Chương 25: Dinner at the orphanage and the Envelope
While Sian spent some time playing with Emily, the young woman finally stopped crying but was still in Ophilia's arms, hugging her.
Stroking the young woman's long blond hair, Ophilia asked Sian, "What's her name?"
Facing Ophilia's sudden question, Sian felt nervous. He had forgotten to ask her name earlier.
Quickly, he put his hand on the young woman's shoulder and said as compassionately as possible, "I know this has been tough for you, my old friend, but sometimes we need to leave the past behind and move on, working together to create a new future. Come on, introduce yourself."
The young woman slowly came out of Ophilia's embrace.
With a slight bow, she said, "I'm sorry for the scene earlier. My name is Illianna Martinez, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Don't worry about it," Sian said. "This is Ophilia, my wife, and this is Emily, our daughter."
Illianna responded with a dazzling smile, "Sian told me a lot about you. He always had a warm smile when he spoke of his beloved wife and lovely daughter."
Although Sian was initially doubtful of her capabilities, Illianna seemed to know how to handle people.
"Really?" Emily asked.
"Uh-huh," Illianna said, gently patting Emily's head.
After Sian healed her bruises, Illianna continued talking with Ophilia while Sian went back to playing with Emily.
"I know you guys are having a nice chat, but how about an afternoon nap?" Sian took Emily in his arms and looked at Ophilia. "Even though the light magic is effective, it's not good to push your body without enough rest."
"But I wanted to keep playing..." Emily said with a sad expression.
"We can continue playing later. Otherwise, when we visit the orphanage tonight, you won't have the energy to enjoy all the delicious food I'll make for you. So, for now, it's nap time, alright?"
"Okayyy!" Emily replied with a cheerful nod, raising her hands in the air.
Sian then turned to Illianna and said, "For now, you can use the other bed. Later, I'll arrange a room for you."
"I won't be sleeping right now. I'm going to start designing the structure of the inn. But first, I need you to show me the location on the map and give me an idea of how you want the inn to look and its size," she explained.
First of all, Sian ordered her to change her revealing clothes into a simple dress. After that, he placed a map on the table and pointed to a marked area.
"I want it to be quite spacious. And as for the design, you can decide that, as long as it fits within this area," he explained.
After assisting her with what she needed, Sian went to sleep with Ophilia, while Emily happily nestled between them in bed.
***
When they woke up, Sian left with Ophilia and Emily for the orphanage.
Despite being invited, Illianna declined, stating that she wanted to finish the inn's blueprint by the next day.
Upon arriving at the orphanage, the first person they saw was the maid who was with Charlotte in the morning. She bowed to them and said, "Welcome, Lady Charlotte is waiting for you."
As they arrived where Charlotte waited for them, Sian remarked, "With how busy you are, I didn't expect you to still be here."
"After tasting that chocolate, I couldn't resist the temptation of trying your food. My instincts tell me that you will surely cook something delicious tonight," Charlotte said expectantly.
"So you won't have to wait too long, the dish I'm making, while not my best, is still very delicious," Sian replied. "And like the chocolate, it also comes from the book I bought."
"Can you tell me the name of the person who sold the book?" Charlotte inquired.
"I believe it was Tarano Kakashi, or something like that," Sian responded, noticing her surprise.
"Do you know anything else about him?" Charlotte asked with a hint of excitement.
"Hmmmm... Besides the fact that he speaks a strange language, has slanted eyes and short black hair, I recall him mentioning something about the name coming after the surname," Sian explained.
"Do you know where he is?" Charlotte asked, showing a mix of anxiety and excitement.
"No, I met him about 3 years ago when he was in Hosnein. He mentioned something about going out to enjoy life. I think it will be difficult to find him even if you look for him," Sian said, sympathetically placing his hand on her shoulder. "But don't be discouraged; the booklet I gave you contains all the recipes I bought from him."
Charlotte sighed and said, "I suppose I'll have to be content with these recipes..."
***
With everything prepared, Ophilia took Emily to play with the other children, while Sian and Charlotte headed to the kitchen.
"What kind of dish are you planning to make?" Charlotte asked.
"Curry."
"Curry?" She asked in surprise.
"Have you tried it before?"
"No, not at all." She shook her head vigorously. "I just saw it in the booklet you gave me, and it looked delicious."
"Just by looking at a recipe, you can tell how good it is. You truly have a good taste for food," Sian said, nodding, as he took several pans out of the magic bag.
"To live up to your expectations, I'll use my best pans and skills," he added.
Charlotte examined the cauldron that Sian placed on the table and asked, "Isn't it too small?"
"Don't worry, it's enchanted with space magic," he replied.
The butler chimed in, "May I take a look at them?"
"Of course," Sian agreed.
After a careful examination, the butler seemed surprised. "These pans are exceptionally well-made, even the magic circuits are skillfully crafted. They are a masterpiece."
"I don't know much about magic tools, but if Winston praises them, they must be excellent," Charlotte said.
"I don't mean to boast, but when it comes to weapons and magic tools, I'm quite skilled. Although I had some assistance in making these little beauties, we used all our knowledge to create the best cooking pans in the world," Sian said, proudly puffing out his chest.
"Now, let's get started." He took out an enormous amount of pork ribs and various ingredients that he had bought earlier from the stalls.
Using wind magic, he cut all the ingredients almost flawlessly.
The amount of chopped ribs was so large that it seemed impossible to fit even a tenth of it in the pan. But thanks to the spatial function, everything fit perfectly.
"From above, it looks like all those pieces of rib have turned into grains of sand. But it's strange; usually, we can't see or smell anything inside a magic bag," Charlotte observed.
"It's because of the well-crafted magic circuits, and also..." Pulling Charlotte, who had her head almost inside the pan, Winston continued, "the materials used are top-notch."
"Why make pans with such a large internal capacity?" Charlotte asked.
"Sometimes I have to feed people who eat way more than you can imagine," Sian said with a slightly awkward smile as he added chopped onions to the pan.
"Do they really eat that much?" Charlotte wondered.
"I'm sure they eat a lot more than you might think," Sian said, preparing another pan to cook the rice.
***
Setting aside the pan, Sian announced, "It's done."
"It looks delicious," Charlotte exclaimed, almost drooling as she sniffed the aroma of the curry.
"My Lady, please compose yourself. You shouldn't drool in public; it might spoil your image," Winston said, gently pulling Charlotte away.
Wiping the drool from her mouth, she replied, "Don't worry about it, we're among friends here. Nothing's going to leave this place."
"Even so, it's essential to control yourself," Winston insisted. "It can be bothersome for the cook when you hover over the pot throughout the process, with your head almost inside."
"It's not that bother, right?" She asked, looking at Sian.
"I've experienced worse. Compared to what Ayze does, this is child's play," Sian chuckled.
***
As they arrived at the cafeteria, the sun was almost gone, and all the children were already there. Sian and Charlotte left the serving duty to the orphanage staff and joined Ophilia and Emily.
Soon, dinner was served, and it proved that Sian's confidence in his cooking skills was well-founded as the meal was a hit among the children. However, three people seemed to have eaten far beyond their capacity: Sian himself, Charlotte, and Emily, who was almost as round as a ball.
After the meal, Sian put on a magic show for the children. He used water magic to prepare various types of ice cream from the fruits he had bought earlier.
"If magicians who spend their whole lives training saw you using magic so casually just to make ice cream, they'd probably have a heart attack from anger," Charlotte remarked as she poured chocolate over the ice cream.
"Anything is worth it for the sake of delicious food," Sian said, following her lead.
"You have my full support," Charlotte replied, giving him a thumbs-up.
After a while, as Sian was preparing to leave, Charlotte called out to him. "Wait, I forgot to tell you something really important."
Sian turned to her. "Something important?"
"Yes, I'm sure you'll be interested in this." She handed Sian an envelope. "I don't know why, but Badonis sends a good amount of money to the orphanage every month as a donation. But he had two conditions: to take care of Emily until she turned 16 and not allow her to be adopted unless it was by the person depicted in the painting inside this envelope."
Opening the envelope, Sian was surprised to see the person in the painting was exactly the woman who was waiting for him a little further away, holding Emily asleep in her arms with affectionate eyes.
Noticing Sian's surprised look, Ophilia came closer. "Did something happen?"
Sian told her what he had just heard and showed her the painting, which left her equally surprised.
"It's me!" Ophilia exclaimed.
"There's something interesting written on the back of the painting too," Charlotte said.
Sian turned the painting over and started reading what was written. "'This Dogkin woman in the painting is the child's mother. At the moment, she is just waiting for fate to decide whether or not to give them the opportunity to reunite again.'"
"I didn't know that, and he never mentioned it either," Ophilia said.
"Maybe he just felt guilty that you had to be separated from your daughter, and that's why he decided to help?" Charlotte said thoughtfully.
"That's a possibility, but I think it's unlikely," Sian said. "He's a person who buys slaves and makes them work as prostitutes, so it's hard to believe that someone like him feels guilty."
"You make a good point, I hadn't thought of that," Charlotte said.
"What do you think?" Sian asked Ophilia.
"I can't think of a reason why he did that," she pondered. "Although he doesn't treat slaves cruelly, he's not a good person either. He always puts profit first. That's one of the reasons I didn't understand why he helped me when I got pregnant. At that moment, I was only going to give him a loss. It's even more unthinkable to me that he sent money to the orphanage to help Emily."
"It's difficult to understand his intentions," Charlotte said.
"Well, it doesn't matter. We can find out simply by paying him a visit tomorrow," Sian said.
They said goodbye to Charlotte and returned to the inn. On the way, under the moonlight, Sian carried the sleeping Emily in his arms, who despite drooling over his shoulder, was still extremely cute.
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