Chapter 886

Chapter 886: Tattletale

Rutherford could sense the fierce glare being aimed at him but chose to focus solely on his wife whose attention had been divided ever since her father had arrived at the Capital.

Meanwhile, Old man Valente sneered at his son-in-law who surely knew how to keep a woman happy.

Just a simple deed of pouring tea for Raylene was sufficient to warm her heart.

Therefore, the Earl did not have to do much to move her.

After all, Hannah had been the same where she was more impressed with acts filled with thought and concern for her than any gift that he could pick at random from the stores.

However, when the old man thought of how many men felt that it was beneath them to serve their wives, he was glad that Raylene had found a good man for herself.

Rutherford St. Claire was Raylene’s choice, the man she had picked for herself.

.....

In the past, he and his son were worried that she would be mistreated as the stubborn couple did not have the blessings of their elders for their marriage.

Thankfully, nothing of that sort had ever taken place as she was treated well in the household she had married into.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

Now, any of the remaining doubts also vanished when he witnessed this pleasant sight taking place in his presence.

At the same time, he was undeniably jealous of the Earl who had succeeded in snatching away his child’s attention with ease.

Therefore, his gaze which had softened a moment ago turned fierce once again.

This was the sight the three youngsters walked in on.

The Countess was blushing while staring at the Earl while the old man who sat with them was glaring at the other man at the table.

Yvonne and Howard were already used to seeing the pleasant atmosphere between their parents so they did not pay much attention to them and walked towards the old man.

Following them was Roman who blushed a little, recalling his parents who behaved in a similar fashion back when they lived together in the Valente estate.

This thought reminded him of his parents whom he had not met for so many months now and decided to write a letter to them.

What he did not know was that soon he would be receiving an important letter, summoning the twins back to their fief in no time.

Since this had not yet taken place, he simply smiled at his grandfather before taking his seat beside the St. Claire siblings.

“Did you rest well, Grandpa?” Roman inquired once tea was served for the youngsters as well.

The old man chuckled and nodded at his grandson but seated on the other side of the table, Rutherford rolled his eyes at this sight.

‘He has enough energy to climb multiple flights of stairs so he must have rested well.’ He grumbled while thinking of their unexpected encounter earlier.

Rutherford’s secret space that he visited when he wished to watch his daughter’s training had been discovered by this old man and this was not something he was happy about.

He did not want the others to know of this as it was not something he was proud of.

Sadly, he was ignorant of the fact that Yvonne and Demon were already aware of his sly actions but had been generous enough to not expose him.

However, the same could not be said about the old man who, most certainly was capable of getting him in trouble.

While the two had made their way downstairs after watching the match between the two youngsters, Rutherford had tried to probe the old man to see whether he would reveal this matter to the others.

Unexpectedly, Old Man Valente neither promised to keep his lips sealed nor threatened to expose him.

This had led Rutherford to be in a sullen mood but that changed when he met his wife along the way and this was how they had ended up in this room.

Only after the children had arrived did he recall that he had not yet received a substantial reply to his queries which made him sneak a peek at the old man.

However, the other person was busy conversing with the children so this time, it was his turn to be ignored just as he had done to his father-in-law mere minutes ago.

Therefore, he could only be a silent spectator during their conversation while hoping that his secret wasn’t exposed.

“Brother Howard lied to all of us, Grandpa. He wasn’t serious while training today.” Yvonne felt no shame while tattling against her elder brother.

Roman choked on his tea while Howard stared at her with wide eyes when he heard what she had just uttered.

It was true that he had indeed lied this afternoon when he said that he would do better but had never expected her to reveal it even after everything that had taken place.

During their match earlier, he, as planned, had gone easy on her and did not use more than half of his strength when he attacked her.

This realization infuriated the little girl whose rage fueled her attacks, leading Howard to gain quite a few minor injuries while being suppressed by her tactics and quick movements.

It wasn’t until he was pushed to the limit where it was no longer sufficient to just use half his strength did he increase the power in his attacks.

Her onslaught of attacks with the new sword had forced him to use greater force to keep up and not get suppressed entirely.

Only then was Yvonne pleased with his attitude which had finally gotten serious but she did not ease up her fierce attacks.

At one point, the two men who were secretly watching the match from their window upstairs were worried for the young boy who was being pushed around by his little sister.

Yvonne was using all of her might while Howard had now used up around eighty percent of his energy.

Though the boy had decided to not go all out against her, he was forced to increase the strength he put in his movements if he did not wish to lose right away.

The siblings were equally stubborn so the match had prolonged for more than forty minutes before Jax stepped forward to put an end to it.

He used the Countess’s name to successfully threaten them into ending their match which made Roman roll his eyes but he was nonetheless impressed with this tactic.

Thanks to this, their unending match which kept prolonging was finally forced to end.

None of them had severe injuries but just by looking at the sweat pouring down their faces and their heaving chests, it was clear that they had worked harder than usual.

While Howard, until the very end, did not use all of his strength in this match, he could not deny that his sister had forced him to increase the power he had initially used, to defend himself against her attacks.

This only proved that Yvonne, despite being so young and tiny in size, was capable of forcing the opponent to do their best to have a winning chance against her.

However, in this match, neither of them was declared the winner as Yvonne insisted this way.

She was still not satisfied with her performance nor was she pleased with Howard holding back.

Therefore, this match came to an end with an undecided outcome where neither side won nor lost.

However, before they could return to their rooms to freshen up, Howard had made a special declaration.

“Once I meet my etcher, prepare to face a serious match!” He challenged his sister who was only getting better each day.

Yvonne wasn’t too startled by his proposal but gave him a willing nod, accepting it right away.

This was how the siblings had separated after the match before they reunited to head to the dining hall where their parents must have been waiting for them.

___

‘She betrayed me in the next moment!’ Howard narrowed his eyes at his little sister who had been a worthy opponent and also a willing participant in the proposal he had made earlier.

However, now she was so innocently accusing him of being a liar.

That subtle smirk that had just formed on her lips reminded him of how his sister had been in the past.

With a sweet smile, she would push all the blame on him and watch him get reprimanded for things he had never done before.

This time, however, things were different as her words were completely unfounded.

After all, he did mutter half-heartedly that he would do his best for their fight in the evening but later went back on his word.

Therefore, he could only blame himself as he sighed and nodded his head.

The father and grandfather had both seen the match so they knew that while Howard had not sparred seriously, using his entire strength, he was a worthy opponent who kept Yvonne on her toes.

For this reason, they did not entirely believe what the little girl had to say.

However, watching Howard accept his mistakes without even attempting to argue his case, the elders could only chuckle before shaking their heads at the relationship between the two siblings.

Howard wasn’t at fault but was willing to accept his mistake, this was not something that occurred too often in the past.

He would have fought tooth and nail to prove himself innocent had this happened in the past.

Though things had begun to change in the last few years and now, even Howard did not know yet that he would do anything to keep his little sister safe and happy.

Listening to her complaints wasn’t too difficult for him, instead, it fueled his desire to find his etcher at the earliest and face her with all seriousness.

Therefore, he was waiting eagerly for the day he would meet his fated beast.