New Siblings (3)
I was spending the day with Elena today. Of course, we were right in the middle of preparing for war at the academy, and I had to head to the central district to meet Dom Solomon, so I couldn’t stay by her side.
“You two wait here.”
“Yes, please come back soon.”
After arriving in front of the Rufus Carlton Hotel, I left Sarina and Cambara in the car and boarded the elevator alone. Sarina, who I thought would insist on following me, stayed behind in the vehicle contrary to my expectations. It seemed she became surprisingly obedient whenever I gave her a direct order.
Ding!
The moment the elevator reached the top floor, something strange happened. The doors to both rooms opened almost simultaneously.
“....”
“....”
The way my two wives stared at each other was nothing short of murderous.
“Elena, I just came back from meeting Dom Solomon.”
“That guy?”
“He invited me to his hideout first.”
While I was talking with Elena, Felicia quickly slipped over to my side.
“So what did you decide?”
“Sanchez screwed us over. Solomon made a new offer that includes that as well.”
We decided to continue the more detailed discussion inside my and Elena’s room. There was no way we could keep talking in the top-floor hallway like this.
“Hey, why are you bringing that thing?”
“That thing? That’s a bit harsh for our little cutie.”
Felicia wasn’t alone. Something that had been hiding behind her back—a massive moth—suddenly flew into her arms in the blink of an eye. Naturally, the owner of the room, Elena, reacted extremely sensitively to the appearance of a giant moth, especially a silkmoth.
“Kyiiiik!”
Regardless, Hev wriggled free from Felicia’s embrace and latched onto me.
“What are you doing! Get that off him right now!”
“....”
Oddly enough, Elena was far more hysterical than I was, even though Hev was the one clinging to me.
“Hold still, you.”
Grabbing the creature that was stuck tightly to my body and squirming around wasn’t difficult. Even after being caught, Hev remained calm. Its personality really was quite gentle.
Felicia smiled at the sight, but Elena looked utterly disgusted and horrified by the way Hev kept wriggling.
“Luke, get that thing away from you.”
“Do I have to? I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Yeah, Luke says he’s fine with it.”
“I’m the one who’s not fine with it. Me.”
Seeing Elena’s reaction, I had no choice. Instead of taking Hev away entirely, we compromised by having Felicia hold the moth tightly in her arms.
After that, I explained to both my wives what I had heard from Solomon and the proposal he had made to us.
“So altogether that’s 15%?”
“Yeah. Not too much, not too little—just awkwardly in the middle.”
“Let’s demand an extra 5% related to ownership of the central district. That would be better.”
According to Elena’s suggestion, it would be 5% in exchange for the drug supply and 15% for maintaining territory in the central district.
“Alright. I’ll pass that on to him.”
“By the way, that hamster guy seems surprisingly friendly toward you two.”
“His father was one of our father’s subordinates. It’s probably because of that connection.”
“Plus, he respects our father.”
I added my personal impression to Elena’s explanation. From talking to him face-to-face, that was the feeling I got—especially since he had called both me and my father legends.
The good news was that Solomon seemed more like the type to look up to legends rather than try to become one himself.
“Or he’s just pretending to look that way.”
“If we start doubting everything like that, there’s no end to it.”
Elena reacted negatively, but Felicia wasn’t entirely wrong. There was always the possibility that his true intentions were just a sophisticated smokescreen to get close to us. One thing was certain: we couldn’t fully trust him.
While my two wives chatted for a moment, I contacted Dom Solomon. The moment he picked up, I mentioned Elena’s counterproposal.
“So that brings it to 20% in total.”
“If you don’t like it, we can pretend this offer never happened.”
“No, no. Not at all. It’s just… I’d like a little time to think it over.”
Honestly, aiming for 25% or even 30% total wouldn’t have been unreasonable. But Elena must have had her reasons for setting it at this number.
“Fine.”
I hung up. Somehow, even though Solomon had been the one to start the negotiation, it now felt like we were the ones making the offer.
“What did he say?”
“He needs some time to think.”
“Is 20% really something to agonize over?”
“It could be. Or maybe there’s another reason.”
“....”
Suddenly Elena came over and started touching my hair.
“Elena, why are you suddenly messing with my hair?”
“No reason. I just had a good idea.”
I had no idea what kind of good idea could come from touching my hair.
“....”
Meanwhile, Felicia saw this and approached us.
“Hey, stay back.”
It seemed Elena wasn’t talking to her, but to Hev in her arms.
“Up close, it’s actually…”
Despite Elena’s words, Felicia lifted Hev up to show her. The mischievous—bordering on malicious—expression on her face was quite striking.
But Elena was faster.
“I said stay back!”
Elena reflexively swung her arm to swat Hev away… but the problem was that Hev slipped from Felicia’s grasp and began to fly. The giant silkmoth suddenly spread its wings and started flapping around the room.
“Kyaaaaaaaak!!!”
An immediate, siren-like scream erupted from Elena.
“Hev, come here.”
It seemed the moth understood its owner’s commands after all, because it immediately landed on top of Felicia’s head at her words. It listened, but clearly didn’t know how to show proper respect.
“Both of you, get out right now!”
“Okay. Have a nice time together. Though tomorrow Luke will be back in my arms anyway.”
“Just leave already!”
Felicia hurriedly scooped up Hev and left the room. Right before she stepped out completely, she winked at me and deliberately showed Hev to Elena one last time.
Solomon’s hesitation seemed deeper than I expected. I thought he would call back within the day, but the day changed, and even after my time with Felicia began, there was still no contact from him.
“....”
“Luke, what’s wrong?”
“Solomon’s reaction is slower than I thought. At this rate, there’s a chance he might reject our offer.”
“No way. He’s probably just doesn’t want to look like an easy mark.”
Felicia declared it as if it were obvious. I would have liked to spend more time with her, but today we both had things to do. Mine involved preparations for the upcoming war, and hers concerned matters with her family.
“Felicia.”
“Yeah?”
“If you need my help, tell me anytime.”
“…Thanks, even if it’s just words.”
She had said the Marinelli Family’s affairs were something she and her family would handle themselves. But perhaps because I offered, her expression brightened considerably.
After arriving at the academy, time passed incredibly quickly. We were fully prepared to start the war at any moment. Viola’s subordinates had scouted the Russo Family’s situation multiple times. Although they were wary of us gradually gathering forces across the river and bridge, they weren’t without openings.
So the day with Felicia passed, and it was time with Elena once again. I naturally got up from bed and headed toward the one in Elena’s room.
Normally she would have come to get me by now.
It seemed she had gone out early in the morning, because there was no sign of Elena anywhere.
“....”
I never thought the day would come when I would grow this used to being with Elena. It seemed the saying that humans are creatures of adaptation wasn’t wrong after all.
It was still an ambiguous time to be fully awake. While waiting for Elena, I unknowingly drifted back to sleep.
“....”
Click.
The sound of the room door opening and closing reached my ears. It wasn’t loud enough to wake me under normal circumstances, but this time was different.
“Elena, you’re back?”
“Luke?”
My body was still on the bed, but my mind and heart were already turned toward Elena.
“....”
But the sight of Elena, who had left her spot early in the morning… I immediately understood where she must have gone.
“What do you think?”
“…Did you dye your hair?”
The deep black hair that resembled our father was gone. In its place was the same pale beige color as mine. Another thing that allowed me to recall our father was disappearing.
I was lost in sentiment, examining the texture of her hair, when it seemed the sight of me—freshly awake and immediately checking her hair—greatly amused Elena.
“Now we really look like actual siblings, don’t we?”
“…You weren’t the type to care about that before.”
“It doesn’t hurt to care. And that’s not the only reason.”
“Then?”
“Solomon recognized me right away, so I changed my hair color. There’s no downside to altering my impression and appearance.”
Suddenly, the words of the financial king Hagen came to mind. He had said people always have two reasons—a plausible one and the real one. It seemed Elena had both.
“How does it look? Does it not suit me?”
“It does. It suits you perfectly. Though I’m not sure there’s any color that wouldn’t suit you.”
“Luke, even if you compliment me that much, you won’t get anything out of it.”
Even as she said that, Elena’s mouth was stretched ear to ear in a smile. I wondered what Felicia would think when she saw the two of us with completely matching hair colors, looking like real siblings no matter who looked at us.
“Anyway, how are things on your end?”
“While I was at the salon, I did one last check on the preparations.”
It seemed everything was ready for our advance into the central district. Elena and I went over the final details. Elena moving into the central district would come first. The war with the Russo Family would follow after that.
While all eyes and attention were focused on Elena’s advance into the central district, I planned to strike at the Russo Family’s weak point. They probably never expected us to launch two such major operations at the same time.
“We might not see each other for a few days now.”
“Since we won’t be moving on the front lines ourselves, it should be fine.”
Elena was worried about not being able to meet, but I didn’t think it would be a problem. After all, I would likely be commanding the war against the Russo Family from the academy. Of course, I did plan to personally participate in establishing a bridgehead in the northeast district.
And so, the day of the decisive battle was drawing near.