Topher wasn't the only one who had appeared at this place a few moments ago.
Yvonne was at first focusing on the news of Glennise Brodie's appearance here then at the escape plan she needed to work on and hence had failed to catch sight of the rest who had soon followed after Topher.
However, the other boys and Aleena had noticed their presence almost immediately.
"Did you make any new friends?" Howard's voice woke Yvonne up from her troubled thoughts.
She glanced up and smiled when she found her cousins, Roman and Knox standing next to Topher.
The twins were the oldest in this group and Howard was wondering if they had found anyone around their age whom they could converse with.
Not to mention that this might be the first time they were attending a party at the Capital, one outside the Palace, as they had never been involved in such matters in the past.
In reply to his query, the twins had an odd expression on their similar-looking faces which made Yvonne tilt her head.
'Is there no one around their age here?' She wondered if this was the reason for that strange reaction from them.
However, she was wrong as there were quite a few youngsters around their age.
After all, wasn't Jacob Kiron just a year younger than the twins?
This was enough to conclude that Yvonne's speculation was not the reason for their current appearance.
"Well… We did meet the eldest son of the Carter family.' Knox muttered with a grimace, causing Yvonne to grow curious about this new person.
According to the information she had about the Carter family, they only had one son, the eldest of four children while the rest were daughters.
If she wasn't wrong then the oldest child was named Klay Carter and was just a year older than the twins.
In the same way, their youngest daughter was also a year older than Yvonne.
The Carter family were closest to the Brodies and also the ones who held the highest place in Duchess Brodie's faction.
They were often seen as the rivals of the Kiron family who were the highest in Duchess Tanner's faction.
While they maintained a cordial appearance on the surface, everyone knew that the Kiron and Carter family did not get along.
"Tsk!" Aleena Kiron clicked her tongue at the mention of that family, only proving the authenticity of the information Yvonne had gained from Marquess Samed.
Duchess Tanner could not disparage between families and hence had invited everyone currently in the Capital as that was what a Duchess needed to do.
After listening to what the twins and Topher had just said, it was safe to assume that the Brodie and Carter family who were closely related had come together to this party.
However, this did not explain why her cousins were displaying such a strange expression.
Aleena's reaction from before revealed that she was aware of what might have taken place which led to Yvonne gazing at her with intrigue apparent in her wide amethyst eyes.
Unable to say no to those sparkling eyes, she grumbled some incoherent words before nodding, urging Yvonne to stop looking at her with that innocent gaze.
"You must not know this but the Young Master of the Carter family has faulty eyes." She disclosed the reason for the twins' odd expression.
Yvonne frowned at the revelation before glaring at her cousins.
"You shouldn't make fun of someone because of their inabilities!" She chided them at once.
From Aleena's words, it was clear to her that the son of the Carter family had some sort of trouble with his eyes but her cousins had been inconsiderate enough to mock his disability.
Thus her furious eyes were aimed at the twins who were now panicking about how to calm her ire.
On the other hand, Aleena choked at the interpretation that Miss Yvonne had made of her words.
Howard too shook his head at his cousins but the Tanner brothers, unable to hold it in anymore, burst into peals of laughter.
Yvonne's frown only deepened at their behavior when she saw them having a laugh at the expense of someone else's inability.
"Miss Kiron, you should be more clear with your words," Topher spoke words of slight reprimand once he had finally regained his composure.
"Only Miss Yvonne will interpret my words in that way." She grumbled in a mutter but did not dare to speak her words out loud.
Yvonne and Howard were now thoroughly confused, hoping that someone would help them understand what was happening right now.
"Vonny, let me help you." Taylor chimed in as he had been around his uncle long enough to assimilate some of his traits.
"When Miss Kiron said that the Carter family's son had faulty eyes, it wasn't meant in the literal sense." He corrected the misunderstanding she seemed to have formed.
Yvonne glanced at Aleena for confirmation and seeing her nod, the child's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
Here, the twins hopped in to explain why their expressions had been so odd.
They had been conversing with Topher when two new families had entered the garden.
Topher played the host's role and revealed who was who before moving ahead to greet these new guests.
Upon his return, he had brought along a young man who was around their age so that they might mingle.
Roman and Knox had just greeted the other young man but before they could even strike up a conversation, they saw him rushing away in a different direction.
When they had turned to see why he was in such a hurry, the sight they caught had caused them to form a strange impression about him.
"I can already guess where he must have rushed to." Aleena scoffed once again, making Yvonne lean closer to her.
The older girl had experienced such behavior once before so she wasn't too surprised when Yvonne had moved too close to her this time.
Yvonne's ear was close to her, indicating that she should disclose the cause and not keep her in suspense for any longer.
"Cecily Yona." Aleena blushed while whispering that name in her ear.
Taylor and Howard were leering at her for moving too close to their sister but Aleena had not been able to notice their annoyed looks.
Topher rolled his eyes at the two best friends but nodded when his ears caught what that girl had just said.
"Eh?" But isn't Miss Cecily after…" Yvonne blurted out in surprise but managed to stop herself soon enough.
"Yes, after my brother." Aleena completed that sentence for her as this was common knowledge by now.
Everyone was already aware that Cecily Yona was head over heels after Jacob Kiron who surprisingly did not think about her twice.
However, only a few people of the higher-ranking families knew that Klay Carter was even more obsessed with Cecily Yona but sadly, she did not care about his existence.
This led to Klay hating the very sight of Jacob who had done nothing to him.
'A love triangle?' Yvonne's thoughts were clear on her which made the rest nod as they had thought of the same thing.
Being influenced by her tutor, she was now curious to see what would happen when the two men came face to face at this party.
To gain the answer to that question, her eager eyes scanned the garden to find where the three parties in question were located.
'That man is one step ahead!' She sneered at the sight she had chanced upon.
At a distance, Yvonne found Jacob Kiron conversing with someone while Cecily Yona was not far from his position.
She was gazing at Jacob every few seconds but the other person was too busy to even glance her way.
If Cecily was unsuccessful in gaining Jacob's attention then there was someone else who was failing to attract her attention as well.
Just a few steps away from where Cecily stood was someone else who was shooting constant glimpses at her but to no avail.
'That must be Klay Carter?' She surmised as she had never seen him before today but based on the information she had just gained, he seemed to fit the profile perfectly.
She had already expected to find this scene after the explanation she had received from Aleena and Taylor.
However, the one aspect of this situation that had caught her off-guard was something that she should have expected in the first place.
'Marquess Samed has the best view..' She rolled her eyes at her tutor who was the one Jacob Kiron was conversing with right at this moment.