"Vonny!

" Duchess Beatrice Tanner exclaimed the moment her eyes caught sight of the little girl walking towards her.

The venue of the tea party today was the vast backyard of the Tanner mansion which extended into the training grounds of the Red Scorpion Knights.

Since the presence of the noble guests might make it difficult for the squires and knights, the Duke had given them a leave.

The party would be held nearby and would hinder their ability to train without disturbance, hence the Duke had come up with this idea.

Thanks to the Duke's orders, the knights and squires could use this opportunity to rest and recuperate in their dorms which were at a distance away from the main mansion of the Tanner family.

Some of them whose families resided in the Capital had received permission to head home and visit them today.

While they had headed out early in the morning so as to not disturb the preparations taking place in full swing, the rest chose to spend their day inside their respective rooms in the dorms.

Thanks to their cooperation, the Duchess could use the vast grounds to organize the first party of their social season outside the Palace.

It would be an understatement to say that Duchess Beatrice had overworked her servants in order to ensure that everything was perfect on this day.

Before the guests could arrive, she had thoroughly checked everything thrice, and only then did she take a moment to catch her breath.

The heir and Duke had to force her to return to her room so that she might change into her special gown prepared for this day as the guests would start appearing soon.

Their persistence paid off as the Duchess was able to get dressed and beautify her face just before the first guest had arrived.

Being a close relative of the family and the tormented little brother of the hostess, Marquess Samed was forced to stay behind the previous night.

Not only was he threatened into doing hard labor for his sister the previous evening but he had also been dragged out of bed to help with the preparations early this morning.

Thanks to this, he was one of the first people to enter the garden soon after the Tanner family.

The first guest coming from outside was the Kiron family and soon others had followed suit.

When the Duchess had seen Viscountess Valente arriving with her family, she greeted her amicably before leading her to Marchioness Kiron.

Countess St. Claire had introduced them when they met in the Palace so it was a pleasant conversation between the three.

Through the Viscountess, the Duchess had heard that the St. Claire family would be arriving in a few minutes.

After learning this, she excused herself as she had other guests to greet as well and soon went around the garden.

This left Trisha with Patrina but there was no awkwardness as the two began to converse with each other.

The twins had found Topher after greeting the Ducal couple and had separated from their parents soon after entering the garden.

On the other hand, the Duke was mingling with the men and had brought along Viscount Marcus Valente who was now a famous figure on account of his close working relationship with the budding business CLOVER.

Everyone was busy either greeting each other or engrossed in casual conversation when the St. Claire family had made their appearance.

Duchess Beatrice Tanner was the first to catch sight of them and thus had involuntarily called out that child's name.

Those close enough to hear her had turned in the direction she was looking and found the family walking towards them.

Yvonne smiled when she saw the elated expression present on the Duchess's face.

"Greetings, Duchess. You look prettier than the last time I met you.

" She spoke generous words of praise which made the older lady blush.

Her intention was to get on the Duchess's good side early on then slowly fade away into the surroundings, not attracting any attention over to herself.

'I wore a simple dress to help me blend in.' She added in her heart while maintaining that same smile.

Thus she had begun her plan by complimenting the hostess, which in a way, wasn't entirely false as the Duchess did look extremely elegant and pretty today.

Topher and the twins had walked up to them and the first words they heard were the child's exaggerated praises, making them all roll their eyes at the same time.

However, the Duke was the only one who gave Yvonne a serious nod as he agreed with every word she said about his wife.

"Vonny sure has a way with words!

" Duchess Tanner replied as she extended her hand and patted the child's head.

Seeing the pleasant atmosphere between the two, many of them witnessing this sight were sure that the lady treasured this child.

'She sure does…' Someone in the crowd scoffed but there was no animosity in this person's eyes.

Instead, there was jealousy as they spent hours together each day but he had never once gotten such high praise from her.

Marquess Sullivan Samed, the man whose heart was burning with jealousy harrumphed, standing at a distance away from them.

Beside him were Marquess Kiron and a few others who were confused to see him react in this way.

'Does he not agree with what that child said?' They wondered if the Marquess disliked his sister but sadly, they were wrong to assume so.

While these men were trying to figure out if there was animosity between the siblings, the conversation back at the other place had moved ahead.

The Earl, Countess, and Howard greeted the Tanner family who had assembled there.

"Brother Topher, where is that fo… Ahem… Taylor?

" Howard inquired as he scanned his surroundings.

He had almost called his best friend a 'fool' before so many people but was able to redeem himself in the nick of time.

Yvonne grimaced at first then sighed when she saw him catch himself before he made a mistake here.

She too imitated his actions and looked around but found no traces of her sworn brother anywhere.

This made the other guests also notice the absence of the second son of the Tanner family, causing them to murmur among themselves.

"He's still in his room.

" The Duchess revealed with a shake of her head.

A single look at her face would explain that she was at her wit's end with that boy.

"He doesn't want to attend,

" Topher muttered in a lower volume so that the others might not hear.

Howard frowned at this answer but soon a thought passed through his mind which made him raise his eyebrows in surprise.

In response to this reaction, Topher let out a soft chuckle which only worked as a confirmation to what Howard had deduced.

Yvonne alternated her gaze between the two, wondering what they could be thinking about but unfortunately, she was not involved in this secret.

"Shall I give it a try?

" He offered while looking at the members of the Tanner family who were present here.

Topher shrugged while the Duke and Duchess permitted him to do so.

Under Yvonne's intrigued gaze, Howard excused himself and headed back in the direction they had just come from.

"Let's go greet the others.

" Countess Raylene patted her shoulder, bringing her attention back onto the present.

Howard had already disappeared in what Yvonne assumed to be the path that led to Taylor's room so all she could do was nod at her mother.

In no time, the chatter in the garden resumed as everyone moved back and forth, greeting and speaking with one another.

Yvonne's eyes fell on the man to whom she had assigned a task for this tea party and when their eyes met, he gave her a nod of confirmation.

Pleased with his response, she turned around and displayed her formal smile to the family her parents had led her to.

Ever since her arrival, Yvonne had felt too many pairs of eyes focused on her.

While she had expected this, in no way was she alright with what she was facing right now.

Until now, her parents had brought her to greet quite a few guests who had appeared here today.

She met Aleena, Rika, and Jacob who had arrived with their parents but their two elder brothers had sent their regards through them as they could not attend this party on account of various obligations.

The Duke had then introduced them to Marquess Yona and his family which was where they were right now.

Marchioness Yona only smiled in response to their greeting while Cecily Yona had a sour expression on her face after noticing how friendly Jacob Kiron had been to the daughter of Earl St. Claire.

Yvonne was already aware of Cecily's animosity towards her and did not wish to focus on it in the least bit which only caused the older girl's face to darken.

Next to her was her younger brother, Zimon Yona who displayed a gentle smile towards Yvonne, unlike his sister's rude attitude.

However, Yvonne could sense that this smile wasn't as gentle as it appeared which prompted her to be vigilant in his presence.

If Howard had been here right now, then he would have praised her for being guarded against the other boy as Zimon Yona was not someone he would like his baby sister to be friends with.

Marquess Yona was neutral with them and neither displayed a haughty nor a subservient attitude towards them.

The men then engaged in some small talk before the St. Claire family headed to greet the next in line.

'Can I not catch a break?' Yvonne groaned inwardly when she realized who the next family was.