#jean r.alphio vc: that's too much responsibility for me i gotta find a way out of this

[secondbcrn]

" you cannot be serious. " it was not disbelief in his voice - it was, quite plainly, the seeds of panic. logically, he supposed he ought to have anticipated this. it would not be the first time anthony had called upon him as the second son. and indeed, it would be a lie to say he'd never felt a single pang of guilt at the fact that his brother shouldered every responsibility while he shouldered none... but he had never made any effort to correct the imbalance, had he? and looking at the stack of papers and ledgers anthony had just set before him, he was once again reminded why. " you cannot possibly mean to entrust me with - all of this? "

and for six long months at that - while his brother and his soon-to-be viscountess gallivanted through europe. in the meantime, he was meant to keep an eye on matters of the estate. he gingerly opened the first account book and squinted down at the figures in anthony's neat, confident hand... but as he eyed the rent projections and crop yields, something else squeezed uncomfortably in his chest: his fantasies of being an artist had all come to naught... surely he could not fail this as well...

when he looked back up at his brother, there was a look of resigned acceptance in his eyes and, after a moment, perhaps a touch of mischief as well. " are you certain you wish to go abroad? really, what could be worth seeing in europe? would not kate much prefer to honeymoon at aubrey hall? "

𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑳 -> @firstbcrn