FULFILL A PROMISE

GYSPSY'S life as a 'Woolsey' had never been easy, but today proved to be one of the hardest days of her life yet.

She spent the whole day showing her back to Count Woolsey, Marquis Allen Scott, Count Ford Watson, and the other nobles that belonged to the Woolsey Faction. All to show them the proof of Edur's mark: the 'twin crescent moons' facing each other on her back, and each crescent moon mark was located below her shoulder blades.

Plus, the end of the crescent moons reached the small of her back. Thus, she felt so exposed while showing her bare back to a bunch of men she wasn't comfortable with.

[But I must endure for my survival.]

Those were the marks that Edur left on her body, and those marks were actually the spot where her dragon wings grew.

"Noonim, good work," Yvo said as he wrapped her up in a blanket. He gave up trying to help her tie her dress properly, so he just covered her with a blanket while saying he'd call for her maids later. "You're now officially the temporary Head of the family."

"Thank you, Young Master Yvo," Gypsy said with a weak smile on her face while pulling the blanket closer to her body. "I'm glad it's over."

Showing her exposed back to a bunch of men in a room scared the hell out of her.

It made her sick to the stomach.

Thankfully, Yvo didn't leave her side. He made sure the nobles wouldn't get too close, and he even warned them not to touch her. She was able to breathe because of him.

"I'm sorry, Noonim," he said. "Showing Edur's mark on your body to the representatives was something I couldn't stop."

"You don't have to say sorry, Young Master Yvo," she consoled him. "I was uncomfortable, but I felt safe since you were with me the whole time. You limited the amount of people who could see the marks on my body, and you warned them not to touch me. It was bearable because of you."

"I only did what I had to do as the future head of the family," he said, then he sat on the chair beside the bed and reached for the strands of her hair. As usual, he twirled his fingers around her hair as if it was the most natural thing for him to do. "This much of physical contact is acceptable. Isn't it, Noonim?"

The game didn't describe Yvo as someone who craved physical contact.

But these days, he was acting like a clingy child. Thankfully, he wasn't directly touching her. He just enjoyed playing with her hair.

"It's alright, Young Master Yvo," she said. "I don't feel uncomfortable with this much physical contact. But why do you keep on touching my hair? You also like patting my head. Do you think I'm your pet or something?"

"I just want Noonim to get used to me," he said casually. "You don't notice it, but you often flinch when I get close. We can't have that. Now that there's only the two of us that represent the family, we will be obliged to attend social gatherings together. If other people notice your reaction towards me, I'm afraid that it might start a strange rumor about me"

Oh, the young master was making some valid points, huh?

"Count Woolsey, in particular, might spread a rumor about me maltreating you in order to ruin my reputation," he continued while still playing with her hair. "Thus, I figured we must exert effort, so we'd get comfortable around each other the soonest. In that way, we'd avoid getting caught up in rumors. We must appear as siblings who go along well with each other in public." He smiled at her. "Am I wrong, Noonim?"

Yvo rarely smiled, so she should be happy to see him smiling now.

But for some reason, why did she feel like she was being tricked by that wonderful smile of her young master?

[Ah, whatever. As long as he doesn't intend to kill me, I can let it slide.]

"No, your points are valid, Young Master Yvo," she said, then she smiled and changed the topic. "Now that I'm officially appointed as the temporary Head of the family, may I know your answer to my business proposal?"

"Ah, you're talking about the contract, right?"

She nodded eagerly. "In order for you to completely own the contract, you must fulfill two things: first, you have to find the original copy of the contract I signed with the late grand duke. I tried looking for it when I was arranging their funeral, but I didn't find it."

"There's a vault that only my father and I could open," the young master said. "It's a vault that's reserved for the real successors of the family. I'll look for the contract in there."

"Oh, okay."

"What's the second condition, Noonim?"

"You have to save my brother and take him into your custody, Young Master Yvo," she said, then she bit her lower lip before she spoke again. "Please help me find my brother."

If there was one person she could say she got attached to in this world, it would be Gio.

Gio and Baek Si-woo (her real brother) had opposite personalities, but Gio still reminded her of her real dongsaeng by how they depended on each other. As an older sister herself, she wanted to save the original Lady Gypsy's baby brother.

"Alright, I'll save Noonim's brother."

She beamed instantly. "Really, Young Master Yvo?"

"Of course, Noonim," Yvo said, then he smiled his sly smile at her again. "I need to take the little brother under my custody so I could own Noonim."

[Uhm, excuse me?]

He let out a soft gasp as if he was surprised by his own words, but the mischievous glint in his eyes said otherwise. "I mean the contract, but Noonim already knows that, right?"

[No, you definitely sound like what you want to own is me and not the contract.]

Gypsy smiled, anyway. "Whatever you say, Young Master Yvo."

***

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