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Vera startled as if she was electrocuted and looked at Cayena.

Had Cayena ever been this friendly to one of her servants?

“Your hands are chapped,” Cayena said, grabbing Vera’s hand and looking around.

Seeing Cayena’s own straight and slender fingers, Vera wanted to hide her hands behind her in shame.

“You must have suffered a lot.”

“…Not at all, Your Highness.”

“Have you ever heard the term, ‘Life flashing before your eyes’?”

Cayena pulled Vera over to sit on the bed.

“The moment I drank the poison, I really thought that I would die. In that moment, I thought about the people who supported me. Then, I remembered you, who had worked so hard for me all this time.”

Vera was inwardly delighted by Cayena’s words.

Until now, she had been Rezef’s faithful servant, holding out on the belief that he would acknowledge her one day. She believed that when Rezef became the emperor, he would recognize and appreciate her true value. However, her desire had gone unfulfilled so far, and it would only continue to be delayed.

Cayena was like a person who came straight out of Vera’s heart and told her the words that she so desperately wanted to hear.

“I hope that I’m not too late in saying this, but thank you, Vera.”

Vera’s eyes quickly turned red. “How absurd…”

She thought of all the troubles that she had been through. Cayena gently hugged Vera and patted her shoulder, as if she understood her. Vera couldn’t hold back her tears anymore.

“Don’t cry. We still have a lot of time left together. I’d like for us to get along.”

Vera forced herself to swallow her cries and hiccupped.

Cayena didn’t push her away, but rather continued to hold and support her. Then, she addressed the other ladies-in-waiting in the room, who also had red eyes from crying, and asked for a wet towel.

“Thank you, everyone. It was only due to your efforts that I’m still alive.”

“No, Your Highness!”

All the ladies in the room fell to the floor, bowing.

Vera was embarrassed that she could not stop her tears. Cayena noticed her discomfort, and she sighed as she smiled.

She asked the other ladies-in-waiting, “Hmm. Is there anyone here who knows how to calm Vera down?”

Everyone burst into laughter at her remark. The atmosphere in the room quickly turned warm and mellow.

“Everyone is so tender-hearted,” Cayena said.

They smiled awkwardly and shyly at her words. It was pleasant to be praised so warmly by their superior. They realized then that Cayena had a soft spot and could be nice.

It was just as Cayena intended.

“Now, I bet you feel a bit embarrassed to look at me, so you can go take a break, Vera. But before that, I do need some new clothes. My old ones seem to have turned into handkerchiefs.”

Everyone giggled at her joke as Vera’s face turned red.

“Your, Your Highness!”

Cayena laughed and comforted Vera, when suddenly, she curled up and started to cough loudly. The ladies-in-waiting recalled that Cayena was still a patient. Frightened, they began to yell.

“Your Highness!”

“Call a doctor, quickly!”

Once again, they started to look upon Cayena as a patient who needed to be looked after. Their feelings were so shallow.

Cayena patiently followed their instructions.

“You should never allow yourself to be overstressed,” said the doctor who had entered her room.

In that brief moment, Cayena’s energy had been drained to a surprising extent.

“You’ll be all right with some rest,” said the doctor, as if Cayena wasn’t in serious condition—but she didn’t look much better than before.

The ladies’ expressions also darkened. If there was a problem with the princess, there was no way that they would avoid being reprimanded.

“Princess, Prince Rezef is asking to see you. Should we allow him in?”

‘It’s finally here.’

The moment that Rezef asked to see her.

“That’s fine.”

Cayena rose again from where she was lying down. Anybody could see that it was too much for her. She couldn’t, and shouldn’t, stand up.

But she had to, because she was about to face the real culprit of her poisoning incident: her younger brother.

‘He didn’t intend to kill me, but he intended to frame someone with the crime.’

She truly was being used by Rezef. The nickname Marionette suited her well.

The door opened, and a handsome young man with blue eyes and blonde hair walked in.

“Announcing His Highness, Prince Rezef.”

The ladies-in-waiting all bowed their heads and looked at him with restless eyes.

Rezef Hill was Cayena’s half-brother, the second male lead, and the future emperor of the Eldaim Empire. He was a morally depraved person who killed the current emperor to take the throne.

Despite his handsome appearance, Rezef was more sadistic than anyone else.

The current emperor, their father, was cold-blooded even to his children. It was to the point that if others saw how he interacted with them, they wouldn’t even think that they were his children.

He was especially severe with Rezef. The emperor refused to share his powers with his young son. Having grown up under this cold treatment, Rezef naturally grew up to be a tyrant. Olivia helped Rezef by showing him affection.

‘He’s a poor child, hungry for warmth and someone who cares.’

Cayena was angry at him, but she could see that much.

Rezef looked as though he had to find her right after an outing, wearing both a coat and epaulettes.

“How are you feeling, Cayena?”

Cayena almost burst into laughter. It was such a strange thing to ask, coming from the person who made her sick.

She put a smile on her face. “I can bear it.”

Rezef, who had expected Cayena to complain, paused for a moment at the unexpected reaction.

He had never seen his sister speak so calmly and gently.

“…Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

He came to her bedside and sat down without asking for her permission.

‘Now, I can clearly see how carelessly you treat me.’

His tone was friendly, but there was no respect or courtesy. It was absurd to say that they were close. Rezef and Cayena were incapable of being friendly. Each of his actions showed just what he thought of Cayena.

“I asked the doctor, and he told me that your recovery seems to be on track. You’ll be completely well, soon.”

“It seems I worried you needlessly.”

“Don’t say such things.”

As their conversation continued, Rezef became confused. It was the first time he was able to speak so calmly with Cayena.

Maybe it was because she was sick and had no energy.

‘Something’s definitely different from the usual.’

He couldn’t say what exactly it was, but that was what his intuition told him. Moreover, Cayena’s mature attitude made it feel like he was dealing with someone else behind her mask.

She didn’t feel like his sister.

“You must be busy. Is it all right that you came here?”

Rezef looked at her with his glistening blue eyes, trying to understand why she was acting so abnormally. On the surface, Cayena just seemed to be tired from being poisoned and sick.

“My mind couldn’t be at peace until I saw that you were safe. Please forgive my immaturity.”

Rezef was bewildered. She hadn’t grumbled or been irritable like she usually was.

‘If she was her normal self, she would have asked about ten times when I would catch the culprit.’

Her lips, which had always been loose, had suddenly closed like a clam, and Rezef could not read her expression.

‘It must be because she’s sick. She was poisoned, so of course she would be afraid.’

He understood Cayena like the back of his hand, and it was difficult to think of her in any other way. No, it was more accurate to say that he didn’t want to think about her in a different way. He had always thought of her as a beautiful but otherwise useless woman, and that was as it should have been.

Therefore, he concluded that he was overthinking things.

“I swear to find the one who poisoned you with my own hands and make him pay. So please don’t worry too much, sister.”

With that said, Rezef squeezed Cayena’s hand to reassure her.

‘You really don’t see me as anything more or less than a tool to gain your throne.’

Cayena smiled, feeling detached. Getting confirmation of the things she knew felt very strange.

Right now, the two of them looked like the platonic ideal of a wonderful sibling relationship. If one didn’t know the truth, they may have thought the two of them were very affectionate. This was because her handsome younger brother acted very obediently and always did what would satisfy her.

‘That’s why I would never have thought that he would poison me.’

But now, Cayena was well aware that her opponent was a predator who hid his claws while pretending to be a cat.

It was Rezef, not anybody else, who tried to poison Cayena.

‘To be precise, he was trying to create a situation in which I was clearly poisoned.’

So it was even more vicious and evil.

She stared blankly at Rezef. “Stop looking for the culprit, Rezef.”

She felt him flinch.

“…What are you talking about, Cayena?”

In Rezef’s mind, Cayena should have been running around, telling him to find out who was trying to hurt her. Why did she say to stop the search?

It was so unbelievable that his head went blank for a moment.

Release Rate: 1 chapter a week

Release Day: Thursday