The Villainess is a Marionette

Vera bit down hard on her lips.

“It seems like you need to tell us a few things.”

The man led Vera to the kitchen.

Olivia, who had been asking for training in the kitchen as a distraction, seemed to be in despair. Her face fell.

“Ha. Did you come to persecute the central kitchen?”

“I’ve come to do no such thing.”

“Then what’s with this situation? Gathering our attention in the front while you sneak around in the back?”

He strode threateningly toward the court ladies.

“You dare to mess around in my kitchen like this.”

Vera felt anxious like her insides were burning. Her mistakes led Olivia to suffer this indignity.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself? Huh?”

The situation was too unfavorable for the ladies.

Had everything gone as planned, it would have been the head chef, not her, who would be shaken right now.

“I can’t let this incident pass! You can’t just target us hardworking kitchen folk because you belong to the princess’s palace!”

“What do you mean I’m targeting you? The deputy chef tried to force himself on a helpless woman with his authority!”

“That’s a lie!” the deputy chef promptly denied.

“I only followed her because she looked suspicious. And look at how things turned out. I caught this backhanded court intrigue!”

“Backhanded court intrigue…”

Vera was stunned.

The head chef snapped at them violently, as if he were trying to drive them out of the kitchen.

“In any case, it looks like you were trying to sabotage the central kitchen. Let’s call the head maid. Don’t you know we’ve just been entertaining you so far?”

It was then.

“I’ve gone too far. I hadn’t even realized you were entertaining me.”

Cayena appeared in the central kitchen, escorted by some knights. When the head chef saw the princess, his face twisted a little, and he bowed.

“I respectfully greet Her Majesty, the Princess.”

Cayena glanced at the head chef.

She just witnessed him threatening Vera and Olivia upfront.

“This lady was following my orders to look at the affairs of the kitchen. But your attitude seems rather rude.”

The head chef realized that Cayena was lying to cover for her lady-in-waiting.

“If you want to report her to the head maid, go ahead.”

Cayena tilted her head. With a cold glance, she said, “You’re complaining because you’re certain there is nothing wrong in the central kitchen. Correct?”

“Naturally, Your Highness. The central kitchen is the most strictly managed of all the departments. My life’s pride is in this work,” the head chef said politely and in a dignified manner.

To all eyes, he really did look like an honorable person.

Cayena smiled slyly.

“Then, let’s check.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I should examine how the central kitchen is managed since it is the model for all the departments. I shall confirm your hard work and reward you.”

The head chef’s face crumpled. He hadn’t expected the princess to behave this way.

However, he couldn’t stop her and show his guilty conscience.

‘But what will the princess know, even if she looked around?’

She’d just taken control over the internal affairs. What could she know?

The head chef guided Cayena to the kitchen.

Vera was confident there was an issue with the central kitchen.

However, when the situation continued to spiral without uncovering anything, she became nervous.

Cayena seemed very collected. She had already known that the imperial family’s household was a wreck.

“Bring forth the ledger.”

The kitchen servants glanced at each other warily, but they brought out the ledger as they were incapable of refusing.

They were a bit nervous that the princess had suddenly asked to see the management, but they inwardly felt at ease. Some of them even looked down on the princess, who hadn’t come of age yet.

“Hmm. You keep good records. You’re right to be proud of it.”

“I am merely grateful that you have recognized it as so.”

The head chef began to feel relieved until Cayena spoke again.

“However, the rate of discarded food materials is over 80 percent.”

A disposal rate exceeding 30 percent was enough to strain a budget. However, it wasn’t 30 percent, not even 50 percent, but rather 80 percent. In other words, most of the food was being discarded.

The head chef’s expression hardened. He thought he could get away with this much using clever words.

“The state of His Majesty the Emperor is now extremely serious, so the materials must be carefully selected—”

Cayena threw the ledger on the ground.

“I was looking forward to inspecting the central kitchen since its management was said to be strict. But you’re saying that the empire’s coffers are being wasted like this?”

“Your Highness.”

“It seems that you don’t know that if the waste is over 40 percent, the person in charge will be punished by law.”

The head chef now realized that the princess had no intention of overlooking this incident.

His face twitched.

The reason why the central kitchen’s disposal rate was high was that they claimed to purchase more food than they actually did.

Because they have been embezzling funds this way for a long time, he did forget a bit about the law.

‘How did Princess Cayena know this when even Prince Rezef didn’t?’

The head chef tried to persuade Cayena in a gentle voice.

“Of course, that is what the law states, Your Highness. However, it cannot be denied that the law often differs from the situation in the field. This is especially so in the central kitchen, which manages the food to be for His Majesty, Your Highness, and the prince.”

The food for the imperial family must, of course, be of outstanding quality. There couldn’t be any flaws in the dishes. Given that kind of logic, the wasteful nobles usually didn’t blink an eye.

The head chef thought that he’d easily be able to trick the young lady. But Cayena was expressionless, to the point that he couldn’t read any thought on her face.

But the head chef continued, telling himself he was overthinking things.

“In this place, we must always use the best products. If there is anything suspicious or off with its delivery, the ingredient will be immediately discarded.”

“I see,” Cayena said unenthusiastically. “But tell me this…”

The head chef subconsciously gulped.

“…Where is the waste?”

“…Pardon?”

“If you’ve disposed of them, then where are the discarded items? The ledger records that just this morning, much food has been scrapped.”

He didn’t think she would ask where the disposed items were. He couldn’t think of a response right away, and he hesitated.

Then, he smiled again.

“We’ve already thrown them away, Your Highness.”

“Then go and find them.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll check the items with the ledger, so go and bring the scraps here.”

Her attitude seemed to ask why he wasn’t moving yet.

There was no way that he could go find it. They had already written in the ledger that they had paid for the materials and discarded them in line with the ingredients’ supplier. But they had done so without actually receiving the material.

‘This is the first time anybody in the imperial family asked about the trash!‘

He finally realized how dire the situation was.

The head chef wanted to let out his anger on everyone around him.

But Cayena’s cool expression tethered him, and he was unable to move. He swallowed the curses in his mouth.

“Who is in charge of the disposal?”

Once again, there was no way there would be someone in charge of the scraps. He had to save himself with a suitable sacrifice. The head chef grabbed and pushed forward a lowly servant.

“It’s this punk, Your Highness. Roche, tell Her Highness what you did with the scraps.”

The youngest servant, Roche, realized that he had been chosen to take the fall.

He lightly bit his lips. It was evident that he would be punished severely if he took the blame here.

But what would happen if he told the truth?

‘Everyone, including the head chef, knows where my family lives.’

The company that delivered the groceries wasn’t a mere business group. They also had gangsters in their control. It was said that they thought nothing of beating a person to death. Truthfully, anybody who crossed the head chef wasn’t even able to stand and go to work the next day.

“I, I’m the one responsible for this, Your Highness.”

Princess Cayena was a member of the imperial family. The family looked down on commoners as if they were bugs; there was no way that she would protect him.

“Ah, so you’re the one in charge?”

Her tone was very soft. Roche’s hands trembled, but he raised his head as if he were bewitched by her calm voice.

“What did you do with the food scraps today?”

As Roche hesitated, the head chef quietly urged him. “Roche. Tell her the whole truth.”

“That’s…”

He closed his eyes and fell to the floor.

“I have committed a sin worthy of death, Your Highness!”

“A sin worthy of death? I don’t know what you mean.”

“I dared to steal things because my family is undergoing rough times…” he stuttered.

The head chef’s face flushed, then quickly hardened.

“You impertinent twit! How dare you steal from the holy imperial family?”

He grabbed Roche by the collar.

It was then that Cayena raised her hand. “Stop.”

She affectionately addressed Roche, who was trembling again. “Did you say your name was Roche? I’m rather fond of people who take responsibility. There’s nobody more trustworthy than someone who cares for his family like this,” Cayena said, smiling.

Roche had a hunch that the princess had no intention of executing him. The head chef felt the odd atmosphere and appealed to Cayena.

“Your Highness, you must punish this bastard who dared to touch the imperial family’s funds!”

“What kind of punishment would be suitable?”

“That’s, according to the law…”

“You’re saying I should confiscate all his property and titles and flog every member of his family?”

The head chef shut his mouth. A cold sweat flowed down his back.

‘I have to stay calm. There is no evidence. She’ll never assign lashes to me!‘

In the tense air, a servant came from outside the kitchen and said carefully, “The afternoon shipment has come in, sir. Should we bring it in?”

The head chef’s heart sank.

“Her Highness is here now. How can we let a lowly trader step inside the palace in her presence? Get him out of here!”

He couldn’t let Cayena encounter the supplier. As usual, the receipt would contain a vast quantity of non-existent items.

“There’s no need for that.”

Cayena stood up from her seat.

“Let’s go together to encourage the vendors who have worked so hard to deliver the groceries.”

The head chef’s expression turned completely dark.

~~~