Episode 2

***

Kayena slowly opened her eyes.

I’m really back.

Lying on the bed, she thought about the mess she was in.

Kayena was the villainess of the novel The Lady of the Black Rose.

That’s right, it’s supposed to be a novel, she thought.

However, the situation was not as simple as that. In the novel, she had been a proper villainess and, as befit such a role, was eventually killed by her crazy husband.

In her other life, she had been born in the Republic of Korea. Of course, in that life she didn’t remember her life as Kayena, but she had happened to read a novel called The Lady of the Black Rose. In that novel, Kayena was portrayed as a foolish and wicked woman.

Actually, most of the characters in the novel were like that. All the characters except the heroine were socially powerful but morally corrupt. Regef was a sociopath; Heinrich was mad with power; Bayel—was he even human? Among them, Raffaello, the male lead, seemed to be the most normal, but even he had some issues.

Kayena recalled more details. The novel was about how all the characters were influenced by the heroine.

The original heroine, Olivia, had been a living stabilizer that balanced out the other characters’ deficiencies. Kayena was eventually driven by jealousy to try to poison Olivia. But even though she was the villainess of the story, Kayena alone hadn’t been evil enough to actually kill her.

Rather, she had been used like a marionette by her tyrannical younger brother. Regef wanted Olivia out of the picture, so he had manipulated Kayena in order to poison her. The plan seemed to succeed, but Bayel, the powerful magician and the owner of the Black Rose Garden, had given Olivia his power and revived her.

That was why the title of the novel was The Lady of the Black Rose.

Afterward, the story predictably punished the wicked characters.

However, as the reader, the woman hadn’t been impressed by the narratives of the main characters.

Rather, she was drawn to the life of the villainess, Kayena. She now realized that the reason she was so concerned about Kayena’s story, though, was that it was her previous life.

To think that I was the villainess of that novel...

For some reason, she had returned to Kayena’s life. More than that, it was also when she was only nineteen years old, before she had come of age.

I probably died in my other life, right?

The only thing she could remember about the person who stabbed her was his face.

She remembered his face from a scandal there had been at the company—the man had been having an affair. He had to turn over the project he was working on because of that.

Oh well. That life is already over.



She may have gained many things, but it had been a wretched life.

The woman had been competent – more than competent enough to be usable and more than enough to pose a threat to others. Executive Director Kim had coaxed her to follow his commands and controlled her. It was just like what had happened to Kayena.

How did I return as Kayena?

She remembered that she had eventually been abandoned by Regef and married—sold—to Viscount Gillian. Then, in the end, she was gruesomely murdered by her insane husband.

Suddenly, she realized why her head was throbbing.

This is the part of the novel where I drank poison.

She recalled that she had been at a banquet where she drank some alcohol and then began spitting up blood. The Grand Hall had echoed with screams and cries.

“Of all possible moments…”

Why did she have to return to this moment, when her body was still sick?

“Have you woken up?”

The maid who was stationed in the room approached her. She wiped Kayena’s face with a wet towel and arranged her hair as if it was only natural to do so.

It was bizarre. She had nearly died, but the maid was still more preoccupied with state of her beauty. Still, Kayena only closed her eyes, having no power to stop the maid and no reason to do so.

“I’ll begin cleaning your body.”

Her ladies-in-waiting began to wash her body and change her into new clothes, and Kayena lost herself in her thoughts.

Regef was a terrible tyrant and a poor ruler, and she knew that his older sister, Kayena had matched him in her viciousness.

They were not born good in the first place.

He was cruel, impatient, and impudent. Kayena’s ruin had been in not knowing that he would act the same way to her, too.

Regef, her younger brother.

He never even thought of me as family.

Kayena had been thoroughly abandoned.

“Bring me a mirror,” she said.

A lady-in-waiting lifted a large mirror and placed it in front of her.

She looked at her blue eyes in the mirror and brushed her cheek with her fingers.

How terribly beautiful.

The novel had repeatedly described Kayena’s beauty to the point of exhaustion. Looking at herself, though, she thought that this sort of beauty was almost a talent.

But in the end, this beautiful form will only be used as the emperor’s doll.

This was the extent of Kayena’s current value.

Motionless, she glanced at her lemon-colored hair in the mirror.

Will things be all right if I decide not to be a villainess in the future?

No. She was still a princess of the Empire.

As long as her children were viable successors to the throne, she would be subject to constant scrutiny for the rest of her life.

Right now, I don’t have any power.

All she had was this terribly beautiful face.

She knew that its value was no better than a rare white tiger.

Beauty is not true power.

That was the reality that Regef had taught her. She had personally experienced how her power was merely a mirage, how it could be stripped from her any time Regef wished.

I’m glad that I at least came back to a point before it was too late.

Their father, the previous emperor, was still alive. This meant that there was still a way to contain Regef.

But there’s not much time left before Regef takes the throne.

Kayena needed to find a way to escape Regef.

The only way to achieve that is to get married.

Of course, she couldn’t marry someone like the insane Viscount Gillian.

How can I run away while deceiving Regef’s eyes?

She didn’t want to live as a princess anymore. Even so, she couldn’t escape without a plan.

Marriage…

From the moment she had opened her eyes, Kayena didn’t have the time to get angry or hesitate. The palace was filled with schemes and tricks. She had returned to a poisoned body, and it had been like an alarm; her consciousness was immediately put on edge.

I need to find someone who will help me.

If she wanted to influence Regef, she needed someone who could act on her behalf.

However, all the people around her had been placed there by Regef.

Kayena’s looked at all of her ladies-in-waiting, one after the other. They were all unimportant characters. Then, her gaze settled on one person. It was Vera, the senior lady-in-waiting.

Kayena remembered that in the past, it was Vera who had been in charge around here.

Vera was also one of Regef’s people. In other words, Kayena’s cute younger brother had been controlling her even this early on.

She knew that she was already firmly in Regef’s grasp, a dancing marionette.

There isn’t anyone here that isn’t already one of Regef’s people, anyway.

She recalled how frequently Vera showed up in the novel. It could be useful to bring Vera over to her side.

Kayena asked Vera where Regef was. “Where is my brother?”

“I believe that His Highness has been working since early in the morning to investigate your attempted assassination.” Vera looked at Kayena and added, “This is a major incident. I’ve heard that he has managed to narrow down the suspect list quite considerably. His Highness will never forgive the one who has harmed you.”

Many eyes were following Prince Regef, and anyone could tell he was greatly angered that someone had dared to poison the Imperial family.

“I see,” Kayena answered gravely.

Vera handed the wet towel and bucket to the maid next to her and glanced at the princess.

Kayena leaned back on the cushion with a faraway stare and a pale complexion.

Vera noted that Kayena’s calm expression was very much unlike her usual self.

I had expected that she would hit me, at the very least.

Kayena hadn’t been poisoned in her room, but rather at the party. However, considering Kayena’s personality, Vera thought it was likely that she would have still beat her innocent ladies-in-waiting, saying that they had not supported her in her time of need.

But Kayena did not cry out to summon Regef to her or to inquire further about what he was doing.

Was she that shocked?

Kayena didn’t look shocked or scared. It would be a little strange to say that she was acting this way because she was hurt, but Vera had no other way to explain the situation. Vera couldn’t help but feel that a storm was brewing.

Her mind was filled with speculation.

“Vera,” Kayena called out to her, somewhat kindly.