Looking at the old church in front of her, aged by time, Rossweise finally understood why Leon made this the last stop.
She said she wanted to stand on Leon's homeland and get to know him from another perspective; so Leon brought her to the place where he grew up.
Although he was adopted by his master at the age of five, Leon often came back to the orphanage to visit the teachers.
After growing up, he even volunteered here during holidays.
The children here also liked Leon very much. His astonishing talent for taking care of kids had already begun to show back then.
In front of the orphanage gate, Leon and Rossweise held each other's hands even tighter.
"Haven't been back for so many years, this place has changed a lot."
Whether it was the first time he returned to the Empire to deal with Victor, or when investigating the secret of the Dragonheart Scale twenty years in the future, Leon had no chance to return to the orphanage.
Counting the time, it's been at least five years...
At this moment, one of the nuns inside the courtyard seemed to have noticed them.
That nun came forward, opened the gate, and politely smiled, "Good evening, you two. Is there anything I can help you with?"
However, Leon just stared silently at the older nun, as if in a trance.
Memories surged in his mind.
Scenes from his childhood played in front of his eyes like a slideshow:
He spent his first birthday at the orphanage, the day this older nun picked him up;
Fought with a dorm mate because he said the nun's cooking was horrible;
To protect a girl, the young Leon fought a vicious dog barehanded and won. Of course, afterward, it was this nun who took Leon to the hospital for wound treatment.
In nearly every moment of his childhood memories, there was this nun.
If it weren't for his master and mistress, there would be no dragonslayer Leon today;
Then without this nun, Leon might have frozen to death on some night twenty-five years ago.
Her name was Caroline, Caroline Casmodeous, the only daughter of the former director of the orphanage.
Although she had already been elderly in Leon's memory, in just these five years, it was like she had aged more than a decade.
Her hair was all white, and the wrinkles under her eyes were clearly visible.
"Mister?"
Seeing Leon not respond for a long time, the nun asked again.
Leon finally snapped back, "Ah... we're tourists from a neighboring country... just wandering around."
"Is that so? Then would you like to come inside and take a look?"
Leon shook his head, "No, no, just standing at the gate is fine."
He deliberately lowered his voice, and with the disguise carefully prepared for him by the Lionheart Society, even Teacher Caroline didn't recognize him.
If he were recognized, it might cause unnecessary trouble, just as he was thinking, he heard Teacher Caroline suspiciously ask, "Mister, have we... met somewhere before?"
Leon was shocked inside and hurriedly denied, "I don't think so. This is my wife and I's first time visiting the Empire. You must be mistaken."
"Is that so..."
Caroline lowered her eyes and murmured, "Then maybe... it's because I miss that child too much..."
Leon blinked, "Are you referring to?..."
"His name is Leon."
Speaking of this, a gratified smile appeared on Teacher Caroline's face,
"He was the best child I ever taught."
Caroline sighed softly, lowered her eyes, the gratification in her tone gradually turning to sorrow, "But I haven't heard any news from him in a long time. I heard he lost a battle five years ago and was listed as a traitor by the Empire. At one point, wanted posters of him were everywhere in the Empire. Sigh..."
That long sigh was mixed with very complex emotions.
Did Teacher Caroline secretly still believe in Leon in her heart, or was she disappointed in the most outstanding student she had ever taught.
Leon couldn't decide for a moment.
Perhaps realizing she had said too much, Caroline quickly changed the topic. She put on the same kind smile as before and said,
"Judging from your looks, you must've gotten married not too long ago, right?"
'Emmmm... does five years count as long?'
The couple looked at each other and tacitly decided to go along with what Teacher Caroline said.
"Mm, not very long."
Leon said, "We were just wandering and heard the sound of children playing here, so we came over to take a look."
"You both like children very much?"
"Yes, my wife and I both like kids."
So much that they already had three children just five years into marriage.
Caroline smiled, slowly turned around, and looked at the children in the yard, "If all parents were like you, then maybe there wouldn't be so many poor little ones like these in the world."
Having worked as a teacher in the orphanage for decades, Caroline's sentimentality was something Leon understood.
She loved children, yet never married in her whole life.
Besides her identity as a nun, there was another important reason: she knew that if she had her own child, she wouldn't be able to equally distribute her love and attention to every child in the orphanage anymore.
These were children who had already been abandoned. It was the orphanage that gave them the courage and chance to face life again.
But this process had to be filled with the love of the nun teachers.
So Caroline never had children of her own.
Or rather, every orphan in the orphanage was her child.
"Teacher! Teacher!"
During the chat, a young nun came running over.
Leon also turned toward the voice, and immediately, his mouth opened slightly in surprise.
"Sharon..."
Rossweise looked at him sideways.
Did he just say that young nun's name?
Judging by Leon's expression, she seemed to be someone familiar too.
Rossweise wasn't jealous, because Leon's gaze and tone were purely the shock and confusion of reuniting with an old acquaintance, without any of that cheesy "first love returns" vibe.
"What's wrong, Sharon?"
The young nun named Sharon stood in front of Caroline, "Teacher, we still have many paper lanterns for the Thousand Lantern Festival that aren't finished. The director says we need to hurry."
"Okay, I'll go help right away."
"Mm mm, then I'll—"
As she spoke, Sharon caught sight of Leon and Rossweise out of the corner of her eye.
The black-haired beautiful lady she hadn't seen before.
But that man...
Sharon narrowed her eyes slightly, "Wait a moment, Mister, have we met somewhere before?"
Before he could answer, Leon suddenly felt a force coming from his palm.
He looked sideways, it was Rossweise.
The queen had activated party voice chat.
'Yes, dear husband, have you two met before?'
Not jealous, but it was still necessary to clarify who this old acquaintance actually was.
'Didn't I tell you about my glorious feat of taking down a vicious dog barehanded when I was five?'
'Yes, you said it was to save a little girl.'
'She's that little girl.'
'.....'
Rossweise silently rolled her eyes.
What a small world. What a strange fate.
After explaining it to the queen, Leon also denied it just like before,
"Don't think so. I must have a common face, even Teacher Caroline mistook me just now."
Sharon nodded with realization, "I see... I thought maybe Leon bro came back."
That one line of "Leon bro" made the force on Leon's hand increase a bit again.
But Leon still had to act like nothing happened on the surface.
'Sigh, should've done good deeds anonymously when I was little.'
"So you also mistook him for Leon."
Teacher Caroline smiled helplessly, "I wonder how that child is doing now... hopefully he hasn't already been captured by the Empire."
"No way!"
Sharon was still young, and blurted out directly, "Leon bro would never be caught. And besides, I never believed he was a traitor from the start."
Caroline glanced at Leon and Rossweise, quickly pressed Sharon's wrist, and gave the couple an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Sharon's just talking nonsense."
Since she couldn't confirm the origins of Leon and Rossweise, when it came to things like treason... best not to mention them at all.
Even though Caroline missed that child very much, unfortunately, living in this country meant she had to follow its rules.
"It's okay."
Leon said, "Just now I heard Sharon mention preparing paper lanterns for the Thousand Lantern Festival?"
"Yes."
"The orphanage still takes on work like this?"
Although the Thousand Lantern Festival was a major holiday in the Empire, in Leon's memory, the orphanage never made paper lanterns, they were always bought directly from shops outside.
"Mm, it's out of necessity. We're trying all kinds of ways to make a bit of money."
Hearing this, Leon frowned slightly.
'When did an orphanage in the middle district have to fall so far as to make paper lanterns to "make ends meet"?'
And looking again at the damage to the church and gate, Leon began to feel a vague sense of unease.
"But isn't the orphanage funded by the state? How come..."
"Ah, it's noth—"
"Of course a few years ago there were royal funds! But in recent years, the royals added all sorts of ridiculous approval procedures. Layer by layer it passes down, and by the time it reaches our orphanage, if one-third of it is left, that's already lucky!", Sharon spoke angrily.
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