Edmund stood up as well, "Don't leave yet. I'll have the servants prepare a room for you. Take a rest, maybe have a proper meal. We can discuss this further when you're both calmer."
"No," Celine said, her voice dangerously low. "He will leave. And he will come back when he's ready to apologize."
"Apologize for what?" Lucian asked. Edmund seemed to know about their relationship, so he threw his manners out of the window, "For being honest?"
"For doubting me," she said, "For thinking I'm so weak that I can't handle a little hardship."
"This is not a 'little hardship'!" Lucian retorted, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "This is your entire life we're talking about!"
"You know nothing of what I've been through," Celine said, suppressing the threatening tremble in her voice, "You know nothing of what I'm willing to go through."
"Then tell me!" Lucian snapped. "Tell me what you've been through. Tell me what makes you think you're so strong."
Edmund placed a hand on Lucian's shoulder, Lucian did not push his hand away but he did not relax either.
"My sister is stubborn, but she knows what she's doing most of the time. Trust her. She has my full support and if she wants to marry you, then so be it. I will give you my blessing."
"I don't need your blessing," Lucian said, his voice cold. "I need her to be reasonable." He then turned to Celine, whose stubborn stance remained unchanged, "I'll come back. Not to apologize. But to see if you've come to your senses."
Edmund moved ahead, stopping him from leaving the room. "Do you want to see her get married to someone else? Someone she doesn't love?"
"If she is so powerful, then I am sure she can find a way out of a loveless marriage," Lucian said, his sarcasm biting, "She seems to be good at getting her way, after all. The world will bend to her naive will, won't it?"
Edmund's hand tightened on Lucian's arm, twisting it behind his back and making him face Celine. The grip was iron, the bloodline of the strong showing itself.
Lucian winced from being put in his place. Manhandled as a lesser being. And that was the difference. That was the power imbalance between them.
Edmund could do this to him, but he could never do this to Edmund. He could get away with killing Lucian and no one would bat an eye, but Lucian couldn't even raise his voice to him without being seen as insolent.
This was not how he imagined their confession to go. He imagined a private exchange of feelings, maybe a few tears of joy.
And yet, here they were. In a room that smelled of expensive tea and old money, with a brother who was caught in the middle and a girl who was ready to throw everything away for a love that was as fragile as the teacup he just drank from.
'This is getting out of hand.'
She could abuse her power and lock him inside a gilded cage if he opposed her too much. And that was what she was doing, wasn't it? Forcing him to agree to her whims. She could, but she didn't have to.
Because who was Lucian?
Did he look like he was running away?
He already made his decision.
He just didn't like how she went around teasing him, embarrassing him as if it helped her gain some control over him.
"Let him go," Celine said, her voice quiet, but it held a power that Edmund could not ignore. "He's scared. Let him be."
Edmund let go of Lucian's arm, and Lucian stumbled forward.
He nursed his sore wrist while giving Celine a venomous look, "I just needed to use the washroom. You can send a watch dog to escort me if you are so afraid of me running away."
"I will escort you myself," she said, standing up. "I want to make sure you don't get lost. You seem to have a habit of that."
Lucian was tempted to say something snarky, but he bit his tongue, "You stole my proposal from me. I had a whole speech planned out. One that didn't involve spewing tea from my nose, your brother acting as my jailer, and you threatening to marry me without my consent."
"I did not threaten," she said, rushing to his side with a bounce to her steps, "I promised…to marry you."
He outstretched his arms and let her jump into his embrace before saying, "You don't promise such things when you feel angry. You do it when you're in a good mood, not when you want to make the person choke on their drink. Destroying their mood will not make them agree with you either."
She rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, "I'm not angry anymore, not after seeing your upset face, hehe."
"..." Lucian gave her a gentle squeeze, "How do I talk you out of this? You are supposed to toss me away once I lose my use, and move on. I'm already preparing myself to become an abandoned toy."
She stepped on his boots, squeezing down.
"Ack!"
Celine glared at him from beneath her lashes, "You have no right to be mad at me."
"That's what you get for taking away my moment," he glared back.
Edmund was pale by then, "Please, don't tell me you acted angry because she proposed to you first."
"I didn't act. I was angry," Lucian said, mumbling to himself. "She stole my thunder."
"Gods above," Edmund whispered, rubbing his temples. "This is a disaster. I thought you were having a real fight. Not this... this..."
"This… is what I have to deal with," Celine said, raising her hands up and down Lucian's back, as if presenting a prize-winning bull, "He has a fragile ego."
Edmund laughed, a genuine, hearty laugh that made Lucian's cheeks burn. "And you have a habit of stroking it the wrong way."
Celine smiled proudly, "He loves it."
"Sometimes," Lucian admitted, making her eat her own words, "She doesn't stroke it at all. She just grabs it and yanks it around. She is a brute in a dress."
Edmund covered his mouth, trying to hide his laughter, but his shoulders shook.