So, his name is Alvar… I do admit that he’s very good-looking if you ask me. But the fact that the Godfather said that he was “shutting up” Alphonse means that I still see him as a threat. I hope he’s okay, please wait for us, Al.

 

“Right, I have told you about that man, but how about the lovely girl over there? Have I ever told you about her?” The Godfather asked Alvar with an alluring tone, pointing his cane towards dad and lastly in my direction.

 

“No, you haven’t” 

 

He replied and cut it off short, glancing at me with those cold eyes of his. His pupils averted to the ground in front of him, showing no heed whatsoever.

 

The Godfather chuckled and put the edge of his cane down, ”She is the youngest daughter of the Esmond Family, you see. She doesn’t get involved with businesses like this, but tonight’s a little different. Hmmm? Are you interested in her, boy?”

 

The man stayed silent, staring down at the ground with no replies coming in as the Godfather waits. 

 

“I will take that as a no. Since everyone is finally here, we can start by going through the crime your son had committed towards our family”

 

The air began to feel heavier, as we were about to go into the reasons why they had captured Alphonse. With Kalem and dad on standby, looking as if nothing had faltered them, I, too, stood beside them and waited for the Godfather to explain. 

 

“Just why are you involving my daughter in this, Corleone?” Dad asked the man with a tone filled with anger.

 

“Oh, haven’t you noticed? All the people here will act as witnesses, so no one can try to alter what has happened in this place during the upcoming time. If they do, someone would be needed in order to ‘correct’ them.”

 

The Godfather turned his head towards Alvar with a smirk on his face.

 

“Would you mind telling our guests what we’re about to discuss? On why we hunted down the boy named “Alphonse Esmond”? What did he do, Alvar?”

 

Soon as those words ended, Alvar took one step forward and positioned his body straight. He then lifted his gaze towards my dad and the others on our side with sinister eyes. With a low and deep voice, he began to tell the tale.

 

“Four moons before this day, he has trespassed the borders between the South and North region on his own. Not only that, but he also killed one of the Caporeigmes under my rule with two bullets through the skull.”

 

On his own? That’s weird, Al would usually be accompanied if not by his crew, it would be Adrian who will be by his side. As questions circled through my head, I saw one figure stepped upfront from my right.

 

“Do you have any proof that he was the one who did it? If not, then it’s your family that has done a bad deed to ours” Kalem spoke up with a flat voice, speaking like the calm and collected self he is.

 

“Some of my subordinates had witnessed the incident unfolding. Although, that hardly counts as solid evidence, isn’t it?” He replied as he lifted his left hand from under his overlapping suit, stepping forward face to face with Kalem.

 

“Fortunately for you, we do have one”

 

On the grip of his gloved hand was a small transparent plastic ziplock bag, containing two blood-covered bullets. The blood seems to have been dried off and went all solid, looking at the small cracks on the inner surface of the bag. It must have been crumbled at some time before now.

 

“These bullets were extracted from my subordinate’s skull, two .429 inch bullets with customized engravings of golden vines around it. Seemed familiar?”

 

Kalem took a closer look and examined the bullet within the plastic bag. He lifted his glasses and took the bag from Alvar’s hand. Scanning each side of the bullets with a stern face, then he nodded and faced Alvar. 

 

“44 Magnum bullets, and nonetheless, those engravings… There’s no denying it” Kalem spoke up as he returned the evidence into the hands of the underboss.

 

“Then I take it that you know where these bullets came from?” Alvar spoke as he put the plastic bag back into his pocket on the side of his pants.

 

“Indeed”

 

Alvar then moved his right hand and also lifted it up 

 

“That gun...” I muttered

 

And again, in his grasp was…. Alphonse’s revolver… A personalized revolver with a dark Maroon colored grip and black coating of the metals, along with golden lining and streaks that says “The Mad Hyena”. 

 

It was Alphonse’s weapon of choice since he has two of it, I could say it’s a pair that is one of a kind. Even the bullets used are customized to his style or rather, it was one of the Esmond family’s special bullets. Since one of our businesses is selling firearms, Kalem and Alphonse have got to know the types of guns they had seen. Along with recognizing the parts and bullets of all the guns that are available for sale on the black market.  So identifying the bullets in an immediate response was not much of a deal.

 

Dad was the one who ordered some associates to make it to celebrate Alphonse’s ceremony on becoming the underboss of the Esmond Family. It was about four years ago that he finally had the same rank as Kalem, becoming the second person in charge of our crew besides our foster brother. He treated those guns with so much care and used them at all of his missions after receiving them.

 

Especially when dad was the one handing it to him personally, and the look on his face that day was still vivid in my head. Jaws dropped, surprised eyes, and a bunch of squeals when he holds them in his hands. While dad, he just smiled and shook his head in delight... Seeing Alphonse's gun in the hands of someone from another Mafia Family gave both me and dad a shock to the heart.

 

“I have tried comparing the bullets from what I have with the ones inside of this gun. I simply confiscated it after he was captured earlier for further analysis.”

 

As he spoke his hands scrambled as he worked his way into opening the barrel of the revolver, swinging it to the side and revealing the full set of bullets contained in it. 

 

“And as you can see,”

 

There he grabbed one of the bullets with his right hand and showed it in front of Kalem and my face. The small metallic bullet pinched within his right fingers, he turned his glare towards dad

 

“It’s identical,”

 

From that sudden proclamation, dad was silenced, not able to comprehend the confirmation that he just saw. His breathing low and slow, brows knitted together as he frowned. 

 

“What’s the matter, Roderick? Cat got your tongue?” Dad’s nemesis snickered as he stayed silent while staring down at Alphonse’s gun.

 

“You did your job splendidly, son. As expected of the underboss, you must set an example for your fellow peers for them to grow. What a wonderful explanation and analysis that you had done for this ordeal.” He complimented Alvar, with him nodding and backing down into the Godfather’s side.

 

"Don't forget to return it, boy."

 

The Godfather pointed to the gun in Alvar's hand, then without hesitation, Alvar threw it into the ground. The gun skated through the floor until it tapped the edge of dad's shoe. His brow frowned more, picking up the gun by his own accords, looking down at it with upset eyes.

 

“As you hear earlier, the crimes that your son has done was trespassing our territory and murder. That’s why we put a bounty over his head, for whoever catches him will be rewarded handsomely. So you see Roderick, he’s not innocent, and I stay true to my principles”

 

“What is it that you want then? Pay his crime with my life?” My dad replied, passing Al's gun to Kalem, to which he holds on to it with his left hand.

 

The Godfather chuckled with delight, “Actually, that was one of the choices which I had thought of. But seeing from our current situation, I decided to back off from that predicament. Usually, we would have executed him immediately, especially when my son here is quite upset by the incident. He’s been itching to finish the boy off if it wasn’t for me..”

 

A sly smirk showed on his face

 

“He would be as good as a dead man”

 

“Just what are you getting at, Corleone? You don’t usually discuss things like this, all calm and talk.” Dad replied with a suspecting tone

 

“Since both me and you are two Godfathers of the Big Four, we should settle this as civil as possible. Reckon if you want your crew to be safe, isn’t that what you always hold on to? The safety of your crew’s life before your own? Now, I’m giving you a chance to come to an agreement with no blood spilled.”

 

I stood there in silence as I watched dad and that man exchange words, alongside Kalem whose face was covered in cold sweat. Then I turned to gaze at Alvar, the son of the Godfather from the Flammia family. He doesn’t look like him at all, but who knows? Maybe he got it from the other parent or something. 

 

All of a sudden, our gaze met for a split second, he quickly turned his eyes away from me and down into the ground. His eyes were filled with intimidation and impassiveness, looks like he doesn’t want to be here either listening to the two Godfather’s bantering.

 

“Then get straight to the point, what are you trying to tell all of us here? Provided with the proof of my son’s crimes and witnesses.” Dad replied as he held me closer within his right arm

 

”Are you trying to settle on some sort of deal, is that it?”

 

“Sharp as always, Roderick.” With that response, dad lightly huffed from his nose, eyes focusing on both the Godfather and the underboss.

 

“You’re right, there are many solutions for this problem to end. But most of them would probably end up with lives being taken. So I decided to resolve this in a more pacifist way if you’re willing to cooperate with the current situation that is.”

 

“Then start talking before I change my mind” Dad replied

 

As soon as he said that, the Godfather nodded and smiled at us. His smile was a mix of sincerity and slyness.

 

“Fine, then. The thing is, there’s a way that your son’s crimes can be forgiven. Let’s just say we treat this problem as if he has a debt with us. He would have been beaten up and cornered because of it. But if he was a part of my family, I would have simply forgotten about it and moved along. As if nothing had happened”

 

Following up to his declaration were a few light gasps from my side, when I looked at dad, his face was tense.

 

“What you’re suggesting is preposterous, uncanny even,” Words that dad let out made me confused, I turned to Kalem with a puzzled expression.

 

“Kalem” I whispered

 

“Yes, Lenna?”

 

“What kind of suggestion is dad mentioning here? I don’t understand” Kalem hummed and moved his head closer to my right ear.

 

“Well, Lenna… the suggestion is that we unite our two families in order for Alphonse to be free from their chains and bounty” Kalem replied while lifting his glasses.

 

I looked at him with wide eyes and my jaw dropped low, “Wait, what?!” I yelped in disbelief, quickly covering my mouth in case any of them were hearing this.

 

When I glanced on the other side, I could see that some men were eyeing on me. But I doubt it’s because of my sudden yelp, their eyes are just full of impulse.

 

“How are you planning to convince me to join forces with you, Corleone? You already know my answer, maybe I would have to take immediate action if you started to lead anything amiss. ” Dad replied with a hiss

 

“Do you take me for a fool, Roderick? Of course, I would have known, that’s why I have an offering to be made. Rather than asking for your answer, I would like for your little girl to make the decision.” The Godfather's gaze shifted from looking at dad and landing his eyes unto me.

 

W-wait, I’m the one pointed to make a choice here?!

 

Dad lifted his coat in front of me, blocking the Godfather’s view of my lower body, “Don’t include her in this, Corleone. You only said that she will be a bystander here”

 

“But being your daughter also means she’s part of the Mafia family. No matter if she has participated or not in the business, she’s still by blood, your little girl, a member of the family that rules the South Region. So technically, her judgment matters,”

 

He put both of his hands on top of his cane while smiling cheekily at my direction.

 

“Since I have talked about it with my dear boy here, we ought to tell you the compromise we have decided on. How should I put it?”

 

He lightly tapped his cane once to the ground and let out a chuckle.

 

“I’m willing to let the boy’s life be spared, that is if you would agree to accept my suggestion.”

 

His head turned to Alvar’s direction while his eyes were still fixated on me. 

 

“By uniting the two families under the holy matrimony between my son and yourself. In short, the two of you are to be married, living as husband and wife in exchange for your brother's crimes to be pardoned”