Chapter 407 - Prepared A Special Gift
With the new year's arrival, the skies got brighter and the trees, greener as spring began in full swing.
Yvonne's classes with Captain Desmo went back to their earlier timings of training at sunrise.
Demon and Precious were happier as the weather stopped being too cold for them and the trees gained their glorious form once again.
Over the past few months, the Captain had been training the little girl in close combat.
This meant that she needed to defend herself and attack her trainer with nothing but her bare hands.
No swords, no weapons were used for this training to teach her how to defend herself in situations where she could not find anything to use as a weapon.
Though they had just begun basic training, Captain Desmo was impressed with how easily she was keeping up with his training modules.
Days passed by and all the little girl did was stay inside her estate and the only outsider contact she had was with her trainer and the tutors.
While the rest of the young Miss's in the noble society were enjoying the season of spring by mingling to build relationships with each other, there was someone who was always missing on such occasions.
No matter how many invites she received for tea parties organized by the daughters of various families in the Capital, she chose to decline them by feigning ill health.
Not only did she not attend tea parties organized by the young girls, she even refused to accompany her mother when she decided to make an appearance at any of the parties.
'Out of sight, out of mind.' Was her motto as she sought refuge in the safety of her estate.
The last public appearance that she had made was at Ocular's caravan where she had met the other children of higher noble families.
Ever since that day, she decided that unless it was absolutely essential, she would not appear before society.
The reason why Yvonne continued to skip these public appearances was that she had no desire of running into any of the main characters of the script.
She needed to stay away from them in order to not get sucked into the role that she was meant to play in the original script.
However, unknown to her, both the male lead, Prince Fritzen, and the second male lead, Prince Draco were already well aware of her existence.
Ever since Fritzen had discovered her identity, he remained silent and did not try to make contact with her in any way.
His uncle's words had left a mark on him yet his desire to seek revenge was still blazing in his heart.
Therefore, he chose to give it some time to let his anger simmer but even after a while, if his heart desired to teach her a lesson then he would follow it regardless of what his uncle thought about it.
Thus, Yvonne was safe for the time being but there was a ticking time bomb hovering over her head.
Whether it would blast with great magnitude, wrecking her life in its wake, or its flame would fade away and save her was something only fate held knowledge of.
However, the little girl was oblivious that her identity had been uncovered by the person who had the God of this world, Asmodeus' halo surrounding him.
Thus, she was happy in her own little world, staying cooped up inside her mansion while the rest were getting on with their lives.
In the first month of the year was Topher Tanner's birthday and this was an event that Yvonne was dragged to despite her obvious reluctance.
The birthday of the Duke's heir was a lavish celebration as this was his thirteenth birthday.
Taylor, the co-host chose to stick with Yvonne which implied that so did Howard.
The boys who had been invited to the party were all confused to see how the two aloof boys in the Academy were running after a little girl to serve her whatever she needs.
Yvonne was thankful as none of the main characters of the script were present on that day, however, she had come across someone else.
'Damien…' She recognized the brown hair which fluttered as the boy stood with his back towards her while conversing with someone else.
Turning away, she shrugged as his presence did not matter to her and went along to find her mother.
Her aim was to plead with her mother that she might return home as she had already made her presence known here which had been the main objective in her mind.
Due to this, she had failed to notice the boy with forest green eyes turning around only to gaze at her back for a couple of seconds before he too reverted his attention to the conversation at hand.
Raylene had forced her child to accompany her here today as her constant absence from the social circles was beginning to garner attention from the other women.
Rumors about Yvonne being a sickly child who could not even step out of her bed were being circulated among the noble families.
Therefore, to dispel such horrendous rumors, the mother had no other choice but to drag her along to this birthday celebration.
"Not so soon, Vonny.
" The mother refused once again when her daughter came pleading to be taken home.
With the help of Duchess Tanner, Raylene had come up with a plan to eradicate these rumors and ensure that her daughter who liked her privacy was no longer treated like a sickly patient who was on her deathbed.
Yvonne tilted her head in confusion when her mother who often melted at her adorable appearance was now no longer playing by the rules.
'Am I losing my charm as I grow?' The little girl wondered but swiftly shook her head as that was not possible.
Though she had grown by half an inch over the past three months, she retained her chubby cheeks and her wide eyes which guaranteed her a cute visage.
Following her mother's gaze, she found the Countess and Duchess exchanging looks with the latter giving an affirmative nod.
'These two have been getting too comfortable with each other over the last few months.' Yvonne surmised as ever since they had met at Ocular's caravan, the two ladies continued to meet on frequent occasions.
She watched as Duchess Tanner raised her glass and clinked the knife against it to get everyone's attention, succeeding on the very first try.
Since the party was being held in their Banquet hall inside the Tanner mansion, everyone was in a closed space which allowed her to gain their attention effortlessly.
"It has been brought to my notice that a certain Young Miss has prepared a special gift for my birthday boy.
" Beatrice Tanner announced and glanced at the Butler.
The old man immediately walked towards the far end of the hall and tugged on a rope which in turn, pulled a black curtain open.
Yvonne's eyes sparkled when she saw that behind that curtain was an exquisite grand piano, completely black in color and polished until it sparkled when the light fell on it.
While she was admiring this grand piano which put hers to shame, she heard something that made her eyes widen in shock.
"Miss Yvonne St. Claire everybody!
" The Duchess announced the name of the performer which brought everyone's attention to the little girl standing a short distance away with her mother.
'So this was why I couldn't leave?' Yvonne scowled while looking up at her mother who was clapping her hands with the rest of the guests who had arrived today.
Raylene smiled though a little sheepish as she bent down to adjust the collar of the cute aquamarine dress that her daughter was wearing today.
"Please do this for Mama, Vonny.
" She requested but did not reveal that this charade was to dispel the rumors surrounding the little girl.
'You think I have any other choice?' Yvonne harrumphed as there was no way she could refuse with so many eyes on her.
From the corner of her eye, she had already noticed how her brother's and Taylor's eyes were wide open but Topher seemed really happy with this outcome.
'Boys.' She lowered her head and rolled her eyes before looking up with a perfect smile which she directed towards the Duchess who had also schemed against her today.
Following this, she straightened her back and strode in the direction of the grand piano which was situated on an elevated platform.
Every pair of eyes in the hall was fixed on the little girl who took a seat before the piano and closed her eyes as she positioned her fingers over the ebony and ivory keys.