“W-When did I say I don’t follow the law? It’s just that this situation is a bit embarrassing……”

“It’s because there are too few children in the orphanage. It’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it? Looking at how even the facilities aren’t properly set up. So I’d like to talk to the children. If not, I’ll go out and talk now. If His Majesty the Emperor knew that the children, who are the future of the empire, were growing up in such a backward place, he would be quite saddened.”

As if he would be saddened. The Emperor wouldn’t care about such things. The Emperor is dying soon.

The hastiness of the Crown Prince’s marriage was also due to the Emperor’s deteriorating health. So even if one were to tell such a person about the orphanage, he wouldn’t worry or send an investigation team.

Nevertheless, Sesenia pressed her as if she had been waiting.

Lizbeth, who was standing next to her, looked at her with a hardened expression.

‘Our young lady has returned… The devil must have possessed her…!’

Her inner thoughts were clearly visible. Even Sesenia herself thought that she had changed from the past. In the past, she wanted to be a good person.

She had lived that way, never saying bad things to others or causing harm.

But now, she didn’t hesitate to threaten those who harmed her or interfered with her interests, including Elzere.

Tedel’s eyes sparkled seeing her like this, but Lizbeth was different.

Still, Sesenia was confident.

“Well. It seems it’s not possible, so let’s go back.”

The woman who had been nervously biting her nails smiled awkwardly.

“The children… are not in a good state.”

“It won’t take long.”

Having gone this far, she couldn’t refuse anymore. Finally, the woman from the orphanage let out a deep sigh.

“Well… Nothing bad will happen, right? You’re clearly a person of status… right? Nothing bad will happen, right?”

As if absolutely nothing here should be discovered, she asked Sesenia again and again. As if telling her not to cause any trouble at all.

“Don’t worry.”

“…Alright. I’ll trust you.”

“Then have Lizbeth and Teddy wait outside too.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Lizbeth quietly looked at me. Her gaze was a bit strange. It seemed both Sesenia and Lizbeth felt something odd about each other. Lizbeth was someone who knew every move Sesenia made. They spent every moment together. From the slave trader to this incident, Sesenia had been moving without any information.

Hephria Som was one thing, but as time passed, Lizbeth would probably find it strange too

‘If she hadn’t regressed… if she hadn’t experienced this time, she probably wouldn’t think it was very strange….’

Sesenia smiled slightly.

‘Besides, this place is where Lizbeth told me about.’

This Felice Orphanage, which was glamorously announced not long after she became empress. And Sesenia had briefly met the children here during her time as empress. For not so good reasons.

“Then please go in quickly. Hurry, before the director comes……”

It was then. The orphanage teacher hurriedly urged Sesenia. Putting aside her thoughts about Lizbeth for a moment, Sesenia looked at the door.

“Yes.”

As expected, she wasn’t the director. An orphanage with only five children. An orphanage where three of them had already been adopted. But a place where the voices of children couldn’t be heard anywhere.

Just then, Lizbeth opened the door, and Sesenia quietly looked at the dark room despite it being daytime.

“Close the door.”

At Sesenia’s command, Lizbeth closed the door. The woman from the orphanage still showed signs of discomfort, but since she had already made a promise, she didn’t add any more words.

As the door closed, an even greater darkness fell than before. A place without a single light. She picked up the candle lamp she had seen next to the entrance before the door closed. Instead of lighting it, she approached the children with it.

“Hello. You probably can’t see me, but you can see me.”

There are twins here.

“I’m from the empire and I’ve come to save you. You may not believe it, but I’ll take you to the temple.”

The woman’s words about sending the children to the temple were a lie.

In the original timeline, I had met these twins before. Twin royalty who had fled from Salmon, the kingdom known as the kingdom of magicians. To protect his younger sister Pepe, the older brother Silian brought his sister alone to the empire, only to be caught again by the people of Salmon and end up in this orphanage.

This orphanage was a fake orphanage secretly created by the people of the Salmon kingdom to infiltrate the empire.

In fact, the Salmon people who were trying to secretly smuggle these twins out would fail, and the children would be sent to the temple.

This was the glamorous event. Magicians were quite rare in the empire. In such a situation, royalty from the Salmon kingdom? The children were overflowing with power. So not only the imperial family but all the people of the empire would pay attention.

The temple could protect the children, but there was no reason for the temple to hide children without backing, children who even the imperial family was focusing on.

‘It was a glamorous debut, but…..’

It was a terrible future for the children. Children without anyone to protect them would live a life not much different there either.

‘So this time, I won’t let that happen.’

This too might be the hypocrisy of a wealthy person, of a noble. But these children are necessary. After all, these children will become the royalty of Salmon. Money alone wasn’t enough to be a strong backing for Tedel.

Strong power that could protect from behind. Strength. These twins possess exactly that. Also, strong magic that could protect her no matter what happened.

It didn’t matter before knowing Elzere had returned, but now that she knew she had returned, it was a bit dangerous. Elzere would try to kill Sesenia, who stood above her, in any way possible.

So Sesenia decided to protect these children Not a glamorous debut. Moreover, Sesenia was actually measured to have higher spiritual power than ordinary people and had risen to the candidate for saint. Asking for protection wasn’t difficult. The temple is the most honest place in this country, and if it’s that temple, they will surely help.

“……”

“If you stay here any longer, you’ll be dragged to Salmon. Even if that doesn’t happen, you won’t be able to protect your sister in a place without anyone to protect you.”

“……”

“Well. I’ve said all I have to say.”

Although she couldn’t see them, she felt the children’s breathing change.

‘In the end, they’ll choose me.’

“I came to make you an offer, and it’s up to you to choose. I’m going to set fire now. You can avoid the fire, right? If you like my offer, escape from here. I’ll leave a carriage two blocks ahead, so when you’re ready, carry your sister and get in. If you don’t like my offer, escape through the back door. This is all I can do for you.”

“…Why are you helping us?”

A young child’s voice was heard.

“Because I need you.”

“Are you going to experiment on us?”

“No, I can’t use magic. Why would I experiment? I just want you to be by my side. My life is a bit precarious, you see. So I just want to keep you as guards. Anyway, let’s get out.”

Then she came out. She was holding a candle lamp in her hand.

She didn’t listen for an answer. Sesenia was confident. She knew very well that the children would definitely choose her. Silian, the older brother, had given up even the throne for his sister and came here.

With a deep determination to never take his sister back to the Salmon kingdom.

‘Even if they escape through the back door, they’ll just be caught again… They’re not choosing me because they trust me, there was only one choice from the beginning.’

And to make that choice faster, Sesenia was planning to set fire. With that, Sesenia left the room with a much brighter expression than before.

“You came out quickly, young lady.”

“Yes. I said I’d be back soon. Let’s go then.”

“What did you talk about?”

The tired-looking woman was following us and talking. She was so curious that she didn’t even notice the candle lamp I had brought out from the room. But I didn’t answer about that.

We had already reached the front door of the orphanage.

Sesenia finally looked at the woman following behind her. The woman, who had been giving up as Sesenia hadn’t been talking all along, stepped back in surprise.

“Salmon.”

“Pardon?”

“If you’re from there, you must be able to use magic too.”

“W-What do you mean……”

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise at Sesenia’s sudden words.

“I’m telling you to use it. To survive.”

“…No. That… I mean……”

“When a fire breaks out, everything is destroyed. No one will know who was here. So, if you want to run away, now would be a good time.”

Sesenia smiled at her.

“What…?”

“You’re also being held here against your will, aren’t you? So, if you want to run away, run away. Because I’m going to set fire.”

“What do you mean……”

Sesenia lit the candle lamp. When she turned on the small spring-loaded button, a small sound was heard and the candle inside the lamp was lit. At the same time, Sesenia threw the lamp towards the wall above the cotton placed in front of the door.

The lamp contained oil and was covered with low-quality glass. So when the lamp hit the wall, it shattered with a crash, and the oil that came out quickly soaked the cotton.

“Ah, young lady…!”

“Let’s go out.”

“Pardon…?”

The candlelight quickly absorbed into the oil-soaked cotton and the fire grew larger. Sesenia grabbed Lizbeth and Tedel’s hands and ran towards the door, then came outside.

The weather was turning from autumn to winter. The empire was unusually dry, and thanks to that, most of the wooden buildings were extremely dry. In other words, it was a point that fire caught very well.

“Ah… young lady… A-Arson…!”

“Did I commit arson?”

Even for a noble young lady, arson was quite a serious crime.

Although the fire didn’t really spread because there were no other buildings around the Felice Orphanage and not a single tree, it was still a big deal. But Sesenia just shrugged at Lizbeth’s words.

“…Pardon?”

“I just put the candle lamp down to put it down. Arson, you say?”