With a ten-meter-thick filter, Heine expressed that his sister was, of course, the best!
..
The Second Night
If he calculated it carefully, he and his so-called father had not seen each other for a long time.
Of course, compared to Ferrari, it didn't seem that long.
This was not because that man had the time to travel to Japan to see him—and certainly not because he would take the initiative to seek out that man; it was purely because modern communications had become increasingly advanced.
As for why Heine would be video chatting with his father?
—After all, a man who now exists as a figure similar to an Italian Mafia godfather would certainly have his ways of "finding" a son who had run away from home in his youth.
However, ever since he joined the Black Organization, this phenomenon has significantly decreased.
It was unclear whether it was due to the influence of the Black Organization, or because this action served as an indirect demonstration of his determination to break away.
When he saw him again, Heine couldn't help but feel a sense of surprise.
That father, who had once brought him infinite pressure, still possessed a calm and indifferent expression, a pair of blue eyes that, though aged, remained tranquil and bright, an aura of natural authority.
When he saw this son he hadn't seen in many years, he didn't even show a hint of surprise, merely offering a shallow, seemingly gentle smile. "You're back?"
It was as if his son had merely gone on a long trip.
It was as if he were still a tender youth under his parents' wings, someone to be worried over.
A sense of gentleness and composure.
However, within those eyes, which were identical to Heine's, there was only a very shallow affection beneath that gentleness.
There was no surprise or concern in his expression; his gentleness was nothing more than a common routine—a routine that once caused a continuous stream of lovers to come and go around him, yet never caused him a single ripple of emotion.
Heine understood this routine.
Because whether intentional or not, he had clearly inherited his talent in this regard from his Father.
Whether he seduces or marries, whether he kills or buries, he cares for nothing.
Perhaps the only difference between the two is that Heine still possesses what is called "family affection" in his heart, whereas his father has long since devoted his mind and body to power.
Besides that, the indulgence contained within that sense of "as if he were still a tender youth under his parents' wings, a source of worry" was merely an expression of his desire for control.
In that man's eyes, no matter what he did or protested, it was nothing more than a whim of 'playing house'.
His father believed almost certainly that he would follow the path he had arranged for his son.
That is why Heine never liked him.
But he still came, appearing before his father.
After washing away the messy colors from his hair, the blonde-haired man with blue eyes looked almost fifty percent similar to his father—at a glance, no one would ever doubt their blood relation.
Bloodlines are sometimes truly a strange thing.
Heine thought.
He lifted his eyes to look at his Father. Even though he was nearly sixty, even though his back remained straight, his aura remained imposing, his gaze remained sharp, time had already cast a thin layer of frost upon this man—fine lines had appeared at the corners of his eyes, his hair had turned grey, even his reactions were much slower than they were ten years ago.
But he was still a man standing at the peak of the Mafia.
Heine did not lower his gaze, staring at the other person quietly and stubbornly, before speaking slowly, "What did you say to Aurora?"
"His name is Philomena." The other man smiled gently and took a slow step forward.
Heine subconsciously took a step back.
The Mafia's 'Gentleman' paused and frowned slightly, but he no longer insisted; instead, he corrected his with a doting, smiling voice, "You always get his name wrong, Phi."
Heine, whose real name is Philostratos and nickname is Phi, remained silent.
It's nothing, really." The other man clearly didn't mind Heine's silence. He turned and walked toward the chair behind the conference table, his steps steady: "Just some.. old matters from years ago—do you want to know?
“Conditions?”
Negotiating terms hurts Emotion.
"How much emotion do we even have?" Heine retorted.
The Mafia Godfather shrugged slightly, not angered by it in the slightest: "Then we certainly can't damage our feelings—after all, there isn't much to begin with."
He spoke as if it were only natural, his blue eyes scanning Heine's calm face as he gave a slight smile.
"To be honest, Phi." The other party spoke as if sighing, his gaze carrying a sincere and earnest—yet to Heine, exceptionally repulsive and helpless—indulgence.
She is more like her mother—and you, more like me.
Heine remained silent.
As if reminiscing, the other party smiled and said, "I still quite like Columba."
..
The Second Story
Heloise once had a child, because of that child, his former fiancé once sent Columba to "save" Heloise, who was being held under house arrest by his brother.
But before Columba arrived, Heloise had already suffered a miscarriage.
Although the Mission should have ended there, I don't know what Columba was thinking at the time, but he insisted on playing the hero to save the beauty—whether that caused the beauty to fall for him is a story for another time. It took him quite a lot of effort to take Heloise away back then.
Heine's birth was an accident.
The handsome young Italian youth had a brief fling with a Japanese girl who fell in love with him at first sight, captivated by his face, while he was on a mission, then this byproduct was born.
The Italian youth was clearly unaware of this—instead, Heloise was the first to receive the news.
He reached an agreement with a destitute Japanese girl who wanted an abortion, paying money to buy this child, whose life was hanging by a thread before birth, to use as a bargaining chip.
The chip used to negotiate with her former fiancé.
And the existence of Columba is the guarantee that this bargaining chip can remain safely in Heloise's hands.
From his former fiancé's attitude, Heloise understood how much he cared about the Child—though she did not know the reason why.
It seemed that Columba knew a little bit, but the Mercenary lady clearly had no intention of revealing her thoughts.
But none of that mattered; what mattered was that she could use it as leverage for negotiation.
As it turned out, she had succeeded.
Having relied on his former fiancé to break away from his Brother, Heloise had enjoyed several years of stable life, she clearly treated this boy as his own—although his Child had died, it did not mean she would take his emotions out on other innocent children. Similarly, Columba, who was always quite patient in front of children, was also very kind to Heine.
In Heloise's delusions, the strange connection formed by him, Heine, Columba, which appeared odd to outsiders, was clearly the perfect family in his heart.
This perfection was not broken when Sheila was born—on the contrary, Heloise was very good to Sheila, even more so than he was to Heine.
After all, Columba had not left her.
In Heine's eyes, Heloise was a contradiction.
He was clever yet foolish; decisive yet cowardly.
She was so devoted that she could yearn for every single detail of Columba, rejoicing at her every smile; yet she was so heartless that she could disregard the advances of others, even toward the two children she had cared for many years, doing so only because Sheila was Columba's daughter and Heine was the child in the family role she had hallucinated.
She was mad enough to die for Columba, dedicated to keeping Columba by her side forever, even going so far as to try every possible way to negotiate with the Mastermind; she was restrained enough to let Columba's thoughts of her as a sister go unaddressed, demanding only that Columba stay by her side, turning a blind eye to each and every one of the other's lovers, never truly voicing her adoration from beginning to end.
He is passionate; even if it means harming everyone—including himself, she is unwilling to harm Columba; she is selfish; aside from not harming Columba, she does not care about harming any innocent person.
Many times, Heine felt that Heloise was actually already insane.
But what does that matter?
She had never let herself down and had always treated herself well—so, he regarded her as an elder who deserved respect and protection.
However, he found it difficult to understand Heloise's way of thinking.
With Columba away from "home" for years, the young Sheila, who would chase after him babbling "Brother," became the one he had to protect.
She also became the one where he placed his emotions.
It remained that way for many years to come.
..
Third Night
Father gave him a lot of information.
Heine saw at a glance that this information had certainly not just begun to be collected in recent years.
“Philomena only contacted me not long ago.” That man leaned back against his chair, leisurely observing his son's expression. "Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't know his whereabouts before—after all, I still have some people under me."
The man seemed unconcerned about casually revealing the existence of his informants.
Regarding this, Heine said: ".."
He was not surprised by the fact that there was an informant arranged by his Father within the Black Organization.
Truly, it was not surprising at all.
Anyway, as long as it doesn't affect his life, it's fine.
Of course, this didn't mean Heine wouldn't feel angry about being watched. She secretly made a mental note of this grievance—though, of course, he wouldn't hold it against her Sister.
—Far away in Tokyo, Pino sneezed.
His father's slightly slow voice echoed slowly through the living room: "Although she and I have had several indirect contacts, she clearly does not want to see me, so I was quite surprised when I received the request for a phone call half a month ago."
Even so, there was truly not a trace of surprise in his Voice.
Getting straight to the point by directly requesting cooperation to destroy the Black Organization—that is quite interesting." Seeing Heine's eyes widen with satisfaction, the man could not help but chuckle. He cleared his throat and continued, "Although I find it somewhat strange that she approached me—and at this stage, I have no intention of going to war with the Black Organization—I still listened to his finish his terms.
His subordinates' interests rarely conflicted with those of the Black Organization, so there was really no need to waste effort risking everything to carve up their territory.
Similarly, as a member of the ICPO, it was also very strange that Sheila approached the Mafia, hoping to use his power to destroy the Organization, offering the prospect of swallowing up a portion of the Black Organization's influence as a reward afterward.
At the very least, it was something that would be outside the scope of what the ICPO could accept.
Having clearly become a Member of White, why must he be connected to Black again?
She did not believe that Sheila was the kind of selfless person who would rather stain herself and collaborate with the underworld just to eliminate evils for the sake of the people.
After all, this girl was his and Columba's daughter.
However, it had to be admitted that Sheila really had somewhat convinced her.