Chapter 2

***

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 be successful.

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’.

Afterwards, 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, 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 be the same 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 any more. 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.