Your hair is so beautiful

Ellie, the youngest sister in the Cobblepot family, led Oswald and Ririko to the room at the far end of the second-floor hallway.

She opened the door and told them coolly, "You two can rest here tonight."

Ririko walked into the lavishly furnished room. Deep crimson velvet curtains hung between the floor-to-ceiling windows, and a silver grooming set engraved with the Cobblepot Family crest sat on the dressing table.

A carved wooden bed dominated the room, with patterned sheets, silk bedding, and two pillows resting side by side against the headboard.

Her eyes curved slightly.

She looked back and noticed Ellie still standing in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob, showing no sign of leaving just yet.

Ririko immediately realized the girl had deliberately come to pry into her private relationship with Oswald.

She turned and casually raised her arms, wrapping them around Oswald's neck.

Lacing her fingers behind his neck, she drew him in front of her, swiftly closing the distance between them.

Caught in her embrace, Oswald suddenly found himself pulled right up to her face. They were so close he could almost see his own reflection in her seductive eyes.

"Ozzy, you haven't kissed me all day."

Ririko's voice was as soft as cotton, deliberately letting Ellie hear their intimate exchange.

Oswald's body went taut as a string stretched to its limit. His gaze flicked toward the doorway, where Ellie was watching them intently.

He looked back at Ririko and swallowed, his expression that of a man facing a formidable enemy.

"Yes..." He forced the word out of his throat, pretending to be relaxed. "We haven't kissed all day."

Ririko's lips curled as she leaned closer, close enough to smell the amber notes of his aftershave.

His body stiffened further. His fingers unconsciously curled into fists at his sides, and he even switched from breathing through his nose to breathing through his mouth.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the kiss he both anticipated and feared, the kiss he wanted over quickly yet never wanted to end.

Ririko turned lightly, hooked the door with the heel of her shoe, and used her leg to swing it shut.

She released Oswald.

His lips were still slightly parted, holding that "I'm ready to be kissed" pose as he slowly opened his eyes.

But Ririko was already sitting on the edge of the bed, taking off her high heels.

A flicker of disappointment crossed his face before he could hide it.

Ririko dangled the shoe she had removed from her fingers and told him slyly, "Kisses cost extra, boss~."

Oswald planted his umbrella on the floor in irritation, feeling she had made a fool of him.

"Don't even think about it." His voice regained its edge, though his face was still flushed.

Ririko took off her other shoe and planted her bare feet on the carpet, studying him from the bed with an even more dangerous expression.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, like a bird startled by a bowstring.

She glanced toward the bathroom. "Get ready to shower and go to bed, of course."

Oswald's gaze shifted from her alluring face to the bed.

One large bed, two pillows...

He pressed his lips together. "Where are you sleeping?" His voice was a little quieter than before.

Ririko looked at him as though he were a stupid penguin.

"In the bed, of course." She tilted her head. "Don't tell me you're scared to sleep with me?"

Oswald's fingers tightened around his umbrella handle, a trace of restless unease showing in his eyes.

"I never sleep with anyone. Too dangerous."

Ririko lightly bit her lower lip.

"So Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot... has been a virgin all this time."

Oswald's face turned even redder.

"I-I most certainly am not!"

"Oh," Ririko replied softly.

Oswald felt he could tolerate her usual habit of looking down on him.

At the club, she rolled her eyes at him, stole his food, drank his liquor for free, and smiled at other men right in front of him. He could tolerate all of it.

Because at those times, he could retreat behind his role as her boss. Employees being dissatisfied with their boss was perfectly normal.

But here in this room, she was looking down on him as a man, with a challenging glint in her eyes. That he could not tolerate.

He had never been afraid under a hail of bullets. How could he be afraid to kiss her?

How could he be afraid to... do that with her?

He took several steps forward and stopped in front of her, his umbrella planted on the carpet behind him.

"I can sleep with you," he declared with his chin raised, displaying the heroic resolve of a man prepared to die.

Ririko reached out, grabbed his tie, and pulled him hard toward the bed.

His body pitched forward as though its supporting pillar had been yanked away. He braced his hands on the bed on either side of her, his palms sinking into the soft mattress.

They drew closer and closer, yet his neck stubbornly resisted her pull, keeping their faces a few inches apart.

The door suddenly swung open.

Ellie poked her head in from outside.

"I wanted to ask-is there anything else you need?"

Oswald's body jolted.

His palm slipped on the mattress, and he lost his balance, falling toward Ririko.

His chest pressed against her, his chin knocked into the hollow of her shoulder, and his lips met the delicate skin on the side of her neck.

Ellie's gaze lingered on their overlapping figures for less than a second before she immediately withdrew.

Her footsteps gradually faded down the hallway.

Oswald struggled to get off Ririko.

"The act is over." Oswald turned his back, his voice hoarse as he did his best to conceal his wildly pounding heart.

"I'll leave in a little while. You stay here and rest."

Ririko lay on the bed, a few strands of hair clinging to her cheek and the side of her neck.

She propped herself up. "You're leaving me here alone?"

Oswald looked back at her.

His shirt was wrinkled, his tie crooked, and a few strands of hair had fallen loose over his brow.

"You're with me," he said, his voice softening a little. "No one will hurt you."

His fingers rested on the doorknob as he said awkwardly, "Good night."

Ririko tossed her hair. "Hmph. Just say it if you're using me as bait."

She narrowed her eyes at the system.

[Current Infatuation Value: 35]

[Infatuation Value interpretation: Starting to care, but still refusing to admit it]

Ellie hurried down the hallway and pushed open a room's door.

Jason was sitting on the sofa undoing his cuff links, while William stood by the window.

"They really were on the bed." Ellie's voice was urgent as she reported her "eyewitness" intelligence to her two older brothers.

Jason's fingers paused on his cuff link.

"That means... he's let his guard down at home."

Yet his voice clearly trembled with jealous rage.

William turned away from the window, his tall figure casting a dark shadow across the room. "The plan stays the same?"

Jason's fingers gripped the sofa's armrests. "Of course it does. Everything he owns-belongs to the Cobblepot family anyway."

A deranged smile rose at the corners of his mouth.

The "everything" he referred to included that woman.

Ellie lowered her lashes, remembering Ririko's sleek, glossy hair.

That black hair was so beautiful. Beneath the lights, it took on a sheen like flowing river water.

Sofia Falcone's birthday party was next week.

If she wore a wig made from that woman's hair, what would Sofia think? What would Bruce Wayne think?

Would those media outlets running headlines about "the Wayne Enterprises heir and the Falcone heiress" change their headlines?

The next day, Ellie carried a silver tray down the hallway.

On it sat a pot of black tea, two bone china cups, two breakfast platters, and three small pots of jam.

She paused outside the door. Without knocking, she freed one hand, took hold of the doorknob, and slowly pushed the door open.

To her surprise, Ririko was alone in the room.

She sat at the dressing table, brushing her hair before the gold-rimmed oval mirror. Her long black hair slid through the brush's teeth, falling strand by strand to her waist.

Ellie set the tray on the chest of drawers. "Sis, where's Oswald?"

Ririko glanced at her in the mirror without pausing her brushing.

"He had something to do and left early. He'll be back before dinner."

A surge of delight filled Ellie.

Her task today was to lure Ririko away-Jason had said they needed to lock this woman up alone until "it was over."

She had still been trying to think of an excuse to coax Ririko out of the room, yet Oswald had actually left on his own.

Suppressing her excitement, she approached the dressing table, her steps lighter than usual.

"Sis, your hair really is beautiful." The genuine envy was audible in her voice. "I loved it the moment I saw it."

Ririko put down the brush and tilted her head, looking at Ellie standing behind her in the mirror-

Her hair was exceptionally coarse. Even the prettiest face could not look refined beneath a clump of straw.

Ririko's lips curved:

"Well, that's true. Not every woman can have hair this nice."

Ellie could not resist reaching out, her fingertips touching the ends of Ririko's hair where they hung beside her shoulder.

Suddenly, she noticed the hair moving-

A small lock of hair slowly curled around her fingertips, as though it were alive...