2. Walking in Another’s Shoes
One of the little ones sitting in the mud started crying loudly.
Startled by the ear-piercing cry, the nearby northern nobles’ attendants brought the nobles over.
As they were still waiting for their turn for the business explanation, they wanted to resolve this peacefully.
“Children can accidentally bump into each other while playing.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“Come now, get up. What kind of boy cries because a girl pushed him?”
At the adults’ attitude trying to brush off the situation, Katya said with an unrelenting face.
“It wasn’t an accident, I stopped your sons because they were tormenting our dog with toy guns.”
At those words, several nobles’ faces turned pale. Borzois were quite expensive dogs.
Moreover, if it was a dog raised by Duke Smirnov, it would obviously be worth well above average.
“We were jealous!”
Ivan, who had been watching the situation, suddenly cried out tearfully.
“Ivan, what do you mean?”
“The ladies only care about the dog and not us at all, so we got jealous. We just wanted to play together…”
It was excellent acting that tugged at the adults’ heartstrings.
Katya was so dumbfounded by his sudden fake crying that she couldn’t even laugh.
The nobles, relieved that it wasn’t anything serious, smiled and spoke.
“I guess our children were trying to get the ladies’ attention.”
“Indeed. It must be because the ladies are so beautiful, haha.”
“Boys are naturally less mature than girls. They’re just clumsy with expressing affection.”
Having reached their own conclusion, the nobles urged their sons to apologize.
“From now on, you should show proper respect to the ladies. You’ll be seeing each other for a long time, so you should get along well. Otherwise, it won’t do.”
“Yes. Now apologize to the ladies.”
Among the hesitating children, Ivan stepped forward as their representative and knelt on one knee before Katya.
Then he took Katya’s hand and kissed it while whispering.
“I’m sorry, Lady Katarina. Please forgive our rudeness with your generous heart.”
He didn’t look sorry at all. Ivan rose slowly with a face drunk on victory.
“Stop being so sensitive about a little prank.”
He whispered just loud enough for only Katya to hear. Katya resisted the urge to kick Ivan right there.
Using their parents as shields, the young masters sneered at the sisters and went inside the building.
Bianca hugged Laika’s neck and stroked the wounds from the toy guns.
“Sister, what if they come to our house again and bully our Laika?”
“We’ll make sure they never do it again.”
Katya said while glaring at the back of Ivan’s head. That day, she became aware of her innate temperament for the first time.
That she wouldn’t be able to sleep from anger unless she paid back double what she received.
***
The Duke and Duchess had prepared spacious and comfortable bedrooms for the children who must be tired from their arduous journey.
The children who were sleeping peacefully on the vast bed woke up one by one with discomfort.
“Aah! What is this?”
When they woke up, the children found themselves tied to the bed posts.
“Did you sleep well?”
Katya smiled cheerfully at them. In her hand was a bow almost as tall as herself.
“Aren’t you going to untie this?”
“We’re going to tell our Dad everything!”
“Do you think you’ll get away with this?”
Katya put a headband with an apple fixed with nails on Ivan’s head and tied it under his chin.
“You wanted to play with me, right? We’re going to play a very fun game now.”
Katya moved far from Ivan and took out an arrow from the quiver on her back.
“If I hit all the apples on your heads with this bow, I win, and if I miss, I’ll be it.”
“You… Do you know how to shoot a bow?”
“No? This is my first time.”
“S-stop this right now!”
The young masters shouted with pale faces. What Katya was holding wasn’t a toy but a real hunting bow.
At this rate, their lives would be gone before the game could change turns.
“Then I’ll start.”
Katya pulled the bowstring taut and released it. Arrows flew past the children one by one.
The trembling children eventually wet themselves.
The northern nobles finally arrived, late to the children’s screams.
“W-what is going on here?”
While the ladies untied the children, the nobles who had almost lost their heirs angrily approached Katya.
“How could you do such a thing?”
“Is this revenge for what happened earlier?”
“Revenge?”
Katya blinked her large, clear eyes innocently. Then she took out the arrows from the quiver and showed them to the nobles.
The nobles were struck speechless when they saw the arrows. They were toy arrows with rubber tips.
It seemed the children had been scared because only the bow was real.
“We were just playing and having fun, why are you all acting like this?”
One of the noble ladies rushed forward, unable to contain her anger.
“Is it fun if you’re the only one enjoying it?”
“I just wanted to get closer to them? They were just sleeping when I wanted to play.”
“Our children did it innocently because they didn’t know better, but this time you did it deliberately!”
“They didn’t know better?”
“Yes!”
To the sharp retort, Katya nodded.
“That’s why I taught them.”
“What did you say?”
“You only understand when you experience it yourself. You won’t scare others for fun once you know how frightening it can be.”
The fear Laika must have felt looking at the toy gun—
“You won’t hit others recklessly once you know how painful it is to be hit until it brings tears.”
The young masters must have painfully realized this as they were being hit.
Until you are in the same position, you can never truly feel it as your own experience.
“What kind of girl talks back like this—!”
It was when the nobles were outraged that the Duke and Duchess entered the bedroom after hearing the commotion.
They were only informed with biased information that Katya had scared the children with a real bow.
Lady Bianca ran forward to the Duke and Duchess, who were embarrassed by their daughter’s wrongdoing.
“My sister did nothing wrong!”
Bianca, crying her eyes out, brought Laika along.
“They made Laika like this first. Sob…”
When she lifted Laika’s fur, bruises were visible here and there. Laika whimpered softly as if trying to endure the pain whenever her owner’s hand touched her.
“Even though the adults saw it earlier, they brushed it off as if it was nothing.”
“Is that… true, Bianca?”
“They used to secretly pull my hair and bully me when the adults weren’t looking. My sister protected me and Laika.”
In Hersen, where most people had brown hair, blonde was rare. When they encountered each other at a resort, the young masters teased Bianca by pulling her neatly braided hair.
Knowing that she was gentle and shy and wouldn’t tattle, they targeted Bianca among the sisters.
The Duke, having grasped the situation, hardened his expression. His now icy gaze turned to the nobles.
“It seems best to consider the investment matter as nonexistent.”
“Your Highness, bringing children’s affairs into public business is—”
“Isn’t the project you proposed related to livestock? Seeing your son, I can tell how livestock are treated without even visiting the site.”
While her husband sorted out the situation, the Duchess took the sisters by the hand and led them outside.
Katya, who briefly turned around, met Ivan’s eyes. This time, she smiled victoriously.
After that day, the four troublemakers who ruined their parents’ business stopped tormenting animals.
And no one dared to mess with the Smirnov sisters again.
When a small skirmish brought about a significant effect, young Katya’s heart pounded.
At just nine years old, she realized the wisdom of life: giving up on being good makes life easier.
‘This means I should live without holding back and causing a ruckus whenever I want, right?’
Katya thought.
In a life you only live once, it seemed more comfortable to live as a tomboy.
Thus, Katya decided to become a tomboy.
***
As Katya grew, she became infamous. In the southern region, there was no one who didn’t know the name ‘Katarina.’
The child who pulled the Smirnov sisters’ hair soon found themselves being dragged through a field of dog poop, and the child who lifted a skirt had their pants stepped on by Katya, causing them to slip off.
There was even a theory that the trend among southern men to roll up the hems of their pants was because of Katya.
Time passed, and the tomboy Katya turned twenty-one, the perfect age for marriage.
“My lady, are you just coming in now?”
Alyona, who had been anxiously waiting for her at the entrance, immediately took Katya’s cloak.
“Did you forget you have an appointment today? They’ve already arrived and are waiting.”
“Really?”
Katya nonchalantly brushed off the dirt from her boots.
“You led them to the drawing room, right?”
“Are you going like that?”
Alyona, her eyes wide, stopped her from heading to the drawing room.
Having just returned from hunting, her pants were splattered with dirt here and there.
While women usually wore redingote gowns with skirts, Katya always preferred men’s riding outfits.
“You should change your clothes.”
“They’re already here early. It’s not polite to keep them waiting.”
Katya, with a musket slung over her shoulder, strode down the hallway with her long legs.
Before Alyona could stop her further, the door to the drawing room swung open.
Katya smiled at her worried pursuer and closed the door from inside.
A middle-aged man sitting in the drawing room stood up at Katya’s entrance.
“Nice to meet you, Lady Katarina. I’m Gregory.”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
“You are quite late. I’ve been waiting for an hour, haha—”
Gregory subtly boasted.
At his words, Katya glanced at the pocket watch at her waist.
“It’s on time, so I’m not late.”
Strictly speaking, arriving an hour early without notice could also be seen as rushing and was impolite.
“You came in that attire…?”
“I was out hunting and thought you might be waiting, so I came as I was.”
“…Please, have a seat.”
With an openly uncomfortable face, Gregory invited her to sit and took his seat.
Katya sat across from him and began to wipe her musket with a cloth.
Seeing this, the man clicked his tongue unconsciously.
