So that's Ethan's background, is it? Wonder why he didn't have any younger sibs to take over the family business since he didn't want to...

I suppose you'd have to ask Ethan's parents. :)

Though standard procedure for me is that I typically create characters based on need, and only two characters I have were designed with siblings in mind, notably Topaz and her brother Starr, and Davis and Lucy McKane. Most of the rest were designed without them built in, though this is not to say they don't have them. However, until the story requires it I usually don't add them.

If Ethan did have a younger sibling I suspect it would still fall to him as the oldest to continue the family legacy and such, plus the idea I was trying to convey was that to Lucian and Alina there is only one way to live, since it's the world they grew up in, and any path other than the one they expect is difficult for them to conceptualize.

In any event, with his background I was really keen to explore the idea of how whether we want them to or not, our parents shape us in imperceptible ways. Though Ethan does not desire to be what his father wants, he still picks up a number of things from that world and lifestyle that are part of his patterns of behavior. Whether we follow in their footsteps or carve our own path either way they leave their marks upon us.

Just seems odd that his mother would acquiesce to his departure if there -weren't- younger sibs to take up the mantle.

Well, Alina is more flexible than Lucian ever was, and at her core really just wants her son to be happy. Though she perhaps might prefer him marrying a nice bird girl and settling down at the manor she knows he's not happy and wouldn't be if she made him stay. Plus she doesn't want it on her conscience that he stayed out of guilt as she'd have to face him every day knowing that.

For now, she lets him go in the hopes that one day he'll return, and the government will take care of some of Lucian's responsibilities in return for his long and meritorious service.