~~
This will be the last chapter that Regina Luciano will be mentioned.
~~
THIRD PERSON POV
"Mommy, mommy!"
Regina turned her head to the voice, and reflexively caught a sudden weight that had pounced on her. Frowning, she looked at the five-year-old girl that was crying pitifully.
"What is it, Ember?" Regina asked with a slightly gentle voice. Looking at the little girl who was bawling in her arms, she couldn't help but curse to the nine rings of hell whoever caused this.
Still crying, the child managed to talk, "T-there was this boy in s-school that didn't want to give me his food! He said that it was his a-and wasn't mine to take!"
The Queen frowned, picked up the young, immature child, and put down her phone on the counter. Then, she picked up the little one and put Ember on her lap.
Wiping the tear-stained cheeks of the cute girl, Regina spoke with a soothing tone that even she was unaware of, "But, my princess, that boy was right. That was his, and not yours. If you want something, you can easily tell mommy to buy it and not take it from another person. We're Mafia royalty, sweetie. Not random thieves."
"But, mommy! I want him dead! Since we're the Mafia, then we can just kill him, right?"
"No, Ember. We are not going to kill him."
"But why?!"
"Because even though we're the Mafia, we're royalty, alright?" Regina sighed, not caring much about her spoiled daughter's wish. But that doesn't mean someone else didn't.
~~
"Breaking news. A five-year-old child was found dead at his kindergarten school. He was missing for hours, and was just found the next day when the school had opened in the morning."
Regina nonchalantly typed business contracts on her laptop, not even glancing at the sudden news that showed on the TV, causing a pause from her children's cartoon watching.
"A mark was found at his forehead, which was shaped like a crown as if this was the suspect's symbol or mark."
The fingers that were rapidly moving paused, eyes now glancing at the television.
"If this mark is familiar to anyone, it is the same as the one of the former 'Queen Bloodlust'. Having disappeared for many years, this mark has now suddenly reappeared. Is this the same 'Queen Bloodlust', a fake, or a new one? We will continue to update you on this news, so stay tuned!"
While the TV was playing cartoons again, Regina's mind kept on replaying the news that she had just heard.
A fake? No, anyone who knows about the Queen Bloodlust wouldn't dare to use that mark. Anyone that tried to imitate her had been cut down quickly the moment they had done the deed.
Her? No, it had been years since she last used the mark, as the news had said. She wasn't that teenager anymore who would just kill anyone she found annoying or had done something against their Mafia. For one, she was already the queen, which meant that she could just order others to do the job.
So the only reason would be...
"Umbra."
The small child that was watching cartoons with her sister turned around in response to the call from the twins' mother. With a face that didn't show any hint of her current feelings, Regina noted how much she and her eldest were alike.
Seeing that she had the five-year-old's attention, Regina motioned for Umbra to follow her. They went upstairs to the twin's shared bedroom, with an extra party following the mother and daughter pair.
"What's the family meeting about?"
Regina glanced at Soren who had asked the question. Seeing her strange serious Look that she doesn't typically show around her children, the auburn sobered up from his jolly countenance.
When the door closed, Regina's vision zoned in on the child that sat on the bed, looking downwards to her feet. Like her twin sister, Umbra had black hair and silver eyes, but the difference is that hers weren't as open and free as Ember's. Instead, they seemed closed-off, cold, even.
Even though Regina was seeing her youngest daughter being very well-behaved as always, her stony face filled with gloom hadn't changed.
"Umbra."
"Yes, mother?"
"Did you do it?"
Silence filled the room as Soren glanced repeatedly from the child to the adult. These two were so similar... Too similar that it gave him goosebumps. From their cold auras to how their postures, almost nothing could be found different.
"Do what, mother?" Umbra's soft, childish voice tinged with nonchalance and indifference resounded.
Regina narrowed her eyes at her daughter's blatant display of playing ignorance. Well, this won't work on her, of course.
"It appears that I wasn't very clear in my wording. Let me repeat that; Were you the one who killed that boy?"
Umbra, knowing well that her mother had probably pieced it together and was now just waiting for her response, answered with a clenched jaw that wasn't hidden from the two adults. "Ember wanted him dead." She said, indirectly admitting her fault, but not being guilty of it.
In her mind, she wasn't to blame. Since her little sister wanted that boy to die, then he was a dead man walking! Who told him to offend Ember? It was his fault in the first place since he made her sister cry!
Regina sighed, knowing well what her daughter's mindset was. She then told the child to go back downstairs to play with Ember which Umbra did very willingly.
The room was quiet when the little girl exited, neither Soren nor Regina saying a word. Only their breaths and the occasional sigh were the only sounds heard in the room. Gesturing to Soren, Regina led the both of them out of her daughters' room and into her home office.
Once they arrived, Soren didn't let another burst of silence come forth, and started, "What was that about there, Regina?"
The woman in question sighed, feeling tired and aggrieved. She spoke as she leaned on her desk table, "That girl, Umbra. She takes after me too much."
Soren raised a brow. So she noticed this just now?
Seeing the male's expression that was easily read, Regina rolled her, "I already knew a long time ago, alright? But for fuck's sake. She's barely six years old! Even I had my first kill when I was ten, but her?" She sighed, "I have no idea what I'm going to do with that little devil's child."
"That's your child."
"Exactly."
Regina then leaned her head backward, rubbing the back of her neck. These days for her have been quite stressful, being the ruler of two conjoined Mafias alone. Thankfully, she had her most faithful and competent second-hand man right beside her, helping her shoulder the burdens.
Especially when she became pregnant. Things were hard then. She didn't vomit many times, but she was always feeling nauseous, she was very irritatable, and her cravings always consisted of weird shit that makes her shudder when she sees them, but still craves it. All in all, it was absolute hell.
But who would've expected that after the hellish nine months came to the beautiful, heavenly climax. The moment she held on to both her bay girls she felt something in her heart that she never did before. Mother's love was something unfathomable.
But after the wonderful feeling came another round of absolute hell again.
Ember, the eldest of the twins, was hard to deal with. She always wanted all the attention and was crying almost all the time. She would only stop when she was either asleep, in her mother's embrace, or when she was beside her younger sister.
Umbra, on the other hand, was pretty easy to deal with. She didn't cry but just stared at you like she knew of your deepest, darkest secrets and was judging you for them. She only ever cried when she had a need, and her favorite person to be around was her sister.
Years went by, and the two babies had developed into full-grown toddlers that were fit in age for kindergarten.
At the twins' early ages, they stayed at where the headquarters for the mafias were, but Regina then moved their whole family back to New York, to her father's old residence. Since the country was now a neutral territory, any Mafia could live there and have their headquarters.
Going back to what was happening in the present, Soren suddenly had a thought. He opened his mouth to state his suggestion but closed it soon after. 'Never mind, that was a bad idea.'
Unfortunately for him, Regina noticed his reluctance just when he was about to say something. Driven by her curiosity, she couldn't stop herself from asking, "What was it you wanted to say?"
Soren tensed, not realizing that she had noticed that. Seeing her stern but curious look, he cleared his throat and opened his mouth, but closed it again. Seeing him like a gaping fish out of water, Regina got annoyed.
"Oh, come on, Soren. What the fuck do you want to say?!" She snapped.
Startled by her yell, Soren couldn't stop himself from blurting out his thoughts, "Why don't you get her trained?"
Silence.
The auburn gulped, thinking whether or not he should have said that. He felt something cold in his back and realized he was drenched in a cold sweat. Even after all these years, he still feared Regina's wrath.
But Regina wasn't really mad at him. Instead, she was honestly contemplating the man's words. After thinking it through, she shooed him out and called her youngest daughter once again.
Two eyes of the same coldness clashed together unblinking and steadfast. One held the innocence of a child, while the other had the maturity of an adult.
"Umbra. I have something to ask you."
Hearing her mother's serious tone that was much more than earlier when Umbra couldn't help but be nervous. "What is it, mother?"
Regina inhaled deeply and laid out the plan for her daughter.
~~
The cold, autumn wind blew around, chilling those that it passed through. The leaves of the trees all around were either bare or hanging and on the brink of flying away to be carried into places far from their old home.
There was barely anyone walking around having confined themselves to the warmth of their homes without a care in the world.
But not her.
Not caring about how her black hair was flowing in the wind without restriction, the woman clutched the bouquet full of purple hyacinths in her hand, being careful not to let a single petal get sucked away by the breeze.
She walked until she reached a certain area, where she had barely been all these years. She just couldn't help herself. She told herself not to, but...
She stood there blankly, staring at the stone beneath her. She blinked her long lashes and exhaled, a gust of visible air exiting her, which was proof of how cold the weather was currently.
She stayed unmoving there until she spoke, her words sounding breathless.
"Hi."
The cool air answered her.
"It's... Been a while since I last talked to you. Years. So, how are you doing?"
She exhaled again, and continued, her voice nonchalant, "Me? Oh, I'm... Not feeling the best of the best. Work has gotten me twisted and turned, making me wonder how you managed to do all of this."
Hearing no response, she chuckled without amusement, her nonchalant personal cracking.
"Look at me. Look at how pathetic I am, thinking that I'll receive an answer from a rock. Don't I just sound crazy?!" She followed her words with a peal of hysterical laughter, not knowing about the stream of liquid that flowed from the corner of her eyes.
She laughed and laughed until she felt the strength in her knees give out. She didn't help herself, but let gravity drag her body down until she was on her knees in front of the stone. Seeing the circumstance, she snickered with a tone of self-mocking.
"Wow, look at me. I once said that I would rather die on my feet, than live on my knees, but look at me now. Kneeling right before you, moments before my death. Ironic, don't you think?"
A purple petal fell on the stone in front of her, making her shift her attention to the bunch of flowers that she was holding protectively not long ago. She didn't know, but as she was staring at what was in front of her earlier, the wind had already taken the petals away, letting them flow around into the air without a definite destination of landing.
Bringing her attention back to the stone table in front of her, she smiled, and said, "Look at that; it appears that we'll die side by side. Don't you think this is a wonderful thing? Ha! My enemies have caught up on me, and my fate is inevitable. Today is when I die, and to be honest, I'm glad it's beside you. My sins have reached their peak, and now, it's time for goodbye."
Amid the surrounding silence, an ominous click was heard behind her, but she didn't look behind. "Isn't it also kind of sad that I found out that your family wasn't the one that had killed my mother? It wasn't your Mafia that had ruined our family. But that doesn't matter now. Now that I'm about to die."
She kept that broken smile that she never had before as she thought, 'As I vowed that day, I will find you, in whatever way I use. Even if that is death.'
BANG
She didn't move at first, and like the world was at a standstill with her, it also froze. She then glanced at her chest, where a gaping hole was flowing with crimson liquid that she always adored seeing. Even now.
With that smile still intact on her face, she lost control of her body, and fell forwards, staining the engraved stone with her blood, as if it was sacrificial blood.
The purple hyacinth, a flower representing forgiveness, was soaked with the scarlet liquid, but still managed to keep itself pretty, as it lay beside the corpse of Regina Luciano, and the gravestone of Cavillor Flare.
And thus, Regina Cavillor was dead.
~~
[2412]