As soon as he passed through the huge door of the Grimwood mansion, Magnus took off his heavy coat and handed it to the beta butler. Being free enough to take a deep breath, the omega crossed the room and followed the dark mansion corridor, with the butler on his tail.
"How was your meeting with the eighth prince, Your Grace?"
"Enlightening and annoying. What do we have here?"
"Some letters have arrived for Your Grace and some documents that the Baron asked you to review."
"More work... what about my brothers?"
"They went make shopping. I believe they are looking for a stylist to make master Jesse's suit."
"Great, I will have peace for a few hours."
Magnus walked into his huge office, coming across a pile of documents on his desk. Taking a deep breath, he sat behind the pile and began to read the documents and separate them before starting to work on them.
As always, the Grand Duke had to take care of the affairs of his territory in the east. Every time he started to work, he completely forgot what was happening around him. He didn't even notice when the butler served him a cup of hot coffee and left a plate of buttery cookies nearby, he just ate and drank while the crimson eyes followed the thin and tortuous lines in the leaves.
"Here are the day's correspondence, Your Grace."
When Magnus raised his head, he felt a vein pop on his forehead. The silver tray was full of cards.
"All right, let's see what we have useful."
Of that stack with about twenty matches, only five were considered useful. Those five were read carefully, and Magnus left them apart for his work as Grand Duke. The other seven were invitations to parties and banquets, which Magnus would probably push for his brother to go in his place.
The rest of...
"What should I do with the gifts that came with the letters, my lord?"
It was not necessary Magnus to see what the gifts were. It was always the same thing, the same bouquets of flowers, boxes of chocolates or a pair of gloves and pens. The alphas who were eager to win the Grand Duke's consort rank did not spare resources to send expensive gifts together with their witty letters.
"Burn, eat, throw away. Do what you want."
"As you wish. Ah, right, and if some unwanted guest shows up to see you?"
Magnus hit his pointer on the table as he thought. Then he looked at the only card that was separated on the right side of his desk. The one that contained the royal seal and an elegant calligraphy that he should never ignore.
Then he took a letter paper and began to write, being careful in the choice of words and ensuring that it was objective and clear. Then he heated the wax and wrapped the letter with extreme care and handed it to the butler, who was still waiting for the answer of his question.
"Tell them that I am not receiving visitors. I am waiting for His Majesty to grant me an audience."
"An audience with His Majesty?"
"Yes. So just receive the visit of the messenger from the imperial palace. But if those annoying visitors persist in waiting, you are allowed to kick them out."
"That would not be very appropriate, my lord."
"Indeed it is not, but I am the Grand Duke", Magnus sighed resting his head in the palm of his hand, in a bored pose as he stared at that blessed letter. "And perhaps the Emperor's future son-in-law, probably this will give me some kind of poetic license to despise these useless alphas."
The butler looked wide in surprise, but wisely made no comment about it. He let Magnus continue to separate the cards, and burned all that contained the procession of noble men and alphas.
Magnus continued working after ignoring the letters, and even when some unwanted guests actually showed up at the mansion, Magnus didn't even leave his office. Nor worried about it, after all your butler always knew how to take care of these matters.
When it was already late, the door of his office was opened, the curious Jesse and Eugene entered the office when Magnus just raised his head towards him.
"I see you're back from your walk. How was it?"
"Fun, they're bringing Jesse's suit to Baroness Vaugh's dance later this week."
"I thought you were going to choose your wedding suit."
"I also took measurements, since I'm doing it in the same studio", Jesse commented calmly.
The two younger brothers sat on the burgundy upholstery and soon the butler entered the office serving some snacks. Magnus left them at ease and continued his work, although part of his attention was directed to them.
"The shop owner gave us some candy while we waited for measurements. She commented that everyone is looking forward to Jesse's wedding."
"It's natural, considering that of the three of us, I'm getting married first."
Jesse and Eugene looked out of the corner at Magnus, who only sighed despite facing the paper on his desk.
"Do you have something to tell me?"
"Is it necessary for us to say something, my brother?"
"No."
"Carsen said that you went to the palace today, was visiting the first prince again?"
"No, I went to visit the eighth."
Jesse and Eugene were surprised and exchanged glances before turning on the couch eager to know more.
"What do you mean? Why did you visit the eighth prince?"
"I assume you went to thank him for helping Eugene the other night."
A vein sprang on Magnus' forehead. Of course, he had forgotten about that incident. Lucian had reserved apple juice for his younger brother, who had not yet made his social debut. Magnus had taken Eugene, since the poor boy would be alone in the mansion during the celebration banquet. Moreover, Cadec had said that he had no problem taking him, since many nobles would also take their children.
The problem was that the children in question were children and not a seventeen-year-old.
"That's right, I was... thanking you for the kindness."
"I hope you also sincerely apologize for your rude words."
"I guess I apologized on occasion, didn't I, Jesse?"
Jesse looked at him inexpressively, as he always did. His brother was someone so quiet and simple, that it was even a tactic: keep silent until the culprit self-sabotage, a plan that worked.
"All right, all right. I just had some business to settle with him. You don't have to look at me like that, I didn't offend him.... or at least he was not offended."
"It would be very lucky for His Highness not to be offended."
"Do you know that I liked him?", Eugene said, biting a macaron. "Once at the academy, Viscount Bauhmer's daughter said that she went along with her father to the Palace of the Sun, and that while her father had an audience with the Emperor, She walked through the palace and ended up approaching the part where the eighth prince dwells. I remember her saying that she saw him through the window and swore he was a ghost."
"People have a terrible idea about the eighth prince."
"That's what I thought, Jesse. I barely believed it when I saw him at the banquet. He is very handsome and elegant, doesn't resemble a ghost in any way."
"And to think that my lovely little brother was bought by an apple juice", Magnus whispered with a funny smile.
Eugene's cheeks were slightly pink, just like the color of his eyes.
"Brother! I'm just being honest. His behavior is not consistent with what I've heard about him."
"In this I agree. Although I wonder the fact that he has accompanied Princess Raven at the last parties. The first prince did not comment anything about it?"
Magnus gave up work, his brothers seemed very communicative that afternoon. Leaving the pen on the table, the Grand Duke just crossed his arms and leaned against the chair, allowing himself to rest a little.
"No, Cadec did not comment on the eighth prince being supporting Raven."
"You are too mean, they are brothers. He can't keep up with her just by being close?"
"You're right, Eugene, forgive us", Jesse said, stroking his little brother's head.
The innocence of his younger brother should be kept as long as possible, Magnus imagined. Although at some point, especially when he entered the high society, Eugene would find out how dirty are the nobles, for now it wouldn't hurt to preserve that innocence.
While he smiled comfortable with that conversation, Magnus again noticed the Emperor's letter on his desk. How would your brothers react if they knew of the marriage proposal? Magnus hardly talked about his relationships, but it was common for the Grand Duke to intrude into the romantic life of his brothers, especially when Jesse was still single and received several proposals from Ômegas and Betas.
Taking into account that he was involved in a big problem with Lucian, he was curious to know what the two thought about a mere idea.
"I received a letter from the Emperor, a few days ago", Magnus started, and just mentioning the Emperor, his brothers looked at him attentively. "He made me a marriage proposal."
"What?!"
Jesse covered Eugene's mouth before he started screaming. Eugene choked, needing a few slaps on the back to catch his breath.
"The Emperor? Is he trying to marry you to his daughter? As far as I know, the second princess is an alpha."
"All of his children are single, so it's natural that he cares about this."
"And what did you say, Mag?"
"I still haven't answered", lied Magnus, although it sounds very sincere.
He could not tell his brothers that his morals and conscience forced him to accept the marriage proposal for having dishonoured the eighth prince. It would be a bad example, especially for Eugene. Besides, Magnus always did... certain things out of the eyes of his brothers.
None of them should get their hands dirty to have a good life, Magnus would do that for them. Magnus would not mind being the villain of that society, he would protect his brothers and make them live the fairy tale they believed to be protagonists in.
If your parents were still alive, they could take care of that matter with more wisdom and affection. His valuable advice would serve to protect the three brothers, especially Magnus would not have to walk such a path and choose obscure methods to get what he wanted.
Perhaps your father was disappointed with him for he committed a crime and yet fell into the trap of the eighth prince. Perhaps your mother would be worried if she knew that he had agreed to marry Lucian. The two of them would probably embrace him warmly and say that he did not need to hold the weight of the world alone and that he deserved to find someone worthy to be on his side.
However... his parents were no longer with him. Magnus needed to make decisions for himself and his siblings. For this, Magnus had to keep some secrets from them, like the fact that he tried to drug Stephen Baragnon.
Jesse covered Eugene's mouth before he started screaming. Eugene choked, When it got dark, the butler knocked in the office letting him know that dinner was ready. After Eugene ran out to eat, Jesse got up from the couch and stopped to look at his older brother. Just the two of them there, Jesse told him.
"A political marriage... you always told me to marry someone I love very much. You know that you also deserve to hear such words, don't you, Mag?"
Without waiting for an answer, Jesse left the room. Magnus caught himself smiling lightly, happy that his brother was worried about him. At least one thing was certain: his brothers did not have a bad impression about the eighth prince.