The little girl had been through a mental rollercoaster in the brief duration of her conversation with the Prince.

All she wished to do now was to leave once she received the answer to the proposal she had put forward.

Prince Fritzen did not want anyone to know about what had taken place in the St. Claire estate that summer and Yvonne did not wish to interact with him or the Uncle that he had mentioned earlier.

What she had proposed would mutually benefit them both which made Yvonne hope that he would answer sooner.

'I might leave sooner that way.' She continued to gaze at him with her eyes displaying her sincerity to the offer she had made.

Prince Fritzen had been surprised to see that Yvonne St. Claire wasn't asking for anything too much from him.

'Mentioning Uncle's name was the right thing to do!' He rejoiced as soon after his Uncle's matter was revealed, the girl's behavior had changed.

This made him assume that he had successfully intimidated the girl by mentioning that she was the cause of his Uncle's injury.

Thus, she was willing to remain silent in exchange for his silence before his father.

He would not mention Yvonne's involvement in his Uncle's injury and in return, she would not reveal that she had saved him in the past.

This was what Prince Fritzen had grasped from the proposal she had put forward just earlier.

While their thoughts were different, they had both reached the same conclusion.

Once accepted, the other would not mention this before anyone else and forget that it ever happened.

Satisfied with this offer, Prince Fritzen finally gave her his nod of acceptance.

Having received his answer, Yvonne no longer wished to stick around.

The numerous thoughts swirling around in her mind were in need of pondering and this was exactly what she desired to do next.

To achieve that she would have to take her leave from here.

"Make sure no one hears about our interaction.

" Prince Fritzen's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Looking up, Yvonne's amethyst eyes were firm when she nodded at him.

"I shall take my leave now, Prince.

" She muttered before bowing before him.

The curtsy she did was perfect and Prince Fritzen did not make things difficult for her as he let her leave.

Just as he was about to ask her if she needed a servant to escort her back to the Princess's Palace, he found the girl to have walked away already.

Turning around, he saw her taking brisk steps as she made her way back to the grass hedge entrance through which she had arrived here.

However, when she was halfway through the open area, she stopped and turned around.

"Did my mother really send someone for me?

" The child's innocent voice echoed in the silent garden.

Prince Fritzen had not left the area and had been watching her leave so when she questioned him from a distance, he was still able to hear her.

He had awakened his powers which allowed him to hear everything with ease but he knew that the same could not be true for her.

Therefore, he only shook his head in answer to her query.

The girl before him did not reply and only bowed her head once again before she left the garden altogether.

Now alone in the garden that was a part of his Sycamore Palace, Prince Fritzen recalled the entire interaction he had with the little girl from the St. Claire family.

At the very end of his recollection, a strange expression formed on his face.

"She asked me so many questions…

" He muttered to himself as there was no one around to hear him.

"But why did I have to answer them all?

" He scowled both at himself and the little girl who had interrogated him.

Though he had been unable to avenge himself, he was able to at least threaten her to remain mum about what had taken place in the past.

Having achieved at least one of his goals, Prince Fritzen shook his head in the direction that the child had left before heading in the opposite direction.

His Palace was at the other end of this garden that they had been in until now.

Therefore, while mulling over his bizarre behavior of simply revealing everything before that child, he headed back to his Sycamore Palace.

___

On the other side of the garden, Yvonne had just exited the grass hedge and following her memory, was heading back to the Princess's Palace where she should have been until now.

Just earlier, when she had questioned Prince Fritzen from a distance away, she knew that he would be able to hear her.

This confidence came from the fact that when they met at the beginning of their interaction, she had been unable to sense his presence entirely.

The only explanation for him being able to sneak up on her was that he had awakened his powers or found his etcher.

Since she knew the exact moment that he would find his etcher thanks to the dreams she watched through the perspective of 'Yvonne', she declared that it was because he had only awakened his dormant powers.

Those who had awakened their powers would possess heightened senses and those who later formed bonds with their etchers could accomplish greater feats.

Thus, when she found him standing behind her out of nowhere, she knew that he had awakened his powers and was already stronger than her.

Therefore, to test him out and know for sure about her speculation, she had turned around midway and questioned him if her mother had truly called for her.

Seeing him shake his head at that moment proved that he was able to hear her and also that she was right.

This even indicated that everything that had taken place until now was a well-thought-out scheme the Prince had come up with.

However, it appeared that the Prince had not yet figured out that she had both awakened and found her etcher too as he had not spoken out but signaled his answer.

Having received her answer, she did not wait for another second and walked out.

She did not care about him staying ignorant of her powers but at the thought of him sneaking up on her, Yvonne felt irked in her heart.

It proved that she was still lacking in many aspects when compared to this Prince.

This thought made her grit her teeth and clench her fists, prepared to work harder from tomorrow and not slack like she had been doing this past year.

Therefore, as she made her way back to the Princess's Rose Palace, she had already made up her mind on how she would be spending her coming days.

Along the way, Yvonne's eyes fell on the Sycamore Palace's entrance, the place that the second maid had been attempting to lead her into.

Through the memories she had seen in the dreams, she knew that this place belonged to the Prince and hence had gotten suspicious upon noticing that the maid was taking her in its direction.

However, the clever maid had changed routes to make her lower her guard before leading her to another place where the Prince would later arrive.

'He planned it carefully.' She could not deny that he had put a lot of thought into it.

The maid did not look nervous nor did she display any telltale signs of hiding something.

She appeared calm as she led Yvonne away from the Rose Palace and towards the Sycamore Palace but upon the child's inquiry, had turned their trajectory.

She then led her to the grass hedges and without entering, only asked Yvonne to enter where the Prince would be meeting her soon enough.

Shaking her head at what she had just experienced, Yvonne scoffed at Prince Fritzen for his meticulous planning then at the sneaky maid who had done his bidding.

She did not have more time to cuss at either of them because while she was in her thoughts, she had made her way back to the Rose Palace.

Standing before the Palace, she sighed as the whole purpose of coming here had been defeated.

Her stomach which had been churning after watching Aleena Kiron chugging the glass of strawberry juice had dropped the moment she saw the Prince.

'I should have puked it all out on him.' She grumbled at her traitorous stomach that had settled upon seeing the Prince.

Facing him and interacting with him, learning so many new things from him had worked wonders in diverting her attention away from her stomach and onto the new mountain of problems that had fallen on her head.

Therefore, right now, she found no purpose in seeking refuge in the Rose Palace.

However, she had told the Princess that she would wait here until they came to pick her up.

Thus, even when she found no necessity to do so, she entered the Rose Palace where she would wait for the rest as promised.

The maids near the entrance of the Palace welcomed her with a bow and upon revealing why she had arrived, they hurried to arrange a room for her to rest in.

Yvonne did not object and followed them to the room where she would stay while the others could return from the greenhouse.

'Gives me time to collect my thoughts.' She sighed while taking her seat on a chair next to the window overseeing the garden and the pavilion of the Rose Palace.

She could see glimpses of the Sycamore Palace but averted her eyes lest her mood worsened any further.

Staring at the bright blue sky, Yvonne grumbled like an old lady at the events she had experienced today.