Chapter 720 - An Inappropriate Sight
The little girl who was seated before the mirror had watched everything even when 'Yvonne' in the dream had failed to do so.
Since Howard had covered her eyes, the young miss had not witnessed what the little girl who had conjured this dream had been able to catch sight of.
Therefore, Yvonne had a better understanding of what had taken place in the brief moments that her counterpart in the dream had her view blocked.
In that dream she had seen, Yvonne could see things beyond what older 'Yvonne' was capable of.
Thus she had a clear view of what had taken place while Howard had covered his little sister's eyes.
The moment the pair of brother and sister had entered the room, Yvonne was busy admiring the large arched glass door but Howard's eyes had sought out the one they had come over to meet.
Thanks to his eager attitude to greet this person, he had caught sight of a certain scene that was not appropriate for a young girl on the cusp of womanhood to witness.
Little girls in Rosenhyde would experience puberty earlier and once they celebrate their coming-of-age ceremonies, they would be declared an adult in their noble society.
Therefore, for the young and respectable daughter of the St. Claire's family, who was about to become an adult next year, the elder brother did not wish to sully her eyes with the sight he had witnessed.
Thanks to his protective thoughts and stern nature, his hand shot at lightning speed and concealed this sight from her view.
However, the little girl who was watching this incident in her dream had seen exactly what had caused Howard to act this way.
'So adorable!' She even giggled while recalling what she had seen.
The room they had entered belonged to someone she was already familiar with.
In fact, they had interacted with each other just yesterday and even sparred to test their skills and progress levels.
Thus the one Yvonne had seen here was a young adult version of Topher Tanner, resembling the face she had seen in another dream before, appearing inside this room.
He wasn't the only one there as a few other men were also inside the room with him.
However, what had caught her eye was the fact that the young man who had grown into a splendid adult was reclining against the headrest of the bed, half-naked and flaunting the muscular physique he had sculpted through years of training.
The little girl who had seen his bare chest and abdominal muscles was fascinated to see them and for the initial seconds, had failed to notice anything else happening around.
When she came back to her senses, she saw Howard urging the other man to put on some clothes as he did not wish his sister to glance at some man's naked body.
The men who were with Topher Tanner displayed their reluctance to comply with his demands as there was a perfectly acceptable reason for his current inappropriate appearance.
However, the new Earl was adamant about it and thankfully Topher had agreed.
The hushed murmurs and shuffling sounds that 'Yvonne' had heard while her eyes were covered were thanks to this back and forth that had taken place.
The ones next to Topher were three men whom she had never seen before but considering how they were interacting with Howard, she could infer that they were close to each other.
Thanks to Howard's insistence, Topher had a loose housecoat draped over his shoulders but that was the only compromise his men could make.
The coat wasn't tied too tight which left a few glimpses of his chest to be visible if he moved even in the slightest.
Howard was grateful for this effort and only after making sure that the other man wasn't entirely naked did he let go of his hand which covered his sister's eyes.
This made the little girl shake her head at her brother's over-protective nature which was present even in that dream where the siblings weren't too close to each other.
Smiling at his inherent caring behavior, she then returned to recalling the events that had taken place after 'Yvonne' had gained permission to see.
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Yvonne was stunned at first to see so many people already in the room but soon her attention diverted to the man reclining against the bedrest.
She curtsied immediately as even if they weren't closely acquainted, that man was of a higher status in their society.
Topher Tanner nodded his head in acceptance of her greeting before Howard began conversing with him.
While the men were busy exchanging greetings, Yvonne's eyes scanned the room and found its aesthetics quite pleasing to her tastes.
The room was filled with subtle beige and gold hues which made it look elegant but not overly tacky.
'Who would have thought that a man would like this kind of room?' She was enlightened as she had heard that men usually chose deeper colors instead of something demure and sophisticated like this color scheme.
However, her attention quickly focused on the conversation taking place here.
With this, her eyes too landed on the man in bed as he had been the talk of the town since yesterday evening.
Everyone who had noble ties in the Capital had heard about the shocking incident that had taken place with Topher Tanner, son of Duke Tanner.
The young man who was a head knight in one of the squadrons of the Red Scorpion Knights had been allegedly injured during a scuffle in one of the towns on the outskirts of the Capital.
The Red Scorpion Knights were known as the 'Commoner Knights' as they were mainly in charge of maintaining law and order among the commoners and dealt with any incidents related to them.
Thus the young man who had risen ranks thanks to his hard work and efforts was given the role of the Head Knight within a few months after he had been knighted by the King.
There was a period of probation after receiving each rank and only after completing this period without any complaints against their work etiquettes could they be promoted to a higher rank.
Topher too had done so and due to his sincerity to his job and also his ability to lead his men, he had gained the Head Knight title through his own merits.
His job as the head knight was to oversee the town he was put in charge of and make sure that law and order was maintained among its citizens.
The injury he sustained last evening was when he had tried to break up a scuffle in a bar which he had witnessed during his daily patrols.
Yvonne did not possess too much information about the details of the incident as she had only heard that the Head Knight was the one who had gotten injured.
To visit the injured man, Howard had made her cancel her other plans for the day and brought her along to the Tanner estate.
She had assumed that since it was the talented Topher Tanner, the injury should not have been too grave as it was a common occurrence for rumors to get exaggerated as it passed down the grapevine.
However, looking at the thick bandages tied around the man's shoulder and chest which were peeking through the housecoat he had on, made her change her mind.
This made the young miss feel guilty that she had grumbled and whined before she was dragged here by her brother.
While she was admonishing herself for acting in such a crude manner earlier, she heard someone rushing into the room.
The man who donned the uniform of a butler hurried towards the man in bed and whispered something into his ear.
The young miss knew not to interfere and stood at the side as she had been brought here to visit the sick which she had already done.
Thus she found no purpose to remain here but could only stand on the sidelines until her brother was ready to return to their mansion.
Sadly, it would take longer for them to leave as whatever it was that the Butler had informed his master, had caused their expressions to turn somber.
The men here were all people who had etchers and thus had heard what the Butler had whispered into Topher's ear.
Since Topher was bedridden, they offered to look into this issue for him.
"Ah…" Howard halted when he recalled that his sister was still in the room when they were about to head out.
His hesitation was clear on his face as he did not know how to move ahead now.
One of the men with Topher then smiled at the young miss who was present as he stepped towards her.
"Miss, could you accompany the Young Master until we get back?" He requested with a gentle smile but Yvonne did not reply straight away.
Instead, she glanced at her brother who still appeared apprehensive.
However, the urgency of the situation had caused him to nod which made Yvonne nod as well.
Thus the three men and Howard strode out of the room after receiving her acquiescence, leaving only the young miss, the injured man, and the Butler in this large and spacious room.
"I shall prepare some tea for the Miss." The Butler bowed and rushed out even before Yvonne could reject his offer.
She and the Young Master of the Tanner family had not met too often to be close enough to converse with each other.
However, now that she was alone with him, she had no choice but to speak to him in order to alleviate some of the awkward silence that had engulfed this room after the others had left.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l