Topher Tanner had gone out to run a personal errand in another place before he had planned to meet his father who had gone to finish a task while in the Palace.

However, he was unsuccessful in his task and could only go to where his father would be, ahead of schedule.

Sadly, he had not taken into account the confusing paths between the different palaces which had resulted in him getting lost.

Most of the servants were busy attending to the guests who had arrived at the Palace which meant that there weren't many people who could guide him in the right direction.

Thus, Topher Tanner had wandered around for quite a bit before he found a palace maid who had helped him find the path to where his father was.

Reaching the military annex of the Palace, he was informed that his father's task would take longer to complete and that he could return for the time being.

Topher did not object as he knew that the Duke must be here on an important task so he obediently agreed.

Before leaving the military annex, he inquired with a male servant there about the commencement of the tea party and was told that it would not be long before they would be summoned.

His personal errand could not be seen through to the end and he wasn't even able to bring his father back to their resting room but at least he had gained information about the tea party.

Thus, with a grumbling heart at the two unsuccessful tasks out of the three, Topher began his journey back to the room where the rest of his family was supposed to be.

He reached this room right in time to hear his little brother badmouthing him in the presence of their guests.

Wanting to hear more about what this little fool would say during his absence, Topher was careful to not make any sounds as he walked up to Taylor, cautious to not alert him.

Taylor's back was towards the door and only he wasn't able to see the older boy who had stealthily entered the room.

The rest had caught sight of Topher but had said nothing as the heir had signaled them to remain silent.

Howard would never go against his idol and Yvonne wished to see what would happen so even she did not utter a word about the young man who was creeping towards Taylor who had been slandering his brother.

The moment Taylor's words had come to an end, Topher whispered the previous statement in his ear which had brought shivers down the little brother's spine.

Turning his head mechanically to see who it was, all along hoping that it was someone else, unfortunately, his hopes were crushed when his eyes fell on the figure now before him.

Topher had an angelic smile on his face as he looked down at his younger brother but the other knew that this was just a facade.

'I'm done for!' Taylor cried out in his heart as this angelic smile only meant bad news for him.

He knew just how black-hearted and two-faced his elder brother was which only made him gulp in fear of what might happen to him next.

Topher chuckled when he saw the nervous look on his brother's face as he loved to see the impact he had on him.

Ignoring him would only make him worry about what would happen to him next and that was exactly what the young heir had planned to do.

'Let him stew in his anxiety for a while.' He decided and turned away to face the guests here.

He greeted the Earl and Countess before smiling at the children who greeted him, following the hierarchy that their Kingdom observed.

"Father will need some more time, Mother." He reported his findings to the Duchess who sighed before nodding at him.

This was expected as Duke Obinn Tanner was also one of the members of the King's Council of Ministers.

He held the vital role of the Military Minister and had gone to check on a few things as he was already in the Palace.

This was his responsibility which he took very seriously so the Duchess did not complain and waited for Topher to continue.

"The tea party was said to begin soon." He added as this was the second half of his task.

He did not mention a word about his personal errand as none of them were aware of it and only spoke about how he had gotten lost while making his way back which had caused the unexpected delay.

Duchess Tanner shook her head as her smart son could also be clumsy sometimes before asking him to rest for a while until they were summoned.

This time, the other children too joined him and took their seats.

They sat on one couch which was sufficient for them while the ladies sat on another and finally, the two men sat on the one opposite to theirs.

Marquess Samed did everything he could to not meet the Earl's eyes and Rutherford also did not go out of his way to strike up a conversation between them.

The two ladies were once again in a conversation regarding how they had spent their time in their respective fiefs while the two heirs were discussing how much they had progressed during this period of separation.

This left Taylor and Yvonne to their own devices and the pair of younger siblings could only sigh while sitting next to the two sword junky brothers who never could stop when it came to their love for their swords.

Yvonne did not know how long they had been in this room before a servant came to inform them of the tea party's commencement.

It was a maid who had come over and she even escorted the ladies to a separate restroom right next door to help them powder their faces and touch up for the tea party.

Yvonne did not accompany them and sat with her father as they waited for them to return.

Soon, Duchess Tanner and Countess St. Claire were back and looked pristine thanks to the maid's efforts.

The skillful maid helped them touch up their makeup and even combed their hair once again for them even if it wasn't too disheveled.

Rutherford smiled at his beautiful wife who took her rightful spot next to him while the Marquess rolled his eyes and held his hand out to his sister.

Since the Duke wasn't here, it was his duty to escort her in his absence.

Begrudgingly, the Duchess looked at her annoying brother then at his hand before glancing sideways only to find the Earl whispering something into the Countess's ear which made her blush and playfully smack her husband's arm.

The loving atmosphere between this pair of husband and wife was now making her jealous.

'I miss my husband!' Beatrice groaned then shot a disgusted look at her brother's face before looking away.

Marquess Samed frowned as well when he saw his sister's ungrateful expressions and hoped that his brother-in-law would appear soon and take her away with him.

However, he would have to wait for a while to fulfill this dream so all he could do was press down his vexation and continue to escort her like the gentleman that he was.

The Earl was with the Countess while the Duchess who was being escorted by her little brother were now standing outside their room.

Before them were the four children from their families.

Howard stood protectively next to Yvonne as she held his arm while Taylor pouted while standing with his scary elder brother.

The maid from before was assigned the task of guiding them to the venue of the tea party and she got to work once they were ready to leave.

Thus, the two families headed in the direction where the tea party would be held.

As they neared their destination, Yvonne could hear the sounds of people talking and women's soft giggles coming from a certain direction.

'I wonder how many people were invited today.' She speculated on the different families whom she would find here today.

However, more than meeting the various noble families, Yvonne was interested to know whether the members of the Royal family would be attending this event.

Just earlier, she had met the King who surprisingly looked a lot like her father from her previous life.

This made her wonder if the Queen looked like her mother as well and tried to imagine what she would do if such an anomaly were to take place.

King Ophire looking like her Dada, Harold St. Claire was already too big of a coincidence which made her curious to see if this would repeat with Queen Zena.

While thinking of this Royal couple, Yvonne also recalled the existence of the children born from the two.

'Will I meet them today?' She narrowed her eyes and instinctively tightened her hold over Howard's arm which made him look her way.

Misunderstanding this gesture for her nervousness, the young heir smiled and patted her hand which was circled his arm.

"I'll be right here so don't worry." He whispered as he leaned closer to her ear.

These words brought about a sense of deja vu to the child as her father had said something quite similar when she had revealed that she did not wish to meet the King just yesterday.

'And look at where that landed us!' She scoffed internally but could only give him a halfhearted nod to acknowledge his attempt of comforting her.

Noticing the St. Claire siblings whispering among themselves, Taylor pouted further as he was being left out of the loop.

However, when he felt his elder brother's stern eyes on him, he gulped and remained silent without making his grievances known.

'You better behave today!' The wordless warning was clear for Taylor who would do his best to not get in trouble after he was caught badmouthing his brother earlier.