Coming out of her thoughts of the past, Yvonne smiled at Demon who was standing next to her.

Howard was still nowhere to be found but she was sure that he was safe as Demon was monitoring him using his keen senses.

​​

She had been in constant communication with her Uncle Marcus as he reported the number of times they had supplied crates of soap to the Capital in the last few months.

One crate contained one hundred soaps and by now, CLOVER had already donated over twelve crates which had been put to good use according to the reports she had been receiving.

This made the girl smile as she was helping out in whatever way that she could.

With the cool breeze blowing around her, Yvonne laid down on the picnic sheets, basking in the sun's rays that peeked through the branches and leaves covering the sky above her.

Roselie had spread the sheet in the optimal location where the most shade from the trees' branches was found.

Laying in the shade, by the stream during this warm afternoon which wasn't too hot nor too cold, inadvertently, Yvonne St. Claire began to drift into a deep sleep.

Demon's eyes fell on the figure laid before him and he tried his best not to disturb her while she took a nice afternoon siesta amidst the lulling sounds of the flowing stream.

___

The music filling the room and the numerous figures spread out within it made the atmosphere look lively and energetic.

However, between the jovial air surrounding them, there was tension to be found as well.

The young miss of the St. Claire's family stood at the side while witnessing the events occurring on the special day of her two best friends.

With her eyes fixed on the dance floor, she found the two pretty girls who had formally become 'Ladies' today.

They would no longer be addressed as 'Miss' but had graduated to the next step which was 'Lady' and this was a joyous occasion for the three best friends.

Yet, right now, Yvonne was watching the sullen faces of her best friends and she knew what or rather who was the cause of this.

Right at the center, dancing with her Uncle was the sole Princess of this great Kingdom.

Princess Felicia looked ethereal in her pastel blue flowing gown which accentuated her sparkling blonde hair and her blue eyes.

Everyone's attention was on the Royal Princess whose movements were effortless and admirable as she danced alongside her uncle, Grand Duke Roschester.

A smile crept on her face when she saw the young man whisper something into his niece's ears which brought a wide smile to her face.

Turning her gaze from this happy pair of dance partners, her eyes sought the location of her other best friend.

Newly declared, Lady Glennise Brodie was seen gliding across the dance floor in a shimmering yet vivid deep blue-hued gown which had embellishments of tiny diamonds studded over her collar, accentuating her slender neck and collarbone.

Unlike the Princess' blonde hair held together with a crown, Glennise's bright auburn hair was left loose to fall across her shoulders.

Her dance partner was a tall and handsome young man who appeared stern but Yvonne knew that he was nothing but kind-hearted and silent.

This young man was a cousin from the side branch of the Brodie family who had been selected to take up the empty seat of the heir which could not be handed over to the only child of the main family, Glennise, as she was a girl.

The heir of the Brodie family had proven his worth soon after he was elected and hence had gained approval from everyone around him.

Therefore, today on this special day, the one escorting the only daughter of Duke Brodie was this heir who was currently dancing with her.

The comparison between the two pairs dancing at a short distance away from each other was too vast.

While the Princess and her uncle looked harmonious together, Glennise looked stiff dancing with her cousin but they never made mistakes.

'She is still not used to the idea of this cousin.' Yvonne realized the issue between them.

The cousins had stayed separately from their childhood days yet now were living under one roof and he was to become the next head of the family.

Therefore, it was understandable that she had not yet gotten used to the idea of her cousin taking over the duties of her father in the future.

Yvonne was also sure that they were just stiff in the way they behaved due to their non-existent relationship in the past but held no animosity against each other.

After all, she had met this cousin numerous times in order to make sure that he was not someone who would harm her best friend or if he had ill intentions against Glennise.

Despite watching him and interacting with him, she found no malice in his ways and had thus concluded that he was a good seed and would not harm her in any way possible.

This thought brought relief to Yvonne as she never wished for anything to go wrong in her friends' lives.

However, it appeared that something had gone wrong on this special day that they had been excited about.

Whatever it was, it had especially affected Glennise as her attention was on another couple dancing a little distance away from them.

The Lady of the Brodie family had a subtle frown as her brows scrunched up together but Yvonne knew what those expressions meant.

'She's furious.' She declared with confidence in her findings.

They had been together since she was five and she had just turned fifteen this year so it was easy for her to distinguish even the slightest difference in her best friends' expressions.

While Yvonne was glad that her friend wasn't stepping on her cousin's shoes as she was being inattentive, she couldn't help but feel irritated with what had caused this distraction in the first place.

Therefore, the only daughter of the St. Claire's family turned in the direction that her best friend had been staring in and found the source of her sullen mood.

Earlier, if the attention of the crowd surrounding the dance floor had been on the two ladies with the highest social standing in this Kingdom, now it was on an unknown face who had appeared here for the very first time.

The spotlight had been snatched away from Princess Felicia and Lady Glennise and had landed on the lady with fluffy brown hair who looked nervous yet absolutely cute.

However, her attention-grabbing appearance was not the sole cause for everyone's eyes to fall on her.

It was the partner with whom she was dancing right at this moment.

Bright blonde hair moving with each movement he made, sparkling blue eyes which resembled the King's, and finally, the pure white uniform that he wore today was the reason for everyone's eyes to be fixated on them.

If one could not recognize this man's identity by his blonde hair then they would have done so after taking a look at the uniform of the Crown Prince that he was wearing to this formal event.

'What is he trying to do?' Yvonne frowned while glancing in the direction of her best friend then back at the young man who had stolen the heart of the said best friend.

Glennise's eyes trembled and her lips quivered as she watched the man she had been in love with for the longest time as he danced with another lady on this special day.

The first dance of the coming-of-age ceremony for any young lady was reserved for either the head of the family and the next was for the heir after him.

However, the next dance was meant to be for someone they held dear to their hearts.

Therefore, she had danced with her father first then with the heir who was her cousin while the one after that, she had planned to dance with the Prince.

Similarly, Princess Felicia had first danced with her father, King Ophire but when it was her brother, Prince Fritzen's turn to dance next, he had not come to ask her for a dance.

Instead, he had walked up to a girl whom they had never seen and boldly asked for a dance when he had never danced with any other girl before this day.

He had only ever danced with his mother or younger sister until this day.

While Glennise felt indignant that she could not have the Prince's first dance excluding the ladies of his family, Princess Felicia was embarrassed as her brother chose some random girl over her.

At least Glennise was already dancing with her cousin but the Princess was left standing alone once the King had returned to his Throne next to the Queen after their first dance.

Feeling the awkward atmosphere around them, thankfully, the taciturn and astute Grand Duke had come forward to save the young Princess from this situation which most certainly had humiliated her.

The second dance which should have been with her elder brother, the Crown Prince, had to be done with her Uncle.

While she wasn't complaining as she liked her Uncle better, she was bothered with the looks of concealed ridicule and contempt she had noticed on the faces of the other young ladies with them today.

The Prince had chosen some unknown lady rather than his little sister and this was equivalent to a slap to her face right before everyone present in this grand ballroom.

The Grand Duke was trying his best to lighten his little niece's dampened mood but every time her eyes fell on her brother dancing with that new girl, her irritability rose once again.

Therefore, Yvonne too narrowed her eyes at the one who had caused her best friends' big day to go sour.

'Stupid Crown Prince.' She sneered while looking at the gentle face of the usually stoic Prince.