"I know, Big Brother.

" Yvonne smiled while looking at Howard.

Her smile was genuine which displayed that she did not hold any grudges against him and had not done so for a very long time now.

The past enmity that Howard had was with his sister who tormented him but that person was not the same as Yvonne.

After she had arrived in this world, she had tried to fix their sibling relationship and would not have been able to do so without his cooperation in this matter as well.

Thus her smile proved that there was no reason for them to be so worried about something that no longer was the truth.

Howard had not been able to form a proper sentence but seeing that his sister had understood what he was trying to say caused him to smile.

If they were at home right now then he would have pulled her into his embrace and hugged her even if she complained that she did not like it when people got too close to her.

However, he would have to hold in that urge for now as they were too many eyes on them.

"Always know that Big Brother loves Vonny the most!

" He declared, reassuring her once his heart calmed down.

Yvonne smiled and nodded as she knew even if he had not said it out loud.

To her, actions spoke louder than words and he had done enough to prove how much he cared for her over the time they had known each other.

"Hey! I love Vonny too!

" Taylor interrupted the admirable sibling bonding moment with his loud proclamation.

It was as though he was unwilling to back down before his best friend, announcing that he was also competing in the race to win her favor.

His voice was loud enough to make a few of the nobles who were nearby turn around in alarm.

They were shocked by what they had just heard but soon realized that it was just the boys who were playing around, making them shake their heads and chuckle without taking Taylor's confession too seriously.

After all, they just saw how the two boys were glaring at each other as they each declared that they loved the little girl the most.

There would have been some scope for rumors to arise if it hadn't been for the way the boys were addressing her.

'She is my sister!'

'No, Vonny is my sister!'

The statements being repeated by each was enough to set any gossiping hearts to rest.

Seeing Taylor also declare that Yvonne St. Claire was like his sister and he loved her like a sister as well, some of their hopes of hearing wedding bells in the future extinguished without any chances of reigniting.

While it was common for girls to address older boys as their brothers without changing their dynamic too much, it was not the same when a boy called someone his sister.

Girls could call someone who was not blood-related to them as their brother and might even get engaged to them later on.

It was just a way to show their close relationship while also being respectful.

After all, wasn't Cecily the biggest example of this?

She addressed the third son of the Kiron family as 'Brother Jacob' but she uttered those words in a coquettish tone which proved that she did not truly treat him as her brother.

In the same way, girls could call older boys their brothers without much repercussions but for a boy to do the same, addressing a girl as his sister was something deemed sacred.

Since Taylor had accepted Yvonne as his little sister, there was no scope of any further romantic entanglement between them.

This much they were sure of which made them sigh and let go of their delusional hopes of the Tanner and the St. Claire family being connected through marriage in the future.

However, the curious spectators were engrossed in their sense of loss which made them forget about the existence of another son in the Tanner family.

Yvonne and that person had never established a 'pseudo-sibling' relationship with each other which could give room for their dwindling hopes to reignite.

Sadly, for now, they had glossed over this factor and thus were shaking their heads in dismay.

They could still hear the boys' energetic declarations of who was the best brother to that little girl which only made them look away and focus on another topic of discussion which might divert their minds from what was going on nearby.

The adults had decided to turn a deaf ear towards them which left the children to their own devices.

___

"Are they always like this?

" A voice came from the side, making Yvonne look away from her brothers who were bickering enthusiastically just a few steps away from them.

Her eyes fell on Lyon Jorbin and thinking of the smirk she had seen earlier after Taylor had mentioned the past incidents made her observe him closely.

She could not decipher what the reason for his odd behavior was but did not ignore his question either.

"Not always.

" She answered but the smile present on her face while she was watching her brothers had now faded.

"I don't like you.

" Lyon's eyes were fixed on the boys but his words were obviously directed towards the girl standing next to him.

Hearing his straightforward words that contained his true feelings did not come as a surprise to her as she had already inferred that much.

"I respectfully reciprocate those feelings.

" Yvonne had no intention of making this person like her and thus had revealed what she also truly felt about him.

At the end of her sentence, she heard a scoff coming from him but as she had already looked away from him, she had missed his expressions which she assumed were not friendly.

Her gaze was now aimed at her brothers who, surprisingly, had quietened down after realizing that they had attracted the attention of those who were close to them.

'Now you notice?' She smiled while shaking her head in exasperation at the boys who forgot about everything else once they started bickering.

"Then I think we can agree to stay away from each other.

" Lyon wasn't done as he stated his thoughts again, finally glimpsing at her for a second before looking away.

Yvonne was almost the same height as him thanks to the heels she had worn today which made her look straight at his face without having to look up at him.

"With pleasure.

" She sneered right back, not attempting to play nice with someone who was not willing to do the same with her.

Since he was openly displaying his animosity towards her, though she did not know what had caused it, she was happy to go along with it.

She had no reason to interact with him and thus had agreed with what he had proposed just earlier.

Thankfully, Howard and Taylor had moved towards them after they had settled their petty quarrel by announcing that they both liked Vonny the most.

Now that they had arrived, Lyon and Yvonne pretended to not know each other as they had just decided to do.

"What were you two talking about?

" Taylor chirped while alternating his gaze between the two younger children.

His curious eyes reminded Yvonne of her tutor which made her wonder if her brother Taylor was being heavily influenced by his gossip-loving uncle after spending too much time together.

"You saw wrong, Brother Taylor.

" She replied without mentioning what the brief yet unfriendly conversation between them had entailed.

To back her up, Lyon nodded his head and muttered that they had nothing in common to talk about so he must have been mistaken.

Taylor frowned as he had surely seen them whispering among themselves but seeing that they were unwilling to disclose the contents of their conversation, he let it go for now.

However, his eyes constantly glimpsed at them but found them to be silent as they had already reached a conclusion on how to treat one another which he was yet unaware of.

Therefore, despite his curious nature, he was unable to find anything that would explain what the two children had spoken while he and Howard had been distracted earlier.

Taylor no longer got the chance to pry as the Marchioness Kiron soon announced that it was finally time for tea.

Hearing this, Yvonne walked between Howard and Taylor as always while Lyon stood on the other side of his idol, accompanying them to the area where the tables had been arranged.