Chapter 138 - Introductions

"What is that!?" Rutherford frowned as his finger pointed at the monstrous horse that was following his daughter at a short distance away from their position.

The time for their daughter's first class with his old friend Desmo was coming to an end and thus the St. Claire couple had come outside to greet her.

However, the sight before them was making their jaws drop as they gawked at the people and animals walking in their direction.

When Rutherford's eyes fell on his old friend, he gritted his teeth and looked away to make sure that he did not strangle this friend of his.

Early this morning, when Yvonne had requested them to accompany her to the stables for her first official class with her new trainer, they had rejected her without giving it a second's thought.

Though their hearts were heavy and all they wanted to do was to carry her in their arms, the parents had to exercise huge amounts of self-restraint and decline her generous offer.

The only reason why they had not followed their heart's desire to carry her over there was the man who had now become her trainer.

When Desmo Reel had received the letter from Rutheford asking him to sneak into the estate, he had written a fitting reply to the Earl.

{I shall follow your advice but only on the condition that during the course of our training, neither you nor your wife should try to interfere with my method of training nor shall you be seen anywhere around us.}

Desmo had written this condition just to spite his friend for labeling him as a dirty little secret that had wounded his pride.

Thus, the loving parents were stripped of their joy of watching their child work hard in her new class.

Though Captain Desmo's stern actions had a deeper meaning to them which he had decided to keep as a secret from his friend.

Now that Raylene and Rutherford noticed her daughter's return from the stables, they were stunned to see who had accompanied her.

"Greetings, Mama, and Papa." Yvonne chirped in a cheerful voice as she flashed them a bright smile.

Ever since their meeting with the Marquess, she had decided to treat them better and one of the ways to do so was to address them in this sweet endearing manner.

'The names just roll off my tongue now…' She concluded after noticing how she would no longer hesitate while addressing them.

Yvonne stood next to the Captain as they stared at the two living statues who seemed to have frozen in their spots.

Tilting her head to the side, she gazed at their stunned expressions and then turned in the direction that they had been looking in.

'Heh? Demon?' She observed that the etcher was the focus of their attention.

Feeling his master's gaze on himself, Demon neighed and then took another step closer towards her.

Yvonne's yelp startled him and his eyes glowed viciously as he leered in one particular direction.

'Can he not keep doing that!?' The little girl patted her chest to calm her thumping heart.

She then turned around to face her father who had once again carried her against her wishes or giving her a proper heads up.

"Papa, what is it?" She inquired in a mildly miffed voice however she did not receive any answer from the man.

Rutherford had panicked when he saw this monstrosity following after their daughter and what was worse was that the huge beast had just attempted to get closer to her.

His feet moved on their own and he had hastened to carry her away in his arms, safe from the reach of the beast.

Raylene had never seen such a large horse which made her conceal her presence behind her husband's sturdy body.

But that husband of hers had vanished from his place as he had moved forward to rescue their daughter, this made Raylene both happy and annoyed.

Happy that Rutherford had gone to save their child and annoyed as he had forgotten all about her.

Desmo Reel stood at the side and watched the show with Precious standing by his side.

'They are acting as though Demon was about to gobble her up.' He scoffed at their overprotective behavior when all the horse had done was to take a step in her direction.

Demon's eyes were glaring at the man who had dared to snatch his master from his side.

He grunted and stepped ahead which made the doting father step back.

This repeated until Yvonne finally got sick of this silent advance and retreat from the man and beast.

"Enough!" She yelled out which made them freeze in their current positions.

Tapping her father's shoulder, she gestured towards the ground indicating that she wished to let down from his embrace.

Though Rutherford was reluctant to do as she pleased, he maintained eye contact with the beast while placing her on the ground.

Alert and ready to make his move at any second, the father of two was watching the beast intently.

'Like you could win in a fight with my etcher!' Yvonne sneered at the man with muscles and a huge build.

No matter how big and strong he was, he was still a man and was of no comparison to the mighty horse who was also an etcher.

"Papa…" She called out to him in a soft voice which made the stern eyes melt as they turned towards her.

The softened eyes regained their vigilance when he saw her willing action of moving towards the horse.

"Vonna! Be careful!" He chided her while worrying about her safety.

Yvonne had her back towards him by now and hence she did not fear or hesitate as she rolled her eyes without restraint.

"Watch Vonna, Papa!" She replied with confidence as she raised her hand towards the horse.

Raylene and Rutherford felt their hearts thumping in fear against their chests when they witnessed the brave action that their daughter had just taken.

Rutherford felt his eyes pop out of his socket when he saw that the horse had leaned closer to her.

'He will hurt her!' He declared and was a second away from dashing towards Yvonne.

However, his thoughts on how to save his child were all for naught when he saw the next scene.

The massive built horse bent forward and stayed still as Yvonne's hand reached towards his muzzle.

The little hand looked even smaller before the huge face of the horse.

"Mama, Papa, meet Demon." She introduced the horse after turning around to face them.

The troubled parents were already in enough shock after seeing this friendly behavior of the horse but the worst surprise was yet to come.

'What do you think? Isn't he pretty?' She inquired in her heart as she focused her eyes on their faces.

Yvonne gauged their reactions and paused for a second for dramatic flair before she announced the most vital piece of information about this beautiful horse.

"Demon here… is my etcher." She announced and this time, she caught the look of astonishment on their faces.

'I was just as surprised when I first heard about his real identity!' She cheered that they had the same thought upon first being introduced to the beast.