Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

Hearing the loud interruption, Aleena and Yvonne turned around to see who it was that sounded so distressed right now.

The sight of Topher patting the back of the brown-haired young man who was coughing incessantly was what they had witnessed.

However, with a single glance, she could make out that there was something wrong with this sight.

While the gesture of patting the other person's back was a kind one, Topher was using way too much force than what was needed.

'Is he enjoying his friend's pain?' She even frowned at his curved lips which indicated that he was having a great time right now.

It did not take a second longer for Yvonne to assign the label 'weird' to this pair of friends.

"He must have choked on something so excuse us for a moment," Topher announced, dragging away a breathless Damien before the other person could even utter a single word.

"Odd…" She heard Aleena mutter as well which made her glance at the rest of the boys here, seeking an explanation.

However, Taylor and Howard were quick to shake their heads in reply as they too were surprised with what had taken place.

Damien's sudden coughing fit had caused them to halt in the same place so now that they had left, the twins suggested that they should take their seats soon.

Aleena agreed and hastened to say her goodbyes as she wished to sit with her family which left Yvonne in the company of her brothers.

'We finally got time alone with Vonny!' The four had similar expressions of joy evident on their faces as they escorted the little girl to the nearest vacant table.

As they walked along, Taylor recalled how he had witnessed Damien's shoulders tensing up after listening to the murmurs coming from the girls.

The Tanner brothers had even snickered just a little upon hearing the shocking news that the Kiron family's daughter had disclosed.

This had also been the cause of the sudden coughing fit that had ruined their pleasant atmosphere.

However, when Yvonne had signaled, asking if they knew what might have taken place, he knew better than to reveal the truth.

Thus he too had shaken his head like the rest and tossed the thought of the two who had vanished from his mind.

He finally got the chance to spend time with his sister so he would certainly make the most of it.

'They can deal with their own problems.' He scoffed at his brother and his best friend before rushing to take the seat next to his sworn sister.

Duchess Tanner had arranged for smaller tables with six seats each in this vast area which served as the Red Scorpion Knights' training arena on other days.

Today, it was neatly decorated, giving this place the perfect ambiance to sit down and have a pleasant chat with friends and acquaintances.

Most of the adults had sat at the same table which left the youngsters to find a seat with those they were close to.

The Tanner and Brodie couple had sat together with Marquess Samed and the unexpected appearance of Minister Carter had resulted in the last seat at that table to end up in his possession.

Similarly, other couples sat together, leaving the children more time and space to mingle among themselves.

The Duchess had already planned for this as she believed that children should be given the time to build more relationships with each other, strengthening the bonds they already had and even establishing newer ones.

Yvonne scanned the area and found her parents with the Valente and Kiron couple, appearing to enjoy the conversation they were having right now.

Then she saw the Yona and Leopold family with Grandpa Jonah Leopold and even Minister Cosmet Leopold was present there.

'All three ministers appeared here.' Yvonne frowned at this realization.

Marquess Kiron, Cosmet Leopold, and Syrac Carter, the three culprits in spreading her feats among the nobles were all here but she had not seen these two earlier which indicated that they had arrived only recently.

She was still scanning her surroundings with furrowed brows when she sensed someone taking a seat at their table.

Glancing in that direction, she raised her brow at who it was.

It was Damien who had returned, looking better than before, and seemed to have taken care of that scary cough.

There was just one empty seat at this table that Yvonne, Taylor, Howard, and the Valente twins had occupied.

With his arrival, their table was now full but there seemed to be some slight commotion taking place elsewhere which demanded the little girl's attention.

Therefore, without wasting her time on Damien, she swirled around to take a look at what was happening in that place.

Next to the table where the Carter family and a few others whom she had never seen before were seated was the one where the ruckus had been created.

Yvonne shook her head as at one glance she had already grasped the crux of the issue.

At this table, Topher was seated next to Jacob Kiron on whose other side was his little sister Aleena.

It was no surprise that Cecily Yona was also found here.

Since she could not sit next to her beloved Jacob, she chose to be next to his little sister.

At least in this way, she could be close to him even when he had not glanced at her and was busy conversing with the Tanner family's heir.

Neither of these was the issue right now as something else had caused her mood to sour.

Her little brother Zimon was supposed to sit on her other side but instead, he had opted for the seat next to Topher.

This left the last vacant seat next to her to be occupied by someone she wasn't comfortable with.

Klay Carter was now beside Cecily and also directly opposite Jacob.

He smiled at his neighbor bashfully before leering at the young man who was his rival in love.

Yvonne was watching this strange sight with a lot of complicated thoughts in her mind.

She understood that Topher had sat next to Jacob because he knew that Aleena would be on the other side.

He had done so to ease the tension which might intensify if Cecily Yona had the obvious thoughts of sitting next to Jacob.

He had also assumed that Zimon would sit next to his sister, thus creating a blockage against Klay who displayed excessive interest towards her.

Yvonne had also assumed the same, however, it looked like Zimon did not care about the sour face his elder sister was having right at this moment.

All he cared about was sitting where he pleased and that just so happened to be beside Topher, the next Duke of the Tanner family.

Cecily's discomfort was clear for everyone to see and she wished that Jacob would do something for her sake yet that man only minded his own business.

'He has no tact!' Yvonne felt pity for that girl for the very first time since they had known each other.

Jacob was more bothered about making sure that his sister was comfortable that he had no time to care about anyone else.

While this was an admirable trait to possess, she hoped that he would learn to read the room a little better.

Since Yvonne's gaze was fixed in that direction, her eyes met Aleena's, who was also wondering why she had gotten herself involved in this awkward situation.

However, she could not leave her brother alone with this overly eager person so could only sit here without uttering another word.

Yvonne shot her an encouraging smile, asking her to cheer up which brought a slight smile to Aleena as well.

Elna was seated at the table where Glennise Brodie was with Rika and the three Carter daughters.

She had caught this exchange of glances between the two which made her narrow her eyes at the sudden pleasant relationship between them.

On the other hand, Rika was having a tough time with the Carter girls who were leering at her from time to time.

Glennise had understood the cause of this and while she did not interfere in their quarrel, she patted Rika's hand to calm her which had revealed where she stood in this matter.

Rika smiled at this kind gesture and no longer felt troubled while facing the glares coming from the other three girls.

Yvonne had not witnessed this as she was still observing the people at Aleena's table along with Taylor and Howard.

They knew exactly the kind of person Zimon Yona was and now witnessing this behavior of his where he did not care about his sister's discomfort only reminded them that they needed to stay wary of him.

Similarly, Damien shared a glance at his best friend who, as the heir of the Tanner family, was stuck trying to make peace in that awkward situation.

His forest-green eyes then flitted towards the heir of the Yona family and a certain memory from the past resurfaced.

'Hmm…' He averted his gaze and fell into deep thought which no one else had noticed.

The Valente twins were new to this kind of scene so they were watching with enthusiasm, also reminding themselves to not behave like this in the future once they met someone they liked.

'Making a lady uncomfortable is a disgraceful deed for any gentleman..' They remembered the words their grandfather had taught them in the past and were sure to live by those words of wisdom at all costs.