The living room on the second floor of the mansion.
Before reaching the place where Elena was, Felicita asked me to wait for a moment.
“I’ll just change my clothes quickly.”
Despite wearing work clothes, her beauty remained unchanged.
But Felicita was a woman too. Unlike when I was around, she didn’t want to be seen in such attire in front of her romantic rival, Elena.
I barely started climbing the stairs when someone approached from behind and tapped my shoulder.
“What? You changed clothes super fast.”
“Just had to put on some clothes.”
Felicita and I held hands amicably as we walked up the stairs.
“….”
In the meantime, Felicita began wrapping her long tail around my waist, glancing at me cautiously.
It felt like the movement resembled a snake tightening around its prey, but that was probably just my imagination.
“Feli.”
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t it a bit tough taking care of all those kids by yourself? You’re not single anymore.”
“That’s true. But I want to take care of them myself.”
“Alright then. Looks like Elena and I will have to help.”
“I don’t think Elena will be much help, though.”
“…Is it that bad?”
“She starts trembling just at the sight of Heb.”
Just as Felicita said that, I couldn’t help but imagine Heb launching at Elena and her surprised reaction.
At that moment, Felicita and I were about to open the door to the living room on the second floor. But before we could, the door swung open from the inside.
“What? Who’s trembling?”
Stepping out was none other than Elena. My beloved younger sister.
“Oh, did you eavesdrop on my conversation with my brother? Such bad manners.”
“I told you not to talk like you’re someone older. What’s the age difference anyway? Why do you always bring that up?”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Elena.”
“Luke, come on in.”
Elena and Felicita immediately started bickering once they met.
Such back and forth was nothing for them, so I responded to Elena nonchalantly, and she welcomed me warmly.
“….”
Regardless of whether Felicita was next to her or not, she effortlessly lifted me up and took me into the living room.
“You said you’d be back as soon as possible, but you’re a bit late?”
“No, not at all. I’m fine.”
“Really? I felt so lonely without you.”
Just as Elena was being considerate, Felicita moved closer, trying to steal my attention from her.
I slipped away before the two wives could drain their energy with their usual weird antics and sat down on a suitable chair in the living room.
Sitting on the sofa would surely result in Elena and Felicita claiming my sides and engaging in another petty competition.
“Luke, so did you make some profits?”
“Yeah. It’s not just profits, though.”
“Then….”
“Now Veronica is the boss of the Carmen Family. Paula Carmen and Rita Carmen, those girls didn’t lie.”
Felicita barely finished speaking as I brought up the core part of the conversation.
“The wolf trainees I took along and Little Dom’s underlings will protect Veronica for a while.”
“What do you plan to do about the Gollymen?”
“I’m planning to bring them back. I don’t think we’ll need them.”
“Really?”
Without getting too into how long I would leave my forces at the Carmen Family’s base, I touched on other details.
“The underboss and consigliere will be selected among high-ranking officials.”
“Really? There are those in the existing caporegime and some who went back to that side with Veronica.”
“I thought the same. But the issue is more complicated than I thought. Those who defected to our side with Veronica can only be trusted with the caporegime or specific businesses. Honestly, they’ll fail if we give them any higher roles.”
“….”
“And the existing caporegime is the same. For now, the underboss, Paula Carmen, is temporary, and some of the longstanding caporegime are collectively retiring.”
“Hmm, looks like we have no choice but to rely on high-ranking officials.”
Elena, who had been listening to my words, reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“So who’s the new underboss and new consigliere from that family?”
This time, Felicita asked.
“For now, the underboss is McBratney, and the consigliere is a rather unusual guy. An Iktoomi, a spider-human.”
Having mentioned those two, it was hard not to bring up our slime elder. Of course, I had something else to say first.
“Luke, do you think that’s enough?”
Elena aptly raised an important question.
Although she hadn’t fully let her guard down regarding Veronica, it seemed she couldn’t help but worry.
“The other caporegime won’t cause any trouble. No matter how stupid they are, they won’t go that far.”
“Becoming a part of the new Five Families opens the door for us to receive drug supplies from the Felini Family as well. That’s true.”
“Right. If they give this condition up, it’ll be because Melata or Dragovich have a weakness on them, or they’re in a bind.”
As Felicita and I discussed, Elena remained quiet.
“Luke, having McBratney and that Iktoomi as allies is great, but won’t the existing caporegime and the members resent this?”
“We have no choice. In any case, this is better than trying to pull them onto our side. Plus, Veronica is the next boss officially recognized by Rita Carmen. They lack justification to complain.”
McBratney and Iktoomi.
If we could onboard their organizations and other high-ranking officials, Veronica and her forces would turn from a minority to a majority.
“One more thing. I’ll be sticking with Veronica for a while.”
“What?”
“….”
Immediately, Elena reacted strongly, while Felicita had a look of clear concern despite her objections.
“Only until the Carmen Family stabilizes. It won’t take long.”
I decided that was enough to say about the Carmen Family. I would let them know any other questions or details through Veronica.
“I’m planning to leave the Academy under Sarina and Kambara for now.”
“Sarina?”
“It won’t change much. Kambara is still the vice-chairman; the real power will just shift from Veronica to Sarina.”
“But Sarina might be lacking in that regard.”
“Well, Kambara can handle the administrative side, and if any problems arise, Sarina can handle that.”
That was the perfect role distribution for both of them.
“Sarina said it might be impossible to keep an eye on Veronica from now on.”
“….”
“Elena, is it really necessary to monitor Veronica that closely? I feel like this is enough.”
*
Just as I made that comment, Felicita started nudging Elena playfully.
“Alright then, I’ll call Sarina to decide what to do.”
But Elena didn’t seem too inclined to let it go easily.
“Elena, Feli. You both remember Elder Leonhart, right?”
“Yeah, of course. But why him?”
“Right. I heard he’s part of the Carmen Family now.”
Reacting to that was Felicita and Elena, especially Felicita’s reaction was quite expected. Elder Leonhart was a founding member of the Marinelli Family.
He was something like Vito Marinelli’s right-hand man and one of his strongest allies.
“He’s now a high-ranking official in the Carmen Family. He’s got enough influence, similar to McBratney or Iktoomi.”
“…So what are you planning with him?”
Elena asked regarding my earlier appointments. McBratney and Iktoomi got their positions, but Elder Leonhart was not assigned one.
“I actually have a suggestion related to that.”
I referenced the recent territorial changes among the Five Families.
Marinelli expanding west and south, Russo expanding in all directions during the war with the Vipers, and Solomon pushing further south.
Lastly, our Felini Family as well.
“As for the northeast….”
“Oh, I already heard from Carso.”
“Really? Then we can get to the point right away.”
I pointed out that Caporegime Belcastro Granada had recently expanded his territory in the central part of the city.
“Why Granada?”
“We need to seize the area to the south of his territory before the black gang or Marinelli moves in. But Granada alone won’t suffice.”
“….”
Felicita didn’t particularly disagree. Considering the size of the recently expanded territory of the Marinelli Family, that area surely couldn’t be neglected.
“So how about appointing Elder Leonhart as the caporegime south of Granada?”
“Are you suggesting we entrust that important place to him?”
“He’s too much for Veronica’s Carmen Family to handle. But he’s not a candidate for being sent to another place.”
“Luke, have you confirmed Elder Leonhart’s intentions?”
I nodded cautiously at Felicita’s question.
“He was thrilled about it. We just need to decide what to do.”
“Luke, I understand your thoughts and intentions, but the existing caporegime will not easily accept this.”
“That’s why I pointed to the area south of Granada. It’s unclaimed territory, so allowing Elder Leonhart to move there will work.”
While being a caporegime under the Felini Family, taking over and managing that territory would be entirely Elder Leonhart’s responsibility.
It could be irritating to have someone new being a caporegime.
But, given Elder Leonhart’s experience and the territory he gained himself, such dissent would be minimized.
“Elena, what do you think?”
As soon as I finished speaking, Felicita asked Elena.
“Considering that Granada is next to Armo, he won’t be able to pull any shady stuff.”
Elena’s response was surprisingly positive.
“Not to mention there’s also Vanella and Lumini nearby, and your territory isn’t that far from the mansion either.”
It was great that the nearby caporegime, who could exercise control and keep an eye on Elder Leonhart, were quite competent.
Of course, being close to Elder Leonhart also meant he could easily target us.
“If we think of gaining the intelligence of the Carmen Family, this doesn’t seem like a hefty cost.”
“Elena, then….”
“Yeah, Luke. Do as you think.”
Elena readily gave her endorsement.
“I’ll be right back; I need to use the restroom.”
Just then, Felicita headed towards the bathroom, leaving just me and Elena in the living room.
“Luke.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Now that we’ve got the Carmen Family in our hands, the next target is Sanchez.”
“That’s right. Then it’s Dragovich’s turn.”
According to Rita Carmen, those two families led the assassination of my father. Our true revenge was about to begin.
“When you took the Academy from me… I had no idea we could get this far.”
“….”
I looked down at the ornate patterned carpet on the living room floor instead of facing Elena.
“Luke, I’m sorry. That was my fault.”
“Seriously, Elena, I wasn’t trying to get an apology. Even if it’s a hindsight view, those things brought us to where we are now.”
I hurriedly added as I sensed Elena’s reaction. I wasn’t genuinely fishing for an apology.
“….”
“Isn’t that right?”
As I leaned closer to her, Elena’s face turned red.
“Yeah.”
Her soft reply quickly turned into a kiss. Yet, Elena’s soft lips did not touch mine.
“…What’s going on?”
Felicita had returned from the bathroom just in time, interrupting our kiss with her long tail.
“Back so soon.”
“Yeah, Luke. I thought you two would be like this.”
Felicita spoke as if she wouldn’t let things go easily.
Meanwhile, Elena had an utterly displeased expression since she ended up kissing Felicita’s tail instead of me.
“Elena, is it really that hard to deal with?”
“…Would you like it?!”
The two wives began their usual friction once more.
I decided it was a good time to leave my seat and head back to the Carmen Family’s stronghold.
“Are you leaving already?”
“Well, I have to go eventually.”
“Luke, hold on a moment.”
“Yeah?”
This time, Felicita called me. Of course, before following her, I exchanged goodbyes with Elena.
“Luke, don’t take too long. Be careful with Veronica too.”
“Don’t worry. I can beat Veronica anytime.”
“…That’s not something to brag about.”
