"Still want to call me weak?" Yvonne tilted her head while looking at the young squire who was cowering in fright.

Just earlier, he was spouting big words about how girls should not be allowed to step inside the riding field as she might faint.

Yet right now, he was the one who appeared to be on the verge of losing his consciousness.

The reason behind this sudden reversal was the one who was standing behind the young squire.

"Hello, Precious." Yvonne smiled at the etcher who was now before her.

The one she wished to greet in the riding field was none other than Captain Desmo's etcher, Precious, whom she had seen from afar.

Since the beast had yet to notice her presence, she had wished to get closer to her and meet the horse who accompanied the Captain to her house each day.

However, before she could even step inside the field, this young boy had blocked her path and even said some demeaning words while veiling them as concern for her weak health.

While she and the rest of the boys were still conversing with this arrogant squire, she did not know when Precious had noticed her.

The horse had come galloping in their direction and just when the squire was about to argue further, she had halted right behind him.

Precious was quite smaller in size when compared to Demon who had a monstrous stature however, she was also a huge horse in her own right.

She was much larger than the regular horses used here and her aura was also much more powerful.

A simple squire who had not yet been dubbed a knight could only see the Captain's etcher from afar and had never come in close contact with her.

They all knew that Precious was docile only with Captain Desmo and was vicious with the rest who tried to get close to her.

There was once a knight who had taken a liking to her pure white coat and desired to just touch her but Precious had ruthlessly thrown him aside.

Thankfully, the Captain was nearby and Precious did not act out too much which had saved the knight's life.

This incident had brought fear in the hearts of the knights and squires after which they decided to keep their distance with Precious who was calm only with the Captain.

Therefore, when the squire felt a hot breath over his neck, he turned his head only to find the huge etcher standing right behind him.

This made him shudder as his body went limp from fear.

However, the beast only looked at him with her fierce gaze for a second before turning her attention elsewhere.

This made the squire utterly grateful but what happened next made his face darken once again.

The little girl whose path he had been trying to obstruct all along was the one the etcher had come to meet.

Unlike him who had almost lost consciousness, the little girl appeared to not be affected by the size or the aura of the etcher.

Instead, she was smiling as she called out the etcher's name and even the horse did not mind getting closer to her.

The mocking words she had spoken in return before greeting the horse made his face turn red with embarrassment but he was not willing to admit defeat just yet.

"Miss Precious only thinks that you are harmless so she got close to you." He muttered, sullen that his reputation had taken a hit because of what had taken place earlier.

He was visibly frightened by the etcher but the little girl was not at all affected and even had a smile on her face.

'Miss Precious?' Yvonne raised her brows at the horse who was given such respect by this arrogant squire.

"Captain ordered everyone to address Precious respectfully." Taylor whispered in her ear to help her understand this strange behavior of the squire.

Nodding in understanding, the little girl gazed at the etcher with astonishment.

'Well, I'm happy at least they do not disrespect a female etcher.' She shook her head as only female humans were disrespected to such an extent.

As though Precious had understood what the squire had said, she leered at him before bending her head before the little girl.

This surprised everyone present and this also included Yvonne as her eyes widened at this gesture of the horse.

Though Precious and Demon got along with each other after numerous interactions, Yvonne had never gotten too close to Precious.

She believed that if Demon did not like others touching him then the same was applied to Precious so she never tried to touch the other etcher lest she made the Captain's horse uncomfortable.

However, right now, that same horse was bowing its head before her, indicating that she wished to be patted.

Precious neighed to hurry her along and as the rest of them watched with wide eyes, the little girl raised her hand.

Hesitant as she was to touch Precious, she did not make the etcher wait any longer before she placed her palm on the long snout of the white horse, rubbing and patting her.

Gasps were heard all around as a crowd had already formed due to the commotion made by the squire.

His face was now distorted with indignation for the etcher had acted contrary to his beliefs, almost as if to spite him and go against what he had just said.

He could hear whispers all around him, praising the child who was able to get so close to Precious and even had dared to touch her without getting harmed in any way as they had been worried about.

Yvonne too could hear them but she was least bothered, enjoying the feeling of the horse's soft coat to her heart's content.

'Master, are you with that Precious!?' An anxious voice she recognized all too well echoed in her mind.

'Demon?' Yvonne called out and heard a neigh in answer.

Her hands on the etcher stopped as she looked into those bright eyes of the horse before her.

"Precious, you bad girl!" She chuckled before patting her one last time.

The etcher seemed to have understood that she was caught red-handed so she scoffed once again following which she galloped away.

In the short moments where Yvonne had looked into Precious's eyes, she had been listening to her etcher, Demon's complaints.

From what she had learned about these majestic beasts until now, she was sure that just like how the etcher and etched could converse through their minds, other etchers could do the same among themselves as well.

The proof of this conjecture was the fact that Demon was whining in her ears.

Precious had reached out to Demon through their minds and even went as far as bragging that his Master was touching her right now.

The jealous etcher had cut off that link immediately to contact his Master to authenticate this statement made by Precious only to find that his Master truly was with her.

He had also heard his Master speaking to Precious just now which made him burn with envy once again.

What Yvonne did not know was that Demon had reconnected with Precious to give her a piece of his mind which was also the reason why Precious had run away from her.

Now that Precious had disappeared from her sight and even Demon had gone silent in her mind, the little girl looked up at the squire who was glaring at her.

"I'm done with my work here." She declared that she had come here to meet Precious and that task had come to an end just now.

Therefore, she did not find any reason to stay here any longer and be hated by such men for no fault of her own.

Hearing her desire to leave, Howard and Taylor were the first to agree as they held each of her hands before leading her away from here.

'I'll deal with that guy later.' Taylor's eyes flashed with a menacing glint before he returned to his usual doting face.

However, Topher and Damien did not leave just yet.

The heir of the Ducal family stayed behind as he glanced at the man standing before him.

"Learning how to give way will someday save your life." Topher reminded him with a grim look overshadowing his face.

Damien too did not look too good as he narrowed his eyes at him and the rest of the squires who were present there.

A shiver ran down their spines after facing the two young masters who had stayed back.

"Oh, don't worry, Master Topher. I'll be sure to teach them a proper lesson." Another voice rang out in the silence.

The voice made them grimace as they would very much be willing to face Master Topher rather than this man.

Topher and Damien nodded at the man who had appeared and looking at the smile on his face they were sure that their presence here was no longer needed.

"I'll leave it to you then, Captain." Topher announced as he turned around and left with Damien with him.

Left in the same place, the squires lowered their heads when Captain Desmo reached their position and scanned their faces.

'None of them can stand against her in a one-on-one match and they want to stop her.' He sneered at the disparity in their level of skills.

Just because they were of the male gender, they were looking down on her when in fact, she was more qualified than them to enter this field.

However, since that matter was supposed to be kept a secret, neither of those with the girl had let a word out about it.

Therefore, he too did not wish to bring up that matter, yet something needed to be done to these trainees who were too arrogant.

"Precious does not allow people she deems worthless to come near her." He announced but the meaning behind those vague words was clear to them.

In the eyes of the etcher, the little girl was worthy while they weren't.

Wasn't that equivalent to saying that they were worthless in the sights of the etcher and could not even be compared to a little girl?

Before they could mull over what this made them feel, they heard the Captain speaking once again.

"Triple the regular amount of practice each day for a month." Captain Desmo's smile was seen once again as he announced the training module for the squires here.

However, everyone who had witnessed the Captain's smile was sure that this was no training but the worst kind of punishment that he could give out, especially for weak squires like them.

Shaking their heads, they realized that the squires had crossed a line today and even made sure to not repeat their mistakes in the future.