"Good day, Marquess." Yvonne smiled as she greeted the man with long silver hair that was tied into a neat ponytail.

Walking towards her, Sullivan Samed felt an odd sensation when he received her greeting but he shrugged it away and took his seat.

"Oh ho, Miss St. Claire has completed the assignments?" The tutor waved his hand in response to her greeting and gave a brief glance through the papers piled up on the table between them.

Having checked her work twice to make sure that he had not missed anything, he looked up and gave the child an appreciative nod.

"You do live up to the rumors but I still do not understand why you would decline my offer to study with Princess Felicia." He shook his head and then slyly clicked his tongue.

The moment he mentioned the Princess, Yvonne's smile froze for a second before it widened.

"Now that you have reminded me about it, I have a doubt that needs to be cleared. Do you mind answering why you never mentioned a word about being the Royal Tutor, my dear tutor?" She smiled innocently with her head tilted to the side.

'Eh? Why is she looking at me in that way?' Sullivan hesitated and his eyes avoided making contact with the amethyst irises that were focused on him.

'If I had known that he had any connection with the Royal family then I certainly would have asked Raylene to find me another tutor!' She raged inwardly but then quietened down because she knew that he was the best tutor in the capital.

'I will need the best if I want to create my own business empire here. Sadly, this sneaky man is exactly that.' She sighed and shook her head when she realized that she had no other options than to stick to the same tutor.

Sullivan had been keenly observing her every action and he was beyond amused.

"So how did you find out about it?" He chuckled and threw this question back at her.

Yvonne scoffed openly before narrating exactly how she had stumbled upon this crucial information.

"That student of mine sure is impatient." He shook his head and lamented over Rika Kiron's hasty actions.

When Yvonne heard this, she sneered on the inside but put up a straight face on the outside.

"Maybe because you had aimed at setting her straight by using me as bait?" She smiled innocently while pointing out exactly what her tutor had planned and executed covertly.

Sullivan choked on his saliva and looked away to avoid her accusing glares.

"I had planned to bring my prized student to be Princess Felicia's second playmate but she just had to refuse my generous offer by using such meaningless excuses!" He shot back with a nasty glare after remembering that it was all Yvonne's fault to begin with.

'If she hadn't rejected my offer then I wouldn't have to go through all the trouble of searching for a replacement!' He continued to glare at the child who was not in the least bit affected nor intimidated by it.

"And I stand by my words, Marquess. Letting me join them will only hinder them from learning at their speed." She sighed and made it seem as though she really regretted that she wasn't the same age as the other two girls.

'Her learning arc is much higher than both of them combined. However, she still refuses to join them? I need to figure out what is really on her mind.' Marquess Samed vowed and then answered her with a defeated nod.

"You are very considerate to think about their wellbeing. You would have made great friends with them. Alas! You refuse to even give it a shot." His words were both regretful and derisive.

'We could have been the best of friends but let us not think of that right now.' She simply replied to his words with a gentle smile.

"Marquess, I do have something else that I am curious about." She mentioned and successfully deviated his attention from the earlier matter.

Sullivan gave her a simple nod and waited for her to ask what was on her mind.

Yvonne thought for a moment on how to frame this question without attracting his suspicion. Pleased with the sentence in her mind, she opened her mouth and made her thoughts known to him

"How exactly did you end up being the Royal Tutor? What I want to know is whether you were the King's first choice or not?" She rubbed her chin and muttered those words as she blankly gazed at the papers on the table.

Just as her doubt came to an end, she heard an indignant scowl emanating from the man sitting on the opposite side of her.

"You think I am not good enough to be the first choice for the prestigious position of the Royal Tutor?" He narrowed his eyes and snarled at the young and ignorant child.

'People invite me from all over the capital to teach their daughters and here she is, doubting my intellect!?' His intense gaze never left her face.

Yvonne was now aware that she had unknowingly offended this man and was thinking of a way to placate his anger.

'I just wanted to ask how the tutor changed from Governess Bloom to Marquess Samed!' She grumbled and pouted her lips.

However, she could not reveal this piece of information to him since it would spark his neverending curiosity as to how she had received that news in the first place.

"You always told me that you wouldn't take more students because they would increase your workload." She murmured in a soft voice which made Sullivan pause his glaring for a moment.

She then looked up at him and blinked her big watery eyes while fluttering her lashes.

Sullivan was not enchanted by her tricks because in the few days that he had spent tutoring her after her return from the St. Claire fief, he now had a better grasp of her inner personality which somehow managed to resurface in his presence.

The credit for this certainly belonged to his quirky and sarcastic words and actions which goaded Yvonne's inner crankiness to come out but never in a million years would he accept the blame for this.

Not wanting to keep his prized pupil in the dark, he decided to let her know what had happened.

'It's not a heavily guarded secret either way. I don't think that King Ophire would mind if I let a simple child know about it.' He shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head.

"The arrow you shot in the dark seems to have hit its target." He praised her which did not sound like a compliment to Yvonne.

Yet she smiled to encourage him to continue what he was about to say.

"It is true that I wasn't the King's first choice for the Royal Tutor's position." He struggled to get those words out of his mouth since they felt like multiple daggers stabbing away at his pride.

His acknowledgment got Yvonne's heart thumping because this could only mean one thing.

'Something happened to Governess Bloom!'