Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 103: Rāma Meets His Mothers and Vasiṣṭha
Text 2.103.7

अद्यायमपि ते पुत्रः क्लेशानामतथोचितः।
नीचानर्थसमाचारं सज्जं कर्म प्रमुञ्चतु।।

adyāyam api te putraḥ kleśānām atathocitaḥ
nīcānartha-samācāraṁ sajjaṁ karma pramuñcatu

adya = now; ayam = He; api = perhaps 2; te = Your; putraḥ = son; kleśānām = for these difficulties; atathā-ucitaḥ = is not actually meant; nīca-anartha-samācāram = a work filled with painful menial activities; sajjam = He is engaged in; karma = the work; pramuñcatu = should give up.

Your son is not actually meant for these difficulties. Perhaps He should now give up the work He is engaged in, a work filled with painful menial activities.

The second line implies the following: If Rāma accepts His  kingdom because of Bharata’s prayer, there is a possibility that Lakṣmaṇa would be released from such menial activities.1

1 Of course, Lakṣmaṇa’s thoughts are quite distinct from this. As we will note at the end of Canto 6, He refused to become the heir apparent after Rāma because He did not want anything other than full-fledged service to Rāma, day and night.