Severing the Strings
Bera’s eyes sparkled with interest. This was the first time Cayena had ever shown such a lukewarm reaction toward Raphaelo Kedrey.
It was an open secret that the current emperor and the Kedrey ducal house were on bad terms. The exact reason for their rift remained unknown, but the emperor had always seethed with displeasure whenever Cayena became infatuated with Raphaelo.
“If Lord Kedrey were to become the imperial son-in-law, it could destabilize the entire balance of power.”
It was a rather theoretical concern, yet one Cayena had never once considered until now.
Bera quietly refilled the teacup while stealing a glance at Cayena’s serene profile.
Cayena hid a faint smile behind her teacup. There were more ears in this room than just Rezef’s. Anything she said would surely reach her father’s ears as well.
“I have been so willful all this time, unaware of Your Majesty’s grand vision. I am truly ashamed.”
Cayena had tormented Raphaelo as fiercely as she had desired him. She had barged into his home and even forcibly summoned him to the imperial palace.
In truth, her father had ordered Raphaelo to the palace each time at her request. Of course, it had not been solely for Cayena’s sake. The emperor had also intended to humiliate the Kedrey family’s heir and crush his spirit.
“Since you deemed it appropriate, I am sure you granted the request with good reason.”
Though Cayena inwardly agreed with Bera’s words, she furrowed her brow on the surface.
“How could I not know that my conduct as an imperial princess has been improper? Even now, I must set right the wrongs I have committed.”
“What do you intend to do, Your Highness?”
“First, I need to revise the dress I will wear to my coming-of-age ceremony.”
The statement seemed completely unrelated to making amends, so Bera tilted her head in confusion.
“Open the dressing room.”
The banquet for the imperial princess’s coming-of-age would soon be held. The dress for the occasion had been prepared long ago and was already complete. However, Cayena wanted to alter its concept so she could make use of this recent incident.
“Would it be better to cut the back deeply and expose the shoulders?”
She looked at the dress and shook her head.
“No. Remove all exposure.”
She already had an image in mind.
A marionette should look like a marionette.
She wanted a dress adorned with the lace and lavish decorations she often put on her dolls. She needed to appear as someone who cared excessively about beauty and nothing else.
Cayena checked her reflection in the mirror and nodded.
“As always, no one in the banquet hall will be more beautiful than Her Highness the Princess!”
Those around her burst into admiring gasps at her appearance.
Yet while helping Cayena change, Bera thought to herself,
Everyone is delighted that Her Highness has become more docile, but she has not grown any easier to handle.
The recent princess was completely different in aura from before. Though Cayena had been acting quite gently lately, she still refused to let anyone close.
It might seem as if she were handing over the initiative, but it was no different from a child generously offering a sweet that would soon be eaten anyway.
Since the day she woke after drinking the poison, even her speech has become refined and elegant.
It seemed only Bera herself had noticed the change. She observed Cayena quietly, constantly.
Cayena was well aware that unrest was stirring in Bera’s heart.
Bera is loyal, but she has ambition.
Among the maids currently serving in the princess’s palace, Bera was the only one worth using. Since Cayena planned to win her over, she allowed the woman to examine her thoroughly.
Cayena tried on the final dress. It was the one she had poured the most care into preparing for her coming-of-age. Once, when she had been madly in love with roses, she had favored dresses embroidered with them. This dress was the same.
“Oh my, you look just like a doll!”
The maids squealed with practiced enthusiasm. It was the kind of praise Cayena had always loved most.
Bera had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Her master no longer took such compliments to heart. As expected, Cayena simply smiled quietly without a trace of smugness.
She really has changed.
Bera wondered what this change meant. She kept wanting to uncover Cayena’s true intentions.
Is this person truly fit to be my master?
In the imperial family, choosing the wrong side often led to the destruction of entire houses. Bera had to be cautious. Despite her many disadvantages, she believed Rezef would one day become emperor.
It was an exceedingly accurate judgment. Bera’s keen insight was now being sharply directed at Cayena.
“The rose embroidery is not excessive, yet it is used to perfection.”
“We will keep it as it is.”
“I will send the rest to the sewing room, Your Highness.”
She nodded.
Cayena looked at her reflection in the mirror and raised her hand with a flick. It looked as though strings were attached and someone was manipulating her.
It suited her quite well.
I have lived my entire life being controlled by someone else.
She had never realized she was a marionette dangling from someone’s strings. She had not known whose power she truly held in her hands.
I once believed it was all my own will.
She had learned far too much to continue living inside that delusion. Cayena had no intention of repeating the same mistake.
I will live as myself.
She dropped her arm as if the strings binding her had been cut.
“I need to change.”
She removed the dress and changed back into her everyday clothes.
“Where is Rezef?”
“He is still out, Your Highness.”
He had been quite busy lately, locked in a fierce power struggle with Duke Heinrich’s son over the position of successor.
Rezef, did you really think that every event raising my value would only add to your own power?
Even though he would one day become a cruel tyrant emperor, he was still just an eighteen-year-old boy right now. In comparison, though Cayena wore the shell of a young girl, she had lived two lifetimes. Having endured brutally harsh lives, she could only see him as a child.
You have completely overlooked the fact that there is someone else besides you who can lend me strength. How foolish.
Cayena said to Bera,
“I must go pay my respects to His Majesty.”
Esteban Hill, Emperor of the Eldaim Empire, lay in bed and drank the medicine he was given. Then, with eyes that had lost nearly all vitality and looked half-dead, he gazed at his daughter, Cayena.
“It is quite the rare occasion for you to come seeking me first.”
At his words, Cayena grasped the hem of her dress, curtsied gracefully, and spoke.
“Please forgive this daughter for all the unfilial acts I have committed until now, Your Majesty.”
“Enough.”
The emperor was not a man who would show warmth over a single remark. He knew full well that such words would wound Cayena’s pride, yet he spoke coldly anyway. He had long thought his daughter foolish and wondered when she would ever come to her senses.
“Though it is late, please look kindly upon this girl who now wishes to fulfill her duty as a child.”
The words were as sweet as honey. They were not the sort that should have come from Cayena.
The emperor’s eyebrows shot up in suspicion. At that moment, Cayena stepped closer to his bedside.
“Have you not been troubled on my account lately?”
Whether the emperor had truly been troubled was irrelevant. What mattered was showing that Cayena was capable of thinking this way.
“I have come to greet you and assure you that I am nearly recovered, so please do not worry.”
She took the bowl of medicinal tea that a servant had been about to offer. The way she naturally spooned the liquid to the emperor’s lips with a silver spoon flowed as smoothly as water.
So the rumors were true.
He had received reports that since the recent poisoning attempt on Princess Cayena, her demeanor had changed considerably. She had gained mercy and composure in both speech and action.
Her affectionate behavior was something he had not experienced since she was very young. At some point, the distance between father and daughter had begun to grow. Cayena had found the emperor uncomfortable, and he had come to regard her with contempt. It could not have been otherwise.
Yet the Cayena who now sat on the simple chair beside his bed and attended to him did not seem awkward or uncomfortable at all.
“Whose work is this?”
The emperor had lived his entire life as a ruler.
This incident could not possibly have occurred on its own. Unless the entire process of identifying the culprit and the aftermath had been fabricated.
The villainess is a marionette.