Chapter 674 - A Pleasant Sight

"That was a fruitful trip," Knox commented while admiring the sword in his hand.

As promised their little cousin had brought them out to the best blacksmith's store in the entire Commercial District.

They then had looked around, perusing the different swords, and depending on which one suited them the best, the Valente twins chose one each.

Taylor and Howard helped them in their selection process and they had later even headed to other stores in that area.

Thus the four boys then visited various stores, purchasing the items they felt would be the perfect gift for their dear ones.

On their way back, Howard and Taylor had even brought the twins to a store that was far from their earlier location but was one which they knew would act as the perfect end of their exceptional trip to the Commercial District.

"Vonny loves the pie from this place," Howard explained as he led them into the store which most certainly was not one that nobles frequented.

This was the cafe that his little sister had shown interest in and had visited numerous times in the past.

The apple pie from Willow's cafe was one item she preferred to purchase each time she headed to the Commercial District.

Upon recalling this information, how could the doting elder brother not buy the pie and surprise her with it?

Therefore, the last store they visited was the pie store where he bought a few large pies which could serve as dessert for them and the Valente family as well.

'This idiot will also have lunch with us today.' He counted his best friend into the list of people dining with them and hence had purchased an appropriate amount that would suffice for everyone.

The old lady who ran the store was not too surprised to see them entering her store.

After all, ever since she had that little girl as her first noble patron, a few other nobles or their servants had come by often in the past.

Those people were none other than Jax, Sevenz's men who appeared here from time to time in order to fetch the pie for their Master, and even Taylor had come by a few times.

This was before the plague had brought her business to a standstill but now she was grateful that they were returning as regular customers once again.

Therefore, when Howard revealed that it was for his little sister who loved this store's pies, as a sign of her gratitude and appreciation, the store owner packed an extra pie for them.

The boys were surprised to see the old lady refusing to accept money for the last pie and promised to come by regularly which she accepted without hesitation.

Thus the boys' trip to the Commercial District came to an end once they had struck off everything they had on their itinerary for the day.

"Vonny must have completed her classes as well." Taylor voiced out which brought nods from everyone, making them eager to head back to the St. Claire estate.

There was no objection from anyone so they were quick to enter the carriage and head home almost immediately.

The boys were in a cheerful mood after a good day out and were excited to bring out the gifts they had purchased for everyone.

Taylor was once again enthusiastic about getting to spend time with his little sister and gazed out the window, wishing that they could hasten their pace.

The streets of the Commercial District were wide enough to allow four carriages to move at once.

Two carriages on each side of the street, heading in opposite directions could be a common sight for them to see.

Thanks to this large space, there rarely were any halts during the journey to and from the Commercial District.

As they moved past the stores and headed towards the area where the nobles resided, the streets got a little narrow which allowed only two to move on them at a time.

The streets seemed awfully silent today which amplified the sounds of raging gallops coming from behind.

The boys all frowned as they had never before heard such loud neighs of horses in this part of the Capital.

Their curious eyes turned towards the window only to find a large figure had zoomed past them.

Taylor sat by the window and thus was able to peek his head out to discern what exactly they had just seen.

Already far away from them by now was the figure he had seen, a large black carriage which was headed in a certain direction in haste.

"That…" He blinked then frowned when he caught sight of an emblem on the back of the carriage.

Turning around, his eyes fell on the other three boys who were staring at him, waiting to hear what he had seen.

"That was your family's carriage." He revealed while looking right at his best friend.

It took no time for Howard to grasp what was going on.

His father was the only other person who had used the family's carriage to head outside today.

Therefore, it could only be him inside that carriage, and looking at the direction they were heading, his destination could be deciphered with ease.

"Driver, hurry home!" He yelled to allow the coach driver sitting outside to be able to hear his command.

The driver wasted no time and in the next second, their carriage picked up pace as they followed after the one in the front, heading in the direction of the St. Claire estate.

Thankfully, there weren't many nobles moving around as it was close to lunchtime.

Thus there was no one to witness the two carriages with the St. Claire emblem, rushing one after another through the empty streets of the noble residential areas.

The guards at the entrance of the St. Claire estate were quick to observe the carriages heading their way and opened the gates for them.

The zooming carriages only came to a halt once they were before the mansion.

The moment Rutherford alighted from the carriage, his eyes fell on the other carriage which had now come to a halt right behind them.

Viscount Marcus Valente glanced in the same direction once he got off and found his sons with his nephew and the other boy walking towards them.

Butler Limo had heard the commotion and had rushed out almost immediately.

"Welcome back, Master." He bowed in greeting but the Earl wasn't too interested in replying right at this moment.

Rutherford's eyes scanned around as though he was looking for something and the trusted butler was quick to comprehend the meaning of his Master's actions.

"Madam is in the parlor with the Royal Tutor and Viscountess." He informed the first half of his report.

"Little Miss is taking a stroll with the guest who arrived. Her butler has followed them to serve her." He concluded and the Earl gave him a nod in acknowledgment.

For he had deciphered the message concealed in the second half of the Butler's report.

Since Fryght was already there with the Little Miss, Butler Limo was sure that he already knew of the guest's identity.

The last sentence was mentioned to give the Earl some peace of mind as it revealed that his daughter wasn't alone but had her butler with her, in case something went wrong.

Rutherford wasn't worried in the least bit about his precious daughter getting injured.

After all, even if Jax wasn't there, she was quite capable of defending herself and not to mention that she, right now, had two etchers around her to protect her and keep her safe until he arrived.

However, this wasn't the reason for his hasty return after receiving that disturbing report from his etcher.

'How dare he ask to take a stroll alone with my Vonna!?' Rutherford growled in his heart and there was a dangerous aura radiating through his entire body.

Though they weren't truly alone as Jax was accompanying them and there were two etchers along with them.

However, this did not matter to the worried father who could not help but get infuriated with what had taken place in his absence.

Therefore, once he asked Fryght about their current location, he did not wait another second and headed straight in their direction.

The Viscount and the four boys as well as Butler Limo were left in the same spot, confused on what to do next.

However, seeing the Butler and Howard rushing to keep up with the Earl, the rest did the same.

In this way, this large group of people strode hastily in the direction of the garden behind the mansion.

___

Seated in the parlor, Marquess Samed was busy conversing with the two ladies as he attempted to skillfully pry more insider information from them.

Countess Raylene St. Claire and Viscountess Trisha Valente were both comfortable in his presence thanks to his amiable personality and kind smile.

Therefore, while they did not share secrets, they most certainly discussed some gossip with him that they had heard through the grapevine.

Happy with any information he could receive, Marquess Samed was glad to accept them and continued their conversation.

'Master, I found a pleasant sight that you would enjoy~' A cheery voice echoed in his head which made him glance at the window.

Perched by it was his etcher, who was gazing at him and her diamond-like eyes sparkled the moment they made eye contact.

___

Back outside the mansion, it took no time for Rutherford to reach the location that his etcher had informed him of just a while ago.

However, the moment he reached that place, he wasn't relieved to have reunited with his daughter.

Instead, his eyes widened in shock as his heart lurched at the sight before him.

'What are you doing!? Protect my child!' He growled his command to his etcher who was close to the daughter whose figure was at the center of his attention.