Familiar

Yvonne was not bothered about the boy who had just spoken up, her entire attention was on the crude boy who had insulted and scammed her when she had visited 'Willow's' cafe.

"Pie boy!" She murmured in a low voice.

All the girls had bowed to wish the other boy but Yvonne was right now in a fierce battle of who would look away first.

'What an annoying and smug face he has!? Makes me want to step on it!' She narrowed her eyes but did not look away.

Noticing the weird atmosphere between these two, the taller boy with red hair decided to intervene.

'When did he become so childish to compete with a mere child?' He wondered in awe as he witnessed what had just happened.

"So what was going on over here? Why were you ganging up on this child?" He spoke in a stern voice which made the other girls cower in their places.

For a mere 12 year old, Topher Tanner was quite largely built. 

His body showed the slight muscles which were developing due to the rigorous training that he underwent every day.

So it was no wonder that the delicate and fragile girls were scared when they were subjected to his intimidating aura.

'Child? Who, me?' Yvonne broke her eye contact with Pie boy and stared at the taller guy with flaming red hair.

That was when she noticed how the girls beside her were standing with their heads lowered.

'I get it now! This must be the older son of the Duke. It's no wonder that these brats bowed down so easily.' She rolled her eyes at them and then politely curtsied to the boy.

"Greetings, Master Topher." She was neither too subservient nor too aloof.

She had used the correct way to address him without putting herself too low.

Topher was not surprised that she knew who he was because almost everyone in the capital knew that the children with flaming red hair belonged to the Tanner family.

He just nodded to accept her greeting and then turned to face the girls who were standing with their heads still lowered.

"What was it that you were saying earlier?" He questioned the oldest one there.

Aleena's face paled when she heard his question and she took a deep breath to calm herself before she answered him.

"Topher sama we were trying to find out whether Yvonne was chosen as the Royal Princess's playmate already." She gave him her best smile and waited for his reply.

'So that girl's name is Yvonne? Not bad…' He glanced at her through the corner of his eyes.

"Oh ho? Is that how you try to get information out of your peers?" Topher nodded his head in understanding.

"Y-yes!" She smiled and quickly agreed with him.

'Idiot, he was being sarcastic!' Yvonne shook her head and looked down to cover the smirk that had appeared on her face.

The brown-haired boy had been watching her every move since the moment he had arrived and hence he instantly recognized that mocking smirk that she thought that she had hidden perfectly.

Yvonne went back to her poker face and then looked back at Topher when he cleared his throat.

"Since it was my uncle who seems to have caused this misunderstanding, why don't I help him in sorting it out?" He then glanced at his friend, asking for his opinions.

That boy just rolled his eyes and shrugged as though he couldn't be bothered to get involved in this petty matter.

Yvonne now knew that Sullivan Samed was Topher's maternal uncle so she too was not bothered about it.

'How exactly will he clear this misunderstanding and let them know that I have ZERO interest in meeting that bratty princess in this lifetime?' She looked up at the tall boy and waited for what he might say next.

"BIG BROTHER TOPHER!"  

Before Topher could speak any further, they heard a loud and excited shout coming from a distance away.

'Too loud!' Yvonne flinched when she heard that loud scream coming from behind her.

She was almost knocked to the ground when the person who had just interrupted them, ran at full speed towards Topher.

Thankfully before her body could hit the dirty grass filled path, a strong pair of hands caught hold of her arm and pulled her in their direction.

Yvonne looked up into those dark green eyes of the boy who had just saved her.

The more she looked at them, the more familiar they felt.

'I feel like I've seen them somewhere before.' She gazed into them without blinking.

While she was trying to figure out where she had seen them in the past, Yvonne felt as though someone had gripped onto her brain in a tight hold and refused to let go.

Her forehead began to sweat and her teeth gnashed against each other.

Not only the boy who had saved Yvonne but also the others present there could clearly recognize the expression of pain that had formed on her face.

One particular person was seething when he saw what has just occurred.

"Let go of my sister, Damien!" Howard yelled in a ferocious voice.

In his earlier excitement to meet his idol, Howard had accidentally pushed Yvonne aside as he rushed to greet Topher.

When he had finally halted his racing feet, he noticed that the unfortunate person he had shoved to the ground was none other than his own sibling.

'Well, she deserves to bear that much pain for all the times she has messed with me.' He wasn't in the least bit remorseful when he watched her fall.

However, her body never hit the ground in fact, the boy who was always with his idol had rushed at an insane speed and caught hold of her securely in his arms.

Howard rolled his eyes when he saw that luck wasn't on his side today.

His gloating had however faded when he watched Yvonne's little face turn pale and her eyes had tears that were ready to flow out at any given second.

His brows furrowed deeply when he watched her pained expression.

This was when he had yelled at Damien, the boy with brown hair and green eyes who was still holding his little sister in his arms.

Damien was perplexed when he saw the big fat tears that rolled out of those bright amethyst eyes.

'Why are you crying? Did she hurt herself somehow?' He wondered as he stared into her eyes.

His hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it moved to her face and wiped her tears away with his soft thumb.

"Wha-- what is going on here?" Taylor choked as he panted to catch his breath.

He had finally caught up to Howard and the first thing his eyes witnessed was the tenderness with which Damien had wiped Yvonne's tears.