River frowned.
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“If not, then what?”
River let out a deep sigh, and getting up; he walked over to the cabinet containing the bottles of wine. Returning after pouring out two glasses of wine, he set one down in front of his brother.
“I was only trying to say that I hoped we might be able to compromise through Ellen and find peace with each other.”
Ryder picked up his wine glass and slowly swirled the red liquid around. After drinking half of his glass, River turned back to his brother.
“Ellen is loyal. If we give her our hearts, then she will probably pour forth more love than either of us could ever return, even working together. Don’t you want to experience that sort of love?”
After huffing out a sigh, Ryder shook his head.
“You can’t pour out that much love for two separate people, River. You’re expecting too much of Lady Ellen.”
“Can you really say that even after witnessing the precedent set by Her Majesty?”
“Her Majesty grew up with both of the two kings. That gave them enough time for those sorts of feelings to grow. However, Lady Allen and we aren’t that close.”
“Don’t you think that we might be able to come close to that?”
Ryder resolutely shook his head.
“It’s impossible.”
River let out a deep breath.
“As expected of a pessimist.”
“I’m just a realist. I am not against your relationship with Lady Ellen. I even think that it might work out well.”
Ryder took a sip of wine before continuing to speak.
“Although I’ve already said this to Lady Ellen, if you two do end up getting married, I’m thinking of granting you the Francine estate.”
“I have no intention of relinquishing my position as the Captain of the Duke of Madison’s Personal Guard.”
“You need an estate and a home that belongs solely to you. That’s especially the case if you intend on getting married.”
Shaking his head from side to side, River got up.
“Brother, you’re fighting a losing battle. If it were before you had embraced Ellen, then I wouldn’t be so sure, but now that you’ve already known her intimately, can you really bear to keep watching from here on while I have her all to myself? Do you really believe that?”
“There are plenty of women with whom I can satisfy my needs.”
River looked at his brother and grinned.
“You’re right. Of course, there are plenty of women willing to satisfy your cravings. However, will those sorts of women really be able to satisfy your needs? Let’s just see how that works out for you.”
River strode into his brother’s bedroom. River frowned and rose to follow him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Since you’ve said that you have no interest in Ellen, brother, then I’ll just have to move her to my room before she wakes up because I don’t want to see her crying after you cruelly scorn her.”
“I wasn’t planning to treat her coldly. I was just going to explain to her why this sort of thing can never happen again.”
“Ah, of course, you were. Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure to explain everything to her clearly.”
River wrapped her slender body up in the blanket and picked her up with his arms. Although she shifted slightly in her sleep, Ellen’s eyes stayed shut, and after snuggling her head into his shoulder, she let out a few faint snores. Ryder almost reached out with a trembling hand, but instead, he stepped back, allowing River to leave the room while carrying her.
“Don’t worry. Because from now on, I won’t be sending Ellen to you, brother.”
River smiled at him crookedly, then he crossed the parlor over to his own room and kicked the door shut behind him.
Ryder stood there for quite a while, not moving a muscle as he stared at the closed door.
“I think we need to discuss the route to the party once again.”
At Ryder’s voice, Ellen almost spilled the tea while pouring it to Celia. His voice was enough to make her nervous.
“Ellen?”
Celia looked at her curiously. Ellen blushed, poured the tea, and put the kettle down.
“I’m sorry.”
“Is the Duke making you uncomfortable?”
“No, I’m not…”
No, she was actually uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be in the same space as them. The fact that she had fooled around with him made her feel embarrassed till death.
River had told her that it wasn’t like that; it was just that his brother couldn’t open his heart. He had asked her to be patient, but after spending so much private time together that she couldn’t tell anyone and coming back to her senses in another man’s bed, she did not know what to think of it.
「If I had just come to you myself, would you have embraced me?」
「Maybe not.」
Ryder’s words were hovering in her head. Ultimately, it meant that he embraced her only because River had decorated her to suit his tastes. It could have been any woman. She was glad he did not mind her scars, but that was it. In fact, maybe it simply was because he was not picky about women.