Chapter 482: Entering the Competition, Taking the Bait

Chapter 482: Chapter 482: Entering the Competition, Taking the Bait

"Yesterday I saw the number of applicants. Over forty thousand, and only two hundred will be selected. What is this, the civil service exam?"

"The odds are way lower than the civil service exam."

"I’m just here to make up the numbers and gain some experience anyway. I won’t even pass the auditions, let alone the qualifiers or the knockout rounds."

"I wonder who the champion will be this year. There are nearly ten thousand more applicants this time around."

"Because Ember shocked the world when she debuted, a lot of unknown designers gained the courage to participate."

Before she participated in the competition, no one had ever heard of the previous champion, Ember. She rose to fame overnight and shocked the world.

Her appearance gave many designers the courage to compete. After all, Ember wasn’t famous beforehand either. If she could win the championship, what was wrong with them giving it a try?

"But Ember isn’t an ordinary person either," another designer chimed in. "She’s the young lady of the Yeats family, Claire Yeats."

"Not only is she a designer, but she has also published books, composed music, mixed perfumes, and won awards in piano competitions. Basically, she’s an all-rounder."

"She’s a young lady nurtured with the full resources of the Yeats family... How can we compare?"

"This year’s champion will probably still be Ember. After all, her works in the last competition simply crushed everyone else’s."

"Hey, look, isn’t that Estelle Lockwood?"

Suddenly, someone whispered, "Why is she here? As the chief designer of Star, she shouldn’t need to piggyback on the popularity of the XM design competition."

"XM is a competition designers all over the world want to participate in, so it’s not surprising she’s here. I wonder how far Estelle Lockwood will go? She should have no problem making it to the qualifiers, right?"

"That’s hard to say. I heard she and Claire Yeats are sisters. If one continues to win the championship and the other doesn’t even make the qualifiers, it would be humiliating..."

"Yeah. Oh, did you guys see the wisteria design Claire Yeats posted on social media?"

The designers’ conversation primarily revolved around the previous champion.

Ignoring the stares of the bystanders, Estelle walked straight into the registration hall.

To ensure fairness and prevent anyone with malicious intent from swapping out other people’s works, the entire process inside was recorded. The cameras were aimed at Estelle, capturing each of her design drafts as well.

The staff took photos and scanned Estelle’s drafts. After successfully entering them into the system, they made several copies of the surveillance footage and the photos, handing one copy to her.

"Miss Lockwood, to ensure that your works remain yours, please make sure to keep this safe. If you ever find any issues in the future—such as your designs being swapped—you can use the video as proof."

Estelle nodded. "Thank you."

The staff member asked, "Miss Lockwood, many people use pseudonyms when participating in the competition. May I ask if you will be using a pseudonym or your real name?"

Estelle raised an eyebrow, her gaze landing on the person who had registered right before her: Claire Yeats.

She smiled. "Isn’t Miss Claire Yeats the previous champion, Ember? Why isn’t she using the name Ember this time, and using her real name instead?"

Estelle knew exactly why Claire wasn’t using it. It was because she wasn’t Ember at all. If she wanted fame, she couldn’t keep doing all the hard work just to build up the Ember persona.

The staff member sighed. "Everyone knows her identity, so it’s the same whether she uses the pseudonym or not."

Estelle didn’t press the matter further. "I’ll use my real name as well."

Registration complete, Estelle left in a high-profile manner. She didn’t make any attempt to hide, walking straight out the venue’s main doors and getting into that incredibly flashy luxury car belonging exclusively to Nathaniel Sloan. Now, almost everyone coming and going knew about her participation.

Under Claire Yeats’ social media posts, her fans were immediately thrilled.

[Not gonna lie, a certain someone really has the nerve to enter the competition.]

[Damn, she didn’t even try to hide the fact that she’s participating. She just signed up offline using her real name. Wouldn’t it be so humiliating if she doesn’t even pass the auditions?]

[Since she’s participating this year, I refuse to believe she didn’t participate last time.]

[So she did participate but got eliminated, right? Then how does she have the guts to do it again this year?]

[Uh... Rumor has it that Mr. Lynch from the Aethel Group is one of the investors for this design competition. I remember Estelle Lockwood has a partnership with Aethel. He wouldn’t let her slide through, would he...]

[Then what about our Claire?]

[Don’t worry! Our Claire is the reigning champion. Even if it’s rigged, it won’t affect her.]

At the Yeats family home.

Claire Yeats couldn’t help but sneer. Estelle had actually participated. And she was so high-profile about it, itching to announce it to the whole world. What an idiot. She thought that if Estelle liked losing face so much, then she would let her embarrass herself to the fullest.

Claire made a phone call. "Teacher, what do you plan to do next?"

The woman on the other end used a voice changer that sounded mechanical, her tone cold and raspy. "Eliminate her. I don’t want to see her bask in the limelight."

"Don’t worry, I can definitely get it done," Claire said. "It’s just that I’m worried about the Yeats family..."

But the woman simply sneered. "The Yeats family only brought Estelle Lockwood back because they feel guilty towards Eleanor Yeats. But are you telling me you’re out of options? Don’t forget the reason why you were brought to Old Mr. Yeats and Zion Yeats in the first place."

Claire froze slightly, her mind flashing back to the past.

She was merely a distant relative of the Yeats family, plain and ordinary. But during one family banquet, Old Mr. Yeats had specifically singled her out, telling her she could visit the main estate more often in the future. After that, Claire found out that her eyes and brows somewhat resembled those of Eleanor Yeats. She had asked many people, figured out Eleanor’s personality and traits, and deliberately mimicked her. Thus, she seamlessly stayed in the main estate, becoming the most favored young lady of the Yeats family.

And Old Mr. Yeats... Even though Zion Yeats had agreed to bring Estelle back and had given her a certain level of prestige, willing to publicly acknowledge her as the eldest daughter of the Yeats family, she was the child who had accompanied Uncle Yeats all these years! In Uncle Yeats’s heart, she was the one who most resembled Eleanor.

Biting her lip, Claire made up her mind and called the XM organizers.

"There is a contestant named Estelle Lockwood in this competition. I want her as my opponent. Do you understand?"

The organizer had heard of Estelle’s name and knew she was also a famous designer, so they tried to advise her nicely, "Miss Ember..."

To their surprise, before they could finish, Claire interrupted impatiently, "I told you not to call me Ember!"

She wasn’t Ember at all. That designer named Ember was nothing but a dead person. She had accidentally discovered this secret and stolen her title, but that didn’t mean she liked being called that!

"Yes, of course, Miss Yeats." Wiping his sweat, the organizing staff member advised, "During the auditions, contestants are paired up in groups of two, and one side is guaranteed to be eliminated. This Miss Lockwood is also a well-known designer. Just in case..."

Claire sneered. "Do you think I’ll lose to her?"

"No, no, no, I didn’t mean it like that..."

"If you didn’t mean it like that, then do exactly as I say!"

Having given her orders, Claire hung up the phone.

The idea of losing to Estelle Lockwood was a joke to her. Even if Estelle’s skills were indeed better than hers, so what?