In the Rodriguez Manor, Jason carried the recently sorted books in his arms and walked down the stairs. The stack of books was too high and somewhat unstable, he wobbled, leaning against the staircase railing, and stepped down carefully.
A pair of hands reached the middle of the book pile and took off the upper part. Jason turned his head and saw Shiller walking down. He laughed a bit embarrassedly.
"Professor, did I take too many? But Tim asked me to get some detective novels. He just loves those. You got some books from Constantine that aren't available in stores. He's been nagging me for several days now."
"No problem." Shiller quickly walked down the stairs, placing the books on the coffee table. He patted Jason's back and said, "Go find Merkel to get a rope to tie the books. Otherwise, when Alfred comes to pick you up, you'll still have to carry these books like this."
Jason nodded and ran towards the back garden. Merkel was trimming shrubs with a pair of gardening scissors. Hearing Jason's words, he put down the scissors and walked towards the utility room.
Just then, the phone in the living room rang. Shiller walked over, picked it up, and said: "Hello ... oh, Gordon, what's up? A power outage at the police station? ...Okay, I got it, bring her over then."
Jason got some rope and started to bundle the books. Shiller turned his head and said, "Gordon will send Harley over later. There was a power outage at the police station, and he didn't want Harley to eat fast food. I'll make a reservation at a restaurant and tell Alfred to pick you up later; we'll all go out to eat together. "
"Or both you and Harley could stay over tonight, and I'll take you both to school in the morning."
Jason pondered for a moment, nodding in agreement, and then focused on bundling the books into categories. After Shiller had finished calling Alfred, he paused briefly before picking up the phone again to make another call.
"Hello, Miss Pamela, do you remember the breakfast invitation I extended last time? I have some matters tomorrow morning. I have two kids staying over and I need to take them to school."
"No, it's not cancelled, I just wanted to say, if you're free now, then let's meet at the Iceberg Restaurant in the South District half an hour from now. We can have dinner together. But I hope you wouldn't mind, there will be two other little guests."
"Okay, it's settled then. See you."
Gordon quickly brought Harley over. When she first arrived, Harley complained, "Why can't I have pizza? Just because it has a tiny amount of almost invisible chilli on it?"
With a helpless look on his face, Gordon replied, "Because it's not healthy for a child."
"I'm already an adult!"
"Your bone age in your medical report tells me that you are still far from being an adult, Miss Harley." As Shiller buttons his waistcoat and walks down the stairs, he remarks, "If you don't want to go to the Iceberg Restaurant for dinner, I can have Merkel bake you a pizza. But you better think it over, because my butler is English."
"The Iceberg Restaurant?!" Harley's voice suddenly rose, her eyes gleaming as she looked at Shiller, "That's the hot new restaurant in the South District, oh my gosh! So many people can't even get in line, and you actually got a table?!"
Shiller put on a suit jacket, straightened his tie, and said, "I think you might have a misconception about my social status. But first, you need to change your clothes. You can't enter that restaurant in slippers. Merkel?"
The butler hurried in and patted Harley on the back, "Miss Harley, please head to the cloakroom. Your dress from last time has been ironed and is ready."
Jason had an expression of helplessness. As he followed them towards the cloakroom, he lamented, "Oh my gosh, I hate formal clothes. It makes me look like a circus beast tamer."
After a while, Jason and Harley changed into their clothes. Jason was wearing a white shirt and light brown plaid suit paired with matching suspenders, typical attire of Gotham's upper-class kids. However, he didn't wear a tie. Merkel was holding a tie, looking a little embarrassed as he followed behind Jason and said to Shiller, "Sir, I tried my best, but I just couldn't get him."
Harley dashed out of the cloakroom with gusto. She wore a Baroque collar ladies' shirt, a double-breasted black woolen dress with a fitted waist, dark brown knee socks, patently shiny Mary Jane shoes, and a brown beret studded with a pearl chain on her head.
Jason was squirming, apparently feeling quite uncomfortable in the restrictive shirt, but Harley seemed to have no issues with the scarf around her neck or gloves on her hands. Clearly, she was accustomed to wearing such attire for various occasions, which was not surprising given their backgrounds.
Fortunately, when Shiller bent over to tie Jason's tie, he stopped squirming and quietly stood in place, watching as Shiller skillfully knotted the strip of cloth and tucked the remaining portion into his jacket. This allowed them to successfully arrive at the restaurant on time.
As soon as Shiller walked in with the two children, Cobblepot came out to greet them. A waiter also came out. Just as Jason was trying to figure out what was going on, Harley was already following the waiter to their table.
"Can't we stay with the professor?" Jason asked.
Harley appeared to be exceptionally patient, but she spoke in a slightly teasing tone, "Of course not. In the social rules of the upper class, we are seen as children. Children aren't allowed to listen in on important matters. We just need to behave politely and act like puppets to showcase their educational outcomes."
"But I don't think the professor would do that to us."
"Of course, but we observe social etiquette so as not to embarrass him." Harley slightly shrugged her shoulders, and then, like a true high society lady, nodded and smiled at everyone who paid attention to her charming appearance.
Jason became nervous, saying, "So, if I don't do well, it will disgrace the professor?"
Harley nodded and said, "Regardless of whether you're his student or his son, as long as he presents you in a social setting, you represent the result of his education. I advise you to behave myself. He's been in a poor mood lately. If you provoke him, he'll hang you from a tree."
"He wouldn't hang me on a tree, Batman's the only one he does that to." Jason lowered his voice and said, "I just heard him instructing Merkel not to cut off the long southward branch in the yard, no wonder Batman is always hung there."
At the entrance of the restaurant, Shiller was exchanging pleasantries with Cobblepot as he walked in.
"How's your mother's condition? The New Arkham Hospital is actually closer to your new house now."
Cobblepot was dressed in a very conservative dark blue suit. He seemed taller than when Shiller last saw him. Perhaps due to an improved financial situation, he was now properly nourished and no longer troubled by hereditary mental illness. His appetite had improved and in addition to growing taller, he had become stronger. While he still couldn't match the burly mob bosses, he was no longer skinny and timid.
"Thanks to your good wishes, she's doing well. We visited the new hospital once it was finished. Mrs. Miller gave us a card, saying we could directly make an appointment for a house visit next time, which is very convenient."
"I hope you do that. The hospital environment inevitably makes people feel tense, which doesn't happen at home. Do you still have symptoms of insomnia?" Shiller glanced at Cobblepot's dark circles and asked.
"Oh, no, this isn't insomnia, professor. I've just been busy because the restaurant is newly opened, so I haven't slept much these past few days. Fact is, as of now, my sleep is quite good, I can sleep through the night."
Cobblepot escorted Shiller to the window-side seats. Once seated, Shiller nodded at him and said, "I have invited Miss Pamela for dinner. If she arrives, please bring her here."
"Of course, would you like me to introduce the special dishes here?"
"No need, you may go."
Shiller noticed that Cobblepot was busy as many customers at the tables cast their eyes here, seemingly hinting at Cobblepot to come over for a chat. Some even started impatiently.
"He's quite popular." Harley sat up straight, leaning only slightly against the chair back, impeccable in posture and demeanor, albeit her expression seemed a bit quirky.
"Everyone says the owner of Iceberg Restaurant has a close relationship with the godfather, or perhaps, he is the godfather's man. There are many nouveau riches who want to associate with the new godfather, so they're willing to spend a lot of money to dine here."
"But the owner of Iceberg Restaurant hadn't shown up recently and people came here mainly for the food, not achieving their social objectives. I didn't expect his first appearance today was to welcome you, professor."
Harley blinked her eyes, her probing gaze fixed on Shiller, who silently straightened the vase in the middle of the table, met Harley's gaze, and said, "If they knew I was the godfather's home tutor, you'd have to deal with endless troubles tonight."
"Hiss..."
Harley gasped, staring at Shiller with wide eyes, "You're Falcone's home tutor?! No wonder you booked such a prime spot an hour in advance, and even have the owner of Iceberg Restaurant wait for you at the door!"
"It's not because of that, miss," Shiller shook his head and said, "In fact, if Detective Gordon, who just dropped you off, came here, Cobblepot would also greet him at the door."
"Are you serious?" Harley was somewhat incredulous, frowning she said, "A man of high standing in the Twelve Families, why would he openly greet a policeman? Doesn't he fear being ostracized by the heads of other families?"
"When his family's hereditary mental illness first manifested, he was picked up by Gordon. The two of us, together with Professor Victor, saved him and his mother. That was when the old godfather was still alive."
As Harley and Jason were attentively listening to Shiller's thrilling story from his early days in Gotham, a lady walked briskly over and sat on the outermost chair, handing her pearl-strung purse to the waiter.
Harley's eyes immediately widened, staring at the redhead lady opposite, she exclaimed in surprise, "Pamela?"
The reason for her surprise was that Pamela was not dressed in the usual hoodie and jeans, or a short-sleeved jacket. Instead, she wore a light purple fitted strapless dress. The exquisite fish scale pattern of the fabric shimmered under the light. A single emerald hung from the delicately crafted collar chain, perfectly matching her green eyes.
"Stop staring." Pamela took a sip of water from the glass and said, "I've already told you, our parents are the same kind of people, believing that as long as a girl acquires social skills and dresses herself up attractively, she will surely marry into a wealthy family."
Harley puckered her lips, blew at the loose hair on her forehead, shrugged her shoulders, while Jason sipped his water, whispering, "At least they've taught you guys a useful skill, right?"