The Mage and the Knight (2)
The orphanage that stood alone in the Royal Capital had no name. Everyone simply called it the orphanage. Even its founder had never given it a proper title. Before the orphanage was established in the capital, the orphans who wandered its streets faced grim fates. If unlucky, they were kidnapped by criminals lurking in the back alleys. If fortunate, they might be taken in by kind-hearted shopkeepers or nobles. Those who fell into neither category usually ended up as pickpockets targeting merchants and aristocrats, or they were found frozen stiff on the cold winter streets.
The only place that showed any interest in saving these children was the church. A priest who had successfully secured a large donation from a noble purchased land on the outskirts of the Royal Capital and built a monastery. That monastery began taking in the orphans who roamed the streets, one by one, offering them shelter. It was nothing more than a building of stacked stones with a roof on top. The sole marker that it had been constructed under the church’s auspices was a small cross hanging on the orphanage’s front gate.
The number of unfortunate orphans dying alone in the capital decreased. So did the number snatched away by criminal organizations. Noble ladies interested in raising children began visiting the orphanage to take home those who caught their fancy.
Christine had been lucky. Like most orphans, she had no memory of her origins. Nor did she feel any curiosity about them. She might have been the child of a cheap prostitute, or born between a noble and a commoner, or given up by a family that could not afford to raise her. What mattered to her was that she had no way of knowing her birth mother or father, and that the ones who had raised her were the orphanage’s head nun and the priest who occasionally stopped by.
“Still… flowers feel a bit much, don’t they?”
“She’ll like whatever you bring.”
Christine murmured as she gazed at the blossoms displayed in the flower shop.
“The lavender bloomed beautifully today,” the shop owner said with a warm smile, holding out a potted plant. Delicate purple petals dangled like tiny bells from slender stems. Without thinking, Christine accepted the pot.
“It’s difficult to grow, but if you tend to it with care, the fragrance will be wonderful.”
Christine stared at the gently swaying tips of the lavender.
“I’ll… take this one.”
In the end, Christine impulsively bought the lavender. She tilted her head in mild distress as she held the pot.
“It’s pretty, though. Don’t you think the head nun will like it?” Maxim said, looking at the flowers.
“I already bought it, so there’s no helping it now. I’m not sure if she’ll actually like it, though…”
Christine let out a deep sigh and began walking down the street. With each step, the lavender petals swayed as if shaking their heads.
“By the way, you really don’t have to follow me, Senior. I know it’s strange for me to ask you to come along and then say this, but…”
Christine turned toward Maxim with a hesitant expression.
“You know that, yet you still say it.”
“No, it’s fine. Let’s just go.”
At Maxim’s words, Christine puffed out her cheeks.
A thirty-minute walk from the city center on foot led to a quiet street lined with scattered houses. The orphanage sat on the edge of that peaceful neighborhood. After passing a cart loaded with milk cans and slipping through an alley where large dogs barked loudly, the orphanage came into view.
In front of the orphanage stretched a field of dandelions. Children were searching among the yellow blooms for the ones that had turned white and fluffy, blowing on them with delighted puffs.
Christine watched the innocent children with a nostalgic expression.
“Huh? Christine Noona?”
One of the running children spotted her standing in the distance and called out at the top of his lungs. Christine offered a warm smile and waved. The other children who had been hunting dandelion seeds looked up one by one, calling her name in their characteristically high, clear voices.
“Christine Unnie!”
“Noona!”
The children rushed toward her in a noisy swarm. Maxim slowly backed away from the oncoming tide, but Christine greeted them with practiced ease, unperturbed.
“Have you all been well?”
The children beamed as they poured out their little complaints.
“Why did you come so late!”
“Unnie, yesterday the head teacher…”
“Look, look! I found this one!”
As Christine gently soothed the children, the orphanage’s front door creaked open.
“What’s all the commotion, children?”
The person who stepped out was a nun who looked younger than expected. Christine lifted her gaze from the children and met the eyes of the orphanage’s head nun.
“Head Nun.”
The head nun’s eyes widened in surprise as she hurried over to Christine.
“…Oh my. Look who it is.”
“It’s been a while. I came to visit.”
Christine abruptly held out the potted lavender. The head nun accepted it with a delighted smile.
“Lavender… You brought one that’s just beginning to bloom.”
“It reminded me of the color of your eyes… so I bought it. Is that all right?”
The nun smiled even more warmly and nodded.
“I like these flowers. Thank you so much, Christine…”
The nun turned from Christine to look at Maxim. Her eyes were a clear violet, just like the lavender.
“It’s been a long time, Sir Maxim.”
“Yes, it has.”
The head nun chuckled softly at Maxim’s slightly awkward reply.
“Since you’ve come with Christine after such a long time, won’t you stay for dinner? You’ll eat before you go, won’t you, Christine?”
At the head nun’s question, Christine nodded. Maxim let out a hearty laugh and agreed.
“We’ll stay and eat.”
The head nun smiled brightly. She led the children, who were calling “Teacher, Teacher,” back inside the orphanage. Christine sent Maxim an apologetic glance before following the head nun. Maxim trailed behind Christine at a leisurely pace, kicking through the dandelions as he walked.
The orphanage’s only common area was divided into two main sections. The larger part was arranged like a classroom, complete with desks, a lectern, chairs, and a blackboard in the back still streaked with white chalk marks. The remaining section served as the dining area. It contained nothing more than one large table capable of seating many children.
Maxim dealt with the children who clung to his side, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“Maxim Hyung, are you leaving the capital now?”
“Come visit more often.”
“Are you going to marry Christine Noona?”
Maxim brushed off the difficult questions with laughter. The final question was especially burdensome, as even the head nun seemed to watch him with interest. For dinner, they were served stew. Maxim stirred the thick, white broth with his spoon, mixing in the chunks of ingredients.
The head nun looked at Christine and asked,
“It must be getting harder for you to visit here, isn’t it?”
Christine gave a bitter smile and nodded at the question.
“It’s already difficult. There hasn’t been much work lately, which is why I could come today… but once things pick up again, it’ll be hard. Today might be the last visit I make this year.”
The head nun lifted the corners of her mouth in understanding.
“It’s all right. I’m grateful that you visit, but I don’t want it to become a burden for you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
It had been a long time since Maxim had seen Christine look so timid in front of someone. He smiled with a refreshing feeling.
“Senior… don’t laugh.”
Christine spoke with flushed cheeks. Maxim simply offered her a gentle smile in response.
On the quieter outskirts of the Royal Capital, the sounds of insects were easier to hear. Right now, the cries of cicadas dominated. The sun was only just beginning to set. Maxim stood alone in the dandelion field outside the orphanage, waiting for the evening prayer to end.
A single tree rose somewhat unexpectedly from the middle of the dandelion field—an apple tree bearing one or two fruits that had not yet fully ripened. Maxim wandered near the tree before plopping down beneath it. It was cool. He closed his eyes and quietly savored the shade and the breeze.
None of the current situation felt real to Maxim. Not the No Man’s Land, not his curse, not the matter with Marion and Bourdin, and not even Theodora. Red-tinged clouds drifted across the sky. The orphanage door suddenly opened, and the head nun stepped out. It seemed the evening prayer had ended. When she noticed him, she approached with slow steps. Maxim brushed off his pants and stood up.
“So this is where you were.”
Maxim leaned awkwardly against the apple tree.
“Is the prayer over?”
“Yes. Christine is inside right now, talking with the children.”
The nun gestured toward the orphanage building with a nod. Maxim nodded in return. He had no desire to go back inside and grow tired. He let out a small sigh. As if reading his mind, the head nun smiled softly.
“Then let’s talk for a moment.”
Without hesitation, the nun sat down across from him. Maxim found her casual demeanor, so unlike the usual pious restraint of a nun, rather fascinating.
“I don’t have faith. Does that not offend you?”
“We are not taught to reject those without faith. If such a teaching existed, my own faith would have vanished long ago.”
The nun smiled with her eyes.
“If it’s about Christine, you probably won’t mind, will you?”
At her clear voice, Maxim could only smile and nod.
“Christine was left at this orphanage when she was just a newborn,” the head nun said, reminiscing about the distant past. “I was still a young novice nun at the time… I only officially became the head here after Christine had grown considerably.”
“She must have been quite the troublemaker, right?”
The head nun laughed and shook her head.
“No, you might be surprised, but Christine was a precocious child. She didn’t talk much and enjoyed thinking by herself.”
That might be why she awakened to magic.
The head nun closed her eyes as she spoke.
“Did she learn magic here?”
The head nun shook her head.
“It wasn’t so much that she learned it… The mages who came to take her said she had awakened her mana at a very young age, without any help at all. I heard she didn’t have any special circumstances… She simply possessed an extraordinary talent. To be honest, I don’t fully understand what that means.”
There was always a reason someone was called a genius. Maxim listened with interest, hearing these details about her for the first time.
“I only took care of Christine for a few short years. After that, the Magic Tower took her away immediately…”
The head nun shrugged. Then, with a wistful look, she gazed down at the ground.
“A few years after Christine left, the church’s financial situation worsened. Our orphanage was struggling to keep going as well. Then, a few years ago, Christine suddenly resolved all our financial problems. She paid off the debts at once and even provided enough money to last us several years without worry.”
“Christine…?”
“I don’t know where she got so much money… but she took care of everything before we could even refuse. Even when we said we couldn’t accept it, she left it anyway…”
The head nun’s smile turned bitter.
“We were pathetic too. There was a time when we couldn’t run the orphanage without relying on that child’s help. I wonder if Christine pushed herself too hard.”
Maxim narrowed his eyes as he looked at the orphanage. Although they had been close for several years, there were still many things he didn’t know about her.
Through the window, Christine gazed quietly at Maxim, who sat leaning against the apple tree. When the head nun approached him, he stood up somewhat awkwardly and began to speak with her. The enormous debt she owed him felt most vivid whenever she was in this place. If she had refused the proposal from that unfamiliar noble who came to her at the Magic Tower, would she have felt less burdened? Or would it have simply meant that the tragedy that had befallen Maxim would have disappeared?
Christine bit her lip.