After entering a small room, located in the back of the orphanage, Hannah told Leo to sit in Seiza on the ground and began scolding him…… in Elandic.
The room was simple, but clean, like the rest of the orphanage. There was a small bed located on one of the room’s corners, and small round table by it’s side, with a cup and a bottle of wine resting on top of it. And on the other side of the room, there was a desk, with sewing utensils on top of it, and by it’s side there was a small bookshelf, filled with old books.
This is Hannah’s room, or more precisely, “The Preaching Room,” a place were every orphan entered at least once in their lives…… or in Leo’s case, every time he messed up.
“What do you think my orphanage is!? A warehouse!? You can’t just keep dumping your personal belongings here! And don’t forget to reply my letters, I was worried!”
“Uuuuuh∼, I’m really sorry….”
“Really!? You’re sorry!? Then don’t forget to reply my letters! And if you can’t send a normal letter, then just send an encrypted one!”
“B-but I wrote several letters… I even asked Kai to send them for me….”
“Several letters!? Two or three letters per month isn’t enough! It wasn’t just me that was worried about you, Bruno even tried to sneak out of the orphanage with SEVERAL knives, saying that he needed to go save you!”
“Huh!? S-save me from what!?”
“From a prince that wanted to kill you! But that’s not the point! I won’t let you return to the orphanage if you don’t convince Leena to stay with her grandparents!”
“A-and how am I supposed to convince her!?” – Said Leo, while pouting.
When Leo signed the contract, he asked Leena to explain everything to Hannah and her parents, since their daughter was lending her body to a complete stranger. But if Leo managed to escape from the academy, the two would return to their original bodies, and then go their separate ways from there, after all, they weren’t friends… just business partners.
And because of that, Leo thought that even if his identity was exposed, he would be able to run away and hide in the orphanage… but now, his hopes were crushed by Hannah.
“I don’t know how you’re going to convince her! But think what would happen to her grandparents if their precious granddaughter went missing! They would be sad right!?”
Not only her grandparents, but Albert, Oscar, Bianca, Natalia, and even Kai, they would probably miss “Leonora,” too.
(Uuuuuh, I forgot about them… Hannah is right, they’ll be sad if I simply disappear…)
Seeing that Leo was finally reflecting on what he almost did, Hannah sighed, sat on her bed, crossed her arms and said–
“–Even if Leena is okay with it, I won’t let you hurt her grandparents. From what I know, they’ve been searching for their daughter for years, and now they’ve finally found their granddaughter, so it’d destroy their hearts if you simply disappeared like that.”
“Hmmm, you sure know a lot about the Harkenberg family, right Hannah…?”
“Well, I don’t know much about them, just what everyone knows. The Harkenberg’s started out as a family of knights, but they managed to rise in power and became a Marquis family. The current head of the family, Leena’s grandfather, is a War Hero, and his wife has a lot of connections with other noble families.”
“Ohh∼, so Leena’s grandparents are really awesome!”
Leo’s eyes were shining, he always admired War Heroes, and now his “Grandfather” was one of them too.
“Haaah∼, that’s why I’m worried, these two have more political power than the Emperor himself. What would happen to you if they find out you’re not their granddaughter, just an orphan working for her, in her body. They could easily kill you and it wouldn’t matter to them, after all, you’re just an orphan….”
“……….”
Certainly, it’d be a problem if Leena’s grandparents found out that, she was just a selfish bi**h that wanted to enjoy her freedom and didn’t really care about them.
But that’s exactly why Leo wanted to change back to his original body. Leo is Leo and Leena is Leena… well, not exactly “Leena,” she’s now Leonora, so someday she’d need to face her family, her noble friends, and tell them the truth.
“…I know it’d be unfair with Leena’s grandparents if I simply disappeared, and I know that Leena is just running away from her responsibilities… but they’re her family, not my family.” – Said Leo, while looking down with a faint hint of sadness on his face.
Hannah then grabbed Leo’s cheeks with her hands, lifted his head, and said–
“–You don’t need to do what I asked right away, it might take years to convince Leena, but if you ever need my help, you know where to find me, okay?”
The director of the Hannah Orphanage is a really strict person, but she treats every single one of the orphans as her own grandchildren. When they do something wrong, she’d become a demon and scold them, and when they do something praiseworthy, she’d smile and say they did something good.
And even though Hannah is getting old, she’s still stronger than most of the boys at the orphanage, so everyone is scared of pissing her off.
“Un… I don’t know if I can really do it or not… but I’ll at least try to convince her….”
“Well, if you’re willing to try, then I’ll let you off with just the scolding this time… oh, right! I forgot to tell you! Emily noticed that you were acting a bit strange, so Bruno told her about your deal with Leena–” (Tl/n: Her real name is Emilia, but since we already have someone with the same name in the story, I changed her name to Emily)
Emily is one of Leo’s friends, so she knowing about his deal with Leena was actually a good thing. Hannah then stood up from the bed, walked over to her wardrobe, grabbed a change of clothes for Leo, since she told Kai that they’d be changing right now, turned around and waited for Leo to finish changing.
“–Emily then told Marcel and Anne about your deal with Leena, but I managed to stop them before they could tell someone else. And right after I told them that I didn’t know when you’d be back, they became a bit sad.”
Marcel and Anne were Emily’s best friends, however, Leo never really talked with them that much, but it should be alright to trust them with this information, since Emily is his friend.
When Leo finally finished changing his clothes to an old trouser and a shirt, Hannah turned around and saw a cute little girl dressed in an oversized shirt with big sleeves.
“Say Hannah, were you sad too, whe–”
But before Leo could finish his phrase, Hannah’s fastest head chop hit him right in the forehead.
“–Ow! W-what was that for!? Didn’t you say you’d let me off with just the scolding!?” – Said Leo, with small tears in the corners of his eyes.
“Were you even listening to me this whole time!? I was worried about you! So of course I was sad!”
Hannah paused for a moment, sighed, and resumed the conversation.
“At first, the other kids treated Leena like crap because she was lazying around all the time, but now they’re all calling her Aniki.”
“……Huh!?”
Leo had to admit that Leena was smarter and cooler than him sometimes, but to go from “Crap” to “Aniki” in just 3-4 months was a bit too fast even for him.
“The five of them, including Leena, are out right now, but they’re probably working on their shop for the festival.”
“Well, that’s fine though… but what are they selling?”
“From what I heard… I think they will be selling artificial flowers.”
Leena probably stole Leo’s “Onii-chan” title from him, but if she was working hard on earning money, then he wouldn’t complain.
*Creak∼* (Tl/n: This is supposed to be the sound of a door opening)
(Oh, I think I heard someone entering the orphanage, maybe it’s Leena?)
After entering a small room, located in the back of the orphanage, Hannah told Leo to sit in Seiza on the ground and began scolding him…… in Elandic.
The room was simple, but clean, like the rest of the orphanage. There was a small bed located on one of the room’s corners, and small round table by it’s side, with a cup and a bottle of wine resting on top of it. And on the other side of the room, there was a desk, with sewing utensils on top of it, and by it’s side there was a small bookshelf, filled with old books.
This is Hannah’s room, or more precisely, “The Preaching Room,” a place were every orphan entered at least once in their lives…… or in Leo’s case, every time he messed up.
“What do you think my orphanage is!? A warehouse!? You can’t just keep dumping your personal belongings here! And don’t forget to reply my letters, I was worried!”
“Uuuuuh∼, I’m really sorry….”
“Really!? You’re sorry!? Then don’t forget to reply my letters! And if you can’t send a normal letter, then just send an encrypted one!”
“B-but I wrote several letters… I even asked Kai to send them for me….”
“Several letters!? Two or three letters per month isn’t enough! It wasn’t just me that was worried about you, Bruno even tried to sneak out of the orphanage with SEVERAL knives, saying that he needed to go save you!”
“Huh!? S-save me from what!?”
“From a prince that wanted to kill you! But that’s not the point! I won’t let you return to the orphanage if you don’t convince Leena to stay with her grandparents!”
“A-and how am I supposed to convince her!?” – Said Leo, while pouting.
When Leo signed the contract, he asked Leena to explain everything to Hannah and her parents, since their daughter was lending her body to a complete stranger. But if Leo managed to escape from the academy, the two would return to their original bodies, and then go their separate ways from there, after all, they weren’t friends… just business partners.
And because of that, Leo thought that even if his identity was exposed, he would be able to run away and hide in the orphanage… but now, his hopes were crushed by Hannah.
“I don’t know how you’re going to convince her! But think what would happen to her grandparents if their precious granddaughter went missing! They would be sad right!?”
Not only her grandparents, but Albert, Oscar, Bianca, Natalia, and even Kai, they would probably miss “Leonora,” too.
(Uuuuuh, I forgot about them… Hannah is right, they’ll be sad if I simply disappear…)
Seeing that Leo was finally reflecting on what he almost did, Hannah sighed, sat on her bed, crossed her arms and said–
“–Even if Leena is okay with it, I won’t let you hurt her grandparents. From what I know, they’ve been searching for their daughter for years, and now they’ve finally found their granddaughter, so it’d destroy their hearts if you simply disappeared like that.”
“Hmmm, you sure know a lot about the Harkenberg family, right Hannah…?”
“Well, I don’t know much about them, just what everyone knows. The Harkenberg’s started out as a family of knights, but they managed to rise in power and became a Marquis family. The current head of the family, Leena’s grandfather, is a War Hero, and his wife has a lot of connections with other noble families.”
“Ohh∼, so Leena’s grandparents are really awesome!”
Leo’s eyes were shining, he always admired War Heroes, and now his “Grandfather” was one of them too.
“Haaah∼, that’s why I’m worried, these two have more political power than the Emperor himself. What would happen to you if they find out you’re not their granddaughter, just an orphan working for her, in her body. They could easily kill you and it wouldn’t matter to them, after all, you’re just an orphan….”
“……….”
Certainly, it’d be a problem if Leena’s grandparents found out that, she was just a selfish bi**h that wanted to enjoy her freedom and didn’t really care about them.
But that’s exactly why Leo wanted to change back to his original body. Leo is Leo and Leena is Leena… well, not exactly “Leena,” she’s now Leonora, so someday she’d need to face her family, her noble friends, and tell them the truth.
“…I know it’d be unfair with Leena’s grandparents if I simply disappeared, and I know that Leena is just running away from her responsibilities… but they’re her family, not my family.” – Said Leo, while looking down with a faint hint of sadness on his face.
Hannah then grabbed Leo’s cheeks with her hands, lifted his head, and said–
“–You don’t need to do what I asked right away, it might take years to convince Leena, but if you ever need my help, you know where to find me, okay?”
The director of the Hannah Orphanage is a really strict person, but she treats every single one of the orphans as her own grandchildren. When they do something wrong, she’d become a demon and scold them, and when they do something praiseworthy, she’d smile and say they did something good.
And even though Hannah is getting old, she’s still stronger than most of the boys at the orphanage, so everyone is scared of pissing her off.
“Un… I don’t know if I can really do it or not… but I’ll at least try to convince her….”
“Well, if you’re willing to try, then I’ll let you off with just the scolding this time… oh, right! I forgot to tell you! Emily noticed that you were acting a bit strange, so Bruno told her about your deal with Leena–” (Tl/n: Her real name is Emilia, but since we already have someone with the same name in the story, I changed her name to Emily)
Emily is one of Leo’s friends, so she knowing about his deal with Leena was actually a good thing. Hannah then stood up from the bed, walked over to her wardrobe, grabbed a change of clothes for Leo, since she told Kai that they’d be changing right now, turned around and waited for Leo to finish changing.
“–Emily then told Marcel and Anne about your deal with Leena, but I managed to stop them before they could tell someone else. And right after I told them that I didn’t know when you’d be back, they became a bit sad.”
Marcel and Anne were Emily’s best friends, however, Leo never really talked with them that much, but it should be alright to trust them with this information, since Emily is his friend.
When Leo finally finished changing his clothes to an old trouser and a shirt, Hannah turned around and saw a cute little girl dressed in an oversized shirt with big sleeves.
“Say Hannah, were you sad too, whe–”
But before Leo could finish his phrase, Hannah’s fastest head chop hit him right in the forehead.
“–Ow! W-what was that for!? Didn’t you say you’d let me off with just the scolding!?” – Said Leo, with small tears in the corners of his eyes.
“Were you even listening to me this whole time!? I was worried about you! So of course I was sad!”
Hannah paused for a moment, sighed, and resumed the conversation.
“At first, the other kids treated Leena like crap because she was lazying around all the time, but now they’re all calling her Aniki.”
“……Huh!?”
Leo had to admit that Leena was smarter and cooler than him sometimes, but to go from “Crap” to “Aniki” in just 3-4 months was a bit too fast even for him.
“The five of them, including Leena, are out right now, but they’re probably working on their shop for the festival.”
“Well, that’s fine though… but what are they selling?”
“From what I heard… I think they will be selling artificial flowers.”
Leena probably stole Leo’s “Onii-chan” title from him, but if she was working hard on earning money, then he wouldn’t complain.
*Creak∼* (Tl/n: This is supposed to be the sound of a door opening)
(Oh, I think I heard someone entering the orphanage, maybe it’s Leena?)
