'He caught my momentary lapse in control and that was the reason why he had been staring all along?' Yvonne wondered as she exited the balcony.

Her conversation with Damien was anything but ordinary.

When she had accused him of staring at her without restraint, the cunning boy had turned the tables against her effortlessly.

As she could not take back her own words, she was stuck in a precarious situation.

'He even saw through my act!' She gritted her teeth as her feet continued to step in the direction of the group that she had left a while ago.

However, what irked her the most was how he had suggested her not to do anything 'Stupid' before she could leave the balcony.

'What exactly is that supposed to mean!?' She scowled inwardly as her brows scrunched up.

Looking up, Yvonne noticed that the group of boys with Silvia were right up ahead so she tossed out all her irksome thoughts lest she remains in a foul mood all day long.

When the little girl reached their position, she was glad that no one seemed to have discovered that she had been missing until now.

Therefore, she slipped back into the group and picked up a new plate of dessert, relishing it while watching Taylor and Howard argue among themselves.

Unfortunately, she had failed to notice that the birthday boy who was more subtle in his ways when compared to Damien had taken in the view of everything she had done until now.

'Interesting…' Topher remarked as soon after Yvonne had rejoined the group, his best friend too was seen walking in their direction.

His suspicions were right that Damien and Yvonne were alone on the balcony until now but he had no clue as to why they were there.

Thus, when Damien reached his friend's place, he found the red-headed boy raising his brows in inquiry yet he received no answer.

"I won't rest until I get answers." Topher threatened in a whisper as he leaned closer to Damien's ear.

In response, the boy with forest-green eyes scoffed and shoved him away for he was too close.

Topher did not mind his behavior but continued to alternate his eyes between the little girl and his best friend whose unusual interaction had succeeded in piquing his curiosity which won't be extinguished until he gained proper answers.

Damien chose to ignore his best friend and at the same time, he did not fix his attention on the little girl as he had been doing earlier.

Since he had already conversed with her and cleared the doubts in his mind, he decided to let her be for now.

'My eyes weren't mistaken.' He prided in his keen senses which had caught that bloodthirsty aura arising from her at that moment.

As he had confirmed his thoughts and also understood that the little girl had already made up her mind on what she might do to the culprit, he let go of the matter.

'Let's see how she handles things.' His lips curved into a smirk which lasted for a split second before it vanished.

However, Topher had caught it which only intensified his desire to interrogate his friend about what had happened on that balcony.

While these two best friends were in a silent conflict with each other, the other pair of best friends weren't so silent after all.

Ever since Howard had arrived here, all he had been doing was argue with Taylor about him monopolizing Yvonne's attention all afternoon.

Though there weren't many people in their vicinity, they could still see them which might become a problem if these two continued to create a ruckus.

Therefore, Topher decided that it was high time that he stepped in to break up their juvenile quarrel.

Sadly, he was a second too late as someone else had already taken up this responsibility.

"Big Brother Howard, Brother Taylor, can we go eat something else?" A childish voice echoed which halted the heated argument between the two boys.

Turning their eyes in the direction of the voice, they found its owner looking at them with her wide amethyst eyes.

Taylor was already nodding in eager acceptance to whatever she wished to do while Howard first scoffed at his friend before he too nodded at his baby sister.

Silvia and Robin Zavanth were watching the show from the sidelines and were impressed with how she had managed to calm the two raging bulls with just a simple sentence.

The group under Taylor's lead then headed towards another part of the hall where their food would be served while the rest followed after him.

At the forefront was Taylor with Yvonne next to him then Howard who rolled his eyes yet kept pace with them.

The Zavanth siblings were next and the last were the two older best friends.

Duchess Tanner who was on the verge of her self-control snapping after noticing her younger son arguing with the Heir of the St. Claire family, felt her throbbing ache in the head subside when she saw how the little girl had smoothened the situation.

Raylene shot an apologetic glance at her friend, Beatrice who did the same as their sons were equally responsible for this incident.

The other women at their respective tables had observed these as well and they had an even more favorable opinion about the daughter of the St. Claire family.

As the birthday celebration continued, the children had their own fun while the women engaged in their own activities.

At about four in the evening was when the men of the invited families had finally made an appearance.

Topher had to greet them all and converse with these elders while his friends continued their fun in the garden.

Among the men who arrived was also Rutherford St. Claire who after wishing Topher for his birthday made his way to his beloved wife.

Everyone in the Capital city was aware of just how loving the Earl was with his wife so they were whispering among themselves as they watched the husband and wife smiling at each other when their eyes met.

Rutherford was informed about the rumors regarding their daughter and also how the Duchess had offered her aide in curbing them.

This made the man grateful and he even promised the Duke that he would be willing to offer his help if it ever was needed in the future.

Duke Tanner rejected his offer but on Rutherford's insistence, he had no other option but to agree.

After the men entered the banquet hall, it was only a matter of time before the celebration would come to an end.

The children who were all in the garden behind the Tanner Mansion were called back to the hall in order to bid goodbye to the hosts for the day before they could return home.

Among them were Silva Zavanth and her elder brother, Robin.

"C-can I write to you?" She mumbled her request when they were about to enter the hall.

Yvonne was patting her forehead dry with a clean handkerchief when she heard these words coming from her neighbor.

The boys were following them so they too had heard her query and they waited to see how this little girl would respond.

'Wow! He is scary!' Yvonne remarked after sensing the glare coming from this new girl's elder brother.

Robin Zavanth was surprised to hear his sister's request but when he saw how bashful and cute she appeared while waiting for the other girl's answer, he knew that he had to do something.

'Don't you dare make her sad!' He glared at Yvonne who had not yet responded.

Though Yvonne was not in the least bit affected by his glares, she smiled while looking at Silvia.

"I would love it if you would write to me, Miss Silvia." She accepted the request with a wide smile.

Overjoyed by this, Silvia pounced onto her to engulf her into another bone-crushing hug which elicited scowls from many of those behind them.

Taylor and Howard were annoyed that Silvia was taking too many liberties with their little sister on the very first day that they met.

Robin was furious that Yvonne had the good luck of being so close to his baby sister but his face morphed into a smile when he saw how happy his sister was.

The last in the group were Topher and Damien who were the only ones without a scowl on their faces.

While Topher was enjoying his brother's frustrated face which brought him immense pleasure, his best friend had other thoughts in his mind.

In fact, Damien's face had a sneer to be exact after discovering something new about the little girl.

'She doesn't like to be hugged.' He added another piece of information he had discovered about this person who was intriguing to him.

"You can stop now." Yvonne muttered while patting Silvia's shoulder which only strengthened Damien's convictions about what he had learned today.

After all, it was true. The little girl let out a secret sigh once Silvia took a step away before they all entered the hall.

Topher then bid goodbye to his fellow pupils of the same class and made sure that they were escorted to their carriages properly.

The last to leave the hall were the St. Claires as Beatrice Tanner and Raylene St. Claire were celebrating the success of their plans with a glass of champagne.

From the sideline, the little girl's amethyst eyes were fixed on the glass with the bubbly liquid as she yearned just to take a single sip of it but she knew that she could not.

'A few more years…' She gulped her saliva and looked away to control her longing to taste her favorite alcoholic beverage but someone else had caught this sight as well.

Damien raised his brows, amused by her actions but remained silent.

Soon after, the St. Claires began their journey back home with the Tanners and Damien standing at the front porch, waving them goodbye.