Chapter 681 - Rutherford's Verdict

Yvonne widened her eyes when she saw the darkened face of her father.

He had come over to check on her as soon as he had come back to his senses and while he was still assessing her current condition, he had heard what Topher Tanner had just said.

Along with him, the rest of the group had also come forward to check on her and only Taylor was standing before Topher, confronting him about what had taken place.

Her father seemed angry a little while ago as well but he wasn't infuriated like he was right at this moment.

However, Yvonne could not place her finger at what exactly had caused this sudden shift in his emotions.

'Is he mad that Topher Tanner is insisting that he wasn't wrong?' She wondered, unable to understand the depths of the father's troubled thoughts.

While she was still mulling over this abrupt deterioration of his mood, someone had already realized the cause of the Earl's darkened face.

'I may not have a daughter but I have a little sister.' Viscount Marcus Valente was quick to notice and conclude that he had found the reason for his brother-in-law's troubled thoughts.

After all, he had the same reaction when his little sister, the one whom he had pampered all his life, had come over to him with a young man beside her and proclaimed that she wished to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him.

He had felt the same infuriating sensation that Rutherford was experiencing right now.

Therefore, he was able to empathize with the other man.

'But this is not the same thing!' He scoffed and shook his head as his brother-in-law was making the wrong assumptions here.

While Topher Tanner's words were easy to misinterpret, Uncle Marcus knew that he had not used those words with the same intention.

"Calm down." He muttered while leaning close to his brother-in-law.

He did not want Rutherford to regret the decisions he made in his state of anger later on and hence stepped in to intervene.

Yvonne did not know about their thoughts but nodded at her Uncle's words.

'He is a Duke's son after all.' She surmised that it would be bad if her father were to harm the Duke's heir because of what had happened.

"Papa, I did agree to spar with Young Master Topher." She chimed in before the situation could take a turn for the worse.

On the other side, Topher had been surprised to see the overwhelming aura of the Earl for the first time today.

He had heard about the Earl's glorious past from Captain Desmo Reel but had his own perception about it.

After all, the Earl had stopped training for a long time and had not even held a sword since his days at the Royal Academy.

Therefore, Topher always felt that the Captain had been exaggerating whenever he spoke of the past years that he spent training with the young Rutherford.

However, today he had been enlightened after witnessing the scary aura that the Earl had let out a while ago.

'Why is he on par with Captain?' Topher was speechless after making this observation.

Captain Desmo Reel was actively training every single day for decades now and had reached the heights that he had after thorough practice.

However, here was the Earl who had stopped training after he had graduated from the Royal Academy to follow his father for his heir training.

Yet his level now appeared to be on par with the Captain who had not stopped training and even surpassed most of the other knights in their Squadron.

This brought a new perspective to Topher who had not believed that the Earl was such a capable person even after hearing about it from the Captain.

Earl Rutherford did not care that he had gained the respect of the Duke's heir as his mind was still revolving around what had just happened.

However, his daughter's interference as she spoke up in his favor was bringing up conflicted emotions in his heart.

While he was glad that there was no deeper meaning in Topher Tanner's words, he was still upset that his Vonna had spoken up for him.

Disgruntled as he was, he knew that he needed to calm down and not act irrationally right now.

'Ray would get mad at me.' He recalled that his beloved wife was a close friend of the Duchess and would be annoyed with him if he hurt her friend's son.

Therefore, thinking of his wife, Rutherford buried his animosity before nodding at his child.

"I hope that this doesn't happen again." He declared while leering at the Duke's heir.

The two children weren't on the same level so he did not wish to see his daughter competing with Topher Tanner again.

Yvonne frowned when she grasped the implications hidden within that statement.

"Does Papa doubt my capabilities?" She whispered in an aggrieved tone, unhappy with what she had just heard.

She did not wish to let go of this opportunity to spar with tougher opponents as this aided her to progress faster than training alone.

Thus she hoped to change her father's mind which was convinced that she could not take on this opponent.

Rutherford wasn't shaken by her adorable act like Marcus was.

Instead, he bent forward and picked up his daughter, holding her in his arms before straightening his back.

He did not care about her soiled dress as he held her close to him, finally relieved that she was safe and unharmed.

"Would you have been able to dodge that attack if it weren't for Demon's interference?" He questioned as his thumb caressed her cheek.

Yvonne was stunned for an answer as his gentle actions were a stark contrast to his stern query that stabbed her conscience.

She could not deny that without Demon's assistance it would have been impossible for her to dodge or even shield herself from Topher's attack as her body had been frozen still due to the fatigue she had felt at that moment.

Therefore, she could only lower her head in response.

"I'm not asking you to stop entirely…" Rutherford sighed when he saw the disheartened appearance of his child whom he knew was working hard to get better at what she did.

Therefore, he groaned inwardly while coming to a decision that he knew he was going to hate.

'But if it is for Vonny…' He smiled while patting her head, willing to do it if it meant that she would be happy.

"Don't spar with someone much stronger than you are for now." He advised with a kind smile, which she caught after raising her head to look at him.

He then turned in a certain direction and that kind smile was nowhere to be seen now.

Topher straightened his back when he felt the Earl's gaze landing on him.

"Especially with someone who doesn't know how to control his aura yet." He sneered at the boy who had been unable to steer away nor withdraw his aura in that critical moment during the match.

Topher choked after being mocked for being an amateur but he could not deny the accusations being placed on his head.

He had indeed been unable to control his aura and had almost harmed that little girl.

He was so engrossed in their match that he had forgotten that she was still too young.

Even if she was an enigmatic existence who despite being a girl was able to gain an etcher and manifest her aura, she was still a child whose level of skills could not match his which he had honed for many years through rigorous training.

She might have been able to stand against him with her unpredictable moves and the surprise element of the aura she manifested.

However, they had already seen that due to her young age and lack of experience, she was unable to maintain her manifested aura for too long during their match.

If it wasn't for Demon's timely aid, she could have gotten injured from Topher's attack.

Therefore, what the Earl had said was right.

Both Topher and Yvonne were at fault in this situation.

Topher, who had forgotten who he was competing against in the flow and excitement of the match, and Yvonne, who had bitten off more than she could chew.

"You still have a long way to go so do not make hasty decisions that could do you more harm than good.." Rutherford taught a valuable lesson to his daughter who could be rash at times.