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"Ahhhhhhhh. The sudden arrival of the lady startled the entire group.
"Don't worry, Alexandra, it was already my intention," Leonard replied to her while the others were recovering from their surprise.
"Very well, I'm counting on you to keep your word." After saying that, she turned around and walked slowly towards the back of the mansion.
The lady in the nun's attire was, in fact, Alexandra. She was 45 years old but looked much younger and retained some of her former beauty. It had been 23 years since she opened the orphanage, and despite having to take care of so many children on her own, she managed to get by. As she turned around, a large symbol could be seen on the back of her attire. The symbol represented a white human silhouette with arms wide open. It was the emblem of the Empathy Branch of the Celestial Order.
The Celestial Order was a religion present throughout the planet Eldoria. It believed in concepts that were considered higher existences. The various branches of this religion were countless, and each different branch revered/dedicated itself to the path of one of the concepts. Three concepts had particularly spread across the continent: the concept of war, the concept of cultivating the land, and the concept of money. Leonard, on the other hand, was a fervent believer in the concept of knowledge.
After recovering from their surprises, they went back inside the old mansion. The building had not withstood the test of time well, and holes as well as rotten planks could be observed at various spots on its facade. Despite its condition, it was quite large and had once belonged to a wealthy merchant. It had 2 floors and housed around 12 rooms. Each room was occupied by groups of 3 to 6 orphans and consisted of a corresponding number of beds and a desk. On the 2nd floor was an old attic, renovated into 3 separate rooms. The former 1st floor consisted of 4 rooms and an office. At this floor, Alexandra occupied a room that once belonged to the merchant. On the ground floor, there was a large kitchen, a large dining room, a main hall, and a well-maintained small indoor garden.
Leonard and his group were heading to their room, with little Jonas following. A small drool could be seen flowing from his mouth as he imagined the scene where he could finally eat the delicious white bread. They arrived at a poorly furnished room with 3 double beds and an old desk.
Leonard sat down and then looked at Jonas, asking him to quickly fetch Aurore and Bérenger, the two roommates absent from Leonard. Although Jonas had expressed his refusal, when Leonard promised him a larger share of the bread, he jumped up at lightning speed and ran out of the room, shouting the names of Aurore and Bérenger.
Louise let out a sigh when she heard Jonas go away. "Finally, I thought he'd never leave! Quick, Leonard, hide the money before he comes back."
He immediately got up, went to one of the double beds, took out the purse, and stashed it in a hole in the ceiling. Once done, he came back down and sat with the others in the same spot as before. With the loot secure, they relaxed and began discussing the theft earlier and their future plans.
"Leonard, we need to ask Aurore and Bérenger for help, see what the three of us have achieved," she exclaimed. "With five, we can earn even more money and help Alexandra and the orphanage. These last few weeks, we barely have enough to eat. If it continues like this, we'll all starve to death soon."
"I know, Louise, but it was also very dangerous. You know that if we get caught, we'll have our hands cut off. I don't know if Aurore and Bérenger have what it takes to help us."
"I vote for them to join us," Michael suddenly said, interrupting Leonard's words.
"Ah, you see, I'm not the only one who wants it. Come on, Leonard, you know we're right."
"All right, but I'll be the one to tell them. And we won't involve anyone else after them. Understood?"
Louise jumped into Leonard's arms. "Too good!! It's a promise, Leonard." Michael gave him a discreet nod to indicate his agreement. They then decided to discuss how they would justify the source of the money. Alexandra was far from naive, and a cheap excuse wouldn't work.
Despite racking their brains, Louise, Michael, and Leonard couldn't find any plausible excuse that Alexandra would accept.
"All right, that's enough, Jonas will be back soon. We'll continue talking about it later," Leonard said upon hearing Jonas's footsteps squeaking on the hallway floor.
"Okay, after explaining our plans to Bérenger and Aurore, we can also ask for their opinions," Michael replied.
Jonas entered the room a little after they finished talking and shouted in a threatening tone, "I hope you waited for me before starting," even though coming from him, it seemed more funny and cute than threatening.
Leonard, who had just stood up to greet his two roommates, decided to lightly punch the back of Jonas's head upon hearing him speak.
Jonas let out a small cry of pain and surprise when he received the blow and jumped into Louise's arms, groaning, "Louise, protect me from this monster!! He dared to beat a little child as cute and lovable as me."
While everyone laughed at the boy's antics, much to his dismay, two new faces entered the room."
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thanks for reading !!!