English Title
Official/Literal: The Villainess is a Marionette

Alternative: The Villainess Turns the Hourglass / Marionette / The Villainess is a Puppet

Synopsis (Bio)
Princess Cayena Hill was renowned as the most beautiful woman in the entire empire—but she was also a short-tempered, arrogant fool who lived solely as a puppet. Used by her tyrannical younger brother, Rezef, to secure his throne, and desperately infatuated with the cold Duke Kedrey who utterly despised her, Cayena met a miserable, tragic end as a discarded pawn.

But when a modern woman who once read Cayena's story transmigrates into the princess's body just before the tragedy begins, she refuses to let history repeat itself.

"I will make you the Emperor, Rezef. In return, give me my freedom."

Armed with the absolute knowledge of the original plot, Cayena sheds her foolish persona and cuts the strings that once bound her. No longer a helpless marionette, she begins to outmaneuver the empire's master tacticians, charming the dangerous Duke Kedrey and subtly manipulating her power-hungry brother. If the world demands her to play the villainess, she will become the most elegant, calculated strategist the court has ever seen to secure her ultimate freedom and survival.