The Villainess is a Marionette

Translator: thursdays PR: scarcecrow

The following scenes may depict violence and/or death that may be disturbing for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

***

Rezef was absorbed in one thought only.

“They dare disrespect me by taking what is mine...!”

Cayena was his. She was his peace that no one but himself was allowed to touch. But Rezef painfully realized that others could covet it.

He felt angry. He wanted to tear apart everyone that coveted what was unquestionably his.

He was the owner of this world anyway, so wouldn’t it be okay?

There were too many insects he needed to get rid of to succeed the throne.

In defiance of the imperial order, he put on a red cloak, took out a horse himself, and left the palace. It didn’t suit him to just give orders.

He would turn over the entire capital to see Cayena with his own eyes.

On the other hand, this situation was suspicious. Was this really a kidnapping? The circumstances seemed to clear-cut, but there was another possibility.

Cayena was trying to escape from his hands.

‘Is she trying to run away from me?’

His kind and beautiful peace seemed to fade into a minor role and disappear like sea foam from time to time.

Rezef thought it was just his mood, but he continued to have doubts.

He didn’t feel this way at the start. It was when he received reports that Cayena was reading travelogues that he was almost certain.

It was odd how she did not use her control over internal affairs for personal reasons but was fair and just.

She seemed to have built a well-organized system that could run even without her.

‘The only way Cayena can run away from me is by marriage.’

Freedom to marry whom she wanted… That was the biggest situation at hand.

“Your Highness, we’ve found a suspicious group!”

Rezef immediately turned his head to the subordinate’s report.

It was obvious that those who had helped with the kidnapping would not get away with all four limbs.

He needed a safe cage in which to protect Cayena. That was more evident than ever…

Rezef’s eyes were stained with violent madness.

“These are the men.”

Rezef looked down at them without getting off his horse. They had been tied up and forced to their knees, and he could tell from a glance that they were scoundrels.

“We caught a bunch of them stationed in an abandoned house. In addition, we found sleeping pills, rope, chains, and a carriage painted black.”

“What about my sister?”

“Her Highness has yet to be found.”

Rezef got off the horse and approached the kneeling gangsters who were watching him.

“Why were you hiding in an abandoned house and acting suspiciously?”

“…We will not deny that we are not honorable. But saying that we kidnapped Her Highness, the Princess? We’ve never planned such a sin.”

Rezef nodded.

Then, instead of shouting at the one who spoke to tell the truth, he pulled a gun from his waistband and shot him in the head.

Bang!

“Heuk!”

It was a neat, instantaneous death.

The unexpected boom frightened everyone nearby.

Rezef looked at the pistol, satisfied.

“The possession of guns is restricted for a good reason.”

The Eldaim Empire prohibited the private ownership of firearms by individuals other than those in the military.

The captives may have been scoundrels, but they were too poor to own guns.

They shuddered.

The head of the man in the middle burst, and he died. They would soon go that way, too.

The prince was rumored to be a brute, but who knew that he was such a cruel being?

Rezef reloaded the gun and held the muzzle to the head of the next person.

“Now, you tell me.”

The man hesitated for a moment and gulped.

It was true that they had all taken part in Cayena’s kidnapping. However, the difference was that they were not hired by Henverton Gillian but by Zenon Evans.

Should he tell the truth? But would telling the truth even ensure he would live?

They were employed by Zenon, but they did not know who had hired the others.

While he continued to stall, Rezef pulled the trigger again without a word.

Bang!

Now two bodies were on the floor.

“You have some nerve, still thinking about this.”

Rezef reloaded the gun and pointed it at the man beside the corpses.

Seeing that the prince was allowing him one last chance, he confessed right away.

“We really don’t know our employers!”

He spoke quickly, anxious that Rezef would pull the trigger.

“But I heard that the younger Gillian was taking a carriage with Her Highness from the temple

not far from here. Our anonymous employer ordered us to raid the carriage.”

“…Gillian.”

Rezef also knew him well. He was a vulgar and terrible human being. In addition, he was completely fascinated by Cayena’s beauty to the point he lost all reason. That was why Rezef had tried to frame him as the culprit of the poisoning incident. It was easy to manipulate such a greedy man.

“I didn’t know he was crazy enough to kidnap the princess.”

He already ran a secret club that did all sorts of things, but that wasn’t such a big deal.

“Haa.”

Rezef sighed and swept back his hair.

His head hurt from anger. Why did so many things in the world not know their place?

How dare something worth less than a bug covet his sister?

“That’s why I hate things that don’t know their place. They always cross the line.”

His eyes sank bleakly even more.

Those who still survived from Rezef anxiously watched him.

Would they be okay now that they admitted to everything?

Rezef ordered his attendant to assemble the central army at the temple immediately and got on top of his horse again.

He said nothing about the kidnapping. They harbored a very small hope that maybe they could live.

The attendant pointed to the captive men and asked,

“What should we do with these men?”

Rezef looked at the attendant with an expression that seemed to question why that had to be even asked.

“Kill them all.”

With that said, Rezef raced to the temple. He dragged along the central army unit posted nearby.

Soon, they could see the temple.

But the temple was quite noisy. Was abduction usually such a noisy crime?

His eyebrows jumped up in wonder.

There were elite knights surrounding the temple.

An emblem reflected on the torchlight caught his eye. It was a pattern of a family he knew very well.

‘The Kedrey duchy?’

In other words, someone else had arrived at the temple before him.

Then, Raphael walked out of the temple with Cayena in his arms.

“Sister!”

Rezef jumped off from his horse when he saw her.

He pushed through the knights who were surprised to see him and went to Cayena.

Since Raphael was holding Cayena, he only bowed his head at Rezef.

“I greet His Imperial Highness.”

Rezef had no mind to receive the greeting. Cayena’s condition was a mess.

She was still passed out, her hair tangled, dress crumpled, chains jangling from her ankles, and a pale, bloodless face…

Rezef did not know he would ever see Cayena in this state.

Instantly, the sight in front of him wobbled. His anger made his vision dull.

“The criminal?”

Raphael pointed his chin behind Rezef.

Looking around, there were many men who were bound. Some of them were familiar.

Then, Rezef’s eyes flashed.

He strode in front of Henverton.

“You worthless being, lower than a bug, dare to—!”

Henverton looked at Rezef with a sagging face as the drug wore off. He smiled with his bloodied mouth.

“Why are you doing this to me?” asked Henverton.

Rezef, who was about to punch his face, stopped. Henverton was laughing at him.

“This wasn’t because of me, it was because of Your Highness.”[1]

Saying that, Henverton giggled as if he couldn’t hold it in.

“Do you think things like this will stop if I disappear?”

“Impertinent words!”

The knights of the central army, who were astonished by Henverton’s crazy behavior, turned to him. However, Henverton knew that he would die and had nothing to hold him back.

“You seem to value your sister quite preciously…”

Rezef lowered his hand. He was holding himself back to hear what he had to say. Henverton said,

“You better watch over her well in the future.”

Rezef knew that Henverton was not the only one behind this abduction. Henverton was clearly referring to his partner in crime.

“What do you mean? What else do you know?”

Then, Henverton mocked him with a face stained with madness.

“What if I don’t want to tell you?”

Rezef was so infuriated that instead of losing his reason, the burning candle in his mind turned off, leaving him with darkness.

Would he feel better if he took a gun to the man’s mouth and pulled the trigger?

But he couldn’t do that because they needed to find the other criminals.

Rezef began to organize the area.

“Take everyone who tried to kill the imperial family to the imperial prison.”

“Yes, sir!”

After ordering them like that, Rezef approached Raphael.

In the meantime, Raphael had released the shackles on Cayena’s ankles. He had taken her to the carriage and was now fixing her hair.

Why did this scene look hateful to Rezef?

He fiddled with his waistband. Rezef appreciated Raphael’s help, but he wasn’t pleased with how he stuck by Cayena’s side.

Then a thought struck his mind like lightning.

‘Ah, is that it?’

Was this what made Cayena decide to run away?

~~~

[1] Your Highness: It was left ambiguous whether Henverton was referring to Cayena or Rezef.