Chapter 20: The Family Dinner

  After leaving Ash and Charlie’s house, D and the kids returned to the hotel where Aleina was waiting. By morning they set out for the old Tanaka mansion, standing at the foot of Kuhuh Meruh—a Sanskrit name meaning Moonlight Mountain.

  The Tanaka family owned the mountain under strict, ancient conditions—rules so binding that breaking even one would strip them of ownership forever.

  “Dad, this place is beautiful!” Valerie spun in a slow circle, eyes shining.

  “You’ll have time to explore later,” D said, stepping through the iron gates. “First we need to clean this place up—”

  He stopped mid-sentence.

  The mansion grounds were spotless. Not a leaf out of place.

  “Or not,” he muttered. “ALICE, show yourself.”

  A familiar mechanical voice answered from everywhere at once.

  “Yes, D.”

  “Who cleaned the mansion?”

  “The Financial Bureau, sir.”

  D let out a short laugh. “Aren’t those bastards just brilliant at sucking up to their master?”

  Aleina smirked. “You always pick useful people.”

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  “More importantly—who told them about this place?”

  “I did, sir.”

  A man stepped out from the entrance corner—Billy, the same one from the dinner meeting.

  “Billy!” D grinned. “And what’s with the sir business? You know I hate honorifics between us.”

  Billy bowed slightly. “How could I not, sir? You raised us to the positions we hold today.”

  “Even so,” D waved him off, “I only nurtured your potential. If we’re talking about seniority, it’s my family who should call you sir… isn’t that right, Belisario?”

  Billy froze, then chuckled awkwardly. “I’d almost forgotten that name.”

  “Still prefer Billy,” he added quickly.

  “As you wish,” D smiled.

  “I’ve arranged everything else,” Billy continued. “Only groceries remain.”

  “Good. I prefer buying those myself. You may leave—ah, one more thing.”

  D’s grin turned sharper. “How are the Kings doing?”

  Billy stiffened. “Please don’t call them that. They are servants.”

  D laughed. “If I call them kings, that makes me a kingmaker. Far more beautiful than owner and servant, don’t you think?”

  Billy hesitated. “I didn’t realize your intention.”

  “You couldn’t,” D said softly. “If my intentions were easy to read, I wouldn’t be the Devil you fear and respect at the same time. Now go—things will get hectic soon.”

  Billy bowed and left.

  Vincent tugged at D’s sleeve. “Dad… who is Belisario?”

  D began walking inside the mansion. “The Belisario were the first Portuguese explorers to settle in this region in the 16th century. Since then, every generation carries one Belisario—a Watchman of the city. Billy is the fifth. He mediates disputes between powers far older than governments.”

  “Are they immortal like us?”

  “No.” D tapped Vince’s nose like he used to when Vince was little. “Just very important humans.”

  Aleina added, “People like him must be protected at all costs.”

  “Exactly,” D nodded. “Now go fetch your sister. Your mother and I will buy ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner.”

  As they left, Aleina squeezed D’s hand.

  “Don’t worry, honey. Everyone will come.”

  D stared at the road ahead. “Let’s hope so.”

  ---

  The Next Day

  Guests began arriving by afternoon.

  First came Elisis, D’s adopted daughter, and her husband Guts—a Vietnamese war child D had rescued decades ago. The family had given him a home, and now Eli and Guts ran an orphanage of their own, raising two siblings they’d met through a tragic accident.

  By evening, Maple and Rajiv arrived.

  Maple, once a brilliant surgeon, now preferred the morgue—her bloodlust better suited to the dead than the living. Rajiv, former world-class sniper, trained future Olympic athletes. Their twin daughters followed close behind.

  Owning Moonlight Mountain required a certified doctor in the family—an old covenant predating even the Tanakas. Maple was the fifth generation to fulfill that role. Before them, an Indian herbologist’s family guarded the mountain, until D’s great-grandfather married into the lineage during the first industrial revolution.

  Last to arrive were Ash and his children.

  When everyone assumed Charlie wouldn’t come, she appeared—fashionably late as always.

  “What?” she crossed her arms. “You thought I’d miss this? I’m mad at D, not his cooking.”

  Relief rippled through the room.

  D smiled warmly. “Then let the dinner begin.”

  Everyone took their seats.

  The Ultimate Family was whole again.

  ---