Prologue Part 2

The building which they entered was no ordinary one. It was an orphanage. Children who were left alone, abandoned, or those whose parents died from unexplained causes were all brought here and taken care of until someone who would like to adopt them came, or until they reach a certain age at which they can take care of themselves.

Entering the orphanage, Elias and Mai were surprised at how clean and well kept it was, unlike all the others they visited. Soon enough, children's laughter filled the hallway as a group of kids playing tag ran past them, and some, having noticed the two strangers standing at the doorway, ran over to see who they were.

A young blond girl pulled Clara by her skirt and, while hiding behind her ever so embarrassingly, asked who these two unfamiliar people were, and particularly the handsome man standing next to her.

"W-who are these people?"

Clara replied to the small girl with a gentle smile, saying they were guests who were interested in taking one of them home with them and providing them with lots and lots of love and happiness. Upon hearing that, the little girl rushed, smiling towards the other children spreading the words that made all of the kids from the orphanage come to the front door and see their potential new family.

All Elias could see in front of him now were dozens upon dozens of smiling children asking him all sorts of questions from what his name was, what kind of job he had, even what his favorite food was.

"E-eh!"

He was easily said, overwhelmed by the number of children and questions they were throwing at him. He looked like he would break from pressure at any second, but on the contrary, he didn't. He grabbed some of them and put them on his shoulder while starting to run down the hallway and playing a game with them.

"Why waste all this time asking boring questions when we can play instead!"

"Come on now, whoever catches me first gets to ride on my shoulders next!"

All of the high-spirited boys started chasing him and joined his little game of tag. To the other two women observing the situation from afar, Elias seemed like one of those children.

"Hehe, it's nice seeing a man acting like that with kids. To them, it's important to have someone who can understand them, play with them, and give them much-needed love and affection. After all they went through, they deserve at least that much, don't you agree?"

The girl gave a gentle smile while noting her head in agreement with Clara's words.

"Hey! Hey! Miss, what is your name?"

One of the many girls that stayed behind after Elias and the boys went out to play pulled on the maids dress and, with an expression so cute to which no one could say no, asked her what her name was.

All other girls who stayed behind, including herself, were interested in her as they never saw a real maid before, and to them, that was like seeing a celebrity. Maids were usually the ones that cooked, took care of the house, and made sure everything was in order. They were super cool in their terms and the kind of people all of these girls wanted to be.

"M-my name?"

"It's Mai and yours?"

The Maid answered the little girl's question with a gentle and lovely smile on her face while pronouncing her name ever so politely and asking what hers was in exchange.

"I'm Lucia, and you're very pretty, Miss Maid! Uh, I mean Miss Mai!"

"Hehe, I'm flattered."

Even for a maid, Mai was exceptionally beautiful. Her short dark hair and young face could throw any man on his knees and turn him into her slave. A single glance of her genuine smile made the little girls blush and want to play with her as much as possible.

They took her by hand and dragged her with them into the living room where they would proceed to play a series of games that girls their age just adored, such as "house," "Teatime," and so on.

And in the meantime, Elias was playing hide and seek with the boys all over the house. They would hide, and he would go looking for them. Even if they had just met him, all of the children already seemed to like him. Proven by the happy expressions on their faces. He was a free-spirited person who, in a few words, could be explained to be simple, just like a child, and maybe that had something to do with it.

"Ha, found you!"

"Nooooo!"

He put the boy hiding under the bed onto his shoulders and stormed out of the bedroom laughing while looking for the others who were still hiding.

"Hey! Hey! John, do you perhaps know where the others could be hiding?"

"Hmmm, maybe outside in the garden?"

"Then that's where we're going!"

The little boy named John was one of the thirty-nine children in the orphanage and one of the oldest at five and a half years old.

"Who's that?"

But there was a child older than him, one that has been here longer than any other, and no matter who or how many times they came, they would never choose him for whatever reason.

"Ah, that's… well…"

Unlike all other children, he was constantly alone and would avoid social interaction with other people.

While other children played with the adults who came to adopt them, he would always be by himself, sitting on the swing underneath the peach tree in the garden, listening to the silent sound of the leaves as they were falling, just like he was right now.

"He's weird, always alone, and rarely talks to us. Some of us don't even know his name."

"... It's not nice to call someone weird, you know."

"But…"

Elias took John off from his shoulders and carefully put him down on the ground.

"Do me a favor, bud and go look for the others while I go talk with our loner friend over there. Is that alright with you?"

"..."

"I know it might be too much for others to handle on their own, but if it's you, I believe you can do it."

Little John's eyes shined, filled with excitement from the praise Elias gave him, and just like he asked, he went and did it.

"Ok then, leave it to me, Mister! I'll find them all for you in no time!"

"Good, now go, my little helper."

While John went off looking for the others hiding somewhere in the house, Elias had some alone time with the little boy sitting on the swing with his eyes closed and listening to the leaves falling.

He wanted to meet all of the children here before deciding who he would adopt because this was a crucial decision that he couldn't do half-assedly.

As the boy had his eyes closed and looked like he was gazing in the skies, Elias silently moved towards him, taking good care he didn't make a single sound as he approached him because he was planning on giving him a little fright, but things didn't go as well as he had hoped.

"I can hear you, Mister. Is there anything that I can help you with?"

He was taken aback by the boy's words. Elias was sure he didn't make any sound what so even while approaching him, but even so, the boy had somehow heard him coming closer without his eyes opening.

"Was I so loud?"

The boy took some time before answering him, and when he did, his words took Elias completely off his balance.

"..."

"Were you trying to be silent? I'm sorry, I didn't notice."

Elias was as light as a feather on his feet. If he wanted, it was almost impossible for anyone to notice him, especially if they had their eyes closed and concentrated on something else.