This was the first time the St. Claire siblings were entering the estate of the Brodie family so they kept their eyes open and glanced around with curiosity apparent in them.

As promised earlier, Howard did not leave his sister's side and was vigilant of their surroundings at all times.

This gave Rutherford and Raylene some peace of mind as they went their separate way to mingle with the other guests.

Duchess Brodie was an excellent host and the event could be considered to be a grand success.

While the party hosted by the Tanner family was still the one that was most talked about, today's party was able to compete with it in most aspects.

When Taylor noticed his best friend's odd behavior, he did not stop at anything until he was given a reason for Howard clinging to Yvonne throughout the party.

He had assumed that Howard was trying to monopolize his time with their sister but upon hearing the cause of his attentive attitude, the second son of the Tanner family felt miffed as well.

He had never had much contact with Mae Blaise but after hearing what had taken place, he felt that he might not be able to have a pleasant relationship with her in the future.

Now that he was aware of this incident, not one but two brothers were clinging to her side, almost making it impossible for the girls who had arrived at this party to converse with Yvonne.

The little girl, on the other hand, was sighing every time the two boys narrowed their eyes and leering at everyone who was attempting to get close to her.

To their surprise, the main culprit had not turned up to this important event.

Not just Mae but the entire Blaise family was absent today which most certainly was shocking to most.

Not attending a Duchess's party after being invited could turn out to be a wrong move on their part if the hostess took this matter as a sign of disrespect towards her.

However, considering how Duchess Brodie did not seem to mind it, the Blaise family could be deemed to be lucky this time.

Though the Blaise family had not turned up today, talks about that family were rampant throughout the duration of the party.

There was no lack of gossip surrounding them and the women were having a fun time discussing the rumors that were heard about them.

The one that caught Yvonne's attention was the information rumored to be the reason for their absence today.

The estates of nobles in Amarthea were at an appropriate distance from each other and they were separated by the thick and tall boundary walls.

However, the servants who worked in their households greeted each other when they met outside and this allowed them to hear the information of what was taking place inside these secluded estates.

At present, the talk of the town most certainly was about the numerous carriages that had arrived at Amarthea late in the night a few days ago.

It wasn't uncommon for them to hear about this but the destination of these carriages had caught their attention.

The Blaise estate where these carriages had entered had thus attracted a lot of attention.

The entire family had been in Amarthea for a while now so who could it be inside those numerous carriages?

The answer in everyone's mind was none other than the secret mistress that Earl Blaise seemed to be paying too much attention to in recent times.

Therefore, hearing such scandalous news was enough to make the ladies whisper among themselves, wondering how Countess Blaise must be feeling now that her husband had brought the other woman to the Capital as well.

Yvonne only shook her head at the man whose morals were questionable and did not focus too much on it.

She spent time with Aleena and the Jorbin triplets while Howard was being followed around by Lyon Jorbin as always.

Since Taylor was feeling left out, he did not forget to squeeze himself into this group, ignoring the surprised looks he was getting from the other girls.

Topher, who was witnessing this from afar, was still ignorant of the reason for their protective behavior so he shook his head and decided to have a good talk with his brother for fooling around and attracting too much attention at this party.

By the time the party came to an end, Yvonne had spent the most time with her brothers and the friends she had made until now.

However, something unexpected did take place to her at the end which widened her eyes in surprise.

Just before their family was about to leave the party, the only child of the hosts had come to her.

Howard was unwilling to leave his sister alone with her but had to do so after noticing that the Duchess was keeping an eye on them.

Therefore, at this moment, Yvonne and Glennise Brodie, who had been busy throughout the party, were given the chance to converse with each other.

The adults and Howard were a short distance away from them and their constant gazes made it clear that they were watching over her from their position.

"Miss St. Claire…

" Glennise spoke up first since she was the one who had come forward earlier.

"Could we meet when you get back to the Capital?

" She inquired in a soft-spoken manner which came as a surprise to her.

The few times that Yvonne had met this young girl, she was always haughty and felt that she was not in the wrong.

However, today, she had made the effort to ask Yvonne if they could meet in the future and the mild tone she had used was what had left the other girl speechless.

The news of the St. Claire family members heading to the Valente fief soon was not a secret so it was understandable that Glennise had also heard about it.

However, Yvonne had not yet replied to the question that was placed before her.

'What does she want?' Her thoughts were clear on her face which made it easy for Glennise to discern what was on her mind.

A cough of embarrassment left her lips before she mumbled her reason for approaching the younger girl.

"Maybe we can discuss the assignments given by the Marquess.

" She explained before looking away to hide her reddening cheeks.

Rutherford and Duke Brodie were watching their daughters, silently eavesdropping on what they were talking about.

Hearing this statement, the two men almost let out a chuckle which made the Earl glance at the man with a higher status than him.

With an astonished look on his face, Rutherford observed his subtle smile but the other man had already hurried to conceal it when he realized his folly.

'Didn't the rumors say that he despised his daughter?' He wondered if there might be something that the outsiders did not know about.

However, it was not his business to meddle in the relationship between the Brodie father and child so he turned away, pretending to have not seen anything just now.

On the other side, Yvonne pondered on how she should reply to Glennise before giving her a nod in the end.

"Then I shall send you a message once we return to the Capital.

" She added, not wanting to reject Glennise who had come to her in peace.

'What could go wrong?' She wondered and seeing Glennise's expressions that revealed her surprise, she shook her head before bidding goodbye.