CHAPTER 09
“There’s an orphanage in a place like this?”
Led by the Duke of Elard, the Lexion Knight Order arrived at Tesar Orphanage.
The moment they stepped through the entrance, a bleak atmosphere wrapped around them.
Weeds had grown wildly everywhere.
An old swing, rusted and creaking unpleasantly with even the slightest breeze.
It was a place so dreary it was hard to believe children lived there.
The Duke surveyed it with cold eyes and spoke.
“Bring me the director.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Moments later—
“I—I had no idea such an honored guest would come!”
A poorly dressed man rushed out of the building.
He could not even properly meet the Duke’s gaze. At the Duke’s order to check the children, he hurried to gather them into the snowy yard.
The children, barely clothed, stood trembling with their heads lowered.
Before the duke could speak, the director suddenly lifted the children’s thin arms and began to tear up, claiming they barely survived on the small government subsidy.
Ignoring the obvious display, the Duke quickly scanned the children.
Diana was not there.
He had suspected she would not be in such a place once he realized she had been kidnapped, but disappointment still weighed on him.
Then he felt something was off about the director.
The way he acted was terrified and submissive, yet he blatantly hinted at wanting donations. The way he claimed to care for the children, yet left them standing in the freezing cold.
“You. Have you seen a girl with silver hair and blue eyes?”
At the question, the children visibly flinched.
One child who had started to raise their head quickly looked away.
“Well? Answer him!” the director barked.
The oldest-looking child spoke.
“I’ve never seen anyone like that.”
“If you lie to me, I will not forgive you.”
“I-It’s true.”
The child’s trembling voice made the Duke’s expression grow colder.
The director felt a chill but forced a shameless look.
He had spent half of his savings to buy a perception-blocking artifact and installed it in the attic and in his safe.
Even the Duke of Elard and the Lexion Knights would not find proof of the child or the slave dealings.
Just then—
Boom!
Before the search properly began, the mana in the air surged violently.
Bianca was the first to react, leaping forward.
“I sense a disturbance in mana.”
“I see. Director, you don’t mind if we look around?”
Before the director could fully respond, the Duke turned away, and the knights began searching efficiently.
A sense of dread crawled down the director’s spine.
***
“…What is this?”
Bianca, who had followed the strongest mana flow, froze.
A child lay collapsed on the ground.
“Captain!”
One of her subordinates snapped her out of it.
“The mana is coming from that child.”
Now she felt it clearly.
Pure, powerful mana was pouring from the child’s body.
But it was twisted and unstable.
‘There’s no other entrance nearby. She must have fallen from above. Yet her injuries are lighter than expected. Did she unconsciously cast magic to protect herself?’
Some children lost control of their mana before proper training.
If left like this, her small body might explode from overload.
Bianca rushed forward and reached out.
At the same time, knights surrounded the backyard.
The duke and the director arrived.
The director’s face turned pale at the sight of Ria lying there.
He had nailed boards over the window. How had she escaped?
And then—
“Daddy!”
At the unexpected voice, the Duke immediately looked up.
Diana, who had been hiding and watching in shock, had spotted him.
The Duke froze in relief upon seeing his daughter alive.
But his expression hardened instantly.
Diana was leaning dangerously out of a broken attic window.
“Diana, do not move.”
The director’s face drained of color.
“Cough
Ria, whose rampaging mana had just been stabilized by Bianca, coughed.
She opened her eyes—
And met icy blue ones.
They were the same color as Diana’s, but instinctive fear made her speak.
“P-Please… save me.”
The duke frowned slightly.
Her heart dropped.
‘He’s terrifying.’
In her previous life, the Duke had executed the director on the spot.
Then he left, taking only Jack, the only one who had protected Diana.
The other children were abandoned.
They became street vagrants.
Ria too.
She had shivered in the cold, begging all day only to have everything stolen.
Once, she had been falsely accused of theft.
She had run until her lungs burned.
‘I can’t let that happen again.’
This time, she would not anger him.
But first—
“Jack… my friend is hurt. Please help him.”
“Did that man do this?”
Bianca asked.
Ria nodded.
“He always cursed at us. Said he’d sell us all as slaves!”
“Slaves
Even with the visible abuse, this was shocking.
The director shouted, “It’s a lie!” and reached to silence her.
Ria closed her eyes, expecting pain.
“Aaagh!”
Instead, the director screamed.
The Duke had twisted his wrist backward.
Tears fell from Ria’s eyes.
‘I’m not scared. I’m not.’
But she couldn’t relax completely.
“Child!”
Ignoring Bianca’s call, Ria ran into the yard.
The children stood in a line like criminals.
Ria dug under a tree where she had hidden something.
“Unni
Diana, now in her father’s arms, rushed over after being set down.
Ria felt relief seeing Jack carried by knights.
She felt responsibility as she saw the children’s pale faces.
“What is this?”
“It’s the secret ledger of all the children he sold!”
The director screamed in panic upon recognizing the cover.
He was gagged.
The children watched in confusion as the once-powerful director was subdued.
Ria cried desperately.
“There’s proof of embezzlement too! He never treated us like people! The children lied because they were threatened!”
As she spoke, everyone’s expressions hardened.
Especially the Duke’s.
“So. The children told me they never saw a girl like Diana. You are saying they are innocent? Regardless of the reason, they lied to me.”
Fear froze her heart.
But she did not look away.
“Please forgive them! They were scared! It’s our fault!”
She dropped to her knees.
The other children followed, crying and begging not to be killed.
Diana began to tear up too.
The Duke pressed his temple.
“When did I say I would kill you?”
“…Hic
“I will not kill you. Stop crying.”
“…Really?”
“It means you are forgiven.”
Only after he declared they would all be transferred to another orphanage did Ria finally stop crying.
“Unni
Diana ran to her.
“Are you okay?”
Her big eyes filled with tears as she checked Ria’s face and body.
Only then did the Duke and the knights realize—
The one who had cared for their precious young lady all this time
was this child.
