Earlier, if Earl Blaise was furious that Rutherford seemed to have a close relationship with Marquess Samed then right now he was seething in anger.

The cause of this was the sight that was now before his eyes.

While all the nobles were standing in the center of the hall and mingling with each other, a small group of men was away from the limelight as they conversed about matters that the others could not hear.

But this only intrigued the other nobles to know what this peculiar group of men coming from different statuses was talking about.

At the center, the heart of the conversation was the man with silver hair who had shown interest in the Earl who even now stood as a passive member of this interaction.

Next to these two was another man whom the nobles were eager to make acquaintance with due to his recent collaboration with the King.

Baron Quinn MacIntyre, the owner of the cafe who catered the Princess's birthday event was seen with these two men and was even found chipping into the conversation from time to time.

Finally, the last person of the group who, though, aloof seemed to be interested in what these men were talking about.

This man was one of the only two Dukes of the Rosenhyde Kingdom, Duke Obinn Tanner.

His iconic red hair was enough to identify him even from the other end of the large banquet hall.

Therefore, this group with the legendary figures such as the Earl who was the richest man in the Kingdom, the Duke in charge of the Red Scorpion knights, the Marquess who held the prestigious post of the Royal Tutor, and the Baron whose business was the first to ever serve at a Royal celebration were gaining attention without even trying.

Not only were these four men standing together and engaged in deep conversation, but two young boys were also standing next to them and they too were engrossed in a discussion of their own.

"Is it true that your sister called that fool her 'big brother'?

" The red-headed tall boy interrogated while rubbing his chin.

Howard sighed in dismay at being reminded about that tragedy and nodded that it was indeed true.

Topher Tanner groaned after receiving this answer as this meant that he had lost a wager with his little brother.

Yesterday evening, Taylor was in high spirits when he had returned from his outing with their mother.

Topher and their father had been busy preparing for this banquet and had asked him to practice with Captain Desmo Reel but he had chosen to abscond from training and had gone to play with the Duchess.

At their return, the young boy was punished with 100 push-ups and 20 laps around their vast training field but to their surprise, he had accepted it willingly.

The cause of this was the good news that had invigorated him and he proclaimed that he could do even more than just this

"small

" amount of punishment.

While he was undergoing the punishment, the father and elder son quizzed the Duchess for answers and that was when they had heard of what had taken place between the two young children.

Topher, who had a basic understanding of Yvonne's personality, had refused to accept the validity of these claims and had demanded proof from his little brother.

{You can ask that friend of mine when you meet him at the banquet.}

Taylor had answered haughtily and even placed a bet that he'd be exempted from training for two weeks if what he had said was indeed true.

Therefore, Topher now regretted having accepted that wager as he had lost the chance to train Taylor ruthlessly after they returned to the Royal Academy tomorrow morning.

"Neither do I like this new arrangement, Big Brother Topher.

" Howard grumbled as the only spot of brother was now being shared by two people.

While the two boys discussed how they would avenge this misfortune they had faced against the other Tanner boy, the men were busy discussing certain matters which were also related to the same little girl.

"I heard that you and Desmo are close.

" Duke Tanner spoke while glancing at Rutherford whom he wasn't too acquainted with.

Since the Duke was a few years older than Rutherford, they were not as close as he and Desmo Reel were.

However, they had seen and met each other at banquets such as this one.

Rutherford wasn't too aloof but he wasn't too friendly as well, after all, this man's younger son was getting too close to his daughter which was irking him from the very first day.

"Yes, Duke. We used to train together in the Academy.

" He disclosed a certain piece of their past.

Duke Obinn Tanner nodded as he had heard about the great talent that the son of the St. Claire family was when he was a child.

'It's a shame that he could not continue in this line of work.' He sighed as Rutherford would have been a great asset just like Desmo was right now.

Sadly, Desmo had the good luck of being born with older siblings who took up the responsibility that came with the noble title while Rutherford was a sole heir and could not delegate his duties to anybody else.

"Is that why Desmo agreed to come over and tea-

" He recalled another matter and chose to speak about this but he could not complete his sentence.

Marquess Samed, who had realized what this man was about to say, widened his eyes as they could never speak of this matter in public.

"Brother-in-law, did you know that the skies were too clear today and the breeze was chilly?

" He clamored then rubbed his arms to prove his point.

The Duke was confused when this younger man had interrupted him only to speak nonsense about the weather.

"Winter begins tomorrow. What else did you expect?

" He scoffed at his wife's younger brother who acted like a fool at times.

Rutherford too had been surprised to hear the Duke mentioning Captain Desmo frequenting their house.

He immediately turned his eyes to the young boy with his son who might have been the one to leak this information to his father.

Topher was beet red when that accusing glare fell on him and he turned his eyes towards his father.

If Duke Tanner had not been able to understand Sullivan's worthless attempt at stopping this conversation from going any further, then he had done so after making eye contact with his son.

He was quick in figuring out what his son was trying to say through his eyes.

He then looked around and realized that there were too many eyes and ears on them and nodded while looking at the Earl that he would put a pin in this conversation for now.

Rutherford gave him a grateful bow of his head before turning to the other man present here.

Baron Quinn MacIntyre was utterly clueless about what they were speaking just earlier so when he saw the Earl's stern gaze on him, he shook his head to indicate that he knew nothing at all.

The men then turned to a new topic and began conversing about the new policies that the King had been implementing as this was a safer one when compared to that of the daily routine of a certain little girl.

___

Standing in a secured balcony away from the eyes of the men in the hall, were three who were observing everything with keen eyes.

"What have you learned so far?

" A soothing yet authoritative voice was heard which made the other two to turn in its direction.

At the center of the balcony which was hidden behind a thin curtain to prevent anyone from noticing their presence was the man for whom this celebration was being held.

King Ophire glanced to his right where his son, Prince Fritzen stood and then to his left where his little brother, Prince Draco was.

The two young boys glanced at the man before reverting their attention to the ones who were standing below.

"That man is constantly looking at the entrance, indicating that he is waiting for someone to arrive. Hopefully, you.

" Draco began to state his findings.

He then looked at Fritzen who nodded and went next.

"That boy just tripped the smallest one in the group and pretended to be innocent while helping him up and even stood up for him, chiding the boys who laughed at him.

" He shook his head at the false friendships that are made each day in nobility.

"That man has been trying to curry favor with Duke Brodie all evening. It might have something to do with his construction business using the slaves that he owns.

" Draco stated while looking at the scrawny man with spectacles who was being subservient to the Duke.

"As for Duke Tanner…

" Fritzen began but paused after noticing the peculiar group that had formed in one corner of the hall.

The father and uncle also turned in the direction that he was looking in and noticed the four men and two boys who were deep in conversation with each other.

'Duke Tanner seems to have made some new friends.' King Ophire snickered in amusement at the funny scene ahead of him.

The reclusive Duke who only focused on his duty and then his family was conversing with someone who was none of the above which seemed pretty fascinating to the Ruler of the land.

'Ah… It's that girl's father.' He recognized the tall and muscular man who was speaking the least in the group.

Along with him, even Draco and Fritzen were paying attention to this group though with different thoughts in mind.

'Will Frit recognize that these two are related to that little girl?' Draco wondered as he stole a glimpse at his nephew whose eyes were fixed on the young boy standing next to the Duke's heir.