Howard glared at his little sister who had her mouth full with the eatables placed on the table.

'How much will she eat?' He scoffed at her when she shoved another chunk of watermelon into her mouth which opened wide to accommodate the large piece of the fruit.

___

Earlier at lunch, he had gazed at her asking for her help to convince their mother that he was fine and that she need not worry.

However, instead of offering her aid to him, she had shrugged and even began giving her orders on what she wished to eat for lunch when the servants entered the room.

With no one standing by his side to help him, the young boy could only watch as a large number of dishes were brought over to their table after a short while.

Raylene did not waste time as she started filling his plate up with the items that she knew he liked to eat.

The mother was worried that she might not be able to serve her daughter as she was on the other side, away from her seat but her worries were for naught.

The little girl was more than capable of serving herself and she had already begun her meal before the others could even fill their plates up.

'Without Papa here, I can start eating at any time.' She rejoiced when she thought of the rule where one could only begin their meal after the head of the family ate the first morsel.

Here, she need not wait for anyone, and hence the hungry child had started without their permission.

Looking at her enthusiastic actions as she ate her food with vigor, Raylene was relieved that she did not have to be worried about her daughter not eating properly.

Having realized this, she turned her attention towards her baby boy whom she had not been able to see for over a month.

Howard was left with no choice but to eat everything that she continued to serve each time he finished his plate.

Throughout the meal, he never forgot to shoot begrudging glances at the child who had refused to help him out earlier.

Yvonne had noticed his stares but did not pay him any heed as she was tired and hungry after their journey to this inn.

So she ate until she was full and only then did she place her cutlery down.

'I am full but looks like she isn't done yet.' She snickered when she saw her mother placing another piece of meat on his plate.

Howard smiled while eating but it was clear for her to see that he was doing so because he did not wish to disappoint his mother.

'Consider this as punishment for not returning for more than a month.' She scoffed and made no move to help him out.

She then sat and watched how the young boy ate everything that their mother served him but did not voice out her opinions.

Once their meal came to an end, Howard was rubbing his round belly which was officially stuffed thanks to his mother's efforts.

Raylene smiled when she saw their plates empty and was satisfied that she had managed to feed him, something that she had been deprived of for too long.

The young boy could not say anything when he saw her elated face and decided to work out more when he returned to the Academy.

With the completion of their lunch, the three walked back to the large room which Jasper Brodie had led them to when the ladies had first arrived.

Yvonne glanced around trying to find the face which had stunned her today but to no avail.

Raylene, who had noticed her searching glances chuckled but shook her head when Howard shot her a questioning look.

'A secret between us, mother and daughter.' She declared and was bent on keeping this a secret from the others in the family.

'Looks like he has disappeared…' The little girl pouted that she had not caught sight of the beautiful young man who had greeted her earlier.

There were two reasons why she had wished to meet him again.

One was to see his gorgeous face while the other was to gauge his personality.

'I need to know whether he really is a…' She gulped when she recalled the thought she had when she was trying to make sense of the reason for his courteous towards her.

The other two walking with her had no idea about the complexity of her thoughts and continued their short walk back to the room.

When Howard entered the room, he found that there was a parlor that had a corridor leading towards a large bedroom inside.

"How long will you be staying here?" He inquired, worried about their safety.

Even if this was an inn run by reputable nobles, he was concerned that they would face trouble if they left this place late.

The roads leading back to Amarthea would get lonely and desolate in the evenings and it would be a bad idea to travel these roads during nighttime.

Raylene patted his head and took her seat next to him on the couch.

"We will be leaving a few hours before sunset." She disclosed their itinerary which Rutherford had prepared.

'He even decided when we start and when we leave.' Yvonne rolled her eyes at her excessively paranoid father who was worried about their safe return.

Howard nodded as this was right considering that the roads would get dark with no source of light to guide their paths if they left any later.

After having cleared his doubts, Raylene then began inquiring about how he had spent the past month in the Academy.

For this, even Yvonne was curious as she paid attention to what he was saying.

Howard began narrating how his class in the Academy had begun learning about wilderness training.

"Though we haven't ventured into the forest behind the Academy, we were allowed to camp outside in the nights to learn how it felt to stay outdoors." He explained with enthusiasm.

The Dean of the Academy had spoken to the King about this and even the Ruler had agreed that instead of pampering the boys from a young age, they should be allowed to face hardships to build their personality.

'You call this 'hardships'?' Yvonne sneered when she heard his words as she had undergone far worse training under her Grandpa Leo's watchful eyes.

Being a St. Claire in her previous world was not all fun and partying on yachts.

The number of times she had been kidnapped to demand ransom from the old man was too many to count.

This was also the reason why, when she had first transmigrated to this world, she had assumed that she had been kidnapped by these people who were using her to extort money from her family.

Later on, the confusion was cleared but it was safe to say that she had vast experience in being kidnapped.

'I spent days in the jungles because, for some reason, kidnappers always chose abandoned factories near forests.' She glowered, remembering the times she had to survive in the wild until Grandpa Leo could come to pick her up.

Therefore, when she heard that the boys in the Academy were allowed to camp on the premises of the Academy, she could not help but compare to how she had been in her previous life.

'They surely have things easier here.' She surmised as these boys would have a tough time if they were to experience her Grandpa's training.

"But next year, we will be able to enter the forest behind the Academy!" Howard's exclamation woke her up from her thoughts.

Raylene pressed down the worries in her heart and nodded to cheer for him because she was aware that this was a class in his studies and she could not interfere.

"There will be instructors accompanying us and we will be safe." He added when he noticed her concerned eyes.

This soothed the mother's heart as she nodded her head.

Yvonne remained silent as he once again began describing how he was training and this time, he spoke about the various new techniques he was learning in swordsmanship.

"We should compare our skills later on." He proposed and received a languid glance from his sister.

'Captain Desmo has been meaner than usual in his training but I can keep up with it.' She recalled her training sessions each morning with the Captain of the Red Scorpion Knights.

"We shall discuss this when you remember to return to the Mansion on a weekend." She answered vaguely, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his proposal.

Howard glared at her, knowing full well that he was being taunted for not returning home these last few weeks.

"I had my hands full with studies and training and hence could not make the trip back home." He revealed his reason for being unable to visit them.

'If you say so.' She shrugged, still mad at him for missing the sparring sessions that they had decided to have each time he returned.

Noticing that she was not taking his words seriously, he turned towards his mother who gave him an understanding nod.

"Just make sure that you return once in a while. We were worried about you, Howie." She expressed her care and her disheartenment that he had failed to show up for so long.

Howard felt a prick after hearing her words and realized that he had indeed not returned for too long.

"I shall return whenever I can." He muttered with his head lowered.

Raylene once again patted his head to show that she wasn't mad at him or disappointed in him.

"As long as you are fine and wish to return, you can." She suggested which he agreed almost immediately.