"Do you know what you did wrong?" Rutherford questioned as he looked down at the little girl in his arms.

___

A few moments earlier,

The conversation with Sevenz had come to a peaceful end after he promised to visit the St. Claire Mansion and listen to what she had to say, this time without any bias.

This pleased Yvonne as she needed time to draft a contract that could attract him while he needed to mull over the offer she had placed before him.

The Butler then handed over two exquisitely wrapped boxes to Jax as per his Master's instructions.

These were the presents that Sevenz had prepared for his friend which was also one of the reasons why he had demanded to meet her.

One was from the trip he had made to the East of Rosenhyde and the other was a present for her sixth birthday.

Yvonne had been curious so she nodded at Jax, allowing him to carry the presents with him.

She did not forget to return the favor and asked her Butler to pass on the box with the apple pie slices over to the Butler of this mansion.

"Thank me later." She snorted with confidence in the flavorful pie which she had bought for Sevenz as a present to commemorate their official meeting.

The man with white irises then watched as the Earl picked up his daughter and left along with the two boys and their Butler.

Since he had things to ponder over, Sevenz remained in the same room as the sounds of footsteps faded into the distance.

'She's not demanding anything on behalf of our friendship.' He reminded himself of the stern words she had declared their conversation.

__

Right now, Yvonne was seated in the carriage with her father whose arms were wrapped around her bulging belly to secure her in place.

In this carriage, he was alone with his child while Howard and Taylor were asked to sit in the other carriage.

Today's incident had given him a fright as things could have gone dangerously awry due to her reckless actions.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" The Earl's stiff tone indicated that he was furious for what she had done.

She kept in contact with Sevenz in secret, she exchanged letters with him while her father was trying to find information about the same man.

She also planned to sneak away after fooling her brothers but they had followed her regardless.

She had also caused him to rush over in order to ensure the children's safety which was of the utmost importance to him.

"Yes, Papa…" The little girl muttered as all her wrongdoings had been exposed already.

'I exposed half of them myself.' She pouted as she was left with no other option but to come clean.

She knew that this matter would be revealed someday but she did not anticipate that the day would be here so soon.

Rutherford did not utter a word about the business proposal that she had placed before Sevenz, which proved that he was impressed with her mindset.

However, he was truly annoyed with the path that she had adopted to propose her offer.

If Sevenz was a secret pervert and Rutherford's guards hadn't followed them then the outcome could have been disastrous.

"Just because you were lucky this time does not guarantee that you will be lucky every time." He lectured as this world was filled with people who wore perfect facades, allowing others to lower their guard before them.

She would not even know when she was being targeted and attacked by them if she continued to be so oblivious and naive.

Therefore, Rutherford had already decided on a way to teach his child a lesson so that she might remember not to wander about without letting anyone know about her plans.

"Grounded." He uttered his verdict without looking at her.

He could feel her wide eyes staring at his face but he did not look back at her.

'Stay strong!' He encouraged himself as his resolve would waver if his eyes met those wide amethyst orbs which melted his heart every time.

"Two months." He added, stating the duration of her punishment.

The bigger the mischief she caused, the longer her punishment would last.

Since she sneaked away from the Commercial district, he chose to ground her in order to teach her that running out unannounced was not something that was tolerated.

Yvonne had been expecting to be punished but she had never guessed that she would be stuck in her room for two whole months.

Just like last time when she was grounded, the only times that she would be allowed outside her room were during her classes which would begin soon, and mealtimes.

The little girl understood that she was at fault this time and did not try to argue with him, trying to negotiate the duration of her punishment period.

Rutherford sighed when he saw that she had accepted her fate without creating a fuss or throwing a tantrum.

He also knew that just like last time, she would give him the cold treatment but he did not mind.

'I know how to appease her later on.' He decided and did not back down from his decision.

Once the carriages came to a halt before their Mansion, he carried his daughter down and glanced sideways at the other carriage.

Howard and Taylor alighted soon after, followed by Jax and the other servant.

'I will have to deal with these two as well.' The Earl narrowed his eyes at his son and the Butler who was already looking down at the ground, trying to minimize his presence.

"Young Master Taylor, please return for today and make sure to keep today's matters to yourself." He reminded the red-headed boy and also shot a leer at the servants with him.

Taylor understood that secrecy was needed for Yvonne and CLOVER's matters.

Hence he nodded in acceptance while the servants with him also nodded.

The servant was already sent outside the room before Yvonne disclosed her plans so the only outsider who knew of her plans was Taylor Tanner.

'I will take this to my grave!' He declared in his heart as this was his chance of knowing something which his elder brother had no clue about.

The opportunity to be superior to his brother and gloat about it was something that he would not miss out on.

Therefore, he promised to keep things between them and not reveal them to another soul.

Having sorted this matter out, Rutherford made sure that the boy from the Tanner family returned to his estate.

Howard spoke a few words to his best friend and confirmed plans of going to the Academy together on Monday when their next academic year began.

Yvonne glanced at Jax who was shooting her pitiful glances, asking her to save him from her father's wrath.

'I put him in this predicament so I have to save him.' She nodded and assured him with a smile that he would be fine.

Rutherford raised his brows at his daughter who was comforting the servant when her position wasn't much better.

He did not interfere but led them inside where his wife waited for him in the parlor, worried sick about what might have happened.

When Rutherford heard the news about their detour to another place away from the Commercial district, Raylene had been with him.

Therefore, right now, the two siblings were hearing an earful from their mother who had been pacing around the parlor until they arrived safely.

Thanks to her fury, Yvonne's punishment increased by another month which summed up to three months of being grounded.

Howard was also not safe as he was punished for letting her out of his sight.

The sword junkie was forbidden from sparring with his sister whenever he returned from the Academy for the next three months.

The partner he had found during his break time was snatched away and his mother did not revert her verdict no matter how he pouted or sulked.

Jax was also not spared as Raylene declared that he would not only have to endure thrice the amount of training under Butler Limo, but he would also practice twice as hard with the secret guards.

"Your job is to protect my Vonny when no one else is around." The wise mother dictated as she felt that this would not be the last time her child pulled such a trick over them.

No matter how much she trained, Yvonne was still a girl and her physical fitness could not be compared with a boy in his teens.

Jax was her butler who had now pledged his loyalty to her.

Therefore, he cannot decline her orders but at least he could protect her while following every sneaky order she doled out to him.