Chapter 899

Chapter 899: Unwarranted Discrimination

Damien raised his brow after he was reprimanded by the girl, who happened to be younger than him by a few years, as though this was nothing out of the ordinary.

‘Why does her scornful gaze seem so natural whenever she faces me?’ He was baffled when he came to this realization.

This thought made him look back at what he could have done to make her feel comfortable enough to behave this way with him.

It was obvious that she was respectful and even demure while dealing with other noble children.

‘Though that’s in no way reflective of her true nature.’ He added with a harrumph when he recalled the side of herself that she concealed from many.

Nevertheless, he could not deny the fact that others, even his best friend, received better treatment from her when compared to him.

Topher was also included in the list of people she spoke respectfully to but he, Damien, wasn’t fortunate enough to experience such treatment as she had never even tried to be formal in her speech towards him.

.....

While he could not decipher what could have caused this obvious and unwarranted discrimination, he was sure of one aspect.

Yvonne St. Claire did not take him too seriously.

Damien reached this conclusion after what he had just witnessed.

Though he had done nothing wrong or even approached her ever since he had arrived at this spot, he had earned her ire somehow.

Her unfriendly glances earlier had attracted his attention but when he had inquired about the same, he was somehow on the receiving end of her impolite words of reproach.

This made him frown but he knew too well that all of the questions he harbored in his mind regarding her behavior toward him would not be answered, at least at this very moment.

Therefore, he had averted his attention towards what might have gotten her riled up to the extent that she had snarled at him.

This was when he saw the little girl sneaking glances in all directions in an attempt to assess her surroundings.

It did not take him much time to grasp what her actions meant and he rolled his eyes when he discovered the reason she had lost her cool with him.

‘Tsk!’ He even went as far as to click his tongue at her ridiculous actions.

However, the little girl was too busy observing those around her that she had failed to notice his silent sneers.

Though the same could not be said for the Tanner siblings who had caught sight of their secret glances at each other for different reasons.

A few moments ago, when Yvonne and Damien were in a state of confrontation that no one else had noticed, Topher had turned towards his best friend to inquire about what he had witnessed with Zimon Yona and his little gang.

However, the sight the Tanner family’s heir had chanced upon was something else.

This was neither too surprising nor too unexpected as he had caught these two stealing glances at each other on numerous occasions in the past.

Knowing the existence of their respective etchers and the fact that their close proximity helped him sense their auras, he could tell that they were using their mental link for communication right now.

Yet a new doubt emerged in his mind which made him alternate his gaze between the two of them.

Only recently had Damien introduced his etcher, Aster, to the little girl so it made him wonder what those previous incidents could be related to.

After all, to form a mental link between two individuals with etchers, the basic criteria that needed to be fulfilled was that the etchers and their etched needed to meet face-to-face in order to initiate that connection between the two parties.

Therefore, the link made between Damien and Yvonne had been formed in recent times which did not explain why they often gazed at each other in the past.

Sadly, Topher would continue to be left in the dark regarding the complicated relationship that mainly consisted of bickering between the two people he was well-acquainted with.

On the other hand, Taylor, who was just as observant as his elder brother especially when it came to his Vonny, had also been watching the two staring at each other for a while now.

‘Why won’t he stop!?’ He growled in his mind and narrowed his eyes at his older brother’s best friend in hopes of gaining his attention.

However, he was bound for failure as Damien was more amused with what was going through the little girl’s mind and thus had no reason to be bothered with what the Tanner family’s second son was trying to achieve.

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Unaware of the brothers who had noticed the silent conversation she had with the older boy, Yvonne sighed in relief after scanning her surroundings.

No one with an etcher, if she did not include Taylor and Topher who already knew of Demon’s existence, was in their vicinity so it seemed that her secret could continue to be so for a while longer.

Once she made sure of this, she redirected her attention toward the one who had caused her to panic a moment ago.

Now that she was no longer worried about her secret being discovered, Yvonne chose to mention what had been on her mind which was also what had caused her to glare at him earlier.

‘How is Aster?’ She inquired and her unpleasant demeanor from just a moment ago faded as she thought of the cute and fluffy etcher she had met in the past.

Aster, the white furball she was quite fond of was the reason for her unfriendly attitude towards its master.

Yvonne had taken a liking to the puppy from their very first encounter and from the looks of it, Aster had a good impression of her as well.

However, his owner refused to let them meet again which was also the cause of her dissatisfaction and she had no issues in letting the other person know about her feelings in the form of the unfriendly leers and sneers she had aimed in his direction earlier.

This was the sight that had caught Damien’s eye and was also his reason for initiating this mental link in the first place.

Hearing the name of his etcher being mentioned, Damien felt his head hurt and the annoyance he bore within was quite visible in his facial expressions.

Earlier, when he realized that his act of using aura to communicate might have bothered this young miss, he had generously decided to help her out.

Her cautious actions of glancing around to check who was nearby weren’t necessary thanks to this favor that he had done out of the goodness of his heart.

When he realized what she was worried about, the teenager had used his aura to cast a shadow over hers.

This simple act made it impossible for anyone to make out the difference between their usually distinct auras.

Even if someone with an etcher had been nearby then they would only sense his aura and it would appear as though she had none, which was exactly what she hoped for.

However, his trick would not work on those who were already familiar with Yvonne’s aura because they would be able to make out the difference without much effort.

Nevertheless, he did not care about this flaw in his trick as the girl wasn’t guarded against those who were already aware of her unique aura.

She was only worried that others might discover her secret and use it against her.

Hence, his trick, which wasn’t perfect, was more than sufficient to put her at ease.

Hence, without letting her know of the helping hand he had extended towards her, Damien had shielded her from any watchful eyes just now.

However, when he discovered that the reason for the unfriendly gazes he had received earlier was all due to his etcher, his lips twitched.

‘He is fine.’ His curt reply had no emotion as he stared at the younger girl who seemed to have gotten attached to his etcher after their very first encounter.

She wasn’t the only one as his etcher felt the same way towards her as well.

He did not know how this was possible because etchers were supposed to be territorial and possessive towards their masters, never letting anyone else get too close to them.

However, his fated beast seemed to be the anomaly as that mayhem-causing creature had not stopped pestering him to arrange for another meeting ever since they had returned from the St. Claire mansion where their first encounter had taken place a while ago.