Estelle gazed upon the subject of her annoyances. Her eyes showed no pity for Liandra recent loss nor did they have any expression that would suggest anything else. Estelle knew enough about the girl in front of her to forgo the need to analyse and compare. She could already see the insecurities and the clear displeasures exhibited by Liandra.
"Don't call me that. Father may have married your mother but that is only temporary. Don't get comfortable in my house." Liandra quickly fired back, displeased with the familiarity Estelle was pushing.
Estelle already thought quite little of Liandra. The villainess was a petty, arrogant, mild-mannered, and hateful individual. Estelle did not want to be associated with Liandra in the first place yet here she was, in the villainess' garden. She knew that in terms of influence, she had none here. Apart from being a sought after genius, Estelle did not bring much else to the table. She did not bring wealth, nor did she bring support. Estelle had found herself in a foreign land with people she did not fully understand.
Estelle's gaze shifted towards a bush of roses and thorns beside her. Her main focus was establishing a sort of power hierarchy between the sisters. If she could have a degree of control over Liandra then Estelle would not have to worry about a struggle for dominance.
"Little sister, why are you so cruel? It wasn't my choice to come here and become part of this family…" Estelle's eyes drooped as she frowned.
Liandra was rather pleased with this situation. From her standpoint, this was an invasion on her family. A poorer family had come here and intended to lay roots that could possibly lead to a struggle for succession. This came quite close to her own mothers death which only exacerbated her paranoia. She was lost, for days without end she had been laying in bed, sweat dripping down from her forehead as she tried to keep away the nightmares.
What would she have if everything was taken away from her? Liandra was too scared to find out.
"I'm glad you understand that you are not wanted here. It would be best if you stayed away from me and pretended not to exist." Liandra quickly took what she understood to be the advantage. Her desire to establish herself as he top dog in the relationship was high.
However, Estelle had no intention of letting Liandra continue the way she was. If the two would truly be joined as a family, Estelle may be implicated for Liandra's crimes in the future. Estelle had no desire to be caught in the crossfire of what would become a terrible display of jealousy and hatred, she simply wanted to live a fulfilling life. With a step to the side, Estelle brushed her fingers along the thorns, rubbing them gently.
"Little sister, I wonder what your father would think if he heard that you pushed me into the thorns?" A thorn pierced her index finger slowly, bright red seeped out and onto the sharp thorn. Estelle shifted her eyes back towards Liandra, establishing firm eye-contact.
Liandra gasped in shock as she saw blood drawn. 'She is crazy! This girl is doing this on purpose!' Liandra thought to herself. She quickly walked over to Estelle and threw a hand towards the latter's wrist in the hope of removing her fingers from the thorns. "You crazy bitch! Get your hands off them!"
Estelle deviously grinned as Liandra grabbed her wrist. Her plan had been set in motion. With a quick jolt from her heels, Estelle began falling backwards into the thorns. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction, knowing that someone like Liandra wouldn't try to save her.
Yet Estelle was proven wrong. Pulling back with all of her strength, Liandra managed to pull Estelle into the former. However, the strength she put in proved too much and Estelle flew into Liandra with a face full of surprise.
"What?" Estelle blankly spoke, unable to fully process.
With a loud thump, the two land on the ground. Estelle laid on top of Liandra, her hands pressed on the ground around both sides of Liandra's head. However, in moments, Estelle regained her composure and made her point. "Little sister, you see how dangerous it would be if you make me displeased?"
Liandra frowned, unable to really move as Estelle had locked her down. She could only look up to Estelle's face. What started as a little intimidation had ended in a symbolic representation of their new relationship. "You planned for this to happen. You think I won't tell father what you are really like?" Liandra unconfidently gave a verbal retort.
"Well you see, my wrist was grabbed pretty hard… if I go now and tell your father, who would he believe? Also, I have many more things I could do which would make your life significantly more difficult." Estelle chuckled coldly, looking down on the villainess.
"What do you want?" Liandra resigned herself, knowing that the girl on top of her had clearly thought this out thoroughly. Liandra did not have any witnesses and all things would point to her bullying her new sister not even an hour after they had met. She did not want to make her father disappointed in her.
"You could start by listening to everything I say for the next five years. I won't tell you to do anything that would harm you. In exchange, I won't cause any little accidents that would get you in trouble with mother and father." Estelle straightened her back and straddled Liandra upright. The distance between them grew further yet again.
"Five years?! You really think you can turn me into your slave for five years with just these little threats?" Liandra furiously tried to push Estelle off of her, failing to produce enough power to do so.
A bored yawn could be heard from the lady on top. "I know you have a crush on Julian Evengrad."
Liandra immediately halted her struggling. Her face grew anxious as she drew a bead of sweat from the side of her forehead. "How did you know…?"
"If you don't want me to tell him, then you'd better be a good little sister."