The response Yvonne had been waiting for never did arrive.

The cowering figure in the Prince's arms felt uncomfortable with everyone's gaze fixed on her.

​​

This made the Lady huddle in his arms as she hid her face in his chest.

Yvonne's eyes were now dangerously narrowed as any ounce of confusion she had earlier had vanished into thin air.

The Lady's frightened silence was enough to make others reckon that she was unable to utter a single word as she was being suppressed by the scary Miss Yvonne.

She was terrified and wasn't even brave enough to face the one who had caused her to fall.

Receiving the answer that he had been looking for, Prince Fritzen turned his narrowed eyes towards the daughter of the St. Claire family.

"Wasn't that enough? You were about to hit her so-" He began denouncing her all over again but Yvonne St. Claire wasn't someone to bear everything in silence.

She was not a saint to endure injustices being done to her and she made sure to let the other person know about it.

"No." A single word had succeeded in halting the Prince's onslaught of accusations against her and her evil deeds.

She chose to ignore the lady she once treated as a friend and focused her attention on the man who was trying his best to prove that she was in the wrong here.

"What the Prince had done is called 'hitting' someone." She reminded him of the difference in the actions they had made.

She saw his eyes tremble for a second at her glib words but she had no intention of stopping just yet.

"I had stretched out my hand to a clumsy lady who had managed to trip over her own gown." Yvonne revealed the truth of the matter while making sure to be audible and clear so that everyone heard her.

Her voice was loud but she wasn't shouting as the Prince had done earlier.

It was beneath her to raise her voice at someone in such a public setting and she made sure to let her contempt appear on her face as she made her thoughts known to the Prince whose involvement had escalated this incident.

"Maybe it was because the Prince had never received a helping hand which led him to misunderstand my actions." She tilted her head and continued, "Is that why you could not tell the difference between the two gestures?"

Her words were both a reminder that the great Crown Prince did not care to receive help from anyone and also that he was incapable of figuring out the difference between two simple gestures.

A sudden snicker resounded in the room at the implication of Yvonne's words but no one could figure out where it had originated from.

This only infuriated the Prince as someone had just laughed at his expense and it was all because of this young miss who had been pampered too much that she dared to be so impudent towards him.

However, at the words 'Helping hand' being mentioned, a memory from the past emerged in his mind which softened his expressions.

After all, he had accepted a helping hand in the past which had saved his life and that hand belonged to the person in his arms.

At the same time, the lady in his arms flinched and her body shuddered again which brought Prince Fritzen out of his reminiscing thoughts.

He regained his composure as that same person who had helped him was scared out of her wits and it was because of this brat standing before him.

"You push her down and pretend that you are helping her up?" He sneered as he had deciphered what had taken place.

When he had been conversing with his Uncle, his back was turned towards the location where the two girls were.

Therefore, he had only turned around when the silent hall resounded with loud gasps.

At that moment, his eyes laid upon the sight of Lady Hilda on the ground with Miss Yvonne staring down at her.

It was enough for him to conclude that one had pushed the other.

Not only had Miss Yvonne pushed her but she was also planning to strike the lady while she was down.

This thoroughly infuriated him and he rushed ahead and smacked her hand away before she could harm Lady Hilda any further.

However, to his surprise, she had not even apologized for her mistakes and even continued to argue with him until now.

Yvonne blinked her wide amethyst eyes at him which made him feel that she was looking down on him as well.

"Did the Prince see me push the Lady?" She inquired while tilting her head.

For a second an image of the past reappeared in his head but that vanished when he felt Lady Hilda clench the coat of his uniform.

However, he had no words in answer to her query so he remained silent.

Letting out a soft scoff, Yvonne turned her head and scanned the room.

"Did even a single person see me raise my hand and push the Lady?" She questioned once again and saw bowed heads as no one could answer that question.

While she did not gain answers, she did hear the sounds of heels clicking on the floor.

Yvonne did not have to turn as she felt familiar auras coming to a halt right next to her.

On one side stood the Princess of this Kingdom and on the other was the only daughter of Duke Brodie.

With Yvonne standing between these two ladies of the highest social standing, no one would dare to raise their voice or argue with her.

The three ladies at the pinnacle of the social circles were standing on one side while the Crown Prince with the lady in his arms and the Grand Duke stood on the other.

Princess Felicia ignored the very existence of the Lady as she glared at her elder brother for what he had done today.

Not only did he upset her by not dancing with her but he had also targeted her best friend without thinking about how she would feel about this matter.

On the other hand, Glennise's eyes were leering at the one clinging to the man she had given her heart to.

"Our Vonny will not use underhanded tricks, Prince." Princess Felicia declared which ascertained her belief in her best friend.

Her statement had two implications hidden within it.

The first was that Yvonne was not the one who had used the cheap trick just now and the second was when she had addressed him as 'Prince' rather than 'Elder Brother' that she had always used for him.

This change in the way she called him was to signify that he had disappointed her today and she was upset with him.

Prince Fritzen frowned after noticing this change but his beloved sister was not done with what she had to say.

"If she wished to retaliate against someone then she would do it right in front of everyone." Felicia announced the trait that almost everyone knew about Yvonne St. Claire.

She was known to display her annoyance and displeasure with someone openly.

She did not have the habit of pretending to be friendly while targeting someone in the dark.

At this reminder, everyone nodded their heads as that was just how Yvonne was said to be in society.

"Just like right now, with the Prince." Glennise added as she finally looked at the man who had hurt her tender heart today.

Glennise's words made them realize that Yvonne had not shied away from confronting the Prince and even went head-to-head with him to prove that she had done no wrong.

Prince Fritzen felt his face burn when his sister and her two friends were hell-bent on making him look like he had done something wrong.

All he wanted to do was protect the one who had saved his life in the past.

It was clear that his actions had not sat well with these three who were standing against him right now.

However, he too was annoyed with what Miss Yvonne had tried to do.

Sadly, before he could utter another word, the Royal Steward came forward on the command of the King and asked them to stop creating a scene right this instant.

"The King wishes for everyone to get along on this special day." He revealed the words spoken by the King but Prince Fritzen and Grand Duke realized that he had said so for the sake of his Princess.

It was her big day and Fritzen had already upset her and now he was making her mad all over again.

Therefore, the King was also annoyed with this Crown Prince and reminded him that decorum needed to be maintained while inside the Palace grounds.

Yvonne's eyes landed on Hilda for a second as though she was trying to find some answers to the events that had taken place today.

However, all she saw was guilt and fear which made it seem that she was scared that her inner thoughts would be revealed.

Frowning at this conjecture that she had come up with, Yvonne did not wish to stay here any longer.

Therefore, she nodded at her friends, indicating that she would be leaving first before she walked away with everyone watching her.

The Grand Duke's eyes landed on her lonely yet strong back for a second before he turned towards his lovely niece.

He shot her a smile to alleviate her mood but all she did was scoff at him with anger before following her best friend.

Finally, the last girl, Lady Glennise bit her lip while watching the Prince whispering something into that lady's ear and she too turned away, not willing to see this scene any further.

Therefore, the three best friends left the scene first as though they were not interested to mingle with them any further.

Left in the same spot, the Grand Duke turned towards the Prince and the Lady, gesturing for them to follow after him.

As the crowd watched, one group of three returned to a corner of the ballroom to rest while the other group of three exited the ballroom and headed to another place altogether.

Yvonne sat between her two best friends on a couch placed in their corner and sighed at the gloomy air that had taken over them.

"Forget about them." She patted their shoulders as each of them had been annoyed by the Prince.

Felicia grabbed her friend's hand which had been struck today and her heart ached after seeing the print on it.

"How could he!?" She gritted her teeth at her brother's cruel behavior.

However, Yvonne just shook her head and lied that it did not hurt even when she could still feel it throbbing when Felicia touched the affected area.

"Don't waste this special day thinking about others." She glanced at Glennise as it was aimed at her.

Under her gentle coercion, the three best friends decided to ignore what had happened and returned to the party to enjoy the rest of this special night.