The ride over to their destination was silent as Raylene remained sulking over the lack of faith that her husband had in her parenting skills.

Every so often, Yvonne could hear her soft grumbles followed by either a sneer or a scoff.

She was amused at how Raylene had caught onto a single fault in Rutherford's words and refused to let it slide.

'Women everywhere are petty. Be it this world or that.' She let out a soft chuckle which diverted her mother's attention over to her.

These arrogant and self-righteous words from the little girl would be a huge face slap to her future self who was just as petty, if not more, than what her mother was at this moment.

As she was unaware of this fact, she remained her own haughty self as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder.

It had been a long two weeks for Yvonne and the one who was most concerned about her health was her mother.

Raylene glanced at her pretty daughter from the corner of her eyes and then smiled that they would get a chance to unwind and spend some time together.

Yvonne was lost in her thoughts and hence she failed to notice the indulgent smile on Raylene's face.

As they were sitting in silence, the carriage soon came to a slow halt indicating that they had reached their destination.

The little girl escaped from the young woman's embrace and scooted towards the door once the carriage had stopped all movements.

Peeping outside the window, Yvonne noticed that this was a new place that she hadn't been to before.

The curiosity in her eyes made her mother chuckle as she patted her head.

"We have been here before, don't you remember?" She inquired with a playful tone which made Yvonne frown.

Tilting her head to the side, the little girl's hair fell to one side of her shoulders which made the fanatic mother almost squeal in excitement at noticing her adorable appearance.

"This is the Commercial District?" Yvonne questioned in surprise.

The only place that she had ventured outside with her mother was the Commercial district for shopping and Marquess Kiron's estate for the tea party.

Since this was far away from the estates of the nobles, the only other option was the area which was famous for its many stores that catered to the Noble families.

Her guess was proved to be correct when Raylene admitted to it with a nod of her head.

"This is the other side of the District which we could not visit as Howie would not stop complaining about being tired." She muttered in an aggrieved voice, making Yvonne raise her brows.

'You bought so many clothes that day and you still had plans to visit more stores?' The scowl on that chubby little face made the mother pout further.

For once, Yvonne was glad that her elder brother had helped her out even though he had his own motives for whining to get back home ahead of their schedule.

At the Royal Academy, Howard St. Claire stopped swinging his sword at the wooden stump and furrowed his brows while staring at the ground.

Taylor Tanner had been sitting under the shade of a large tree and sipping some refreshing melon juice, stopped sucking the liquid through the straw, and glanced at his friend.

'I asked him to take a break, now look at him. Must have gotten tired already.' He deduced when he noticed the slumped shoulders of the young boy.

The next second, Taylor was startled to hear three loud and consecutive sneezes from the boy who was standing quite a few feet away from where he sat.

"Has he caught a cold in this blazing hot weather?" The best friend muttered to himself and rolled his eyes.

Howard continued staring at the ground which made the sweat drip from his forehead and onto the sand below his feet, creating tiny craters of perspiration.

"Who the hell is thinking of me right now?" He scowled as the sneezes had caused his training to be hindered.

Even though it was only for a few seconds, he was annoyed nonetheless that he had wasted precious time in the awkward moments between the sensation of a sneeze and the actual action of sneezing.

Sneering and cursing the person who had thought about him, he kicked the sand under his feet, wiping away the traces of his sweat that had been formed there, and then went back to his training.

Taylor sneered at his friend who had once again gone back to his training as though the sun was not right above his head, burning up all of his energy while everyone else was enjoying their break in the comfort of their rooms.

'His enthusiasm and passion are making me feel bad for not joining him.' He sighed but continued to gaze at his friend from his seat without any intention of moving from his position.

Howard threw all other thoughts away from his mind and focused on the exercises that he was taught for the day.

__

Back in the Commercial District,

Yvonne and Raylene had alighted from the carriage and were viewing the stores that catered solely to the higher noble families.

Not a single commoner could be found in sight as they moved ahead in one particular direction that the Countess was leading them in.

The area that they had visited the last time Yvonne was here with her brother and mother was at the border of the Commercial District.

At a short distance from that part was the area where the commoners could shop, hence she had found that cafe which was the male lead's favorite date spot that sold the delicious apple pies.

Thinking of the pies that she had savored the last time, Yvonne's mouth watered once again.

'I should visit that place before we go back home.' She decided and tried to make sense of where they were at present.

The stores here looked more expensive and exclusive compared to the street that they had been to the last time.

Therefore, she came to the conclusion that the cafe would be a long way away from their present location as that was a store owned by a commoner lady while this place was only for the nobles.

When Yvonne came out of her thoughts of finding that store, she noticed something strange.

'She seems too silent and obedient today.' Yvonne wondered as she glimpsed at the maid who followed them at a short distance.

Paula had been too silent and too meek since the last time she had seen her.

This made the little girl more curious about what the punishment at the Lower Hall was which had turned her so docile in contrast to her earlier haughty behavior.

'I need to find that place to take a proper look at it!' She pouted as she had yet to find a single clue about the mysterious dungeon hidden somewhere in her mansion.

Her feet which were following Raylene came to a halt when her mother had stopped moving as well.

"There!" Raylene's excited voice reached Yvonne's ears, making her turn in the direction that her mother was looking in.

'Not again!' The little girl's eyes widened and then narrowed when she noticed where their first stop was.