Yvonne was not aware of the thoughts in Damien's mind as she was staring at her lap with her eyes wide open.

'So it is true! I felt that pain again!' She declared and took deep breaths to calm herself down.

She was now sure that she felt that familiar ache when she looked into his eyes, all that needed to be done next was to test the second half of her theory.

'Is Demon my protective amulet?' She smiled when she associated her etcher to the shield of protection that seemed to be around her.

With this thought in mind, she decided to test this theory out before the second trial began and at the same time to be careful not to make eye contact with this weird boy.

'Stupid guy, causing me pain!' She scowled at Damien for becoming the literal 'pain' in her life.

"Vonny, want some more pudding?" Raylene inquired after feeding her the tiny bowl filled with cold pudding.

'I do not know what the next trial is so I'd rather not fill up on food.' The little girl shook her head to reject her mother's kind offer.

She did not want a repeat of the first time Captain Desmo Reel had tested her which had caused her to regurgitate all of the juice that she had consumed before running around the grounds.

'Cannot embarrass myself when so many outsiders are present.' She concluded and stuck to her decision of refusing her mother's offer.

The mother who had been worried for her daughter's safety ever since she and her horse had ventured into the thick forest by themselves was finally relieved when she saw her child sitting next to her.

Rutherford smiled and wiped his daughter's lips with a handkerchief as he was just as relieved as his wife to see their child come back safely.

Many thoughts were running through his mind but now was not the time to discuss those matters.

'At least not in front of them…' He asserted while taking a glance at the three boys from other noble families.

Then looking down at his daughter who was staring at her legs and not raising her head higher, a smile came upon his face after seeing her cute appearance.

He had always known that his child had a smart mind but today he had learned a new truth about her which made his love for her grow much higher.

'Vonna has progressed much faster than what I had expected.' He was impressed with her fast learning curve.

Looking up, he shot his old friend an appreciative look for teaching her so well.

Captain Desmo was sitting with the boys and the Marquess when he felt the Earl glancing at him.

He could not understand why he was receiving such grateful expressions from his friend but he was not one to reject this rare opportunity.

Therefore, he nodded his head and shamelessly accepted whatever it was that had caused Rutherford to be so generous with his attitude towards him.

The Captain then turned around and paid attention to the Marquess who was explaining what was going on today.

When Topher Tanner had expressed his curiosity about the assessment that had been mentioned, Marquess Samed took it upon himself to fill them in on the details.

From how Captain Desmo had been chosen to train the child and the test to evaluate her progress.

From how Yvonne had met the etcher one fine day in their grazing field to how she was improving each day.

Everything had been narrated to the curious young boys.

"This test was arranged by Young Master Howard to see whether she is capable of continuing the classes with the Captain or not." He announced the reason why they had all gathered here today.

The boys all turned towards the one in question with curious and intrigued eyes.

"And when were you planning on telling us about this?" Topher inquired with a smile.

The two younger boys shivered under his gaze as they had noticed the same gaze coming from Topher whenever he was mad at someone.

'This is bad…' Howard gulped after realizing that he would get in trouble with his senior who was also his idol in the Academy.

Damien was least bothered about what the St. Claire's siblings did as it was none of his business and he was not affected by the decisions they chose to make.

Instead, he glanced at his best friend who seemed to be quite affected by the news of the assessment meant for measuring the capability of the little girl.

"Why are you so bothered about it?" He whispered into Topher's ear, expressing his suspicions about the sudden care his friend had for the little girl.

'He has been reacting weirdly when it comes to her.' He surmised and glanced at the seat of the girl only to find that she was looking away from him and talking to the old maid who stood behind her.

Topher froze when he heard this question coming from his best friend.

Tilting his head to the side, he shot him an oblivious glance as though he could not understand what Damien had meant by those words.

"Don't pretend that you do not know!" The brown-haired boy scowled when he observed the innocent look on the other boy's face.

'Why does he have to be so perceptive!?' Topher groaned as he could never truly hide anything from his friend.

Therefore, he decided to answer him before he dragged this matter on any longer.

"Do you have a heart?" He whispered back into Damien's ear.

This retort stumped the friend as he could not understand how this related to the conversation they were having right now.

"Such a young girl is training under a man known as 'Neo's spawn' due to his strict methods so how can you stand by without feeling pity for her?" He scowled his reason for caring for the girl.

Damien stared at him as if he was watching an idiot and clicked his tongue at him.

This disrespectful action made Topher's eyes widen as he glared right back.

"She had the choice to stop training but she didn't. This choice takes away the right to receive any sympathy from me." Damien answered truthfully about what he thought about this situation.

According to what he had heard from the Marquess' narration, it was the girl who had requested to learn these skills and it was also the same little girl who agreed to continue with Desmo after hearing about his weird personality.

If that was the case then why should he give her any sympathy when she was the one who had made the willing choice to learn from the 'Spawn'.

'And I have my answer… He has no heart!' Topher shook his head at his friend's apathy towards the situation.

While the two best friends were whispering among themselves, another pair of best friends were in a state of the cold war.

Taylor glared at Howard after hearing everything that his uncle, Marquess Samed had to say regarding the assessment and the events that had taken place before that.

"Is this why you ran away from the Academy!?" He interrogated as a vicious look appeared on his face.

Howard gulped as he had rarely seen his friend get this annoyed with him.

Taylor was one of those people who never got mad at anything but when he did get irked, he was just as scary as his elder brother.

"I had prior appointments and that is the only reason why I rushed back home." Howard stuck to his former excuse he had used to leave his friend behind.

When the last class had ended and the two friends were walking back to the dormitories, Taylor had been pestering his friend to take him along to meet Yvonne.

However, Howard had refused and said that he had prior appointments to keep and needed to rush back home.

"We can still go back to the capital in the same carriage." The younger son of the Duke was persistent in his request to travel together.

In response, Howard had neither accepted nor had he rejected this proposal as he headed back to his room.

By the time Taylor could pack his bags and stick close to Howard to insist on going back home in the same carriage, the heir of the St. Claire family had sneaked out of the dormitory.

He even took his family's carriage and left the Academy before Taylor could get wind of his departure.

Leaving his best friend behind to fend for himself.