“It’s wrong for you to not die, and it’s wrong for you to not run away. It’s also wrong that you keep staying in the Imperial Palace. But you insist that you’re doing nothing wrong here, right?”

Fucking bitch!

Sezh’s eyes flared with anger.

So you want me and big brother Raytan to just join hands and then go die side by side?

“Then shouldn’t you and our other siblings go somewhere else?” Sezh snapped back defiantly.

“What did you say just now?!”

“If you don’t want to see my face, then go somewhere else! Why did you guys come here only to bother us in the first place?!”

Her initial goal of intervening to win Raytan’s favor had already fallen by the wayside. Instead, the sole motivation for Sezh’s actions at the moment was the immense rage coursing through her petite body.

Before she died in her previous life, all she had thought about was keeping a low profile to try and stay alive, but that plan had failed. Her throat was already slashed once, and she refused to meet the same fate again. In the past, she had had no idea how to handle all of this. Now that she had a second lease on life, however, she was determined not to suffer their bullying again. Moreover, this was around the time when she was supposed to experience the peak of Bern and Lilian’s torment. She decided that it would be better to put an end to it earlier rather than wait for it to resolve itself later so she could move on with her life.

Of course, she hadn’t planned for this at all.

“Here!” Lili growled angrily.

Slap!

Sezh’s vision again flashed momentarily as her cheek reeled in pain from meeting Lilian’s palm. It never crossed her mind that Sezh would one day boldly talk back to her, so she had slapped her for her insolence. Lilian’s hand drew back in preparation for another slap.

Unwilling to let the older girl continue to do as she pleased, Sezh decided that today was the right day for her next course of action.

As the one who had to bear the slaps, Sezh didn’t plan to stay still any longer. She clenched her fists and rushed at Lilian.

“Aacck!!!”

Lili screeched in pain at Sezh’s counterattack.

Sezh had charged forward and thrust her head into the pit of Lili’s stomach, like an angry buffalo.

“Grab her!” Bern shouted and commanded his other siblings to come to his sister’s aid. “Catch that bitch!”

His minions wasted no time forcefully seizing Sezh by her thin limbs. She struggled and pushed as hard as she could against them, but her power was no match for her half-siblings, especially since there were several of them. Mentally, she started guessing what would happen to her next.

Bern would definitely hurt her again and then laugh at her crying face. Still, she didn’t want to beg for their mercy and falsely admit that she was in the wrong this time. Tears welled up in Sezh’s eyes as her bitterness and resentment boiled over.

“Leave us alone!” she screamed desperately. “I’m not asking you to treat me like a prince or princess! I’m not even going to ask you to treat me like our other siblings! Just let me breathe and quietly live my life! Why can’t you do that?!”

I was planning to live like a mouse in hiding without you guys bothering me. I wasn’t even going to try to stand out. You didn’t have to concern yourself with me. There isn’t even time for me to be sad about my life.

All of you have everything. You’re all as beautiful as the emperor, and you live without any difficulties…

Yet I only ask that you leave us abandoned children to lead our lives in peace. Why is such a request so difficult for you…?

The sobs that Sezh had been trying so hard to contain suddenly spilled forth.

“Why can’t you do that?” she cried.

Sezh was only able to hear herself speak for a brief moment because Bern’s arm shot out and snatched her by the collar.

She struggled with all her might as he raised her by her neck, her feet kicking desperately in the air. The same, clear blue shade of eyes as hers were glowering at her in disgust. She squeezed Bern’s shoulder with one, small hand, but he didn’t budge.

“That’s an easy one to answer,” Bern replied sarcastically. “We can’t leave you alone because we aren’t happy with your presence. We get offended just from you living and breathing in the same place as us.”

“Ugh, cough-“

“How dirty,” his voice was riddled with disgust at her attempts to gasp for breath. “The air is going to be contaminated.”

Bern’s grip on her neck tightened.

I’m being suffocated. I’ll be dead soon if I stay like this. I’m going to die at the age of twelve instead of seventeen. That’s what will happen to me soon.

Her messy face was reflected in Bern’s blue eyes—a familiar sight to her. She didn’t know why, but seeing her disheveled appearance filled her with sorrow.

What makes you so proud? What makes you so different from us…? If it’s so unpleasant to see us, you can just go somewhere else…

Sezh’s body drooped as her consciousness gradually faded away.

Just then, a loud crash interrupted them.

Bam!

Bern tumbled several times on the floor as he found himself flung backward.

“Cough, cough.”

Sezh collapsed, breathless. She sat down and steadied herself against the floor as she tried to breathe properly. Unable to witness what had happened, she grabbed her chest and looked to the side where Bern had been standing. Much to her surprise, Raytan was there.

“I’m not happy either,” he said coolly. “It’s dirty. You guys will make the place contaminated.”

At the end of his remark, Raytan rushed at Bern. There was no indication that he would be restrained by their other siblings this time and unable to exert himself, despite them attempting to surround him. He completely overpowered them.

Sezh couldn’t tell if this sudden spurt of strength was him using the remainder of his power or if he had been quietly gathering his energy all this time.

“…”

Sezh was speechless. Raytan was doing the same to Bern as Bern had done to her.

“Aaack!”

Lilian shrieked in the background.

“Stop him! Stop him!!”

Sezh rose from her seat.

She ran at Bern and Lili’s minions, who futilely clung to Raytan’s limbs, and started haphazardly biting their arms wherever she could land her teeth. The scene felt just like a prelude to a real dog fight.

Her half-siblings quickly became flustered and overwhelmed as they tried to separate Raytan and Bern while detangling themselves from Sezh, who attacked with all the ferocity of a Tosa dog1.

Lilian, who also struggled to keep Sezh apart from them, lost all sense of composure as she screamed alongside her siblings.

“Aaackk!!!”

“Catch him, catch Raytan… Where is this bitch biting now?!”

“Aacck, someone please call for help!”

The West Library was once again in complete chaos.

Raytan managed to break free from the pack and proceeded to mercilessly lay Bern upon death’s door. Sezh fought to keep helping Raytan in her own way. Her gums tingled and her front teeth felt like they were threatening to separate themselves from her mouth.

But whatever, she didn’t really care at the moment. Maybe one or two teeth could fall out. It didn’t matter much to her right now, since this was a battle of pride.

“Oh, oh my god… What is going on here?!”

And the battle of the pride abruptly came to a halt because of someone’s screams.