Chapter 25: The Orphanage

[POV:Livre, 3 days later]

As I was getting dressed, I wasn't sure how formal the clothes I wear to this meeting should be. On one hand wearing nice clothes would show that I am capable of supporting Carman to the matron of his orphanage, on the other, I could possibly come across as pretentious and a show off.

In the end, I decided to wear a fresh set of clothes I had recently procured for when I am working behind the counter and not tinkering with machines. It was fashionable enough, but not as showy as clothes one might wear to a large social gathering. The shoulders and arms of the jacket restricted my movements, making it difficult to reach things higher than my shoulder, should I get an alteration?

Thoughts on the unfamiliar clothes aside, I started pondering if I should use some concealer to cover the bags that have been forming under my eyes. Then again that is more something that nobles and rich merchants can afford to do. I am neither, and pretending otherwise may dissuade the matron from agreeing to allow Carman to be transferred into my custody.

It feels a bit rushed, and I'm sure Carman feels the same way. But with how fast he is developing and displaying his talent in clockwork engineering, it's only a matter of time before he catches the wrong person's attention. A noble could probably pull a few strings in the courthouse to have Carman and the Matron's signature forged.

Shaking my head to clear away the thoughts of Carman being taken advantage of for his talent I resolved myself to focus on the matter in front of me. I've worked on several difficult commissions where the slightest misalignment could ruin hour of work, and started a successful business all by myself, this coming interview is nothing.

After finishing tidying up my hair and teeth, I head over to the apartment Ms.Ryuzu and Carman we're staying in. After only a few knocks Ms.Ryuzu opened the door and let me in, she asked me to wait a few minutes while she roused Carman, it seems that since he had a firm roof over his head he was no longer a light sleeper and was rather difficult to wake up in the mornings.

After a few minutes a bleary-eyed Carman wandered into the room, in a fresh change of his usual outfit. I knew he had only three sets of overalls but no matter how much machine oil they got splashed with, they always were clean as new the next time I saw him wearing them. I could only assume that Ryuzu was the one behind it.

Ryuzu walked into the room a minute after Carman and followed us as we left the apartment and headed towards the orphanage. Maison des Débutants was a worn down yet charming building on the edge of the city, close to the wall. There were children running around the front garden, grass and small flowers getting lightly crushed under the feet of about a dozen children. Heading in we were met by a polite young man, one of the former residents who now helped staff the place. He informed us that the Matron was waiting for us and to follow him. I could see as the young man and several of the other residents and staff's eyes followed Carman, some of whom showed signs of relief and others seemed to want to chew him out.

We walked down a few corridors and came into a small meeting room where a middle aged lady was seated. She gave off a stern yet caring aura, her posture was almost immaculate. She was dressed in a formal clothes with a navy and light grey palette.

Taking a seat on the opposite side of a coffee table in the middle of the room, the Matron offered us some tea before we started. Feeling my throat as dry I gladly accepted it and took a sip. Teas were never my forte, I could never distinguish between cheap and good teas, most of them were too bitter to my taste. This tea however was very fragrant, and had sweet undertones that I could taste with berry little of the bitterness I had come to expect.

"Ah from the look on your face, this must be your first time drinking this type of tea, it was produced by one of my former charges. She was fond of tea ever since she was young and is now cultivating her own ingredients using the miraculous energy in Chenyu Vale, she wondered if the energy that infused their tea trees would also have effects on other plants, she has found particularly good results in growing Marcotte flowers and drying them. By mixing the dried Marcotte flowers with other dried flowers and the peals of fruit she created several teas that were just as fragrant as traditional teas form tree leaves, however it lacks much of the bitterness, making it much more palatable for children, she sends me a few boxes every so often. The particular blend you are drinking has sunsettia peals brewed with it."

I could sense the feeling of pride the matron was feeling for this child, it showed how happy she was that the child that she had raised was able to on to do what they loved.

I looked over at Carman, this lady seemed to be very supportive of the children she looked after, how will I measure up to her? Carman with his level of adaptability and intelligence would need a large amount of support, both to grow to his potential and to safeguard him from those who would exploit him. Ryuzu would likely blow a gasket if anyone were to try to physically harm Carman, so there is not much to worry on that front, but what if they used underhanded methods to steal his ideas and labor?

I turned my attention back to the lady who introduced herself as Charlotte la Matrone, and I followed it's a brief introduction,

"I am Livre Lepaute, the owner of Leschot's Clockwork Workshop, I am a clockwork engineer and many of my products are toys made using my skill in clockwork engineering."

"Ah yes, I believe the children have been talking about your shop as of late. Your products are known for their durability and affordability, many of my charges are saving their allowance to purchase one of the new toys you shop has been selling. The prices you are asking for the quality of your toys is quite admirable, it must make a substantial cut into your revenue."

Scratching the back of my head, "well yes, some of the toys I am barely breaking even with their sales, but I make the majority of my income off of commissions from various groups, mainly helping in maintenance and repare of the Gardemeks patrolling our city, you would be supprized by the amount of wear and tear those things go through even without engagingbin combat. When I was younger I resolved with my brother to open a shop where every child could afford to buy a toy from, no matter their financial background, unfortunately he persued other ventures and left me to fulfill that dream."

"I see, and how did you meet Carman? Seeing as he has been missing for over half a year now, so you must understand how surprised I was to receive a letter from him asking for a meeting with a gentleman who wishes to adopt him."

"Of course, I met Carman a few months ago, he walked into my shop asking for work in exchange for one of the toys I had in stock, said it as to celebrate his birthday. Since then I think he was just there to try and learn the principles behind their functions. I've been mentoring him since a few weeks after we met in the basics of Clockwork Engineering and he is taking to it like a fish to water, his talent for learning is quite shocking sometimes. It was after the first few weeks and a visit to my father that I realized I had started to develop familial feelings towards Carman, and knowing how talented individuals can sometimes be taken advantage of by merchants and nobles running large clockwork factories and laboratories I didn't want them to have any more means to take advantage of him so I decided to try and get the adoption documents filed as soon as possible."

"That is most commendable, indeed, Carman's mental talents have shown quite brightly, even before he left us, as a small tot, he was the quickest to learn to crawl and walk. The amount of trouble he made with his wanderings, it was all I could to to prevent the newer caregivers from moving him to a room with a locking door. As of late he caught the attention of several parties due to his quick learning capability when it came to languages and his reading comprehension and retention. There was one group that kept insisting that I sign him off over to them, but I didn't due to how much of an aversion he had towards the messenger the group had sent. Some children seem to have a 6th sense of sorts when it comes to people, and I have seen what happens when the former matron, and regrettably I, ignored a child's warning."

Charlotte took a sip of tea to settle herself before she continued.

"Seeing how Carman is around you, I can tell he doesn't have the same aversion to you that he did towards the representatives from the House of the Hearth. Your shop seems to be able to support both of you, and you have shown the forthought to help safeguard his future in the ways that you can. So long as you can promise that you will do your best to raise him into a respectable young man, I have no reservations in transferring his guardianship to you."

"I am happy to hear that and I promise that I will raise him to the best of my ability, though from how I met him I feel like he is resilient enough to have find a way even without my help."

Carman pulled out the paper from his pocket and passed it to Charlotte, looking at it, Charlotte stood up and fetched a pen and ink bottle from a cabinet and signed her name on the required line. She came over and gave Carman a hug.

"Congratulations child. I remember the day we found you on our doorstep, and every day since that moment. May the Hydro Archon bless you with fortune and an interesting life."

She came over to me and shook my hand, "it was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Lepaute you should have more confidence in yourself. Your heart is in the right place, just ensure your actions are as well. Now I must bid you both farewell, there are duties that I must attend to."

After saying that she swiftly left, as soon as she did I let out a long sigh of relief. "Alright, Carman, Ryuzu, lets go we'll need to drop this off at the courthouse for processing."

I saw Carman nod, and then I realized, "Carman when did Ryuzu stop following us?"

-to be continued