BXBX NOVEL Chapter 683 - Keira (1)
Chapter 683 - Keira (1)
Being called creepy put a frown on the Marquess's face but before he could defend himself, he heard another sentence that hit him right where it hurt.
"People will call you a pervert if you keep doing that, Uncle!" Taylor added, begrudgingly agreeing with what his elder brother had just said.
By now, the rest of the people present here were confused as to what was the meaning of their accusatory conversation.
Both Topher and Taylor were on the same page as they shot disapproving glances at their maternal uncle for doing something unethical in their eyes.
"How can you say that!?" Marquess Samed grumbled then clutched his chest as though his heart ached for the disgusted expressions his nephews had right now.
Viscount Marcus Valente had never known the Marquess personally and hence this was his first time seeing a grown man acting this way.
Therefore, it was inevitable that a strange and horrified expression appeared on his face which his wife had caught.
Being subjected to the Viscountess's glare, the cautious husband coughed to conceal the appalled look on his face immediately.
The twins had done a better job at controlling their reactions as they had spent the entire morning with Taylor Tanner who, more or less, behaved in a similar manner.
However, if Taylor were to ever hear of this, he would have cried tears of blood for being compared to his childish uncle.
Thankfully, he was still kept in the dark as everyone was focused on the Marquess.
Yvonne was used to his antics and so were the rest of the St. Claire family members.
Therefore, instead of questioning his odd behavior, they were more curious to know what the Tanner siblings were talking about.
'Use your big mouth to help us understand better.' The little girl scowled at her tutor in her heart and surprisingly, her demands were fulfilled soon enough.
Marquess Sullivan Samed did not wish to be subjected to the accusing glares of his nephews so he decided to let the others judge whether what he had done was right or wrong.
"I only used Keira's help to take a look at what was going on." He declared his defense in a roundabout manner.
'His etcher?' The child blinked her wide eyes when that name was mentioned.
Yvonne and the others who had no clue about what he was trying to say continued to hold their confused expressions as they waited to hear a better explanation coming from him.
Since many people weren't present when his etcher had been introduced, the benevolent child decided to help them out.
"Papa, that bird right there is Keira, Marquess's etcher." She introduced while pointing her chin to the dark bird perched on the window.
Only after the presence of the bird had been mentioned by the child did they even notice that there was someone else in this large room with them.
"Greetings, everyone!" Keira did her part to amaze everyone with her sweet voice as she nodded her head at them from her seat.
The ladies had already met Keira but once again they gushed at how adorable her voice was.
The rest who had met Keira for the first time were shocked to see a bird speaking to them in their language.
Yvonne even went ahead and explained that, unlike other etchers, Keira was a Raven who was capable of speaking in their language making it easy for everyone to communicate with her.
The boys were impressed with this rare species of etcher and gawked at Keira, fascinated by her diamond-like eyes.
"Is that why I sensed aura coming from the Marquess?" Rutherford's contemplative whisper caught their attention.
Yvonne was the first one to hear his doubtful words as she had been seated on his lap all along.
Therefore, she looked up at her father while tilting her head, a gesture she preferred to use whenever she was confused and wanted to learn more about a certain matter.
The doting father not only had to answer to her wordless query but also those coming from the ones seated with him.
"When we first met the Marquess in the Palace after our audience with the King, I could sense a faint aura lingering around him," Rutherford revealed what he had discovered at that time.
During their conversation after they had entered the room where the Duchess was resting with her brother and younger son, the Earl had used his aura to stop the Marquess from touching Yvonne's head.
However, he had soon retracted that aura because Marquess Samed was someone from a higher social standing and it would do him no good to hinder the other man's movements with his aura.
When he had just pulled his aura away, Rutherford had sensed something which needed evidence to strengthen his speculation.
Therefore when he caught a nervous glint passing through the Royal Tutor's eyes, his speculations had been confirmed.
At that time, Yvonne had been so focused on her anger against the Marquess and her reunion with Taylor that she had not paid too much attention to it in the beginning.
Yet the silent glances between the Earl and the Marquess had caught her eye as well.
Marquess Samed had acted suspiciously but before she could figure it out, he had distracted them.
While Yvonne had failed to decipher what had taken place, Rutherford had gotten the answer he was looking for back then.
Today's introduction only proved that he had come to the right conclusion during that incident.
Just as he had deduced, his instincts were right about what he had sensed in that waiting room in the Palace.
The Marquess had found his etcher long before they had met in the Palace and he was even experienced in using his aura.
When Rutherford was pulling his aura back at that time, he had sensed a defensive aura covering the tutor's body.
He knew too well that Marquess Samed was not someone who had a large amount of aura in his body and without an etcher, that aura would only diminish with time.
Therefore, it was surprising for him to see that the other man had managed to protect himself so effortlessly.
If Rutherford had not had keen senses then he would have missed catching the faint aura that lingered as the Marquess had retracted it soon enough to avoid garnering suspicion.
"I wanted to surprise my pupil so I did not mention anything back then." Marquess Samed confessed once the Earl had completed narrating what had taken place.
Thankfully, the Earl was so busy with everything that had taken place that he had forgotten to mention what he had noticed to his family.
This gave Marquess Samed the opportunity to decide how he would make the introductions and even accomplished them earlier today.
"I could not distract you during our classes so I asked my nephew to bring Keira over once our class hours came to an end." He revealed the reason for Topher's timely appearance soon after the conclusion of their classes.
'This explains why he came all the way here when the letter could have been sent through a messenger or servant.' Raylene nodded in understanding at the doubt she had earlier.
However, she was partly right and partly wrong in her deductions.
One of the reasons why Topher Tanner had made an appearance at the St. Claire mansion was to bring over Keira, the etcher who had been spending time with the Duchess during the Marquess's classes.
Yet the major portion of the credit for this occurrence could be assigned to the little girl.
Topher had used the letter from the Duchess and the Marquess's request to bring Keira over as an excuse to come here.
His main motive was a different one which was connected to the brilliant yet mysterious daughter of this family.
'And I won't leave until I achieve what I had come here for.' Topher glimpsed at the little girl who was staring at her tutor.
"You still have not explained how you know about what happened outside." Earl Rutherford narrowed his eyes while stating his dissatisfaction with the current situation.
He was already aware of the Marquess's etcher and now that he had met Keira, he wished to know about the matter at hand.
Raylene and Trisha too nodded as only after Marquess Samed could explain what his nephews had said would he reveal what had taken place outside.
That much they had understood about his personality after spending the last half hour with him inside this Parlor.