I allowed Rita Carmen to pay her respects at the grave of my father, Vito Felini.
Veronica and Paula were overjoyed to hear this. It was especially remarkable to see Paula, who usually had that indifferent expression, react so positively.
“Veronica.”
“Yes? Brother.”
“Although it won’t change the outcome, I’m going to call Elena.”
“Okay…”
It’s not something I could unilaterally decide. Even though I was the Godfather now, Elena’s opinion was crucial since she was both the Godmother and my father’s biological daughter.
I left the restaurant and headed towards the phone booth in the hallway. Sarina tried to come back to my side, but I raised my hand to refuse her.
Sarina’s change of expression was impressive, but upon seeing my serious look, she hurried back to her seat.
“Elena. It’s me.”
“Luke? Is something wrong?”
Just as I heard Elena’s voice over the receiver, another voice cut in.
“Luke!”
It was clearly Felicita.
The unmistakable sound of my two wives bickering continued for a while after I had left the receiver hanging.
All I could do from a distance was wait for their quarrel to end.
“Luke. So what’s going on?”
“I just wanted to discuss something.”
Elena fell silent after listening to me. Perhaps she was ready to hear me out.
“I heard from Veronica. That Rita Carmen woman… she wants to visit father’s grave.”
“….”
I thought she might immediately refuse, but Elena didn’t do that. Instead, she asked me for more details.
“She wants to go after the hearing is over, and before she enters the witness protection program; she wants to visit father’s grave one last time.”
I explained to Elena what I had learned through Veronica and Paula Carmen.
“She’s not planning anything fishy, right? She wouldn’t, like, take father’s remains or anything…”
“Not at all. I don’t think she would.”
While Elena’s imagination might be vivid, it did seem plausible considering it was Rita Carmen.
“Fine. If it’s just that, I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, Elena.”
“If you’re grateful, you should come back here quickly. I miss you…”
“Yeah, I’ll be back soon.”
That wasn’t a typical response from Elena, especially with Felicita by her side.
Thus, my brief call with Elena came to an end.
I could have sworn I heard Felicita’s anxious voice just before the call disconnected.
Meanwhile, in the mansion on the other end of the line.
Elena, immediately after the call, reclined on the sofa, leaning her head back. Her quickly shutting eyelids felt painfully heavy.
“Sigh…”
“Why? Has something happened?”
“That damn Carmen woman wants to visit father’s grave.”
“….”
Felicita was still upset that she lost her chance to speak with her husband, but she decided to overlook it in light of this issue.
“So? Did you end up allowing it?”
“It seems Veronica asked Luke to grant it.”
Elena, while answering Felicita’s question, kept her eyes closed.
“Talk about being accommodating. If I were you, I’d think for a long time before deciding.”
“Not because I like her. It’s for Veronica and Luke.”
Felicita nodded in agreement with Elena’s words.
“…What?”
Suddenly, something touched the top of Elena’s head. She opened her eyes to find a strange sensation she hadn’t noticed before.
The source of that strange feeling was, of course, Felicita’s tail.
“Elena, since you’ve been a good sister, I’ll commend you.”
“….”
Elena seemed to lack the energy to get angry and closed her eyes again.
Four days later.
I had certainly told Elena that I would return to the mansion soon, but time had flown by.
Although I was a bit late, I couldn’t help but feel good thinking of reuniting with Elena and Felicita.
“Sarina, I trust you to handle the Wolf and the Gollymen.”
“Yes, don’t worry. We won’t lose to those Golem guys.”
Of course not. There was no way that Sarina would let that happen.
Moreover, with the reinforcements Sarina and I had brought, combined with the Carmen Family’s support, I felt no concern at all.
If anything, I’d say my worries were more towards the Solomon Family. Or perhaps the Russo Family, who were having a tough time against the Vipers.
Though they were called the Five Families, in practical terms, only four families were pressuring the Sanchez Family.
“Veronica, I’ll be off then.”
“Yes, Brother. I believe you’ll be back soon.”
“…Well, I can’t guarantee that.”
Veronica said it would be enough if I just came back.
It had already been four days, but the war with the Sanchez Family was still ongoing.
So… perhaps Elena and Felicita wouldn’t agree, but it seemed I had to return to support the Carmen Family again.
From a distance, Paula Carmen was watching this scene unfold.
She had just been receiving reports from a member trying to approach Veronica.
“Got it. I’ll inform the Boss, so you can leave now.”
“Yes, Miss.”
While Paula was watching, the Godfather left Balis Casino, the stronghold of the Carmen Family, heading towards the city center. Thankfully, there was no concern about being attacked by the Sanchez Family during this movement.
The four days felt long yet short at the same time.
After the Solomon Family had severed the Sanchez Family’s waist, the areas north of Solomon Family were completely cleared.
That was because the assaults against the Solomon Family’s defenses had failed, allowing Viola Carmen from the northeast and Fabio Carini from the south to storm in.
While the Solomon Family held their ground in preparation for an attack from the south, the two Caporegimes of the Felini Family completed their tasks.
“Brother, are you sure we shouldn’t take a detour just in case?”
“No, don’t worry and go straight. They won’t even recognize the car I’m in.”
“…Understood.”
*
It wasn’t all good news over the past four days.
Since the war started between the Five Families and the Sanchez Family, the nature of the conflict was quite straightforward.
During the day, they avoided confrontations, and when it got dark, they would board vehicles to shoot at their opposing members, engaging in drive-by shootings across the western parts of the city.
Sometimes, they would even cross paths, resulting in gunfights on the roads late at night.
The problem was… it had happened just the day before.
In the gunfight on the roads between the Felini Family and the Sanchez Family.
The police present at the scene got involved, and the members of the Dragovich Family who had appeared to support the Sanchez Family ran over those police officers with their cars.
There’s no need for a detailed description of how the crushed police looked.
The war of the mafia was playing out in the western parts of the city. The story of the tragic and brutal death of a police officer who was trying to maintain public order spread rapidly.
The backlash was so great that the illustrious Financial King sent someone to warn Elena at the mansion.
“Get out right now.”
“What?”
“If you’re going to chatter, then just get lost.”
Of course, Elena dealt decisively with the Financial King.
Financial King Hagen expressed his concerns about the police officer’s story being widely reported and the city’s security situation worsening.
But Elena clearly told the henchman Hagen sent,
“Be thankful that the war is happening in the west side and not the central side.”
This clash was bound to happen anyway. The Sanchez Family and the Dragovich Family had both been involved in the death of the former Godfather.
In a way, it was just fortunate that they attacked us first, preventing the battlefield from shifting to the central side. Elena instructed the henchman to communicate her words to his boss without missing a single detail.
Hagen would surely feel displeased, but what could he do?
A wealthy guy who knew nothing about the underworld and had never killed anyone could hardly grasp the nature of such a war.
As I briefly recalled the events of the past four days, the car had already arrived at the destination.
“Brother, we’ve arrived.”
“That was quick.”
“If we got attacked by mistake, it’d be a big deal.”
The driver seemed quite worried. Well, I was glad as it meant I’d reach my wives sooner.
“Godfather.”
It had been a while since I greeted the gardeners and the hitmen working as servants.
“Hey, Ant. Is Felicia in the annex?”
“Yes, I saw her head into the annex just a little while ago.”
The annex that gardener George ‘Ant’ Skela and I were referring to was undoubtedly the one where Felicia kept many animals.
I headed straight for the annex. While I wanted to see Elena, the annex was closer anyway.
“….”
As soon as I opened the annex door, the familiar sounds of animals came from all around.
It wasn’t too loud, but it wasn’t too quiet either—a perfect environment. However, something suddenly appeared, breaking this unstable peace.
“Ki-eeek!”
It was Hebili.
“Huh?”
But there was something paper-like stuck on Heb’s back.
“Haha! What’s this?”
The handwriting on the paper read, “I’m the idiot who almost made mom slip by surprising her.”
Seeing that the handwriting belonged to Felicia. For Heb, she was the only person he could refer to as ‘mom.’
Meanwhile, Heb didn’t seem to mind and nudged me with his body and backside. It was as if he wanted me to take the paper off his back.
“Stay still.”
“Luke, don’t!”
“Ki-eeek!”
Before I could pull the paper off Heb, Felicia, who had unexpectedly come up to me, stopped me from doing so.
Thanks to that, while Heb was nervous, he squirmed around as he stuck close to Felicia.
“Welcome back, Luke.”
But Felicia ignored Heb’s reactions and hugged me. Consequently, Heb began to weave between us, spinning around continuously.
“Sorry for being late.”
“It’s okay. Given the situation, there’s nothing you can do.”
As Felicia replied, she offered me a golden raspberry. Surely, it was picked from the head of the pudu she was raising.
“I just picked it a little while ago.”
“Mm.”
It wasn’t excessively sweet, but at least it wasn’t bitter either.
“Felicia, is Elena in the main house?”
“Yeah. Since you weren’t here, they’ve been coming over to see her quite a bit.”
“That can’t be helped.”
Usually, they would come to the Academy when I was around. But since I was with the Carmen Family, it seemed they were now bothering Elena, the Godmother.
“Our consigliere and that big guy are with them too.”
“Big guy? We should have quite a few big guys on our side.”
“The big elf, you know.”
“Ah.”
It was undoubtedly Armo. He was the first one to come to mind when you mentioned a big elf.
I took Felicia with me and headed towards the main house. Before we moved together, Felicia made sure to change out of her work clothes.
Once inside the mansion, it was packed with people who had come to meet the Godmother.
“Godfather.”
Those who recognized me stood up and greeted me properly without making a fuss.
I couldn’t react to all of them. I just acknowledged them briefly and went upstairs with Felicia.
In the living room on the second floor was Elena, managing everything from there.
Just then, a visitor who had been talking with Elena hurriedly exited the living room.
“Elena.”
“…Luke. Welcome back.”
Elena didn’t react as enthusiastically as I expected, but I understood why. Considering who usually came to see her when I was at the Academy.
They would come to see me if they wanted to bribe a judge. It was a given that they wouldn’t know how much to give.
It was customary to get paid for helping deliver bribes.
“Elena, I’ll handle the rest. You go take a break.”
“Thank you.”
Elena rose from her seat following my suggestion. As she quickly walked toward her room, Felicia commented.
“That’s unexpected. Normally, you’d have refused, citing your public image.”
“I would’ve before. But you know it’s different now.”
“….”
Consigliere Tony Salmo and Armo remained in their places. Felicia kept a moderate distance while staying in the living room.
The rest of the visitors were straightforward. Some were looking to promote someone in the union and needed my permission.
Some needed my approval to get rid of someone.
“Armo, screen out those who have some backbone and send them in.”
“Yes, Godfather.”
“Who’s next?”
“Just a moment, Godfather.”
As Salmo called in the next waiting person, one went out and another came in. The newcomer first handed over the money he brought to Salmo.
“Good, say hello to your father for me.”
“Yes, Godfather.”
“Salmo, has it been like this for four days?”
“No, it was exactly two days ago.”
“….”
Still, even Elena was an expectant mother.
I didn’t want her to have to stress over such matters. It seemed I would not be able to keep my promise to Veronica after all.
