Taylor did not mind the new girl who was practically trembling when he handed the glass of lemonade to her.

Instead, he decided to focus his energy on his little sister Vonny and make the best of this opportunity while his annoying best friend was busy mingling with others.

'That's what you get for being the heir!' He sneered at Howard who was tied down by responsibilities unlike him who could do as he pleased.

This sense of freedom was what he was most proud of and also gave him the advantage over his best friend in this situation.

'He must be seething that I get to have alone time with Vonny!' He snickered at this thought but paused when he realized that he wasn't truly alone with her.

Taylor's soft brown eyes darkened when they glimpsed at the other girl who was hindering his alone time with Vonny.

'When will she leave?' He wondered impatiently but could not voice out his opinions when he noticed that his new little sister was also conversing with her.

According to what he had observed until now, Yvonne was not close with any of the little girls in the society.

The bond that he had with Howard, where he knew that he could depend on his best friend if he ever needed help despite their frequent quarrels and competitions.

That kind of bond was something that this little girl was missing out on.

Therefore, he did not interrupt her when she was mingling with this new girl as he hoped that she too found someone she could trust and depend on.

'Though Howard and I will always be there for her, to have a friend one can trust is truly a blessing.' He nodded, hoping that this girl could be someone with whom Yvonne could become good friends.

However, while he was not like his best friend, who was a pessimistic person who chose to believe the worst in each possible situation, he was not an absolute optimistic person either.

Taylor Tanner, despite his appearances and attitude of being an idler who enjoyed life as it came, was a realistic person at heart.

He knew that his elder brother was much better than him when it came to matters regarding the sword and also was the best choice of being the next heir.

Therefore, he was realistic about his future prospects and decided that wasting his time in family politics to obtain the heir position was a waste of his time and energy.

Just like his realistic tendency had saved him a great deal of energy being utilized to fight his brother for the heir position, right now, those tendencies were worried for this little girl's future.

'She remained reclusive and never made friends with others and that led to no one standing up for her when she was being targeted.' He understood the crux of the issue.

If Yvonne was mingling and building up relationships just like the other girls then none of this might have happened.

Though he did not know why she chose to stay at home instead of building her own clique which would thwart such rumors on her behalf, he hoped that she would at least not distance herself from the genuine friendships that might come her way.

But at the same time, he would also have to look into the background of this new girl to find out whether she was trying to get closer to his Vonny with some ulterior motives.

___

While Taylor was deep in his thoughts about her future, that same little girl was alternating her eyes between the two older children with her.

'Does he like her too?' Yvonne wondered when she noticed that Taylor for quite some time had been staring in Silvia's direction.

This was causing the poor girl to turn beet red once again which was bringing color to her pale complexion.

However, this was due to Taylor being lost in his thoughts without realizing where he was looking which had led to Yvonne getting this misunderstanding.

While Taylor continued to stare at the girl without his knowledge with Yvonne trying hard to hold in her laughter at the comical situation and Silvia blushing hard, four others came over to their position.

Yvonne turned their way when she felt shadows cast over her.

Her eyes first fell on her brother who was glaring at his best friend who had gone rogue and stolen his little sister away, followed by the birthday boy who was smiling at her.

'Ugh! He's here too.' Yvonne pursed her lips in displeasure when she saw that the person who had been staring at her from the moment she had completed her piano performance was also here.

Topher's keen senses had caught the hostile look that the little girl had shot his friend, Damien but he chose to remain ignorant to see what had caused this.

Her eyes then traveled to the newest person in their group and taking one glance at his icy blue hair, she had learned his identity.

"Big Brother!" Silvia exclaimed the moment she felt her elder brother's gaze falling on her.

Robin Zavanth, the heir of the Zavanth fief smiled at his sister before patting her head affectionately.

He had been talking to his friend Topher when he saw how his sister who was known to be a blabbermouth but only with people she was comfortable with was now hooking her hand with the girl who had earned everyone's attention today with her performance.

His eyes narrowed when he saw Taylor walking up to them and leading them away.

'Where does he think he is taking my baby sister!?' Robin was furious as he did not want his sister to get closer to someone else.

This was when he had suggested that they go to the buffet table to get something to eat and luckily, Howard St. Claire had voiced his approval of this plan.

Topher had already discerned what these two brothers had in their minds but agreed to their plans without exposing them.

What had surprised him was that his best friend had also followed them instead of remaining in his seat like before.

Now, Topher was watching how Robin skillfully stood between his sister, Silvia, and Taylor which created distance between them.

The next thing he observed was how Howard strode up to his brat of a little brother to confront him on trying to monopolize Yvonne's time but that wasn't the most shocking of his discoveries today.

As the Zavanth siblings and the pair of bratty best friends were conversing among themselves, there was another pair that was missing from their group.

Scanning his surroundings, Topher raised his eyebrows when he caught sight of a coat that was much similar to Damien's fluttering before the door of the balcony was shut, hindering him from taking a better look at it.

'If Damien is heading there… Then where is Miss Yvonne?' He questioned after discovering that she was missing as well.

If his speculations were right then that little girl must have entered the same place as Damien had.

'But what could these two have in common to talk about that they needed to step out onto the balcony for?' He pondered as doing so meant that they needed privacy before speaking as they did not want others to eavesdrop on their conversation.

As much as he was intrigued with what was going on, he knew that he had to watch his friend's back as Yvonne had not one but two fanatic elder brothers now.

Thinking of his foolish younger brother and his best friend who might pounce on Damien for having hijacked Yvonne while they were arguing among themselves, he shook his head in dismay.

'Why do I have to clean up your messes?' He sighed but nonetheless, he knew that he had to have his friend's back.

Any questions he had, they could be saved for a later time but for now, he had to ensure that no one noticed their disappearance.

Therefore, on his thirteenth birthday, Topher Tanner became a watch-guard for his best friend and the little girl who seemed to have some important conversation that they needed to partake in.

__

Standing on the balcony, two pairs of eyes were leering at each other, waiting for the other to break contact first.

However, even after a while, when no one was willing to back away from this impromptu competition, the owner of the forest-green eyes decided to be the mature one there.

'What's the use of competing with a child for something so silly?' Damien scoffed and blinked first to admit defeat.

"Why were you staring at me?" A childish voice scowled at him the moment he had broken eye contact.