A Dangerous Obsession
Zenon clenched his fist until it trembled. Yet his voice remained perfectly calm.
“It seems I gave the impression of being so incompetent that I couldn’t even smooth over a matter of this scale. How unfortunate.”
Eyster saw straight through the bluff. He let out a soft, derisive laugh, as if the sight of Zenon amused him.
“Prince Rezef seems to cherish the princess a great deal. Enough to burst out of confinement, at any rate.”
Eyster tapped his mask with a fingertip, clearly finding the situation odd.
“To be honest, I was surprised. Acting that way would only bring greater losses. I wonder why he’d do something so foolish?”
The jewels on the fox mask glittered with every tilt of his head.
Zenon wanted to rip the mask from Eyster’s face and smash it to the floor. The thing hid its wearer’s expressions too well. But he forced the fury down.
Eyster stood over a hundred and ninety centimeters tall—taller even than the imposing Raphaelo Kedrey—with a menacing frame. The tightly packed muscle beneath his tailored suit was unmistakable.
To a man like Eyster, cracking a human skull was nothing. He was little more than a beast.
Zenon opened his mouth.
“It is because Princess Cayena has many useful qualities…”
“No, no.”
Eyster spread both arms in an exaggerated motion and shrugged.
“Do you truly believe that? That the princess is useful enough to justify defying an imperial command?”
“……”
No. He did not. But the denial refused to leave his tongue. Eyster grinned, as if to say Exactly as I thought.
“There is something about Princess Cayena. Isn’t there?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing in particular. It’s simply interesting. I keep wondering why everyone clings to the princess like lunatics.”
Eyster pointed a finger at Zenon.
“You. Prince Rezef. Henverton Gillian… even Raphaelo Kedrey.”
His golden eyes glittered with a cold, unsettling light.
“I’m dying of curiosity about the princess.”
Crazy bastard…
That was not the gaze or voice of a sane man. He was utterly mad—a dangerous creature of an entirely different breed from a mere drug addict like Henverton Gillian.
Damn it. Damn it all.
Zenon’s anger finally turned toward Cayena. She drew madmen to her side like the pied piper from a children’s tale.
Then Eyster’s voice drifted over again.
“Treat the princess with care.”
“…Pardon?”
What fresh insanity was this?
Eyster spoke in a strangely forlorn tone.
“If you do anything foolish, I don’t know what I might do once I become too frightened and sad.”
He cocked his head at an angle and regarded Zenon.
“Don’t touch my toy.”
Zenon considered driving his fist into that masked face right then and there.
“My dear friend Zenon will grant me this small favor. Won’t you?”
“Why should I—!”
“Because I possess evidence that you attempted to kidnap the princess?”
He chuckled, addressing the now rigidly frozen Zenon.
“I’ll handle silencing Henverton, so don’t worry too much. All right?”
It was like trying to remove one lump only to gain another, yet Zenon had no choice but to accept.
“…Very well.”
Sunlight tickled her eyelids. In her own bed, the curtains would normally be drawn, leaving no opportunity to feel its warmth. A careful hand brushed her hair back from her forehead.
Who…?
Before opening her eyes, Cayena unconsciously pictured Raphaelo Kedrey.
“Have you awakened?”
The voice beside her belonged to Rezef.
“Rezef…?”
She tried to sit up, but her whole body throbbed. Her torso, wrists, and ankles burned worst of all. The memory of her kidnapping flooded back.
“Please remain lying down.”
Rezef frowned for a brief moment before gently but firmly pressing her back against the pillows. Cayena obeyed with a short sigh.
Waking in the princess’s palace meant Raphaelo’s rescue had not been a dream.
Her heart grew tangled. The fact that he had come for her, and the way she kept turning the memory over in her mind—both confused her. Perhaps he had simply fulfilled his duty because the princess had been taken.
“What became of the kidnappers? Especially…”
She drew a careful breath.
“What of Henverton Gillian?”
“The kidnappers have been arrested and confined in the imperial dungeon. Henverton is among them. We intend to summon Viscount Gillian and Duke Kedrey to hold the viscountcy responsible for this incident.”
Cayena recalled the drug-soaked greed in Henverton’s eyes as he had reached for her. Just as in her previous life, he had been ready to kill her the moment it suited him. Did events refuse to change even when their shape shifted? A shiver ran through her.
No. This time I didn’t die.
She forced herself to stay calm. There was no point fearing what had not come to pass. Wasn’t she lying in the familiar rooms of the princess’s palace? Perhaps everything had truly been resolved.
The image of Raphaelo appearing with light in the pitch darkness rose in her mind. Warmth returned to the hand that had trembled so faintly.
Rezef had been watching the entire sequence in silence.
Perhaps I should have crushed Henverton’s skull after all.
This was the first time Cayena had shown such vivid terror. The fury he had barely contained while watching over her as she slept surged again.
It was not too late. He would kill the man in the most agonizing way possible. He would tear the entire household to pieces.
Even then, it would not be enough.
Lost in rage, he only came back to himself when Cayena glanced at the window and asked a quiet question.
“How long was I unconscious?”
Beyond the fully open curtains, rich golden sunlight poured in. Sunset seemed near.
“Only a single day has passed. You must rest more, sister.”
Cayena’s complexion remained paler than usual. The physician had stressed rest as well, stating that stress, trauma, and exhaustion had left her condition precarious.
Knock, knock.
Vera entered after a respectful knock.
“Your Highness!”
At the sight of Cayena awake, her face crumpled as though she might burst into tears.
“You’re awake! Are you hungry? Does your body feel all right?”
Vera hurried to her side almost at a run.
“I’m fine. Calm yourself.”
Something occurred to Cayena.
“What of Olivia?”
Vera answered in a choked voice.
“Olivia is safe. She was guarding the bedroom until a moment ago and has only just stepped away.”
She reported how Olivia had been attacked the previous day, then raced to the palace to announce the princess’s kidnapping. It had also been Olivia who suggested persuading Rezef to mobilize troops. Vera was about to explain further when Rezef cut her off.
“Sister.”
Rezef spoke her name like a sigh and captured her gaze. The moment she woke, instead of tending to herself she worried for others. Her face still lacked color.
“Do not concern yourself with trivial matters.”
“How could I not?”
Cayena looked at him, puzzled.
“If your confinement has been lifted, you should go to Father at once. Why are you lingering here?”
His attire was strange as well. Why the full uniform and red cloak? Her gaze slipped through the parted cloak to the pistol at his waist.
“You—don’t tell me!”
She realized he had burst from his confinement room the moment he learned of her kidnapping. Even if it had been the final day of his punishment, an incident involving the princess was no excuse.
An emperor’s command outweighed the safety of his blood. Father would certainly ignore the special circumstances and punish Rezef again. And Rezef would not let that pass quietly.
“It is all right, sister.”
He would kill the emperor without hesitation if pushed. Cayena could not allow it. No one who sat upon a blood-stained throne remained whole. The tragedy would only repeat.
“Even if something happens to me, His Majesty’s orders come first. Return now. I will speak with him.”
She rose from the bed, ignoring the sting of her wounds.
“I said it is fine, sister.”
Cayena paid no heed and tried to leave the bedroom.
“Sister!”
Rezef’s face twisted as he seized her arm.
“Ah!”
Though bandaged, the rope burns on her wrist were only a day old. The pain tore a short cry from her lips. Rezef flinched as if burned.
He released her at once. Then, expression still contorted, he lifted her bodily into his arms.
“Rezef!”
“Please, just listen to me.”
Cayena answered with an exasperated look.
“You are the one who should listen to me.”
They stared at each other in strange, tense silence.
The Villainess is a Marionette