Once lunch had come to an end, Marcus decided to finally have a talk with his sister, and Old man Valente joined them as well.

Trisha chose to give the family some alone time and went ahead to the kitchen to instruct her maids on what needed to be done next.

Rutherford returned to his room to nap as he did not wish to wait around if his wife was not going to be there.

This left the four children to do as they pleased.

"Would you like a tour of the estate?" Knox inquired and saw Howard nodded in excitement.

Roman shrugged as he was fine either way and Yvonne too agreed as she wished to go check on Demon and his accommodation.

After requesting the Butler to inform her father about their plans, the four young children headed outside the mansion.

Howard was eager to visit the training grounds that Roman spoke about so that was the first place they headed towards.

There, the Young Master of the St. Claire's family smirked when he saw the magnificent archery arena built for the twins.

"Vonny, do you wish to see how much you have improved over the last year?" He challenged his little sister with a confident glint passing through his midnight-blue eyes.

The siblings had only sparred using swords and even in close combat but had never tested how much they had advanced in their archery skills.

Therefore, Yvonne did not shy away from the challenge and accepted it without delay.

Roman and Knox were surprised to see the two younger cousins giving off a strange, powerful aura which made them widen their eyes.

"You two have awakened already?" The elder twin, Roman inquired incredulously and his jaw was left wide opened when he saw them nodding in answer.

They were aware of what an awakening was as they too had awakened though they had not found their etchers yet.

However, to know that Howard who had turned nine this year had also awakened his dormant powers was impressive to them.

Yvonne's circumstances were extraordinary and could not be compared with theirs as she had already found her fated etcher even before she had awakened.

This discovery made the twins grow fonder of their cousins who were so talented at such a young age.

"We awakened while sparring in a swordfight." Howard explained to his elders with a proud expression on his face.

The assessment day for his little sister was special for him as Demon had tapped into his dormant powers, awakening his true potential as an etcher after which even Howard had awakened during his fight with his sister.

Therefore, he held that day in high regard.

After listening to his explanation and the fact that Yvonne was training in such skills, the twins glanced at her with awe and surprise.

"Training under Neo's spawn?" Knox exclaimed in shock and rubbed his arms in fear as he had heard about the brutal training that Captain Desmo made his trainees undergo.

The news that this cute little girl was learning under that scary man made them troubled about the difficulties she might have faced while training.

'Everyone knows of your frightening training, Captain.' She snickered at her trainer who was back at the Capital, torturing his knight recruits with his special Summer training.

Howard was empathetic with the twins as he too had shared similar feelings but she had insisted on continuing to train with Captain Desmo and did so even till now.

It was only when the Special Summer Training of the Red Scorpion Knights began that the Captain halted his classes with Yvonne to focus on his recruits.

Having their mind blown by listening to Howard bragging about his Vonny's talents, the twins were left in a daze.

They only watched as the St. Claire siblings went ahead and picked up bows and arrows to compete in a spontaneous archery contest.

*Pling*

The first arrow that Howard shot managed to rouse them from their trance as they focused their eyes on the target.

The young boy had hit the bullseye on his very first attempt which made them applaud his skills.

Turning towards the little girl who looked comical holding the large bow in her hands, they waited to see how she would perform.

'This is too heavy for me.' Yvonne grumbled as she was already used to the smaller bow and arrows specially prepared for her under her father's orders.

Being pampered endlessly by Rutherford, she was habituated to wield equipment that fit her small stature but now she did not have that luxury here.

The twins were sixteen this year and their bodies had already matured a lot.

Thus, their equipment was not suitable for the little girl who was struggling to hold her bow up straight.

When Knox tried to help her hold it, Howard held his cousin's hand and shook his head.

"Let her do it." He whispered as accommodating her at every turn would only make her spoiled and might not bring out her true potential.

Roman nodded his head as he agreed with Howard's ideals while Knox could only stand in silence as he worried for her.

Yvonne took her time to get adjusted to the size of the bow and only then did she take her shot.

The arrow shot through the air but unlike her brother's, it did not hit the bullseye.

Barely landing on the target's edge, Yvonne managed to score a single point.

"Concentrate and do better next time." Howard encouraged her while advising her like a proper senior which she acknowledged with a nod.

As the twins watched, the siblings went back and forth as they competed against each other.

However, in the end, Howard stood victorious with three bullseyes out of the nine arrows that he shot while the little girl could only manage one bullseye with many of her arrows not landing on the target at all.

Howard with Knox and Roman watched as she put the heavy bow down with furrowed brows and stepped in their direction.

'She must be sad.'

'Will she complain that the bow was too big and that was why she lost?'

'Does her hand hurt?'

Knox felt compassion for his little sister's dull appearance.

Roman was wondering whether she would be a sore loser and blame the equipment rather than her lacking skills.

Lastly, Howard was worried that she might have struggled to hold the heavy bow and injured herself.

However, her words did not match either of their thoughts as she looked at them with deep determination glowing in her eyes.

"I will do better the next time!" She declared and was sure to achieve that without fail.

'I have been neglecting archery.' She surmised as her attention had been towards horse-riding, sword fighting, and close-combat.

Thus, archery had been left in the dust which caused her skills to dull in the short time that she had ignored it.

Knox grinned at his sister who was being such a good sport, Roman was impressed that she had not complained about the equipment, and Howard was relieved to see her fighting spirit and her burning desire to improve.

"You will." He admitted as she always did improve every time they sparred.

With their short competition coming to an end, the twins resumed their duty of taking the younger ones around the estate.

The next stop was the stables where they met Demon once again.

The Butler had arranged Demon to be lodged in a separate stable according to the instructions from the Earl which was perfect for the horse.

Roman was intrigued as he watched the little girl and the scary horse interacting with each other.

"He behaves like a puppy with her." Knox commented and received eager nods from Howard and Roman who felt the same way.

The three boys then took a step closer only to be glared at by the massive etcher who did not like their actions.

"Demon, these are my brothers so be kind." Yvonne chided her pet for being unfriendly and chuckled when he whined like a child.

The girl petted him until he stopped and then encouraged her brothers to come closer.

This time Demon did not object but at the same time, he grunted when Knox tried to touch him which proved that he was not willing to let others get too close to him.

"He doesn't like others touching him." Yvonne pouted at her etcher before displaying an apologetic smile to her brothers.

They nodded without holding grudges against her as they knew how temperamental etchers could be.

With this introduction coming to an end, the four children along with the addition of the etcher headed towards the next spot.