The news about Yvonne receiving a gift from some stranger soon reached the ears of her overprotective father and brother.

Before a large-scale manhunt could be ordered to find the evil being who had dared to send a jewel to their little girl along with a heart in the note, a certain piece of information arrived at their estate.

{The King has returned from the Holy Church.}

A single statement that reached all the noblemen who were invited today sent them into a state of frenzy.

The first event for the King's birthday had just ended which meant that for the next few hours, he would be busy in his meetings with the Council of Ministers.

Discussions about the state affairs and ways to improve their ties with the neighboring Kingdoms for peaceful cooperation would be the priority during these meetings.

After the completion of these meetings, the King would then spend the rest of the day with his family and only make an appearance in the evening for his banquet with the nobles.

The Fief Lords along with their heirs accompanying them would have to be present ahead of time to get checked and gain entrance inside the highly-secured Palace to meet their King.

The nobles who lived close to the Palace in the Capital need not fret for they could reach an hour ahead of schedule to go through the thorough inspection before entering the Palace.

However, the ones living in far-off lands would have already arrived at the Capital a few days ago to ensure that they would not miss this opportunity that they received once a year.

As the St. Claires lived close to the Royal Palace grounds, they would not have to worry too much but preparations still needed to be made.

Therefore, the Earl set aside his current agenda to pay attention to the prestigious event that would take place this evening.

'I will deal with that pervert who dared to send a note to my child.' Rutherford gritted his teeth as he could deal with this stalker at another time but the Palace matters were indeed urgent.

Howard also shared the same thought as he returned to his room to mentally prepare for the battle of wits that would take place this evening.

__

Alone inside her room, Yvonne was staring at the Tanzanite that her mother had handed over to her as it was her gift.

Though they were troubled about the person who had sent it, she was still its owner now so they sent it back to her room.

'SO' Yvonne repeated the initials from the note which her father had confiscated for investigation purposes.

The image of the white-eyed man in the robes came to her mind, making her wonder whether he was this mysterious SO.

Back in her previous world, this gem in her hand was one of the rare stones found only in one region of the world.

Though sapphire was expensive, it could be found easily however, tanzanite was a gem that was rare to obtain which increased its worth in the market.

She did not know what the situation was in this world, whether it was easily found and cheap which was why that stranger had no qualms in sending this gem to her as a gift.

However, no matter what the worth of this gem was, what she was most curious about was the identity of the man who had sent it.

'Mysterious and intriguing…' She described him in two words after today's meeting.

While she was in deep thought about this matter, she failed to notice that there was someone who had their eyes on her.

She looked up when she noticed a shadow landing on her table and almost fell off her seat when she saw what had caused that shadow.

'Or rather who…' She corrected herself while fixing her eyes on the large bird perched on the window.

Large brown feathers with black streaks running through them, wide beady golden eyes, and a sharp hook of a beak were what she laid her eyes on.

The bird tilted its head from side to side while looking right at her.

'An eagle on steroids.' Yvonne gulped when she noticed how massive its body was in comparison to those she had seen in her past life.

For someone who had watched her grandfather take great interest in his hobby of falconry, the art of hunting wild animals by using birds of prey, she knew just what kind of bird was standing before her.

A large and majestic golden eagle but many times larger than the ones she had seen in the past was now pecking its feathers to clear the dust from its wings.

{Neigh}

The loud neighs surprised the little girl who had been trying to appraise the bird before her.

She knew that this sound belonged to her etcher, Demon but she could not peek outside the window as it was being blocked by the eagle.

"If you could just move a little, I can see what's wrong with Demon." She sighed as her horse was getting noisy downstairs.

To her surprise, the eagle nodded before flapping its wings and hovering at a short distance away from her window.

"You… Understood what I just said?" She muttered while leaning closer to her window.

The bird nodded once again in reply and turned its golden eyes towards the horse who was being a nuisance.

Yvonne snapped out of her daze when she saw the two beasts in silent confrontation while one was flying in the air and the other, steady on the ground.

"Demon! What's wrong?" She called out when she found that something was strange with her etcher who was leering at the bird.

There had been many birds chirping as they resided in the trees surrounding the estate but he had never behaved this way.

Demon turned his gaze to his Master and nodded his head before reverting his eyes to the bird.

A low grunt was heard as they locked eyes, making her wonder why they were acting like this.

'I get that the bird is too big but why are you being so hostile?' She glared at her etcher who would attract everyone's attention if he continued to behave this way.

"Demon, calm down." She chided him which achieved its purpose.

The horse lowered his head at once but growled when the eagle puffed out its chest, mocking him.

"And you! Why are you here?" Yvonne snapped at the bird who was taunting her pet.

The bird raised its head and looked her way before lifting its chin smugly.

'Great! I'm talking to a bird now…' She shook her head that she was beginning to go insane after coming to this world.

However, the next moment, the bird flew closer to her and perched back on the window which made her step away.

Demon kept its attentive gaze at this window to watch over his Master in case the bird tried to harm her.

The large eagle squawked impatiently while lifting one of its legs in the little girl's direction.

Yvonne flinched at first as a scratch from those pretty talons would give her scars that would never fade.

Thankfully, the bird remained standing on one foot while pointing the other in her direction without moving forward.

Seeing how the girl was not moving, it squawked again and pointed to its leg.

Once the fog of confusion and panic lifted from Yvonne's mind, she finally noticed that there was something tied to the eagle's leg.

"A note?" She muttered, "For me?" She added and found the bird nodding once again.

With cautious movements, she stepped closer and stretched her hand out while keeping an eye at his sharp beak and talons.

Trembling hands struggled to untie the knot and she jumped away as soon as she managed to obtain the note.

Sitting on the bed far away from the window, she patted her chest to calm her breathing before she unfolded the note she had extracted from the bird's leg.

{Did you like my present?}

She blinked when someone came to her mind while reading the first line of the note.

{Don't feel obligated to give me something in return. That gem did not cost much at all.}

This statement confirmed her suspicions that the note was sent by that mysterious man, SO.

{Hope Tutu did not trouble you too much, she's a good girl so don't be scared of her large size.}

"Tutu?" She muttered and looked up at the bird who was haughtily staring back at her.

{Since we are now acquainted, you will be seeing more of her soon.}

Yvonne rolled her eyes at the man who was just as haughty as his bird.

'Who said that I am acquainted with this type of person?' She scoffed and looked at the last line of the note.

{Your new best friend,

SO

The little girl cringed at the heart which SO had drawn and crumpled the note into a ball right before the bird's watchful eyes.

She then tossed it straight outside the window and Tutu, the golden eagle could only watch as the balled paper flew past her and fell to the ground before the horse.

The faithful etcher stomped on the note and then kicked it with such great force that it landed straight into the pond which was a short distance away from him.

"What mysterious man? He is clearly a pervert!" She harrumphed and glared at the bird who was now flapping its wings as it rose from the window.

Tutu did not remain here any longer as she flew out of the window and into the distance to report back to its master about the insolence that she had just witnessed.