Chapter 238 - What Secrets Do You Hold?

Yvonne and the rest of the people began moving towards the next venue which would be used for the second trial.

On the way to the training ground where the canopies were set up, Taylor stuck close to Yvonne as he wished to greet and speak to her.

Having found traces of her brother Vince in this young boy, Yvonne for once did not find him annoying but was very accommodating towards him and his numerous questions.

"So that big horse is yours, Vonny?" He inquired once again, making it seem that Howard's earlier answer had not satisfied him.

Yvonne turned towards the side where he had been walking and nodded in admittance of his question.

"Demon is my etcher." She announced, proud of the fact that she had one of her own when none of these boys had found their fated beast yet.

Topher was surprised that a girl had formed a bond with an etcher which was a great feat even for many men who had not yet achieved it in their old age.

'Take my uncle for example. So old yet hasn't found his.' He sighed as he glanced at Marquess Samed from the corner of his eyes.

The adults had been following the children so everyone had noticed the sly glance that the heir of the Duke's family had shot towards the Marquess.

The meaning hidden behind that glance was clear for everyone with a functioning mind which was making Marquess Samed grit his teeth in anger.

'Why are the gods so unkind to me!?' He lamented his bitter luck which had caused him to become a laughing stock in the presence of the juniors in his family.

Thankfully, Sullivan was not aware of the fact that his big nephew had just labeled him 'old' or else his sorrows would have been much greater than what it was at the moment.

Damien was silent throughout and he made sure to not look at Yvonne after he had felt the menacing glare coming from the Earl.

At present, that glare was solely fixed on Taylor who was cheerfully speaking to the Earl's daughter about how she had found her etcher.

"Only men who are worthy can form a bond with an etcher. For you to find one must mean that you are also worthy, Vonny!" He exclaimed in a loud and excited voice.

There was not an ounce of jealousy in his voice nor was there bitterness or animosity coming from him.

'Why is he so pure and kind?' Yvonne wondered as she turned towards him to take a look at his face.

His squishable cheeks were tempting her to reach out to pinch them but she resisted as that would seem uncharacteristic of her.

Once again, she was reminded of how beautiful the faces of people in this world were.

'That blue bird truly loved beauty!' She scowled at the one who had brought her to this land.

While she was cursing him, she recalled that she had last seen him when she had first moved to this land as a part of her was missing the bickering nature of their relationship.

However, she was oblivious of the fact that he had visited her many times in the course of her stay in this world.

Sometimes she was unaware of his presence while the rest he had wiped her memories soon after meeting her in order to save her from dark forces at play.

Since there weren't any major changes occurring in this world, the god of flight had not bothered to check up on his creations as he enjoyed the vacation that he had his disciple had taken after a very long time.

While in her thoughts, the group reached the training ground which was the venue for the next trial.

The servants led them to the canopies where already extra seats were arranged for the newcomers who had stopped by unannounced.

Rutherford announced for a tiny break before they could continue with the second trial.

The guests were served cold refreshments to help them beat the heat as they sat in the shade of the canopy.

As they sat in leisure, Yvonne wanted to stretch her arms out to relax them but stopped when she realized that she wasn't alone here.

'Looks like she does have some self awareness.' Captain Desmo snorted when he noticed her actions stopping abruptly.

The three etchers were at a short distance away as they were also given troughs filled with fresh and cold water to quench their thirst.

'I finished my first trial after much difficulty so I hope I can manage to do the same in the next two.' The little girl hoped that she would breeze through the entire assessment with ease.

While she was in her thoughts, Damien's eyes were focused on the etcher who was standing beside the Captain's horse and the Earl's hound which were also etchers.

'To see a small girl like her riding that big horse and the fact that she is his master is such a strange thing to experience…' He thought as his eyes remained of the beast.

The horse when standing beside the white horse looked much bigger in size and even the aura of majesty it was emitting was different when compared to the other two.

One was a little puppy, the Earl's etcher who was a hound and the other was Captain Desmo's white horse.

To know that the biggest and probably most powerful one among them belonged to a girl no older than 5 years was baffling to him.

'What secrets do you hold? What makes you so special?' He investigated as his eyes turned towards the girl who was seated between her parents.

Yvonne was being fed soft caramel pudding when she felt his gaze on her face.

When she looked up at him, her face distorted when she felt that stifling chest in her chest.

The same ache she had experienced in Marquess Kiron's party had reappeared and this time with a vengeance as she began feeling suffocated and stuffy.

She did not waste another second and averted her eyes and forced them on the jiggly pudding her mother was feeding her with spoonful bites.

'Why did I experience that pain again?' She wondered with her furrowed brows.

Just earlier she was happy that she did not feel the pain but within a few minutes the pain was back.

Her brain began to try and find a logical explanation for this anomaly as her mouth kept opening to eat the pudding being fed to her.

'The first time I felt this pain was when I was in his arms and looking into his eyes.' She recalled the only accurate information she had about his strange occurrence.

They had met once before but she had not noticed any pain on that day when she bought the apple pie from him.

'Everything started when he saved me and I looked into his eyes.' She was sure of this finding.

This had taught her not to look at him directly which she had been stringent in following whenever they met.

When he had come to pick up Howard for the journey to the Royal Academy, she did not glance at him to save herself from the struggle.

She had accidentally looked at him today, however, that pain had not manifested itself then so her mind was trying to figure out what was different this time around.

A few seconds of pondering gave her a better understanding of the situation.

'Demon!' She exclaimed in her mind and looked at her etcher who was in turn eyeing her father's little puppy hound.

Yvonne was sure that her etcher had something to do with keeping her safe from that severe ache in her chest.

'I was on Demon's back and at that time I felt no pain.' She deduced but needed further proof to validate that theory.

Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth to brace herself, she gave herself a little pep talk.

'Do this for science!' She urged her body to do as she wanted and then looked up.

Damien had been listening to something that Marquess Samed was discussing with the three newcomers when he felt her gaze.

Taking a subtle turn, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes to avoid falling into the Earl's bad books which he was sure he already was on.

However, the moment he met her amethyst eyes, she looked away with a startled appearance causing him to frown.

'What is wrong with her? Acting like a deer spotted by a hunter.' He scoffed at her contradicting behavior and shrugged her away from his mind.

Marquess Samed was explaining something interesting and he wished to place his attention there rather than on this strange girl.