Episode 6

“We need to reinvestigate the assassination attempt on the Imperial princess,” Regef said, untying the strings of his cape. He looked like his soul had been drained out of him. Regef turned to his adjutant, Jannon Evans. “How many times have we orchestrated the downfall of some noble? Choose someone among them that has a family to support—someone who would willingly face the guillotine in exchange for money.”

“As you command.”

Jannon Evans thought that Regef was acting rather strange. The prince often looked tired or irritated after visiting Kayena, but Jannon had never seen him look so dispirited before.

“...Also, I need more people around Princess Kayena. Monitor her every movement.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The more Regef thought about it, the stranger it was. He had always thought that Kayena was under his control. Could it be that it was the other way around?

He thought not. She wasn’t smart, sensible, or wise enough to do so.

Then, is someone near her giving her advice?

It could have been Count Hamel, but why would he allow Kayena to reveal his weaknesses to Regef like this?

Before Jannon left to carry out his order, Regef called to him again. “And find me information on Olivia Grace.”

“As you command.”

Jannon left. Regef’s head was a mess of thoughts, and he ran his hand through his hair.

“What are you really up to, Kayena?” he wondered aloud to himself.

The emperor was old and sick. He was as good as dead, already. Though he had other children born out of wedlock, Regef and Kayena were his only officially acknowledged children. The only other person with a claim to the throne was the emperor’s half-brother, Archduke Heinrich.

Ordinarily, Heinrich would have no claim to the throne at all, as he was a bastard child, not recognized by the church. Furthermore, he had an incurable disease, and nobody paid any mind to someone whose fate was sealed in that way.

But suddenly, a young aristocrat had appeared, claiming he was Heinrich’s son. His name was Easter Heinrich.

After being claimed by the Archduke, Easter had quickly positioned the Archduke’s mother to be the empress, and he was thus recognized as a potential legitimate successor to the throne.

People talked, wondering if the emperor’s old age or illness had caused him to act irrationally. But that hadn’t been the case. It was Easter who had manipulated and ruined the emperor by taking control of the family of the emperor’s lover, Catherine Lindberg.

Regef continued musing out loud. “To think that he would take her hostage like that…”

The emperor, instead of leaving Catherine and her family to their doom, had legitimized Archduke Heinrich.

“If only I had an army…!”

Regef felt his anger flare every time Archduke Heinrich’s so-called family made him feel helpless like this. Family? They were more like a gang.

Regef had been thinking of using Kayena to send Archduke Heinrich to his end, but the events of today were forcing him to revise his plan.

Regef had spent a long time making Kayena helpless. He had slowly tied her hands and feet, so that she became reliant on him for everything and she couldn’t do anything on her own. He thought he had succeeded, but that was before he had talked to her earlier today.

Regef lay on the sofa. He couldn’t forget Kayena’s eyes – those icy blue eyes that had looked unwaveringly at him. They were completely different from her previously empty eyes that had only sought out pleasure. Regef had never seen such a profound gaze from anyone among his peers.

Did his older sister always have such striking eyes?

“Kayena…” Regef covered his eyes with his hand, blocking the light that was coming in from the windows. Then, he lifted his hand again. It was the same hand that Kayena had kissed.

“My foolish but beautiful doll.”

He gently touched the back of that hand. Then, examining the hand, he slowly lowered it, letting it brush against his lips.

Her eyes had looked at him so coolly and directly…

“What should I do with you?” he whispered.


***


The fever gave way to nightmares.

“You can do it well, right, Subordinate Jung?”

The nightmare was a jumble of scenes from her workplace and the Imperial family.

“And yet you call yourself the Imperial princess!”

“It’s all your fault!”

Kayena’s insides twisted in pain as her eyes flew open.

...It was just a dream, she quickly realized.

She lay still on her bed, staring blankly as the tears ran down the side of her face. She soon came back to her senses, realizing that her tears were meaningless. She had already become numb to the sorrow and pain from her memories.

“Are you awake, my lady?”

Vera came to her side and began to wipe away Kayena’s tears with a towel dipped in lukewarm water.

What sort of nightmare made her cry like this? she wondered.

“You should drink some water, Your Highness.”

With that, she brought over some lemon water for Kayena.

It had already been two weeks since Kayena’s conversation with Regef. Since then, Kayena had been subdued. It wasn’t just that she was recovering – she knew needed to act unassuming to allay Regef’s suspicions.

Regef was truly evil. Kayena knew that he would kill the “culprit” who had poisoned Kayena without mercy. He would sacrifice others without hesitation if it meant saving his own skin.

Kayena knew that she, too, had been a typical victim of that behavior.

My marriage shouldn’t affect the flow of the overall story. I just need to find a position that will be difficult for others to manipulate.

Only then would she be safe, and the story as she understood it would be able to go on without her.

But she knew that Regef was suspicious, and he would continue to scrutinize Kayena.

I do need to stop him from killing Olivia. But I’ll only interfere up to that point.

In any case, Kayena was the one who had attempted to poison Olivia, having been tricked by Regef. Even though her crime had been erased with her return to this life, she couldn’t forget what she had done.

Kayena didn’t want to be manipulated anymore. And she had been sincere in her request to Regef about choosing her own husband.

Though, I’m not actually planning on marrying someone.

Kayena intended to make up a person and pretend to go off and marry them, thus making her escape.

Until then, I just need to continue surviving and keep Regef happy.

“Your Highness, they say that the culprit has been arrested,” Vera said, interrupting her thoughts.

Kayena wiped her mouth with a silk handkerchief and replied, “Is that so?”

So, he did as I told him to. Kayena was not in a rush. She only had to wait for the right time, when Regef started to make the moves that she wanted.

“Today is the day of his execution. Will you be going to see it?”

Kayena shook her head. She had no desire to watch something so dreadful.

Kayena knew that in this time period, people gathered to watch executions. Now, Kayena only felt repulsed by the practice.

**

Kayena thought on the report Vera gave her about the nobleman’s execution.

The aristocrat who had allegedly poisoned Her Imperial Princess Kayena had kneeled in front of the guillotine. All eyes were on him as he spoke. “I did it because I loved her too much! Not even death can stop my love for her!”

The criminal was an unknown aristocrat who had fallen from grace. The nobles had clamored among themselves, asking if this man had been present at the banquet hall.

To think that Regef would find someone willing to die in just two weeks, Vera thought.

The nobles were hesitant to talk about the poisoning case, since rumor had it that the princess’s condition was serious.

Regef’s supporters were making a fuss about how Regef, though he was young, should be officially appointed as the crown prince. The nobles who supported Archduke Heinrich were trying to hush them and the incident. They tried to sway other nobles’ opinions by saying things such as, “Prince Regef isn’t the only one who can succeed the throne! We can’t be too hasty in our decision.”

However, all their words were drowned out by a well-timed article in the gossip columns that described how Princess Kayena’s beauty had led to someone’s death.

He had to buy off the newspapers as well. He must have been busy.

Gossip flowed easily from people’s mouths, and even though Archduke Heinrich’s people had been devoted to pushing forward their agenda, Heinrich was now pushed out of the public eye by the incident.

Heinrich’s people had been overshadowed, as everyone was much more interested in talking about Kayena’s beauty and its tragic consequences.

“You’ve always been beautiful, but people are really noticing it more now, aren’t they, Your Highness?”

Kayena laughed at Vera’s words. Kayena’s beauty had already been famous, but now, the rest of the empire seemed to think that the word “beauty” alone seemed to be lacking to describe her.

A beauty that calls to death, she mused.

One gossip magazine had likened Kayena to a rose with poisonous thorns. The rumors and attention she received continued to grow steadily, and when Kayena canceled her appearances at the parties she had previously scheduled, the excitement turned into a fervor of gossip.

Already, greatly embellished stories of the poisoning incident were being told to further the allure of Kayena Hill’s beauty.

“They say that the nobles are looking forward to your coming-of-age ceremony,” Vera said. The ceremony would involve an unprecedented number of suitors. “You may get engaged to someone soon. Do you think Lord Kidrey would be a good match?” Vera asked carefully.

Kayena knew that her answer would be parroted straight back to Regef. She feigned ignorance. “I’m not sure. It seems like it might be too much trouble, considering that the emperor would not approve.”