When Yvonne explained how she had come to hear this word, Rutherford was beyond furious.
Raylene too had a disturbed look on her face but knowing that her husband was seething, she had to be the calm one.
It took her a while to soothe the anger burning inside the Earl at what he had just heard.
Yvonne watched the couple muttering among themselves and was sure that she had caused a mess but she was unrepentant about what she had done.
She wasn't in the wrong here so had no reason to be guilty of what was taking place right now.
However, she agreed with her mother who was trying to appease the anger of the tall man.
"Papa, please be calm." She helped her mother in keeping him here rather than have him take any harsh steps.
If he had been allowed to act as he pleased then there was a high chance that he might even rush over to the Blaise household to ask for a reasonable explanation for what their daughter had said.
This would be useless as no one other than Yvonne had witnessed what Mae Blaise had said.
Therefore, trying to get an apology from them was as good as useless right now.
Rutherford had also understood this by now hence he sat still with a grim look on his face.
Until now, no one had explained what that word meant to Yvonne and it looked like they had no intention of doing so later on as well.
However, this was not needed as Yvonne might have even worse words stored up in her vocabulary but had never thought of using the same against a child.
Meanwhile, the entire atmosphere in the Parlor had turned cold now and they were no longer in a good mood.
'Don't worry, Vonna. Papa will make them pay.' Rutherford glanced at his child who was ignorant of what she had heard today.
He wanted her to remain clueless of the harsh realities of this world but at the same time, he did not want her to be defenseless against these obstacles that might come in her life.
While he was willing to keep her safe as long as he was alive, he had already understood by now that his child was someone who desired to achieve the same through her own capabilities as well.
Thus he would be by her side as long as he could and ensure that she was able to do the same long after he was gone.
"Vonna, I think CLOVER should put its resources to full use and enter the noble market before the year ends." He spoke up, finally breaking the eerie silence that had engulfed this room.
Yvonne raised her head and looked at him in surprise which made him assume that she was not prepared for this immediate change.
However, her widened eyes weren't for his suggestion but for the fact that they had both come to the same conclusion.
After Mae's incident had taken place, Yvonne did not wish to get back at her for that would be unnecessary.
She wanted to deal with the person who was at the root of it all.
'A child learns everything she knows from the elders around her.' She believed in this fact and was sure that the same went for Mae.
If no one around Mae Blaise used such language then how would a girl, who had limited contact with the outside world, ever be able to come up with the thought of using it in the same manner?
Thus Yvonne felt that it was the Blaise household who was at fault for this behavior exhibited by their young miss.
Therefore, instead of going after Mae which would bring no advantage to her, she decided to make the Earl pay for this mistake his daughter had made.
This wasn't the first time Mae Blaise had gone against her as the rumors about her ill health in the past had also originated from their household.
It had later led to the establishment of CLOVER so Yvonne was going to use this newer incident to gain a foothold in the noble market as well.
She was using Mae's foul language as an excuse to justify her decision of bringing CLOVER into the noble market but she did not care too much about it.
After all, if the Blaise family business wasn't taken down a notch then who was to say how Mae's behavior might worsen in the future.
Therefore, she was going to use the decline of the powers within the Blaise family business to control their child from acting too ridiculously.
'Who cares if I'm being petty?' She shrugged then nodded at her father, agreeing with what he had said earlier.
Since Mae had dared to act against her, this time right to her face, then she should be willing to bear with what was to come her way.
Thus the St. Claire family, on this warm afternoon, sat in silence with a chilling air surrounding them all.
___
A few days had passed since the conversation about CLOVER's advancement into the noble market had taken place.
Yvonne had been excused from attending any further parties as Raylene felt sorry for her child after the tea party at the Princess's Palace.
Hence, she and Rutherford were the ones to represent their family at the parties that took place on a smaller scale by a few of the lower noble families.
The Zavanth and MacIntyre were the only families that Yvonne was familiar with but she did not attend them even then.
It was a good thing that Earl Blaise seemed too busy to attend these parties or he might have faced an extremely angry couple, leering at him, boring holes into his face with their vicious glares.
Thankfully, he was absent for many parties and his family too never showed up without him.
This allowed them to be at ease for the last few days but the fire burning in their hearts hadn't diminished yet.
Today, the family was currently on their way to Duke Brodie's estate for the tea party hosted by the other Duchess of this Kingdom.
Howard had been overly kind to his sister after hearing about the Mae incident and Yvonne could not bear to dismiss his cautious behavior around her which made her both helpless and happy after feeling his care.
He had stayed at home the entire week to study but had accompanied them today as it was an event he wouldn't be allowed to miss.
Thus right now, he was holding onto his baby sister's hand, determined to not let her out of his sight today lest something similar happened once again.
He lived in the dorms of the Royal Academy where only sons of nobility were given admission yet he knew all about such foul language.
The boys who appeared prim and proper on the surface were far from it once the academy hours came to an end.
Hence he was aware of the truth and did not want his sister to hear such words ever again.
Yvonne, on the other hand, kept coaxing him to not be too affected by it and act as he always would.
However, no matter how many times she assured him that she was fine, he wouldn't stop treating her as though her fragile soul might get tainted if she heard anything similar ever again.
'They do not know the kind of language used to slander me in the past.' She sighed before giving up, recalling her past where social media made life easy but complicated at the same time.
Sitting behind a screen, it was effortless for people to spew foul obscenities against anyone they felt had not acted according to their liking.
She had experienced such incidents numerous times in the past so she wasn't too bothered with it.
This was because, just as she had gotten their accounts blocked, she would make sure that if anyone dares to act against her without valid reasoning, she would be ready to retaliate.
However, who was to explain this part of her vindictive nature which she had kept concealed until now, to her elder brother?
Hence all she could do was nod in acceptance of his soothing pats which landed on her hand from time to time as they moved in the direction of the Brodie estate.
Yvonne glanced outside the window and when their carriage passed through the street which diverged towards the Commercial District, she recalled something which she had forgotten all about in recent times.
She had promised to meet Sevenz earlier but had not been able to do so until now.
However, it would be impossible to do so later as well due to a couple of reasons.
Today, she was busy with the party at the Brodie mansion and bright and early tomorrow morning, she would be leaving for her trip to the Valente fief.
Her birthday was next week and she had promised to spend the day with her grandfather and her uncle's family.
Therefore, she would not be able to meet Sevenz until after her return from the Valente fief which was not yet scheduled.
Thinking of this business partner and friend of hers, Yvonne was sure that he would be sulking that she had forgotten about the promise she had made to him.
However, she knew just how to coax him but that would have to wait until she returned to Amarthea.
'What else could a businessman like the most?' She smirked while looking out the window, sure that he would be pleased with what she had in mind for him.
"Howie, Vonny, we are here." The Countess called her children whose attention had been distracted throughout the entire ride.
Hearing their names, the children glanced at their mother before realizing that they were now entering the estate of the Brodie family, the venue of the last tea party Yvonne was supposed to attend before her punishment could come to an end.