Yesterday, the siblings had dueled and the result had come up to be a tie.

Dissatisfied with the result, Howard challenged his sister the next morning after her training session with Captain Desmo Reel.

This time the Captain was asked to judge their match to ensure that one participant was not being favored over the other.

Howard had particularly glanced at Jax while saying so to the Captain of the Red Scorpion Knights.

'You can't cheat now, Jackson!' He sneered, continuing to call him by the wrong name even when no one could hear it.

Yvonne rolled her eyes but did not refuse as she wanted to prove that the match had tied not because of Jax's partiality towards her but because she was beginning to catch up with him.

Since he was eager to prove that the match wasn't a tie, Yvonne surely help him by proving him wrong.

Therefore, the St. Claire siblings went on the offense the moment Captain Desmo had given the signal.

Throughout the duel, the trainer watched his pupil to find out the areas that she was lacking and decided to grill her on those areas thoroughly later on.

The match lasted for twenty minutes and sadly for Howard, the result was the same as yesterday's.

"A tie," Captain Desmo announced and this time, the young boy could not call foul play as his idol would never do such a thing.

Though unhappy that he was beginning to fall short in his training so much so that his younger sister was neck-to-neck with him in their sparring matches, his gloominess vanished when the Captain gave him a few pointers after the match.

The Captain helped him realize the areas that he was lacking which his devious student was exploiting to stand on the same grounds as her opponent.

Howard was surprised that Yvonne had begun reading his moves so effectively and even used his weaknesses against him.

The Captain even advised him on ways to overcome those hurdles and the young boy's joys knew no bounds as he had just gained insight from one of the best knights in their Kingdom.

When it was time for the Captain to leave, he turned around and said something which almost made Howard faint from too much happiness.

"I will check how you utilized my words when you spar with her next." He declared before leaving their estate.

Yvonne and Jax rolled their eyes when the calm and collected Howard St. Claire squealed once Captain Desmo was out of sight.

"We should spar more!" He announced while grinning from ear to ear.

'Like I have a choice in that matter.' The little girl scoffed as both her trainer and her sword junkie brother would drag her along even if she refused to do so.

Therefore, she could only nod in acceptance with a bland smile which Howard had not noticed as he was jumping around in glee at what had just taken place.

'Just earlier, he was sad that our skills were tied up in the match, and look at him now.' She shook her head at his fickle emotions which shifted around in a matter of seconds.

"Not for another two months." She added in a whisper which her brother had heard nonetheless.

His smile fell and a worried frown appeared on his face as what she had said was right.

Howard would be leaving for the Royal Academy after the three-day break that had been declared throughout the Academy would come to an end.

As he was now in a higher grade, the chances of him returning home would decrease with each year.

The workload increased which implied that he would no longer have free time to venture outside the premises of the academy whenever it pleased him.

He could only return when breaks like this were given or if some urgent matter at home needed his presence.

Sighing hard, Howard clenched his fists as his next chance to gain guidance from the Captain would take longer than expected.

Tomorrow, classes would resume which meant that the students would have to be present in the early morning hours to not miss the class.

To achieve this, they could not begin their journey tomorrow morning but would have to do so this evening itself.

Preparations had already been made and he would leave a few hours before sunset to ensure that they did not meet with any mishaps along the way.

He was already aware of his return this evening along with his best friend who would come over to pick him up before the journey.

However, meeting the Captain had caused him to momentarily forget about his plans and he was now sulking as his dreams had been squished with just a reminder from his little sister.

"There there, Big Brother. You will get many chances to meet the Captain." She comforted him while patting his shoulder.

In the past three months, though Yvonne had grown a couple of inches in height, it could not be compared to the growth spurt that Howard had undergone.

They belonged to the St. Claire family and while Raylene was still on the shorter side, Rutherford was known for his tall and muscular body.

'He might grow taller than Papa in the future.' Yvonne recalled the vision she had of the 'deleted scene' where she had conversed with her brother for a short while before leaving.

If that vision held some truth then he would surely grow much taller and have sturdy muscles just like their father.

But right now, the heir of the St. Claire family had turned nine this year and he was already four feet five inches whereas Yvonne who was six had a height of three feet six inches.

Seeing that tiny girl standing on her toes in order to reach his shoulders and pat him was comical indeed.

Jax, the butler thought the same as he looked away to stifle the chortle that was begging to burst out at any moment now.

"Want to clean Demon's stable again?" A scary voice was heard from behind which made Jax flinch.

Turning around, he found the siblings glaring at him and the one who had just spoken was his Big Boss.

No matter how much he tried to conceal his laughter earlier, Yvonne and Howard had heard it so right now, they were leering right at him.

The task that she had threatened Jax with was something he hated the most to do.

As Demon was not any normal horse, the amount of energy taken to clean his stable wasn't normal either.

Though Jax liked spending time with the etcher now, he did not wish to be cleaning after the horse at all costs.

That was a task better left to the professional stable hands and he did not wish to become a part of it.

Therefore, he made the gesture of sealing his lips and stood at attention, promising that he wouldn't laugh any longer.

'Thought so.' Yvonne sneered in her heart as she knew his weaknesses very well.

Satisfied with his actions, the slightly sadistic siblings harrumphed then turned around and walked towards the entrance of the mansion.

The house was bustling with preparations being made for the Young Master's return to the Royal Academy and his best friend from the Ducal household who would also be arriving in just a matter of hours.

All that was left for them to do was to wait until it was time.

Since it was a Sunday, Yvonne only had classes with Captain Desmo while the others would resume when the next week began.

Thus, she was left to do as she pleased and her maids would remind her when it was time for the young master to leave.

Bidding goodbye to her brother who walked her to her room, the little girl entered her spacious and silent room.

__

Inside her bedroom, Yvonne was now busy looking over the letters that her Uncle Marcus and the new accountant of CLOVER, Leonard Hagen, Tim's son had sent over.

These letters stated the current condition of the sales, the amount they were buying the raw materials at, and also the overall profit they had been making in the last three months.

The little girl noted down everything in the ledger that she had picked up from her father's office room.

'They have too many as it is.' She shrugged that they wouldn't mind her taking an empty one, considering how they still had numerous left.

Calculating the costs and the profits, she was satisfied with what CLOVER had been earning.

Despite sharing profits between her uncle, the Hagen family, and now Ocular, Yvonne as the owner still had the largest chunk of money that was her share.

A wide smile formed on her face as this money could serve as an investment for the other business ventures she would be starting once the plague came to an end.

Thinking of the devastation that would soon hit the Kingdom, a somber air surrounded the child as it was a truly disheartening calamity that had yet to strike them.

'About one-fourth of the population died according to what Blue Bird wrote in his script.' She grimaced as the death toll was too high.

She was doing her best to prevent at least a small number of deaths that might have taken place due to negligence to proper health habits.

Her soaps and the King's command to practice better hygiene and sanitation practices were all that they could do as preventive measures.

While she knew that this might not be enough, she hoped that it would prevent a few unnecessary deaths at least.

'Now, everything would depend on the Royal Medical Association and their geniuses.' She sighed, passing all further responsibilities into their capable hands.