The midday in the Holy Capital was the most unbearably hot time of the day.
However, thanks to the shade from the trees lining the road, the path leading to the outskirts was quiet and cool.
It lacked the bustling traffic and hawker calls of the city proper, and the grand manors and opulent decorations of the noble district.
Only the occasional birdsong from the roadside woods kept the pedestrians company.
With Clara and Ilay accompanying her, the originally long journey seemed exceptionally short.
The Welfare Home sat quietly by the side of the small road.
The building wasn’t particularly large, and its mottled walls and faded wooden door bore witness to the many years this welfare home had weathered.
Compared to the breathtakingly beautiful Valsir Manor she had just left, it couldn’t be considered grand at all—it was even a bit shabby.
The welfare home’s gate was half-open, the wooden door simply forged with a small cross pattern.
Peering through the partially open door, one could vaguely see an elderly woman sitting on a wooden chair with her back to them, using a needle and thread to mend clothes for the children.
“Grandma Fina—we’re back!”
Clara shouted excitedly, pushing the slightly ajar door fully open and rushing toward the old woman.
Elena followed Ilay through the main gate.
The courtyard inside was just as before, unchanged.
The small path in the front yard had been swept spotlessly clean by the headmistress’s magic.
Sunlight gently bathed the courtyard, where several children in simple but neat clothes were laughing and chasing each other.
The headmistress slowly turned around.
Her hair was already gray, but it was neatly combed and tied into a simple bun.
“Where have you two been? Don’t sneak out without a word next time—” the old woman finally spoke.
She wore a faded cloth dress.
Though there was a hint of reproach in her tone, she only gently patted Clara’s head, the wrinkles on her face making her appear all the more gentle and kind.
“Oh, Grandma! We didn’t run off! We found out about Brother Elian!”
“The Pope sent Brother Elian on a mission! So he might not come as often for the next few months.”
Ilay also leaned in, unable to wait to interject.
“Sister Elena told us! She also brought us back!”
Clara pointed at Elena, who was just about to sneakily close the gate and slip away.
“Eh…”
Feeling Grandma Fina’s gaze, the girl’s body, which had been preparing to escape, stiffened.
She had no choice but to walk into the courtyard like a child who had done something wrong.
“Ah… Thank you for looking after Clara and Ilay temporarily… I’m so sorry… When I went to the backyard this morning to tend to the flowers, these two little ones snuck away…”
The headmistress bowed slightly, her voice tinged with apology.
“Not at all. There are simply too many children in the welfare home. It’s only natural you can’t keep an eye on everyone all the time.”
She had heard that Grandma Fina was once a nun of the Church.
After retiring, she used her savings to open this small welfare home, taking in children who hadn’t been favored by fate.
Elena greatly admired Grandma Fina—admired her for dedicating her entire youth to the Church and the Goddess, and even in her old age, still striving to do even one more thing for this country.
This kind of devotion and steadfastness made even the former Elian feel ashamed of his own shortcomings.
“Hehe… Child, you seem to know this welfare home quite well…”
Grandma Fina smiled kindly.
“Ah… I didn’t mean…”
Elena blushed, knowing that saying too much would lead to mistakes.
“I mean… Elian told me about these things…”
“Regardless… Please allow me to thank you for your kindness on behalf of Clara and Ilay.”
“Grandma! I’m going to play with them first—”
Seemingly uninterested in the adults’ roundabout talk, Ilay, after getting Fina’s permission, ran off with a few other boys.
“Miss Elena, are you leaving?”
“Ah… yes… I—”
“Don’t go so fast—Sister Elena! Just play with us for a little while, okay?”
Clara tugged at Elena’s small hand, pleading.
“Well…”
“It’s getting late. Why not stay for lunch? Consider it our thanks to you…”
Fina read her hesitation.
Unable to refuse such warm hospitality and seeing the expectant look in Clara’s eyes, the girl helplessly nodded.
……
After lunch, Clara and Ilay excitedly led Elena on a tour of the backyard.
Even though Elena had been here many times before, she had to pretend it was her first visit, showing delight at everything so as not to dampen the children’s enthusiasm.
In the center of the backyard was a flower field of white lilies, specially tended by Grandma Fina’s magic.
The flowers bloomed abundantly.
A gentle breeze passed, rippling the sea of flowers and stirring waves of fresh fragrance.
Children’s novelty always wears off quickly.
Before long, Ilay and Clara grew tired.
They grinned and waved at Elena, then ran off to play with other children in the distance.
Elena sat quietly near the flower field, watching the children laugh and play.
When she was a Paladin, she would also watch children at play, but they always held an innate fear of her—unlike now, where little ones would blush, gather their courage, and come invite this pretty sister to play games with them.
She remembered her own childhood, how she would laughingly beg Nora to play with her and Lila, to play hide-and-seek in the vast mansion.
‘Yes… children are always carefree. They don’t worry about the livelihoods of ordinary people, nor are they caught up in the scheming of nobles. Their task during this period is simply to play.’
“Sister Elena!”
Clara ran over, hands behind her back, grinning.
“What is it?”
“This is a gift for you!”
Clara pulled out a white lily.
“I picked this from the flower field just now! The most beautiful, most perfect one—only that is worthy of Sister Elena’s beauty!”
“You’ll get scolded by Grandma Fina again for picking flowers from the field…”
The girl took the flower, a bit reproachful but unable to hide the surprise and delight in her eyes at receiving the gift.
“No, I won’t! Hehe… Sister Elena is so pretty, Grandma will definitely agree to me giving you a gift! Let me put it in your hair—it’ll look so pretty styled this way!”
Unable to resist her, the girl could only lower her head with a hint of doting ‘surrender,’ letting the girl do as she pleased.
“It looks so good! Sister, you should see too—”
Clara pulled a small mirror from her pocket.
Looking at her reflection, Elena was also stunned—the white lily rested lightly in her hair.
The pure white of the petals complemented her fair skin, making her appear even more clear and radiant.
The gentleness in the girl’s eyes and brows unfurled like the warm sun of the afternoon, graceful without seeming affected.
She looked exactly like a Saint who had stepped out of a Church portrait.
“Clara! You dummy—what kind of gift is just giving someone a single flower!?”
Ilay had somehow come over as well.
“Why do you say that… Don’t you think Sister Elena is pretty…”
“N… no, I don’t…”
“Eh! Ilay is lying! Sister Elena!”
Clara stuck her tongue out at him.
“He just said while we were playing! That Sister Elena is the prettiest girl he’s ever seen! Prettier than all the noble ladies in the Holy Capital!”
“Cl… Clara!?”
Ilay’s face turned redder than a monkey’s bottom, steam practically rising from his head.
“I… I’ll get you for this!”
“Then see if you can catch me—”
Without waiting for the boy to react, Clara ran off again, giggling.
Ilay chased after her in embarrassed annoyance.
Elena watched the two mischievous children, a childlike, innocent smile spreading across her own face.
Just as she was immersed in this beautiful scene, a steady, concerned male voice came from behind her.
“Elian?”
Elena turned around and saw the person who had made her feel the most guilty, the person she felt she had troubled the most these past few days.
“Fen… Fen? You… what are you doing here?”
—