After his sons walked out, Henry’s shoulders slumped and his arms supported his heavy head. He let out a big sigh that carried all his stress with it.
At the sound of the door knocking, Henry recomposed himself and sat up straight. He took out the documents in his drawer, then said, “enter.”
The butler entered, pushing in a cart with a cup of coffee and a bottle of medication pills on it. The room soon had the smell of fresh coffee mixing in with the scents of old books and fresh paper. The added smell loosened the frown between Henry’s brows, and the scratching of pen on paper sounded lighter.
The butler served Henry the cup of coffee and left the bottle on the side of the table.
Henry reached out to take a sip. The bitterness didn’t help with his throbbing head. However, it soothed his upset stomach. While Henry popped a pill with his coffee, the butler directed the maids to clean up the mess on the floor.
After the maids left the room with the cart full from a coffee stained rug and the remnants of a tea cup, the butler walked back to stand before Henry’s desk. He bent over slightly and asked softly, “is there anything else you require of me, sire?”
“No, you may leave.”
“Yes, sire.”
The butler received the bottle from Henry, then turned around to leave. Just before the butler stepped out the door, Henry called out again.
“Sebastian, on second thought, call my wife here.”
“Understood, sire.” Sebastian bowed and took his leave.
Henry was left to his paperwork, with only the smell of fresh coffee and the sound of pen scratching on paper to accompany him.
After Alphonse and Romeo left their father’s study, before Alphonse could quietly slip away, Romeo darkly demanded Alphonse to follow him back to his study. Then, he walked off without waiting for Alphonse’s response.
Alphonse's heart wasn’t given time to rest from the stress accumulated from dealing with Henry. However, judging from Romeo’s black face, if he escaped now it would only worsen the situation. So, he chose to follow Romeo behind obediently.
Romeo’s study wasn’t that far from Henry’s, so they didn’t pass by anyone else on their way. Ironically, the busiest part of the corridor was the entrance to their father’s study.
Romeo ignored the buzzing and continued onwards with heavy steps. Alphonse looked behind and caught sight of Henry’s medication on the tray that Sebastian pushed in.
Alphonse hesitated for a moment and debated on turning around to check on their father. But, he decided against doing so as entering Henry’s study now would just be inviting more trouble to himself. Furthermore, he had a more pressing issue to attend to now. A raging Romeo.
A Romeo in a temperamental fit was the equivalent of dealing with an unreasonable asshole. There was simply no way of communicating with someone like that, and whatever he had to say would fall on deaf ears anyways. So, Alphonse decided to remain silent and simply let Romeo run his mouth until he’s satisfied.
Romeo stormed into his study, aggressively took off his jacket and threw it on the floor. He then walked over to the couch in the middle of the room and sat down heavily. Alphonse, who was a step behind him, conscientiously helped Romeo close the door behind them.
Alphonse remained standing by the side. He watched Romeo silently stew the anger in his heart to a boiling point, then braced himself for the incoming scathing water.
Romeo stared at Alphonse with dark eyes and growled with hatred, “why the fuck did you get a lighter sentence?”
Alphonse hid his clammy hands and calmly faced Romeo’s accusation, “because I immediately apologized.”
“Hah! So, you’re saying because I did not behave like the coward you are and fawned over father, I got a heavier punishment?”
Alphonse softened his tone, like trying to coax a riled up child. “You know what father is like, the more you try to explain yourself the angrier he gets. He just wants a simple and upfront apology. It doesn’t matter if you’re sincere or not.”
“Wow, now you’re trying to convince me to become like you? If I became like you, father would have chopped me to pieces and fed me to the dogs! Because I wouldn’t be deserving of the Aldrich name!”
“You know that’s not true-”
Romeo sprung up from the couch and glared down at Alphonse. “What do you know?! You played me like a fool, you dropped the ball when I needed you most, and you hung me out to dry! Alone! You’re a fucking backstabber and deserter!”
“I didn’t leave you alone, I was just trying to get the best out of that situation. Am I not here now?”
“Then what did you do when father first questioned us?”
Alphonse stiffened at Romeo successfully pointing out his sore spot. His stomach clenched, and his heart leapt to his throat.
He had already felt helpless before their father. Now he felt guilty for feeling that way. It only meant that he truly wasn’t of help to Romeo at all. Thus, the end result was Romeo bearing the brunt of Henry’s anger, so that he could escape relatively unharmed.
Before Alphonse could apologize, Romeo continued on his rant.
“And what about after father threw that fucking tea cup at me?! All it took was for father to shout at you for you to shut up! He threw a cup filled with coffee at me, and I still stood my ground! What about you! Tell me, what the fuck did you do for me!”
Alphonse looked on helplessly, his heart stifled from guilt. He sincerely apologized to Romeo. “I’m sorry, I-”
However, Romeo didn’t want to listen to Alphonse’s apology. He didn’t care. He could only see the disparity of his situation, and had to take it out on someone. Unfortunately for Alphonse, that someone happened to be him.
Romeo marched towards Alphonse and closed the distance between their faces. He then viciously thrashed Alphonse’s sincerity, and yelled in his face.
“Don’t you dare tell me you’re sorry! I don’t want your apology, and I don’t need it! Is your apology going to make father take back his words? Is it going to fix my current situation?! Fucking hell, you don’t even have the right to apologize! I have just been stripped of what little I had left! I have just lost everything I worked so hard for the past few years! Everything! Compared to me, what the fuck did you lose?!”
Alphonse remained silent at Romeo’s outburst. He figured that Romeo wouldn’t listen to a thing he said, so he didn’t bother to try anymore. He just hoped that after venting, Romeo would feel a little better.
Romeo interpreted Alphonse’s silence as him at a loss for words. Implying that Alphonse agreed that he did get off lightly, and he was the reason for Henry’s targeted attack and biased punishment.
The little monsters in Romeo’s heart thrived under his nourishment, and he let go of all restraints and simply launched personal attacks against his own younger brother.
“You’re nothing but a spineless coward. Scampering away at the sight of danger, just like our father.” Romeo sneered.
Romeo stabbed his finger into Alphonse’s forehead with each scathing remark that left his mouth. “You’re a wimp, a quitter, and a weak-hearted dastard.”
Romeo stepped back and scorned his brother directly in his face. He ignored the moisture gathering at the corners of Alphonse’s eyes, and instead felt satisfaction from the reaction.
As if pursuing Alphonse with a vengeance, Romeo’s words showed no mercy.
“Every quality that father hates, you possess. But because of how subservient you are to him, he lets you off lightly. You’re really like how father described you, a well-behaved dog. Always fawning over him, and following his words with no mind of your own. No wonder he’s so biased towards you.”
Alphonse suddenly looked up and unwaveringly stared into Romeo’s eyes.
Alphonse’s sudden action threw Romeo off-guard, and he took a step back. But as soon as he did, Romeo’s face distorted and scrunched up. He felt humiliated and embarrassed that he had felt intimidated by Alphonse, even for a moment. Romeo took it as a challenge and stepped back to his original position to stare down Alphonse.
Alphonse remained unmoved as he calmly opened his mouth, “if you showed father a little concern, he would reciprocate the same concern back.”
Romeo’s face flushed and his fists clenched. He took a hard look at Alphonse, then swung his fist without warning.
Alphonse didn’t dodge the punch, and Romeo landed a clean hit on his cheek.
The force behind the punch threw Alphonse a few steps back, but he managed to catch himself before he stumbled onto the floor.
Romeo felt no remorse for punching Alphonse. Instead, he felt the urge to continue throwing in a few more.
Before Romeo could put his thoughts into actions, Alphonse stood back up and advised Romeo again. “You can’t always see stepping back as a bad thing. This mindset will only end up limiting you in the future.”
“Shut up!”
“You’re obviously not in a good condition to talk, I’ll leave first. You can call me to talk again after you have calmed down. Goodnight, brother.”
Alphonse left Romeo’s stunned figure poised to throw another punch in his study. Just before he left the room, he added. “I have always been here for you, and I will always be, whether you see it or not.”
The door closed behind Alphonse, and Romeo slumped onto the couch and covered his eyes with his arm. He laid there in silence, and remained unreactive even when a maid entered to pick up the jacket he had left on the floor.