The most beautiful woman in the world danced in the center of the Grand Hall. Once the song ended, she raised her hand in greeting. The people around her cheered and spilled wine from their glasses. 

“Please dance with me as well, Your Highness!”

“It’s my turn now, Your Highness!”

The woman’s name was Cayena Hill, and she was the first princess of the Eldaim Empire. She was also the elder sister of His Majesty, Emperor Rezef.

“It’s the emperor’s turn now.”

Rezef, who had been watching the hall with his chin on his hand, soon made his way to Cayena. He replaced his cold expression with a smile and placed his lips on the back of her hand.

“Happy birthday, sister. Today, tomorrow, and forever after, please continue to be your beautiful self.”

Cayena laughed at Rezef’s words. “It’s as if you put honey on your lips!” Such middle-class flattery was her favorite sort. 

Rezef internally sneered at his sister, who sought validation through these meaningless compliments. 

‘You have to stay beautiful so that your usefulness doesn’t decrease.’

Cayena’s only merits were her legitimacy in the Imperial bloodline, her symbol as the most beautiful woman in the Empire, and her status as the one and only princess.

‘My beautiful, foolish doll.’

“Oh, Rezef,” Cayena said. She grabbed him and straightened his collar with her long hands. “You’re still a child.”

In reality, her attitude was nothing short of lèse-majesté. However, Cayena didn’t even realize that it was a problem. She saw her younger brother as someone below her, someone that she had to take care of. That was a misperception that Rezef had himself slowly encouraged.

“Do you like your gifts?” Rezef asked.

“Very much! I especially like this dress.”

“Since you love roses, I wanted to give you a dress that would remind you of them.”

He tenderly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and Cayena casually accepted his touch. 

She was used to that sort of kindness because she had been loved by so many.

“Now, will you do me the honor of dancing together?”

“Gladly.”

The music began anew as they got into position.

Today, like all other days, she danced around and around. In the Grand Hall, and in the hands of the emperor.

...***...

“Rezef!”

Cayena ran into the emperor’s bedroom.

“How could you just—” The court attendants were astonished at her nerve. Though she was the princess, there were still rules that Cayena had to observe. Even Cayena, no matter how ignorant she was, could not call the emperor by his name or run into his room without his permission. Her rash behavior only grew worse over time, and it would finally bring her to ruin.

The knights tried to stop her, but Rezef raised his hand to make them back down. “It’s fine,” he said.

Cayena, teary-eyed, ran into her younger brother’s arms.

“Rezef, this has to be a conspiracy. It’s a plot! Kill that insolent bitch now!”

But Rezef only looked down at his half-sister with indifferent eyes.

Not noticing his cold gaze, Cayena evilly continued to deride the other woman. “How dare that rude, dirty bitch try to lure in Duke Kedrey? It’s all her fault. He would be so cold to me if she—”

“Cayena.” 

Rezef pushed her off of him.

Rezef had brought down dumb male aristocrats using Cayena as a doll. He had also used her poisonous personality to keep the female aristocrats in line. Until now, she had done an excellent job… but she had gradually become a nuisance to him.

“Do you still not understand? I knew that you were an idiot, but I didn’t know that you were so dumb that you couldn’t read the situation.”

His cold words reached Cayena, and her instinct told her that something was horribly wrong. Unknowingly, she took a step back. Rezef grabbed her to keep her from running.

“You can’t even kill Olivia properly. You come running to me with your tail between your legs, and you expect me to help you?”

“Rezef…!”

“Do I have no choice but to take care of you myself? What a waste…”

He brushed Cayena’s trembling cheek with a gentle hand.

“How can you— how can you do…!”

“It’s unfortunate that you couldn’t seduce Duke Kedrey, but his vassal, Viscount Gillian, wants you, so I can at least throw you at him. Then we can negotiate.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Rezef, I’m your sister. How could you do this to me?”

Rezef sighed at his sister, who still didn’t understand the situation.

“You need to realize that all of your power is borrowed from me. Well, it’s too late for you to do anything about it, anyway.”

“I refuse! How dare you insult me!”

Cayena looked as if she was about to go mad.

It felt like the world and everything she believed in was collapsing around her all at once.

“You can’t do this to me! I’m the one who made you the emperor!”

Rezef laughed at her distressed cries. “You still haven’t realized that you were used? My poor, pitiful doll.”

“Why? Why are you doing this? Did I do something wrong? Are you angry at me? I honestly don’t know. You have no reason to do this to me.” Cayena managed to swallow down her anger and tried to persuade him as pitifully as possible. Her tears had never failed her before.

“Poor Cayena. You should have killed Olivia, then.” 

Shaking his head, Rezef went to sit on the sofa.

“It’s really sad. I can’t believe my older sister is such a horrible person.”

“What…?”

“Duke Kedrey asked if he could investigate the incident right? Well, I’ll allow it.”

“Rezef!”

He leaned on the sofa and looked at Cayena with frosty eyes.

“Lock that evil woman in her room.”

The knights grabbed her roughly. Cayena, who had never been treated like this, screamed.

“Let go! Let me go! This is crazy— How dare you? Who do you think I am?”

She tried to push away the knights’ hands, but her body was too fragile, having been sheltered her whole life. 

“Rezef—!”

Cayena called for Rezef as if she was about to spit up blood. But soon enough, she was dragged away by the knights, and the door of the bedroom closed tightly behind her.

...***...

The woman turned off the screen of her cell phone.

It was a novel she had read many times to check on the villainess’s fall. It was heartbreaking to read about how she was sold to Viscount Gillian to lead a miserable life.

It was just like what she had experienced.

“Manager, don’t you have a meeting?” asked a subordinate to the woman.

The woman nodded. “Yes, I’m coming.”

Even during work, the woman couldn’t stop thinking about the novel. She kept getting a strange sense of deja vu. The woman and the villainess were similar. They were both dolls that had been thoroughly used by someone.

“Are you leaving work already?”

The woman rarely left early, but her subordinate had asked because she had already packed her things. Without a word, the woman nodded and left for the elevator.

“Wait a moment.”

It was Executive Director Kim.

“Let’s go down together.”

The elevator door closed. 

“You’re leaving early today,” he said.

“…”

“I saw that your work performance in the mid-year review was good. You sure are competent.”

He put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. It felt like bugs were crawling all over her body.

“I’ll leave first,” said the woman.

She rushed out as soon as the elevator door opened. Behind her, the director asked, “Are you still upset?”

The woman stopped walking.

“Thanks to me, you’ve become the youngest team manager, and you’ll soon become the deputy manager as well.”

“You need to realize that all of your power is borrowed from me. Well, it’s too late for you to do anything about it, anyway.”

The woman laughed as she remembered Rezef’s lines in the novel. She looked back.

“You’re saying this because you need me again, aren’t you?”

Director Kim grinned and snapped his fingers at her. “You know, I only have one team manager right now.”

The woman laughed and turned back around. She was tired of living as someone’s doll.

That was when it happened.

“…Who are you?”

Someone was standing on the driver’s side of her car. He was wearing a black sweater and a hat that shaded his face. It felt ominous.

The man turned to her slowly. “It’s all your fault.”

The woman stepped back.

“It’s because of you that I’ve ended up like this!”

He rushed up to the woman and stabbed her stomach with a knife.

Director Kim, who was behind her, found the woman collapsed between two cars. The man grabbed his knife and attacked him as well.

“I’ll kill you, too!”

The woman, grasping at her wound, saw as Director Kim was attacked.

‘I guess villainesses all end the same way.’

Her vision dimmed.

‘It isn’t so bad to die like this.’

That was the woman’s last memory.

“Ugh…”

Her head was throbbing and she was thirsty. The woman curled in on herself as she coughed several times.

“Ha… ha…”

She cracked open her eyes. Someone’s voice was coming closer.

“Her Highness has awakened! Quickly, call the doctor!”

Holding her throbbing head, the woman looked around. 

What happened? She was definitely stabbed.

“Your Highness! Can you understand us?”

She could feel the nervous energy of the people rushing around her. She squinted her eyes into focus.

An old-fashioned woman—a foreigner—was looking at her anxiously. Strangely, the woman felt like she had seen her before. 

Then, the door opened, and someone came in.

“Announcing His Imperial Highness, the Prince.”

“Sister.”

It was a young man with golden hair. He narrowed the distance between them in an instant.

“Cayena, are you all right?”

‘…Cayena?’

The man held the woman’s hand. Then, the woman opened her eyes in shock.

How, how can this be?

“Rezef…”

The realization struck her like lightning. 

“Yes, sister. I’m here.”

The man kissed her hand carefully and looked at her with a worried expression.

“I’m back,” she said.

Then, she fainted.

Cayena slowly opened her eyes.

‘I’m really back.’

Lying on the bed, she thought about this chaotic situation.

Cayena was the villainess of the novel, ‘The Lady of the Black Rose’.

‘That’s right, it’s a novel.’

However, the situation was not as simple as that. In the novel, she acted as a proper villainess and, as befitting of such a role, was killed by her crazy husband.

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

Actually, most of the characters were like that. All characters except the heroine were socially powerful but insane. Rezef was a sociopath; Heinrich was mad with power; and Bayel—was he even human? Among them, Raphael, the male lead, seemed to be the most normal, but he also had some mental problems.

‘The novel was about how all the characters were influenced by the heroine.’

The original heroine, Olivia, was a living stabilizer that filled the characters’ deficiencies. Cayena was driven by her jealousy and tried to poison Olivia. But even though she was the villainess, Cayena alone wasn’t evil enough to actually kill her. 

Rather, she was used like a marionette by her tyrannic younger brother. Rezef wanted to get control of Olivia, so he controlled Cayena to poison her. It seemed to succeed, but Bayel, the powerful magician and the owner of the Black Rose Garden, gave 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, she wasn’t impressed by the narratives of the main characters.

Rather, she was drawn to the life of the villainess, Cayena. The reason she was so concerned about her story, though, turned out to be because it was her previous life.

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

For some reason, she had returned to Cayena’s life. More than that, it was also when she was only 19 years old, before she came of age.

‘I probably died, right?’

She only knew the person who stabbed her by his face. 

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

‘That’s already just a life gone by.’

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

The woman had been competent. She was 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 Cayena’s life.

‘How did I return as Cayena?’

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

Suddenly, she realized why she was in this condition.

‘This is when I drank the poison.’

Not too long ago, she was at a banquet when she drank some alcohol and began spitting up blood. The Grand Hall had echoed with screams and cries.

“Of all things…”

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

“Have you woken up?”

The maid who was stationed in the room approached her.

The maid wiped her 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 state of her beauty was still more important. However, she only closed her eyes, having no power to stop the maid and no reason to do so.

“I’ll begin wiping down your body.”

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

Rezef was a terrible tyrant and a poor ruler, and as his older sister, Cayena matched him in her viciousness.

They were not born good in the first place.

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

Rezef, her younger brother.

‘You never thought of me as family.’

Cayena had been thoroughly abandoned.

“Bring me a mirror.”

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

With her blue eyes, she looked at herself in the mirror and brushed the cheek of her reflection.

‘How terribly beautiful.’

The novel had repeatedly described Cayena’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 Cayena’s current value.

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

‘Will things be all right if I don’t live as 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 check 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 Rezef had taught her. She had personally experienced how her power was merely a mirage, and it could be stripped from her any time he wished.

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

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

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

Cayena needed to find a place to escape Rezef.

‘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 Rezef’s eyes?’

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

‘Marriage…’

Cayena, from the moment she opened her eyes, didn’t have the time to get angry or hesitate because of the situation. 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 someone who will help me.’

If she wanted to influence Rezef, she needed someone to move on her behalf.

However, all the people around her were placed there by Rezef.

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

Cayena remembered that in the past, it was Vera who was in charge around here.

Vera was also one of Rezef’s people. In other words, Cayena’s cute younger brother was controlling her even before she reached her age of majority.

She knew that she was already in Rezef’s hands, a dancing marionette.

‘There isn’t anyone here that isn’t one of Rezef’s people, anyway.’

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

Cayena asked Vera where Rezef was. “What about Rezef?”

“I believe that His Highness has been working since early in the morning to investigate your attempted assassination.” Vera looked at Cayena 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 Rezef, who was greatly angered that someone dared to poison the imperial family.

“I see,” Cayena answered gravely.

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

Cayena leaned back on the cushion with a faraway stare and a bluish complexion.

Her calm expression was very much unlike her usual self.

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

Cayena was not poisoned in her room, but rather at the party.

However, considering Cayena’s personality, it had been likely that she would have still beat her innocent ladies-in-waiting, saying that they had not supported her.

But Cayena did not cry out to summon Rezef to her or ask about what he was doing.

‘Was she that shocked?’

Cayena 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.”

Cayena called out to Vera somewhat kindly.

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.