Bunny was certain she was stronger than that person. Unaware that Salame Yudia was a Saintess—the absolute pinnacle of divine power—Bunny tilted her nose upward, her shoulders hunched with stubborn pride.
“Hmph.”
Bunny wiggled out of Roden Heiner’s lap, cast a strangely confident smile toward him, and turned to face the front.
“Now, we shall begin the summoning ritual. Please come forward and place your hand into this transparent orb. I will call the names one by one. First, young master Andrew.”
The summoning ritual began in a climate of palpable tension.
* * *
“Now, next… Ah… This time, young master Alan, please come forward.”
As the priest spoke in a lukewarm voice, Bunny tilted her head, watching with an excited, rhythmic bounce.
For some reason, the moment the priest called the name, the surroundings fell silent. A brief hush was followed by a mounting wave of murmurs spreading through the crowd.
Whispers drifted in, carrying jagged words like “beast,” “filthy,” and “disgrace” that dug into Bunny’s ears.
‘Are they going to summon a beast full of disgrace? But it’s filthy?!’
Bunny’s rival?!
*Tap, tap.*
As she turned at the sound of footsteps, a boy who had been standing alone a short distance away walked toward the table.
He appeared to be about ten years old, with gray hair and golden, cat-like eyes that stood out sharply.
The boy approached with a stiffened face, glared at the orb with a deep frown, and thrust his hand deep into the glass sphere. Curiously, when the children inserted their hands, they sank through the surface as if the orb were empty.
Once their hands were submerged, the children fell into a statue-like trance, eyes closed and standing perfectly still.
After a few minutes—sometimes ten or fifteen—they would pull their arms out.
In their palms would be something shimmering; when they opened their small fists, the light would drift upward like magic before settling into their arms as ‘something’ physical.
For other children, the light had manifested as cats, falcons, or fawns.
Some pulls resulted in objects—small daggers or ornate bracelets.
Eventually, the tedious wait stretched to the fifth turn. Since Bunny was sixth, her turn would follow this boy.
‘Next, Bunny!’
Bunny tried to calm her wiggling body and stared at the candidate for rival(?) who had clearly made everyone nervous.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Even after ten minutes, then twenty passed, the boy showed no sign of moving. Eventually, the strength left Bunny’s legs.
She plopped onto the floor as if setting up a street stall and stretched out both legs.
“My. Young lady, are you alright?”
“Yeees…….”
As Roden Heiner gathered the wobbling Bunny into his arms, Jessie hurried over with a chair. It was long after they had seated Bunny that Alan, who had appeared to be asleep, finally opened his eyes.
He pulled his hand out, and a gray light, matching the color of his hair, sparkled from his palm.
As Alan opened his hand, a cluster of gray light floated up and began to expand.
It descended, elongated, and wrapped around the boy’s body.
When the light faded, Bunny’s mouth fell wide open.
A giant king snake!
Longer than Alan’s height, the snake coiled around the boy’s frame, its triangular head resting steadily on his shoulder.
The way it flicked its tongue looked incredibly lethal.
‘A rival indeed!’
But since Bunny was going to summon a huge, giant dragon, it was a pity—but this duel(?) would be Bunny’s victory.
“A snake? How ominous.”
“As expected of a half-breed……”
“Is it really alright for such a thing, neither human nor beast, to enter the Duke’s household……”
“Ah! You’re right. A beast cub should just stay in a beast cage……”
*Bang!*
A sharp sound rang out, cutting through the noisy hall. Bunny trembled and looked up.
“I am here, yet you chatter so loudly.”
The owner of the fierce voice was a terrifying-looking old man.
‘Scary grandpa.’
Ah, human adults are so annoying and loud!
Despite the commotion, Alan returned to his spot next to Bunny with his face still rigid.
Bunny jumped down from the chair, firmly covered her mouth with her small hand, stood on her tiptoes, and crept toward him.
Alan, standing in the corner with arms crossed, hesitated when he saw her approaching.
‘This kid is…….’
It was a familiar face. The Mansion Of Trials had been noisy lately because of her.
‘The illegitimate child who entered the mansion recently…….’
Alan, having recognized her, frowned.
“What, why?”
“Hey, can I touch the king snake?”
At the sight of Bunny, eyes sparkling, Alan blinked and nodded tentatively.
“Well……”
As Alan lowered himself slightly, Bunny reached out a dainty hand and stroked the snake’s head. She shuddered at the cool, smooth skin.
The snake coiled around him looked undeniably cool. Bunny maturely suppressed her covetous heart and slid her hand back.
“Hmph.”
“……?”
Alan faltered at the confident snort.
“It’s okay, number 2 is cool too.”
But, number 1 would definitely be Bunny.
Because Bunny was going to summon a dragon!
Bunny rubbed her nose and patted Alan’s shoulder with a triumphant look.
At that strangely cheeky gaze, Alan’s eyebrows twitched.
“It’s okay. Number 2 is nothing to be ashamed of!”
“Huh? What are you talking about? You’ve been at it for a while now.”
“Bunny is going to summon a huge, big dragon!”
“Dra… what?”
Whether Alan muttered in bewilderment or not, Bunny turned and stared blankly at the priest. The priest made eye contact, hesitated, then cleared his throat loudly.
*Ahem!*
“Finally, Bunny young lady, please come forward.”
“Yeees!”
Bunny answered with her hand raised high, wiggling as she stood before the table.
With every wiggle, the cute teddy bear with little horns attached to her back swayed along with her.
“Now, you just have to put your hand inside here, but……”
Bunny reached up, then hesitated. The desk was high. The surface, which sat at chest height for the other children, was level with Bunny’s forehead.
“I will bring a chair.”
The priest, muttering something under his breath while covering his mouth, gestured. Jessie, who was nearby, brought the chair Bunny had sat on earlier.
Jessie grabbed Bunny by the underarms, lifted her up, sat her on the chair, and even untangled the cumbersome doll to put it in her arms.
Only after preparing for quite a while in the silence could Bunny finally put her hand into the orb.
For a long time, Bunny did not open her eyes.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
By the time nearly an hour had passed, murmurs began to erupt from all sides.
“Has such a thing ever happened before…?”
“An hour… Even the direct descendants only reached 30 to 40 minutes at most, didn’t they?”
“Ah. I don’t think the current Duke, nor Lord Kyriel, exceeded an hour……”
In the Yudia Ducal house, a belief had been passed down:
The longer the summoning ritual took, the more valuable the summoned object would be.
The duration was tied to the significance of the sacred beast or holy relic being pulled from history.
The current Yudia Ducal house was in a golden age, with an abundance of talented individuals born from the direct line. It wouldn’t be bad for someone in a collateral line to have a breakthrough—even if that someone were an illegitimate child of unknown origin.