Rosalia Castellano, the second protégée, had just arrived. She flipped her hair over her left shoulder and rushed to Edoardo's defense the moment she saw his expression.
"Nara, how dare you speak to Edoardo that way?"
"Master's death wasn't our doing."
"If you want to blame someone, blame Master for holding those Original Oaths. We simply seized the opportunity that presented itself."
Looking at Rosalia's face, utterly devoid of remorse, all I felt was that Master had never been worth the love he gave them.
Edoardo and Rosalia were the first protégés Master ever took in.
He treated them no differently than he treated me.
He poured every ounce of his heart into raising them, even putting off having children of his own.
That was why, after all those years, Master and Donna Vittoria never had a child by blood.
Donna Vittoria would grumble about it from time to time, but that foolish old man would just laugh and wave it off. "It's fine. I trust my people. When the day comes, they'll see us properly buried."
He was wrong, in the end.
But I knew that foolish old man.
He believed, to his last breath, that people were born good. Whenever his protégés made mistakes, he always gave them a chance to make things right.
I never agreed with that. But I didn't want him to die with his eyes open, restless and unsettled.
So I did what Master would have done. I gave Edoardo and Rosalia one chance.
"I'll handle avenging Master myself. I don't need your help."
"Go back to the Castellano house now. Stay with Master and Donna Vittoria."
"Carry on Master's legacy. Make the crew what it should have been."
Rosalia had been spoiled rotten by Master since she was a child, and her temper was as foul as they came.
The second she caught the commanding tone in my voice, her face soured.
She shoved me, her voice shaking with fury. "Nara, who do you think you are?"
"How dare you speak to your senior brother and sister like that?!"
Edoardo stepped between us, his expression the picture of composed reason. One hand went to his tie, straightening it with a practiced tug. "Nara, don't be rash."
"The Castellano crew was always a small, unremarkable outfit. Massimo spent his entire life trying to make it flourish and never could. What chance would we have?"
"Besides, all of us have been made now. Isn't that a glory the crew can be proud of?"
He reached out and took hold of my arm.