Hannahâs 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 Leonoraâs servant, thought that the little kids of the orphanage would be disrespectful towards his masterâ
âWowâź! Your hair is really beautiful, Leonora-sama!â
âLeonora-sama, did you enjoy the sweets that sent you?â
âThank you for the beautiful dress, Leonora-sama! I loved it!â
âBut 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 Leonoraâs beauty, that they asked the person herself if they could touch her hair.
Touching the hair of any noble was considered disrespectful, but Leonora didnât care about those old customs.
However, what impressed Kai the most wasnât his masterâs open heart, it was her ability to remember every single one of the girlsâ names.
âThank you, but your hair, is beautiful too, Benny. I loved, the sweets, that you, sent me, Leticia. Iâm glad, you liked, the dress, Emma.â
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, Leonora-sama is truly an angel â no, sheâs 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 orphanageâs stall for the Winter Festival.
(Haaahâź, 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 thereâs nothing to complainâŚ)
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 itâd 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 doâ
(Bianca Neh-sama and Natalia are always smiling, so I need to keep smiling too, even if my cheeks hurt tomorrow!)
âSince 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.
Leoâs current body didnât 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 Everyoneâs 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 thoughtsâ
*Creakâź* ( Tl/n: The sound of a door opening)
âââWeâre homeâźâââ
âLeena, 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 orphanageâ
âL-Leo, nora!? Why are you here!?â
âThe real Leo was there, playing with the kids as if it was the most normal thing to do.
âââAhâź! Leo-nii returned! Letâs playâź!âââ ( Tl/n: The kids are calling Leena âLeo Aniki,â but thatâs too long, so Iâll use Leo-nii from now on)
âI donât have time to play with you guys today! And Iâm tired!â
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.
âYou clingy brats! I already told you guys that Iâm tired!â
Leena then started peeling the kids off of her, but maybe because she didnât want to hurt them, Leena wasnât using too much strength, which just made things worse for her.
âAhahaâź! Leo-nii is so weakâź! Even with all of those henchmen working for him, he still canât beat usâź!â
âI donât have time to workout, Russell! Besides, being smart is better than being strong!â
âââAhahaâź! Leo-nii is so lameâź!âââ
(Wow, sheâs doing better than I expectedâŚ)
After watching Leena âplayâ with the kids for a bit, Leo noticed that she wasnât 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 âLeo Onii-chan,â but since Leena was doing her job properly as Everyoneâs Onii-can, Leo decided to let them call her âLeo-niiâ without fussing about it.
âHey Leo, nora⌠why are you here today?â â 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 âsamaâ honorific while addressing Leo, which made Kai a bit angry, since even the little kids were being polite.
And Leo, who noticed Kaiâs grumpy face, decided that itâd be better to speak in Elandic with those five in order to have a bit of privacy.
âYo Bruno, long time no see! By the way, I think itâd be better for us to speak in Elandic, since Kai, my butler, is too serious and heâs about to blow a fuse because you and Leena were being too casual with me. Well, he doesnât know Elandic, so at least weâll have a bit of privacy this way.â
âOh, I see, then Iâll speak in Elandic too.â
Bruno then turned to look at Kai, who was still glaring at him, and saidâ
ââMe Bruno, hello. Disrespect, sorry. Speak, me donât, common tongue. Elandic only.â
(Bruno!?!?!? I know youâre trying to help, but now Kai is going to think that youâre a weird person!!!)
Rather than a weird person, Kai was thinking that Bruno was a suspicious foreignerâ
âB-Bruno isnât, a bad person, Kai! Heâs just, not used to, the common tongue, thatâs it!â
âBut 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.
âNo, it was rude of me to glare at you, when I donât even know you yet! Iâm really sorry, this wonât happen again!â â 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 werenât 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 couldnât.
(Ahh! Now Kai is sulking because he canât speak in Elandic! Sorry Kai, but itâd 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 sisterâ
ââEmilyâŚ?â
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.
âWaaaâź, Leo Onii-câ!â
ââAhhh!!!â
But Leena suddenly covered Emilyâs mouth, pulled her away from Leo, and saidâ
ââHer name is Leonora, not Leonice, okay Emily!? You stupid brat!â
âHuh!? Youâre really saying that!? You lazy bastard!â
No matter how you looked at them, Leena and Emily looked like siblings that were constantly dissing each other.
(Well, itâs good that theyâre 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, weâll have a nice and long talk later, just the two of usâŚ)
Even though Leo was rotten to the core, he wanted his little sisters, and little brothers, to remain pure and innocent foreverâ
âYou donât have to mind that lazy piece of s**t, Leonora Onee-sama! Please, let me hug you again!â
âAhh! Emily is being sneaky! I want to hug Leo, nora Onee-sama too!â
âThen, me too!â
âBut as Emily, Anne and Marcel hugged him, Leo â with a troubled look on his face â noticed that, it was already too late to fix the problem.
âLook you three, youâre suffocating Leonora-sama. Give her some room to breathe.â â Said Hannah, in playful tone.
âââOkayâźâââ
The three of them released Leo⌠but Emily kept holding the hem of his shirt.
âLeo, nora-sama, are you staying here tonight?â â Emily asked, with a hint of sadness on her face.
(So you were feeling lonely too, huh?)
Leo then patted Emilyâs head, hugged her, and saidâ
ââOf course, I will, stay here, tonightâŚ*Whisper*âŚAfter all, itâs been, a long time, since I last, ate here, with you guys.â
The kids were really happy when they heard that, but as always, Leo couldnât 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.