He Satisfied Me in That Department

Miranda stepped out of the shadows of the porch.

She stopped in front of Oswald, maintaining a polite distance from him.

A smile befitting a kindly elder rose to her lips.

"Oswald, why haven't you come home in so long? We've all been thinking about you."

Her gaze was sharp as a knife as she inspected his suit, his umbrella, and Ririko's hand tucked around his arm, before continuing.

"Although you've done quite well for yourself... you're still a child of the Cobblepot family. Blood ties can't be severed."

When she said "blood," her gaze lingered briefly on his lame leg.

She seemed to be deliberately pointing out that her blood ran through the veins of her own three children.

Oswald, on the other hand, was merely a bastard with Cobblepot blood, mistakenly born to the maid who worked in her laundry room.

Oswald's smile remained unchanged.

"You treated my mother and me so well back then. If I hadn't become capable enough, I really wouldn't have known how to come back and 'repay' you."

Standing beside Oswald, Ririko swept her slightly upturned eyes over the crow's-feet on Miranda's face, which her foundation failed to fully conceal.

"You've taken such good care of yourself, ma'am. Just looking at you, I'd never have guessed... you could be so cruel."

Miranda's smile froze.

Ririko glanced at the diamond necklace around Miranda's neck and the outrageously large diamond ring on her hand, then continued.

"I'm so envious of your jewelry, ma'am. Unlike you, I have nothing worth showing off except my youth and beauty."

Oswald chimed in at just the right moment. "Don't forget, a quarter of the property here is mine. When the time comes, help yourself to whatever jewelry you like."

Watching them play off each other without the slightest regard for her authority, Miranda's eyes trembled faintly with anger.

Ignoring her reaction, Ririko walked past her with her arm linked through Oswald's, the hem of her black gown brushing the Persian carpet in Cobblepot Manor.

A servant led them to the dining room in the manor's east wing.

Jason sat opposite Oswald with his hands folded on the table, his gaze repeatedly straying toward Ririko beside him.

At last, he said, "Brother, it's wonderful to have you back. We've kept your room for you all this time."

Oswald picked up the crystal glass before him, rubbing his thumb along its surface.

He didn't look at Jason, merely casting a sidelong glance at the blood-red wine in his glass.

"Really? You call that linen closet beside the laundry room a bedroom?"

Jason's smile faltered.

He had forgotten.

Forgotten that Oswald and his mother had been put in that linen closet, piled high with sheets and duvet covers, without even a single window.

He had only meant to make some casual family conversation, but instead exposed the fact that he had never cared about him.

His lips moved a few times. "Of course not that room. We've prepared our best guest room. You and Miss Ririko can have a good rest here."

Ririko's hands paused around her knife and fork, and she turned her gaze to Oswald's face.

Her eyes curved in a smile that plainly said, So you planned to stay here? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Are you trying to create an opportunity to spend the night with me?

A chill ran down Oswald's spine.

He didn't look at her, merely touching her knee lightly beneath the tablecloth before withdrawing his hand.

"Has the lawyer handling Father's estate arrived?" Oswald set his crystal glass back on the table, swiftly changing the subject.

"Something came up for the lawyer. He won't be here until tomorrow evening," Jason replied.

The corner of Oswald's mouth curved. "How convenient, this 'something.'"

The atmosphere at the table turned ice-cold.

Miranda raised her wineglass and smoothed things over, hoping to lower Oswald's guard.

"We're all family. Wouldn't it be nice to stay another night and spend some time talking?"

She put down her glass and dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

"Speaking of which, I still remember that incident when you were little..." She meant the time several young thugs had surrounded Oswald in the street and beaten him so badly that they broke his left leg, leaving him with a permanent limp.

"Jason and William were still young then. When they heard the news, they wanted to help you. Unfortunately... by the time they arrived, it was too late."

She lifted her gaze and regarded Oswald with tender, sympathetic eyes.

"But afterward, I did bring in a doctor to treat your leg... You suffered so much, and now you're so successful. You're truly a credit to the Cobblepot family."

Oswald picked up his wineglass and raised it slightly toward her.

"It was so long ago, I've almost forgotten." His tone was perfectly even, as though her deliberate dredging up of the past no longer mattered to him.

Miranda broke into a smile. "You really are such an understanding boy."

Jason set his knife and fork on his plate and rested his elbows on the table, assuming the posture of someone sincerely eager to grow closer to his brother.

"Brother, just how did you make your money? Seeing you like this now really makes me envious."

Oswald's fingers touched Ririko's knee beneath the tablecloth again. On the way here, they had discussed how this family's ultimate goal would surely be to discover the source of his wealth.

Now Jason's true colors were finally peeking out from under his suit trousers.

Ririko said nothing, merely blinking as she waited to see how the bird man would respond.

With a mocking smile, Oswald said, "You'll never be able to make money the way I do."

His tone was perfectly even, but his words were sincere.

Jason's smile stiffened on his face.

"Of course. You're a capable man, brother." His gaze shifted greedily to Ririko's face again. "Otherwise, Miss Ririko wouldn't be by your side."

Ririko lifted her glass of red wine and took a small sip, her smile slowly spreading.

"I'm not necessarily with him for his money," she said suggestively. "It's his 'ability' in that department that leaves me very satisfied."

Oswald had just put a small piece of meat into his mouth. At her words, the half-chewed beef lodged somewhere between his throat and his esophagus.

He coughed several times, his face turning red.

He shot her a glare, signaling that this was not part of the dialogue they had agreed on.

Ririko brought her wineglass to his lips so he wouldn't choke to death at the dining table.

"Look how nervous you are. Am I not allowed to tell your family the truth?"

She feigned innocence, watching his embarrassment with a sly expression.

Oswald tipped his head back and gulped down some red wine, but when he noticed her lip gloss on the rim of the crystal glass, he coughed even harder.

Miranda studied the chillingly beautiful woman beside Oswald.

"What an amusing way you have with words, miss. May I ask which family you're a daughter of?"

Ririko's eyes curved in a smile.

She had already anticipated Miranda's question.

"I'm not the daughter of any distinguished family. Oswald paid to hire me."

Miranda looked momentarily stunned. What sort of woman openly admitted to being kept?

As though she had seized upon a sore spot that would let her strike Oswald with perfect precision, even her voice grew cheerful.

"Oswald... It seems you've really 'made something of yourself.'"

Her implication was clear: with that lame leg, no respectable woman would want him, so he could only pay for a pretty woman to stay beside him and keep up appearances.

He had really made something of himself.

Ririko leaned forward slightly.

"You're absolutely right, ma'am. But... Oswald spends money he earned himself. Unlike certain people... who cling to an old man's estate and refuse to give his son his share."

Lightly shielding her mouth with her fingertips, she laughed softly. "In that respect, I do think Oswald has really 'made something of himself.'"

Miranda's smile froze on her face, but something beneath that face shattered.

She set her napkin on the table. "I'm not feeling well. Please, enjoy your meal."

She rose from the table, her retreating figure disappearing through the dining room doorway.

Ririko withdrew her gaze and glanced at Oswald.

Having heard her defend him at every turn, Oswald couldn't suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

[Current infatuation value: 28]

Ririko saw the number. It was time for the next step.

She narrowed her eyes at Oswald. "I'm a little tired too. Why don't we head back to our room early..."

The smile on Oswald's face vanished in an instant.