"Mary, do we have any news today?"

Her maid shook her head. "I'm afraid not, milady."

Disappointment washed over Adelina, and she slumped her shoulders as she leaned back against the chair. "Ah, I see..."

Mary tilted her head to a side, curious to know the reason behind her actions. This was the third time her lady had asked this week. "Is there something you wanted to know about? Maybe I can try to help."

A thoughtful look passed over her face. Adelina spoke as if she was choosing her words carefully. "Thanks, Mary. But don't worry, it was a minor issue." Seeing her maid's dejected expression, she added, "Can I have a cup of milk? I'm feeling a bit thirsty."

Mary nodded quickly, "Of course!" and left the room in a hurry.

The smile on Adelina's face faded away.

She couldn't tell her that she was, in fact, looking for Eleanor. Two years from now, Eleanor will be adopted into House Granville and receive the official title as the lady of the household.

But before she was adopted, the story had described her upbringing in an orphanage, which is ironically the same place her family has donated to in the past.

She had asked her father for the list of those children living there, hoping to find her name. However, a month has long passed and they have not received any news from the orphanage yet. What comes as odd is that usually, the people will reply immediately when it is a request from a noble-even more so if it's the duke.

Although her father told her there was nothing to worry about, she couldn't ignore the inkling feeling of doubt creeping in the back of her mind.

Maybe it'll do good to visit the orphanage.

--------

The orphanage was a lot closer than she thought, a travel worth twenty minutes by carriage.

Since this was considered an official visit, she went with her mother and a knight.

This time, it was a lot easier to convince her mother to go out. She had a feeling her mother only agreed because she was looking for a way to excuse herself from work. The duchess' role is to take care of the matters regarding their household, so her mother couldn't simply leave without a proper reason.

"Mother, you're doing the same thing father was scolded for, skipping your work."

"Oh Adelina, my dear, don't you know this and that are two different things?" Her mother smiled almost teasingly. "Your father is still too careless, that's all."

At times like this, she wondered if her mother was secretly the one in charge of the family. If she were to compare her parents to a game, her father would have been the first boss. And her mother?

Probably the final boss.

"....I don't think father would be happy to hear that."

Her mother smiled in a calm manner, yet the amusement in her eyes said otherwise. "Then this trip will be a little secret of ours."

"Hmm," she pretended to ponder for a bit and then replied with a shrug, "okay."

Her mother laughed. "Good."

"Madam, we're here," the coachmen announced.

After they walked down the stairs of the carriage and onto the ground, they were greeted by the someone who was waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing their arrival, the woman bowed.

"Thank you for coming, Duchess Corbet and Lady Corbet," she answered formally, "I'm Julia, the caretaker here. On behalf of everyone here, we are thankful to the Corbet family for their continuous act of kindness and help."

"There is no need for formalities," her mother answered while smiling politely, "If you don't mind, I wanted to have a look at the children and see how they're doing."

Of course, that was a lie-or at least half of the truth. Under the guise of visiting the orphanage as a contributor, her mother was only there to accompany her. Adelina would have rather gone with just the knight, but it would raise suspicions if a child was coming alone.

Julia nodded in understanding. "I'll lead you the way."

Adelina and her mother followed the caretaker's footsteps into the hallways.

On their way, they were able to hear about the lifestyle of children and how they're doing in lessons. Julia was a very confident speaker, she regrettably realised, as the caretaker blabbered on and on about the achievements of the children.

And unfortunately, her mother was the one getting the short end of the stick. It was clear that Julia was more focused on gaining the duchess' attention whenever she started a conversation with her mother.

Knowing her mother, she seemed to be half listening and distracted. Adelina saw her hand patting the area around her dress discreetly to search for something. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid I must have dropped my handkerchief somewhere. I'll excuse myself for a moment."

"Should I come with you? It'll be easier for us to search for it together," Adelina volunteered.

"That's alright, Adelina. You can stay with Julia. I'll be right back." she answered with a wave, and as if understanding the silent message, the knight followed her.

Then there was a long period of silence.

"Julia, I have a question." When the caretaker didn't respond, she tried again. Adelina was definitely sure she spoke clearly-there was no stuttering in her words, but she could tell Julia spoke rather reluctantly when she was the one asking.

"Hmm, what is it?" She could hear the dissatisfaction in her voice.

Ah. Now she was beginning to understand how her character is like.

"I thought we would meet the people working here...but except for the janitor, I don't see a lot of staff members."

"Lady Corbet, you might not know the term, but they're on leave."

"Why?" she emphasised the question, "they can't all leave work at the same time."

"I was wondering the same thing."

Her mother pointed out, picking the right time to come back, "the public holidays are far from now, did they apply for leave?"

"W-Well, yes. I think it's about time to meet the kids."

When Julia quickly changed the topic and continued the tour, she was unaware of the suspicious stares from the mother and daughter.

--------

Once they reached what seemed like the main room of the building, Julia pushed the door open, revealing the large space. She waited awkwardly on the side and gestured them to enter first.

When she first saw the room, Adelina thought the set up reminded her of a 'clubhouse' for kids, or at least that's what her past life would have called. The interior design wasn't extravagant or anything special, but the place was covered with things that children would enjoy playing, ranging from toys to an indoor playground big enough for them to play hide and seek.

Speaking of children...where are they?

"I apologize, they are probably hiding somewhere in the room again. They may need some time to get used to seeing new faces," Julia said in a hurry, "maybe we should pick another day to meet them."

"That's a shame," Adelina frowned, "Mother and I brought some toys they would have liked."

At her words, Adelina noticed some of the children poking their head out from the pillars of the playground. She tried her best not to giggle. So they were hiding there.

With the knight's help, she carried the gifts and placed them in the center of the room where the children could see more clearly. Few seconds passed and the children didn't budge from their spot.

Hmm.

At least from her experience, usually the kids would jump at the chance of obtaining a new toy. She was even hoping for a little argument between the children over who gets which toy-any reaction would have been better than this.

Yet...

The children were surprisingly quiet and docile, and maybe that's a good thing for the adults who were taking care of them. But they're behaving a little too obedient. Almost as if they had something to be afraid of.

"Can I spend some time with them, alone?" Adelina asked innocently.

"Miss, I wouldn't recommend-"

Her mother appeared indifferent when she turned to the caretaker. "Oh dear, I almost forgot. I was hoping to discuss about our contributions to the orphanage somewhere...privately," she finished off the sentence with a business-like smile.

"Ah," Julia nodded in understanding with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, her eyes unable to hide the greed reflected on her face, "I understand. Please, follow me. We can continue our conversation in my office."

When they left, Adelina was blessed with the sight of children slowly approaching her from their respective hiding place, staring at her with mild interest. The expressions of their faces were a mix of curiosity and reluctance, yet they seemed to be interested enough to know more about the stranger in the room.

"Who are you? Why are you visiting?" one of the children asked innocently, tilting his head to one side. The other kid on his right nudged on his side and whispered something into his ear. Adelina watched as his face stiffened when he looked back at her again and replied meekly.

"S-Sorry older sister. Someone told me I was rude to an important person."

"No, you haven't done anything wrong. There is no need to apologize," she smiled and patted his head gently. She tried to copy the same way her father did it to her. "Thank you for being an honest kid."

Well, she was also a kid right now, but that's...not the point.

After hearing her words, he seemed even sadder than before. When he looked at her again, his eyes started to tear up and his lips quivered slightly.

As if he was holding himself back, the boy suddenly burst into tears.