Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

Chapter 249 - Reluctant To Believe

Howard turned to his right and found that his little sister had already caught up to him.

"Tell me…" He muttered while looking back at the path ahead of them.

Yvonne glimpsed at him from the corner of her eyes as she too paid attention to where she was stepping.

\'Tell you what?\' She wondered but remained silent when she saw his lips moving once again.

"Have you learned well in the last month with the Captain?" He inquired in a whisper while walking beside her.

Yvonne understood that he might still have doubts about her so she nodded in reply to his question.

"I have, big brother." She responded truthfully as she had learned a lot from the Captain.

Without that man, she would not have known that Demon was an etcher, without his conditions to be left alone she would not have been able to learn without parental disturbances.

But most of all, without the Captain there was no way that she would have done what she was able to achieve today.

It was her hard work that brought her success in the first two trials but to say that she was the sole owner of the praise would go against her conscience.

Desmo Reel had been the one who taught her how to control and connect with her etcher and he also taught her how to wield the sword and shoot an arrow.

"Without the Captain\'s guidance, I do not think that I would have been able to cope with the trials you had set for me." She revealed and flashed him a wide smile.

The smile and the words she spoke stunned the boy as he stopped in his tracks.

Noticing his abrupt halt, the little girl stopped and stared up at the young boy who was also gazing down at her.

Howard was a growing boy and in his veins ran Rutherford St. Claire\'s blood.

This implied that his growth was rapid and there were high chances that he would end up growing to be just as tall and muscular as his father.

Though he was still young, Yvonne noticed that he had grown by about an inch during his month-long stay in the Royal Academy.

\'Oh, how quickly they grow up!\' Grandmother Yvonne lamented when she discovered his growth in height.

Howard on the other hand was observing how small and dainty his little sister was.

Previously, he would always turn the opposite way whenever he caught sight of her but today his eyes had only been on her.

His earlier beliefs that she had not truly lost her memories and was only pretending so as to bide her time to attack him when he least expected it was sounding ridiculous now.

\'Sometimes she acts like the same old sister who was mocking me whenever she got the chance but sometimes she behaves like she wishes to befriend me and mend our relationship.\' He surmised based on their past interactions.

He had been skeptical when his parents had told him about her memory loss and were sure that it was all a ruse.

But the girl standing before him was vastly different from the sister he had in the past.

It was true that she mocked him but she hadn\'t done anything to harm him with wicked intentions and neither had she framed him for any of her crimes.

\'In fact, she hasn\'t been mischievous at all…\' He realized and narrowed his eyes at the girl.

What had changed during her trip to the Summer Estate that she had decided to mend her ways and improve her relationship with the family?

He did not have the answer to that but he was sure that this little girl could not be the same sister due to whose impish behavior he had been suffering.

"What changed?" He muttered to himself.

\'Change? He wants to change the trial?\' Yvonne, who had only caught the last word, was sent into a whirlwind of panic and confusion after hearing his words.

"What changed, Big Brother?" She questioned while trying to keep a calm face.

The wind was blowing through the grounds, making her violet tresses that had been tied in a high ponytail fly across her face.

Jerking her face to the side, she removed the obstruction to her view and continued to stare at him with hopes of receiving an explanation.

Howard\'s ears were ringing with the words he had heard.

\'Big Brother…\'

This was a word she would use only when she was in the presence of their parents as she tried to incriminate him for the tricks she had pulled.

Glancing over his shoulders, he found that their parents were out of earshot but this girl was still addressing him in this endearing term.

"Nothing." He answered her and began walking ahead once again, creating greater distance between themselves and the group of people approaching from behind.

\'Well someone is having a mood swing.\' Yvonne rolled her eyes as she began running after him once again.

She needed to face him in this next trial which meant that she needed to check him out thoroughly.

The teachings of her grandpa Leo coupled with the training she received from Captain Desmo would be her helping hands in winning this final trial.

\'I know that he has his misgivings with this body but I hope he remains impartial just like he did in the last two trials.\' She prayed that he did not bring up the grudge he had against his little sister into the mix.

Though, she did not have to worry about that as this big brother of hers was having second thoughts about some of the choices he had made in the past.

The two siblings had now reached the final venue of the assessment, the main training grounds where the equipment for the third trial was already present on the tables.

Yvonne was a step slower but she moved closer to the table to take a better look at the wooden swords laid before them.

The elder brother did not speak any longer as he watched her lift both of the swords and check them one after the other.

"Just like the ones that Captain taught me with." She exclaimed and placed them back where she had found them.

The group that was still walking was covering the distance between them and would soon reach their position.

In the meantime, Yvonne decided to keep her mind calm as she scanned the training ground which would serve as the arena for the next trial.

\'Luckily, Captain sparred with me for the last two weeks so I do not have to be nervous without any reason.\' She placated herself with this information.

If she could manage to hold her ground when training with the man known as \'Spawn\', she was sure that she could deal with this little boy as well.

\'My body may be small but I have knowledge from two lives to help me win!\' She declared in confidence which was now surging through her body.

While she was encouraging herself, Howard was trying to sort out the messy thoughts in his mind.

\'If this was before then she never would have expressed her gratitude and credited the Captain for teaching her…\' He recalled how she would always behave that she was better than the rest and did not need anybody\'s assistance to improve herself.

The changes in her that he had observed today was making him see her in a different light, a light where she might not be the girl who loved to torture him from a young age.

However, when the thought of the sufferings he had faced and the punishments he had gained due to her handiworks, he was reluctant to believe that she had truly changed.

\'I want to make new memories with you, big brother Howard…\' A voice echoed in his mind.

The words she had spoken when they first met after her accident in the Summer Estate which had caused her to lose her memories had come to his mind.

Conflicted at which Yvonne was the present and true Yvonne, he furrowed his brows and struggled to come to a proper conclusion.

He had not yet found the answer he had been looking for when he heard footsteps announcing the arrival of the group of people.

He glanced up and found that his sister had run over to her trainer and was discussing something serious with him.

\'Let us just decide about this after the trial comes to an end.\' He tossed his troubling thoughts away from his mind.

Now, all that remained in his head was the sword and the test that he had thought up for this young girl.