Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

While Rutherford might have accepted Yvonne's plan of heading to the Valente estate, he had other thoughts in his mind which was why he had delayed that trip for another few weeks.

Therefore, until it was a few days before her birthday, they would remain in the Capital and head to the Valente's only when the time was right.

However, another problem had arisen now that he had solved the initial one.

The Earl's eyes glanced sideways and realized that he had to somehow dismiss the suspicious glances that his brother-in-law was shooting at him for quite some time now.

Marcus had found it strange that Rutherford was adamant about not sending Yvonne over to their estate.

Yet within a few seconds, he changed his mind and even announced that their entire family would join her on this trip.

Therefore, the sharp mind of the Viscount was trying to figure out what this man was up to.

When Rutherford discovered that he had invoked the suspicions of his brother-in-law, he did not try to explain anything to him, instead turned towards his daughter.

"Vonna, your work will only increase once CLOVER steps into the noble market." He explained his concerns about what the future would hold for her.

She was still a child but her everyday schedule was already too hectic for someone her age.

Other little girls would wake up leisurely before breakfast time and begin their classes an hour or so after that.

However, Yvonne was up even before the Sun was up on certain days as the Captain was strict with her in order to instill punctuality and discipline in her mind.

While she may enjoy this routine, her parents were often worried that she would end up falling sick due to overexertion.

After training with the Captain, she did not have sufficient time to rest before heading to other classes and there was even her three-hour class with Marquess Samed.

Until lunch, there was not an extra second for Yvonne to take a breath and relax.

Thankfully, she had already completed her Piano classes which allowed her to spend her afternoons as she pleased.

Therefore, thinking of this, Rutherford was worried about how she would manage the increasing workload that would come up in the future.

"You have two ways of going about things now." He put forth his suggestions to stop her from overworking.

As she was going to step into the noble market which was mostly centralized in the Capital, she would need to put more time into it as being lackadaisical might cause their business to fail.

For this, she would either have to look after everything personally or hire someone trustworthy to do it.

After all, Viscount Marcus Valente, the one who had been helping her look after CLOVER's operations in the Valente fief until now would not be able to stay in the Capital throughout the year to do this.

He had his own business, family, and fief to take care of and he was also giving her a helping hand in her business as well.

Therefore, Yvonne could not ask him to do any more than what he was already doing right now.

Neither could Rutherford help her out as his involvement could cause suspicions among the other noblemen.

Not to mention that Yvonne had already declared that he and the St. Claire family business were a separate entity and were not associated with CLOVER in any way or form.

The company was Yvonne's and hers alone which also meant that he would not be able to help her out by taking care of her company which would soon be focusing on the nobles in the Capital.

Keeping these things in mind, the children and even Viscount waited to hear what the Earl had in mind.

"Since it will be difficult to find someone trustworthy outside the family, why don't you look after it yourself?" He suggested with a carefree tone which shocked those seated next to him.

Yvonne too was surprised to hear that her father wanted her to look after the business personally.

After all, wasn't he the one who had emphasized numerous times about keeping her identity a secret from the outsiders?

"Bringing too many people in on the secret would not be a good thing to do." He explained why he had given this absurd-sounding suggestion.

After uttering these words, the father remained silent and watched his child, waiting to see how she would react.

Yvonne did not notice his observant gaze as she was deep in her thoughts, considering the suggestion she had received and how it would reflect on her and her company's future.

They had kept their secret safe until now because the one in charge of the company was Viscount Valente, a trusted family member.

However, if any random outsider was hired to handle CLOVER as its pseudo head, working under the mysterious VC, then there were chances of being vulnerable to many risks.

The first being that this person could try to expose Yvonne's identity as VC or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, they would try to declare themselves to be VC and that would lead them to a whole different mess for them to deal with.

Therefore, Yvonne had to be careful about who she chose to act as her representative before the others.

VC was never supposed to see the light of day anyway and her initial plan had always been to find someone to work under her, looking after CLOVER on her behalf.

She needed someone who could act according to her instructions and was captivating enough to attract the attention of those around them.

'Someone who follows my every instruction, easy-going in nature to be able to get along with everyone, and finally has the ability to get closer to people quickly…' Yvonne encapsulated the attributes she wished her second-in-command to possess.

The more she thought about it, the further her brows furrowed together.

Her father had asked if she would like to personally look after the business in the Capital but hearing the words he chose and how he had mentioned this matter before her, she could sense that he was trying to hint at something.

'Someone who possessed those qualities but wasn't an outsider…' She continued to mull over what she had just heard from him.

Rutherford's lips curved into a smirk when he noticed her thoughtful expressions.

He had indeed touched upon this matter with a few ulterior motives.

The most important one was obviously to steer away from the suspicious gaze he was receiving from the Viscount but there had been other reasons for his actions as well.

He had asked her to look after CLOVER personally but there was a hidden meaning behind those words.

After all, it was obvious that she would need to find someone to take care of CLOVER as Viscount Marcus Valente could not be troubled for this purpose every time.

Yet, he was also worried about the secret they had to maintain as it was not safe for her involvement to be known outside.

'Especially with how the situation currently is in the Capital.' He added in his mind while waiting for her to figure out the clues he had given.

While the rest were trying to decipher what was going on, Yvonne's eyes widened when she finally grasped what her father had tried to hint.

"Someone close enough to be trusted but not quite…" She muttered as she raised her head to glance at her father.

Rutherford gave her a nod in approval, implying that she was moving in the right direction.

There were only a few people she could mark under the category she had disclosed just now.

Among them, there was only one who, in her sight, was the best fit for the job.

Reaching this conclusion, Yvonne's eyes which had been fixed on her father, shifted momentarily towards the door of the Parlor before reverting to her father once again.

The Earl had caught this series of actions and the smirk on his face revealed that she had found the right answer.

'Why did I never think of this before?' The little girl could not help but be impressed with her father's way of thinking.

Her admiration for him was so clear for everyone to notice but they could only alternate their gaze between the two, curious to hear what they were up to.