual self. She spat, “Shut up, you ingrate!”

She removed the ring from her hand and threw it at Mrs. Sovenin.

“Kyaa!”

It hit Mrs. Sovenin’s forehead and fell to the floor.

“I shouldn’t have accepted anything from such a lowly, baseless family! Your Highness, these people approached me with wicked intentions. But I have nothing to do with them!”

“Of course, Mrs. Helier. I know well that you have been striving to take care of the imperial palace. Therefore, it is unfair to suspect you of disloyalty.”

Cayena took off a ring from her finger and gave it to a knight near her.

It was the gold ring that proved she was a member of the imperial family.

“Search Helier’s home and her home before she married into the family. Find anything with the seal of the traitorous family.”

Mrs. Helier collapsed onto the ground.

Cayena gently added, “This is an order.”

***

“What a mess,” said Vera, who had been following Cayena all day to inspect the palace. Her face was weary.

They have punished or rewarded each section of the imperial palace.

Of course, there were far more punishments than rewards.

People already stopped caring about how Cayena knew all this. What mattered to them was how much more she knew. On the other hand, Cayena was smiling.

“It went as I expected.”

Then, she turned to console Vera and Olivia.

“Olivia, you’ve gone through quite the hazing for your first day in the palace.”

“Not at all, Your Highness.”

“I want you to take a good, long rest tomorrow. Still, since you’ve followed me around today, everyone should know your face and won’t act rashly against you.”

Olivia gave a brief curtsy.

“I am grateful for your care.”

“You may go. Get some rest, Olivia.”

At Cayena’s words, Olivia left the bedroom.

“How did His Majesty look?” Cayena asked Vera.

Amid her busy schedule, Cayena assigned servants from the other kitchens to the central kitchen in order to prepare dinner for the Emperor and Rezef. Vera took care of delivering the food to the Emperor’s bed herself.

“You have already heard everything. His Majesty told me to come quickly to your side, as you would be busy.”

It was an indirect but unmistakable expression of support for Cayena’s actions.

“I should think about what kind of reward to request from him,” Cayena muttered.

‘I also have to think about how to deal with Rezef’s reaction.‘

Her head throbbed in pain.

***

The prince’s bedroom was under repair. In the meantime, Rezef was moved to a small room.

It was fortunate that he was no longer mad, threatening to slay people or destroy things. But there was another problem.

“Please reconsider, Your Highness.”

Rezef had a book in his hand.

There were also several books on the table, all of them regarding travel. They were copies of the books that Cayena borrowed.

Zenon wanted to curse at his carefree appearance, but he just barely kept it in. He asked, “Why are you trying to bring in Catherine Lindbergh, Your Highness? It’s much too risky.”

Rezef did not take his eyes off the book as he answered, as if there was no problem.

“What’s the problem? She’ll only be written as a foster daughter in Count Hamel’s family registry.”

“This move will just create new competitors. The thing called influence is fluid.”

Then, Rezef put down the book he was reading and looked at Zenon.

“You talk as if the forces I’ve gathered till now will surely break away to support Lindbergh’s son.”

Rezef’s forces, which had grown in size since they first formed, would now be more careful instead of surging forward wildly.

In particular, the nobles who supported Rezef tended to be conservative.

“If Catherine Lindbergh becomes empress, her son will have a more legitimate claim to the throne than anyone else. Your Highness, can’t you see how dangerous that would be?”

Most conservative nobles supported Rezef for a simple reason: He was the emperor’s child.

“Legitimacy this, legitimacy that!”

Crash!

Rezef threw a teacup. In an instant, the atmosphere turned cold.

“It doesn’t matter how much Lindbergh tries!”

Rezef said, glaring at Zenon with sharp blue eyes.

“I will be quicker in obtaining the throne.”

Now, Rezef was not in a state to be persuaded. Zenon took a step back and bowed his head.

“Please forgive me. It was a slip of the tongue.”

Something was amiss.

“I don’t want to look at you, so leave.”

Rezef didn’t say anything else and turned the page of his book.

After Zenon went out, the outside became a little noisy before turning quiet again.

Thump.

He closed the book and turned to the secret passage, calling someone’s name.

“Jamil.”

His aide, hidden in the passage, revealed himself.

The secret aide, who covered his face and wore a black exorcist’s uniform, kneeled.

“Spread a portrait of Princess Cayena throughout the empire.”

Rezef looked at his competent secret aide with a good-natured smile.

“Take in artists who are specifically near the ports and land routes that go out of the empire, and place the portrait of the princess on display everywhere. I want it so that even a country vagrant will know her face.”

“I will heed your order.”

Jamil bowed and disappeared back into the secret passage.

Rezef threw the book in his hand to the table. There was nothing more he had to see.

“I never gave her permission to run away from me.”

He stretched and looked out of the window. Since he read an uninteresting book, he felt drowsy.

Rezef languidly murmured, “The only thing left is marriage…”

Just then, a servant carefully entered the bedroom.

“What is it?”

“Her Highness is punishing all the departments of the palace.”

These words made his sleepiness disappear.

“…What did you say?”

The servant announced that Cayena had already driven away an important number of courtiers, including the head maid.

Rezef’s eyes turned bleak.

“Is my sister trying to reduce my influence…?”

The head maid’s position was vacant because of Cayena’s actions. Rezef thought of the person who was most likely to take her place.

‘Now that I think of it… She said she had called for the Elivan woman.‘

That woman was the one who interfered with everything so that he and Cayena would not get along. As a result, he framed her and sent her to exile. It was impossible to let that woman back in when he had worked so hard to expel her from the palace in the first place.

“Make sure Clarence Elivan cannot come to the capital.”

The servant bowed.

“I will heed your order.”

Scene 8. The Court Ladies of the Princess’s Palace

If you were to rank the grandest mansion in the capital city, Alquiem, the number one would undoubtedly be the Kedrey villa.

That beautiful building had cost a fortune to build, and it was refined enough to counteract the dull, militaristic image of the Kedrey family. Masterpieces by Alquiem’s most beloved artisan lined the interior. In particular, the garden and the huge pond, decorated in the fashionable style of the empire, were unique attractions of the Kedrey villa.

However, there was another reason the mansion was famous. It was a mansion where night did not come. With the family’s tremendous wealth, the candles were burned generously each night, making the villa look like a giant lamp.

On a quiet night, a visitor came through a secret passage that was not lit up by the flashy lights.

It was a woman who hid her appearance by wearing a hood.

She jerked the rope at the entrance, and soon, the door opened. A servant stepped out.

In a small voice, the woman said, “I have news from the princess’s palace.”

The servant covered the woman’s eyes with a blindfold and escorted her to an unknown place. Finally, the blindfold was taken off. It was a room with a wide marquee in the center.

“Take off your hood,” ordered a knight.

The woman did as he commanded.

It was Annie, a maid from the princess’s palace.

~~~