Alaric may not know much about being in love, but he did know he had no intents to rush Courtship once it did eventually happen. And even if he never fell in love, or even managed to marry and produce Heirs, he had enough siblings to easily appoint one of theirs if it came to it. Right now, his duty to both family and Countship was fulfilled by caretaking his younger siblings through their first steps in adulthood, or the preceding steps to that adventure. 
A task that might be easier if his 'adult' siblings weren't so individually demanding in their own ways. Blair should have been the easiest sibling to marry off, she was smart, considered beautiful, and had an enthusiastic friendliness as her natural attitude. The only problem being that she also had no tolerance for anyone who wanted just one of those things. He couldn't blame her, but he did resent the fact that she got to live wild and free while he was bound by responsibility. 
"Somehow you look miserable despite the marvellous weather and perfect Event," Danilo Polumenta remarked softly, as always found by Calvin's side. 
"And you look marvellous as always Danilo," Alaric laughed at the criticism. His brother's best friend wore the soft, almost purple gray of Polumenta as his jacket, and chose a beige vest that looked remarkably well matched to Calvin's jacket, and he's also chosen ivory for shirt, cravat, and trousers. 
"Thank you, but my comment stands; its such a lovely garden party so why so you look so ill content?" Danilo pressed. 
"We have had almost a month of rain," Alaric pointed out, "and yet the sun chose to come out not only in time for today's Event, but just long enough before to dry everything out." 
Calvin gave him and amused look but continued to be silent while his best friend pestered Alaric, "aren't both of those good things?" 
"Yes," Alaric confirmed with a frown, "but this garden party is the first Social Event of this Season's Marriage Market." He wondered how neither Danilo nor Calvin seemed to understand, "the Ram Family is hosting a successful garden party despite terrible weather all month prior, for their triplet Debutantes, after one of them already accepted a Letter of Intent." 
"Are...are you jealous?" Calvin sounded astonished.
"No," he barked at his brother, "I'm not jealous, I'm annoyed that it seems Fate itself is helping Aayina Ram out while she stands as her siblings' guardian." 
Either Danilo and Calvin were better at masking their expressions than Alaric realized, or else they too didn't notice how close the Host really was. "I did not realize we were so close for you to address me with absolutely no honorifics, Alaric Briggs," Aayina Ram's deliberate continuance of his rudeness should have been expected. "But I must say it's concerningly hypocritical of you to speak as if we are close friends and yet also express your annoyance that I am not suffering enough difficulty for you." 
"I do not wish you hardships," Alaric immediately rejected that misinterpretation even as he tried not to stare at how her garden dress enhanced her beauty. The Ram family colour was an orange like the opal gemstone, a softer colour than one thinks in terms of orange, and Aayina Ram wore a short sleeved gown in that exact shade. Her long, straight black hair was left held out of the way by delicate pearl hairpins that complemented her attire. Helping to break up the orange of her dress she'd chosen a wide bow in white to pair with pearls, and Alaric nearly lost his thoughts mid-sentence due to her appearance. "I merely worry that your absolute success will raise the bar so high that when it is my turn to Host for the Briggs Event, I'll be a sad comparison." And despite all his diplomatic skills normally, for some reason Alaric couldn't help continuing, "not only are you a year older than I am, this is your first Event as Host for any of your younger siblings."