The carriage moving away from the Capital had finally reached its destination the next afternoon.

However, it was the Tanner fief where it had come to a halt as that had been its destination all along.

Three men alighted from the carriage and upon displaying a brooch to the knight guarding the gates of the estate, they were granted entry in no time.

The carriage once again moved and this time only halted before the doors of the Tanner mansion.

As the three men got off a second time, they bowed before the man who was already waiting outside the mansion for them.

"Did you find the information I had asked for?" The man with silver hair and bright red eyes questioned before they could speak any words of greeting.

The men realized the significance of this information to their Master and did not make him wait any longer, handing over a folder to him right away.

Marquess Sullivan Samed accepted the folder and gave them a nod in appreciation before glancing at the Butler of this mansion.

The clever man deciphered the meaning of that gesture and requested the men to follow him to their temporary lodging before they could return to the Capital after a few days.

While they were walking behind the Butler, the Marquess had already entered the Mansion and headed in the direction of the parlor.

Duchess Beatrice had heard the news about a carriage from the Capital arriving in their estate and the occupants were here to meet her little brother.

Therefore, she had already arrived at the parlor and Taylor had accompanied her so right now, they were waiting for him to return.

Soon their awaited person had entered the room and the mother-son pair were gazing at him with eager and immensely curious eyes.

Marquess Samed glanced at the similar-looking faces and sighed before placing the folder in his hands onto the table.

Taking his seat on an empty couch, he too leaned in while imitating them as he pulled out the papers placed inside the folder.

He read the details out loud and the more he read, the more there was excitement visible on their faces.

"So that is what happened!" He exclaimed after reading the last line of the contents he had received from his subordinates.

Duchess Beatrice hurried to call a maid in and gave out a few instructions.

"I shall write my reply to Raylene right away!" She declared and got to work once the maid returned with everything that was needed for this task.

Right before them, the Duchess drafted a letter and asked one of the knights to send a messenger over to the St. Claire fief where her close friend was currently residing.

The three then smiled at each other as they had completed a task and also cleared the doubts in their minds.

'That sly fool will be at ease now.' Taylor smirked while thinking of his best friend who said the opposite of what he felt most of the time.

The Duchess was glad that her friend, Countess Raylene St. Claire had sought her out for a favor which warmed her heart as this meant that Raylene trusted her and their friendship.

Finally, Marquess Samed rubbed his chin, wondering how he could demand compensation from his pupil for the task that he had given his aid in.

As these three seated inside the parlor of the Tanner mansion situated in the Tanner fief were mulling over the thoughts in their minds, the messenger sent by the Duchess was already at the border of their fief.

The Tanner and St. Claire fiefs shared borders so the messenger would only need half a day to reach his destination.

Yvonne had reached the dining hall for breakfast when the news of a messenger coming from the Tanner fief was announced by the Old butler.

Surprised at this sudden appearance of the messenger, she was curious to know the purpose of his arrival.

Howard clenched the silverware in his hand, fearing if another terrible news had come for them.

However, only Rutherford and Raylene were not confused or worried as they had been expecting this reply from the Duchess for quite some time now.

Therefore, when the Old Butler brought in the letter, Raylene set her plate aside and tore open the envelope first.

{Through our trusted sources in the South, we have substantial proof that the Jorbins are not in the Rosenhyde Kingdom.

They had left for the Marchioness's maiden territory before the disease began to spread.

We shall let you know more when we hear about it.}

The large font used to write this brief message made it easy for the people around Raylene to read it at the same time as her.

There was another letter attached to this note and Raylene began reading it out loud for everyone to hear.

The letter was from the Duchess who stated that her younger brother's men had taken a little longer than expected but the information they had procured was accurate.

Hence, the Countess and her family would not have to fret for the safety of the boy belonging to the Jorbin family as there was no way they could be affected by the disease being spread in their fief.

The entire Jorbin family had gone to visit the Marchioness's maiden Kingdom and hence they were saved from this sudden calamity that had struck the Southern fiefs.

Once Raylene had announced the findings she read from the letter sent from Duchess Beatrice, a sigh of relief was heard coming from everyone in the room.

Yvonne smiled at her brother who appeared to have relaxed his strained jaw muscles which he had clenched for quite some time now.

Howard's shoulders slumped and he scoffed at himself for worrying about the boy who wasn't even in the Kingdom.

As per the information, he had heard straight from that boy, no such plan of leaving the Kingdom for summer had been made.

However, he trusted Marquess Samed's sources so this news would surely not be false and there might have been abrupt changes made at the last minute which caused this discrepancy.

'As long as he's fine.' The young heir of the St. Claire family thought but soon shook his head when he realized that he was worried about the other boy once again.

Yvonne rolled her eyes at her brother's conflicted emotions before turning in the direction of her mother.

Feeling the curious gaze coming from her side, Raylene glanced her way and deciphered the reason for this gaze.

"Mama asked the Duchess for a little help." She revealed, having no intention of hiding what she had done a few days ago.

Howard and Yvonne paid attention to what their mother had to say.

Rutherford sat in silence, smiling and letting his wife be the one to speak as he took on the role of the encouraging and observant husband.

With everyone's eyes on her, the mother of two began her speech, disclosing information she had kept mum until now.

Raylene revealed that she had written a letter to Duchess Beatrice mentioning her desire to learn about the current condition of the Jorbin family who should be in their fief which was also affected by the sickness.

The Duchess then had delegated this duty to her brother who sent a letter, ordering his men to get to work.

'Who better for this job than the most gossipy man in the Kingdom?' Yvonne snickered as her tutor had spies in every household who would inform him about the juicy and hidden secrets that those families tried to hide.

Marquess Samed's men took longer than expected to reach back to their Master as they had to move with caution in order to not contract the disease themselves.

They needed information but did not wish to travel long distances so they could only do what they saw fit to fetch this information.

They made sure to stay away from anyone who appeared sick and also never stayed in one place for too long.

They never entered the Southern fiefs and asked their men situated in the neighboring fiefs to reveal everything they knew about the Jorbins.

Direct contact was also not made with any of these spies and messenger birds which were commonly used to transport letters were used to exchange letters between them until they found proper answers.

That was how the three men who had ended up in the Tanner fief, without putting themselves at risk which had been the cause of the delay.

Yvonne was impressed with her mother's decision of asking the Duchess for help and also with Marquess Samed's men who were smart enough to protect themselves instead of throwing themselves amid a budding plague.

'I would have stopped her from sending that letter if she had revealed her intentions before acting on them.' The little girl who knew the severity of the plague would have tried to safeguard the lives of those spies.

No information was greater than their lives but now that things had taken place without her knowledge, she was glad that they were back safe and sound.

One letter had engulfed the mansion in a gloomy aura and another letter had brought back the joy on their faces.

'Hope everyone is safe right where they are.' The little girl's heart sent out a prayer for those she knew and those she did not.

She wished that no life would be lost and especially not one of those whom she cared about.

Thus, with the arrival of this letter, Howard was relieved and Yvonne prayed that such good news would be a common and continual occurrence in their household.