Chapter 8
“Take the employees and leave this place immediately.”
I spoke firmly to the director, who was looking at me with a blank expression.
“Go home quietly and wait for your punishment.”
In truth, punishing them was not within my authority.
Checking the operation status of the orphanage was the inspector’s job, and deciding the punishment after receiving the inspector’s report was the duke’s job. Strictly speaking, I was abusing my authority right now.
Of course, the extremely busy Duke Bellomont had no time to worry about something like this. Small matters like this were usually handled by his representative or butler.
‘But I can’t ignore what’s happening right in front of me just because I’m afraid of what happens afterward.’
A director who not only made children work and embezzled the operating funds but also fed them rotten food.
If they continued living in a place like this, even healthy children would definitely become sick.
But how could an adult just stand by and watch this happen?
I did use the name of the Bellomont Duchy, and that bothered me a little…
‘Don’t be scared, Lucella. I only did the work that an inspector should have done.’
If the inspectors had seen this situation, they would never have stayed quiet.
And any resident of the duchy had the right to report corruption happening within the territory.
Besides, I was a noble.
Nobles of the Empire had the right to judge commoners whenever necessary.
In other words, it meant there was no problem with me detaining the director and employees on my own.
Of course, the actual punishment they would receive was something Duke Bellomont, or more accurately, the duke’s representative, would decide.
“P-Please forgive me, Lady Lilpray! Please show mercy—”
“Mercy? Are you asking me for mercy right now?”
I let out a laugh because his words were ridiculous.
There should be a limit even to having no conscience.
“Even a healthy adult would get sick after eating this food. But you tried to feed it to children? And then you secretly served only good food in front of me.”
I threw the rotten tomato, covered in black mold, onto the floor in front of the director’s feet.
“Eat it.”
“……Pardon?”
“All the rotten food here. Eat it yourself.”
“……”
“If I had not discovered this, all of it would have gone into the children’s mouths, wouldn’t it?”
I brought over an entire basket of vegetables that had rotted long ago and smelled terrible, then handed it to him.
“If you eat all these rotten ingredients, I will let this matter go. Because by eating them, you will prove that these ingredients are still edible.”
“L-Lady…”
“Open your mouth. Quickly.”
When I spoke firmly, the director reluctantly opened his mouth.
Then he put the completely crushed rotten tomato inside.
His desire to somehow avoid punishment was truly terrifying.
However, from the beginning, I had no intention of showing him mercy.
“Do you not understand what eating means? Don’t just hold it in your mouth. Chew and swallow it.”
“Ugh……”
When he moved his mouth, the red liquid flowing from the rotten tomato stained his chin.
However, his act of chewing rotten food did not last long.
“Ugh! Uegh!”
Unable to endure the disgusting taste, the director began vomiting.
I looked at him repeatedly throwing up and shook my head.
He could not even swallow one bite, yet he was already vomiting.
“If it is food that you cannot eat, then you should not have fed it to children.”
“Ugh……”
“There will be no mercy.”
I turned away from the director, who continued emptying his stomach.
Then I left the kitchen and walked toward the coachman waiting in front of the orphanage.
“Go to the security office immediately. There are extremely vicious criminals here.”
After confirming that Lucella had left the kitchen, Amelia immediately climbed out of the jar.
The director was still there, but she no longer needed to worry about him.
The director and the employees would never be able to come back here again.
As Amelia was about to return to where Edwin was, she suddenly stopped in front of the director.
Even though it had been a long time since Lucella left, he was still busy vomiting.
‘Why was I so scared of such a weak adult?’
He was someone who could not even eat a single rotten tomato.
Amelia took out the cookie she had carefully kept in her pocket to give to Edwin.
Then she threw it down at the director’s feet.
“Cookies bitten by mice? Director, you should eat them all.”
“Ugh, Amelia, you…!”
“Ah, you are not my teacher anymore, are you?”
Amelia covered her mouth and giggled, teasing him.
Then she left the kitchen.
She could hear the director shouting something behind her, but she did not turn around.
‘It is all because of that sister.’
Amelia remembered Lucella’s appearance as she quietly spoke toward the director.
This feeling of freedom was something she had gained because of Lucella.
However, Amelia still could not be certain that Lucella was someone she could trust.
Every adult she had met until now had been different on the inside and outside.
‘Still…… she does not seem like a bad person.’
Maybe she could trust her a little?
Amelia watched Lucella from a distance as she spoke with the coachman, then turned and walked away.
‘This is crazy.’
I held my forehead while looking at the dozens of eyes staring at me.
The security officers arrived at the orphanage and quickly arrested the director and employees.
During that time, I took documents proving the director’s embezzlement from the director’s office drawer.
If nothing unexpected happened, this matter would be handled by Sir Gillian, the duke’s representative.
After that, I called servants from the duke’s household.
I ordered them to clean the ruined kitchen and fill it with fresh ingredients bought nearby.
The broken windows that let cold wind in and the door that the director had destroyed were repaired.
The blankets that were no better than rags were thrown away, and clean bedding was brought in.
Just in case, I even called a doctor.
I was worried that the children might get sick from eating spoiled food.
As expected, several children had stomach problems, and I immediately had them examined by the doctor.
Children with skin diseases and those who had caught colds were also treated.
The problem came after that.
“Sister, where did all the teachers go?”
“They did something bad, so they went to receive punishment. They will not come here anymore.”
“Really……?”
The children, who had been nervously watching my expression, suddenly brightened.
But it only lasted for a moment.
Soon, another worry appeared on their faces.
“Then who will we live with now?”
“That……”
I could not easily answer.
I had not chosen someone to take over the orphanage yet.
‘I never even planned for a replacement.’
When I came here, I never expected that I would immediately throw the director out.
I planned to observe the situation a little longer, find a replacement, and then dismiss him.
Even though the director and employees were terrible people, suddenly changing the guardian of the orphanage could confuse the children.
But the orphanage was far worse than I expected.
I could not control my anger, so I acted without thinking about what would happen afterward.
“Starting tomorrow, new teachers will come. The new teachers will not make you work, and they will not make you skip meals.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
As soon as I returned home, I needed to find replacements.
‘They might complain if I ask them to start tomorrow, but if I pay extra, it should be fine.’
Everyone had a price.
If I still could not find anyone……
Then I would have no choice but to run the orphanage together with the maids from the mansion for now.
‘How much money will I need?’
I quickly calculated in my head.
If I recovered the money the director stole along with the monthly support funds, there would be no problem operating the orphanage.
However, the problem was the present.
Because the director had spent all the support money and donations, there was no money available to use right now.
That meant I would have to use my own money until the orphanage became stable.
‘It is not that I do not have money.’
I received an allowance from the duke’s household every month.
It was something my sister obtained in exchange for not interfering with the duke’s personal affairs.
I also had the inheritance my sister left for me.
Although our parents’ inheritance had all been taken by our uncle, so nothing remained from that.
‘If I use my sister’s inheritance, I can repair the orphanage properly and send the children to good adoptive families.’
Even after doing that, there would still be plenty left.
However, I could not bring myself to use that money easily.
It was not because I disliked spending money on the children.
‘……This money was exchanged for my sister’s life.’
Despite everyone telling her to leave the inheritance to her son Lucian, my sister stubbornly left it to me.
‘Because I want you to live happily, Lucella. Money alone cannot guarantee happiness, but it is true that having more money increases the chance of being happy.’
My sister said that while holding my hand tightly.
‘Lucella, live happily. Please.’
It was money left behind by my sister, who wished for my happiness until the moment she died.
But could I really use this money however I wanted?
Especially for Edwin, the enemy of Lucian.
It was not just ordinary money.
It was the price of my sister’s life.
Thinking of it that way, I could not easily spend it.
That was why I had decided not to touch it and save it until the day Lucian became an adult.
Because this money originally belonged to Lucian if I had not existed.
But could I use the money my sister left for Lucian’s sake on the child of the person who made my sister unhappy?
‘But…… if I do not use my sister’s inheritance, I have no money I can use right now.’
Getting the money back from the director would also take time.
And if the director claimed he had no money and refused to return it, there was a high chance I would never get it back.
The only thing left was the monthly orphanage operating funds.
But it would take time before the operating budget was adjusted again.
‘If I do not spend money right now, these children will have to stay in this cold place while starving.’
I looked at the children blinking their clear eyes like beads.
Their faces held a small amount of hope and a little fear.
Hope that I might be a good adult.
And fear that perhaps I would turn out to be just like the director.
Those were not expressions children younger than ten should have.
I looked into each child’s eyes one by one.
Then I met a pair of red eyes staring directly at me.
The child’s eyes were clear and innocent.
They were eyes that knew nothing about the complicated matters of adults.
‘That’s right. I will use it.’
An innocent child should not suffer because of a sinful adult.
Besides, ignoring starving children was not something an adult should do.
If I used it not for my own benefit, but to help these children, my sister in heaven would surely be satisfied.
‘And this is also for Lucian.’
Lucian’s future depended on Edwin and Amelia’s hands, without exaggeration.
Taking care of the orphanage children meant helping Edwin and Amelia.
And those two, who received help from me, might save Lucian in the future because of what I had done for them.
