Daniel was at his usual spot every morning enjoying his cup of tea, watching the housekeepers tend the house.
He was simply enjoying the sunlight when he felt a person approach his spot. The person sat down at the chair next to Daniel and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Aren't you up quite early in the morning, eh Darwin?"
The man chuckles as Daniel asked him the question. He had short dark hair, with a noticeable amount of grey hair compared to Daniel, not much, but still noticeable. Paired with his hair was black eyes akin to the darkness of night.
"I just wanted to accompany my elder brother's morning tea session, is that too much to ask?"
"Not at all brat, enjoy the tea. You should be thankful that I'm drinking the good stuff today, elves specialty."
Darwin tasted the tea that his brother brewed today and was met with a cascade of flavors of fruit, with hints of roses in both aroma and taste.
"You finally decided to bring out the exotic stuff, you stingy bastard!"
"Humph, you're the one that just comes at days where I brew some standard tea you sly dog!"
They both shared a laugh together, filling the once serene tranquility with boisterous laughs.
Yes, Daniel wasn't an only child. He had a younger brother named Darwin.
They were apart by ten years so when Daniel took charge of the business in his twenties, his brother was only around ten years old.
When asked what he wanted to do for his life, he said that he wanted to help out his big brother, in any way possible.
So, when he was considered to be an adult, he joined his brother with managing the middle to low-level management of the business. Since back in The Great War leaders of factions needed sufficient strength to rule their respective faction, merchant groups were also included, as another net of safety to fall on.
Hence, the more apparent grey hairs at the younger brother's head. He had less time immerse himself in training that led to him being mistaken for Daniel most of the time.
"I wished I had trained more during back in the day, maybe your younger brother here wouldn't be mistaken as the older one every so often."
"That reminds me of that Duke's party one time where we went to a couple of years back. They licked your feet so much in hopes of establishing a relationship, hahaha! To think they complimented your old eyes filled with wisdom and sage-like face."
Darwin gritted his teeth as he remembered the party his brother talked about, just because he was older looking doesn't mean he was the top dog!
"Those bastards had it coming to them. It showed that he didn't care who was who and just winged it. Any opportunity for an agreement was shut down instantly."
"They're of nobility, the only decent ones are far in between. Most of them have their heads in the sky and think they're Gods or something."
The brothers soon went deep into various topics and such, ranging from recent deals of the business to the mundane stuff like the weather, even some gossip by the housekeepers.
"Oh yeah, didn't Jane recently give birth to a child? Is it a boy or a girl?"
Pouring himself another cup of tea for the umpteenth time, Darwin revealed that his recently born grandchild was a girl.
"Finally, and here I thought Joanne would be the only girl in the group of boys."
...
Unlike Daniel, Darwin was married to three women, each with different backgrounds and social statuses.
While his first wife Leona was one out of pure attraction towards one another, she was like his niece-in-law in that she came from a humble background. The other two were sisters that became his wives due to an agreement between another top player in the merchant business.
The two of them at first were cold and distant, just wanting to take work their respective jobs at the company and maybe give birth to an offspring once in a while. Darwin though was determined to take the two sisters' hearts and thus did his best to open up to him and truly be part of the family.
That didn't mean he rushed into things, he knew that affection needed to grow, so he did just that. Small and simple actions such as asking if they have eaten or not, to reminding them not to work themselves to the bone whilst burning the candle. It was slow, but there were signs of progress.
It was enough for him.
In due time, Darwin's upped his advances and made more daring attempts, from holding their hands to body contact. His first wife, Leona, even joined in, expressing the want to be close to each other.
The sisters were perplexed on their new arrangements, they knew that they were just part of a deal and were taught how to manage a business from a young age, be it knowledge of commodities, accounting skills, even mannerisms when at formal events and gatherings.
One day they just asked him straight out during dinner, out of the blue.
"Why go the lengths for our affection?"
Darwin at the time chuckled at one of the sister's questions and gave out his reasoning.
"Ivy. Isabelle." He called out the sisters' names.
"Although you two didn't have a say in where you were sent to go, I'd like that since you're now with us that you would enjoy yourselves. I've known how some other company circumstances like yours were done and I would just like to offer you both something that I saw lacking when I first saw both of you."
"Joy."
Darwin's sincere and heartfelt answer tugged the sisters' heartstrings, after hearing his response they agreed to open up to him and the Leona slowly. Feelings were poured out every once in a while, they somehow formed a connection with Leona, somewhat thinking of her as their third sister.
Time passed until one night when they were going on a trip near the sea to browse the commodities and the general situation of the area. Ivy and Isabelle were just finishing up their work for the day and remembered that their husband wanted arranged dinner at the high-class restaurant in the town they were staying.
Once they got there, they were greeted with a candle-lit dinner, as they were near the coast they could see the ocean from the table. Darwin and Leona was waiting for both of them.
"Why the special occasion? I'm pretty sure our wedding anniversary is still a couple of months away, no?" asked Ivy.
"You're right, this is for something different. Though I think both of you would've forgotten by now since it might seem insignificant." Darwin replied.
Isabelle followed up saying, "Oh, and that is?"
Darwin was silent for a bit before letting them know.
"Your agreement to open to us, it's exactly one year since then."
"To be honest, I truly valued that day more than the day we got married. Since it's the day you both became more than just vessels and truly became my wives. I hope this small gesture of mine is enough for the two of you."
They were surprised at the purpose, something that they brushed off was the reason? They did open up to him and Leona, though they still didn't think it warranted anything special.
He got up and headed towards them, pulling both of them into his arm for an embrace.
Still shocked by his show of affection, they then noticed their vision getting blurry, their cheeks beginning to be wet.
Tears. They were falling from their eyes, what started as a tear or two became a stream as they cried at the man before them.
It wasn't like they grew up without affection, but with the way they were taught to be, feelings of true love were something they put at the back of their minds. Now, it was there. The feelings of love to another, the sisters knew that they have fallen for him.
They loved him, with all their hearts.
After getting their bearings, they enjoyed a lovely dinner, with the ocean in view to complement the night.
...
As he remembered the past, a knock on the head brought him out of his daydream.
"Asden to Darwin, you there? You're not dying on me now are you?"
"Of course not you dolt! I still feel great like an ox! I just remembered something in the past, that's all."
"Oh? Was it regarding stealing your wives' hearts, you sly dog? You had that dumb look plastered on your face for a bit there."
"I was thinking that. Speaking of which, how about you?"
Daniel raises an eyebrow at his brother, a bit confused at the change into questioning him.
"What about me, Darwin?"
Daniel knew what his brother meant with that question, he just wanted to play dumb in hope of it going into topics he didn't wish to talk about.
"You know who I mean, Agatha. How's she doing over there?"
Hearing his wife's name, Daniel just sighs at his brother's question and tries to come up with something that he'll be pleased with.
"She's fine, been a couple of years since we met, but she's fine. You do still remember her circumstances right?"
"So fifteen years is a couple huh? I must be going senile at this rate then."
Although the official document for his wife was that she was deceased, it couldn't be further from the truth.
The forces of Asden be damned if they knew that a strong influence like The Darkwood Chamber of Commerce had a hidden ally in the shadows. An ally which was part of the secret factions in all of Asden.
"It's not like I can exactly contact the Head of the Frost Maiden's Peak any time of the day Darwin."
"I know, I know. What I meant was about your grandkids, does she know yet?"
He crossed his head at his brother's question, "She doesn't know, besides, I'm going to soon meet her anyways in a year. I'll break the news then."
"She'll hang you by the head if she knew what you're doing."
"Hahaha, I knew what I signed for when I went into a relationship with that woman."
They continued, drinking their tea until midday and decided to end the tea session there for now.
...
Before Damien had David and Gordon, he never particularly knew what a bond between siblings was like.
He was the only child for God's sake.
Damien at an early age understands that since he's an only child he has to take in the business and be the head of it.
Thankfully, he did have an interest in his father's line of work and wanted to learn the art anyways.
He was in the middle of some paperwork when he heard a business partner went bankrupt and the reasoning towards it.
It was due to a feud of sibling rivalry on who would be the next heir to the company, they sabotaged each other, even going as far as to hire assassins to kill one another.
He dreaded the thought of the same thing happening to him and his children. Although the thought of having a single child crossed his mind, he didn't want his future child to be burdened by a lack of a future path.
He was currently on top of his bed, with Marie by his side. His eyes still opened as he pondered on what to do.
A soft voice soon breaks him from his trance.
"Damien, is there something wrong?"
It was then he opened up to Marie that he told her his worries, it was also then that she broke the conundrum.
"Siblings will always butt heads with each other, take it from a girl from the sticks that's lived with over five siblings."
"Do remind me to visit them with you sometime dear."
"Noted. But you have to know that I'll make sure what you fear won't happen. Just look at your own father and uncle."
"Father and Uncle Darwin do get along well, sometimes I wonder if I exaggerate the thoughts in my head too much."
He thanked her for clearing some things and decided to go with it. She picked up some hints with her husband's behavior and whispered in his ear;
"Since you're so sure now, why don't we make one now?"
The sounds of pleasure and moans rang through the Darkwood Manor from dusk till dawn, the day the first son of their family conceived.