Raylene was fretting about what the guests would say in response to the conversation between the two ministers.
However, she was grateful to see Duke Tanner and Marquess Samed speaking in favor of her child.
Obviously, the three men close to the King were acknowledging Yvonne's efforts in the past which also eased the atmosphere by a large portion.
In this way, those who weren't ready to believe that a young girl could have anything of value to contribute to their society were silenced, at least for the moment.
Yvonne's lack of response to what was being said had confused the boys around her as they knew that she could hear everything being said.
After all, she had an etcher which meant that her senses were heightened when compared to the rest of the girls.
However, her pretense led them to understand that she was unwilling to join the conversation.
The boys had been worried that someone would say something derogatory about her but sighed when they found that their worries were for naught.
With this, their tea time had come to an end without any more surprises.
Tea parties were organized to create chances for the nobles to socialize so they would not leave immediately but use the remaining time to converse with each other.
Before they had tea, the families were together as they greeted each other but now was their chance to break into groups of their liking.
The men, under the guidance of Duke Tanner, had headed in the direction of the parlor to discuss some business matters which was the norm as always.
This prompted the women to move to the greenhouse whose beauty the Duchess often boasted about.
However, they did not forget to instruct a few maids and male servants to watch over the children and ensure their safety at all times.
Thus, with the adults all gone, the children were now left to their own devices.
Oftentimes, if a family had a boy and a girl then the son would lead the boys while the daughter would be in charge of the girls.
However, the Tanners had two boys so this left them in a dilemma of what to do next.
Since Topher was older, it was obvious that the older boys would stay with him while Taylor would have to deal with the girls.
Taylor had a lot of experience as he had taken on this role many times in the past so he did not have any qualms in accepting such an arrangement once again.
Having reached a conclusion, Topher left with Jacob Kiron, the Valente twins, Klay Carter, and Damien.
Zimon Yona could have stayed with Taylor's group but he decided that it was better for him if he opted to join the boys rather than getting stuck among those girls.
Thus, he too followed Topher and that group in quick succession.
Taylor was glad that Zimon had left and even breathed a sigh of relief.
'Dealing with him requires a lot of energy and restraint.' He grumbled before shaking his head.
He then glanced at his lovely sister and also his best friend before scanning the rest of the girls who were left behind.
Glennise Brodie, the two daughters of the Kiron family, the three girls from the Carter family, Elna and Cecily were remaining here now.
Cecily was the oldest in this group while Yvonne was the youngest.
Now that they were standing together, Yvonne had finally come face to face with someone who had a big role in Asmodeus's script after a long time.
"Greetings, Miss Brodie." She curtsied, displaying the hard work she put in during her etiquette lessons.
Glennise did not mind that Yvonne had not greeted her earlier for they had each been busy with their own matters so she only nodded in reply.
Ever since she had heard those words of praise coming from the King about Yvonne St. Claire, she had been in a strange state of mind.
She had seen how Earl St. Claire treated his daughter so preciously and could not help but compare his attitude to that of her father, Duke Maldock Brodie.
No matter which way she looked at it, they were both girls but the difference in their treatments varied vastly.
However, today, she had noticed her father's silence which was contrary to what she had been expecting.
The Duke was never one to shy away from voicing his opinions about something that be felt strongly for.
Thus, Glennise kept wondering if there was something on his mind which had caused him to not participate in that conversation earlier.
However, now was not the time to mull over this matter so she cleared her mind and glanced at the people around her.
"You haven't met them before, have you?" She inquired with her eyes now on the girl who had gained a lot of attention today.
Yvonne nodded as she had indeed never met those girls before.
"Miss Jasmine, Miss Fiona, and Miss Isadora." Glennise took the initiative to introduce the three to Yvonne according to their ages.
Jasmine was the oldest and Isadora was the same age as Glennise Brodie.
She was also a tough competitor for the second position of the Princess's playmate but it had fallen into the palms of Rika Kiron in the end.
This had been one of the major causes of discord between the two girls and even their siblings.
The matter between Jacob and Klay was another reason why they never saw eye to eye.
While the three sisters did not think that Cecily Yona deserved to be with their elder brother, they equally disliked the Kiron siblings who were often getting in their way.
Now that they were in the same group, Yvonne could sense the animosity between the two parties.
However, this had nothing to do with her so she only greeted the three girls and had no intention of getting caught in their feud.
She had Taylor and Howard here with her so she would rather converse with them than get dragged into a whole other mess.
She realized that her elder brother could have gone with Topher and the rest but chose not to do so for her sake.
Therefore, she would not leave him alone as well and was determined to stay next to him at all times.
Howard had no clue that his single decision had resulted in him being favored by Yvonne but was happy to notice that she was looking at him with a soft smile.
Taylor soon announced that they could visit the playhouse that had been built for him when he was younger.
The playhouse was the size of a small two-storeyed house at a short distance away from the main mansion.
It had been constructed and decorated according to his wishes and had been gifted to him on one of his past birthdays.
He had grown out of the days where he played with these toys but his mother had instructed the servants to keep the place intact as it held too many precious memories.
On previous occasions like this, he had brought these girls to this place so some of them were already acquainted with the things in here.
Yvonne glanced around and smiled when she saw the soft beige walls.
This helped her recall the same color scheme she had seen in her dream where Topher was recuperating in the room that had belonged to his brother in the past.
There were servants accompanying them and the place was neat and tidy.
Thus, all Taylor had to do was leave them to their own devices and focus on what was important to him which resulted in all the girls here witnessing how Taylor and Howard doted on Yvonne.
They too were pampered at home but that care was only from their immediate family members.
Never had they obtained such love and care from an outsider who was not related to them in some way or the other.
Thus they all looked at Taylor Tanner who was fawning over her with a strange look in their eyes.
However, they could not deny that they wished to experience the same treatment from him.
He was the younger son of a Duke and thus was an influential person in their society even if he did not have any accolades to his name.
Just by staying on his good side was enough to let everyone know that they had a pleasant relationship with the Duke's son.
Taylor was taught to be respectful towards others but that was where he drew the line.
Even now, he had a kind but alienated smile when they met his gaze which proved that he was keeping them at a distance.