Chapter 14: CHAPTER 14: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

The Mayor's Hall. A decoratively boring building hiding some of the city's most corrupt people inside. Of course, to the public, these slithering politicians who use their dirty money behind the scenes to bribe or pay off crooks look like saviors for saving and helping them ward off the 'bad people'. This is the building where I have to convene with said snakes to announce myself to the city. As much as I would love to avoid talking with them, I have to be cordial even though I know that I will most likely be hit with some extreme sexism from the male-dominated prison of a city hall.

Xander and Alex open the doors of the Mayor's Hall to release a horrendous smell of expensive cologne and testosterone. Walking inside with the three men behind me, I make my way over to the concierge desk to find a winged woman slaving away behind the desk.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. Welcome to the Mayor's Hall!" the woman greets in her best customer service voice. "What can I help you with today, sir?"

Of course, she would think that one of the guys is the one with the appointment. I take a deep breath and step forward. "My name is Viola Winter. I have an appointment with the mayor regarding my position announcement."

The woman scans me up and down and rolls her eyes. "The mayor is very busy, little girl. He doesn't have time to play around with kids. Why don't you have your father and brothers take you out for some ice cream? Hm?"

Brothers? I can understand about mistaking Delic as my father, but the twins are a whole different race. Well, at least she's trying not to criticize too much despite already being condescending.

Trying to stifle his laugh, I hear Xander behind me snickering to himself. I look up at Delic to also find him holding back his laugh.

Why did I think I would only feel discriminated against by the men in this building? The women are apparently no different.

"Delic, do you have the signed letter from the mayor confirming my appointment today?" I ask while stepping on Delic's toes since I can't punch him at the moment.

"Yes, Master," Delic responds, straining himself. I can't tell if he is hurting from me stepping on his toes or from holding back from laughing for so long, but either way, these two guys are really gonna get it when we get back home.

Receiving the letter from Delic, I hand over the letter to the woman at the desk. "This should be enough evidence that I do in fact have a meeting with the mayor."

The woman takes the paper from my hands and skims over it. She makes a phone call for a minute or two then looks over at me. "The mayor said that he will be right down. He said that he would like to confirm your legitimacy before allowing you to enter his office."

"Very well then," I reply. "Let the mayor know that we will be in the waiting area. Thank you for your help."

With that, Delic guides me over to the waiting area that looks as comfortable as sitting on tacks. Hard chairs with no cushions or pillows. Stiff decoration with no paid expense on it. The whole area just reeks of penny-pinching politicians who didn't want to waste money on unnecessary stuff but had to make it presentable.

"Hey little sis! Do you want to get some ice cream after this?" jokes Xander as he jumps onto the chair making himself comfortable.

"Daddy would also like to treat his beautiful daughter to some deliciously milky ice cream as well," Delic adds, rubbing his knuckles into Xander's head.

Alex runs over to my side by the bookcase when he notices that I am freezing the books on the lower shelf. "You guys! Haven't you two messed with the Lady enough today? It's only noon!" Alex scolds as he tries to calm me down.

"Come on, Alex. Don't try to hide the fact that you smiled when the woman called you Master's brother," teases Xander, fixing his hair from Delic's destruction.

"I did not!" Alex yells, gripping my shoulders.

These three really do get along even if they don't want to admit it. However, that just means that I have more boys to watch over when they get into each other's hair. I feel more like a mother than anything when I'm around these three.

"Well, isn't it quite lively in here," the mayor announces as he walks into the waiting area.

The guys quickly fix themselves up after hearing the mayor’s voice, and I advance over to where the mayor stands.

"I apologize for the scene that just occurred. I will make sure that they behave better in front of you, sir," I say once I am in front of the mayor.

"It's fine, young lady. It's better to have a lively staff than a monotonous one." The mayor lets out a genial laugh before facing me again. "You must be Lady Viola of the Winter Family."

"Yes sir, that's correct," I respond, shaking the mayor's outstretched hand.

"My sincerest condolences to you for what happened to your family. It takes a lot of strength to rise from that devastation and even more strength to take a position to rebuild it." The mayor places a hand on my shoulder. "If I may confirm, are you the new Winter Vessel that contains the untamed snow and ice?"

"That is correct, Mayor Lee. I was unaware of my abilities until six months ago, which was a couple months after my family died."

"Would you mind showing me a glimpse of the power for legitimacy purposes?"

"Of course, sir." I release a small snow flurry over my hand, and the mayor sticks a finger under the tiny snow cloud.

"That's cold snow alright," laughs the mayor. "I have confirmed your legitimacy. Despite the traditional male heirship, the Winter Family's new heir is a woman. What an unprecedented sight! I shall finalize the scheduling with my secretary and will inform you when you can enter the broadcasting room."

"Thank you, Mayor Lee."

As the mayor walks out of the room, the three boys dash over and surround me.

Disgusted, Delic wipes my shoulders where the mayor laid his hands. "The mayor should know better than to touch official attire without the wearer's permission." He leaks a disgruntled sigh from his lips and tucks the handkerchief back in his pocket.

"It sounded like it went well," Alex comments.

"That was just bravado. He doesn't want the Winter Family to have a female leader," I insert still staring at the doorway the mayor was in.

"How do you know that?" asks Xander after wiping my hands with his handkerchief.

"His hands. Body movement is important when you speak since it will express how you really feel. When he put his hands on my shoulders, he was gripping on real tight like he wanted to shove me to the ground for lying about my position."

"So why do you think he doesn't want a female leader for the Winter Family?" Alex questions.

"Men get along better with other men. That's just simple habitual manners. Men in power don't want to see women in power because that means that they can't easily corrupt the system with women like they can with men. Men in power believe women to be too emotional for an important position which is why they like to rig elections to ensure that women get pulled off early."

"Basically, since a girl is the new leader of the formerly most powerful organization in the city, he can't buddy buddy with you in order to gain favors," Delic summarizes.

The prejudice against women is very real in leadership roles. Becoming a leader means having to be strong and firm with those under you. Once I broadcast myself to the whole city, I can probably expect a lot of mixed emotions about my position. Just one hurdle of many but doable with help.

"Excuse me," says a voice from the doorway. We turn to find the winged woman from the front desk. "Mayor Lee says that the broadcast room is ready for you. Please follow me to the room."

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We follow the woman out the door and into the main foyer where we were when we first walked in. It's like the men aren't trying to hide their irritation with me becoming a leader. Their venomous eyes poke holes into me in an attempt to knock my courage down before I can fight. I have to hold myself up. I have to....

After following the winged woman down a long hallway, we arrive at the broadcasting room that the mayor uses for announcements.

"The local news will start in just a few minutes. Quickly prepare yourself and stand on the x on the stage. The director will let you know when you are live," says the woman. She struts away before I could ask anything.

I glance over at the stage where the marker should be. The bright lights beaming down on that area make me feel like I will melt if I stand there too long. A sudden uneasy feeling creeps up on my neck the longer I look at it.

What happens if I mess up? What happens if I embarrass myself? My whole family's reputation could be shattered by my own clumsiness.

Delic grabs my shoulders and turns me around. He kneels down to fix any last minute adjustment on my clothes. "You're going to do just fine, Master," he whispers as he tightens the cape. "You are the proud leader of the Winter Family. Once we have more members, then you will be the proud leader of the Winter Mafia. However, no matter how many people are in your family, you should always be happy with where you are while still striving for better."

Alex and Xander step forward and present the cheekiest smiles one could find.

"Don't worry about messing up, my Lady," Alex states.

"Yeah! Worrying about messing up will only cause you to mess up. Don't sweat it too much," adds Xander.

I observe the three guys in front of me. They have such confident faith in me. So why don't I have faith in myself? It's almost laughable.

"Are you Lady Viola?" asks a scrawny man from behind Alex.

"Yes, that is me," I respond back.

"You have one minute to get on stage and finalize your appearance. Please make your way over now."

I give a firm nod as Alex holds out his hand to guide me to the stage. I slip my hand in his, and we start our way over.

"Hey, Delic. I've been wondering about something. Why do we always have to guide the Lady around and help her with simple things like getting ready in the morning?" asks Xander who is now leaning against the wall next to Delic.

Delic crosses his arms and gets comfortable along the wall as well. "Despite how strong the Winter Vessels have to be to contain the snow and ice blowing its way inside their body, they are actually very fragile. Everything about them is the epitome of ice and snow. They are fragile yet strong like ice, but only one certain part of them is breakable. Like how when you break an icicle in the winter, it only has to break in one part to shatter the whole thing."

"Then where does the snow come into play with all of this?" Xander pushes.

"Each snowflake has a unique pattern. No two snowflakes are the same. Same thing applies to Winter Vessels. Each Winter Vessel is fragile in a different area. One vessel could have delicate arms that can break with a strong enough impact. Another vessel could have poor blood circulation that with one deep enough cut, it could render them useless until he dies. In order to protect the safety and well-being of the Winter Vessel, a guardian spirit is given to them at birth."

"Well then why does the Lady practice in the training hall if she is fragile?!" shouts Xander.

Delic quiets Xander down and apologizes for the disturbance. "She is the one who wanted to do that. Of course, I keep close supervision of her. I stop the training if I deem that she might get seriously hurt. Like how she was bleeding a little this morning. I had to quickly disinfect and apply pressure even if it's just a small scrape because she might have low blood. We will never know where the Winter Vessel's true fragility lies, but we prefer to keep her safe than sorry."

"Quiet on set!" yells the director. "We are live in three, two, one."

With the point of the director's finger, I start my announcement.

"Good afternoon, residents of Eshea. My name is Viola Winter of the Winter Family. You might have heard the news of my family's tragedy almost eight months ago. As the remaining survivor and new Winter Vessel, I hereby officially announce my ascension to head of the Winter Family and leader of the Winter Mafia. I will also be taking control of my family's agriculture business to supply you with the fruits and vegetables that you all know and love.

“I understand that some of the city's leaders will be against a high school girl becoming the leader of the most famous organization in the city, but I will not be backing down just because of some men's egos. If anyone has a problem with me being the new leader, you are more than welcome to arrange a meeting with me, and we can talk it out like the civilized leaders that we are. Thank you for your time."

"And we're out!" announces the director.

My knees abruptly give out on me, and I begin to drop until Alex, who was standing next to the stage, catches me.

"Are you okay, my Lady?" Alex asks with a worried expression.

"Mm. I'm fine. I was so nervous," I weakly laugh trying to regain the strength to stand.

"Master!" Delic yells. "Why did you fall? Are you okay?"

Delic picks me up and carries me to an open chair. "I'm okay. You didn't have to carry me. I can walk just fine."

"You must have been a nervous wreck if your legs gave out on you right after the cameras turned off," Xander teases handing me a small towel.

I wipe the cold sweat off my face and drink some water that Alex hands me. "It's not easy making announcements like that, you know. Public speaking isn't really my forte, but fake it 'til you make it. Right?" I take a deep breath to ease the remaining nerves that are still shaking. I glance over at the now revealed window that was once covered for the live feed to see that the sun is still up. "Delic, do we have time to get some ice cream before heading to the warehouse?" I ask, still staring out the window.

Delic chuckles to himself and sits next to me. He grabs my hand which causes me to turn my head. "Of course, dear daughter of mine. Father will treat his little gir - ahack!"

I punch Delic in the chest and stand up adjusting my clothes. "Xander. Alex. Let's go. We can find an ice cream place somewhere nearby without this idiot driving us."

"Wait," Delic coughs, recovering from the sudden punch. "Don't leave without me! You need your guardian nearby."

"I will be just fine with the twins next to me," I retort, walking out of the room.

Exiting the building with Delic catching up behind me, I make my way down the flight of stairs to reach the sidewalk. However, before I could even blink, a large shadowy figure materializes in front of me and snatches me away from the twins, throwing me into the back of a vehicle.

"Master!" is the last thing I hear from outside before the vehicle speeds off.

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