It was the undeniable back of Liri.

‘What is she doing there?’

In front of Liri, a middleaged woman was crouching. She touched her cheek with her trembling hand. Next to her, a little child, the height of my waist, was hanging onto her arm, crying with tears and snot running down his face. I immediately rushed over.

“What is going on, Liri?”

Looking at them, Liri, who had been chattering, furrowed her brows. Then, her anger turned towards me.

“Can’t you even manage the castle properly? Why do you allow these filthy Kursians to roam the castle!”

Even though she corrected her address to me as ‘stepsister,’ it was still uncomfortable to hear.

“Don’t argue without reason, explain the whole situation.”

My words weren’t nice either. Liri glared at me and then yelled.

“This woman is living with a Kursian man. This child saw me and incessantly begged for food. Do you know how scared I was? This woman, who’s supposed to be his mother, is only begging instead of stopping him. How bad is the security that something like this can happen inside the castle?”

The Kursian Empire.

It was the empire that had swallowed up the Ofil Kingdom a few years ago. Considering Kursia, which had caused the downfall of the oncecalled sibling, Ofil Kingdom, as an enemy was natural for the people of Requies.

‘I’ve only been in the capital and have never actually seen a Kursian person.’

Apparently, minorities have moved over, as the northern province of Blandiche is adjacent to the Kursian Empire.

“We are not Kursians……”

At that moment, a whimper mixed with words leaked out of the middleaged woman’s mouth. I turned my gaze towards her.

“I am an imperial citizen to the core.”

“What do you mean you’re not!”

“We are imperial citizens accepted by His Highness, Duke Calix……”

Upon hearing the woman’s response mixed with sobs, Liri exploded in anger.

“Even if you insist you’re not, it doesn’t change the fact that this child’s father is a Kursian. It’s filthy enough for a Kursian to live in the duke’s territory, and now they even freely beg in the Duke’s castle? I will speak to Hertian and have you deported immediately.”

At Liri’s hammerlike words, the woman reached out and grabbed the hem of Liri’s dress from where she was crawling on the snowcovered ground.

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

As if she had touched something disgusting, Liri scrunched up her beautiful face.

“Please. Miss. We will not come to the Duke’s castle again, so please do not drive us out. It would be difficult for us to survive if we were to return to Kursia…… Please.”

Liri harshly kicked the woman away. The black dust from Liri’s shoes smeared across the woman’s swollen cheek. The woman’s cheek was marked by the black, tearmixed dust that trickled down.

“Stepsister, what are you doing? If you’re not going to Hertian…”

Liri’s malicious behavior had crossed the line.

Even if she had lost her parents at a young age, she must have been educated. Where did such a miscreant come from?

To kick and treat a person much older than herself like trash.

It was infuriating enough to make a bystander angry.

“If you’re not going, don’t. I’m going first.”

Watching Liri, who was grumbling and walking ahead, I got my answer.

That girl was a bad sprout that could not be corrected with words.

I crouched down on the spot, collecting the snow together. A quite sturdy snowball was formed. Then, I threw it hard enough to make a popping sound.

“Ah!”

The snowball found its owner accurately. Liri, brushing off the snow stuck all over her hair, turned around nervously.

“What are you doing! Did you just throw snow at me?”

“Yes, I did.”

I didn’t back down from her momentum.

“My lady…….”

The maid following me tried to stop me from behind. It seemed that even the maids here knew that touching her would bring a headache.

Then I couldn’t leave her alone anymore.

“Do you want to have a snow fight with me?”

She asked with a face that seemed to have been taken aback. She looked completely unaware of her wrongdoings. There was no choice but to teach her one by one.

“Liri. Apologize to them. Now.”

“Why should I?”

“You hit the territory’s citizen without reason.”
“I’m a noble, and they’re commoners. And I hit them for no reason? Because a Kurdian just walked into the castle and begged?”

She only protested her injustice. Regardless of the situation, her aggression was wrong.

“What, he came to the castle to beg? Can’t you understand that?”

“Do I have to understand their circumstances individually? I’m dying of annoyance right now!”

“You’re just throwing a tantrum.”

She let out an incredulous laugh.

“A tantrum……? Who is your sister to tell me that I’m throwing a tantrum?”

“From now on, I’m your guardian. And I, not you, am the lord of this castle.”

“Talk of guardianship. We are nearly the same age, and now you’re trying to act like a parent?”

“If you need a guardian, I’ll be it.”

“Don’t make me laugh. I’ve been here longer than you, even if you’re the Duchess. And you think I won’t know?”