Yvonne's eyes were fixed on the face of the young boy.
Years ago, the night that she had first arrived in this world, the younger version of this face was what she had witnessed in a dream.
In that mystical dream, she was present in her bodily appearance from her previous world, but she was an invisible being to everyone around her and watched everything from the sidelines.
There she saw how 'Yvonne' had saved him from the stream and also the interaction between him and the girl whom he had mistaken as his savior.
This scene was the first meeting of the male and female lead that she had read in the script but after what she had witnessed just a few seconds earlier, she knew that not everything was recorded truthfully in the script.
The next day, on her fifth birthday, things took place as what had been written in the script.
Unwittingly, she had arrived at the garden which led to the stream and even saved the Prince just as the original Yvonne had done in her dream from last night.
However, her very existence had changed a few events in the script.
Since Yvonne had not fainted but hid behind the bushes after the Prince lost consciousness, the gardener and his wife did not find her.
They did not know that the little girl was watching the scene from the shadows and even carried the unconscious boy away.
Later, she followed them to their lodging and witnessed the initial interaction between the male and female lead.
However, she had been distracted by the gardener's wife who had revealed to her husband that the Earl was furious about his daughter's unknown whereabouts.
Thus, without bothering to witness any more of the scene whose outcome she was already aware of, the child held her dress high as she ran back to the mansion.
The next time she had seen this boy was only in her dreams about the 'deleted scenes' which appeared only in recent times.
Therefore, she did not have any real interaction with him at all for so many years.
Right now, he wasn't the same child that she had pulled out of the shallow stream nor was he the young adult she saw in her dreams.
He was stuck somewhere between these two ages, not a child but not yet an adult.
If she were to recall the age difference between them, she could calculate his current age with ease.
As she was about to turn eight in a few months and this boy was said to be three years older than her, she knew that he was eleven now.
However, he was much taller than her and his body had developed rapidly for a boy his age.
After all, the rigorous training he was undergoing each day played a large role in his quick progress.
While Yvonne was assessing his face and his physique, Prince Fritzen finally snapped out of his thoughts.
"Do you remember me?" He questioned while lowering his head to look into her eyes.
Yvonne's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing these words she was sure to have read somewhere before.
'Isn't this the same dialog he used when he meets Hilda at the Princess's coming-of-age ceremony?' She choked as this was bringing up a massive sense of deja vu.
After all, the scene Yvonne was thinking of was the one that depicted the secret conversation between the male and female lead that took place on the balcony after their dance.
The Prince had led the unknown lady to the balcony which attracted a lot of attention.
In that secure place, Prince Fritzen had confirmed that Hilda was his savior and even gave her a warm hug before reminiscing about the past.
Therefore, hearing those vague words coming from the same Prince but being directed at her was making the child tilt her head in confusion.
Based on her memories, Yvonne had never met the Prince before therefore, there should be no reason for her to remember him.
She was not the Princess's playmate and this should be considered to be their first encounter.
Thus, the confusion on her face was real as she looked at the boy before her.
"I do not follow, Prince." She uttered in a clear voice, unable to decipher what he was trying to do.
She had no connections with him and she was sure of this as she had done everything she could to divert her fate away from what was written in the script.
Though she did save him, he did not know that she was the one who had pulled him out and in his mind, it was the female lead, Hilda, who had rescued him in that perilous moment of his life.
Therefore, she was not wrong to conclude that they had no association with each other.
However, the young Prince's next words were like a strike of thunder landing right on her head.
"Or should I rather ask if you still remember how you saved me from drowning in the stream?" Prince Fritzen's lips curved into a smirk when he saw the dumbfounded look on her face.
'Did she think that she would be able to keep it a secret forever?' He sneered while observing every shift in her expressions.
Earlier, Yvonne was still composed as she believed that this boy knew nothing of that incident in the past.
The question he had asked earlier could be brushed off as a misunderstanding but now there was no scope for any doubts.
If things had gone according to her expectations, he never should have known about her presence on that fateful day.
However, reality was grossly varying from the script and the dreams that she had been seeing.
Thus, while cursing Asmodeus in her heart for the thousandth time for creating this entire mess, she decided to stick to her initial plan.
'Play dumb.' She put on an oblivious look as she tilted her head.
"Stream?" She repeated his words then gasped as though she remembered something.
Prince Fritzen was watching her every move and seeing the flash of understanding passing through her eyes, he was ready to see what explanation she had prepared for herself and her past actions.
"Drowning!? Prince, did you drown in the past?" She inquired with a troubled look in her eyes and covered her lips to conceal her startled appearance.
Hearing her words, Prince Fritzen felt as though he was about to trip and fall even when he was stationary.
'What does she mean 'did I drown'!?' He growled in his heart while narrowing his eyes at her.
He drowned in her estate and she was the one who pulled him out so why was she pretending to be clueless right now.
"As if you do not know!" He spat through gritted teeth.
Judging from the anger apparent on his face, Yvonne was going through a mental turmoil.
'So he really remembers!?' She groaned inwardly as this changed everything.
In the script and even in the dreams, Prince Fritzen believed with all his heart that Hilda was his savior.
This wasn't such a big problem as the only person who knew of this truth was Hilda who continued to keep everything a secret.
'Yvonne' had fainted after saving the child whom she thought to be a stable boy and was taken back to the Mansion by the gardener's wife.
By the time she woke up, she had forgotten about the incident and went on about her normal life.
'How does one conveniently forget about such a big event?' Yvonne sneered at the Blue Bird who had played his tricks here as well.
To make the story compelling he had written Hilda as the savior when it was Yvonne who had done the tedious job only for Hilda to take credit for it the entire duration of the script.
However, she could curse at the Blue Bird later, right now, she had to deal with this young Prince.
Until now, she was under the assumption that he had already declared Hilda to be his savior and was searching for her, just like in the script.
Yet now her assumptions had been shattered.
She still did not know how this had taken place but now the Prince knew that it was she who had saved him and not Hilda like it was supposed to be.
As if she hadn't faced enough surprises for one day, another one had popped up before her.
'Now is not the time to panic.' She commanded her mind to first calm down and think of a way to deal with this boy.
Just because the Prince had brought up this topic did not mean that she should acknowledge her connection with it.
Therefore, having made up her mind on what needed to be done, the little girl tilted her head while gazing right at the Prince.
"Would you mind elaborating?" She requested, continuing to pretend that she had no clue what he was talking about.
Seeing that she was prepared to act oblivious to the very end, Prince Fritzen decided to expose her right away, to ensure that she had no way to back out.
"On a bright summer morning, you, Yvonne St. Claire, rescued a boy who was drowning in a stream behind your Summer Estate. Did you or did you not do that?" He interrogated, subconsciously letting a slight layer of his aura surround them.
He might not have found his etcher yet but his dormant powers had awakened quite a long time ago.
Therefore, his aura wasn't any less powerful than his peers, and right now that powerful aura was oozing out of his body at a rapid pace.