With the hasty departure of his best friend, the younger son of the Duke was left with no other option but to reach out to his older brother for help.

'Something is fishy today.' Taylor suspected his friend of behaving strangely and decided to get to the root of this matter.

With this thought in his mind, he headed towards his brother's room in the dormitories.

He was in a hurry to follow Howard's carriage to check out what was so important that he had left his friend behind.

Much to his chagrin, Topher had announced that while he could travel with him and Damien, he would have to wait until the brown-haired boy was ready.

This was because Damien had thought that it was a bright idea to take a warm and relaxing bath before they could begin their journey back to the Capital city of Amarthea.

Taylor sat on pins and needles until his senior finally stepped out of the shower after a long time.

Once Damien had packed his stuff up, Taylor took it upon himself to rush his elder brother and his friend to leave the Academy.

However, just as they had reached close to their Tanner Estate, the young boy threw a massive tantrum in the carriage she demanded to visit his friend.

Annoyed with his repeated pesky behavior, Topher asked the carriage to head towards the St. Claire Estate and this was how they had managed to witness today's events.

Taylor narrowed his eyes after recalling what had happened today and his anger rose higher.

"You dared to hide such a major event from me!?" He glowered at the boy who had almost snatched the chance to cheer for the adorable girl away from him.

'If I had not insisted to come over to their estate then no one would have been there to cheer and encourage Vonny!' He gritted her teeth when he thought of this possibility.

From what he had heard from his uncle, it sounded as though the men from the St. Claire family were against Yvonne learning these skills.

So there was a high chance that they would not be happy to see her succeed in today's trials.

This also meant that there would be no one to cheer for the little girl who was truly commendable for the brave feat she had accomplished today with her etcher.

'I know that he likes his sister but he would never let anyone know about it.' He remarked and knew that he was accurate in making assumptions.

In his mind, expecting Howard to cheer for his sister was out of the question and the Earl did not support this training so he too would be waiting for her to fail.

But, Taylor was wrong about one thing.

He did not know that the Earl had changed his mind a long time back and was now wholeheartedly supporting his daughter to follow her dream of mastering these skills.

Hence, Taylor was still worried that she would be left all alone with no one wishing for her success and this thought infuriated him.

While they were leering at each other, Rutherford rose from his seat and glanced at the group of men who were sitting at a short distance from his family.

"Shall we move to the next trial?" He inquired as his gaze rested on his son who sat beside his friend.

Taylor curbed his irritation in the Earl's presence and took one last look at his friend before looking away.

'We shall settle this another time.' He sneered at the boy and rose from his seat as well.

Under the Earl's watchful eyes, he stepped closer to the little girl and held his hand out to her.

Yvonne's big amethyst eyes held confusion in them when she saw his sudden and unprecedented actions.

"This Big Brother will cheer for you, Vonny, so do your best!" He chirped while smiling brightly at her.

'What's wrong with him?' The little girl was baffled at this as she reached her hand towards him.

Every eye under the canopy was fixed on the chubby palm which was inching closer towards the boy's hand.

There was shock, anger, amusement, and fury in the different pairs of eyes which were watching the scene unfolding before them.

Yvonne's palm was a mere inch away from his hand when her entire body was raised off her chair.

Looking up, everyone noticed the Earl with a darkening face as he carried his daughter before she could touch the boy's hand.

'Looks like I have to talk to the Duke about educating his son better.' He growled in his heart as he held his daughter secure in his arms.

In their Kingdom, a man was not allowed to touch any woman without being betrothed to her.

If the people of the society heard the news about them touching each other then they would certainly be given to each other in marriage in the future.

'My Vonna deserves the best husband!' He scoffed inwardly and decided that Taylor Tanner was not the one for her.

Yvonne was stunned to find that she was snatched away from her seat but did not object to it anyway.

Glancing down, she noticed the pouted lips of the boy who was supposed to help her up.

"Thank you, Young Master Taylor." She expressed her gratitude with a smile.

Though he was unable to help her, she did not reject his actions and even thanked him for them.

This effort that she had put in to make the pouting boy feel better was making her elder brother burn in anger.

"Let us begin the second trial." Howard announced as he stepped forward to stand next to his father.

Long gone was the boy who was worried that his friend was mad at him.

Right now, he was the elder brother whose sister was almost snatched away by a creepy impostor trying to take his place in her heart.

'No matter what you do, she is my sister!' He scowled at Taylor and gestured for his father to move ahead.

Rutherford was satisfied with Howard's protective nature which had awakened when he saw that his position was in danger.

'When that boy called himself 'Big brother', Howard's face turned sour in an instant.' He recalled the moment those words had been spoken.

His eyes had turned towards his son and hence he had perfectly caught this reaction on time.

Happy with what had happened, he and his two children along with his wife headed towards the training ground which was only a few steps away from where they had been seated.

Turning around, Howard glared at his friend but his expressions softened as he turned his eyes towards the others present.

"Please follow us." He requested and rushed ahead to keep up with his family.

Topher smacked Taylor on the head and then left with Damien by his side, leaving the boy who was smiling like a fool even after he was hit on the head.

'Vonny thanked me!' He exclaimed and was not bothered about being hit by his elder brother.

Everyone followed the St. Claire's family reached the grounds which were right ahead of them.

The three etchers continued to stand at the side as they would no longer be needed in the next trails.

Once they were all present on the grounds, Howard glanced at his father who nodded to indicate that he could proceed further.

Rutherford even placed the girl in his arms on the floor to let her listen to what would soon be said.

Howard focused his attention on his little sister as she would be the one who would be facing the next trial.

Yvonne had been exerting her brain power on figuring out why she would get that ache in her heart but now, her entire attention was placed on the boy who stood before her.

'What can the next trial be?' She wondered as a surge of excitement filled her body.

"Your next trial will be archery!" The elder brother announced in a loud voice following which he clapped his hands.

Noticing his signal, the servants who were standing at the side rushed forward to do just as they had been instructed by their young master.

'What is this?' The little girl scrutinized the scurrying servants as they began arranging equipment in the training grounds.

Curiosity was visible on the faces of everyone present except for two men.

Captain Desmo and Rutherford were the only ones who were aware of Howard's plans for the assessment as they had heard him speak about it before the trials began.