Kapitel 77: Another date with Lady in Black.
We were currently in the moving car, one of those extra luxurious and armored things, on our way towards the atelier in question. Lady-in-black didn't mince any words, and just took me to her personal tailor. A part of the generation-long line of tailors who served the likes of Three Families for the last thousand or so years.
In the first round, my second-in-command spent a lot of time trying to make me remember the details of discerning true VIPs by their clothing alone. Designs, cuts, seems, materials, threads, buttons. He never managed to succeed with this initiative, though. Past the simple fact of me being aware of these things' existence. I still remember the look of utter defeat in his eyes.
"Tian, about the matter of meeting with my husband." My grandmother brought up a topic all of a sudden.
"This is the main reason why I need an urgent wardrobe upgrade." I expected this, of course. "Nothing I have is good enough for either of the clan heirs to wear for the meeting with Long Hào."
"And if you had the suitable attire?" A question from Kouzuki Miya followed.
"Then I am ready to meet him at any time of his choice." I responded.
My grandmother blinked, caught off guard by the answer. I still couldn't get over the fact she didn't wear her poker face in my company any longer. Of course, I couldn't be fully sure how much of what she was showing was deliberate, and how much was genuine.
"My husband will be ready to meet you tomorrow at the earliest, but then he will be out of the country until at least next Friday." The lady-in-black spoke aloud, a thoughtful expression clear on her face. "Making a proper set of clothes from scratch would take about a day, give or take some extra fittings."
Kouzuki Miya seized me with her gaze, while looking lost deep inside her own head.
"We… I kept Chen's clothes from when he was about your age. You two should be about the same complexion. All men of the Long clan's direct bloodline are like that." She continued. "Would you mind if we refit some of his clothes for your use?"
I mulled her proposal over. I had no plans for tomorrow, which was a rarity with the Chaos of my life. On the other hand, it would be unwise to make Long Hào wait.
There were some bonus points in taking stuff from my father. No doubt, the cheap bastard would've thrown a fit after learning his things helped me in any way.
"Isn't it something you kept as a memento?" I asked for confirmation.
"Why do I need old clothes when I have you?" Response with no hesitation whatsoever.
"Then I don't see any problems with it." I shrugged. "I will leave the outfit choice to you, grandmother."
"Oh. Which style should I choose? Hm, what about color? So many choices!" Kouzuki Miya was strangely overjoyed by my request.
Was it too late to rethink everything?
In the next couple of hours, I quickly realized just how wise my decision was. Shadows kept appearing and disappearing, bringing and taking away different clothes. A true kaleidoscope. Western. Chinese. Japanese. Various styles, designs, and colors.
Most of them were vetoed with just a glance, few were deemed acceptable enough to require trying out. Only one western suit was good enough to make a cut. After making me switch between a few poses, Kouzuki Miya gave an order to the waiting tailor to take measures and start the fitting.
"So, who will be visiting tomorrow?" My grandmother asked a question.
"Officially? Long Tian is the best choice. Unofficially? Let the people guess which twin graced them with a visit." I responded, sketching the best mischievous smile my face could muster. The mirror showed something that was closer to a villainous one, though.
The younger me's facial muscles weren't up to my standards, either. Well, I suppose it was time to get back to the acting exercises as well.
"Ah, this reminds me about the time when Maya and I used to do the same thing," the esteemed wife of the Long clan's Head replied in kind, sporting an evil smile of her own. "Even our Lord Father had trouble discerning the two of us."
Eh? Her words surprised me a little. The Kouzuki Twins were quite different… If you knew there were two of them, that is… And you weren't in the constant state of being at least somewhat drunk. I guess they grew further apart as they matured.
"Tian." The voice of my grandmother took me out of, now traditional, journey through the depths of my mind. "Can you tell me more about Chen?"
"It's not a very pleasant story to hear, to be frank." I shrugged. "Leon Roah, the version of that person I knew about, was hardly a good man."
"The bitter truth is better than nothing at all." This was her response.
We couldn't leave just yet, since tailor's work required my presence. This fact, coupled with the glimpses of hopeful curiosity hiding behind the calmness of her gaze, made me think about what I should and shouldn't tell her.
"Grandmother, you know, neither of us could see each other eye to eye with the other guy. Much too alike, I suppose…" I started my tale.
***
Another thought about buying a helicopter came to my mind, only this time it seemed even more enticing to me. I looked at the navigator screen, full of red lines. Because of this bullshit, I had to cut my date with lady-in-black short.
Hm, well, I could have chosen to ask Yin to bring Olivia here instead, but it was a bit too early for that. I didn't even introduce Bella to my family yet, and things like that needed an order. Nicole's situation was an obvious exception.
Fortunately, ETA was still within time limits, so unless… My thoughts came to a halt, before I could jinx myself. I still refused to be superstitious, but lately, my life was a line of impossibilities strung along by coincidences. No reason to give that bitch, fate, another excuse to mess with me.
So, I focused on the road, on the taillights of the car in the front, ever so slowly crawling together with the rest of the rush hour traffic. Maybe I should have asked my personal shadow to drive for me? Another thing to think over in the near future.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein