The Devil's Betrothed-Chapter 753: Played By Brothers

Erin returned to Wynters and went straight to the drawing room, where her brothers were sitting.

"My dear little sister, have you finally got the man under your toes?" Rowan teased before she could say a word.

Erin shot him a sharp look, easily seeing through their antics. "You all did this intentionally, didn’t you? You filled my head with nonsense!"

Rowan stood and approached her with a grin. "Calm down, Erin. We did it for your own good. How else were you going to admit your feelings for Lucian?"

"That was such an embarrassing way to admit things," she muttered, frowning as she looked away. "My own brothers, playing tricks on me."

Rafal stood as well, moving to her side. "We apologize, truly. But we didn’t want you to suffer for long. Lucian already admitted his intentions of marrying you, so we just needed you to admit your own feelings. And, well, that wasn’t going to be easy—you’re a headstrong woman."

She turned to Rafal with an exasperated expression. "I can understand brother Rowan acting like this, but you? You also sided with him?" She huffed, crossing her arms. "So, you were all in on what Lucian was planning, while I was here worrying about what would happen if you all found out... And Aaron... he..."

"I’m happy for you," came a calm voice from the doorway.

Erin froze, turning to see Aaron entering the drawing room with Arthur. He approached her with an unreadable expression.

She hesitated, her voice faltering. "Aaron... I..."

"You don’t need to explain anything," Aaron interrupted gently. "I’m happy that you and Lucian can be together. You both are perfect for each other and have my best wishes with you."

She felt relieved to hear Aaron’s words, but the guilt lingered nonetheless.

Rowan chuckled. "Aaron, you should be regretting the fact that you missed the chance to marry someone like my sister. What an angel you are to be so selfless."

"It’s alright. What matters is that a good woman like her is joining our family—it’s already a blessing. I can assure you she’ll always be happy with us." He turned to Erin, his tone kind. "If you’re ever troubled by anything, I’ll always be here to help you, like an elder brother—just as I am to Lucian."

Erin nodded silently, appreciating his kindness.

Arthur chimed in, turning to her with a grin. "Don’t feel bad about this other rock of a man, Erin. By not marrying him, you’ve done him a great favor."

Erin glanced at Arthur, unsure of his meaning.

Arthur elaborated with a playful smirk. "This friend of mine doesn’t plan on marrying. Ever. Just like another friend of mine, Nathan. These two have grand plans of growing old together, drinking Nathan’s precious collection of wine. They need no third person between them—they’re perfectly content with each other like a couple. Just make sure to tell your kids to bury them side by side after they die, so they can be together even in the afterlife."

Erin blinked, unsure how to respond.

Arthur chuckled. "Honestly, if one of them were a woman, we’d have just married them off to each other."

"Aren’t you talking too much, Arthur?" Aaron warned coldly, his tone sharp.

"What’s the need to change anyone’s gender?" Rowan quipped, clearly unfazed by Aaron’s warning. "We’re open-minded enough to accept two men being a couple."

Aaron’s gaze darkened as he issued another warning. "Are you unhappy with the hospitality you’re receiving in my home? One more word, and you and this blabbermouth lieutenant colonel will find yourselves thrown out in the cold with your belongings."

Arthur and Rowan fell silent, though the amused smiles on their faces didn’t waver. Rafal remained expressionless, while Erin struggled to suppress her own smile.

It was rare to see Aaron like this, and they enjoyed it.

----

Meanwhile, Lucian had changed into new clothes once he retuned to his chamber. Gwen arrived there with a worry.

"Lucian, show me where you are hurt," she said worriedly, entering his chamber.

"It’s just a small wound mother and Erin has taken care of it," he replied, securing his winter coat.

"Everything fine between you two?" she asked.

He hummed. "You can prepare to welcome your daughter-in-law."

Gwen felt happy for her son and asked, "What did you do to upset her that she came to harm you?"

"It was a misunderstanding and it’s solved now," he replied.

"Then you are at a fault for letting her misunderstand," she said.

Lucian looked at his mother. "I will be mindful of my actions."

"Good," she said. "You should also understand that you need to be more open to her. You are always calm and it’s hard to guess for others to know what’s in your mind. It’s better you start expressing your feelings to her more openly. That wouldn’t cause any misunderstanding between you two. Women like it when men shows what they feel."

Lucian hummed again.

"Now that she has agreed to marry you, we should talk to Ahrens," she suggested.

"I am going to talk to father about it," he replied, "We have to talk to His Majesty as well, to clarify the misunderstanding."

"You are right. I will ask your father to hurry up," Gwen said happily, her eyes brightened up. "I can’t wait to have a lovely daughter-in-law and so many grandkids of mine. This place would be so lively with that."

Lucian simply smiled at his happy mother and continued to walk ahead with her.

-----

The news of Erin’s anger and Lucian being harmed, spread across the Wynter and Rainier estates. All the servants were talking about it secretly.

Some frowned upon their lord being harmed by a woman but most of them were amused at how their future lady was so fierce and already had control over their lord.

They knew better than to be in her good grace from now on. In their eyes, Erin was now someone they could never offend.