Staring at the little girl before him, the young boy did not know what he had done wrong today.

Every time he pretended to be injured and laid on the ground with blood surrounding him, the passersby would rush towards him in a panic.

This allowed him to rob them and escape into the dense woods that he was all too familiar with.

However, it appeared that today was not his lucky day as the person he had tried to con had not fallen for his trick.

He could hear the sounds of a horse coming towards him but they halted far away and did not move for a while.

When he heard shuffling sounds, he realized that someone must have gotten off the horse to come and help him up.

His heartbeat rose in the excitement that his latest victim was heading towards him but that faded when he heard those sarcastic words.

Mean and ridiculing words soon followed until he could take it no more.

People begged him to take all their money but spare their lives but here this girl was deriding him.

When he finally gave up and rose from the ground, he found that those vicious words were coming from a little girl.

He had no issues with robbing a child. In fact, he would have enjoyed threatening this rotten girl before stealing from her.

However, he found nothing of value on her body which only infuriated him as he had to put up with her insults for naught.

When he heard the sounds of more horses coming their way, he realized that this was his time to sneak away but the scary horse with the girl blocked his retreat.

The fearsome beast that stared at him made his feet feel like lead as they sunk into the ground, refusing to move.

Now, that same annoying girl was pretending to be all cute and adorable which made him want to expose her to the people she called her brothers.

However, she had not fallen for his trick of revealing her true nature before them and instead had interrogated him about his identity.

"Just a nobody trying to survive." He answered with a lazy tone even when he was worried for his safety now that he had been caught.

"By painting their face with blood and laying on the ground looking for their next target?" Yvonne tilted her head with an innocent smile but her words gave the explanation her brothers were looking for.

This boy had tried to con and rob her but she had somehow managed to remain safe.

While they were glad that she was smart enough to not get entrapped, they were furious at the stranger who had tried to con her.

They had heard of such incidents before but had never once encountered them.

Roman, the heir of the Valente family, felt that it was his responsibility to ensure the safety of all the citizens in this land.

Thus, he narrowed his eyes and stepped towards the boy.

Yvonne did not stop him and watched how Roman was now right opposite the crook who had tried to swindle her but failed.

'They are around the same height.' She observed as Roman was a tad bit taller.

This gave Yvonne an estimate that this crook was around the same age as the twins.

"How long have you been here and how many people have you harmed?" Roman interrogated, unleashing the scary aura which he had inherited from his father.

Yvonne was impressed with his skills and watched to see what happens next.

However much the crook wished to toot his own horn and declare his success rate, he decided that it was best if he did not disclose them.

Therefore, he pretended to be mute and only stared back at Roman.

Noticing his silence, Yvonne smirked as this was not how he had been before her brothers had arrived.

"Those lips were sealed the moment you saw more people than you can handle?" She mocked while shaking her head.

Howard frowned as her words reminded him of how she used to be before her accident in the St. Claire fief around this time last year.

Knox snickered as he enjoyed this new side of his little sister who seemed to have hidden her poisonous tongue all along.

Roman on the other hand had his eyes focused on the criminal who was now glaring at her.

"Why would I want to get myself in trouble when it is three vs one!?" He scowled while looking at her with an incredulous look.

The two similar-looking boys were in excellent shape and even the other boy who looked like her appeared to be well-trained at such a young age.

It was obvious that he was at a disadvantage if he was up against all of them.

'They can stomp me into a pulp and I am not an idiot to provoke them when I cannot take on all of them at once.' He sneered at her for trying to incense him into making a wrong move.

He had lived the majority of his life looking out for himself and staying far away from troublesome people.

He lived a simple life of robbing people and surviving in these woods.

Therefore, he did not want to get into any kind of trouble with these people who appeared to be children from wealthy families.

Since Yvonne and the others had worn simple riding outfits, this crook had failed to connect them with nobles and had assumed them to be rich kids who were passing by.

'He's worried that all three will attack him at once?' Yvonne chuckled when she heard his words and tilted her head.

"What if it is one on one? Will that be more suitable for you?" She inquired and saw the boys nod along with her.

Since it was inevitable for the crook to be apprehended and taken to the authorities, they were willing to follow her suggestion and subdue him one on one.

The crook gulped at her words and nodded as well while he wondered which one of them he would have to defend against.

His skills were not bad and he could most definitely take on one of them with ease.

Roman stood still while leering at him, Knox was already rolling up his sleeves to get into action, and Howard was smirking as he had never fought against someone outside the Royal Academy.

However, they froze when they heard the little girl's words.

"Me. Will you be able to stand in a one-on-one match with me?" She questioned him with a mocking tone.

As much as this shocked the boys, the crook was the first to recover as he let out roaring laughter.

"You? I can defeat you without even breaking a sweat." He declared with a triumphant look on his face.

However, the next moment, he felt Demon's deadly glare which made him shudder in fear.

"Demon, get back here." Her soft voice echoed in the silence, making the huge beast move away like an obedient little boy.

This startled him as he narrowed his eyes at the girl.

'She seems difficult.' He thought before assessing her physical appearance.

No matter how he looked at her, she did not seem strong thanks to her tiny stature and her adorable face.

This gave him the confidence that he could fight her with ease.

"Try me." Yvonne stepped ahead as she narrowed her eyes.

The confidence that the little girl was oozing made him wonder where she had found the courage to challenge him in this way.

"Only on the condition that after I win, I am let off free and will not be followed or harmed." The sly crook was seeking immunity in exchange for the fight which he most certainly would win.

He could not afford to be dragged to prison and hence, this was the best idea he could come up with to save himself from this mess.

"And what if I win?" Yvonne's query made him snicker and give her a look over.

"Hmm… I will call you Big Boss if you win." He humored her as in his eyes, there was no way that she could win against him.

He was fourteen this year and she appeared to be less than ten.

How could a weak girl like her possibly think that she could defeat him in a fight?

'Shameless! He wants to fight a girl!' Howard scowled in his heart for this crook did not know that Yvonne was trained in combative skills and yet he accepted her challenge, not worried about hurting a child like her.