章 8: BREAK A LEG

[NOONIM'S mouth is really small.]

Yvo knew he shouldn't be focusing on something as trivial as the shape of Gypsy's mouth, but he couldn't help it.

He could see his noonim's breath forming into a circle of cloud, but his attention was focused on her lips instead. Even though he knew he should be celebrating the fact that Gypsy successfully created a replica of Yvette's Core, his eyes could only see Gypsy's lips.

[Noonim's lips look soft…]

His impure thoughts were only interrupted when Gypsy finally opened her eyes.

[Even Noonim's eyes are pretty.]

Gypsy's face instantly lit up upon seeing the floating blue marble in front of her face. "I did it," she said softly, then she turned to him with a bright smile. "Yvo, I did it."

He had to stop his urge to smile.

[Noonim is really like a small animal.]

"Of course you did it, Noonim," Yvo said in a formal voice while clenching his hands tight. He also had the urge to pat his fake sister's head, but he couldn't do it in front of the vassal families. "It's only natural since you're a Woolsey."

After saying that, he turned to the leaders of the vassal families.

Marquis Allen Scott looked upset that Gypsy had proven her legitimacy, while Count Ford Watson remained smiling. On the other hand, Count Woolsey looked stoic on the outside. But he had observed his uncle well enough to see that his eyes were shining.

[Uncle probably thinks he could use my Noonim now for his benefit.]

"Now that Lady Gypsy Woolsey has proven her legitimacy, let's move to the next trial," Marquis Allen Scott said while putting on his black gloves. Then he picked up the floating marble Core and put it in a small transparent box. "The second trial begins now. If Lady Woolsey's Core turns into an Ice Key, then it means the Great Edur has agreed to meet up with Her Ladyship."

The small transparent box where the marquis put Gypsy's Core replica wasn't an ordinary box. It was an item said to be gifted by the Great Edur to the first head of the Woolsey family. Apparently, the box was somehow connected to the Great Edur.

[But it takes time before Edur responds. If I remember it correctly from the stories I heard in the past, it took my father a week before his Core turned into an Ice Key. Only then did he meet Edur.]

He was about to wrap it up and tell the representatives of the vassal families to stay in the mansion while waiting for Edur's response when suddenly, the box in Marquis Allen Scott's hands emitted a blinding light.

Everyone in the room looked shocked, except for Gypsy who seemed to be clueless of what was going on.

"Yvo," Gypsy whispered while hiding behind him. "What's happening?"

"Noonim, it seems like Edur has already given a response," Yvo said, impressed. The blinding light that the box emitted earlier had faded away. He could now clearly see that Gypsy's Core had taken the shape of a key. "And it a positive response."

***

[IS IT really such a big deal?]

Gypsy wondered why the representatives of the vassal families, including Count Woolsey, were giving her strange looks.

[They're looking at me like they're amazed by me, but they don't want to acknowledge it.]

"You did well, Noonim," Yvo said while they were walking to the snow-covered pathway leading to the Glass House. "As far as I know, this is the fastest Edur has ever responded to a call from our family."

Gypsy smiled awkwardly. "That's exactly why I'm nervous."

She wasn't a real Woolsey.

If Edur was really a great celestial being, then they would know that she was a fake.

[Wait, is that the reason why Edur responded to "my" Core fast? Will I get punished for pretending as a Woolsey? Should I kneel and beg as soon as Edur shows up?"

"Noonim, we're here."

Her thoughts were interrupted when Yvo spoke.

When she raised her head, she realized they already arrived at the Glass House.

It was called Glass House, but it actually looked like an igloo the size of a greenhouse. But of course, only the previous Heads of the family had seen the inside of the Glass House. All they knew was it was Edur's lair.

"Your Ladyship, it's time," Count Ford Watson said as he approached her carefully. Then he handed her the small transparent box where the Ice Key made from her Core was placed prettily. "This is the Ice Key that will open the Glass House."

"Thank you, Count Watson," she said as she received the box from the count.

"The previous head, the late Grand Duke Evan Woolsey, took two weeks before he came out of the Glass House," Count Watson said while looking at her with an amused look on his face. "But I bet it won't take you a day to defeat Edur."

Ah, yes.

Apparently, the candidate to become the next head of the Woolsey Family must defeat the replica of Edur living in the Glass House. Once the new head defeated Edur, a mark on their body would appear as proof of their victory.

The mark would be a part of Edur's body, and it was something that couldn't be faked.

"Please don't overestimate me, Count Watson," she said light-heartedly. "I don't need to beat records. I just want to do well as the temporary Head of the family."

"Spoken like a true leader," Count Watson said. "Break a leg, Your Ladyship."

"Thank you, Count Watson."

The other representatives and nobles with them wished her luck as well.

But only Yvo escorted her to the door of the Glass House. After all, only the immediate family of the candidate could get near it.

"Noonim, I'll be waiting for you here."

"Huh?" she asked, surprised. Then she turned to Yvo with knitted eyebrows. "You don't know how long I'll be in there, Young Master Yvo."

She called him that way because the other nobles were far from them to hear their conversation.

"You should just wait in the mansion," she said. "It's cold, so you might get sick if you wait for me here."

He scoffed at that. "Noonim, I'm a Woolsey. We don't get cold."

Ah, right.

Yvo was a Wolf, so his body temperature was warmer than most people.

"I'll wait for you here, Noonim," Yvo said gently. "I'm sure you could defeat Edur easily."

"Well, I'm good at begging so Edur might take pity on me," Gypsy said, then she picked up the Ice Key inside the box. Since she hated wasting time, she inserted the cold key in the hole before she turned to the Wolf. "See you later, Young Master Yvo."

***

GYPSY wasn't a Woolsey and therefore, she trembled like a pitiful small animal drenched in the cold.

When she entered the Glass House, she was transported to a dark and cold place where snow wouldn't stop falling from the night sky. She already expected the lair of the Ice Dragon to be that cold, so she was now scolding herself for not dressing up warmly.

[But Woolseys aren't bothered by the cold. If I dressed up warmly, people might talk. I have to keep up my pretense.]

"B-But it's really c-cold," Gypsy whispered to herself in a shaking voice, then she hugged herself. "And w-when will the Great Edur s-show up?"

<"I am here, child.">

After hearing that majestic voice, the snow-covered pathway that she was walking on began to move.

Then she realized the voice came from under her feet.

Gypsy gasped softly.

No way!

[Was I walking on the Ice Dragon all this time?!]

***

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