Know Your Place
The hot pie had left a burn on her arm.
“A burn, you say?”
Before Vera could continue, the imperial physician requested an audience. He was the same doctor who had treated Cayena’s wound. As he entered the room, he sensed the heavy atmosphere and hesitated.
“I have come to report on Her Highness the Princess’s injury.”
Rezef’s icy blue eyes turned toward the physician. The man felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine. That was the look Rezef often wore when his mood had soured considerably.
“The pie, which had not yet cooled, touched Her Highness’s left arm. Fortunately, the burn spans only about half a palm’s width. If the ointment is applied diligently for the next few days, there should be no scarring.”
“And why, exactly, did the pie come into contact with my sister’s arm?”
“That is…”
When the physician struggled to answer, Vera spoke in his place.
“The maid Lydia Benzeman was carrying a plate of hot pie and dropped it. It landed on Her Highness’s arm before falling to the floor.”
Xenon had assumed that since the maid had injured a member of the imperial family, Cayena would have thrown a fit and demanded Lydia’s execution. But the Benzeman family was still quite useful, so it would have been a waste to dispose of them.
Besides, the Benzeman house was closely tied to the Evans family. They were the ones who managed the Evans family’s grain warehouses.
“However… Her Highness said she was fine and forgave the maid.”
Xenon’s face filled with disbelief at the idea that Cayena, with her infamous temper, had forgiven a maid. Indeed, the princess had been acting strangely lately. Still, it was a relief. Since he stood behind Rezef, he could not see the prince’s expression as he continued his report.
“The Benzeman family still has many uses. It is fortunate that this matter can be overlooked.”
But Rezef’s thoughts were different. He despised those who did not know their place. People like Grand Duke Heinrich, for instance.
Rezef rose from his seat and spoke in a chilling voice.
“We are going to the princess’s palace.”
The distance from the prince’s palace to the princess’s palace required crossing the central citadel and walking a long corridor. Rezef strode down that great distance with his long legs, his cloak flaring dramatically behind him. He wasn’t running, yet his pace was astonishingly fast. Vera and the other aides fell far behind and had to hurry to keep up.
Rezef located the room where the maids were resting and personally flung the door open with a loud bang.
“Your Highness! Allow me!”
The aide who had finally caught up cried out in alarm, trying to stop him.
Ignoring the man, Rezef opened the door to the second-finest room in the princess’s palace—the one right next to Cayena’s own chambers. The maids who had been relaxing inside jumped to their feet in shock.
“Y-Your Highness?”
His gaze took in the sweets and tea laid out on the table, the excessively luxurious interior that far exceeded what maids should enjoy. The scent of an expensive incense Cayena often used wafted from the burner. It was a rare, high-grade fragrance imported in limited quantities to the empire. Its distinctive aroma was familiar even to Rezef. It was certainly not something a maid should be using.
These women had been indulging in luxuries far beyond a maid’s station—luxuries Rezef had never permitted.
The maids hastily checked their appearances and bowed deeply to him.
“We greet Your Highness the Prince.”
Rezef did not tell them to rise. Instead, he perched on the decorative cabinet beside him. His eyes swept over the maids. Vera and the other aides, who had been about to enter, stopped at the strange silence that filled the room.
“I believe people can make foolish judgments.”
His first words fell into the quiet.
“I believe mistakes can happen.”
The maids, unsure what he meant, exchanged nervous glances while keeping their heads lowered.
“But I absolutely loathe those who forget their place.”
Only then did the maids throw themselves flat on the floor.
“We have committed a crime worthy of death, Your Highness!”
Rezef let out a laugh.
“Yes! You understand perfectly.”
His vivid blue eyes glittered with murderous intent.
“You have indeed committed a crime worthy of death.”
He strode forward and roughly seized one of the maids, yanking her to her feet. It was Lydia.
“I have never heard of a maid giving a member of the imperial family a burn. What do you think about that?”
Lydia’s face turned deathly pale.
“Your Highness, please forgive me!”
Tears of terror streamed down her face as she begged.
“It was an accident, Your Highness! Even Her Highness the Princess said she was fine…!”
But she should never have said those words.
“Aaaah!”
Rezef gripped her arm so tightly it seemed he might snap it.
“Shall I cut off your arm so you understand the gravity of today’s incident? How much should I cut?”
Shing—
He drew the sword from his waist.
The courtiers let out short screams. Shouldn’t someone stop this? Yet no one dared step forward.
“Your Highness.”
Xenon emerged from among the aides, attempting to intervene. But after seeing Rezef’s expression, he clicked his tongue softly and retreated. No one could restrain Rezef when he was like this. If things continued, a true catastrophe was inevitable.
“Rezef.”
At that moment, a clear, elegant voice cut through the dreadful tension. Cayena had come herself after hearing the commotion.
Rezef’s hand, which had been about to swing the sword downward, froze.
“That’s enough.”
At her words, Rezef released his grip on Lydia as if by magic. The sword hung limply at his side.
When Lydia collapsed to the floor, freed from his grasp, everyone held their breath. A heavy silence fell.
…What are we even witnessing?
Cayena had calmed the rampaging Rezef with a single sentence!
She pushed through the bewildered courtiers and entered the room. Though Rezef still held his sword lowered, his eyes remained stained with madness. It seemed Lydia had truly touched his reverse scale.
Know your place.
That was how Emperor Esteban had raised Rezef.
Rezef appeared unable to regain his center, as if he himself did not fully understand what had ignited his fury. Cayena approached him. Even with the sword still in his hand, he looked ready to slash at anything. To the others, his state seemed utterly bloodthirsty. But through Cayena’s eyes, it was different. He was anxious.
Having read the original story, Cayena understood the circumstances Rezef had endured. That was why, even though he was an unforgivable villain, she could comprehend why he had become this way. If he failed to constantly prove his worth as a prince, he could be discarded at any moment.
He had been deprived of many things in exchange for the luxuries he enjoyed. The first thing taken from him was family.
The emperor had told him directly:
“You have no family. Your sense of self, your autonomy—those things can only exist while you remain a prince.”
Rezef had been thoroughly abandoned in the most brilliant and beautiful place in the empire.
“Remember that I can cast you aside at any time. If you cannot prove your usefulness yourself, your very existence will be erased from this world.”
For him, the struggle for the throne was directly tied to survival. He had no family, and every servant around him belonged to the emperor. They even looked down on Rezef for being a bastard. So the first thing he did once he had secured some footing as a prince was to purge them all.
And that had happened when he was only eight years old. It was a tragic story Cayena had not known in her previous life.
Still, he was her younger brother.
Feeling a certain sense of responsibility, Cayena stepped in front of him. She took the sword from Rezef’s hand and held it out to Xenon, who stood nearby. Xenon looked at her with complicated eyes before accepting the blade.
The maids trembled violently, and only Lydia’s suppressed sobs could be heard. It was a truly pathetic sight.
Cayena looked up at Rezef with her usual calm expression and gaze. He needed a guide.
In a stern voice, she scolded him.
“What will you do if you hurt yourself while getting so angry? The social season is about to begin, and you’ll be going hunting often.”
“……”
Gradually, clarity returned to Rezef’s eyes.
The courtiers, completely missing this change, simply stared at Cayena in shock. Has Her Highness gone mad? They swallowed dryly. They feared that if Rezef truly lost his temper now, there was no telling what he might do.
The villainess is a marionette.