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Cayena quickly interrupted with a confused expression.

“I don’t need another building.”

A new thought slowly arose in Raphael’s mind.

What if he gave her a holy artifact?

“Then, what do you want besides buildings? A sacred relic of the ancient kingdom, or…”

As he continued thinking out loud, Cayena waved her hand as if she was overwhelmed.

“No, no! I’m really fine without. I’m just glad that you thought of me.”

“Truly?”

Raphael’s lips, without his intention, began to extend in a smile as he heard Cayena’s words.

Cayena quietly sighed at his pleasant smile.

‘Even if you’re the male lead, do you have to be so handsome?’

Cayena was abruptly reminded of how good-looking Raphael was. Her heart fluttered, though she didn’t recognize it doing so.

‘But why is Raphael sitting so close to me?’

When she snapped back to attention, she realized that he was right near her. She wondered if an old habit had emerged without her awareness.

Should she sit a little farther or just stay here?

Before she could contemplate this further, Raphael continued speaking.

“Your Highness can decide what the new building will be used for.”

Cayena snapped out of her thoughts. She had been a little distracted, forgetting what they were here to talk about.

“Ah, right. So why did you come to meet me?” she asked.

Raphael answered truthfully. “I wanted to see you, Your Highness.”

A violent reaction to those words erupted somewhere else.

“Cough, cough!”

Baston, who was sipping tea, broke out in a coughing fit as if something had gone down the wrong pipe.

“Oh no, are you all right?” Cayena asked.

“Yes, yes. I’m okay.”

Baston was bemused by his master, who tried to throw a fastball but failed and then just charged ahead like a bull.

‘Really, there are steps to confessing your feelings…’

However, unlike Baston, Cayena didn’t read into Raphael’s words.

“Speaking of which, you said you wanted to ask me something,” Cayena said, as if she hadn’t heard him say that he wanted to meet her solely for the sake of seeing her.

Raphael’s eyes narrowed as she went over the incident very plainly. He realized that she didn’t see any possibility for a relationship with him.

First, Raphael decided he would match her pace.

“All of my marriage talks have been cancelled.”

Cayena reacted frankly. “Congratulations.”

“So I came to hear the next part of the plan.”

At his words, Cayena addressed all the servants in the parlor.

“Everyone, leave us.”

Similarly, she asked Baston for his understanding.

“Would you leave the parlor for a little while?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Baston grinned and left the parlor alongside the servants.

“The people outside won’t be able to eavesdrop in this room.”

It was a foolish act to let someone from the outside know that the parlor was such a place. Still, Cayena casually revealed this secret.

“There are too many spies in the imperial palace. Everything that happens here becomes a rumor in less than a day.”

“I see.”

Raphael nodded, feigning ignorance. He had also planted several spies in the palace.

“My goal is simple,” Cayena said candidly. “I want you to make me a husband.”

For a moment, there was silence.

Make a husband? Did she misspeak, having intended to say to give her a child?

No, there was no way the princess would say such an obscene expression.

She wasn’t asking him to be her husband or to introduce someone but to make a husband. He had never heard such a strange and absurd request in his life.

“…You want me to make you a husband?”

“Yes, a fake, imaginary husband. But only the person must be fake. He must have both rights and fortune.”

In other words, she would not marry him.

Unfiltered sincerity poured out of Raphael’s mouth.

“Your Highness, didn’t you like me?”

“……”

This time, Cayena was very embarrassed.

Of course she liked him. He was Cayena’s first love, and a long, unrequited love at that. But that was decades ago.

‘Why is he asking me this when I requested him to make me a husband?’

Raphael did not seem to be joking at all. He said it with such a straight face that Cayena was disconcerted.

Another silence followed.

Cayena calmly tried to think of the appropriate response in this situation, but there was nothing.

Then, Raphael spoke again.

“Was my question rude?”

Of course it was rude. But it would be strange for her to acknowledge that it was.

She was the one who kept saying how much she liked him. If they were discussing rudeness, they first had to address Cayena’s past actions.

Cayena cleared her mind and said, “The question was a bit embarrassing, I admit.”

Next, to show her innocence, Cayena spoke in a firm voice.

“My feelings for you have been cleared away now. I was sincere in my vow that I would not flirt with you again.”

Raphael’s expression subtly changed.

That was right. But he hadn’t realized that her promise to no longer be rude meant that she would never like him again.

That wasn’t what he wanted. No. That was what he had originally hoped for.

Contact with her was unpleasant, and he didn’t enjoy how her gaze always stuck to him.

But that wasn’t the case these days. Now, he was fine spending time with Cayena, and he didn’t mind kissing the back of her hand. He was all right when escorting her, and when he held her in his arms…

She smelled very sweet.

And she still did.

Cayena was like a person painted with very pale pigment. She seemed cold, but at the same time, sweet. When she was close, he felt more comfortable. It was quite the addictive feeling.

“There’s no need for that. I will believe Your Highness’s words even without that vow.”

Cayena still found his words hard to believe.

‘Was my promise too weak?’

Maybe he thought she was shameless to try to clear her history after she had harassed him so much. But Raphael was the only one who could help her with her plans.

She thought that she would be able to live well if she cooperated with the male lead.

‘Since Heinrich can’t easily interfere.’

She really didn’t want to get involved with that madman.

‘It would be nice if Raphael and I could become friends.’

In Cayena’s opinion, it was the best possible relationship they could have.

“…So, was my request too brazen?”

Raphael knew that Cayena was sincerely concerned about his feelings.

This. This felt just as good as the smile that she sent him.

“It’s the first time I’ve been asked to make a husband.”

Raphael asked, “But why are you trying to marry an imaginary person?”

Because it was the way she could safely leave the capital without loose ties.

Cayena didn’t want to get married for real. She could be caught by another lunatic and killed.

‘Or maybe my husband will depart from this life before me.’

Rezef may kill her husband, make her remarry, and continue to use her as a doll. Like the tragedy of the most beautiful woman of some ancient history.

No, that was definitely what would happen.

‘Because he actually intended to send me to Heinrich and use me like that.’

It was at times like these that Cayena was a bit resentful of the novel for letting her know all the secret plots that led to her death.

When Rezef’s power weakened, Heinrich would surely try to take Cayena’s hand. He’d attempt to fill his lacking legitimacy by marrying Cayena.

‘But he’s also one of the secondary male leads here, so he’ll fall in love with Olivia and find my existence offensive.’

If he took the throne, he would try to kill Cayena and lust after Olivia.

Why was it so convoluted and tiresome? Cayena felt a little drained as she went over her situation.

‘My sins are being born in the imperial family and being ignorant.’

Finally, she calmly said, “It’s because a person who does not exist cannot be poisoned.”

It was also a sentence that explained Cayena’s situation at once.

Raphael remembered Cayena’s secret nickname among influential nobles.

‘The prince’s marionette.’

Cayena was reaching out to him to cut the string of fate she was hanging from.

‘Is this why she changed?’

The person who had been easier to understand than anyone else was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she was made of fog, and nobody could tell what was within.

Raphael recalled that Cayena was said to be reading travelogues. Maybe Cayena just wanted to find a safe place to rest.

“First of all, this will only be possible once you inherit the dukedom.”

It was only a matter of time before Raphael succeeded the current duke.

Soon, the Duke and Duchess Kedrey would file for divorce. The Duke, who had married into the Kedrey family, will go back to his birth family. He would be able to spend the rest of his life comfortably with the money and connections he had accumulated.

It was a lukewarm ending for a person who broke up his family by having an affair.

‘I heard that he had an affair when Raphael was a child.’

The novel didn’t mention anything about the affair, probably because the focus of the novel was on Olivia.

‘My heart hesitates to take advantage of someone else’s family affairs, but…’

“What’s wrong?” Raphael asked as he felt her gaze on him. Cayena couldn’t tell the truth, so she made up an appropriate response.

“You always look wonderful, but Sir Kedrey looks a bit different today.”

It was an apt attempt at flattery. Or, actually, the compliment was sincere.

Raphael glanced at his clothes. The bright cream-colored shirt, which Baston strongly recommended caught his eye.

“Do you like it?”

Cayena didn’t expect that question. She hesitated for a moment and then avoided answering directly.

“Hmm. Everything seems to suit you well.”

Raphael smiled, knowing that Cayena was purposefully beating around the bush.

“Your Highness as well.”

~~~