"So let me see if I understood correctly. You first caught the King of the Underworld. As a reward, you received the slums and his subordinates and decided to conceal from Father the fact that you are now the most powerful person in this country's underworld-"

"You are wrong Brother, I didn't conceal it, I just- yes I will shut up"

With only a glance, Brother managed to shut me up. Seriously, everyone in this family is scary; my only safe heaven is my angel Lucius.

"... one of the subordinates that you got was contacted by one of the n.o.bles from Fournier's faction to do the job. You reported and that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Albert decided to use you instead of one of his people who can surely handle better than you. In a reunion with Fournier, your disguise was blown and now he knows that our family is somewhat related to dirty part of the kingdom. Did I got something wrong?"

"Well technically since they came under my command, they didn't do anything dirty anymore..."

"Cecile shut up"

"Yessir"

"So, when is the plan happening?"

Father shrugged his shoulders. Right I didn't report to him yet.

Seeing the silence extending Brother almost ate me with his eyes.

"... can I talk now?"

In response, Brother's gaze became even more fierce. I touched my nose and fearfully answered him.

"*gulp* next week. Everything is almost ready at my side. But you should check with Prince Albert how is it going in his side"

"Oh, I will. Quickly explain what is going to happen in the specific day"

Before I could begin, Mother interrupted me. She had the authority aura all over her.

"Enough of this. I already have to hear about the Royal Family every day. My son just came back can't you put it to rest a little. Today, any talks about the Royal Family are prohibited. You all are only allowed to talk about the Dubois Family. Did I make myself clear?"

Like four obedient students, we meekly answered Mom.

"Yes"

Mother is such a strong woman! You truly are my savior, Mom!

I sincerely apologize for having called you terrifying before.

Because of Mother's words, I spent a leisurely day with my family and went to sleep happy and free from Brothers questionings.

———

The next day, I woke up rather early so that I couldn't meet Brother. Just as I was quietly making my way to the exit, a voice scared me.

"Did you know that I picked up the habit of running before the sun comes out when I was at the borders?"

Motherf- who wants to know about your habits? Did you really need to scare me like that?

I needed to take deep breaths to calm down the deer that was madly galloping in my heart.

"Of course you did. Good Morning Brother, have you slept well?"

"I did. But I would sleep better if my little sister was not involved with too many dangerous people"

"... right. I imagine you are ready to come with me?"

"Of course, I was almost going to wake you up"

"*sigh* let's go. First, we will pa.s.s on the headquarters and then we can go to the Underworld part"

"Sure"

Once we arrived at my office, I was surprised to see that Leo was already there.

"Good Morning Leo, you arrived rather early today"

"Morning Ceci. I could say the same to you though... I only came earlier than usual today because yesterday I wasn't able to finish all the papers"

"Sorry about yesterday, my Elder Brother got home, and I spent the day with my family... oh right! Leo, this is my brother Louis. Brother, this is Leo, my a.s.sistant"

"h.e.l.lo, I'm Leon Alby. I'm honoured to finally meet the Brother that Ceci would always talk about"

"Ceci?!"

Oh-oh. I know this tone and this face. Once he lowers his voice and narrows his eyes Brother is about to become super-overprotective. I must prevent this at all costs or else Leo is going to suffer a Dubois fury only because I asked him to call me Ceci.

"He is only following orders. Release his hand, Brother. I need it to process all the doc.u.ments, or will you find a hand for me?"

"I will. A woman's one"

"I was kidding. Leo is my a.s.sistant. Please don't hurt him"

... or scare him. Just the mention of getting fired made Leo pale. Sorry Leo, I promise that this troublemaker won't take long here.

"Brother, you either help or you stay quiet. If you delay or job, I can't take you to the place that you want or explain to you anything"

With this threat, Brother finally got quiet and let us do our job. Although he was still making holes in Leo with his eyes, he helped us with parts of the papers.

However, when I thought we could proceed like civilized adults, the two of them started a ridiculous compet.i.tion of who processed more doc.u.ments and because of that the piles quickly were taken care of. Of course I tried to help them, but I was refused by them simultaneously.

Are, are... it seems that this will be a long morning.