'I cannot say that Prince Draco acted strangely on that day.' Sevenz smiled as he concealed his true thoughts.

The initial reason why he had approached the daughter of Earl St. Claire was to observe whether she was a wicked seed.

He wished his friend, the Prince, to have a good life and did not want anyone with ulterior motives to get close to him.

Thus, he had tested Yvonne and she passed each test with flying colors.

She showed no interest when he spoke of treasures and even about being at a higher rank in Ocular.

Their friendship which sprouted for investigative purposes had bloomed into a true bond which he wished to uphold with proper intentions this time.

However, he could not reveal why he had approached her and hence had to make up a plausible explanation that could satisfy their curiosity.

After hearing his answer, Rutherford nodded as not only was his Vonna an excellent child but she also had an interesting personality.

He and his family members were always engaged in deep discussion with her and she knew how to keep the conversation flowing.

Therefore, he could not deny that this was a reasonable explanation for what this man had done.

Yet this did not justify him inviting his daughter to this place without adult supervision.

"I hope that this never happens again and please stay away from my child," Rutherford announced his verdict after hearing everything that had taken place right under his nose for the past few months.

The fact that an etcher was entering his daughter's bedroom to deliver letters from this man and he had no clue about it was already enough to make his teeth grit.

He did not want them to contact each other any further as nothing good could ever come from this bizarre friendship.

At this statement, the little girl and the man widened their eyes as their friendship, though strange, was nothing but pure.

"Papa, but we need his help!" Yvonne blurted out as this time her father appeared serious with his decision.

While Sevenz frowned at her words, Rutherford narrowed his eyes.

"Elaborate." He spoke in his stern tone which indicated that he would not fall for her cute act this time.

Yvonne was already used to his 'business' tone and his 'Papa' tone.

While the former would be level-headed and firm, the latter was used when he would fall for her tricks of pouting and acting cute.

Right now, she was facing business Rutherford which meant that Papa Rutherford was on break.

Clearing her throat once again, she turned towards Taylor.

"Brother Taylor…" She muttered as her eyes shifted to his servant standing next to Jax.

Comprehending what her actions meant, Taylor sent his servant out as Yvonne did not wish to speak in his presence.

The servant felt left out as he was the only one being sent away but he obeyed nonetheless and exited the room.

Once the door was shut, Sevenz glanced at the girl seated before him with narrowed eyes.

'Was I wrong in my judgment?' He wondered as the moment she had heard of his true identity as Sevenz Oca, the Master of Ocular, she declared that she needed his help.

If he had judged her wrong and she wanted to use their friendship to profit from it then he would have no choice but to break all ties right here.

'I should ask Draco to stay away from her as well.' He decided his next step if this assumption about her was right.

If Yvonne had known that Sevenz would have aided her in getting rid of the Grand Duke from her life for good then she would have abused this opportunity to gain maximum profit and there would only be one thought in her mind.

'Good riddance!' She would have exclaimed but sadly, she had no idea about what he was planning.

Yvonne's mind was trying to formulate how she was going to maintain her friendship with Sevenz while proving to her father that he was a good friend and also valuable to her future.

Feeling his gaze falling on her, she noticed traces of caution and also vigilance against her.

'I'm not going to eat you alive!' She rolled her eyes which managed to ease his worries by just a little.

Thus, for the second time today, Yvonne St. Claire went on an explanation spree as she disclosed matters about CLOVER to the new people in this room.

Jax was already informed about her ventures so he remained calm but the same could not be said about Sevenz, his Butler, and Taylor who were left surprised at her knack for eloquence.

'I'm trusting you with this.' Yvonne bit her lip at the end of her speech as with each day, more people were hearing about her business venture.

While Taylor was surprised at how ambitious the cute little girl was, Sevenz's face had no changes which she could use to interpret what he was feeling right now.

"What can I do for this?" He spoke up after a long round of silence.

Yvonne once again sensed his wary attitude as though he was guarded against her which made her narrow her eyes this time.

"Are you selling Earl Blaise's soap among the commoners?" She retorted with another question.

Sevenz shook his head as he did not have a good impression of the greedy Earl and hence refused to sign a contract with him to let Ocular be his official distributor among the general populace.

Yvonne smirked at this answer as Earl Blaise used smaller groups of traveling caravans as they were cheaper for him.

'He cut costs at every corner.' She sneered at that greedy man who charged a lot but spent the least.

"Be CLOVER's official distributor." She announced her plan.

Initially, she had decided to meet SO to accept the presents he had prepared for her and also ask if he could arrange a meeting with the owner of Ocular to propose this plan.

However, luck was on her side as the owner turned out to be her pen pal and she did not have to look for anyone else.

While she was thanking her lucky stars for this fortunate turn of events, Sevenz had a complicated look on his face.

'So she did get closer to me for benefits…' He grimaced as that thought hurt him.

For someone of his status, he had experienced this many times in the past.

People got closer to him under the pretense of a genuine friendship yet all that facade would vanish once he got acquainted with them.

They would place ridiculous demands before him and wished that he would comply with their wishes in the name of friendship.

Right now, he was witnessing history repeat itself with the little girl seated before him.

No matter how many times he faced such a situation, it still hurt when he thought of how people saw him as someone who could benefit them and nothing else.

As Yvonne had been observing him keenly, she had caught the look of hurt and self-loathing flash across his eyes.

She did not know why his demeanor had turned frigid in a matter of moments but she was sure that something was not right.

"I do not think that Ocular-" Sevenz's words of rejection came to a halt when he saw her glaring at him.

"Do not reject me before you see the contract!" Yvonne scowled at her friend.

'What kind of a businessman is he!?' She narrowed her eyes at his hasty actions.

He had not yet seen what she had to offer and he was already turning her down.

"C-contract?" Sevenz stuttered as this was not something he had faced before.

The people from his past only wanted to obtain favors from him and had nothing to offer in return.

However, this little girl had chided him for his lackluster behavior and suggested that he wait for the business proposal instead.

Thinking of something, Yvonne narrowed her eyes and straightened her back.

'So that was it?' She scoffed when she grasped why he looked hurt a moment ago.

"Our friendship has nothing to do with this proposal." She announced with conviction as this was true right from the beginning.

She was not trying to take advantage of him or their friendship in the least bit.

She needed Ocular's help but she did not need Sevenz to reject it without giving her offer some proper thought or accept it for the sake of their friendship.

"Take a look at what I have to offer and state your proposal as well." She also added that if his proposal was unsatisfactory then she would have to look out for another distributor.

'One week is left before CLOVER's soaps are launched in the market.' She recalled and knew that she was on a time constraint.

Rutherford and Marcus had offered to use their connections to find someone experienced in this field.

She could have accepted their aid but Yvonne wanted to try her luck with this option.

Ocular was her first choice due to its reach in every fief and also as it openly opposed Earl Blaise's way of doing business.

Sevenz had also confirmed the authenticity of this information so she was now sure that there would be no conflict of interest between them if they worked together.

Since she knew SO's connection with Ocular, she felt that she could ask him to set up a meeting.

Things had gone in her favor despite the unexpected obstacles that came her way.

Therefore, she wished that he would treat this as a serious business deal rather than a discussion between friends.

She was also willing to accept his rejection if she failed to attract his attention with her proposal.

'That would be much better than getting dismissed without being given a chance.' She clenched her fists, hoping that he would make the right choice instead of being biased right from the start.

While she was mad at his immature rejection, he was stunned about a whole other matter.

Sevenz's head was buzzing after hearing her words which implied that there was a chance that she would reject Ocular as the distributor if he did not do a good job with his offer.

This had never happened before as people would still curry favor with him even if he gave them the worst possible deal.

Yet this little girl was giving him an ultimatum and even went as far as saying that she would reject his baby, Ocular.

If Ocular was the fruit of his family's hard work, CLOVER was Yvonne's brainchild and she wanted only the best for it.

Therefore, she was firm in her words and would not accept anything but the best for her business even if it meant that she would need to look out for a new distributor.