Kayena Hill/Plot

***This page contains*** **HEAVY SPOILERS!** ***Read at your own risk!***

## **Synopsis**

Kayena is the only true heir to the throne since she's the only child born between the Emperor and Empress. As Kayena lost her mother at a young age, she spent most of her time with Clarence Elban- her beloved nanny. She shared many warm and nostalgic memories with her such as cooking and baking with Clarence, and saw her as her motherly figure. She dearly loved her nanny, and at other times she bonded with her younger half brother Regef. Kayena was pretty close to Regef ever since their childhood, and she acted as his emotional support and comfort even after they became teenagers. She always told him that he was the 'only' family she had, and thus it's evident that her father neglected her. But their relationship quickly fell apart when Kayena became infatuated with Raffaello Kidrey and pestered Regef to make him marry her. Kayena no longer cared about Regef, and she became too obsessed with finding a way to marry Raffaello or at least gain his love and attention.

She also abused her power as the Empire's Princess to harass Olivia and humiliate her in public since he hated the fact that she was sponsored by Duchess Kidrey, but she inadvertently harassed Raffaello too because of her love for him. She failed to respect Raffaello's boundaries, and abused him by touching him without his consent, always bothering him with her unwanted presence, not giving him privacy, constantly seeking his attention through letters, forcefully dragging him to the palace, and barging into his house uninvited. The foolish Kayena who was blinded by her unrequited love for Raffaello failed to notice the traps set for her, and thus became Regef's foolish marionette after unknowingly falling into his manipulative schemes. Since Regef always maintained his angelic and kind demeanor under any circumstances, she kept believing that he was still the same sweet child she had always known, and lived a delusional life without even knowing whose power she had in her hands.

## **First Life**

In her first life, Kayena was a foolish, haughty, and wicked woman who swooned over Raffaello Kidrey and longed to marry him, but abused her power to torment Olivia Grace, her love rival. She absolutely hated Olivia since she was sponsored by the Kidreys, and was enraged after Raffaello fell in love with her. She kept bullying and disgracing her in public out of jealousy and disdain, but Regef who too was infatuated with Olivia used this to slowly kick Kayena out. She was used as a marionette by Regef to become the emperor. and her unrequited love only worsened her attitude.

Regef further fueled her jealousy and made her torment Olivia even more after Olivia chose Raffaello over him, and he finally drove Kayena to kill her by poisoning. Since Olivia survived, Kayena was arrested after getting caught red-handed for poisoning Olivia and was made to kneel in front of Emperor Regef. The arrogant Kayena blamed Olivia for all of this stating that none of this would've happened if not for Olivia who was the reason that Raffaello didn't even look at her, and demanded him to kill her immediately. But Regef laughed at his foolish sister, and explained that she was so foolish that she didn't even realize he had used her only to become the emperor and dispose her later.

A tearful Kayena pleaded with her brother after he put all the blame on her decided to punish her for her crimes, and as a final resort, she stated that it was because of her that he became the emperor and that she's his sister. But it was of no avail, and she was coldly dragged away by the palace guards. She was then sold off to Henberton Gillian to become his wife, but was physically abused everyday by her psychotic husband. She was often locked up inside the rooms of the dark castle, and wore clothes with long sleeves to hide her scars of abuse. She dreaded the sight of Henberton, and tried to hide from him as much as possible.

She lived a miserable life full of fear while hiding from her husband, and kept sending letters to Regef to rescue her from that mad man. But Regef had already abandoned her like a doll who was used and thrown away, and her pleas fell into deaf ears. She finally decided to send one last letter to Raffaello instead of Regef, but Henberton found out and commented on how stupid she was and that neither was she going to escape from him nor would Raffaello help her. Thus, Kayena met her tragic end and died at her crazy husband's hands some time later.

## **Second Life**

In her second life, she didn't have any of her past life memories as Kayena, and lived in Korea as an unnamed woman working in a company. She seemed to be wealthy as she's shown to own a car, but she felt like a puppet controlled by others as shown when she couldn't refute her co-worker's claim that he was responsible for her promotion. One day, she came across a novel named 'The Lady of the Black Rose', and kept reading it to see the downfall of the novel's villainess- Kayena. She could relate to Kayena since both of them were similar and used as marionettes having only "borrowed" power and authority, and she felt that both of them were pathetic. On her way back home from work, her co-worker who had an affair scandal stabbed her since he lost a project to her because of his scandal, and she fell unconscious while bleeding to death.

## **Third Life (Current Life)**

After dying, she wakes up as Kayena- the novel's villainess much to her shock. She then realizes that she was Kayena in her past life before being reincarnated in Korea, and that she had read that novel because it was her own previous life story. Kayena's memories slowly start coming to her, and she also realizes that the novel's Kayena had already died after drinking the poisoned wine and vomiting blood before fainting at the banquet, and that she has possessed her body only after her death. Vera attends her and asks if she needs a physician since she doesn't look well, but she dismisses her. After a while, she's told to get ready even though she just woke up after being poisoned, and she ponders about the tough life of a princess while a maid brushes her hair. She then laughs at the pitiful Kayena who believed in her beauty and died pathetically, and confidently begins her new life as the reborn Kayena who uses the novel's details to her advantage while also taking the resolve that she won't die a tragic death like her.

While getting ready, Kayena is relieved that she has returned to a time which is not too late since her father is still alive, which means that a way to keep Regef in check still exists. But on the other hand, there wasn't much time left until Regef became the next Emperor, and thus she has to escape before that happens. Kayena then thinks of finding a husband to escape her brother's hands, but she needed someone discreet who wouldn't restrict her movements unlike her previous psychotic husband. Thus, she decides to divert Regef's attention for the time being and find an avenue of escape. Just then, Regef comes to meet her, and she allows him to enter. He asks how she's feeling, and she replies that it's bearable while clearly feeling his half-hearted attitude towards her. When he hugs and promises her to find the culprit and make them pay for it, she silently smirks at the realization that he truly thinks of her nothing more than a pawn to seize the throne, and breaks free from his embrace. She then tells him to abandon the idea of looking for the culprit since she secretly knows that Regef himself was the culprit who did this to create an opportunity to frame one of Kidrey dukeship's vassals and reduce the Kidreys' influence, but this enrages him.

When Regef asks if it's because of her fear of retaliation, and assures that he'll protect her and never let that happen again. But Kayena shakes her head, and asks him who he wants to frame. she tells him that if he chooses to frame and execute young Lord Gillian whose House is a vassal of the Kidreys, it isn't a bad idea. But she also tells him that even though it's easy to cover up poison acquired from the black market, flimsy evidence wouldn't be enough. But Regef again assures her saying that the evidence is clear and everything will be over once it's revealed to the public, and asks if she's saying all this because of Raffaello Kidrey- her unrequited love. Kayena again says no since she already got over her unrequited love for Raffaello a long time ago, and explains that since her maternal grandfather Count Hamel is involved in the black market, the House of Kidrey would never sit still and watch their vassal get dragged down. She warns him that if he interferes with the Kidreys, they'll discover House Hamel siphoning off the Emperor's assets into the black market, and this in turn would lead to the declination of House Hamel and give Regef a hard time under accusations of fabrication. However, Kayena's true motive is to not let him use his idea lest it backfires and makes her escape tricky by House Hamel's fall.

She then suggests the idea of winning the Kidreys to his side instead of making them fall, and asks if she could bring Olivia Grace as her new lady-in-waiting, an unblemished lady who wouldn't put her in harm's way. She wants Olivia since she's a loyal and clever girl, but she also asks it because she's the novel's female lead with whom Regef would fall in love, and she wanted to protect her if he tries to kill her after she chooses Raffaello over him. Regef asks if she's sure about her decision, and she replies she can't do what suits her forever. But this makes Regef suspicious of her intentions, so to prove her loyalty to him, she kneels down and kisses his hand saying he's her Emperor and the only one left for her. A shocked Regef blushes but quickly pushes her back, and intimidatingly asks what she's got up her sleeve. Kayena asks him back if he trusts her and truly thinks of her as his sister, and she tells him that when she's no longer useful to him, she'll land in a difficult circumstance and that he'll probably marry her off to a House which benefits him, and she may get unlucky and get married to a psychotic husband who'll eventually murder her.

Since her only goal is to escape from Regef to prevent her marriage and death by Henberton, she says she's well aware of her circumstances and that he still needs her to become the Emperor. When he asks what exactly she wants, she says she wants freedom to marry anyone she wants, so that she can freely be herself and do whatever she wants without having to be locked up and abused like her past life. When he asks if she's referring to Raffaello, she says no, and he asks what he'll get in return. Just then, Kayena's body quickly starts trembling due to wearing out by fatigue, and she pulls herself together and says she'll make him the Emperor. She explains that he can become the Emperor without her help too, but then he'll need to give shares of what's his to others, especially to the Evans family who're concocting schemes for him. Regef mockingly asks if 'she' can scheme for him, but she faints right after assuring that he can take time to trust her. Regef quickly catches her and feels her body burning up, and shouts for a physician. Kayena opens her eyes for a moment and caresses his cheek saying he's a sweet child, and quickly passes out again.

Two weeks have passed, and Kayena gets ready to meet her father. Vera asks if she wants to see the execution of the man who tried to assassinate her which was to be held that day, but she turns it down. She recalls how Regef really did what she told him to do two weeks ago, and that how she had to keep quiet for a while since she knew he kept an eye on her. Rumors about her beauty also heats up after an article about her gets released in a gossip magazine, and Vera asks if Duke Raffaello Kidrey would be a good match for her since she would be engaged soon after her coming-of-age ceremony. But Kayena refutes it saying her father opposes it and that there wouldn't be balance in power if Duke Raffaello became the Emperor's son-in-law, but she gives that answer since there're many spies around her, and thus her answer would ultimately reach the ears of Regef and her father. She says that she's ashamed to have disdained her father's will by being stubborn until now, and decides to meet her father later to make amends for not acting like a Princess.

Finally, the day of her coming-of-age ceremony arrives, and all the noble ladies compliment her with their honeyed words to which she barely reacts, and recalls how the previous Kayena adored such compliments. Kayena also notices Vera contemplating in a lone corner, and feels that Vera is the only good lady-in-waiting out of the current lot because of her sensible and perceptive nature. Since the other ladies-in-waiting are girls from powerful families employed by Regef, she decides to give Vera a chance to judge correctly and see if she's a good mistress for her, and she decides to do since the other ladies would turn their back on her at any moment if they could win Regef's favor. She recalls how she believed that everything belonged to her in her past life and lived a delusional life without even knowing whose power she was holding in her hands, and decides not to repeat the same mistake twice. Thus, she again declares to herself that she'll live the life she wants this time, and that she'll collect resources of any form to gain power to live her way.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Chapter 2
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chapter 3
3. ↑ Chapter 18
4. ↑ Chapter 0
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 1