Chapter 680 - Are You Jealous?

After what he had witnessed today upon their return to the St. Claire estate, Taylor was truly infuriated with his elder brother.

Thus he had come over to give him a piece of his mind without worrying about what his evil brother would do to him once they got back home.

'No one messes with Vonny!' He clenched his fists, ready to go against his brother if it was for his lovely little sister.

"What?" Topher tilted his head while staring right at his brother with a lazy look on his face which only angered Taylor further.

Without giving the little brother a chance to speak, the heir had more to say.

"Are you jealous that I get to spar with Miss Yvonne while you aren't even capable of doing that?" He snickered, succeeding in both annoying Taylor and also hitting a sore spot.

Judging by the look on his younger brother's face, Topher could deduce that he had hit him right where it hurts.

Until today, Taylor did live a life without caring about what other boys his age were focused on.

Even his best friend, Howard, was busy preparing for his classes and practicing, getting better at his swordsmanship.

However, the entire duration of the lockdown, Taylor had spent whiling away his time, lazing around their estate in the Tanner fief.

Ever since he had started training in the Red Scorpion Knights upon the insistence of their father, he had been willingly stuck in the same position which irked Topher to no end.

Even those squires who had been lower than him had risen through the ranks but he remained stagnant.

However, Taylor never cared about this and went on with his usual lazy lifestyle.

He knew that he had the innate ability thanks to the Tanner blood running through his veins but he took it for granted and never tried to get better.

His elder brother would be the next Duke so all he had to do was live a good life, doing whatever he wished to do with his free time.

Even when his brother and father forced him to train with the other squires, he would do just the bare minimum to get through the day and leave as soon as he could.

However, today, after watching his Vonny almost getting attacked by his elder brother, Taylor realized just how weak he was.

He could not even step forward to protect her as he had no way of standing against his brother who had been training for several hours a day while he, on the other hand, would not even train for a few hours in a week.

To add to his troubled thoughts, the question his brother had placed before him to mock him was also true.

He had heard all about how Howard sparred with Vonny during the lockdown and while he pretended to be unaffected by it, he had been seething in jealousy all along.

Now his elder brother had pierced that same wound that Howard's boastful recollections of their sparring matches in the past had created.

However, he could not let his brother know that he was right.

Hence, putting on a fierce expression, Taylor glared at his elder brother.

"What nonsense!? Don't try to shift the topic!" He accused his brother of using underhanded tactics to distract him.

Topher had caught the flash of realization that had passed through his brother's eyes and even seen the unwilling look on his face.

Therefore, hearing these words did not affect him too much as he knew that he had gotten through to Taylor even if it was just a little.

'I can keep working at it.' He decided that he would change his brother for the better.

"Is that so?" He added with a languid nod, only fanning the flames that were already at their limits.

Taylor grit his teeth as he gawked at his brother's unrelenting and shameless face.

"You attacked Vonny and this is how you behave instead of being apologetic?" He sneered while pointing his finger at his brother's nose.

Wordlessly, Topher grabbed the finger right before his eyes and gave it a slight twist.

"Who said I attacked her?" He retorted, uncaring about the pitiful whimper his brother had let out.

By now, everyone's attention had shifted from Yvonne who was alright and without any injury as they fixed their gaze at the Tanner siblings.

Yvonne grimaced when she saw the pained look on Taylor's face as he tried to get his finger away from Topher's vice grip.

Rutherford and Marcus did wish to get involved in the petty quarrels between these siblings but Taylor had a fair point in what he had said.

Therefore, hearing Topher's response made them frown as they were not pleased with his unapologetic behavior.

"I only acted after I received Miss Yvonne's consent." Topher Tanner declared with a firm tone.

Hearing the word 'consent' everyone gathered here had different reactions to it.

'You attacked me first before you even received that so-called consent you just spoke of.' The little girl rolled her eyes at the young boy who was speaking too mightily.

Only after dodging that initial attack did Yvonne agree to the sparring match between them.

However, she did not reveal this truth to the others as she seemed to have noticed something just earlier.

'You had an ulterior motive for sparring with me, didn't you?' She interrogated, this time reaching Topher's mind through the mental link between their etchers.

Rouge and Demon had met each other in person so forming a mental link between them was now a possibility.

Therefore, Yvonne used this connection between them to establish a secret means of communication and used it to relay her question to the other person.

'Did you answer my questions?' Topher's reply was short but the tone of sarcasm was evident to the child who was stunned to hear it.

Yvonne had ignored his questions before and during their match so Topher found no reason to reply to hers.

Since she had not shown him goodwill, he would also do the same to her.

The little girl glowered at the heir of the Tanner family, finally understanding why Taylor bad-mouthed his elder brother so often in the past.

'Who knew that he hid his wicked personality all along?' She glowered after the other person had cut off their mental link as soon as he was done speaking.

The Topher Tanner she had met in the past and the one she had seen in her dreams was vastly different from the boy she had just conversed with.

Gone was the image of the kind and courteous Topher that she had seen until now.

Now she knew that Topher Tanner was also capable of being rude and mean, even to a little girl like her.

Surprisingly, the child was conveniently forgetting that she too was the same as she did not reveal her true personality.

There were only a few who knew of the true Yvonne that remained concealed behind the adorable appearance that she often put up for others.

However, before she could dive deeper into her analysis of  Topher Tanner's true personality, she heard someone else speaking up.

"What consent?" Earl Rutherford St. Claire glared at the boy who had just spoken.

He already did not like any boy who tried to approach his adorable daughter.

Not to mention that this boy was older and was caught red-handed while trying to attack his child.

Now that same boy was speaking of 'consent' which was making the paranoid father's imagination run wild.

'What does he mean by consent?' He glowered and glared at Topher, declaring him a sinner even before hearing his explanation.

After all, consent was a word that people in their Kingdom often used during matters concerning relationships.

Consent of a young lady for a courtship would lead to the consent of the bride's father before proposing marriage, and finally consent of the newly-wedded wife before they spend their nights together.

Such scary images flashed across the troubled father's eyes which only darkened as the words Topher Tanner had said echoed in his mind repeatedly.

His daughter was still a child yet this young man was talking nonsensical things right before him.

Therefore, how could Rutherford remain calm in this situation?

'How dare he!?' He snarled in his mind while a fierce aura emanated from his body, causing everyone to whiplash in the direction of the intense aura overwhelming them right now.