# Chapter 17
---
In the late afternoon of that day.
The snow that had been falling for some time came to a break and I was able to see the sky for the first time in a few days.
Nezar put away his assignment and was heading back to his room when he slowly stopped.
At the end of a long corridor shrouded in breath, someone came out of a room not far away, closing the door.
Tall stature and calm gait.
Soon, the young man's gaze also turned to Nezar.
Among the three brothers, Eden Ezelot was the only one with short platinum hair.
I thought he was going to open his mouth, but Eden just lowered his head without saying anything, walked past Nezar and disappeared.
Recently, I noticed that the four brothers in this family have different personalities, as if they were born on different ships.
Between them, Rockherd and Eden in particular felt they were coming to an end.
Before he knew it, his feet reached the front of the room where Eden came from.
The maid closed the door, turned around and bowed calmly to Nezar.
"Hello, Your Majesty.
"Are you looking for Ms.
Kate?”
Nezar closed his mouth at the unexpected words.
The room where Eden Ezelot appeared was my sister's room.
I thought they had a bad relationship with their siblings, but Eden seems to have been an exception.
When there was no response, the maid continued.
"You just fell asleep."
Now I see that it was the maid who hurriedly chased Katrina when she was making noise to burn the bear.
Seeing the scene together at that moment, it seemed like he mistakenly thought that Nezar had come to visit him.
Nezar, who thought for a moment, opened his mouth.
“Then I’ll just look at your slightly sleeping face and leave.
I was worried yesterday.
"There was also a request from Rockherd."
The maid seemed puzzled by these words.
"You mean Master Rockherd?
That can't be possible...
...
."
Of course it was a lie.
He said he received the highest salary and also realized quickly.
However, a mere maid cannot disobey the crown prince's orders.
Nezar turned away from the maid who was walking away and opened the door silently.
Katrina's room had a particularly large window compared to the other rooms.
It's as if animals kept in captivity can soak up as much sunlight as possible.
Just like Eden, Nezar also moved silently and stood in front of the bed.
Katrina was sleeping like a corpse.
"Daisy?
"How are you?
Is Eden gone?"
Soon the corpse's lips moved slightly.
"Then why did you come back?
Even though I'm feeling fine now.
You stayed up all night.
"Hurry up and go to sleep, you idiot."
"I'm not Daisy."
Katrina's eyes widened.
The eyes, which rotated like the second hand of a clock, pointed precisely at Nezar, and the body that was buried under the blanket stood up.
"Hey, intruder!"
"intruder?
It's not a word normally used in situations like this.
"If possible, just say you're a visitor."
"Hey, Daisy!
Daisy!"
Even though Nezar responded in a calm voice, Katrina was busy jumping on the bed and screaming.
My eardrums are going to burst.
There was no need to worry about the condition of my body.
Nezar held his forehead and sighed deeply.
"Is it normal to be so loud when you say you're in pain?
If you don't want to get wet, get under the blanket and lie down calmly.
"Don't worry the people around you because you are sick."
Surprisingly, Katrina stopped fussing with just one word.
She blinked her eyelids silently and looked at Nezar, then slowly bent down and wrapped her legs in the blanket.
I don't know what I was thinking, but only about 30 seconds passed before I laid the back of my head on the pillow.
Are you the same person as yesterday's colt?
As I was so stunned that I just looked at the white face, Katrina spoke in a low voice.
"You said you were friends with Rockherd."
"Yes."
"But why are you coming to visit me in the hospital?"
Seeing his calm appearance that made me wonder if he had a split personality, I had a strange feeling, as if I didn't know something.
Nezar was prepared to be verbally attacked, or even punched, like yesterday.
"Can't Rockherd's friend visit you in the hospital?"
"That's not it...
...
.
"Rockherd rarely comes to visit me when I'm sick."
"why?"
"Every time he comes, he gets so angry that I have to kick him out."
"How do you drive them out?"
"Scream or bite my shoulder.
Then Rockherd says ugh!
And run away screaming.
If I bite you that hard, he'll roll his eyes every time he sees me for more than two days.
What will you do if someone looks at you?
"Who told you to force me to come and show that I don't like you!"
Since Rockherd and his younger brother were four years apart, Katrina would now be eight.
No matter what you think about it, Katrina was extremely hostile, unbecoming of an eight-year-old child.
Hearing Rockherd's words, it seemed like he was paying attention, but Katrina wasn't thinking like that.
Is the conversation itself really rare?
Not that there was little interaction between the two, but it seemed nonexistent.
"Do you hate Rockherd that much?"
"huh. uh...
...no."
"Are you saying yes or no?"
"I don't know exactly what it means to dislike.
"Do you hate it when your face contorts when you make eye contact?"
It's good that he's calmed down, but for some reason I don't feel like we're communicating well.
I guess I'm similar to Rockherd in just saying what I want to say.
Nezar fixed his gaze on Katrina's messy platinum blonde hair.
And he responded calmly, as if he were dealing with a child.
"Who did this to you?"
"huh.
The servants and maids are all like that.
Tanya, Jason, Mrs.
Morcada and...
...
."
At that moment, Nezar realized that this topic would not please Katrina very much.
I think I should say something more.
He gently smoothed Katrina's hair, which was a mess from his violence.
For some reason, I keep thinking about Ezaret and I feel like I can't let it go.
"I think I'm going to have to give up the teddy bear makeup that I want so much.
Did you bring it correctly?
"They left me there yesterday."
"Teddy bear?"
Katrina looked worried for a moment.
And then he shook his head slightly.
"Oh that?
Don't mind.
Because I did it for attention anyway.
Look, do you see that?
Katrina lifted her skirt and exposed her calves to him.
Being a child, Nezar looked at Katrina's legs without thinking.
No, instead of saying that I didn't think anything of it, it was more appropriate to say that I just blankly followed Katrina's words.
If you're acting to get attention, it's not that bad, it's a lot like a fox, isn't it?
But these thoughts disappeared without a trace as soon as I saw Katrina's red and swollen calves.
"No matter what I did, my mother was the type of person who never touched me.
But this time...
...I think I behaved very arbitrarily.
"My legs were tingling and my fever was getting worse."
"It seems the interest you mentioned is getting you a beating."
Katrina lifted her legs and hid under the blanket again.
The pale pink sky flows beyond the window, dyeing my platinum hair red.
The eyes, hidden by the long hair, were well curved, but at first glance they seemed distorted.
"Ahaha, that can't be possible!
I hate being sick too.
"If you're sick and locked in your room, there's no one to come to you."
Oh, that was it.
That's why Ezaret comes to mind every time I think about Katrina.
Ezaret was a noble doll who rolled around in the Empress' hands and was always fighting to get the attention of her half-brother, Nezhar.
The princess always stays at home to keep her skin white as snow, and the only people who have proper conversations are her birth mother and her accompanying knight.
Even so, the Empress was busy discussing how to become a beautiful woman every time she opened her mouth, so she must have been bored, frustrated, and depressed every day.
But Nezar had no kindness he could do for her.
This was because there was no need to arouse the Empress's interest.
"What do you want to do?"
However, the situation in Ezelot was a little different.
I was slowly getting bored of just focusing on tasks.
That being said, I didn't want to run in the snow in this weird weather.
"There is no such thing."
"If you don't have one, make one.
"I will play with you all day for the remaining four days in Ezelot."
"why?"
Katrina had a blank expression on her face as she asked this question.
"There's no reason.
Well, if you really don't like it, you can refuse."
Katrina shook her head hurriedly.
She got out of bed barefoot and came close to Nezar, grabbing his hands.
With the biggest smile in the world.
"I don't like this at all!
I love that!
"I think I did a good job of being scolded by my mother!"
***
After investigating for a few days, I discovered that there was a good reason why Katrina Ezelot wasn't treated like a human being in the castle.
First of all, this little devil didn't know how to keep quiet.
If I had to stay in my room for even a day and rest peacefully, I would try to get out, even if it meant scratching the door.
There have been many cases where poor-quality maids opened the door because sawdust got stuck under their nails and blood oozed out.
But is he quieter when he goes out?
Is this possible?
Katrina was very bad at dealing with people who were not friendly towards her.
When he was called in a slightly nervous tone, he was busy destroying the surroundings.
In the garden, he picked well-cared for flowers, in the stables he made a point of letting the horses graze and, in the hall, he worked harder than anyone else to break decorations such as vases and candlesticks.
The mental world of a girl of just eight years old was a difficult category for Nezar to understand.
"Only the maids suffer because of you.
If you want to get people's attention, you need to start by creating a positive impression.
"Who would think well of you if you made such a mess?"
Katrina pouted at Nezar's reprimand.
"If you stay quiet, you'll end up staying quiet.
In the past, they were not even allowed to leave the castle at night.
"Now that I am, I can do whatever I want."
Very arbitrary.
Nezar sat on Katrina's bed and took the plate from her hands.
He said he would do whatever he wanted, but there was only colored paprika left on the pure white plate.
"It's like that again.
"Don't be picky and eat everything."
Nezar cut the remaining vegetables with a fork, as if to show off, and then stuffed it into Katrina's mouth.
Even though I wasn't afraid of the maids' gossip, I was afraid of paprika, so my skin quickly turned pale.
"I hate it."
"If you leave me behind, I won't go anymore.
"First of all, I don't have enough time to deal with you."
In fact, there was so much left that it was almost overflowing.
Nezar, who saw her crying and biting her lip, stared blankly.
Her red, swollen lips slowly softened.
My upper and lower lips are covered in blood, probably because I have a habit of chewing my lips.
"I'll say this twice more.
"Eat quickly."
"no!"
"Come on!
Let's go."
"Why do I have to force myself to eat it if I don't want to?
"It's not like I'm going to die if I don't eat even a piece of grass."
"I hate picky eaters.
If you want to be a picky eater, find a friend who doesn't mind being picky and go out.
"Is that reason enough?"
"What nonsense is this!"
Even as I screamed, I could barely open my mouth and put the paprika in my mouth.
Katrina covered her nostrils with her hands as if she didn't want to chew, took a deep breath and swallowed the paprika.
It's not a small amount, but it disappears easily.
"Are all the people in Hwangseong exactly as they want?"
"no.
I wish I could see some unruly bastards.
"You're the most self-indulgent person I know, Katrina."
"really?
It is not.
Eden said that there are many children my age in the imperial palace and social circles...
...
."
"I can say absolutely not.
"Your brother makes jokes that are really cruel."