The Marionette's Role
"Are you injured anywhere, Your Highness?"
"No, I'm fine."
He slipped off Cayena's leather slippers and carefully examined her feet. It would have been disastrous if she had stepped on any glass shards. After all, she was to dance at the center of the Grand Hall during the coming-of-age ceremony for his sake.
"I'm all right, so let's tend to your wound first."
"I am fine."
"I'm not, and that's why."
Having said so, Cayena ordered the servants to clean the room at once.
"Prepare the medicine. We must treat the cut on his cheek."
The servants, who had expected to spend the next two days trembling in terror, were now utterly bewildered by the scene before them. Most astonishing of all was the fact that it was Cayena who had softened the atmosphere so completely.
"...We'll bring it right away."
Fearing that Rezef might suddenly fly into another rage, they hurried out of the room.
"Then I shall take my leave as well."
Zenon gave Cayena one last suspicious glance before withdrawing.
Cayena had expected that Rezef would have already received a full report of the day's events and had come to see him on purpose. She had instructed the others to announce her arrival only after he had spent some time venting his fury. It had been a wise decision. His mind, clouded by rage, was just beginning to clear.
"No matter how angry you become, never take any action that would put you in danger. You are a precious heir who will one day inherit the empire."
At those words, the contents of the letter resurfaced in Rezef's mind and he clicked his tongue.
She had overheard from outside exactly what had driven him into such a fury. And it was a matter she could resolve.
"Many eyes will be fixed on this coming-of-age ceremony."
Cayena gently stroked his hair. A calm, soothing fragrance brushed the tip of Rezef's nose.
Now that he thought about it, the incense used in the princess's palace had recently changed. Was this the new scent?
Whether it was her gentle touch or the fragrance that clung to her, his mood gradually settled. The gesture felt like true comfort from a guardian. Strangely, his sister seemed very much like an adult in that moment.
Whatever else might be said, Rezef was still at an age when he needed a guardian's hand.
Seeing that he had grown calm, Cayena spoke.
"His Majesty has granted me permission to choose my own marriage partner."
Cayena smiled softly and continued.
"The news will spread like wildfire among the nobility. Don't you think they'll start thinking along these lines?"
She blinked theatrically and spoke in a deliberately exaggerated tone.
"Oh! If I can simply win over the princess, I might become the royal son-in-law!"
Rezef gave a small snort, dismissing it as wishful thinking.
"Everyone will assume Raphaelo is the chosen one."
"But if Raphaelo becomes engaged, the story changes entirely."
"...Engaged?"
Raphaelo suddenly engaged? Had there been any marriage talks? Then Rezef recalled the report his adjutant had given him.
It was said that Cayena had brought up marriage discussions and spoken ill of the other young ladies. Could this be connected?
"You simply need to pretend not to notice the nobles who will soon be wearing down the palace threshold and welcome them warmly. Until the coming-of-age ceremony, your sister is scheduled to be ill."
A servant soon entered carrying medical supplies. Cayena dismissed the servant and personally tended to Rezef's wound.
So the rumor that she has given up on Raphaelo is true.
"...Even His Majesty cannot force you to marry Raphaelo Kedrey, Sister."
He could not shake the suspicion that Cayena might be trying to use the Emperor's authority to marry him.
Cayena smiled brightly.
"It is true that I wanted Sir Kedrey. But does the fact that it has been so until now mean it must remain so in the future?"
Rezef looked as though he had been struck. He had never imagined she could speak of Raphaelo with such cold detachment.
"...Were you not in love with him?"
"Who knows. Now it has grown so faint that I can hardly tell whether it was love at all."
She softly stroked his hair once more.
"What emotion in this world never changes?"
Even if that emotion was not necessarily love.
Cayena simply watched Rezef's confusion in silence.
Chapter 3. Regarding the Villainess's Role
As she had told Rezef, Cayena used the excuse of illness and did not leave the princess's palace. While she willingly became a bird in a cage, high society found itself a fresh new diversion.
"I heard Sir Kedrey received a portrait?"
A painter commissioned for marriage portraits needed few virtues: exceptional skill in flattery and beautification. That was all.
Since everyone sought out the most talented artists, a handful of painters monopolized the work. As a result, news of which families had sent marriage proposals spread quickly. This was especially true when the subject was Raphaelo, currently the most desirable bachelor in the capital.
"And Her Highness the Princess is simply allowing this?"
The information recently leaked from the imperial family intertwined with the current situation, giving rise to peculiar rumors throughout high society.
The princess has lost interest in Sir Raphaelo!
If things continued this way, the true match for Raphaelo might emerge from among the ladies depicted in those portraits. Who would become the next Duchess of Kedrey? The nobles turned their full attention to this new sensation in the social scene.
"Finding a good husband is truly no easy task, is it not, Lady Grace?"
Before the official social season began, the capital's prominent families frequently held private gatherings. Until now, however, Olivia had never been part of such circles. But once rumors spread that her portrait had been delivered to the Duchess of Kedrey, countless invitations began to arrive.
Even today, she had been unable to refuse her parents' urging and found herself attending one such gathering.
"Finding a compatible partner naturally takes time."
Olivia answered evasively. She sat in the Marlet Literary Salon on Laurence Street like an ornament that had been placed there by mistake.
"I wonder what sort of jewel His Highness Rezef will discover?"
"Sir Zenon is still unmarried, after all. The Evans family is quite respectable too."
Yet none of it could compare to Raphaelo. To them, the current buzz in high society was merely an entertaining spectacle.
"I heard a fine match has presented itself to Lady Grace. Is that not so?"
They assumed Olivia would naturally rejoice at the opportunity. If she truly became connected to Raphaelo, even the princess would no longer be able to treat her carelessly. What sweeter revenge could there be?
Besides, Olivia's family was poor. With so many siblings to support, the eldest daughter must have endured considerable hardship. A good marriage for her would secure the futures of her younger brothers and sisters as well.
"Is that so?"
Yet Olivia merely smiled and avoided a direct answer. Seeing her lukewarm reaction, the other young ladies eventually stopped pressing the subject.
The rumor that I was asked to become a lady-in-waiting at the princess's palace hasn't spread yet.
Her family had kept the matter strictly confidential.
There's no reason for the princess to want me near her.
No one understood better than Olivia herself just how much Cayena despised her.
When she thought about it, the timing was too coincidental. Not long after receiving the request from the princess's palace to serve as a lady-in-waiting, the Kedrey ducal house had asked for her portrait.
It cannot be mere chance.
To Olivia, it could only mean that Cayena had anticipated the marriage talks and sent the request deliberately.
The Grace viscount family received sponsorship from the Kedrey ducal house and therefore could not accept the request. Since the ducal family had withdrawn from the struggle for the throne, their vassals could not display any political alignment. They were, in essence, half a branch of the ducal family.
If Olivia accepted Prince Rezef's request and became a lady-in-waiting at the princess's palace, some would see it as the will of the Kedrey family. It might appear as though the ducal house was secretly extending its reach through the Grace viscountcy.
If Prince Rezef forced the issue, she would have no choice but to obey, but for now it remained only a request.
What could be the purpose behind it?
Princess Cayena could not stand the sight of her.
She would never offer me a position as lady-in-waiting in the princess's palace—a role that would be nothing short of a meteoric rise.
The ladies-in-waiting who served the princess held very high rank. The position was far too prestigious to be merely a means for Cayena to keep Olivia under surveillance.
After the gathering ended, Olivia waited for her family's carriage to arrive.
"Are you Lady Olivia Grace?"
While her maid had gone to summon the carriage, an unfamiliar woman approached her.
The villainess is a marionette.