Chapter 04
“Miss, we’ve arrived.”
Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed the time passing. The carriage had already reached its destination.
With the coachman’s help, I stepped out of the carriage.
The first thing I saw was a large sign that read “Busnie Orphanage.”
Beyond the sign, there was a small dirt yard. The ground was scattered with stones and crushed flower petals—probably the children’s play area.
“There’s not a single toy in the playground?”
At the very least, they could have provided a small shovel for playing in the dirt.
Clicking my tongue in disapproval, I walked past the so-called “playground” and reached a tiny building—one that was nothing compared to even a fraction of the grand duke’s estate.
“…This place is worse than I expected.”
Up close, the building was in an even worse state.
The outer walls were cracked all over. The broken windows had thick cardboard covering them. One corner of the wall had peeling paint, revealing the bare structure underneath.
It was hard to believe this was supposed to be an orphanage—it looked like an abandoned ruin.
“Well, I should at least knock.”
The wooden door was so old and worn-out that I feared it might fall apart if I knocked too hard.
“Who are you?”
Thankfully, before I could risk breaking the door, someone called out to me.
Turning toward the voice, I saw a middle-aged woman with a stern expression.
“I came to see the children.”
Her suspicious gaze lingered on me for a moment before her eyes flickered over my clothing—more precisely, the quality of my outfit.
What I wore wasn’t extravagant, but the fabric and design were of high quality. Even my gloves and shoes were far beyond what commoners could afford.
“O-Oh, I see!”
Dropping her initial wariness, the woman quickly changed her attitude and started bowing repeatedly.
“If we had known you were coming, we would have prepared a proper welcome!”
“There’s no need for that. It’s not like I’m someone important.”
“But it’s so cold today! If you had sent word ahead, we could have prepared some warm tea…”
“Rather than that, how long do I have to stand here? Like you said, it’s cold.”
I cut off her unnecessary chatter. I knew exactly why she was flattering me.
“A-Ah! I’ll bring you inside immediately! Please, just wait a minute—no, just one moment!”
The woman hurriedly ran off somewhere, leaving me outside. At the same time, I could hear a commotion inside the orphanage.
“They’re probably scrambling to clean up.”
It wasn’t hard to guess what was happening.
Normally, this orphanage was a mess. The lazy headmistress only kept her own office clean.
The only time the place was thoroughly cleaned was when a noble visitor was expected.
No noble wanted to adopt a child who came from a filthy place. So, whenever someone important arrived, they had to make a good impression.
But I had no intention of waiting for them to finish cleaning.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the doorknob.
Crash!
The moment I opened the door, my eyes met with a child.
A boy was kneeling on the floor, holding a filthy rag. His red eyes burned like fire.
“….”
“….”
For a moment, silence filled the space between us.
Such striking red eyes were rare. And beyond that, the boy looked exactly like Duke Bellomon.
His long, unkempt hair covered half his face, but I could still see his features.
If the duke had been a child, he would have looked just like this.
Even the boy’s slightly wavy black hair was the same as the duke’s.
“There’s no doubt. This is Edwin.”
I was certain.
From everything I knew, this child was Duke Bellomon’s son—the protagonist of From Bastard Child to Family Head.
But why is Edwin holding a rag?
Crash!
The silence was shattered by the sound of something breaking.
Turning around, I saw that the already weakened door had finally collapsed, its hinges broken.
“….”
I knew this would happen.
I clicked my tongue in frustration.
“M-My lady! You should have waited outside!”
A flustered voice called out.
I turned toward the speaker—an older man with a balding head and a large mole on his upper lip.
His appearance told me everything. This man was the orphanage director.
“W-What are you all doing?! Hurry and greet our guest properly!”
At his urgent command, the boy dropped the rag and stood up.
The other children did the same, setting down the boxes and blankets they were holding before bowing to me.
But I couldn’t return their greeting.
“Were you making the children… clean?”
When I had walked in, Edwin had been scrubbing the floor with a rag.
The other children were busy as well, gathering trash and hurriedly folding blankets.
Everything pointed to one thing: The orphanage director was forcing the children to do all the cleaning.
The original story had mentioned that he abused the children, but it hadn’t described exactly how. I hadn’t expected him to make even the tiniest kids do chores meant for adults.
“O-Of course not!”
The director frantically waved his hands in denial.
“The children are just so kind! They love helping out during cleaning and meal prep! Isn’t that right, children?”
“Y-Yes…”
The children answered hesitantly, their reluctance clear.
I wanted to call out his lie immediately, but it wasn’t time yet.
I needed solid proof before I could remove the corrupt staff.
“Our children are such little angels! They will surely adjust well if they are adopted!”
The director assumed I had come to adopt a child.
Well, he’s not exactly wrong.
I did plan to take Edwin away, but I couldn’t do it yet. Adopting the duke’s son out of nowhere would definitely raise suspicions.
“I want to spend time getting to know the children before making any decisions. I plan to visit often.”
“O-Of course! Please take your time!”
The director eagerly rubbed his hands together like a greedy merchant.
“Since it’s almost mealtime, I’d like to have lunch with the children.”
“L-Lunch, you say?”
“Is there a problem?”
“N-No, it’s just that we don’t have food suitable for someone of your status…”
“I’m not picky, so don’t worry about it.”
“A-Alright, then. Please wait here for a moment.”
With that, the director and staff hurried off.
Now alone with the children, I awkwardly sat down on the floor.
“I’ve never been around so many kids before.”
They all stared at me, unsure what to do.
“I should make the first move.”
Children are naturally shy around strangers. And since I was a noble, they were probably even more nervous.
I thought back to the times I played with Lucian and smiled.
“Who wants to play with toys?”
I made sure to raise my voice slightly—since my usual tone was low, I didn’t want to scare them.
Picking up a worn-out doll from the floor, I tried again.
“Wow, look at this cute doll!”
“Me!”
“I want to play too!”
A few children’s eyes lit up as they ran toward me.
“At least some of them aren’t too shy.”
They almost looked like little angels.
I let out a sigh of relief and shook the doll.
“Alright. Let’s play with the doll together.”
I smiled warmly and waved the doll in the air.
At that moment—
Thud!
The doll’s head fell to the floor.
“…….”
The cheerful atmosphere instantly turned cold. The sight of a headless doll must have looked quite creepy to the young children.
“I-I’ll fix it!”
I quickly grabbed the doll and tried to reattach the head. But once something is broken, it’s never easy to put it back together.
“It’s okay.”
“Let’s just play with the blocks instead.”
Thankfully, the kids acted as if they were used to this and brought over some other toys.
“Shall we?”
I felt relieved.
But that relief only lasted for a moment.
None of the toys they brought were in good condition.
“Why is there a stain on this doll’s dress?”
“Oh, a rat peed on it.”
“Why are the edges of these blocks all worn out?”
“It rained a lot in the summer. They got soaked and started falling apart.”
“……Maybe we should play something else.”
Seeing the poor condition of the toys, I made up my mind—I had to replace them along with that broken door.
“How about tag?”
It might not be the most graceful game for a noblewoman, but kids this age love playing games that involve running around.
“Yeah!”
The children eagerly nodded.
“It’s so fun because a pretty big sister is playing with us!”
They were even saying nice things to make me feel good. I was lucky.
‘But I feel like I’m only playing with the active ones.’
I glanced over at the kids sitting quietly in the corner. Among them was Edwin. They sat there without saying a word, completely still.
“Hey, don’t just sit there. Come play with us!”
“…….”
“It’ll be more fun, and you’ll enjoy your meal more after playing!”
I tried to persuade them in different ways, but they didn’t move an inch.
‘This isn’t good.’
The main reason I came here was to get close to Edwin. He was the one who would be responsible for Lucian’s future. If he had no interest in me, that would be a problem.
“Big sis, let’s just play by ourselves.”
“Hmm?”
“They don’t want to play. If they don’t want to, why should we force them?”
“That’s true, but wouldn’t it be more fun if everyone played together?”
“Well, if you say so…”
The brown-haired child, who had been pouting, suddenly turned to the kids in the corner.
“Hey, get up already.”
“…….”
“Didn’t you hear me? She said she wants everyone to play!”
The children, including Edwin, slowly started to rise from their spots.
Watching them, I couldn’t help but feel something was… off.
