The difference lies in who realizes it first – there are many things that cannot be achieved by effort alone.

Nigel stopped praying to find her real family when she became an apprentice priestess at 11 years old.

The following year, she gave up sneaking out through hidden holes all over the orphanage.

The year after that, she wore the cheap gemstone necklace she received as a gift more often than the locket left with her as a child.

And the year after that, Nigel was about to… stop eavesdropping on conversations in the director’s office from the hidden narrow passage behind the basement storage.

“…Is that true, Handel?”

“Yes, Director. After exchanging messages several times, the description matches Nigel perfectly.”

Just as her legs were starting to go numb and she was about to leave, Nigel froze at the sudden mention of her name.

“Nigel is really…”

At that moment, the sound of children roughly running and stomping on the floor drowned out the rest of the words.

‘…I knew those brats would cause trouble once.’

Vowing to give a knock on the head to the likely culprit, Nigel focused on the conversation again.

“But Nigel is…!”

Bang!

This time, the running came from the opposite direction.

“Hahaha!”

At the same time, Jack’s excited laughter could be faintly heard.

‘…Jack, you’ve won yourself a knock on the head.’

Nigel finally left the storage room without any gains, briefly massaged her numb legs, and immediately set out to find Jack.

Knock knock.

Soon after, the bedroom door slowly opened. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jack.

“Nigel… your footsteps are scary. Are you angry again?”

“No.”

Nigel forced a smile while stroking the child’s soft brown hair.

“…Scary.”

Nigel’s smile dropped at the child’s merciless assessment.

Just then, a dark blonde boy, a head taller than the brown-haired child, popped out from behind the door.

“Looking for Jack again, sis? Jack went to the kitchen saying he was looking for leftover muffins!”

“Thanks. Now everyone get inside. It’s freezing out here.”

Nigel headed to the kitchen only after seeing the children get into bed.

A rustling sound could be heard from a corner of the kitchen, which was permeated with a faint butter scent.

Following the sound, a familiar head came into view.

“Jack.”

The head jolted violently at the single word.

“Ahaha… Hello?”

“Remember, no snacks after bath time or it’s a week without snacks, right?”

“Ah, I haven’t eaten yet!”

Jack quickly hid his tiny hands behind his back.

“At least wipe off the crumbs on your mouth before lying.”

After compromising with two knocks on the head and barely avoiding punishment, Jack happily allowed himself to be dragged away by Nigel.

“By the way Nigel, how did you know I was hiding in the kitchen so perfectly?”

“I have my ways. You’ll see when you grow up.”

“But Nigel, you’re not an adult yet.”

Nigel lightly ignored Jack’s words. Regardless, Jack continued chattering naturally.

“Nigel… do you know the future too?”

Nigel’s face stiffened slightly before she chuckled and spoke.

“Go to bed quickly. Monsters will take you if you sleep late.”

“Come on, what monsters? Even the youngest Benny wouldn’t be scared of that!”

“If you say so.”

In front of the bedroom, Jack turned back as he was about to enter.

“Oh right, Nigel. Priest Handel is looking for you.”

Thanks for telling me so early.

Nigel messed up Jack’s curly hair for no reason.

“My hair!”

“Sleep well.”

Bang!

Nigel smiled softly, imagining Jack’s crumpled face behind the door.

This is why teasing kids is fun.

Nigel’s upturned corners of her mouth slowly drooped as she stared at the closed door.

Rustle, Nigel put her hand in her pocket.

It was time to do what needed to be done.

Trudge trudge.

In front of the director’s office, the wooden door that required two firm pushes to move due to its age seemed even more worn out today.

Nigel opened the door while having a staring contest with the wooden goddess statue hanging above it.

Creak.

A chilling sound grazed her ears.

“You’re here, Nigel.”

Director Priest Ron and Deputy Director Priest Handel greeted Nigel with smiles. On the table where they sat were cups of tea without a trace of steam.

“It’s still cold even though it’s February, isn’t it? Come, have a cup.”

Too late to go to bed before midnight.

Nigel took out a white teacup with a single blue line from the cupboard.

Fortunately, the tea in the pot was still steaming.

Nigel frowned after taking a sip of the tea, which was too steeped and bitter, overpowering the aroma.

Until Nigel’s tea cooled, the two made small talk about the weather and tomorrow’s menu.

Finally unable to bear it any longer, Nigel spoke first.

“If there’s nothing else, may I go to bed now?”

Only then did the two exchange glances and nod slowly.

“Um, Nigel. Actually…”

Handel swallowed once before taking out a stack of papers from his chest.

“Well… it seems we’ve found your family, child.”

Ron said awkwardly.

Nigel examined the stack of papers and pulled out the envelope with the most recent date.

The creamy white envelope had delicate tree branches engraved on each side and a complex seal stamped in the center.

It was a far cry from the cheap ecru envelopes that came in packs of 100 commonly used at the orphanage.

“It’s a letter from your family. We thought you should read it first, so we haven’t opened it yet.”

Handel said with a smile in his eyes.

Nigel broke the seal and read the letter.

The letter was filled with beautiful cursive writing expressing a desire to meet Nigel.

And at the bottom of the letter, next to the seal, was the name of the family Nigel had expected.

“Nigel, we’ve taken the liberty of booking a train ticket to the capital, so you can write a reply and leave in a few days.”

Handel pulled out a train ticket from his chest with an excited face.

Silver. It was a second-class train ticket.

They had wasted money that could have covered the children’s snacks for half a month, despite the orphanage’s difficult financial situation where support from the temple was barely trickling in.

“You’ve been through a lot, Nigel.”

Ron said with reddened eyes.

Looking to the side, Handel’s glasses were also fogging up.

How should I say this in this atmosphere?

After a brief hesitation, Nigel spoke.

“I don’t want to meet them.”

“What?”

“But Nigel. It’s the Duke’s family, known even to us living in the outskirts. Considering how much you’ve struggled here all this time…”

Handel and Ron said with wide eyes.

She had struggled indeed. Entering the boys’ orphanage as a baby girl based solely on her name, growing up jostling among boys alone.

Whenever inspectors came from the temple, her carefully grown hair would be shaved off, and since it was difficult to adopt a girl from a boys’ orphanage, she ended up passing the difficult apprentice priest exam without any backing.

As she grew older, she started taking on more and more work. The orphanage, which received little to no support from the temple, was piled with chores, and Nigel’s days would end quickly just doing housework.

Ron and Handel always felt sorry for Nigel, who spent her youth caring for children instead of dressing up and falling in love like others her age.

Even when they scraped together money to buy her pretty clothes, they were scolded for the purchase and had to resell them multiple times. Sometimes when given time off to play, she would somehow find work and return with a day’s wages to buy groceries.

To think that such a Nigel was actually a lady from a ducal family, it seemed her hardships were finally over, but…

“I won’t meet them.”

Nigel firmly put her foot down.

“Then… do you intend to stay here?”

Nigel was already seventeen, with little time left until she came of age.

Upon reaching adulthood, she would have to either leave the orphanage completely or become a full-fledged priest and remain at the orphanage.

“No. I should start preparing to leave as well.”

“Then your original family…”

Handel’s words, spoken with courage, were cut off by Nigel’s unwavering gaze.

“I’m planning to go to the academy.”

The two men’s eyes widened once again.

The academy was a high-level educational institution where all members pursued learning with specific goals, and graduation from some prestigious academies could secure good jobs on its own.

The problems were twofold: admission and tuition…

“I was accepted to Sienia a few months ago.”

Nigel pulled out an envelope with gold-leafed corners from her chest.

Ron and Handel quickly read through the letter.

[Congratulations. We are pleased to inform you that Nigel Ars has been finally accepted (val) to the Imperial Sienia Academy.]

“Val…?”

“Valedictorian. They say tuition is waived.”

Nigel calmly answered Ron, who was just tilting his head in a daze.

Thud-

The letter fell limply to the floor.

“My goodness…”

“Nigel…”

Sienia was the empire’s only imperial academy, and graduating from there guaranteed employment, making it the top among academies.

“We knew you were intelligent, but to this extent…”

“We’ve only made you struggle so much…”

As the atmosphere was about to become depressing, Nigel spoke again.

“I’ll take the train ticket as a congratulatory gift.”

It was the perfect gift at the perfect timing.