12 A Kiss Goodnight

"I'm not in a good mood right now, get out of my way." Liandra's eyes twitched seeing what seemed to be a familiar group in front of her. She was fed up with everything that had happened so far.

"I don't think so. You made a fool out of us already." Danielle came into clear view of Liandra, bearing nothing but I'll will for the latter. She was humiliated and left powerless at the hands of Estelle. Such a feeling could not be washed away easily. Seeing that Liandra was finally alone, Danielle wanted to vent out her frustrations without being caught.

Of course she had backup too. Her friends agreed to join because they too were angered by the sequence of events that happened earlier. If they could do this quietly, no one would ever find out.

However, this was a mere delusion on their part. Getting away with whatever they had planned would be near impossible, yet all of them were blinded by their anger and shame. Vengeance was the only thing they desired.

The other two surrounded Liandra by forming a triangle around her with Danielle. This time, there would be no way out for her. She was cornered with no way out.

Liandra wanted to step back but that would close the distance with one of the other girls. She tried to consider her options but they were closing in fast. As they approached her, she swung an arm at Danielle only for it to be blocked and held in place by Sandra. Her heart was pounding and her head was spinning. Liandra no longer had a way out, she had no one to help her.

"Liandra, you have no one to blame but yourself." Danielle quickly threw her fist at Liandra's face, turning the latter's cheek to the side.

"You have no idea how terrible it felt to be humiliated like that! Now you will understand!" Danielle threw another punch into Liandra's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Liandra's knees grew weak, giving way a few seconds after the second punch. She knelt on the floor, beaten and devoid of emotion.

However, a usual culprit appeared in her moment of need. A devil in the form of a guardian angel, a darkness in the form of a shining light. Liandra saw many things. But to the ones that had just attacked her, they only saw hell.

Danielle's fell backwards and crawled back into a wall with no way to go. The two other girls let go of Liandra and stood absolute still. There was now complete silence in the hallway.

A familiar cold voice finally called out, "A punch to the face and the abdomen… how should I punish this?"

Estelle flashed her beautiful golden eyes, making a firm eye contact with Danielle. She stepped closer to Danielle, holding a deadpan expression with her eyes wide open. She quickly reached out a hand to Danielle's neck and grasped it firmly. She was careful not to choke too hard, only holding firm enough to make it painful for Danielle to breath.

"I was hoping you would learn your lesson but I guess you are not as smart as I would have hoped. Danielle, you should know that my sister and I are very close. When you hurt her, I wanted to tear your jaw from the rest of your skull. But that would be incredibly messy right?" Liandra calmly spoke, staring Danielle down.

Danielle nodded in response, unable to open her mouth out of fear. She could not talk back and neither could she fight back. She knew she could only play along with Estelle.

"But you know what wouldn't be messy?"

Danielle shook her head, genuinely unable to answer Estelle's question.

Without another word, Estelle smiled widely. Her arms tensed up and she twisted her waist. With the turn of her body, she threw Diana by the neck towards the nearest window. With the shattering of the window, a body flew out into the ground an entire floor below. A thud could be heard and the moans of a wretched young lady.

Estelle turned to the other two and grinned devilishly. "Don't worry, at worst she breaks an arms or a leg. It could've been worse if I didn't restrain myself however. If you don't wish to have a worse fate, make sure all three of you remember not to try anything that would reflect badly. I may break more than just an arm or a leg next time. Also, if anyone asks, Danielle had a tantrum and threw herself out of the window."

Estelle finally turned to face Liandra and place a hand on Liandra's sore cheek. "Oh little sister, why couldn't you have just listened to me? None of this would've happened."

Liandra's emotions finally caught up to her. The tears that she had tried to suppress finally leaked out from her eyes and streamed down her face. She cried in frustration and shame.

"Let it all out…" Estelle pretended to be attentive, dragging her fingers through Liandra's hair gently while comforting her.

"Older sister… I hate this!" Liandra cried out.

"Now now… let's go back to our room and discuss this all there…" Estelle patted Liandra's back and walked her back in the direction of their room.

Liandra never fully regained her composure during the walk back to their room. She could hear the nobles making a fuss about Danielle outside while knowing full well that Danielle deserved no such attention. No one came to check on the birthday girl, not even once. The only person that consistently stood by her was her devil sister.

She winced in pain as Estelle opened the door to their room and placed Liandra on the bed. She wanted to say something but she felt too shameful.

"Liandra, maybe I've been to hard on you. This is your birthday and you haven't had a moment of rest. As compensation, I will give you any present of your choosing, so long as it is within my ability." Estelle for some reason offered Liandra a gift.

Liandra's eyes squinted as she looked up to the ceiling. She could feel that she was losing the will to stay awake. As such, she did not register the magnitude of what Estelle was offering.

'This is my last test. If after all of this, she still wants Julian Evengrad's hand in marriage, all of my work will be for naught. A villainess will never change no matter what I do.' Estelle did not voice her thoughts into words but kept them to herself as she waited for Liandra's answer.

"A kiss goodnight…" Liandra remember her mother's embrace. Her only wish was a kiss from her her late mother. However, a different kiss was what she would receive.

"Then goodnight." Estelle was perplexed but honoured the request. She got into her side of the bed and pressed her soft lips against Liandra's. Something was lost in translation.