Of the two hundred and six children, only around ten percent could be brought back to their parents. Which meant a lot of tears, soothing and emotional support was needed. I didn´t stay one day in the orphanage, not even two. I spent four whole days and nights there, giving my best to support the completely broken children and to entertain the others. And they certainly became attached to me.
I tried to keep the number who wanted to do everything with me to an absolute bare minimum and rather tried to push them into befriending others as much as possible, but that was only sometimes possible. Laura for example had only a handful of friends which consisted of a few ex-werewolf kids and Leonie, who befriended her more out of pity than anything else. At least they got along well now that Leonie knew what happened to Laura.
But I knew I had to distance myself from them eventually. I had way too much to do and Mary did appear quite a few times during that day, giving me hundreds of letters from the churches who praised me but mostly refused to send any funds over, Tom, and even the King himself.
I had to go, even if it hurt to leave them behind like this. There was simply no possible way for me to make all of them happy. I had to find others who did it for me.
And today, the fourth day after we rescued the kids, was the one day where I would hire more staff. Professional staff.
“What are your qualifications?” I asked a young, enthusiastic woman who definitely came from a well-heeled household.
“I worked inside a noble school for a year.” She said, fire burning in her eyes.
“As?” I asked, slightly stupefied by her behaviour.
“A trainee. In the kitchen.” She said, not even realizing that her answer was quite …
“… you´re hired.” Her answer was definitely better than ‘I have a child’ or ‘I cooked once’ … certainly, I knew that these positions in the orphanage were quite sought after, especially for those living in poverty, but they were a bit lacking. This noble daughter who apparently wanted to change the world for the better was certainly thus very welcome. I mean, she could read … which was probably more any of the housemothers could do.
“Miss Coro, here is the information leaflet. Please be at the orphanage tomorrow at twelve. You will be paid hourly, there is no minimum or maximum hours.”
“I heard you will be there quite often as well?” I blinked a few times in surprise as I couldn´t link her question to my presence at the orphanage.
“Yes … if I do find the time.” I said, immediately regretting it as her eyes started to sparkle.
“That´s great! I really do admire you and the change you try to make.” She said, nodding a few times.
“That is …” I looked towards Hannah who only shrugged her shoulders while trying her hardest to write down the noble woman´s name. “Thank you…”
“You are my role model, I want to learn so much from you! That you are rebuilding the eastern slums all by yourself is an ach-“ She was one of those. I noticed it as well … there seemed to be some kind of cult growing around me, filled with fanatics who wanted to make the world a better place without even realizing that I was responsible for quite a lot of misery.
“Miss Coro, if you would be so kind to let the next applicant inside. I am sure milady and you can talk continue this conversation soon.” Hannah said, probably for the tenth time that day. The noblewoman finally shut up, stood up abashed and curtsied in front of us.
“I´ll better get going then.” She said, walking out of the room lightheaded.
“And another one which hours we have to check …” Hannah commented. All of these new employees would be incredibly useless if they all came when I was there. If that happened, I seriously needed to have a word with them, but I did hope they wouldn’t do that. After all, their desire to help these kids was real … or they wanted to earn money.
Soon, the door opened yet again, revealing a blue-eyed, brown-haired teenager, carrying a thin book underneath his arm.
“Your holiness.” He said while going on one knee and looking down on the ground.
“Jacob, please call me Lucy.” I said, slightly taken off guard by his presence. “Are you here to apply for a job?” I asked with interest.
“No, I do not deserve such a position. I already received too much of your help. I want to warn you.” From what? An unknown enemy? Tax investigators? Please, please don’t let it be tax investigators.
“Warn me?” I asked innocently while going through my last finance sheets. It was just ten percent we didn’t pay … I hoped it would be alright.
“Yes. I heard you found a big wolf in your backyard?” Oh … well, that was one way to put it. But he was still nicely wrapped under a very heavy blanket.
“Indeed. What do you know about that?” I asked, already knowing where this would be going.
“It is my father.” He said while looking towards the ground. I didn´t even bother with looking surprised as the only one in this room were us three.
“Your father? A wolf?” I asked, a hint of uneasiness in my voice.
“A werewolf … Lucy, he was turned into this monster by the mana sickness.” Jacob said, still refusing to look at me.
“I never heard of such a thing.” I commented apparently full of doubt.
“It does happen.” He said, gritting his teeth in short-lived frustration.
“Hmm … I will look into it. Did anyone else turn into these werewolves?” I asked, really interested what he would say.
“… My … I … only me and the dead. But apparently, I turned back into a human again.” He said, proving once and for all what a character he had. I really wondered why his father pressured him into bullying that poor guy on the campus … well, maybe it was for learning how to be a criminal because he was severely lacking in that regard.
“I see … please tell me immediately if something unnatural happens with you.” I said my voice sounding incredibly concerned all of a sudden.
“You won´t tell anyone?” Jacob … everyone knew already. It was just him who didn´t realize.
“Jacob, there is a reason these things happen. And I am not in the position to question that.” I said, smiling wryly as he finally looked at me.
“Thank you … for everything.” He said with an uneasy expression on his face.
“I had nothing to do with whatever happened to you.” I commented, smiling even brighter than usual.
“But you were there as the first person to free us all. There is a reason these things happen, and there is a reason I lost memories of four days up until that incident.” He revealed.
“You did?” I asked as if I was completely oblivious.
“Yes ... which is also the reasoin I want to give you this.” He handed me the book over. Raising my eyebrow, I flipped it around and opened the first page.
‘Dear Diary, …’ Fuck. Seriously, why did he have to write a diary? Slightly hopeful, I turned to the last used page and read the first part. ‘I am in love. Lucy … whatever her last name is, if she even has one. We only know each other for a few days, but I cannot imagine a future without her anymore.’
Yeah … fuck.
“Have you … read that?” I asked, only slightly hopeful.
“No. I feared I wouldn’t have the courage to hand you my diary over afterwards. There should be quite a lot of valuable information in there, from the werewolves to … my amnesia.” I felt a huge burden being lifted from my shoulders. After all, I would have a seriously hard time explaining what I did before the incident. Well, there were other methods to shut him up, but I was still relieved I didn´t have to use them.
“I see. Thank you. I will try to skip over the … less prestigious parts.” I said while being incredibly glad he didn’t have the time to write down the last moments before his amnesia.
“As long as the children are safe … thank you for everything. I think I´ll get going now.” He said, standing up slowly and bowing deeply.
“Hmm …” I mumbled, my eyes already drawn to the last page again while I heard him distancing himself. After a few seconds though, I looked at his back and changed my mind on him. “Jacob, what about you? I assume you are in financial troubles?”
“Nothing to worry about. I won´t be able to attend the royal academy anymore, but I will be able to earn a bit of money.” Well, that much was obvious. He had been in the royal academy after all, and I am sure he would find a job as a tax investigator for example … or hopefully something else as well.
“Jacob, I want you to stay at the academy. How about I pay your tuition fees?” I asked, closing the book and sliding it over to Hannah.
“I could not possibly …” He turned around and looked at me. I could see he wanted to, but he felt already way too indebted.
“I heard they were offering rather interesting courses there … ‘Teaching orphans’ for example.” I said, hinting at what I wanted from him.
“I … thank you for your generosity.” He bowed once more, even deeper than before.
“You’re welcome. Write me a letter if you ever find yourself in trouble.” I said, smiling brightly.
“I … thank you … should I write weekly reports about my studies as well?” That did surprise me a bit. He certainly didn´t read inside the book, but once I looked into his eyes, I could see a hint of pink in them. Once again, he was falling in love with me.
“… I would love to hear about your progress.”
He would get over his love eventually. I had zero desire to interact with him more than absolutely necessary, which was probably a monthly letter or so. He would find a girl he loved from the bottom of his heart and build up a relationship based on real feelings. He would marry her, start a family and hopefully help out at an orphanage. A normal, happy life. At least, that’s what I wished for him … what he made out of the chance I gave him was an entirely different matter. But I knew he wouldn’t mess it up.
Of the two hundred and six children, only around ten percent could be brought back to their parents. Which meant a lot of tears, soothing and emotional support was needed. I didn´t stay one day in the orphanage, not even two. I spent four whole days and nights there, giving my best to support the completely broken children and to entertain the others. And they certainly became attached to me.
I tried to keep the number who wanted to do everything with me to an absolute bare minimum and rather tried to push them into befriending others as much as possible, but that was only sometimes possible. Laura for example had only a handful of friends which consisted of a few ex-werewolf kids and Leonie, who befriended her more out of pity than anything else. At least they got along well now that Leonie knew what happened to Laura.
But I knew I had to distance myself from them eventually. I had way too much to do and Mary did appear quite a few times during that day, giving me hundreds of letters from the churches who praised me but mostly refused to send any funds over, Tom, and even the King himself.
I had to go, even if it hurt to leave them behind like this. There was simply no possible way for me to make all of them happy. I had to find others who did it for me.
And today, the fourth day after we rescued the kids, was the one day where I would hire more staff. Professional staff.
“What are your qualifications?” I asked a young, enthusiastic woman who definitely came from a well-heeled household.
“I worked inside a noble school for a year.” She said, fire burning in her eyes.
“As?” I asked, slightly stupefied by her behaviour.
“A trainee. In the kitchen.” She said, not even realizing that her answer was quite …
“… you´re hired.” Her answer was definitely better than ‘I have a child’ or ‘I cooked once’ … certainly, I knew that these positions in the orphanage were quite sought after, especially for those living in poverty, but they were a bit lacking. This noble daughter who apparently wanted to change the world for the better was certainly thus very welcome. I mean, she could read … which was probably more any of the housemothers could do.
“Miss Coro, here is the information leaflet. Please be at the orphanage tomorrow at twelve. You will be paid hourly, there is no minimum or maximum hours.”
“I heard you will be there quite often as well?” I blinked a few times in surprise as I couldn´t link her question to my presence at the orphanage.
“Yes … if I do find the time.” I said, immediately regretting it as her eyes started to sparkle.
“That´s great! I really do admire you and the change you try to make.” She said, nodding a few times.
“That is …” I looked towards Hannah who only shrugged her shoulders while trying her hardest to write down the noble woman´s name. “Thank you…”
“You are my role model, I want to learn so much from you! That you are rebuilding the eastern slums all by yourself is an ach-“ She was one of those. I noticed it as well … there seemed to be some kind of cult growing around me, filled with fanatics who wanted to make the world a better place without even realizing that I was responsible for quite a lot of misery.
“Miss Coro, if you would be so kind to let the next applicant inside. I am sure milady and you can talk continue this conversation soon.” Hannah said, probably for the tenth time that day. The noblewoman finally shut up, stood up abashed and curtsied in front of us.
“I´ll better get going then.” She said, walking out of the room lightheaded.
“And another one which hours we have to check …” Hannah commented. All of these new employees would be incredibly useless if they all came when I was there. If that happened, I seriously needed to have a word with them, but I did hope they wouldn’t do that. After all, their desire to help these kids was real … or they wanted to earn money.
Soon, the door opened yet again, revealing a blue-eyed, brown-haired teenager, carrying a thin book underneath his arm.
“Your holiness.” He said while going on one knee and looking down on the ground.
“Jacob, please call me Lucy.” I said, slightly taken off guard by his presence. “Are you here to apply for a job?” I asked with interest.
“No, I do not deserve such a position. I already received too much of your help. I want to warn you.” From what? An unknown enemy? Tax investigators? Please, please don’t let it be tax investigators.
“Warn me?” I asked innocently while going through my last finance sheets. It was just ten percent we didn’t pay … I hoped it would be alright.
“Yes. I heard you found a big wolf in your backyard?” Oh … well, that was one way to put it. But he was still nicely wrapped under a very heavy blanket.
“Indeed. What do you know about that?” I asked, already knowing where this would be going.
“It is my father.” He said while looking towards the ground. I didn´t even bother with looking surprised as the only one in this room were us three.
“Your father? A wolf?” I asked, a hint of uneasiness in my voice.
“A werewolf … Lucy, he was turned into this monster by the mana sickness.” Jacob said, still refusing to look at me.
“I never heard of such a thing.” I commented apparently full of doubt.
“It does happen.” He said, gritting his teeth in short-lived frustration.
“Hmm … I will look into it. Did anyone else turn into these werewolves?” I asked, really interested what he would say.
“… My … I … only me and the dead. But apparently, I turned back into a human again.” He said, proving once and for all what a character he had. I really wondered why his father pressured him into bullying that poor guy on the campus … well, maybe it was for learning how to be a criminal because he was severely lacking in that regard.
“I see … please tell me immediately if something unnatural happens with you.” I said my voice sounding incredibly concerned all of a sudden.
“You won´t tell anyone?” Jacob … everyone knew already. It was just him who didn´t realize.
“Jacob, there is a reason these things happen. And I am not in the position to question that.” I said, smiling wryly as he finally looked at me.
“Thank you … for everything.” He said with an uneasy expression on his face.
“I had nothing to do with whatever happened to you.” I commented, smiling even brighter than usual.
“But you were there as the first person to free us all. There is a reason these things happen, and there is a reason I lost memories of four days up until that incident.” He revealed.
“You did?” I asked as if I was completely oblivious.
“Yes ... which is also the reasoin I want to give you this.” He handed me the book over. Raising my eyebrow, I flipped it around and opened the first page.
‘Dear Diary, …’ Fuck. Seriously, why did he have to write a diary? Slightly hopeful, I turned to the last used page and read the first part. ‘I am in love. Lucy … whatever her last name is, if she even has one. We only know each other for a few days, but I cannot imagine a future without her anymore.’
Yeah … fuck.
“Have you … read that?” I asked, only slightly hopeful.
“No. I feared I wouldn’t have the courage to hand you my diary over afterwards. There should be quite a lot of valuable information in there, from the werewolves to … my amnesia.” I felt a huge burden being lifted from my shoulders. After all, I would have a seriously hard time explaining what I did before the incident. Well, there were other methods to shut him up, but I was still relieved I didn´t have to use them.
“I see. Thank you. I will try to skip over the … less prestigious parts.” I said while being incredibly glad he didn’t have the time to write down the last moments before his amnesia.
“As long as the children are safe … thank you for everything. I think I´ll get going now.” He said, standing up slowly and bowing deeply.
“Hmm …” I mumbled, my eyes already drawn to the last page again while I heard him distancing himself. After a few seconds though, I looked at his back and changed my mind on him. “Jacob, what about you? I assume you are in financial troubles?”
“Nothing to worry about. I won´t be able to attend the royal academy anymore, but I will be able to earn a bit of money.” Well, that much was obvious. He had been in the royal academy after all, and I am sure he would find a job as a tax investigator for example … or hopefully something else as well.
“Jacob, I want you to stay at the academy. How about I pay your tuition fees?” I asked, closing the book and sliding it over to Hannah.
“I could not possibly …” He turned around and looked at me. I could see he wanted to, but he felt already way too indebted.
“I heard they were offering rather interesting courses there … ‘Teaching orphans’ for example.” I said, hinting at what I wanted from him.
“I … thank you for your generosity.” He bowed once more, even deeper than before.
“You’re welcome. Write me a letter if you ever find yourself in trouble.” I said, smiling brightly.
“I … thank you … should I write weekly reports about my studies as well?” That did surprise me a bit. He certainly didn´t read inside the book, but once I looked into his eyes, I could see a hint of pink in them. Once again, he was falling in love with me.
“… I would love to hear about your progress.”
He would get over his love eventually. I had zero desire to interact with him more than absolutely necessary, which was probably a monthly letter or so. He would find a girl he loved from the bottom of his heart and build up a relationship based on real feelings. He would marry her, start a family and hopefully help out at an orphanage. A normal, happy life. At least, that’s what I wished for him … what he made out of the chance I gave him was an entirely different matter. But I knew he wouldn’t mess it up.
