Many hours earlier, inside the Royal Palace.

The King smiled at the children seated before him as a warmth of satisfaction swelled in his chest.

Yesterday had been tedious with the numerous noble families entering this Palace grounds but today, he had made it a point to spend some time with the youngsters.

His ministers were spreading the word as per his instructions so King Ophire had to only wait and see how the nobles react to the information they would receive soon enough.

In the meantime, he wished to gauge the younger ones of his family.

"What are your thoughts about yesterday's events?

" The noble ruler of this Kingdom inquired as his blue eyes scanned those around him.

The King's only sibling, Prince Draco had been looking at the official documents he had received from the Butler in the Roschester fief when he heard this question.

Similarly, Princess Felicia and Prince Fritzen who were completing their home assignments also raised their heads to look at their father.

Governess Bloom always made sure that the Princess was up to the mark in her classes and often prepared questionnaires that she needed to answer at the end of the day.

This was exactly what the little girl was busy with while her elder brother had been focussing on the books his father had set aside for him to read and memorize.

The Royal Academy had been shut down for over a year now and during this prolonged vacation due to the plague, King Ophire and some of the other ministers had taken the time to tutor the future Crown Prince of this Kingdom.

Thus the three youngsters who had been busy with their individual tasks had now diverted their attention towards the King.

Princess Felicia was the first to answer as she had a lot to say.

"I met so many young ladies and had a great time!

" She exclaimed her true feelings regarding the events that took place previously.

She then went on to elaborate how she and her playmates had planned to surprise the young misses who had entered the Palace with the invitation of a tea party.

The King paid attention and chuckled as she continued revealing how she and the other young misses had strolled in the greenhouse and even had tea before returning for lunch.

"Ah! Miss St. Claire was unwell for a brief period.

" She added which brought frowns to their faces.

Princess Felicia had not noticed their odd reactions and continued explaining what had taken place, how Yvonne had become pale out of nowhere but appeared to be better when they reunited after she rested a while in the Rose Palace's guest room.

'I doubt that she rested…' Prince Draco had other thoughts in his mind regarding this matter and his eyes inadvertently moved towards his nephew.

Fritzen had been trying to avoid garnering any attention as this matter had something to do with him.

However, he failed when his uncle glanced at him with narrowed eyes.

His maid had reported to him later on that she had met Miss St. Claire who was already on her way back to the Rose Palace from the greenhouse.

This made things easy for him so he had left it at that but now learning that she was returning to the Rose Palace to rest yet the maid directed her elsewhere made him grimace.

His secret plans had already been unsuccessful as he had not been able to intimidate that little girl.

Instead, she had expertly turned things around in her favor and even made a deal with him before leaving without looking back.

Not to mention that his Uncle had witnessed a large part of what had taken place and even punished him later on.

Thus Fritzen looked away from his Uncle's gaze while trying to appear as innocent as he could.

On the other hand, Prince Draco rolled his eyes at Fritzen before thinking of the odd events that had taken place on that day.

His elder brother had behaved in a manner that was unlike him when he met that child and later the Young Prince had witnessed his nephew's strange and unnecessary interaction with her.

He had not attended the lunch with the rest of the nobles as he was not comfortable and neither was he interested in being a part of the noble society yet.

Therefore, he had only heard about what had taken place from his shadow guards who had been around the King to protect him.

The shocking revelations being made there were all known to him so he did not miss anything.

However, there was something that his subordinates had reported to him which was most certainly out of the ordinary.

The previous command he had given to his men regarding the surveillance of that child had been revoked for some time already.

Since the plague had confined them to their respective places and the child wasn't in the Capital, those guards he had assigned this task to were called back as well.

Even after the child had returned to the Capital with her family, he had not asked his men to watch over her every movement.

However, they knew that if there was something odd taking place in the St. Claire mansion, they would report it to him straight away.

Therefore, after that family had returned home from the Palace, his men had informed him of an anomaly they had sensed in that estate.

The skies were bright everywhere but the guard who was keeping an eye at the St. Claire mansion from far away was stunned to see the thundering clouds hovering over only one part of that estate.

Before he could hurry towards it to take a look at what was taking place, those clouds were long gone and there was no one in sight.

However, he did not forget to reveal this incident to his Master, and Draco was left bewildered by these strange atmospheric alterations that had occurred there.

"I want to become friends with Miss St. Claire, Father!

" The Princess's excited and hopeful words snapped everyone out of their thoughts.

Earlier, the King too was troubled after hearing that Yvonne had been unwell while she was in the Palace.

He could not comprehend the reason for his unwarranted concerns but they were present nonetheless.

His heart ached to hear that she was pale but sighed in relief when he recalled the rosy face he had seen during the lunch they had attended with the rest of the nobles.

He had been planning to ask the Royal Tutor about her condition later on when he heard his daughter's desire to befriend that little girl.

In the beginning, he had assumed that his Princess would have a negative opinion about that child as she had rejected the position of the playmate.

However, seeing her excitement now changed his mind about this speculation and brought a smile to his face.

"You should try your best then, Felly.

" He encouraged her to move ahead with confidence if that was what she wished for.

Draco glanced at his niece who was ecstatic as she nodded repeatedly and wondered if she could accomplish this goal.

After all, considering everything he had observed until now, it was clear to him that the little girl had her misgivings about the Royal family.

Instead of getting close to the most influential family in the entire Kingdom, she was doing her best to stay away from them.

This was just another mystery that he had yet to solve and wondered if things would work out in his niece's favor.

Felicia did not know the thoughts in each of their minds but she was sure of how she felt about Miss St. Claire.

Ever since she had first met her, it was undeniable that she was interested in getting to know the girl who had rejected the offer of a lifetime.

However, the more she observed that girl who was a year younger, Princess Felicia liked her more and more.

It was as though she had known Yvonne St. Claire for a long time and it was easy to decipher her every expression.

She did not know where such confident beliefs stemmed from but she was adamant about getting closer to her so that she might find some answers.

'And I have a plan on how to do that as well.' She smiled brightly which made the others smile in return before they discussed the question which initiated their conversation.

___

The events that had taken place in the evening at the Palace were unknown to the child who was currently resting in her room right now.

Dinner would be served soon but Yvonne wasn't too hungry as the juice had taken up a large space in her stomach.

'I turn eight soon…' She grumbled while glancing down at the baby fat still apparent on her rounded belly.

She could not wait to grow up already and possess the same tall and beautiful figure that 'Yvonne' from her dreams had.

If she continued with her training regularly then not only would she grow into the same tall and beautiful young miss, but she would also be fit and agile enough to defend herself which was something the fragile 'Yvonne' could not do in her dreams.

'I should ask the Captain to teach me how to maintain my manifested aura for longer.' She decided on what her next training module needed to be focused on.

Her mind was thus filled with thoughts of practice and training that she had no time to think about anything or anyone else.

Therefore, she remained blissfully unaware of the plans the Royal family members were making which included her in every single one of them.