At Wynters, Lucian arrived to meet his cousin.
"You wanted to talk to me, Aaron?" Lucian asked as he settled in the chair opposite to him.
Aaron hummed, "You must know Ahrens have arrived at Nathan’s estate."
Lucian nodded while he accepted the tea cup from the butler.
"Rina is insisting on meeting Erin," Aaron informed.
Lucian looked at Arron the way he called her name with so much ease. Not lady Erin, but just Erin.
"I have to leave for the north wall construction site urgently, and might take a while to return. So I was wondering if you do me a favor and take Rina to meet Erin," Aaron asked.
Before Lucian could answer, a fuming young lady barged inside the drawing room, "Brother Aaron, I told you to take me there, not him. I don’t want to go with him. He doesn’t like me."
Aaron kept his calm and said, "Come here."
Rina quietly sat next to him, taking Lucian by surprise at how obedient his stubborn sister acted with Aaron.
"You know what you said just now is not the truth," Aaron told her.
Rina glanced at Lucian and pressed her lips in a thin line.
"I know you want to meet Erin, so now Lucian is the only way you have. If not, wait for me to return from the north." Aaron commented.
She let out a helpless sigh, "Alright. I will do as you say, brother."
Aaron hummed and turned back to Lucian, "It will take almost an hour to reach there. Make sure both of you stay warm during the journey."
Lucian hummed and looked at Rina, "We will leave in half an hour."
"I will pack my things," she replied.
Lucian nodded and left and Aaron turned back to his sister.
"Rina, I know you miss Lucian. Now you are getting a chance, try to make up with him. I am sure he didn’t mean what you think. He loves you."
Rina nodded, and observed Aaron wordlessly.
"What?" he asked.
"You used to be like a wooden log, no expressions on your face, no emotions in your eyes and seemed to lack vocabulary on how to talk. But now, you have changed. Not much, but at least like rice of grain in the huge tub of rice."
Aaron didn’t know what to say, but since Rina started to stay with him, things started to feel alive to him, rather than gloomy. He looked at the door where Lucian had left.
’Is this why he sent Rina here?’
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
He looked back at her, "Be good to your brother and don’t be at his neck all the time. Learn to give in sometimes."
She huffed, "Now you are acting like him, dictating me on what to do."
He patted her head, "We want the best for you. You are the only sister we two brother have."
----
After half an hour Lucian and Rina left on a small one hour journey to Nathaniel’s estate.
Lucian climbed the same carriage as Rina, only to hear her say. "You are a rich man. You can get another carriage for yourself."
He looked at his little sister who was bundled into her thick warm wear but was still having chills.
He sat next to her instead of sitting opposite her and pulled her closer. Covering her with another layer of warm cover, he wrapped his long arms around her to make her feel warmer.
Rina pouted but didn’t reject being closer to him. She snuggled against him like a child, feeling comfortable.
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