Chapter 512 - Stay Safe

As the conversation between the adults progressed, they discussed various matters.

Since Yvonne had not revealed anything regarding her dream to Howard and Taylor, everyone else who knew about it also did the same.

They respected her decision and did not disclose this matter to the boys.

"Did you sign the exclusive priority supply contract with CLOVER?" Earl Rutherford diverted the conversation in a different direction.

Yvonne looked up at her father and saw him wink at her.

'He knows the answer but look at him pretending to be oblivious.' She smiled back at him which the others did not catch.

Just as she had planned a long time ago, she had addressed a letter using her alias VC to the Duke regarding the sale of CLOVER's products in his fief.

The contract she had sent to him, as alluring as it was, accompanied with Marquess Samed and Earl St. Claire speaking up about their good experiences with CLOVER, it did not take long for Duke Tanner to accept the proposal for his fief.

Just earlier, Rutherford had questioned Duke Obinn Tanner if he had also signed the priority supply contract with VC from CLOVER.

"Of course, I did." The Duke nodded after which he scoffed at his brother-in-law.

Marquess Samed had rubbed it in his face with a gloating expression that he was the first to sign the 'priority supply' contract with CLOVER.

Therefore, when he was asked if the Tanner fief would like to sign one too, he accepted the proposal without any hesitation.

Right now, in the sights of the rest of the noble families, only a few fiefs were fortunate enough to sign that contract.

The first was Marquess Samed following which was the St. Claire fief and now the Tanner fief.

Everyone assumed that since CLOVER was operating from the Valente fief, the company belonged to the Valente family and hence they did not require such a contract.

Their assumptions were right as the Valentes indeed did not need such a contract as Yvonne would always prioritize those closer to her first before thinking of anyone else.

However, she did not wish for others to discover the connection between CLOVER and the St. Claire fief.

Therefore, she had asked her father to also sign the contract to delude the others into thinking that St. Claires was also a normal fief who needed permission from VC to gain this amenity.

Marquess Samed was well aware of the schemes she had used to keep her and her family's involvement in the matters of CLOVER under wraps.

Thus, he snickered when he saw the clueless Duke who was happy that he had received and signed this contract.

Only the members of the St. Claire family, Marquess himself, and Taylor knew that VC and Yvonne St. Claire were the same person.

However, to the rest of the Tanner family and Damien, the two had no relation to each other whatsoever.

Thus, they had not noticed the smile which had appeared on Yvonne's face when Duke Tanner began praising VC and CLOVER as well.

For the rest of the time that she spent with the Tanners, she tried to hint that they should not travel as much as possible.

Duchess Beatrice promised that she would not travel if it meant that the little girl would feel relieved and not be overly worried about them.

This made her nod but she was not done yet.

"Staying away from the South would be a good idea for now." She muttered in a vague manner without disclosing too much about what her words meant.

Therefore, the rest of the people deduced that she had said so because the heat in the Southern parts during Summer would become too much for some to bear.

So they took this as her concern for their health and nodded in agreement.

"We usually head to our fief for the Summer." Topher reminded her about this information as this was routine for each year.

The Duke with his troop of knights would head to the Tanner fief where they would hold a rigorous training camp for every member of the Red Scorpion Knights.

Yvonne nodded her head as she had heard about this from her brother before.

Soon after, her gaze landed on the Marquess who was sipping tea while speaking to his sister.

"Then why did the Marquess plan to travel with the Duchess and Brother Taylor?" She inquired, wondering what might have brought about this change.

If the Duke stayed at the Tanner fief then it was natural that even Taylor and the Duchess would follow him so why was their itinerary different this year.

Instead of answering her, Marquess Samed was busy coughing as he had choked on the tea that he had just sipped.

Thankfully, Taylor was eager to quench her curiosity to which she was grateful.

"Uncle wanted me to accompany him for his visits this year." He disclosed with a chuckle.

However, this did not help the child as she was still inquisitive to know more.

Topher sighed when he saw her sullen face and decided to aid her to understand the situation better.

"Uncle and Taylor were planning to tour different fiefs this Summer in search of their fated etcher." He exposed the secret which his Uncle was desperately trying to keep.

Yvonne had not expected that the reason for their travel plans would be something so silly.

'You could have lost your life during this trip!' She glowered at the man who was averting his eyes from her.

She knew that her tutor was eager to find his fated beast but she did not know that this had become the reason for their demise in the dream that she had seen.

"You will not travel, will you?" She questioned him once again, knowing full well about his desire to find his etcher soon.

If he were to travel alone, without his sister and nephew, there was still a high chance that he could die during this trip.

Therefore, she had narrowed her eyes at him, waiting to hear his promise that he would not travel anywhere at all.

Marquess Samed scratched his neck when she seemed to have uncovered his sly plan.

She had made him promise that he would not travel with Duchess Beatrice and Taylor.

Therefore, he had already made up his mind to embark on this journey alone.

He could justify his actions by saying that he promised not to travel with them but never said anything about traveling alone.

However, he now realized that she had seen through his plan of using this loophole in the promise he had made before she had lost consciousness today.

Duchess Beatrice smacked his shoulder after observing his silence which was acquiescence to Yvonne's speculation.

"She is worried about your health and you still want to leave!?" She rebuked him and gave him another smack with the fan in her hand.

Turning towards the little girl who was also having a dumbfounded look on her face, Beatrice took this chance to improve her impression in Yvonne's eyes.

"Don't worry, Vonny. I will make sure that he does not wander about without aim." She promised on his behalf and narrowed her eyes at her younger brother who was being heartless to even think of tricking his pupil in such a vicious way.

This statement had made Yvonne's eyes glitter as she handed over this responsibility to the Duchess.

"I shall leave this matter to you then, Duchess." The little girl brought out her sweetest smile for the lady who was smitten in no time.

Watching the show, Damien rolled his eyes as he could not understand her sudden obsession with a dream that did not mean much in reality.

However, he did not voice out his opinions and continued to munch on the snacks before him.

Marquess Samed was being disregarded by his sister and pupil so all he wished to do was defend himself.

Sadly, before he could even utter a word, the Duchess turned towards her husband and smiled at him.

"You will help me keep my word, won't you?" She drawled out her words and in an instant, she got a nod from her husband who doted on her immensely.

Raylene blushed as she glanced at Rutherford, wondering whether this trick would work on him as well.

If the husband had known her thoughts then he would chuckle as all she needed to do was express her desires and he would do his best to fulfill them.

At the same time, Yvonne snickered at this scene before looking at the Marquess with a gloating look appearing on her face.

'This is what you get for trying to snake your way out of a promise.' She harrumphed then smiled at the Duchess for her help in this regard.

Thus, Yvonne would not have to worry about Marquess Samed sneaking away and heading out on his journey to find his fated etcher with the Duke and Duchess Tanner keeping a stern watch over him.

Having completed her main task here, Yvonne once again reminded them to stay safe and be wary of their surroundings at all times.

Though they felt that she was still unnerved and a little paranoid, they nodded in agreement to ease her worries.

'Even if you do not believe me now, you will be grateful later.' She sighed when she noticed that she was not being taken seriously.

However, she did not elaborate any further as that would gain their suspicions when all her warnings would make sense later on.

Thus, she decided to stay silent after advising them one last time.

This would be the last time she would be meeting them before the plague would arrive so she made sure to enjoy the rest of the day with them.

'I hope I get to see them all safe and sound after this ends.' She smiled while scanning those seated around her.