The Villainess is a Marionette

“So are you intending to shoot me with that gun? No matter how royal your blood is, it would be quite troublesome for you to kill a noble.”

Henverton opened his arms.

“How about you stop this futile effort and leave with me?”

At that moment, several people’s footsteps approached. They were the people who had come to free Henverton.

“Come on, gentlemen. Why are you so slow…”

They saw Cayena and shut up.

What was going on? An angel with a gun had appeared in the prison.

“Isn’t it the princess…?”

Henverton looked at Cayena with pity.

“Are there enough shells in that gun? Your Highness is good enough to shoot everyone before these men dare to grab you, right?”

There was no way she would be.

This was the first time Cayena held a gun since she was born. She wasn’t so numb that she could composedly murder someone.

She couldn’t shoot a person. So she acknowledged it as it was.

“You’re right.”

With the hand that wasn’t holding the gun, Cayena pulled out a small stick-like object from the pocket of her robe.

She bit down and pulled the casing off, revealing a small, sharp, gleaming blade. She put the blade on her face, as if she would cut her face right away.

“Then how about this?”

Henverton’s relaxed face turned into a demon’s.

“Stop that—!”

Cayena knew exactly what Henverton loved about her.

It was her face.

It was only her beautiful face.

He was a collector of beautiful items. That collection included many things, including his most secret collection of humans. Even when Henverton greatly abused Cayena, he never touched her face.

“Why was I afraid of something like you? You’re a nobody.”

Why had she been so afraid of a man who shuddered when she threatened to cut her face?

If she knew it earlier, wouldn’t she have ruined her face in her first life?

‘No, I didn’t have the courage to ruin my appearance back then.’

Her appearance was the reason for her existence, so she couldn’t let it go even when it had become useless.

Cayena realized that she had been so helpless that even an insignificant man could intimidate her.

She laughed. She felt like she finally regained herself after being possessed by a ghost. At the same time, her helplessness was like a curse.

There wasn’t just one Henverton Gillian. The second Henverton, the third Henverton could appear at any time. No matter how much she countered them, she may one day end up with the same results.

Her eyes dimmed.

The assailants burst out in laughter and began to approach to subdue her.

“I’ll slit my cheek if they approach, Gillian.”

“Stop!”

Henverton yelled at his subordinates like a madman at Cayena’s threat.

“What? Are you crazy?”

They were bewildered.

The opponent was merely a powerless woman. Even if the gun she held was a bit intimidating, there were six men here. Besides, the threat was to cut her own face with a knife. They were dumbfounded because it made no sense.

However, Henverton pulled out the dagger that one of his employees wore on his belt. His eyes were already half-crazed.

“If there’s a single scratch on that face, your limbs won’t stay intact. Keep that in mind!”

“This crazy…”

Their hands were tied because of the princess who took herself hostage.

Henverton ground his teeth and glared at Cayena.

“I’ll do as you want, so please put away the knife, Your Highness.”

It was a very earnest voice. Would she ever see him beg like this again?

Cayena looked at Henverton in disgust, as he was unable to understand his situation and remained obsessed with her face.

“If I knew you hated it this much, I would have already mutilated my face. You’d probably faint if it got burned.”

“Princess Cayena!”

“You’re impertinent.”

She gave him an order with harsh eyes.

“Kneel.”

Henverton’s gaze focused on the knife, then slowly sunk to the floor. Cayena turned the gun to the thugs.

“Aren’t you all going to kneel?”

They had the thought that the princess looked angelic, but she was definitely crazy. Their faces crumpled.

Cayena pressed the blade to her cheek. Finally, Henverton snapped and yelled, “Kneel down, you idiots!”

“Crazy bastard…”

They thought about turning on Henverton and overpowering Cayena. But the gun was now pointed at them, not Henverton.

“You should return the prison key,”

Cayena said, pointing to the jail that had been opened in front of Henverton. One of the gangsters swore and threw the key out from his pocket.

Cayena had taken herself hostage and made six men kneel on the floor. Still, the tables could turn with just a bit more time.

The guards here were bought off by them. If they saw the princess, they would certainly silence her somehow.

However, Cayena had no intention of prolonging this confrontation. She aimed the gun to the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

Bang—!

A thunderous roar struck the prison. It was a ghastly noise.

The faces of the gangsters twisted distastefully. Knights who heard this noise would flock to this place. They had to quickly run away.

“Take the princess hostage!”

Henverton wanted her alive or something, so they were just going to hit her. Still, he pushed them away.

“Are you insane? If you put even a little scratch on that face, I’ll drop you in burning oil!”

Cayena entered the cell from where Henverton escaped and locked herself in.

Then, she threw the gun and key outside.

“Over here! This is where the sound came from!”

They could hear the sound of knights entering the location.

Cayena already knew that it was time for the knights to patrol this area. This was also why she sent Vera out on the task. She had ordered for the number of patrols to increase for this moment.

The knights of the central army, who were on patrol just in time, ran into the prison.

“It’s a jailbreak! Catch them!”

The knights immediately arrested the gangsters and Henverton.

“Save me!” Cayena shouted.

The knights of the central army were very surprised to discover that the imperial princess was in prison.

“Y-your Highness? Her Imperial Highness is here!”

She pointed at the gun with a trembling hand.

“They tried to shoot me!”

“W-what?”

The assailants looked bemused when Cayena yelled. She caused more chaos among the knights.

“Get rid of that terrible thing!! Take it out of the palace where I can’t see it!”

“Y-yes!”

The knights quickly put away the gun and opened the jail cell to protect Cayena.

“I was so scared…”

She covered her face, making her appear delicate and pitiful.

“Th-that crazy woman…!”

The knights made all the impertinent assailants lie down on the floor, tapping them with a spear tip and pressing down on them.

Cayena left the prison, leaning on the knights.

She made eye contact with the gangsters, slightly revealing the face she covered with both hands. A faint smirk of ridicule graced her mouth and disappeared.

The assailants were stunned. They had been completely beaten.

Cayena weakly walked out of the prison.

“Sister!”

Rezef had discovered that his gun was missing and went to the princess’s palace. There, he found Cayena missing.

He had a strange premonition.

He rushed out to search for her at once, heard a gunshot, and ran over here.

“Rezef!”

Cayena quickly ran to Rezef and embraced him. He naturally hugged Cayena back as if to protect her and questioned the knights as to what was going on.

They said they heard gunfire and had arrested Henverton Gillian when he tried to break out.

Additionally, he shot at Princess Cayena, who was found imprisoned.

What kind of messy tale was this?

He saw the gun that the knight held out.

“……”

That was his gun.

Cayena tightened her grip on him and whispered in a small voice.

“…That gun isn’t yours, Rezef.”

Cayena knew that it was an illegal, unreported firearm.

Rezef couldn’t show the emperor another weakness. Cayena had already thought about this beforehand.

“Did I not tell you to get rid of it? It’s too frightening.”

At her words, the knight apologized and hid the gun.

“You don’t need to report to me how you take care of it. No, report it to Prince Rezef. I don’t even want to know.”

“I heed your order, Your Highness.”

Rezef was stunned at how naturally she acted.

Certainly, it would be troublesome if the emperor knew that the gun was Rezef’s. Didn’t he disobey an imperial command just yesterday?

He went along with his sister’s lead.

“I’ll escort my sister away, so take care of it. Henverton Gillian, who dared to escape, will be interrogated tomorrow.”

He even got a good reason to touch Henverton. With this, no one would find fault in his actions even in the aristocratic society.

Rezef gently swept back his sister’s hair.

“Let’s go to your room, Sister.”

As he thought, Cayena was unique. There. She was still devoted to him.

His one and only older sister acted like they were siblings, with only each other to rely on.

This was what Rezef liked the most. He never wanted this bond to break. Thus, Cayena had to stay by his side.

He had done a good job spreading her portraits around. Should he also build a statue of her in town?

Rezef escorted Cayena with a smile on his mouth.