Two women, an old man, and a massive horse stood outside the mansion and watched as the two carriages exited the estate.

The first carriage was the Viscount's and the one following it was the Earl's carriage which had been specifically made for Yvonne due to her restlessness during longer journeys.

However, the passengers inside these carriages were not as one would expect.

In the first carriage where Viscount Valente and his sons should have been seated, there were two grown men sitting on opposite sides of each other.

The atmosphere inside this carriage was cold and gloomy thanks to the two icebergs facing each other in silent confrontation.

This was thanks to the secret ploy of the little girl and the assistance of her cousins.

When Yvonne finished breakfast, she went to find her cousins before they could begin their journey.

Howard was with her when she explained what her plan would be.

Therefore, the moment they were ready to set off for this trip, Yvonne and Howard were the first to enter their carriage.

However, soon after, Roman and Knox too entered the same carriage instead of going towards the one their father had pointed towards.

This caused Yvonne's carriage to be fully occupied and there was no vacant seat for Rutherford.

Raylene and Trisha understood what had just taken place and encouraged their husbands to use the same carriage and not disturb the children.

Their objections to this suggestion were swallowed when they saw their respective wife's expectant face.

Thus, these two were stuck in the same carriage thanks to a simple trick played by their beloved Yvonne.

For the rest of the short journey, Rutherford and Marcus had their heads turned towards the window.

Not once did they try to initiate a conversation which was the whole purpose of throwing them into the same carriage.

On the other hand, the second carriage was more lively as the cousins were getting to know each other better.

The twins spoke about their experience in their Academy, the Sonete Academy which was the second and the only other Academy for nobility in the Kingdom.

This place was in the South of Rosenhyde, unlike the Royal Academy which was closer to the Capital in the North.

Sonete was mostly for the children of lower nobility and those who could not graduate from Royal Academy due to their poor grades.

The Viscount sent his sons to Sonete as that was close to his wife, Trisha's, maiden fief and they would not have to worry about anything there.

Just because Sonete was for the boys from lower nobility which were more in number, it could not be belittled as it was still a commendable institution.

The twins were some of the best nobles to graduate from there last year.

Yvonne was proud of them and Howard wished to know more about the training modules taught in Sonete.

This way, their short journey was enjoyable for the four children.

However, when the carriages came to a halt, Yvonne's brows furrowed when she looked out of the window.

Outside she found that the grass was dried, the area looked desolate and only one courtyard-style house was visible in sight.

The boys hopped off the carriage and Roman helped her get down as well.

The children stood next to their fathers and frowned while looking at the sorry excuse of a house before which their carriage had come to a halt.

"Is this…" Yvonne voiced her doubt and Marcus slowly nodded in answer.

The vacant courtyard made her brows scrunch up as it was evident that the people living here did not live a good life.

"The soap maker's family moved here after that incident." He revealed and sighed as he was also responsible for their pitiful state.

Everyone felt sympathy for this family who had fallen for the tricks of their sibling and Earl Blaise.

While they were still standing outside the house, a man wearing a pale white shirt and dusty brown trousers walked in their direction.

Based on the path he was coming from, Yvonne assumed that he was coming from the woods on the other side of the courtyard.

The man was in his mid-thirties but looked haggard and tired as he carried a pile of logs which were mostly for firewood.

He frowned after seeing the crowd standing before his house and judging from their clothing, he was sure that they were nobles.

"How may I help you?" His words held apprehension but he did not behave rudely with them.

Marcus stepped forward and introduced himself and Rutherford which made the man's eyes widen.

"We have not sold anything after the warnings!" He assured them and a fearful expression appeared on his face.

'Did that incident become a traumatic experience for him?' Yvonne wondered as soon after he heard that these people were Earl and Viscount, he began trying to prove his innocence.

From the report that she had read about their family, she could guess that Earl Blaise had used nasty tactics to deal with them.

This caused him and his family to fear the nobles, terrified that something similar would happen again.

It took a long time for Rutherford to explain that he was not here to harm them and only wished to converse with the head of the family.

Seeing his earnest expression and the children with them, the man agreed to bring them inside.

There were not many houses nearby, in fact, the next house was miles apart.

This gave them privacy because there weren't neighbors peeping in to see what was going on.

Hesitant as he was, the man pushed the gates open for them and led them inside.

Yvonne held onto her brother's hand and stepped in the direction that the man was guiding them.

The house before them stretched out from one boundary of the courtyard to the other.

However, the man did not take them towards the main entrance of the house but in another direction.

The man led the two men and four children through the side passage and towards the backyard.

Yvonne's eyes widened as contrary to the desolate and unattended front yard, this place was more lively and clean.

She could see a few little girls sitting under the shade of a large tree, playing with dolls.

When the three girls saw the man entering, they rushed towards him and hugged his legs without caring for the dust and dirt that might stick onto their clothes.

"Uncle!"

"Papa!"

From what she could see, one of them called the man her uncle while two others called him their father.

Noticing their presence, the girls stopped hugging him and stared at them warily.

They glanced at Yvonne and her clothing which was grand and pretty when compared to their simple everyday dresses.

"Go back and play, girls." The man instructed and they nodded while glancing at the newcomers one last time before running away.

"My niece and daughters." He introduced briefly as they returned to playing as before.

'Does he want daughters too?' Yvonne wondered when she saw the brooding look on her uncle's face which made it seem that he was disgruntled with something.

She turned away and pretended to not have seen Viscount Valente's sulking face as they began to follow the man once again.

At the end of their short walk, the man brought them to a room at the very end of the house and knocked on the door.

"Brother, we have guests." He yelled when he heard no movement coming from within.

This statement brought crashing sounds and hurried footsteps to be heard even to the people standing outside making them wonder what was wrong.

The man's earlier fear had evaporated by now after realizing that these were not bad people.

The taller man who called himself Earl St. Claire looked scary but he had caught the Earl looking gently at his daughter whom he had brought along which further caused his worries to lessen.

Therefore, he chuckled awkwardly amidst the crashing noises as he did not have anything else to say right now.

Rutherford and Marcus shared a look in confusion as they wondered what might be the cause of these sudden noises but they had no other option but to wait.

However, the little girl next to them was raising her brows as she stared at the shut door in front of her.