Chapter 10
“Ugh… So noisy.”
Amelia woke up to the sound of loud crying. She was a light sleeper, so even the smallest noise could wake her up.
She turned her head toward the source of the sound.
“Pooped again…”
The unpleasant smell in the air and Lucella’s resigned expression made it clear—Cherry had made a mess.
And quite a big one.
Normally, Ritz would have taken care of this…
Ritz, who was nine years old, was the oldest child at the Busnie Orphanage.
Because of that, the headmistress made Ritz do all sorts of chores. Since he was older and not particularly good-looking, his chances of getting adopted were very low.
From putting the kids to bed to changing the diapers of crying babies, Ritz took care of everything while the headmistress and staff slept peacefully.
“Ugh…”
But tonight, Ritz wasn’t waking up. He was completely exhausted after everything that had happened the day before.
The other children were the same. They had been on edge all day, and now, even Cherry’s loud crying couldn’t wake them up.
Should I do it?
Lucella was a noble lady who had never done any chores in her life. There was no way she would get her hands dirty changing a filthy diaper.
Poop was gross and smelly, but she couldn’t just leave Cherry like that.
Just as Amelia made up her mind and started to get up—
“I’ll do it. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”
A gentle voice reached Amelia’s ears.
Lucella, holding clean clothes and a fresh diaper, was heading to the bathroom.
She’s doing it herself?
The headmistress never did anything herself. She left all the dirty work to the staff.
But the staff weren’t much better. They often played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would do unpleasant chores like washing diapers or bathing babies.
And even when they did the work, they did it carelessly. The diapers weren’t properly cleaned, and the babies weren’t washed properly. In the end, the older kids like Ritz and Amelia had to redo everything.
But a noble lady washing a baby and changing a diaper?
She’s definitely going to do a sloppy job.
Amelia kept watching Lucella. But surprisingly, Lucella wasn’t cutting corners.
She washed Cherry carefully, making sure not to let her get cold.
“Wow, you really made a mess, huh? Looks like you ate well today!”
Even as she wrinkled her nose at the smell, she smiled at Cherry. Her attitude was completely different from the headmistress and staff.
On top of that, she didn’t get mad at the other kids when they woke up. She comforted them instead.
She really is different from the headmistress…
Amelia watched Lucella with wavering eyes.
Lucella was holding two children at once. Since she was small, it looked like a struggle.
And that sight made Amelia move.
“Give her to me.”
“Amelia, you’re awake?”
“Give me Cherry.”
“Huh?”
Before Lucella could react, Amelia took Cherry and carried her to a corner.
She laid the baby down and started undressing her with practiced ease.
“Luckily, it’s not too bad. I can just change her diaper without washing her.”
“Oh, really?”
“I’ll do it. You should do something else.”
“Huh?”
Lucella looked bewildered. Then, as if realizing something, her expression changed.
“You’re going to change the diaper?”
“Yes.”
Before Lucella could stop her, Amelia swiftly put a clean diaper on Cherry and dressed her again.
“The babies don’t usually wake up this often. Cherry probably ate a lot at dinner. That doesn’t happen often here.”
Amelia spoke quickly, worried that Lucella might stop supporting the orphanage if she found it too troublesome.
Even as she talked, her hands kept working.
Lucella, still surprised, tried to reason with her.
“You don’t have to do this, Amelia.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn’t something kids should do.”
“Well, it’s not something a noble lady should do either.”
“……”
Lucella was speechless.
Amelia was right. If not for her past life memories, Lucella wouldn’t have done this either.
Still—
“If one of us has to do it, it should be me. You’re still young, and it’s late.”
Lucella gently took Cherry from Amelia’s arms.
She saw Amelia’s dazed expression and smiled.
“Thank you for wanting to help.”
Just in case Amelia felt rejected.
“But I can handle it alone, so you should go get some—”
Before she could finish her sentence—
“Waaah!”
Another child started crying.
It wasn’t Cherry this time.
Amelia tilted her head.
“You sure you don’t need help?”
“……”
“You’d need four arms to handle all the crying kids.”
“…Sigh.”
Lucella looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.
She didn’t want to make a child do the work of an adult.
But right now, she had no choice.
“Fine. Just for tonight, Amelia.”
Amelia handled the crying children expertly. She calmed them down and gently patted their backs until they fell asleep.
That wasn’t all.
“I need to pee…”
“The bathroom is that way, not here.”
At some point, Edwin had woken up and started helping, too.
“I’ll hold your hand. Don’t step on the sleeping kids.”
“O-okay…”
Thanks to Edwin, the kids could sleep peacefully without getting stepped on. And the desperate child made it to the bathroom in time.
“Thanks, Edwin, right?”
Lucella pretended not to know his name and smiled.
Until now, Edwin had always kept to himself, avoiding eye contact with her. Seeing him step up to help was touching.
“You must be tired, but you helped anyway. Thank you.”
“N-no, I just… Amelia was helping, so I…”
Edwin’s face turned pink.
So it was because of Amelia…
Even at such a young age, he already followed Amelia without question.
Lucella grew curious.
Just what kind of child was Amelia, to inspire such loyalty?
“Lia, my tummy hurts. Sion stepped on me earlier.”
“Okay, let me blow on it. Does it feel better now?”
“Yeah. Hehe.”
She was kind and caring toward the younger kids.
“Lia, I can’t sleep. Can you pat me?”
“You’re not a baby.”
“S-sorry…”
And she kept the older ones in line with her authority.
Impressive.
As expected of the original heroine.
“Hm…”
While Lucella was lost in thought, the kids finally settled down and drifted off to sleep.
Two hours later, peace had returned.
Now, the only child left awake was Cherry, still in Lucella’s arms.
One baby should be easy to handle alone.
Since the emergency was over, she decided to let Amelia and Edwin rest.
“Amelia, Edwin, you can stop now—huh?”
They had been awake just moments ago, comforting the kids.
But now, Amelia and Edwin had fallen asleep, leaning against each other.
“They must’ve been exhausted.”
It was natural. It was way past their bedtime.
But they had fought their sleep just to help her.
Lucella felt both touched and guilty.
Gently, she lifted each child and placed them on a blanket, tucking them in carefully.
“Thank you so much for tonight.”
Watching them sleep peacefully, she smiled warmly.
At this moment, they didn’t seem like future enemies who would harm her nephew.
They were just two adorable children.
