Episode 3

Vera startled as if she had been electrocuted and looked at Kayena.

Had Kayena ever been this friendly to one of her servants before?

“Your hands are chapped,” Kayena said, grabbing Vera’s hand and looking it over.

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

“You must have been through a lot.”

“...Not at all, Your Highness.”

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

Kayena 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 all the people who had supported me in my lifetime. Then, I remembered you, who had worked so hard for me all this time.”

Vera was delighted by Kayena’s words, but she didn’t let it show.

Until now, Vera had been Regef’s faithful servant, holding out hope that he would acknowledge all the work she had done for him one day. She believed that when Regef became 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.

It was like Kayena had come 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 as she became teary-eyed. “How absurd...”

She thought of all the troubles that she had been through. Kayena 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 better.”

Vera forced herself to swallow her cries and hiccupped.

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

“Thank you, everyone. It was thanks 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. Kayena 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 here is so tender-hearted,” Kayena said.

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

It was just as Kayena 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!” Vera stuttered.

Kayena laughed and was comforting Vera when she suddenly curled up and started to cough loudly. The ladies-in-waiting recalled that Kayena was still recovering from being poisoned. Frightened, they began to yell for help.

“Your Highness!”

“Call a doctor, quickly!”

Once again, they started to dote upon Kayena as a patient who needed to be looked after. Their emotions were so fickle and easily changed..

Kayena patiently followed their instructions.

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

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

“You’ll be all right with some rest,” said the doctor, as if Kayena 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 Regef is asking to see you. Should we allow him in?”

It’s finally here.

It was the moment when Regef asked to see her.

“That’s fine.”

Kayena rose again from where she was lying down. Anybody could see that it was too much for her. There was no way that she should be trying to stand up right now.

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

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

She truly was being used by Regef. 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 Regef.”

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

Regef Hill was Kayena's half-brother, the second male lead in the novel Kayena had read in her other life, and the future emperor of the Eldyme Empire. He was a morally depraved person who would eventually kill the current emperor to take the throne.

Despite his handsome appearance, Regef 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 Regef. The emperor refused to share his powers with his young son. Having grown up under this cold treatment, Regef naturally grew up to be a tyrant. Olivia helped Regef by showing him affection.

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

Kayena was angry at him, but she could understand that much.

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

“How are you feeling, Kayena?”

Kayena almost burst into laughter. It was such a strange thing to ask, coming from the person who had made her this way.

She put on a smile. “I can bear it.”

Regef, who had expected Kayena 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 in it. It would be absurd to say that they were close. Regef and Kayena were incapable of being friendly with each other. Each of his actions showed just what he thought of Kayena.

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

“It seems I worried you needlessly.”

“Don’t say such things.”

As their conversation continued, Regef became confused. It was the first time he had ever been able to speak so calmly with Kayena.

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

Something’s definitely different from the usual, he thought.

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

It didn’t feel like this was his sister.

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

Regef looked at her with his glistening blue eyes, trying to understand why she was acting so abnormal. On the surface, Kayena seemed to just 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.”

Regef was bewildered. She hadn’t grumbled or been irritable like he had assumed she would.

If she was her normal self, she would have asked at least ten times by now when I would catch the culprit.

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

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

He understood Kayena 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, Regef squeezed Kayena’s hand to reassure her.

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

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

Right now, from the outside 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 suspected that he was the one who poisoned me.

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

It was Regef, not anybody else, who had tried to poison Kayena.

To be precise, he was trying to create a situation in which I was very obviously poisoned.

So it was even more vicious and evil.

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

She felt him flinch.

“...What are you talking about, Kayena?”

In Regef’s mind, Kayena should have been agitated, urgently telling him to find out who was trying to hurt her. Why did she tell him to stop the search?

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