Howard's eyes lasted on his sister's face for a few seconds before he turned towards what was now around them.

The side of the mansion where they had arrived should have only held a large patch of trees with nothing to attract their attention.

However, in that same area now there were no trees to be seen.

The vast expanse of trees over at this side of the mansion had been cleared to create space for something else.

Turning around, he found that the clearing was as wide as their mansion and was stretched out over a large area of land.

The trees that had been cleared were replaced by something else that he had never seen anywhere in the Capital.

The ground below had been dug up and tilled until it was soft and ready for a whole different purpose.

The soil he had stepped on was prepared for the purpose of being cultivated and that was exactly what had been done in this place.

"I wanted to grow our own vegetables here." A cheerful little voice was heard beside him, snapping him out of his daze.

Turning towards his sister, he found her face brimming with excitement which made him feel happy as well.

Raylene and Rutherford stood at a distance, not entering the dug-up area as their shoes might get ruined with all the soil.

However, the children weren't bothered as they ventured into the area which Yvonne had asked to be turned into a home vegetable garden.

"This one is for potatoes, this for carrots…" She explained the purpose of the various sections made in the ground which were meant to cultivate and grow a different type of vegetable.

Being brought up in the Capital, they had only seen farmlands through the carriage while they passed through certain areas during their journey between fiefs.

However, today, they had gotten the chance to stand in the midst of one which had gotten them both excited.

Even Yvonne had never been to a farmland in her past life as well so this opportunity only made her cheerful as she continued to explain the purpose of different areas.

The little girl was out of breath by the time she concluded her speech on the various vegetables which were being grown here.

"When did you plan this?" Howard questioned and glanced back at their parents who were now very far.

The children had walked ahead and had left them so they could not hear the conversation between the siblings.

Turning towards him, Yvonne smiled and raised both her hands in the air to display a number using her fingers.

"Eight months?" He inquired and watched her nod, indicating that he had guessed it right.

The last time that she had spoken to her father in his office was after Howard had returned to the Royal Academy.

This had been around eight months ago when he had come back home at that time for a short while before he left once again.

After he had left one morning, she had proposed this idea of growing a vegetable garden to her father.

"Growing our own vegetables seemed exciting so I asked Papa if we could do it here." She revealed a small part of her conversation with the Earl.

While the Earl had been confused in the beginning about where this sudden whim had risen from, he did not deny her as there was no harm in doing so.

They would be staying in the Capital all year round and only visited the fief during summer.

Therefore, he had agreed to her request and had asked the Old Butler to hire a gardener who would be dedicated to this task.

He would tend to this piece of land once it had been cleared and prepared to be cultivated.

Yvonne would not have to lift a finger and when she returned to visit this place for the summer, she would be able to see a lush vegetable garden waiting for her here.

This was what the doting father had arranged after hearing the wishes of his little girl.

However, there was another reason which had caused her to make this request but she had concealed it from her father on that day and also from her brother today.

'Who knows if there might be some changes in the duration of the plague?' She bit her lip as anything might happen in the future.

Being self-sufficient would be a good idea and hence she had asked her father to get someone to plant and look after a vegetable garden in their summer estate.

If nothing went wrong then this could just be something she had asked on a whim.

However, on the off-chance that her worries were right and things did go awry as the situation worsened, then this might help them survive once the lockdown was initiated.

The area allocated for gardening was large enough and the gardener had also done an excellent job of taking care of it.

From what she had heard from her father who would often give her updates about this place, she was sure that this piece of cultivated land was enough to feed everyone in their mansion.

He had also mentioned that the vegetables here had been harvested a few times already and were used by the chefs of this mansion to prepare meals for the rest of the staff.

'At least I know that I did not make the wrong move.' She smiled as this reassured her that they could fall back on these vegetables if things got tough in the future.

"Vonny likes strange things." Howard quipped at his sister's requests which got stranger each time he spoke to her.

Hearing his words, Yvonne snapped out of her reverie and rolled her eyes at him.

'Then stop drooling at my tomatoes!' She scoffed after catching her brother staring at the tomato plants which were located at the far end of the garden.

He was calling her whims strange but at the same time, he was ogling the fresh and red tomatoes which were ready to be harvested.

"Brother, do not touch even a single vegetable from my garden!" She harrumphed to teach him a lesson.

Just as she had envisioned, Howard's eyes widened as he shook his head in disapproval of her words.

"I'll bring you all the plums in the back garden." He negotiated in exchange for the vegetables here.

The back garden they had just been to was filled with trees of different fruits if one were to venture deep into the woods behind it.

'He's so gullible.' The little sister's eyes twinkled at this thought.

She had only threatened him for he had tried to make fun of her but had no plans of fulfilling that threat.

However, seeing how he was serious in finding her those sweet plums that she had eaten the last time she was here, she decided to play along.

"The sweetest plums… Every day?" She haggled further to get the best deal even in this unexpected situation.

Howard glanced at the vegetables around him which truly were fascinating to him and nodded his head, agreeing with whatever she demanded.

Yvonne smirked as a glint of victory passed through her eyes.

'I would have let you have anything you wanted even if you had refused.' She snickered as she stretched out her hand towards him.

Once they shook hands to seal the deal, they continued to hold hands as they began walking back towards their parents who had been waiting for them all along.

Raylene smiled when she saw her children walking in their direction while Rutherford shook his head for their shoes had gotten dirty after stepping in the moist soil.

"That's it for now. You two, go wash up thoroughly." He instructed, after which the family of four began walking back to the entrance of the mansion.

Once they entered the mansion, the servants rushed to help their Young Master and Miss to freshen up.

Howard returned to his room, planning on which time would be the best to pluck the plums that he had promised his little sister.

Right now, that same little sister was seated on the bed, lost in thoughts after Roselie helped her clean up.

'The news of the plague will be here at any time now.' She sighed, gazing at the sky outside her window and wondering what might happen next.