Chapter 248 - Things Aren't Looking Up

'Can he stop already!?' Yvonne groaned in her mind while her eyes remained fixed on the unfriendly stares between her elder brother and her pseudo little brother, Taylor.

It had been quite a few seconds since she had noticed another person staring at her but she could not turn in their direction.

This was due to the fact that the person staring at her was none other than Damien whom she had decided to be guarded against.

Damien continued to watch her and was unaware that his sly actions had caught her attention because her eyes were still fixed on the younger boys.

As he observed her expressions, he noticed an irked frown appearing on her face which made him wonder what had gone wrong.

Sadly, it was his gaze that had caused her mood to sour as many thoughts were swirling around in that little mind of hers.

Yvonne was thinking of how she did not want to look into his eyes without confirming her theory about the pain she experienced.

Therefore she pretended as though she had not felt his gaze at all.

'I did not have a chance to confirm my theory by using Demon earlier…' She recalled that she had no opportunity of doing so due to the second trial which had begun.

Yvonne's intention to use Demon as her test subject in discerning whether he was responsible for her safety when she had looked at Damien the first time today and not felt any pain was left unfulfilled.

Thus, now she had the sudden urge to try and test her theory out at the earliest to uncover the mystery hidden behind this strange anomaly.

The current situation was hindering her plans which made her narrow her eyes at the boys who stood facing each other.

'Oh, we haven't got all day for this nonsense!' She exclaimed once the indulgent feelings in her heart for their interaction had faded away.

There was impatience in her amethyst eyes which she concealed in the next second after deciding that her intervention was necessary here.

'Who knows how long these two might spend gazing into each other's eyes?' She scoffed at this budding bromance between the two boys and took a step forward.

"Big Brother Howard? Master Taylor?" She called out to them, making them whiplash in her direction when they heard her soft voice.

Their glares softened when they saw the confused look on her face as she tilted her head to the side, blinking her wide amethyst eyes at them.

"The final trial?" She uttered in doubt and looked at the two boys.

Her present appearance gave them the impression that she was clueless about what was going on between them.

Thus, she had placed her query before them and waited for their answer.

The two boys felt embarrassed when they realized that they had caused her to become confused.

This made them feel guilty as they let out a soft cough and looked in the opposite direction at the same time.

This action of averting their eyes from her was so similar that Yvonne would have assumed these two to be siblings if she was none the wiser.

'Looks like they spend way too much time together.' She inferred according to what she had observed today.

With the little stare down between the two boys coming to an end, the elders and the other two boys were grateful that she had mediated in order to not waste any more of their time.

The sun was now right overhead which meant that it was noon.

It would soon be lunchtime and Raylene's grand lunch would go to a waste if they did not complete the assessment before that.

The Earl knew of his wife's painstaking efforts so he was grateful to his child's thoughtful intervention which had saved them a lot of time.

Having composed himself, Howard went back to his usual cold face as he looked at his sister.

'Is he mad that I interrupted their childish games?' Yvonne wondered when she felt the stern look he had shot at her.

"The final round is a sword fight." The elder brother announced in a solemn tone.

This declaration explained to everyone why he appeared so grim and rigid right now.

There was no more childish arrogance that he had been displaying Taylor, instead, there was an aura of gravitas that now surrounded him.

Howard's words and the change in his attitude gave away just how important this last part of her assessment was.

When Yvonne had first requested about learning these new skills, the part which had angered him the most was when she had spoken about her desire to learn sword fighting.

For Howard, this was his passion. His will to improve and excel in it was on his mind for most of the day.

Hence, he did not wish for his little sister to treat it as a joke and give up when she got bored with it.

He now was aware that she had not treated the training in this last month as something to do during her free time.

But there was still a need to prove that she was serious about the sword, just as he was.

With this thought in mind, the heir of the St. Claire's family looked into his little sister's eyes before he made another aspect of her last trial known to her and everybody else present.

"You will be facing me in this last trial." He declared and watched as her eyes widened in surprise.

This news was surprising for everyone present, eliciting gasps from a few, widened eyes from others, and amused glances from the rest.

Among the gaspers were Taylor, Raylene, and the rest of the servants while the ones with wide eyes were the Earl, Marquess, and Topher.

The only ones remaining were Damien and Captain Desmo who wore amused expressions on their faces.

Among everyone, stood the pair of siblings who stared at each other with expressionless faces.

'Why do I have a bad premonition about this last trial?' The little girl gulped when she noticed the glint of determination pass through her brother's eyes.

'If you want to continue learning how to wield a sword then you have to prove yourself worthy of it!' Howard remarked while nodding at her.

The significance of the sword was great in his life and he abhorred people who disrespected it and treated it without care.

This final test for the little girl was to prove that she had what it takes to learn further about the power and the responsibility that a sword vested in the wielder's hands.

Finishing what he had to say to her, Howard turned around and began walking to the venue of the next and final trial in this assessment.

'Looks like things aren't looking up for me…' Yvonne sighed as she watched his back moving further away from her.

Just a few minutes ago, she had stopped trembling and shot the winning arrow, gaining her 19 points and now she already had something new to worry about.

The little girl let out another sigh following which she looked up only to find that there were statues all around her.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go, Mama and Papa!" She urged them to move along as she began running to catch up with her brother.

They turned their gaze in the direction that she had left, only to find that she was already by Howard's side as they walked next to each other.

The parents and the rest of the spectators were left with no other option than to follow the two children who were trudging along.

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Note:

I just wanted to add this about what is taking place in the story.

Did you notice how Yvonne wants to test out her theory concerning the connection between her sudden ache in the chest, Damien and Demon but seems to keep failing?

I added this to show that even when she has plans in her mind about what she wishes to accomplish, the circumstances and people around her at that moment hinder and deviate her from her plans.

She may be smart but she is still a child who has less power in her hands over what happens to her and around her.

This power over her surroundings will certainly grow as she grows older. (Which is… Very soon!)