Chapter 722 - Journey To Recovery
Yvonne shook her head as the Young Miss in her dream was too thoughtful and kind towards Topher.
It was undeniable that she felt pity for the man who was left alone in such a big mansion with no family of his own.
Even his father had only come to visit him a couple of times and left soon after making sure that he was still breathing.
Everyone knew that after the death of his wife and younger son, Duke Tanner had sealed off his heart and focussed only on his duties as a Duke and a nobleman of this Kingdom.
'Topher was just like him in this regard.' She remarked as he too followed in his footsteps, drowning himself in his work to not linger on the loss of his family members.
This obsessive work ethic had caused him to rise higher in his ranks but after that injury, his progress came to standstill.
During this time, people were doubtful about his future and even if he could retain the position as the heir.
Thankfully, he still had people around him who cared for him and helped him out in whatever way they could.
Yvonne was also one of them as even though her contribution wasn't a massive one, it was highly appreciated by the injured young man.
Her constant visits had helped him gain that human interaction filled with concern which he had missed for many years now.
In return, she had learned a lot about his life experiences as he had opened up to her after a short while.
As a result, Yvonne understood why Topher's room was so elegant and sophisticated, unlike what she had expected a young man's boorish room to be.
'That room belonged to Taylor…' The little girl grimaced at the information 'Yvonne' had obtained in her dream.
While the younger son of the Duke was still alive, the Duchess and he had worked together to create an aesthetically pleasing room to suit his tastes.
Yvonne who was now close to Taylor knew that this information about his personality was true as he did indeed like beautiful things.
Though she had not entered his room even after visiting their mansion many times already, she wondered if she would find the same room as she had seen in this dream.
However, in the dream, after the mother and younger brother had died, Topher who felt a deep longing for him had moved into this room to be closer to him.
'Duchess likes daisies.' She added as this was something else that Topher had revealed to the young miss from the St. Claire family.
She and Howard had even accompanied him to place flowers on the grave made for the Duchess and even Taylor.
Yvonne grimaced at this memory but quickly shook it out of her mind as they were still alive and healthy right now.
'And Taylor must still be occupying his beige and gold room.' She reminded herself which brought a slight smile to her face.
Thanks to the dream she had seen twice now, she knew that the constant interactions between 'Yvonne' and Topher had caused him to grow tender feelings towards her.
In the beginning, he saw her as a considerate young miss who had a kind heart and was courteous enough to accompany him while he was bedridden.
This was true to most parts as she had indeed spent a long time with him due to his injury.
Topher had been advised to stay away from moving his left shoulder at all costs if he wished to recover without any sequela.
However, days turned to weeks and weeks transformed into months as he remained in heavy bandages.
Six whole months the St. Claire's siblings had accompanied the young master of the Tanner family in his journey to recovery.
Thanks to the constant care and concern he received from his physician, servants, his fellow knights, and even a few friends who grew closer during this time, Topher had managed to make a full recovery.
He was suggested to take things slow as exerting his newly healed injury might cause some backlash which needed to be avoided at all costs.
'After six months he was finally able to move his shoulder.' Yvonne sighed and shook her head at the lacking medical science in this world.
When Topher returned to his duties as the Head Knight, it was obvious that things would get hectic for him.
However, even then, he did not forget to visit the siblings and lend his support to them in whatever way he could.
As time went by, his tender feelings blossomed and grew until he realized that he had stronger feelings towards Yvonne St. Claire, more than what someone should possess towards their benefactor.
Sadly, from beginning to the very end, Yvonne had no such feelings towards him and viewed him as someone her elder brother held precious.
After numerous interactions, she considered their relationship to be of close friends but nothing more than that.
Yvonne had a faint understanding that Topher had developed a different feeling towards her but she never acknowledged it, hoping that he would not bring it up and disrupt the pleasant camaraderie they had.
He too suppressed his emotions to not burden her and continued to watch over her from the sidelines.
'He realized that she would never accept his feelings at the fountain behind the Valente mansion.' She recalled another memory she had about their conversation, the very first dream she had during her visit to her uncle's estate.
The little girl was glad that he had given up without shoving his feelings onto the young girl.
This made her have a positive opinion about him as a man but it wasn't enough for her to like him.
'None of that will happen now.' She reassured herself as a lot had changed due to her interference in the path that things would progress in the script.
Taylor and the others being alive was the biggest proof that not everything would follow the dreams she had been having for a few years now.
Not to mention that the proof which Topher had demanded yesterday was something related to the injury he would have in the future.
{Duck, don't dodge.}
This advice she had given would help him avoid getting heavily injured in that bar fight which was the building block for his budding feelings for Yvonne.
Since she had reminded him to not dodge but to duck instead, she hoped that he would recall her words of warning and follow them when the time was right.
Doing so would help him save himself and also save him from the heartache he had in the dreams she had been seeing.
"What's on your mind?
" A query reached her ear out of nowhere.
"Topher Tanner.
" She replied almost immediately but realizing what she had just done, she turned around to look at who it was.
She had just uttered her thoughts without hesitation and now was panicking to see who had asked her this question.
If her brother or father were to hear this then there was no saying what they would do to that young boy who wasn't at fault, at least right now.
Thankfully, looking at who it was, she heaved a huge sigh of relief.
She was rejoicing that it wasn't her overprotective brother or paranoid father and hence had failed to notice the look of surprise on the face of the one who was standing before her now.
Earlier, the child had been too engrossed in her thoughts and had even failed to hear the soft noises of a horse making its way towards her.
On the horse was her trainer who had finally made an appearance and even alighted but his pupil had not looked at him.
This made Captain Desmo curious to hear what was on her mind and hence he had whispered that question close to her ear.
To his surprise, she had not flinched at his query which proved that she was completely lacking vigilance of her surroundings.
Just as he was about to click his tongue at her inattentive ways, her answer had stunned him enough to freeze him.
He wasn't the only one as even Demon and Jax were gawking at her, unable to believe what they had just heard.
"What about Topher?
" The Captain interrogated, leaning close to her with his eyes narrowed dangerously.