Noticing Leo's pale face, Liam Manoban asks his son, "What's wrong?"
"I know that person." Leo is surprised, not pleasantly.
Declan Hale was the head of a small clan at first. Then, that person grew in power and eventually, he became the lord of the underworld. He was a major power that went against the consortium back then. As much as Leo knows, Declan wanted to wipe out the consortium.
But Declan is Daniel Nagasaki's half brother. Why did he want to go against the Consortium? Was it all a show? How is he connected to Mira and Valerie?
What exactly happened after his death?
Leo rubs the space between his brows, feeling a headache. It feels like a mess. The Consortium is like everywhere. How are they going to deal with them?
"How do you know him?" Liam Manoban probes him.
"Father, is there a way for me to meet him?" Leo asks his father. "He will become a powerful figure in the future. I want to befriend that guy. It might be useful if he's on our side?"
"Declan?" His father creases his forehead. "You are right. His father is a part of the Consortium. But it might not be possible for you to meet him now. Declan is studying in another country. Your mother won't let you go that far until you are an adult."
Until he's an adult? The corner of Leo's lips twitches. But he's already an adult. He's twenty-four, for god's sake. "Father, you keep forgetting that I am an adult already."
"Say that when you are taller than me." Liam Manoban chuckles when Leo makes a face. "In our eyes, you will always be a child. You are our son. If you don't let us treat you like a child, who else can we love till he's spoiled?"
"Hmph!" Leo doesn't believe that he's being spoiled rotten. If they loved him so much, would they make him clean his brother's poop, especially when both of them know that he's an adult in a child's body? "What about Luca?"
"What about him?" Liam Manoban raises his brow.
"Why must I still clean his poop whenever I am punished?" Leo narrows his eyes on his father. "Isn't this punishment too much?"
"Do you want a child bride instead?" Liam Manoban questions him. "Either you get a child bride or you clean Luca's poop until he learns to use the bathroom."
Leo shakes his head. He doesn't want a child bride. That's even more horrible than cleaning a baby's poop. He will teach his brother to use the bathroom as soon as his brother learns to crawl. Even dogs know how to use the bathroom these days. "I am fine with poop."
"Be nice to Imamura's daughter. " Liam Manoban rubs his son's head. "She's a child. Don't teach her funny things."
"I won't" Leo mutters, "I have learned my lesson. Children are dangerous creatures."
He still gets nightmares about having his balls torn away by Mira sometimes.
Liam has heard him. He glances at his son. A five-year-old child thinks that children are dangerous. Perhaps, it will take some time to get used to the fact that Leo isn't a child.
His son is a grown-up in some areas but very childish in other areas.
***
On her way back to the apartment, Kinoshita Viori is in the taxi when she receives a call from Haruto.
[Where are you?] His voice is deep and gruff. He sounds like he has a grudge on her. [You haven't come to visit me yet.]
"I saw you only yesterday." Kinoshita Viori tilts her head, staring out of the window.
[But we didn't see each other today.]
"Didn't you live for a year without seeing me?" She questions him, tapping her fingers on her thigh. "Why do you want to see me now?"
[I also have a lot of complaints. Let bygone be bygone. We should make up for the lost times.]
She chuckles. "How are you going to make up?"
[Come here.] She hears his reply in an unquestioning tone. [I will tell you how.]
Maybe his stay is extended in the hospital. Well, getting poisoned is a serious matter. Viori leans back in her seat. "I have work. I will see you after I am finished."
[Work from here. I want to watch you work.]
"Don't be unreasonable."
[It seems that you want me to come to you.] She hears the sound of rustling. [I thought that getting poisoned would get me your attention, but my lady has so much work. I should come and give her a massage.]
Kinoshita Viori's mouth turns dry when she hears that. She would love a massage for sure. But the thing is that she can't trust this man. "You don't know how to massage."
[I will massage the right places.] A low laugh. [You will love it.]
"I don't think so." She can't help but imagine certain things that might happen during the massage. "Stay in the hospital."
[I am already on my way. Don't hang up the call.]
"Why?"
[I want to hear where you need the massage. Is it your shoulders? Back? Lower backs?]
This pervert! Viori scowls darkly. "I am not telling you."
[My lips are quite good. You already know it.]
"Lady, we have arrived." The taxi-driver interrupts her before she could retort to Takeshi. "Is that your apartment? It's on fire."
"What?" Viori looks out of the taxi window. As the taxi-driver had told her, the apartment building is on the fire. The fire seems to have started from her apartment.
[Viori, what is going on?]
"Haruto, the apartment is on fire," Viori tells him as she rushes out of the taxi. She quickens her steps toward the apartment. The fire brigade is here, but they are having trouble calming the fire down.
"The fire is spreading to the other floors," A fireman shouts.
[Viori, get away from that place!]
Viori stares at the fire, bewildered. How could it happen? The original copies of the evidence are inside the apartment.