Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

"It is indeed true, Marquess." Viscount Valente chimed in after Rutherford had nodded in reply to the Marquess's earlier query.

When the two men had visited the Merchant's guild today, it was because Rutherford wished to introduce his brother-in-law to the other influential personalities there.

Until now, Viscount Valente had only sent his servants to the guild and this was his first time making an appearance so the Earl had accompanied him as he too had some work to complete there.

However, when they had reached that place, there were quite a few people who had heard about the young daughter of the Earl and her brilliant ideas to help the Kingdom.

Rutherford was stunned to find that the news of what had taken place just yesterday had already spread among the nobles who frequented that place.

After all, only a few nobles who belonged to the main branches of their respective families had attended the King's luncheon.

However, the news had now spread to the side branches and their affiliates already.

From days of old, most of the noble families were distributed between the main and the side branches.

The heads of the families were usually chosen from the main branch and their duties consisted of dealing with the well-being of their fief and maintaining a cordial relationship with the Royal family.

The side branches and their affiliates were allowed to do as they pleased as long as they did not tarnish the name of their family.

Though there were always a few exceptional men from these side branches, it did not matter as the entire focus was always on the main branch in every aspect.

Following the same concept, the main branch's income came from the taxes they received from the citizens residing in their fief while the side branches only got a fixed allowance to survive on.

If they wished for more than what was allotted to them then they would have to earn it themselves.

Thus quite a few of the men from the side branches were involved in trade and other occupations that would fetch them income for their families.

In the future, when Topher inherits the title of Duke then his family would become the main branch and Taylor's future family would become the side branch.

In the same way, between the Valente twins, one would become the head of the main branch while the other would belong to the side branch.

This system was common in all families that had more than one son.

As for the daughters, they would be married off and no longer continue the lineage of their maiden family and thus they were never even considered in this matter.

There had never been a case of an unmarried daughter remaining in the family so there was no information on what needed to be done in that situation.

Thus the men from such side branches were some of the ones in constant contact with Earl St. Claire as they worked together at times.

Due to their pleasant working relationship, they had come up to him to praise his child and this was when Rutherford had learned of the news that was spreading in their noble society.

According to the information he had obtained from these men belonging to different families, the noble society was divided into three factions at this moment.

Some people were praising the child and her smart mind as well as the King's generous heart which had accepted the hard work of such a child.

On the other end of the spectrum were people who were aghast at the King's lackadaisical behavior for having cooperated with a little girl, risking the countless lives of the citizens of this Kingdom.

Finally were those who weren't making their thoughts known as of yet.

These were the neutrals who wished to observe the progress of this issue further before taking any side in this ongoing debate of whether the King's decision was right or not.

Listening to what the Viscount and Earl were divulging before them, everyone had different expressions on their faces.

There was both joy for the child's name being praised and even anger that she was receiving such criticism.

They also did not know whether to be pleased with the ones in the neutral zone or be annoyed that they did not associate with either side.

"Oh, and it looks like you will only become more famous from now on." Topher butted into the conversation at hand.

This made them all turn towards him, waiting for further explanation on his vague and mysteriously prophetic sounding words.

Facing their curious eyes, Topher coughed before revealing why he had said so.

"Minister Leopold had come to visit Father last night." He disclosed confidential information without any qualms.

'After all, this will be known to everyone very soon.' He shrugged and went on with what he was about to say.

As mentioned earlier, the man from the Leopold family's side branch had paid the Duke a visit last night after they had returned from the Palace.

"When did that happen?" Taylor interrogated with a frown, questioning the authenticity of this information.

In response, the elder brother scoffed before glancing his way.

"When you ran away as soon as your 'task' had come to an end." He reminded Taylor and the word 'task' was said euphemistically causing the younger brother's cheeks to burn in embarrassment.

Taylor quickly averted his eyes from his little sister who might think ill of him because of this incident.

However, Yvonne wasn't one to do so and was only interested to know what the Heir of the Tanner family was talking about.

However, the brothers weren't about to reveal what had taken place yesterday.

No matter how much Topher tortured and teased his brother, he would not reveal this matter to the outsiders.

Therefore, no one other than the two siblings knew that the task Taylor had received yesterday was in fact, his punishment for bad-mouthing Topher behind his back in the Palace.

When Topher had caught him red-handed, he had promised to teach him a lesson which was exactly what he had done.

Taylor was sent to give a hand to the squires until they were done for the day and that was where he had been busy till the sunset.

As soon as he was done, he rushed to his room to soak in a warm bath and recuperate while Topher and their father were still working together in their family's office.

When the guest had come over, the two then moved to the Parlor where they found a member of the King's Council of Ministers waiting for them.

Topher was almost at the age of graduating from the Royal Academy and becoming a full-fledged adult, hence had been accompanying his father more often than ever.

This meant that he was present for most of their meetings with other nobles for educational purposes and that was what had taken place last night.

Therefore, instead of explaining these events, he went straight to what they needed to know.

"Minister Leopold had high praises while speaking about Miss Yvonne's help in various matters." He disclosed the exact contents of their conversation just last night.

During the lunch in the Palace, the three Ministers, Marquess Kiron, Old man Carter, and finally Cosmet Leopold had revealed a few vital pieces of information.

Thanks to their efforts, everyone now knew that it was Marquess Samed's pupil who had come up with the changes made to the policies formed by the previous King.

However, last night, that man had given them more information that had not been revealed at that time.

'I have a bad feeling about this…' Yvonne gulped her saliva as she dreaded to hear what else that loyal subordinate of the King had spilled.

Based on what she had witnessed yesterday in the Palace, Yvonne had understood that they were acting on the instructions of the King.

The three men who were present during the St. Claire family's meeting with the King were the ones who had revealed her involvement in the policies.

They also stood in her defense during lunch when people were speaking ill about her.

Now to learn that one among those three men had taken the initiative to head to the Tanner estate and seek an audience with the Duke was only invoking her suspicions regarding everything that was taking place since yesterday morning.

Thanks to Topher's outspoken and chatty nature today, the rest were able to learn what outsiders were not yet aware of.