Chapter 157 - A Prison Rat

Marquess Samed had long stopped watching the child play with the little beast as his eyes were focused on the liar of a man who sat beside them.

'Such a trickster he is!' He condemned the man who showed no signs of guilt as he lied to his daughter.

The etcher in Yvonne's hand did belong to the Earl, this was the truth that could not be changed.

However, was that the true form of the etcher which was getting belly rubs from Yvonne? Now that was a whole different issue.

Rutherford seemed to have felt his gaze and turned in his direction.

His cocked eyebrows and curved lip proved that Marquess Samed was not wrong in his assumptions that this man had just fooled his daughter.

'You are lying to her!' Marquess shook his head in disappointment at the Earl.

'How am I lying? That is my etcher, isn't it?' Rutherford scoffed back and then turned away in his attempt to ignore this self-righteous man.

Yvonne's entire attention was on the puppy and hence she had failed to take in this exchange that the two men had with just their expressions.

The loud scoff she heard from her father made her look up at him which made him cough to revert her attention to the puppy.

"I shall take my leave now." Marquess Samed declared as he rose from his seat.

He had stayed back to inform the Earl of his decision and later had been kept back so that the father and daughter might attempt to change his mind.

However, until now, all they had done was make him feel worse, and then his student had felt that the puppy deserved more attention than his early mid-life crisis.

Yvonne rolled her eyes at the man who was fleeing before she could make him give up on his ridiculous plan.

Seeing how the Marquess had almost walked to the door, she could only do one thing to make him stop in his tracks.

"Will the King agree to let his daughter, Princess Felicia's education suffer for your desire to find your etcher?" She questioned him as her hands stayed with the pup on her lap.

Rutherford nodded when he heard her words and then shifted his sights towards the man who had halted in his steps.

The mention of the King and his beloved daughter made Marquess Samed to gulp in fear as this would certainly be a problem if he were to abruptly stop his work as the Royal Tutor.

'I can stop tutoring these children but can I stop tutoring the Royal Princess and her playmates?' He wondered to himself and the answer was already clear in his heart.

There was no way that King Ophire would let anything or anyone affect the future wellbeing of his daughter.

'He might even throw me in prison for trying to run away from my obligations.' He feared for his life as an academician like him would not fare well in a prison.

Yvonne was keenly observing him and hence she was sure that she had succeeded in putting the fear of the King in her tutor's heart.

'Now you know how to stop?' She sneered at the man who was worrying about his future prospects if he was to spend the rest of his life in prison.

With slumped shoulders, Sullivan turned around and walked back to the seat that he had just vacated a few seconds ago.

Fryght, Rutherford's etcher had let out a soft growl as he fixed his eyes at his master.

Noticing his eyes, Rutherford took him away from Yvonne and placed him on the floor.

Before Yvonne could even protest about being separated from the puppy, he ran out of the room as though his life was at stake here.

The confusion and bewilderment on his daughter's face made Rutherford let out a chuckle.

"Fryght needs to relieve himself." He informed the reason why the etcher had scurried away from the room upon being set free from the child's clutches.

He then pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his daughter's hands clean before placing the sullied cloth aside.

"What should I do now?" Marquess Samed threw his question in when he noticed that their attention had once again been diverted to something else.

The daughter and father pair of the St. Claire's family turned towards the eager man in unison as they thought about what to say to him.

"How about you give up on your not so well thought out plan?" Yvonne's answer was rather blunt which made them glare at her.

'Let me finish my words!' She scowled at them in her heart and then cleared her throat once again.

This action of hers was always followed by something which was meaningful and helpful to them so they paid attention to what she might say.

"Marquess, you need to realize the chances of you finding an etcher… Even if you venture outside the Capital remains the same as if you do not." She revealed to him the cold bitter truth.

Just because he wished to go look for his fated etcher did not mean that he would find it.

"The etcher comes to the etched. That is how it has always been." Rutherford added as he too had experienced the same.

Yvonne nodded at him for his valuable input and then smiled at the tutor who was sitting with a gloomy air around him.

"Do you know how I met Demon? He suddenly appeared one day in our grazing field and I felt that he was the most beautiful horse I have ever seen." She disclosed how she had become his etched.

Both the men had strange expressions on their faces when they heard her calling that monstrosity a beautiful horse.

"So Marquess, just let fate work its magic and stop fretting about it." She advised however the look of uncertainty did not disappear from his face.

'What a stubborn man he is!' She rolled her eyes at him and then sighed.

"Think of it in this way…" She began and then paused to think of a proper way of getting through to his thick skull.

"If you leave your position as the Royal Tutor in hopes of finding your etcher then you will be sent to prison for abandoning your noblesse duties to the Throne of Rosenhyde." She warned him in a stern tone of voice.

The Marquess was fearful of the King who was a doting father since the chances of him throwing the tutor in prison for this crime was high.

"What use would you have for an etcher in prison? Unless it is a prison rat…" She muttered the last few words while cringing hard at the thought of a fat rat being the Marquess' etcher.

The ardent shake of the head that Sullivan gave in answer proved that he did not want a rat as his etcher at all costs.

'I now realize that my lovely daughter seems to be proficient in the art of manipulating people's minds.' Rutherford analyzed what he had been observing for quite some time now.

Feeling the scrutinizing gaze on her, Yvonne glanced up and flashed the prettiest of grins at her father before looking away.

'When did my baby grow up!?' He lamented as the doting father he was instead of worrying about being manipulated himself.