Chapter 258 - It Is My Turn
After Raylene had invited everyone present to watch the assessment to have lunch with them, she had asked the servants to assign separate rooms for them.
As the Mansion of the St. Claire's family was huge, there would be no trouble in housing these few guests for the day.
The guests were soon led to different rooms in the mansion to let them refresh themselves as they had all stood under the sun to watch the assessment.
This way, when they were called down for lunch, they would be fresh and well-rested to help them enjoy the meal that the Countess had planned for them.
Before the servants could lead them inside, Rutherford gave strict instructions to his Butler to ensure that none of the boys' rooms would be anywhere close to his daughter's room.
This warning draped in the humble appearance of an instruction was something Butler Limo took with utmost seriousness.
Thanks to his quick thinking and experience in handling the household's responsibilities, it did not take him long to assign rooms for all of the guests.
With the arrangements made, the guests were escorted to the rooms designated to each one of them.
The two adult men, Captain Desmo Reel and Marquess Samed received rooms next to each other on the posterior half of the mansion.
While the three boys who had come straight from the Royal Academy to visit their friend Howard but had stayed back to watch the assessment were also assigned rooms next to each other.
Keeping the Master's orders in mind, these three rooms were on the Eastside of the mansion overlooking the training grounds.
This place was the best option as the Young Miss' room was on the Westside of the mansion which overlooked the lake and the beautiful flowers.
Howard was forced by his mother to walk the boys to their rooms along with the servants who followed them with their heads bowed.
Butler Limo was a competent aide as he always made sure that each room was cleaned and dusted properly to be prepared for such unpredictable situations.
Due to his foresight, only a few last-minute touches were given to the rooms before the guests were led towards them.
Now, Howard stood with a sullen face after he had reached their destination on the Easternmost part of the mansion.
"Rest well, Big Brother Topher and Damien." He wished politely as he had no grudges against them.
However, when it came to the other boy who stood with them, he scoffed and twisted his lips in displeasure.
This expression of his made Taylor sneer right back at him.
"I wish Vonny was my little sister! At least that way I would be happier than you are right now!" He snarled at his friend who had an annoyed look on his face.
This accusation brought a startled reaction from Howard who was unsure of why he was being mocked for this reason.
"What makes you think that I am unhappy with the results?" He retorted and narrowed his eyes.
The servants and the other two boys stood in silence as they watched the interaction between the two friends.
Noticing that there were spectators watching the show, Topher decided to put a stop to this charade before it escalated.
"Can we see our rooms?" He questioned the heir of this mansion.
How could Howard ever refuse anything that his idol had asked?
Therefore, putting aside his argument with his friend, he nodded in eager acceptance.
He then sent the maids away following which he escorted the group to the room at the center with the best view which had been assigned to the elder son of Duke Tanner.
With Howard in the lead, the rest followed and they entered the room without uttering anything else.
Once inside, Damien extracted himself from the quarrelsome kids and decided to take his seat at the window as he enjoyed the view of the training grounds below.
Topher sighed at his friend's ever reclusive behavior and decided to sort out the mess between the youngsters first.
"Now, continue." He commanded and took his seat on the large bed.
Damien let out a silent snicker when he saw how his friend had dealt with the situation and went back to staring out of the window.
As his eyes moved past the grounds where the two siblings had their match earlier, he found that the three etchers were still in the same place as they were before.
His gaze remained fixed on the huge etcher with beautiful black mane.
'Demon…' He recalled the name the little girl had given to her beast and smiled when he found that it was indeed an apt description.
When he had first noticed the beast rushing towards them, he was stunned not by its size but by the child who was riding it.
The image of her lively face was still vivid in his mind, indicating that she had left quite an impression on him by appearing with the etcher.
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he heard the two boys mocking each other once again.
Taylor rolled his eyes and pointed at his friend's nose as he accused him all over again but now in the secure location of the room assigned to his elder brother.
"You! You are unhappy, aren't you? That she won when you did not want her to!" He snarled at Howard who stared back at him in silence.
His friend's silence only strengthened his beliefs and he could not stop shaking his head at him.
"It is true that I did not want her to learn these skills." Howard raised his head and accepted this without hesitation.
Though he spoke again before his best friend could start persecuting him at the stake.
"Have you seen how little she is? My parents were worried that what happened when she fell off the horse and hurt herself at our Summer Estate might repeat itself." He began his side of the reason why he and his family were against her desire to train.
This made even Damien who seemed uninterested in most things to turn and look at him.
"Not to mention that girls do not wish to learn such things in the first place." He scoffed at his little sister who just had to be different when compared to everyone else.
"That's what makes her so special." Taylor's silent murmurs of praise for the girl were clear for everyone to hear.
This statement brought him a glare from his friend and scoff and roll of the eye by his elder brother and his best friend.
"I'll overlook that for now because I still have much to say." Howard waved his hand and dismissed the offense that Taylor had committed.
Topher and Damien nodded in acceptance and a unanimous decision was made to ignore Taylor and his senseless words of praise he had for the little girl.
After being shunned, Taylor could only sit on the bed beside his brother with a pout on his face and listen to what Howard had to say.
Thus, the heir of the St. Claire's family began narrating how his parents were worried that if they did not agree to her demands, she might try to do it on her own and end up getting injured.
"Her last injury at the stable had given them a scare and they did not wish to see it ever repeating itself." He sighed as he recalled the panic he saw in his parents' eyes when she had demanded to learn self-defense during their meal one day.
He then went on to narrate how his father had looked to him for help and he had come up with the plan of the assessment at that moment.
"We thought that she would quit after a couple of days but as you can see…" He paused when he came to the end of the story.
"But she did much better than what you had expected it to be." Topher remarked with confidence in what he was saying.
Though sheepish, there was a nod in response from the young boy with blue hair.
"I promised that I would let her continue with her training if she can prove herself in the assessment." He revealed the deal they had made on that day.
'I also promised myself that I will never forgive her if she dishonored the sword…' He remembered something else that had taken place on that day and also that she had not done any such thing.
"She kept her side of the promise so now it is my turn to do the same." He announced his true intentions to this group of boys.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om