Kill Me If You Wish
Not only that. Zenon, who had been gone for some time, returned to the bedroom.
A familiar fragrance tickled his nose. It was the incense burned in Cayena’s bedroom censer. The same scent clung to Zenon.
“……You’ve been to see my sister, I see.”
……How did he know?
There was no servant currently available to relay outside information to Rezef. The knights stationed beyond the room were not permitted to enter freely. So how could Rezef have immediately known that he had been with Cayena?
A chill ran down Zenon’s spine. He was beginning to waver where Cayena was concerned. Even so, it was nothing more than internal calculation for now. He had no intention of yielding any influence to her. Naturally, he had no plans to help strengthen the bond between her and Prince Rezef.
Yet the moment he answered, he had the distinct feeling that a blade might come flashing toward him.
“Her Highness the Princess came looking for you, Your Highness.”
He had to do something that would improve Cayena’s position in Rezef’s eyes.
“She was worried about Your Highness’s well-being and health. The knights blocked her, so she eventually left.”
Absurdly, Zenon—the man who had dismissed her as nothing more than a woman—now found himself under her protection in this very room where she was absent.
“……Is that so?”
Rezef lacked patience and was violent, but he was not a fool. He saw straight through Zenon’s odd behavior. Had something happened with Cayena? He suddenly realized that what he thought he held firmly in his grasp was slipping away like sand.
“I’ll call you if I need you. Leave.”
“As you command.”
Only after Zenon had left the room for quite some time did Rezef summon a different aide.
“Keep Zenon Evans under surveillance.”
“By your command.”
He asked out of habit.
“What is my sister doing right now?”
“Her Highness the Princess has gone out.”
“Then shouldn’t you also tell me where she has gone?”
“My apologies. I will find out at once.”
With an expressionless face, Rezef picked up the candlestick beside him and hurled it. The aide was struck in the head by the brass holder but remained completely still, head bowed in the same posture.
In a flat, emotionless tone, Rezef said, “Track my sister’s movements.”
“By your command.”
“You’ve been steadily mixing poison into Father’s tea, yes?”
“Yes.”
The emperor always drank sweet tea after taking his medicine to wash away the bitterness.
Rezef had already tampered with the silver spoon. That spoon did not turn black even when it touched poison. It was the reason the emperor’s health showed no sign of recovery.
“Increase the dosage.”
The aide bowed deeply, blood trickling from his head.
Once the aide had left to carry out his orders, Rezef closed his eyes. It was still bearable. He could endure it. He still believed Cayena was undoubtedly his. The warm happiness and sense of fulfillment she had shown him until now could not have been false.
She wanted him to let her marry the person she desired? He could grant that easily enough. How long that person would be allowed to breathe was another matter.
Cayena was his. She simply needed to remain beneath his influence, exactly as she was now.
“She met Raphaelo at the Imperial Library……”
The aide who had been following Cayena’s trail reported what he had witnessed.
Raphaelo Kedrey.
That man was someone Rezef could not touch even after he became emperor. If Cayena became his wife, she would slip beyond Rezef’s sphere of control.
Had she planned from the beginning to lower his guard and then stab him in the back? Drawing Raphaelo to their side was acceptable. It was an excellent plan. But allowing her to be taken from him was intolerable.
Rezef was consumed by a mad obsession.
He opened the entrance to the secret passage leading out from the prince’s palace. He needed to confirm Cayena’s true intentions immediately.
He arrived at the princess’s bedroom via the hidden corridor. Only a single tapestry separated them. At that moment, Cayena, sensing his presence, called out to him in a low, locked voice.
“Why don’t you come out now, Rezef?”
She had pinpointed his exact location.
Rezef stepped out obediently. After emerging from the passage and standing in the rain for a while, his hair was completely soaked.
She rose from her seat. She found a dry towel kept in the bedroom and brought it to him.
Rezef merely stared at her coldly through the wet strands of his hair. With no other choice, Cayena lifted the towel to dry his head.
Slap!
Rezef knocked her hand away, and the towel fell limply to the floor. Cayena spoke as if sighing.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
Rezef let out a scornful laugh.
“Or would you like some warm tea?”
She knew he would refuse, but she asked anyway. As expected, Rezef spoke in a cold voice that sounded like an accusation.
“You can say such things at a time like this?”
Cayena was exhausted. On her first outing in a long while, she had encountered the husband who had once murdered her. She recalled in vivid detail how pathetically she had begged for her life and pleaded for forgiveness. She remembered the countless letters she had sent to Rezef and the days of despair when no replies ever came.
But that was a past that did not exist in this world, so she had tried to forget it. She had swallowed the burning pain by telling herself it was the villainess’s just deserts. She had comforted herself with the thought that both of them had carried far too many scars from childhood for things to be undone.
The younger brother before her eyes was still young. She had to believe there was still room for him to change.
We can be saved. If we can be something other than the villainous siblings—perhaps just siblings with rather nasty tempers—it would be all right.
That was what she told herself.
Cayena spoke in the gentlest voice she could manage.
“Then what should I say?”
She reached for another towel. But Rezef seized her arm in a crushing grip, preventing her from moving away. Cayena frowned at the pain.
“Is marriage truly what you want? Is that why you went to meet Raphaelo today?”
“It was a coincidence.”
“Of course it was a coincidence, sister.”
His face showed not the slightest trace of belief. Cayena realized that Rezef had completely fallen into rage and distrust.
“Why won’t you say more? You could simply tell me it was all part of your plan. Just like how you swept away everyone in this palace.”
Including me. He did not bother adding the last part. Rezef tightened his grip on her arm. A faint groan escaped Cayena.
“It hurts, Rezef.”
He released her arm with a derisive laugh. Instead, his hand closed around her throat. Their eyes met.
“Beautiful sister of mine. I don’t like it when something challenges my authority.”
Cayena knew that all too well.
“I don’t leave anything that might threaten me nearby.”
His fingers began to tighten more and more around her slender neck.
“In any case, my life will vanish if you wish it. After all, the next emperor will be no one but me.”
With her throat constricted, Cayena spoke.
“Yes. Then kill me.”
Rezef’s hand faltered for a moment.
“……What?”
“It’s fine if you kill me. As you said, I can die whenever you want. I understand that well.”
Cayena smiled faintly. Then she grasped both his hands and pressed them harder against her neck. The force was so strong that the bones in her pale, slender hands stood out.
“……Have you gone mad?”
Rezef shouted and slapped her hands away. Red marks had already formed on her neck.
Cayena coughed several times, then spoke to her brother as if scolding him.
“What are you going to do if someone hears you shouting after sneaking in here?”
Her calm demeanor sent a shiver through him. Rezef had thought Cayena had become considerably more mature. He had felt that she had grown composed, kind, and gentle.
“Are you in your right mind right now?”
He asked the question sincerely. No one could act this way without being insane. The madness and fury that had boiled to the top of his head cooled rapidly.
Paying him no mind, Cayena grabbed his hands again as if urging him to strangle her. He shoved her hands away roughly. Caught off balance, Cayena collapsed onto the floor.
“Stop it!”
She rose calmly and brushed back her disheveled hair. The eyes she revealed were frighteningly dry.
“Why aren’t you strangling me already?”
“……”
Rezef bit his lip hard.
The two stood facing each other in a standoff. It was a strange tension. Rezef found it absurd and ridiculous that he felt nervous confronting his own sister.
He was clearly overwhelmed by Cayena’s spirit. She remained serene. There was no hint of mockery in her.
Why won’t you strangle me?
Until now, whenever fury surged through him, he had never hesitated to draw his sword. Yet right now he could not lay a single finger on Cayena. The realization wounded his pride deeply. It also left him confused.
She must have noticed that Rezef is inside.
Her capable servants had clearly guessed the situation within the room. Despite Rezef raising his voice several times, no one had entered. Moreover, Vera, who had gone to prepare the bathwater, had not returned. It seemed they were handling the outside matters skillfully on their own.
Cayena had no desire to continue this meaningless standoff. In a voice that deliberately broke the tension, she asked,
“Have you calmed down enough to talk now?”
The villainess is a marionette.