Edgar had been traveling back and forth between the royal palace and Mister Leopold’s mansion, but since his cousins returned from Trovanza, he decided to stay at the palace for a while.

We were told that he had a room in the palace not far from where we were staying.

So, we ended up bumping into Edgar a lot, especially since he was always right next to Mister Leopold.

It was super obvious that Edgar really liked Mister Leopold.

He would look at him in a way that was really nice, calling him “Brother” until I popped up. Then he looked worried, like he thought he might lose his favorite toy to me.

“Did you notice that Edgar and Mister Leopold have different last names? Do you know why?”

Eldest Sister asked casually while drinking her tea. We were all hanging out for tea time, which we did after eating lunch.

Youngest Sister usually spent her whole day doing magic stuff, leaving when the sun came up and returning when it was really late. So, it was special to have this time together.

“After Mr. Leo’s father got a big title, Edgar’s father married Princess Elizabeth and got his own big title. That’s why their last names are different.”

“It must have been hard being with his brothers after their parents were gone.”

“Edgar’s parents are gone, too?”

I was eating cookies, and I leaned in to hear more when I heard Edgar’s name. Eldest Sister played with my hair and told me softly.

“Yes, Edgar lost his parents when he was little, too. But we shouldn’t talk about it; it’s a touchy subject, okay?”

“Hmm. But growing up with my sisters wasn’t hard for me.”

My sisters looked at me when I said that.

I gave Cookie a sniff of the chocolate cookie and added.

“Liliana loves living with sisters. Edgar probably loves living with his uncles, too, right? Cookie loves living with my sisters, too, right?”

Then my sisters got really quiet, no answers. When I looked up, wondering why, my biggest and second sisters both gave me a big hug.

“Where did we get such a sweet kid like Liliana?”

“Let’s all promise to stay together for a really long time, okay?”

“Ugh, you’re squishing me. Let go!”

They hugged me so tightly my cookie broke in half, and the chocolate got all melty. I squirmed away, cleaned my hands, and stood up with my cookie.

“I need to nap now. Bye bye.”

I ran from Eldest Sister’s room to mine, thinking they might try to stop me from leaving.

Getting ready for a nap, I put Jelly and Cookie by my pillow and was about to jump into bed when something made me gasp.

Was it possible to be so startled that you couldn’t scream? I stared, wide-eyed, making a hissing sound.

There was an old pumpkin under the blanket. I knew right away who put it there without even looking.

“Edgar!”

I heard laughing from outside my window. I tiptoed over and saw Edgar trying not to laugh too loud.

“You!”

Angry, I grabbed Cookie and rushed to the window, waving it furiously and hitting Edgar on the head repeatedly.

“Stop it!”

“Edgar, you tadpole! You grasshopper!”

“If I’m a tadpole, then you’re a gorilla!”

“A gorilla…? Whaa! Edgar, you won’t get away with this!”

I dashed out of my room, determined to catch him, but he was already running away.

“Stop right there!”

“Too slow! Ha!”

Edgar kept making faces at me, which made me even madder, and I ran faster.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t catch him. Overwhelmed by frustration and the unfairness of it all, I started to cry.

“I hate you, Edgar!”

It was so annoying that I couldn’t catch him. I just fell down and cried a lot, breathing hard and with tears everywhere.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to!”

Then, I saw Mister Leopold carrying Edgar like a big bag of something, and suddenly, Edgar was right in front of me.

“Edgar, you shouldn’t make your friends cry.”

“She started it first!”

“No, it was Edgar who started it first! He called me a pumpkin! Waaah.”

I started crying again when Edgar said that back, but Mister Leopold picked me up and made me feel better. He patted my back nicely, and I started to calm down.

When I finally looked up at Edgar, he was watching us with a face that seemed utterly abandoned by the world, pale and seemingly filled with nothing but betrayal.

“Ed…”

Before Mister Leopold could say anything to him, Edgar suddenly turned and ran off, disappearing.

‘What’s going on?’

Even though Edgar did something bad, I felt like I was the bad guy.

‘Why did he look so sad…?’

He looked like he lost everything. I didn’t know you could look so sad when we’re the same age.

I felt all weird inside and couldn’t say anything until Mister Leopold walked me back to my room. I didn’t talk about how sad I was or what Edgar did.

* * *

“I can’t stay still.”

The heaviness in my heart because of Edgar kept me from sleeping.

“I need to see Edgar.”

So, I threw off my blankets and jumped out of bed. I stuffed a ‘sorry’ gift for Edgar into my squirrel bag and rushed to where he was staying.

The maids that used to hang around me had vanished, and my sisters were all out on their own business, so no one was there to stop me.

“Wow, that was fast!”

But when I got to the other palace, I hit a big snag.

“Where’s Edgar’s room?”

I didn’t even know if Edgar’s room was on the first or second floor. I felt silly for not asking my sisters.

I fiddled with Cookie’s nose and looked around, but there was no one passing by.

The Lethe Palace, where my sisters and I stayed, was always bustling because we were guests and my eldest sister was to become the empress.

I tried opening some doors, but it looked like nobody was there. With so many rooms, finding Edgar’s was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“Where’s Edgar hiding?”

So, I sat on the stairs, waiting for someone, anyone, to show up. I yawned, played with Jelly, and even did some stretching and lying down.

I watched the clouds pass by in the blue sky through the window and clumsily braided and then unbraided my hair.

After a while, I heard voices talking from beyond the wall next to the stairs.

“Don’t even mention it. The one marrying His Majesty is so strict; I’ve heard working has become difficult.”

“Her demeanor is cold, and so it seems are her actions. Have you seen the family she brought with her? They act as if they’re here to enjoy the empire’s hospitality now that their sister is going to be the empress.”

I didn’t know who they were talking about, but they shouldn’t say mean things about my big sister!

I was about to go tell them off when they started talking about Edgar.

“By the way, the young Duke of Runtvolenu is having his birthday party again.”

“I really don’t understand His Majesty. He’s neglected the other siblings but only cares for the young duke. And with the national marriage coming up, isn’t it strange to be so concerned about his birthday?”

I couldn’t understand everything they were saying. Mister Marius and Mister Leopold spoke slowly and clearly for me, but the conversation was in the empire’s strong accent.

But some words and the way they said them made sense to me.

“The young duke didn’t just become a duke by chance; he was born after killing Princess Elizabeth. I don’t see why he’s so precious, considering he was born after killing his own mother.”

Born after killing? Mother? Did they say he was born after killing his mother?

Right when I figured out what those maids were saying, my brain went “boom!” I totally forgot I wasn’t back home but in this big, fancy place.

I zoomed down the stairs, whipped around the corner, and zoomed straight at the maids in the hallway, bumping into them hard.

“Don’t badmouth Edgar!”

“Ouch! What’s wrong with this kid all of a sudden?”

“You’re all horrible! What’s so bad about Edgar? He’s much prettier, nicer, and more fun than any of you!”

My eldest sister said so. I wasn’t born because I did something bad to Mother; I am a child Mother chose to die to protect.

Edgar had to be the same.

I couldn’t stand them saying bad things about someone so precious.

Just bumping into them didn’t make me feel better, so I also gave their arms a good whack.

“Bad! You’re supposed to be grown-ups! I hope you suffer from baldness in your eyebrows!”

As I flailed my arms wildly, one of them grabbed my arm and pushed me back, causing me to tumble and my buttocks to hit the hard marble floor.

“Ouch!”

“How dare you!”

One of them tried to come at me again, but the other stopped her.

“No, we can’t. I thought she looked familiar. She’s the one from Trovanza. We shouldn’t hit her.”

“Move aside. Even if she’s related to His Majesty’s fiancée, she needs to be disciplined. No one will say anything for teaching a rude child a lesson.”

“But…”

“She’s a savage. Even if she tells her sister, who would believe it? If both of us keep quiet, there’s no evidence, right?”

The angry one rolled up her sleeves and stepped toward me, step by step.

I got really scared after seeing her angry eyes. But then, suddenly…

“What’s all this noise in the palace?”

Edgar burst out from a room in the middle of the corridor where we were.