Chapter 29
Hannah’s Orphanage was a facility with a good reputation, but the problem is that it was located in the outskirts of Richard, a place filled with slums .
And Kai, as Leonora’s servant, thought that the little kids of the orphanage would be disrespectful towards his master–
“Wow∼! Your hair is really beautiful, Leonorsama!”
“Leonorsama, did you enjoy the sweets that sent you?”
“Thank you for the beautiful dress, Leonorsama! I loved it!”
–But they were very polite with her from the very beginning, which shattered his rude concept of Poverty = Disrespectful .
Well, by the aristocratic point of view, they were being disrespectful though . After all, the little girls were so mesmerized by Leonora’s beauty, that they asked the person herself if they could touch her hair .
Touching the hair of any noble was considered disrespectful, but Leonora didn’t care about those old customs .
However, what impressed Kai the most wasn’t his master’s open heart, it was her ability to remember every single one of the girls’ names .
“Thank you, but your hair, is beautiful too, Benny . I loved, the sweets, that you, sent me, Leticia . I’m glad, you liked, the dress, Emma . ”
To Kai, this was an unusual sight, he never expected to see Leonora enjoying herself so much while playing with the little kids .
(Not caring about her own status as the granddaughter of Lord Harkenberg and treating these kids as equals, Leonorsama is truly an angel — no, she’s a saint!)
But on the other hand, although Leo was having fun while playing with the little kids, he was rather sad to know that Bruno was still working on the orphanage’s stall for the Winter Festival .
(Haaah∼, when I heard the front door or the orphanage opening, I thought that Leena and the others had already returned, but it was actually the little kids… well, playing outside is healthy for them, so there’s nothing to complain…)
After Hannah scolded him, Leo agreed to convince Leena to go live with her grandparents before returning to his real body . But convincing Leena was going to be really challenging, and it’d probably take years to fully convince her, so Leo had to live as the real Leonora until then… and act as a proper lady .
However, Leo found out that acting as a proper lady was a really hard thing to do–
(Bianca Neh-sama and Natalia are always smiling, so I need to keep smiling too, even if my cheeks hurt tomorrow!)
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–Since smiling was the only lady-like thing he was good at .
But these evil little demons (kids) had unlimited stamina… and Leo was nearing his limit .
Leo’s current body didn’t have that much stamina to begin with, so it was actually a good thing that Hannah managed to stop Emily before she could tell everyone else about his deal with Leena, since he used to be Everyone’s Onii-chan .
Just imagining these kids going all out, like they did when Leo was still on his body, was enough to make him shudder .
And as Leo was having these dreadful thoughts–
*Creak∼* (Tl/n: The sound of a door opening)
“””We’re home∼”””
–Leena, Emily and Bruno finally finished their preparations for the festival .
Leena, who created a new trademark quirk (evil laugh) for Leo, was really surprised when she entered the orphanage–
“L-Leo, nora!? Why are you here!?”
–The real Leo was there, playing with the kids as if it was the most normal thing to do .
“””Ah∼! Leo-nii returned! Let’s play∼!””” (Tl/n: The kids are calling Leena ‘Leo Aniki,’ but that’s too long, so I’ll use Leo-nii from now on)
“I don’t have time to play with you guys today! And I’m tired!”
But even though Leena said she was tired, the little demons (kids), even after playing with Leo for more than an hour without rest, started clinging on her back, arms and legs .
“You clingy brats! I already told you guys that I’m tired!”
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Leena then started peeling the kids off of her, but maybe because she didn’t want to hurt them, Leena wasn’t using too much strength, which just made things worse for her .
“Ahaha∼! Leo-nii is so weak∼! Even with all of those henchmen working for him, he still can’t beat us∼!”
“I don’t have time to workout, Russell! Besides, being smart is better than being strong!”
“””Ahaha∼! Leo-nii is so lame∼!”””
(Wow, she’s doing better than I expected…)
After watching Leena “play” with the kids for a bit, Leo noticed that she wasn’t just a selfish b**ch . True, she has a bad personality, but Leena was, at the very least, taking care of the kids like he used to .
Leo was a bit shocked at first, when Hannah told him that the kids had stopped calling him ‘Leo Onii-chan,’ but since Leena was doing her job properly as Everyone’s Onii-can, Leo decided to let them call her ‘Leo-nii’ without fussing about it .
“Hey Leo, nora… why are you here today?” – Asked Bruno, with a confused look on his face .
Apparently, Hannah had told Leena, Bruno, Emily, Anne and Marcel to use Leonora instead of Leo while addressing him, but just if there were too many people around them .
However, neither Leena, nor Bruno remembered to use the “sama” honorific while addressing Leo, which made Kai a bit angry, since even the little kids were being polite .
And Leo, who noticed Kai’s grumpy face, decided that it’d be better to speak in Elandic with those five in order to have a bit of privacy .
“Yo Bruno, long time no see! By the way, I think it’d be better for us to speak in Elandic, since Kai, my butler, is too serious and he’s about to blow a fuse because you and Leena were being too casual with me . Well, he doesn’t know Elandic, so at least we’ll have a bit of privacy this way . ”
“Oh, I see, then I’ll speak in Elandic too . ”
Bruno then turned to look at Kai, who was still glaring at him, and said–
“–Me Bruno, hello . Disrespect, sorry . Speak, me don’t, common tongue . Elandic only . ”
(Bruno!?!?!? I know you’re trying to help, but now Kai is going to think that you’re a weird person!!!)
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Rather than a weird person, Kai was thinking that Bruno was a suspicious foreigner–
“B-Bruno isn’t, a bad person, Kai! He’s just, not used to, the common tongue, that’s it!”
–But when Kai compared the way his master spoke all the time, and the way Bruno was speaking right now, he reached the conclusion that something really awful happened in his past too .
“No, it was rude of me to glare at you, when I don’t even know you yet! I’m really sorry, this won’t happen again!” – Said Kai, while bowing his head to Bruno .
(No way!? That sh**ty excuse actually worked!?!?!?)
However, even though Kai understood that he did something wrong, he was still a bit confused . How could such a small orphanage get the founds to literate these many kids in the noble* Elandic language?
(*Tl/n: Noble here means something valuable, not something for nobles)
Well, the answer to that was right in front of him . Bruno was actually an Elandian, so the other kids ended up learning Elandic too, although, the only fluent ones were Bruno and Leo (Leena), his childhood friend .
The kids of the Hannah Orphanage weren’t normal at all, even High Nobles found it hard to learn Elandic, considering how much money they usually spend on private teachers .
But the always serious Kai felt ashamed of himself, he was raised to be a butler of the Harkenberg family, so not knowing Elandic was like he had slapped his master on the face, since even an orphan could learn it… but he couldn’t .
(Ahh! Now Kai is sulking because he can’t speak in Elandic! Sorry Kai, but it’d be a problem if you found out my real identity!)
Leo then turned around to call Leena and explain why he was here, but he suddenly felt someone tugging on his sleeve . However, the one tugging on his sleeve, was one of his many, self proclaimed, little sister–
“–Emily…?”
Emily was 11 years old, she had dark blonde hair and green eyes . In terms of appearance, she was one of the most adorable kids in the entire orphanage . And as soon as Emily heard the real Leo calling her name, she stated crying, then hugged him .
“Waaa∼, Leo Onii-c—!”
“—Ahhh!!!”
But Leena suddenly covered Emily’s mouth, pulled her away from Leo, and said–
“–Her name is Leonora, not Leonice, okay Emily!? You stupid brat!”
“Huh!? You’re really saying that!? You lazy bastard!”
No matter how you looked at them, Leena and Emily looked like siblings that were constantly dissing each other .
(Well, it’s good that they’re getting along just fine… but stupid brat and lazy bastard, huh? It seems like Leena is teaching my cute little sister some weird words… ufufu, we’ll have a nice and long talk later, just the two of us…)
Even though Leo was rotten to the core, he wanted his little sisters, and little brothers, to remain pure and innocent forever–
“You don’t have to mind that lazy piece of s**t, Leonora Onee-sama! Please, let me hug you again!”
“Ahh! Emily is being sneaky! I want to hug Leo, nora Onee-sama too!”
“Then, me too!”
–But as Emily, Anne and Marcel hugged him, Leo – with a troubled look on his face – noticed that, it was already too late to fix the problem .
“Look you three, you’re suffocating Leonorsama . Give her some room to breathe . ” – Said Hannah, in playful tone .
“””Okay∼”””
The three of them released Leo… but Emily kept holding the hem of his shirt .
“Leo, norsama, are you staying here tonight?” – Emily asked, with a hint of sadness on her face .
(So you were feeling lonely too, huh?)
Leo then patted Emily’s head, hugged her, and said–
“–Of course, I will, stay here, tonight…*Whisper*…After all, it’s been, a long time, since I last, ate here, with you guys . ”
The kids were really happy when they heard that, but as always, Leo couldn’t simply do whatever he wanted, so he glanced at Kai to see if it was really okay to stay here tonight, which the butler answered with a simple nod and a smile .