Chapter 298 – 298. Lily’s Determination (1)
Eun-hyeon, who had robbed the slush funds of the fallen aristocrats, divided the enormous amount into three equal parts.
The first, like the last time, secretly infiltrated the palace and delivered it to Queen Diane.
It was Eun-hyeon’s sincerity in her own way for turning a blind eye to Erin’s punishment, not defending the corrupt aristocrats in the game Eun-hyeon had made, and taking a tough response by rooting out all of them.
Although Eun-hyeon’s attitude of conveying the slush funds that should have been returned to the royal family as if she were donating it was very disrespectful.
From the Queen’s point of view, she was not in a position to voice regrets because she needed the money to run state affairs with an insufficient budget.
The second one was conveyed to use to add to the management of the territory of the dukedom.
The last third was Eunhyeon’s personal property, which was intended to cover the operating expenses required for Heilangdan or the orphanage.
After seeing the sweet taste of money, now Eun-hyeon visited the orphanage by herself.
“Ahaha! Brother! Fun!”
“…”
The half-elf girl, polymorphed into a human, laughed happily.
Seeing the artificial spirit silently running around carrying a wooden horse on the slender girl’s body, Eunhyeon was at a loss for words.
“I told you to live free, but you’re totally obsessed with babysitting.”
It didn’t even go as far as to tell if it was a voluntary act or whether it was the half-elf girl Eris’ gang.
‘Does Erin know what her brother looks like?’
Elvin, who was playing with her nursery school children, was now more of an older brother and older brother than Erin’s older brother.
At first, her children were reluctant to approach Alvin, as she did not know what she was thinking with her grim expression.
The reason why the children at the nursery school opened their hearts to Alvin was that Eris, who was the same age or older as them, became interested in Elvin by pampering her and playing with her.
Starting with making cute rabbits or sparrows with shadows using imaging techniques, the boys even went wild when they made and presented wonderful beasts such as lions full of majesty.
“…”
“Oh! Elvin’s brother? Why are you stopping?”
Elvin, who noticed Eunhyeon entering the nursery school, stiffened her movements.
“You have a guest.”
“A guest? Ah!”
At Erwin’s words, Eris turned her head in the direction he was looking at and, like him, noticed her silver string and was a little amazed.
“Uncle!”
“Okay. Uncle.”
It wasn’t that bad to be called an old man, but Eun-hyeon, feeling strange, nodded his head with a wry smile.
“How have you been doing?”
“Yes!”
Watching the half-elf girl energetically answering Eun-hyeon’s question about her well-being, I naturally burst into laughter.
Eris, whose long, thin ears, characteristic of elves, are hidden by polymorphs, resembles her mother, Alice, in appearance, minus the light blond hair of Derkin.
“Are you here to see her mother?”
“Huh. Both sides and sides.”
The original business was with Lily, but her second business was to check Alice’s physical condition.
“Are Lily and her two couples in the nursery?”
“Yes.”
Eunhyun shook her head and moved towards the building with Elvin and Eris.
“Now I’m completely used to seeing children.”
“Because I’ve been used to it since I was little.”
Perhaps it was because of her past memories of losing her mother early and having to take care of Erin alone under her violent father. .
Right now, Erwin and Erin, who come to visit from time to time, are siblings who are no different from popular people at the orphanage.
Even in Erin’s case, it might be because she was very skillful in playing with and caring for her children, perhaps because it was the first time she saw Elvin’s side, and she looked both relieved and surprised.
She even felt lonely, especially when she saw the half-elf girl following Elvin well.
-He’s my brother…
She was a brother and sister who always fought and argued, but there was also an anecdote where she glossed over her emotions, saying that it was strange for her to express her feelings to a girl younger than herself.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not bad. She occasionally follows Derekin-sama and does adventurer’s work.”
Derkin and Elvin started working as adventurers using their aptitudes and specialties, and now it is one of the main sources of income for the nursery school that they can operate, in addition to the support they receive from the duke’s family.
Since they didn’t have a particularly strong desire for possession, the couple and Alvin entrusted themselves to the orphanage and readily accepted financial support.
One thing that Eunhyeon was surprised at was.
“I didn’t expect the two of you to be close enough to form an adventurer duo together.”
“Between… I don’t know.”
“What?”
Erwin denied Eunhyun’s words and showed a complicated face.
After reading his expression, Eunhyeon stiffened her face and asked.
“… What’s wrong?”
“Derkin-nim doesn’t look at me very favorably. But even so, while doing the adventurer’s work, you tell me this and that.”
Elvin says she has learned various things from Derkin in recent years.
From basic taijutsu to daggers and swordsmanship, even archery.
She learned everything from detecting presences to eliminating her own presences to the basics of searching.
Originally, she didn’t want to learn, but it was Derkin’s scolding that flew to Ervin.
“He asked how he could enter Elven Guard with such an attitude. … I didn’t say a single word that I was going to go there.”
Even if the day will come when she will visit the elf village again, she doesn’t know.
Why was Derkin so displeased with himself that he fretted over not being able to teach himself much?
“I don’t know what Derekin-nim thinks.”
Alvin spoke of her own troubles with her hardened face.
After hearing Elvin’s story, Eunhyeon also hardened her face and stuck to her silence.
“…”
His gaze alternated between Erwin and the young half-elf girl with a wooden horse around his neck.
‘Rather than being undesirable… This is completely…’
It seems that she is raising her own successor.
[Eh… A child as pathetic as a child here…]
‘No, Mr. Belldandi. Words are too…’
In response to Verdandi’s harsh criticism, Eun-hyeon had so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t dare to express them.
Just reading the thoughts swirling in his head, Belldandi just looked at Eun-hyeon with her eyes watering.
“Ah, master.”
Entering the building, Lily, who was preparing dinner for the children at the table, found Eun-hyeon and bowed her head.
“What about Derkin and Alice?”
“You are helping Alice take a bath.”
Even though it doesn’t interfere with her greatly in her daily life, it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t need her help at all.
It was always her husband Derkin’s job to help Alice, who was blind from the war, and Derkin took it for granted and had no complaints at all.
Rather, in addition to bathing in the bathroom, they may be continuing their relationship as a couple.
“After the two of you come, there’s something I’d like to ask of you four.”
“Yes. All right.”
“I get it.”
The figure of Alvin, nodding her head silently and displaying the soup that Lily puts in her bowl and displaying it on the long tables, is now completely the manager of the nursery school.
Even though her process, timing, and race were completely different, she involuntarily laughed as she watched the two of her who became her own subordinates through her oath.
[You look proud.]
‘Honestly, yes.’
Seeing young lives laughing and living brightly, who had only a dark future, filled Eun-hyeon’s heart with something indescribable little by little.
It wasn’t a very bad feeling.
[Everything is the result of the child’s hard work.]
‘If Belldandy-nim hadn’t allowed it, this would be a path I wouldn’t have considered.’
[If you say so, I’m happy too.]
As the life of slavery or the life of an orphan grew longer, their skinny bodies, unable to eat properly, gradually gained weight and gained strength little by little.
In particular, the changes in the height of boys, when they are in the midst of growing up, are getting bigger every time they visit the orphanage.
“I’ll be able to get it to work sooner or later.”
“Is it work?”
“Because we can’t feed and sleep at the nursery school forever. I just create an environment where I can learn to work and become self-reliant. You can’t feed and house those children for the rest of your life.”
A nursery school is a place to help children in difficult circumstances until they can grow up to be self-reliant, Eunhyun thought.
“If possible, I would like to get a job somewhere in the dukedom, do suitable labor, and contribute to the economy of the territory while integrating into this society. I think yes. This is a place created to help many children, but it is not a place where you have to support those children to the end of their lives.”
“… Yes.”
Lily nodded her head slightly as if sympathizing with Eunhyun’s words.
“Fortunately, the dukedom is quite active right now. Finding a job itself might not be that difficult. I think we need someone who is interested in agriculture or commerce and can educate us.”
In the case of really smart children, there was also an expectation that talents who could work as vassals of the duke’s family might emerge after learning to read and write and calculate.
“The owner is amazing…”
“These are the children who decided to take responsibility together while taking care of you. Because now you are the parent of those children. Think seriously about your children’s future.”
“Yes…”
Lily nodded her head at Eun-hyeon’s advice with her face wet with her slight touch.
“Eunhyeon?”
Soon after, the two couples entering the restaurant after taking a bath found Eun-hyeon and happily bowed their heads to her.
“You are here.”
“Huh. It looks like you two had a good time.”
“…”
Haha…”
Alice’s blushing and Derkin’s shy head scratching gave an idea of what kind of time they had been spending in the bathroom.
“Brother Alvin. Is a bath such a fun time?”
“… You don’t have to know.”
Eris, who was eating the soup clinging to Erwin next to him, asked Erwin as if he was curious, but Erwin put on a sullen expression and she refused to elaborate.
“Let’s start the investigation right away. I have something to tell you later. Derkin, will you put Alice on the top of the room?”
“All right.”
Unable to examine her in front of many children, Eun-hyeon headed to the bedroom occupied by her two husbands and their daughter.
Alice, sitting on the bed, removed her blindfold and checked the condition of her eyes.
Alice’s eyes were restored by Agnes, but Alice’s pupils, which were not completely restored to her optic nerves damaged by her contaminated mana, did not budge from any stimuli.
“Alice, to start the treatment, these two eyes must be gouged out. Of course, anesthesia will suppress the pain as much as possible, but there is no fear of it, right?”
“It is, but…”
Alice, who paused her words, trembled slightly as she listened to part of her brutal healing process.
But she made up her mind and spoke again.
“I believed in you and followed you. Most… I will endure it if you do not hurt me.”
“What about Derkin?”
“I believe. Me too… I want her wife to be able to see Eris with her own eyes again.”
“Okay. She said later that she would ask Agnies to arrange her schedule. And… I came to the nursery school today not only to check on the condition of her eyes before treatment, but also because I want to ask Alice and Derkin.”
“Are you asking?”
Smart
With two knocks, Lily opened the door and entered the couple’s room.
“I brought tea.”
Just in time, Lily’s appearance was very well-timed.
“Lily.”
“Yes?”
“I have somewhere to go with me.”
“Where should I go?”
“Your mother’s whereabouts.”
“Ah… !”
Lily’s body trembled slightly at Eunhyun’s completely unexpected words.
“Your mother’s whereabouts. Let’s go find it.”
