Yvonne had been observing the two boys who were glowering and glaring at each other in silence.

Taylor, Howard, and Aleena Kiron were unable to decipher the reason for their actions, but Yvonne had an inkling of what it might be.

'It's faint but I can still sense it.' She concluded that her decision from earlier was the right thing to do.

Earlier, she had kept herself from contacting her uncle Marcus by using their etchers as a medium between them.

She had done so because maintaining communication would utilize her aura and doing so might expose to the others that she had somehow formed a bond with an etcher.

Right now, she was glad that she had done so as the two boys before her were the biggest confirmation of her assumptions.

Howard and Taylor had not found their etchers yet which limited their abilities.

Even if they were physically stronger than Yvonne, they were unable to sense such faint auras as easily as she could.

Therefore, the little girl who was observing those two until now was sure that the newcomer and Topher Tanner were using a mental link to converse with each other.

She already knew about the existence of Topher's etcher for a while now and had also met her.

Rouge was a sensible and pretty red fox who made people want to get closer to her at first glance.

However, the fact that the other boy was able to use a mental link implied that he too had found an etcher of his own.

'I wonder what kind of etcher he has.' She pondered on the different animals that could match Damien's personality.

Gazing at the young boy on the verge of becoming a young man soon, Yvonne tried to determine what kind of animal would suit him best.

She did not have to mull over it for too long as a name had already popped up in her head.

'The badger!' She snickered while nodding in appreciation of her quick thinking.

Badgers were omnivorous animals who were praised for their tenacity and physical strengths.

They also had a dominating personality that did not like to back down, much like the boy she had met only a few times in the past.

They were competitive in nature but their fatal flaw was that they liked to bite off more than they can chew.

'Much like him.' She sneered at the thought of how he had behaved in the past.

Damien, in her memories, was someone who acted only when he pleased but the few times that he had something to say, it was mostly to go against her.

Since a badger was the right fit for him, Yvonne was sure that he must have found such an etcher in some distant countryside.

She had not sensed this aura from him the last time they had met, strengthening her speculation from earlier.

Yvonne was still thinking of the chances of Damien's etcher truly being a badger but the two boys who had been conversing through their mental link were now looking right at her.

Taylor and Howard had already inferred that Damien had found his etcher which was making them curious to know what kind it could be.

"Young Master Damien, when do we get to meet your etcher?

" Howard was the first to ask, making them turn in his direction.

Yvonne nodded as she needed to meet that etcher to see if she had guessed it right.

Damien did not answer right away but paused for a moment, giving them the impression that he was still using that mental link with his etcher.

However, Topher too was looking at him, proving that they were not conversing with each other which further increased their curiosity.

Only after a few seconds did Damien look back at them before giving Howard a nod in answer.

"Very soon.

" His words were vague which made them quiet down.

Topher glanced at him with shock for he had not expected to hear this from him.

He had not yet gotten the chance to meet this etcher for more than a few moments but now his friend was willing to bring his fated beast along to meet them?

He could not help but scoff at his best friend for this difference in their treatments.

'You get to meet him too.' Damien's indifferent words reached him once again but they did nothing to coax his wounded heart.

Topher had noticed that something had changed in his best friend after they had reunited in the Capital.

He could sense that Damien had gotten more mature and even stronger in the time that they had been away from each other.

While he was glad that his friend was doing well, he could feel that something was different yet was unable to put his finger on it.

He had to admit that they were growing older and had distinct personalities, but at the same time, could not deny this unnerving feeling he sometimes got while speaking to him.

Yvonne had no clue about the troubling thoughts that Topher was harboring in his heart at this moment.

Instead, she was busy gazing at the young man she had met after a long time.

Damien's dark brown hair was longer than the last time she had seen him and they fell over his forehead, casting tiny shadows over his long lashes.

Those forest-green eyes were the same as before but Yvonne could sense something deep in them which had been absent earlier.

A desolate emotion filled her heart when she gazed into those eyes, making her wonder if that was what he was feeling deep within.

However, she soon shook her head and chose to avert her eyes as she did not wish for those nerve-wracking headaches to return after all this time.

Thus her attention had shifted to his clothes, only making her frown deepen.

'It's already so hot and he is wearing all black today?' She grimaced at the thought of the heat that might get absorbed by that stylish but black attire.

Damien had seen the Valente twins for the first time today and was being introduced to them when he felt her steady gaze first on his face then his body.

Without giving her a chance to look away, he turned to face her and raised his brow when he caught the sudden panic that surfaced on her usually calm face.

However, Yvonne soon realized that she had done nothing wrong and thus had no reason to panic.

The conversation here had died down so it was only obvious that she was watching those in the group that were still speaking.

If anything, it would be disrespectful to look elsewhere when someone was talking.

Therefore, she stared back at him without any fear this time.

"I'm not hot,

" Damien muttered in a low tone, his voice neither resembling a child nor an adult.

He was still in the transformation phase, however, unlike other young boys, he did not sound awkward and odd.

Yvonne was admiring his voice for a second but soon realized the meaning behind his words.

'How did he know what I was thinking?' She frowned, wondering if she had said it out loud.

Damien's eyes flitted to the makeshift bracelet on her wrist with the glass pendant before looking up at her.

None of them had noticed this slight fluctuation, including Yvonne, who was busy trying to decipher how he had grasped exactly what she had been thinking about.

"Miss Yvonne's ability to control her expressions has weakened since we last met.

" He revealed how he had known what was on her mind.

He might have been focusing on his casual conversation with Roman and Knox but his senses were as sharp as ever.

Thus, from the corner of his eye, he had caught the frown and the disgusted look she had given him while looking at his clothing choice for the day.

Others might have been clammy and frustrated to wear black on a hot day but he was not one of those people.

In fact, he doubted if he could ever be bothered by the heat anymore.

However, this was not something that he wished to disclose to people he was not too close with.

Thus he had only given a brief answer without expanding on it any further.

Topher had a slight inkling about what he was talking about then decided that the two friends had a lot of catching up to do now that they were back in the Capital.

Their academy days would soon begin and he hoped that they could go back to how close they were before.

If only Damien had known what was going through his friend's troubled mind, he would have reassured him that everything was alright and that there was no reason for him to be insecure about their friendship.

Sadly, he could not read minds and thus was still in the dark about the emotional and heartfelt interventions that he would face once the Royal Academy soon began.

Damien had only revealed that he would not be hot then went back to speaking with the twins, leaving Yvonne speechless and infuriated.

'He hasn't changed!' She growled in her heart that he was still the same Damien as before.

He only waited for the chance to taunt her and grabbed it without a second thought.

Aleena was watching this scene from the sidelines and was trying hard to hold in the chortle that was begging to come out.

She had only ever seen Yvonne either being calm and collected or displaying an innocent and childish expression.

However, today, she had witnessed a different side of her which only made Aleena empathize more with her.

'I understand how she feels…' She sighed before patting the seething child's shoulder to display her solidarity with her current emotions.