The Hope Tree Festival (1)
I woke up earlier than usual, in the dim hours just before sunrise. I tied my hair back into a ponytail, changed out of my pajamas, and finished getting ready to head out right away. I opened the window, looked outside, and stretched refreshingly. Not a single cloud in the sky, and with so many stars still visible, it was clear the day would be crisp and clear once the sun rose. The temperature felt slightly cool for dawn, so it should be perfect once the sun came up.
“The perfect weather for the kids to run around. Guess I’ll head out early.”
When I went down to the hall, the other children were still asleep.
“Yawn… Good morning, Director. Did you sleep well?”
“Did you wake up just because I did? You should’ve stayed in bed longer.”
I accepted Zia’s greeting and gently stroked her hair.
“Mmm… I went to bed a little earlier yesterday. Please wait just a moment.”
Zia trotted off to the kitchen. After a short wait, she placed a warm glass of milk and a hot sandwich filled with thinly sliced ham and fluffy scrambled eggs into my hands.
“Mmm~ The scrambled eggs inside are cooked perfectly.”
The moment I took a bite, the rich buttery aroma of the scrambled eggs blended with the savory ham, dancing across my tongue. It was delicious.
“It’s all thanks to what you taught me, Director. Breakfast this morning is the same thing.”
“Nice. Then, like I told you, you can head out in about two hours.”
I pointed at the clock on the wall. Zia nodded in understanding.
“See you later.”
I waved and stepped outside.
“Yes. I’ll bring the children safely.”
There was clear anticipation on Zia’s face as she saw me off, along with a hint of nervousness. It was her first time being the center of attention from the main building staff and the villagers who would come to watch. Of course she’d be tense.
I headed quickly toward the main building along the path. At my pace, it didn’t take long. I jogged at a leisurely speed and arrived just as the sun began to rise.
Ah, this brings back memories.
The staff were already bustling about, preparing since early morning. It reminded me of the teachers back at the orphanage in my previous life, setting up for the sports day in advance. For a brief moment, I felt like I had returned to that time.
Back then I had been nothing but an ordinary orphan. Now here I was, running an orphanage in another world. What a strange feeling.
For this year’s Keon-a-je, I had received permission from the head priest to use not only the open ground in front of the main building under my name, but also the adjacent temple grounds. The area wasn’t perfectly flat, but it was satisfactory enough. The structures I had built were neatly arranged across the clearing.
The wooden spectator stands I had spent an entire day carefully constructing were already filled with villagers sitting together in small groups, chatting away. I recognized many familiar faces—the village chief, the old man from the general store, the lady from the clothing shop, and even the captain of the village guard (though calling it a guard was generous; it was really just a small group that barely qualified as soldiers).
“Oh my, Madam, and even the chief? There’s still plenty of time before it starts. Why did you all come so early?”
The fact that they were already here meant they had closed up shop for the day. Since these were busy people, I walked over, genuinely surprised they had shown up.
When I approached with a bright smile, the villagers stood up one after another like falling dominoes to greet me.
“Miss Aren! Of course we had to come, even if it meant carving out time from our schedules!”
The guard captain made a big fuss as he bowed his head in greeting. He was still just a fresh-faced nineteen-year-old youth.
“How could I, as the village chief, miss the only proper festival this village has?”
The village chief bowed his head politely toward me. Thankfully, with so many eyes watching, he didn’t try to kneel.
“That’s right. In a town where the only event is a feast, how often do we get a festival worth watching? Of course we had to come.”
The lady from the clothing shop chimed in. They all knew I was a noble and one of the village’s major supporters, so they spoke to me with an almost burdensome level of politeness. Still, there was no malice behind it. They were genuinely good people, so I could relax around them.
“Alright, everyone, please sit comfortably. As I mentioned before, we’ve put in a lot of effort preparing for this Keon-a-je, so I hope you enjoy it.”
The villagers sat back down in a flurry. After exchanging a few light words with the chief, I moved to the opposite spectator stand.
There, the people from the temple—who had generously lent us half their grounds—were already seated. They must have seen me talking with the villagers, because they were already standing up to greet me before I even approached. I didn’t need to speak with everyone. I simply offered a light greeting and turned to Dorian, the head priest of this temple.
“Thank you for lending us the front grounds, High Priest Dorian.”
The priest, who appeared to be around the same age as the village chief, smiled kindly and waved his hand.
“Not at all, Lady Aren. How could I refuse a request from such a devout young lady?”
Since the temple was right next to the main building, I had become quite familiar with its people. High Priest Dorian and the other priests knew far more about who I really was than the villagers did.
If the villagers saw me as a wealthy countess who had retired to the countryside to run an orphanage for her health, the temple—though not directly affiliated with the Holy Kingdom—had interacted with many nobles. Dorian had recognized me from the beginning. We had been exchanging favors ever since the main building was first constructed. They had helped us a great deal, and we had repaid them even more generously. Specifically, we made substantial quarterly donations in the names of the children who came to pray.
“Still, I’m grateful. Since you refuse to accept any direct compensation, I’ll make sure to return the favor later in a way that helps the temple, even if only modestly.”
In other words, the next donation would be even more generous.
“Haha, with such a generous heart from the young lady, it’s no wonder the children’s faces are always full of smiles. Since I know you dislike being refused, I will gladly accept.”
To an outsider, he might seem greedy. But even setting aside the financial aspect, he was a sincere high priest who genuinely cared for the children of our orphanage. The same went for his subordinates. If he had been a black-hearted man, the location of the main building would have been changed… or the person in charge would have been replaced.
“…Ah, I see a carriage approaching.”
After exchanging a few more words with High Priest Dorian, I spotted a carriage coming from afar.
“Five carriages with different crests. They appear to be nobles…”
“A few nobles who are interested in adoption asked to observe the Keon-a-je. Personally, it’s a bit inconvenient… but it’s an opportunity for the children.”
“I understand, my lady.”
Dorian nodded and stepped aside. He was considerate enough to give me space, knowing I needed to greet the nobles.
“They’ll be quite surprised as well. This isn’t the scale of festival one would expect from a rural village. Of course, the children’s appearances will surprise them too. Haha.”
I gave a light bow to Dorian, who seemed genuinely amused, then hurried off to welcome the nobles.
The staff guided them to the area we had prepared in advance as a carriage waiting zone. According to Susan, six nobles were scheduled to attend today. Five carriages. They must have left the city at the right time to arrive exactly on schedule.
Soon, the nobles began stepping down from the carriages. Six people in total, as expected.
“Welcome, everyone. I am Aren Parates of the Parates County.”
Since they were nobles, I greeted them in full noble-young-lady mode. My current outfit was made of plain cloth that might seem common to them, but Susan wouldn’t have sent anyone rude enough to point that out, so I didn’t worry about it.
“Ohh, it is an honor to meet you in person, Lady Aren Parates!”
The first to respond were a count and his wife who had stepped out of the same carriage. They appeared older than me.
“As Lady Susan must have told you, I am Azal Sobarn. This is my lovely wife.”
“I am Mary Sobarn. It is an honor to meet you, my lady.”
I shook hands with the gentle couple.
“A pleasure to meet you, Count Sobarn, Madam.”
There was a strange sense of anticipation on both their faces. While part of it was likely excitement at the chance to meet a good child, it felt closer to the eager expression of fans meeting a celebrity.
I soon learned why.
“We visited Kravalten for a vacation a month ago. Have you been there recently, my lady?”
“Ah… No, it’s been quite a while. I haven’t heard any news from there in years.”
Upon hearing my answer, the count and his wife looked genuinely delighted to be the ones to tell me.
“They have erected a statue of you, Lady Aren!”
“Pfft—”
If I had been drinking water, I would have sprayed it everywhere. Fortunately, I quickly wiped my mouth and regained my composure.
“Ah, now that you mention it… I did hear something about building a commemorative statue… I suppose they really went through with it. Haha.”
It was true. Kravalten—the city that would have been massacred and turned into servants of the corpse dragon if not for me. The lord of the city had practically been ready to lick my feet as he thanked me endlessly.
A statue! We shall build a statue! To engrave this event into everyone’s memory! Long live Aren Parates! Long live—!
I had thought it was just something said in the heat of the moment, but they actually built it?
“It stands in the central plaza of the city. Even those who didn’t witness it in person could clearly see how desperately you fought that monstrous dragon!”
“It truly is a beautiful and majestic statue worthy of your deeds. I’m so glad to be the first to share this news with you!”
“Ah, haha… I-I see…”
Just how big and majestic did they make it for them to react like this? Now I was almost scared to go see it myself.
“Thank you for letting me know. Now, allow me to show you to your seats.”
Fortunately, no other nobles reacted to me as intensely as the couple. I guided them to the special viewing platform prepared exclusively for honored guests. While the structure was similar to the one the villagers sat on, we had laid out silk, placed flowers, and brought over the expensive furniture from inside the orphanage to make it elegant.
“Oh-ho, these fabrics and ceramics…”
“You’ve paid great attention to detail. We are grateful for your generosity, my lady.”
They sat down looking more than satisfied. All except one.
“—Hmm. Well. Not bad. Seems like you’ve improved a bit since those days when you had no sense at all?”
“…People do tend to grow, Lady Kania Zenbel.”
For some reason, even though she didn’t need a child, she had contacted Susan and shown up—an old acquaintance. We had known each other for a long time. We had even fought back-to-back in dungeons and on battlefields quite often. Yet our relationship was too strange to simply call each other friends.
The second daughter of the Zenbel Marquisate. Former fourth seat of the Black Bear Knights. Current vice-commander. Kania Zenbel.
She swept back her yellow hair, tied in a ponytail just like mine, and flashed her signature arrogant smile.
“…I heard you were ill and opened an orphanage to recuperate, but you look perfectly fine on the outside?”
“Every time I look at the children, I feel like my old wounds are healing. Haha.”
“…Is that so? Well, that’s good to hear.”
Kania turned her head and waved her hand as if to say I could leave now that she understood. I stared at her for a moment before greeting the other nobles and stepping away.
…Honestly, she was the one I dreaded the most.
There were several reasons, but the biggest one was—
That girl… she likes women…
I liked to think I had a relatively open mind when it came to personal preferences. But—
Aren. Are you not interested in women?
Back when I was active as an adventurer. If she hadn’t looked at me with such a flushed face and open interest, it wouldn’t have felt this uncomfortable.