The Villainess is a Marionette

Translator: thursdays PR: scarcecrow

“This way, please.”

Olivia opened the parlor door and welcomed Raphael in.

She prepared the tea herself. She retrieved some black tea leaves from a silver container with a beautiful ruby handle. Cayena had instructed her to serve Raphael a strong brew with it.

“I hope this suits your taste.”

The fact that the princess’s lady-in-waiting made him tea meant that he was a valued guest.

Raphael received the cup of tea. The black tea inside the teacup was quite dark. Its aroma was strong but not irritating.

He noticed that it was the tea that he had gifted Cayena last time.

‘Strongly brewed black tea.’

Olivia couldn’t have known his preferences since this was their first meeting. That meant that Princess Cayena must have informed her beforehand.

Raphael felt that Cayena was becoming more difficult to understand. She acted like she wanted to appeal to his good side, but at the same time, she wasn’t really interested in him.

When Olivia noticed his subtle expression, she asked, “Would you like me to prepare a different type of tea?”

Raphael’s gaze briefly moved away from the cup. He glanced at Olivia and said calmly,

“No. I like this one.”

Baston replied energetically as if to make up for his previous rudeness.

“The taste of this tea is top quality!”

Olivia laughed at the overly passionate words.

“I’m glad.”

Olivia chose a suitable topic to converse about before Cayena arrived.

“I heard that you are donating a building to the imperial academy. That place means quite a lot to me.”

When she was a student, the Kedrey dukedom had decided to sponsor her.

Baston asked with an interested expression.

“You’ve attended the imperial academy?”

“For a very short time. That was when the duchy decided to sponsor me.”

“Aha! Your paths have been intertwined for a long time, huh? Isn’t that wonderful, Master?”

“Sure,” Raphael replied, not feeling any wonder.

Olivia felt puzzled as she saw Raphael’s cold look. What part of this man was rumored to be a gentleman?

‘It would only make sense if you call him that for not flirting with women. But if so, aren’t the standards for being a gentleman too low?’

“Do you have any requests? Would you perhaps like a tour of the palace?”

Raphael refused firmly. “I’ll wait here.”

Olivia wondered if it was uncomfortable for him to be around the woman he was almost engaged to.

“If you feel uncomfortable, I will call for another lady-in-waiting.”

Raphael replied mechanically, “No. Pardon me, I was being rude.”

Olivia knew from the start that he did not favor her.

He wasn’t particularly haughty, but his attitude wasn’t pleasant, either.

‘When will Her Highness come?’

At that moment, the door opened, and a servant entered.

“Her Highness has arrived.”

Everyone stood up from their seats as if they had been waiting for the servant’s notification.

When Cayena entered the parlor, the uncomfortable, awkward air filling the room disappeared as if it had never been there.

Olivia greeted her like a sigh of relief.

“Welcome, Your Highness.”

“Good work, Olivia. I’m a little late, aren’t I?”

Cayena looked around the interior of the parlor and patted Olivia’s shoulder encouragingly.

“As expected, you’ve done well.”

Olivia was a little embarrassed.

Even the academy professors didn’t give her such praise. In her home, everyone considered her abilities to be normal, so she was never complimented for such trifles.

She hurriedly thanked the princess as her ears slightly heated up.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

At that time, Raphael quickly glanced at Olivia, then politely greeted Cayena.

“Raphael Kedrey respectfully greets Her Highness.”

He bowed so deeply that Cayena rushed to help him up.

“It’s good to see you, Sir Raphael.”

Raphael courteously kissed the back of Cayena’s hand. Baston, who was watching, covered his mouth with both hands.

‘Eep, our master is…!’

It was the first time he saw Raphael paying respect by kissing the back of a lady’s hand. Baston looked at the scene with a pounding heart.

But at that moment, Cayena didn’t delude herself.

‘…He was like this last time, too. Why is he suddenly acting so strangely?’

She even heard others speculate that she had some dirt on Raphael.

‘Did I unknowingly harass Raphael?’

However, no matter how much she thought about it, she didn’t remember scheming something against him.

Olivia, reading the room’s mood, bowed her head.

“I’ll be waiting outside, Your Highness.”

“Oh? You don’t need to…”

But before Cayena finished speaking, Raphael saw Olivia out.

“Until next time, Miss Grace.”

As if she had been waiting for that, Olivia politely replied,

“Yes. Then, I will step out now.”

Cayena looked back and forth between the two.

‘The atmosphere is a little weird.’

She thought that as long as the two of them met, their relationship would continue as normal. However, they didn’t seem to enjoy their time together as much as she expected.

“Your Highness.”

Cayena had been looking at the door through which Olivia left. She turned her head when she heard herself being called.

Raphael held her hand and led her to the sofa.

Cayena suddenly felt an unusual gaze on her. Baston was looking at her wickedly with the corner of his mouth slightly lifted.

“You brought someone other than Jeremy today. He looks a little familiar.”

“I’m Baston Debora, Your Highness!”

‘So this is Baston. An amusing person has arrived.’

Considering she had only read about him in the novel, it was interesting seeing him in real life.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Thank you for this honor!” Baston cried out as he saw the two extremely good-looking people sitting close to each other.

‘No painting could match the scene in front of me.’

Cayena wore her hair up and had a cream-colored dress, exposing her collarbones.

The skirt of the dress looked elegant as it had a relaxed shape instead of being puffy.

Even Raphael was wearing brighter colored clothes than usual. As if the two had planned it, their outfits matched well.

Baston patted himself on the back for recommending the cream shirt to Raphael.

‘They keep pretending there’s nothing there, but what is this if not romantic interest?’

Baston could practically see a pink aura between the two.

“Please don’t worry that I’ll do something pointless. I’m aware that you’re busy,” assured Raphael.

Cayena waved her hand. “Sir, you are my most important guest.”

At those words, Baston shut his mouth. It was because he felt like he would make a fool of himself by speaking frivolously.

Raphael knew that her words had no secret, sweet meaning. Still, it felt nice to hear them.

Cayena checked the items on the table, then said,

“It seems that there aren’t enough refreshments. Are you hungry?”

He felt this before, but sometimes—often—it felt like Cayena took care of others like they were much younger than her. This was the case even though most people around her were older than she was.

“I’m fine.”

“Was my lady-in-waiting’s hospitality lacking? I’d hoped that you two would get along well. She’ll be the one to represent me in the future.”

Raphael realized that Cayena cared considerably about her lady-in-waiting.

“You cherish her.”

‘I’m only trying to make myself feel better, though.’

Cayena thought that maybe this would allow her to repent for her past sins. She thought that she was being selfish. But if she didn’t take care of Olivia, her heart felt too heavy.

Now, it was time to start today’s meeting in earnest.

“I was surprised to find that the academy suddenly decided to erect a new building in my name.”

When she found out, she genuinely had been surprised. It was enough to make her forget herself and talk vulgarly.

Raphael, on the other hand, had wondered how to meet the princess casually. Jeremy had advised him to get her an early birthday present. It was pretty decent advice.

“I wasn’t certain what kind of gift would be appropriate for your coming-of-age, so perhaps my choice was inadequate. I would be happy if you liked it.”

Raphael was the first man to give her a gift that honored her rather than a dress or jewelry. If she had been the same villainess as before, she would never have received such an honorable present.

Since Raphael gave her a gift, it must have meant that Cayena had been behaving properly.

“I was a little taken aback by the unexpected gift, but I thank you.”

Her words and her smile were sincere.

Raphael finally admitted it to himself.

He enjoyed seeing Cayena’s smile. To be precise, he enjoyed seeing her smile when it was directed at him.

The smile for Olivia was…

On impulse, he spoke again.

“Should I build another?”

“…Excuse me?”

“A theater. Or a store, in Your Highness’s name…”

~~~