Translator: Nox

Chapter 8

It was clear that Bunny was far stronger than that person. Bunny, blissfully unaware that Salame Yudia was the pinnacle of holy power as the Saintess, lifted her nose high and puffed out her shoulders even more.

“Hmph.”

Bunny slipped down from Roden Hainer’s lap, flashed him a somehow proud smile, then turned her gaze forward again.

“Very well, let the summoning ritual begin. Please come forward and place your hand inside this transparent orb. From now on, when your name is called, step forward. First, Young Master Andrew.”

And so the summoning ritual began amid a dreamlike haze.

* * *

“Next… ah… Young Master Allen, please come forward.”

The priest spoke in a reluctant tone, and Bunny tilted her head curiously while watching with bated breath.

For some reason, the moment the priest called his name, a hush fell over the entire hall. After that brief silence, a wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Whispers reached her ears—words like “beast,” “filthy,” “disgrace” stabbing right into Bunny’s ears.

‘Is he going to summon a beast with tremendous power? But why is it filthy?!’

Bunny’s rival?!

Tap, tap.

She turned at the sound of footsteps. A boy standing all alone a short distance away was walking toward the table with the orb.

He looked about ten years old at a glance, with gray hair and cat-like golden eyes that particularly stood out.

The boy walked stiffly with a hardened expression, glared at the orb with a furrowed brow, then thrust his hand into the glass orb. Strangely, as soon as he did, it was like a hole had been punched through—the hand slipped right in.

Children who put their hands in the orb suddenly fell asleep right there on the spot. Eyes closed, they stood frozen like statues, hands still inside.

Then, after a short few minutes or as long as 10 to 15 minutes, they would open their eyes and pull their arms out.

In the hands of the children who withdrew their arms shone something luminous. When they opened their small palms, it was like magic—the light would float up lightly from within and take the form of “something” that dropped into their arms.

The lights from the other children turned into cats, birds like falcons, fawns.

Of course, it wasn’t always living creatures. Some pulled out small daggers, others something like bracelets.

Anyway, after that tedious wait, it was already the fifth turn. Bunny was sixth, so right after this boy, it would be her turn.

’Next, Bunny!’

Bunny tried to calm her fidgeting body as she watched her obvious rival(?), who had everyone so tense.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Even after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, there was no sign of movement from the child. Unable to wait any longer, Bunny’s legs finally gave out.

In the end, Bunny plopped down onto the floor like she was setting up a street stall, stretching both legs out straight.

“Oh dear. Are you all right, miss?”

“Yeees……”

Roden Hainer scooped up Bunny, who didn’t look fine at all, and Jessie, who wasn’t far away, brought over a chair. Even after the two of them had seated Bunny, it was quite a while before Allen—who had looked asleep—finally opened his eyes.

Allen pulled his hand right out of the orb, and a gray light, the same shade as his hair, glimmered from his palm.

When Allen spread his hand, the gray light floated up lightly, then began to grow larger.

It descended to Allen’s side, elongating as it coiled around his body.

By the time the light faded and took a single form, Bunny’s mouth had fallen wide open.

A massive king snake!

Even at a rough glance, it was far longer than Allen was tall. The snake coiled around the boy and plopped its triangular head squarely on his shoulder.

It flicked its tongue—looking incredibly powerful.

‘As expected, my rival!’

But since Bunny was going to summon a super huge dragon, this showdown(?) was Bunny’s victory, regrettably.

“A snake? How ominous.”

“As expected from a half-breed… still just a half-breed…”

“Does something that’s neither human nor beast really belong in a ducal household…?”

“Ah! Exactly. That beast spawn should just stay in the beast pens…”

Bam!

A sharp crash echoed through the vast hall, cutting off the noisy voices from all directions. Bunny shuddered with a start and looked up.

“With me here, and you all still chattering away so noisily.”

The voice belonged to an elderly man who looked utterly terrifying.

‘Scary grandpa.’

Oh no, grown-up humans hate noise!

Amid the commotion, Allen returned to the seat beside Bunny, his face still rigidly set.

Bunny hopped down from her chair, clamped her small hand firmly over her mouth, then tiptoed stealthily over to Allen.

Allen, who had been standing in the corner with arms crossed and a stiff expression, froze when he saw Bunny approaching.

‘This kid…’

She looked familiar. Lately, the House of Trials had been abuzz because of her.

‘The illegitimate child who just entered the house…’

Allen easily recalled who Bunny was and scowled as he spoke.

“What? Why?”

“Hey, can I touch the king snake?”

At Bunny’s sparkling eyes and outstretched hand, Allen blinked and nodded awkwardly.

“Well……”

When Allen leaned down a bit, Bunny reached out her adorable little hand and gently stroked the snake’s head. She shivered at the cool feel of its skin.

The snake coiled around him looked incredibly cool. Bunny maturely suppressed her envious feelings and slyly slid her hand downward.

“Hmph.”

“……?”

Allen paused at Bunny’s sudden smug expression and snorting laugh.

“It’s okay, second place is still good.”

But first place would be Bunny, of course.

Because Bunny was going to summon a dragon, after all!

Bunny rubbed her nose and patted Allen’s shoulder proudly.

At that somehow infuriating look in her eyes, Allen’s eyebrow twitched once.

“It’s okay. Second place isn’t embarrassing, right!”

“Huh? What are you even talking about? Since earlier.”

“Bunny’s gonna summon a super huge king dragon!”

“Dra… what?”

Whether Allen muttered in bewilderment or not, Bunny whipped around and stared fixedly at the priest. The moment Bunny turned, their eyes met, and the priest flinched before clearing his throat loudly with a hem-hem! and spoke.

“Finally, Miss Bunny, please come forward.”

“Yees!”

Bunny shot her hand up in response and bounced over to the table.

With every bounce of Bunny’s body, the adorable bear doll with horns strapped to her back swung along.

“Now, just place your hand inside here…”

Bunny raised her arm high toward the orb, then paused. The table was tall. What had reached the other children’s chests came up to Bunny’s forehead.

“We’ll bring you a chair.”

The priest muttered softly, hand over his mouth, and gestured. Jessie, not far away, brought the chair Bunny had been sitting in earlier.

Jessie grabbed Bunny under the arms, lifted her dangling onto the chair, and even untied the uncomfortable-looking doll to hand it to her.

After rustling preparations in the heavy silence, Bunny was finally able to put her hand into the orb.

For quite a long time, Bunny kept her eyes closed.

10 minutes.

20 minutes.

30 minutes.

When nearly an hour had passed, murmurs finally began to erupt from all around.

“Has this ever happened before…?”

“An hour? Even the direct descendants maxed out at 30 or 40 minutes, didn’t they?”

“Ah. Even His Grace the current Duke and Young Master Kiriel didn’t take over an hour, I think…”

There was a story passed down in the Yudia Ducal Family.

The longer the summoning ritual took, the greater the value of what was summoned.

The longer it took, the more likely it was that a legendary divine beast or holy relic would appear—one that would go down in history forever.

Especially now, the current Yudia Ducal Family was in an era where direct descendants were producing so many talents it felt like blessings were overflowing. At this point, it wouldn’t hurt if even a branch family member struck gold.

Even if that someone was an illegitimate child whose origins and parents were unknown.