"You said that it was already late, and yet here you are working as soon as you arrived"
"Well Tessa you know how this habit of mine is" said Lawrence as he looked up from his table.
He was currently in his office, already working on official matters that concerned their family, when he was supposed to be sleeping, he did just return a few hours ago and yet here he was already back to work.
"If I do not care for this house then who will?" asked Lawrence.
"You know that you will always have our support" said Tessa as she smiled.
"Of course I am aware of that" said Lawrence as he smiled back.
"This office had not changed at all" said Tessa as she sat down and looked around.
"It looks exactly the same as when Father was still alive" she said, with a little sadness.
"I am aware of that, I purposely asked that nothing be changed" said Lawrence as he also looked around.
"Thank you" said Tessa as she smiled.
"He was my father too" said Lawrence.
"So what are you doing here at this late hour?" he asked.
"Are you not supposed to be sleeping?" asked Lawrence.
"Well dear brother, I was on my way to dreamland, when I remembered that I should tell you something very important, you need to be well informed about the situation on ground" said Tessa
"Oh and what is that?" asked Lawrence.
"It concerns Wura" said Tessa as she looked serious.
"What about Wura?" asked Lawrence.
"Well I am not sure if she informed you in detail in that letter of hers" said Tessa.
"But the Prince seeks her hand in marriage, and it seems that he is very serious about it as well" said Tessa as she looked concerned.
"How do you mean?" asked Lawrence.
"Just earlier today, he sent royal messengers to Inform us that he would want to have a meeting with both you and Ireti to discuss his plans" said Tessa.
"That does sound serious" said Lawrence as he seemed to be thinking about something.
"Oh it is brother" said Tessa.
"And Wura has voiced out her concern of not wanting to get married yet to me" said Tessa.
"It is true that she is still so young, she has her whole life ahead of her, and I understand her decision and fears" said Tessa.
"And so do I" said Lawrence.
Apart from Wura not wanting to get married, he did not want her to get married either, as Tessa said, she was still so young, and most of all, she was still his little girl, it seemed like just yesterday when he carried her for the first time in his arms.
"So what do we do brother?" asked Tessa
"We are both aware of the fact that the prince might not so easily grant us the request of breaking the engagement" said Tessa she was being realistic, not everything always worked according to plan, there were always problems and ups and downs to block your path.
Lawrence sighed, Tessa was right, the Royal family would not so easily agree to breaking off the engagement, especially considering the fact that they were one of the Duke families, and they had pledged their allegiance to the Royal family alone, it would be their honour and duty to grant the Prince such a request, but not for them.
"I will handle it" said Lawrence as he was quick to assert himself.
"Brother are you sure?" asked Tessa.
"When have I ever let you down?" asked Lawrence.
"Never" replied Tessa as it was a fact to her.
"But I do not think that this matter is as simple as we think that it is" she said.
Lawrence knew that Tessa was right, but he was going to find a amicable way to make sure that everything worked out amicably with Wura not having to marry the Prince.
"I am fully aware of that" said Lawrence.
"But trust me Tessa, this is my daughter we are talking about, and I only want the best for her" said Lawrence.
"She will not marry the prince if she does not want to" said Lawrence.
"I agree with you brother" said Tessa.
"Good, now go to sleep sister" said Lawrence.
"We do not want you waking up with a temper in the morning" said Lawrence.
"That sounds like an insult" said Tessa.
"How am I sure that you just want to push me away" she said as she pouted.
"Well my dear sister, if I wanted to do that, I would have done so a long time ago" said Lawrence.
"Oh my! Lawrence!!!" said Tessa as she looked shocked, who knew that her beloved brother had thoughts of throwing her away.
"What??" asked Lawrence as he feigned ignorance and he laughed.
"You are in luck that I have no one to report you to" said Tessa as Lawrence laughed.
"Oh and before I forget" said Tessa as she seemed to remember something very important.
"Richie told me that he is going on a trip, he will be gone for three days" said Tessa.
"I see" said Lawrence as he did not say much.
"Do you know where he is going?" asked Lawrence.
"No, I did not ask him, but he said that he had some important matters to take care off" said Tessa.
"Well alright then" said Lawrence.
He did not say much because he did not have too, Richard had a family to look after, and he sure hoped that Richard was well aware of that fact.
"Well then brother" said Tessa as she stood up.
"Goodnight" she said.
"Goodnight Tessa" said Lawrence.
"Oww" said Tessa as she walked towards the door.
"Tessa are you alright??" asked Lawrence as he stood up and quickly rushed to help Tessa.
"Yes Brother I am" said Tessa as she held her head.
"I just feel a bit dizzy, I must have stood up too quickly" she said as she quickly shook it off.
"Are you sure??" asked Lawrence in worry.
"Of course I am" said Tessa as she laughed.
"You worry too much" she said as she laughed.
"Goodnight Brother" she said as she walked away laughing at Lawrence's worried reaction.
She would say that both he and Richard were more alike than they would want to acknowledge.