Caroline let out a soft sigh, her gaze lowering, the relief in her tone gradually shifting to disappointment.

"But I haven't heard from him in a long time. I heard that five years ago, he lost a battle and was labeled a traitor by the Empire. At one point, his wanted posters were plastered all over the streets."

Her long sigh carried a mix of complex emotions.

Did Ms. Caroline quietly believe in Leon in her heart, or was she disappointed in the most outstanding student she had ever taught?

Leon couldn't quite make up his mind.

Perhaps realizing that she'd said too much, Caroline quickly changed the topic. Her warm smile from earlier returned as she asked,

"Judging by your looks, the two of you haven't been married for long, have you?"

Emmm... does five years count as long?

The couple glanced at each other and wordlessly decided to play along with Caroline's perception.

"Not long," Leon replied. "We were just wandering around when we heard the sound of children playing and decided to take a look."

"Do the two of you love children?"

"Yes, my wife and I both love kids."

They loved kids so much that they'd managed to have three children in just five short years of marriage.

Caroline chuckled, slowly turning to gaze at the children playing in the courtyard.

"If only all parents were like you two, there wouldn't be so many poor little souls like these in the world."

Having worked as a teacher at the orphanage for decades, Caroline's sympathetic nature was something that Leon was well aware of.

She loved children but had never married in her life.

Partly, it was because of her duties as a nun, but there was another reason—a crucial one. Caroline knew that if she ever had children of her own, she wouldn't be able to give equal love and attention to every orphan in the orphanage, as she did now.

These children had already been abandoned once. It was the orphanage that granted them a second chance to face life with courage.

But this process required the nuns to fill the void in their hearts with love.

And so, Caroline had never had children of her own.

Or rather, every child in the orphanage was her child.

"Teacher! Teacher!"

As they chatted away, a young nun came running over.

Leon looked in her direction, and his mouth opened slightly in surprise.

"Sharon..."

Roswitha turned her head to glance at him.

Had he just called out that young nun's name?

Judging by Leon's expression, it seemed this was indeed someone he knew.

Roswitha wasn’t jealous, though. Leon's tone and gaze were purely those of astonishment and confusion at a familiar face, devoid of any melodramatic "lost love" sentiment.

"What is it, Sharon?"

The young nun named Sharon stood before Caroline and said, "Teacher, we still haven't finished making enough paper lanterns for the Lantern Festival. The director said we need to hurry."

"Alright, I'll go back and help right away."

"Okay, then I'll—"

As Sharon was about to leave, she casually caught sight of the couple standing nearby.

She didn’t recognize the beautiful woman with dark hair.

But the man...

Sharon squinted slightly. "Wait, sir, have we met before?"

Before Leon could answer, he suddenly felt an increase in pressure on his hand.

Turning his head, he saw it was Roswitha.

The Queen had activated their private "team chat."

**"Yes, darling, have you two met before?"**

Not jealous, but definitely wanting to get to the bottom of this "familiar face" situation.

**"Ever heard me tell the story of how I single-handedly fought off a wild dog when I was five?"**

**"Yes, to save a little girl, right?"**

**"That little girl is her."**

**"..."**

Roswitha rolled her eyes speechlessly.

The world truly was small, and fate was undeniably strange.

After finishing his quick explanation to his queen, Leon, once again feigning unfamiliarity, replied,

"I don't think we've met. I have one of those faces that people often mistake for someone else. Even Teacher Caroline mistook me for someone earlier."

Sharon nodded in realization. "Ah, I see... I thought maybe Brother Leon has come back."

The single utterance of "Brother Leon" caused the force on Leon's hand to intensify again by a few degrees.

On the surface, though, Leon had to maintain an expression of nonchalance.

Ugh, in hindsight, maybe he should’ve stayed anonymous when doing good deeds as a child.

"You mistook him for Leon too?"

Caroline chuckled helplessly. "I wonder how that child is doing now... Could he have already been captured by the Empire?"

"Absolutely not!"

Sharon, being young and straightforward, blurted out passionately, "Brother Leon would never be captured. And besides... I never believed for a second that he was a traitor."

Caroline glanced at Leon and Roswitha, subtly pressing down on Sharon's wrist as a signal to stop. Then, she gave the couple an apologetic smile.

"Please don't mind her; Sharon often speaks without thinking."

Given that Caroline couldn't determine exactly who Leon and Roswitha were, it was best to avoid sensitive topics involving treason altogether.

Although she missed "that child" dearly, as someone living under the Empire's dominion, she could only follow the rules of the land.

"It's fine," Leon said. "I overheard Sharon mention you're making paper lanterns for the Lantern Festival?"

"Yes."

"Does the orphanage often take on work like this?"

While the Lantern Festival was a major holiday in the Empire, Leon distinctly remembered that the orphanage had never made its own paper lanterns before. They usually purchased them directly from shops.

"Yes, it's something we’ve had to do lately to scrape together some extra funds."

Hearing this, Leon frowned slightly.

Since when had the orphanage in the Midtown District stooped to making paper lanterns just to "make ends meet"?

Looking around at the evident wear and tear on the church and its entrance, Leon felt a vague sense of foreboding creeping into his mind.

"But isn't the orphanage funded by the Empire? How..."

"Ah, it's nothing—"

"Of course it used to be funded by the royal family! But in recent years, they've added all these ridiculous layers of red tape. By the time the funding trickles down to us, we're lucky if we receive a third of it!"

Sharon interjected, her frustration evident.

This time, even Caroline didn’t intervene to stop her.

And as Sharon vented her anger, Leon's heart grew heavier and graver.

How had it come to this?

The once-thriving Empire—how had it decayed so quickly in just a few short years?

From the time his mentor had wandered the gray areas of gambling, drugs, and crime to pressure the Empire...

To the moment Leon himself was falsely accused of treason...

To the discovery that their collaboration with the Dragon Clan was ultimately meant for greater exploitation of the people...

And now... their corrupt claws had reached even the orphanage.

That rotten stench of power infiltrated the Empire like a relentless plague.

"And so, we had no choice but to make some paper lanterns to sell in the Upper District," Caroline concluded. "We can't possibly let the children eat dry, stale bread during the festival."

Leon suppressed his inner wave of disappointment and anger, asking, "When did this trend more or less start?"

"About five years—"

"Ever since Brother Leon disappeared." Sharon cut in, her straightforward nature once again taking over. "Things have just gotten worse and worse for everyone since then."

Caroline shook her head with a wry smile. "As blunt as this girl is, she seems to be right. Five years ago, when Leon vanished... I don’t know why, but it feels like everyone’s quality of life just spiraled downhill."

"I know why, teacher!" Sharon exclaimed. "Leon was the leader of the Dragon Slayer Army back then! He had military power and was upright and fearless—he would never have let those royals get away with their dirty tricks, which is why—"

"You've said too much, Sharon," Caroline cut her off.

"...Tch!"

The young nun pouted, muttering under her breath,

"All I'm saying is, with Brother Leon around, we’d surely be better off now."

"But he isn't here anymore, Sharon."

That statement seemed to strike a tender spot in Caroline’s heart. Her gaze fell, and in a soft voice, she repeated,

"He... isn't here anymore."

The atmosphere grew heavy.

But Caroline, ever resilient, quickly composed herself.

"I'm sorry. These are just the idle musings of us common folk."

"Ah... no, it’s okay."

Had Caroline and Sharon not "mistaken" Leon for Leon, they probably wouldn’t have discussed such subjects at all.

So Leon wasn’t too concerned about their words being overheard or used against them by any opportunistic adversaries.

**Dong—Dong—**

The orphanage’s clock rang, signaling dinnertime.

"Would you two care to stay for a simple meal?" Caroline asked.

"Oh, no, thank you."

"Alright then. I hope you both enjoy your time in the Empire. We must be heading back now."

"Of course."

Caroline and Sharon bowed politely before turning to leave.

But suddenly, Leon called after them.

"Wait, Ms. Caroline."

"Was there something else, sir?"

Leon pulled out his wallet, extracting some gold coins.

"I’d like to pre-order all your paper lanterns for the Lantern Festival. I’ll pick them up in two days."

Caroline looked at the coins, hesitating for a moment before replying,

"That's far too much money, sir. We couldn't possibly make that many paper lanterns."

Leon’s mind worked quickly, and he smoothly replied, "Then the rest of the money can be considered my donation to the orphanage."

"Eh... well. Thank you, sir. May I ask your name?"

"Constantine."

"A magnificent, promising name—Mr. Constantine."

Caroline accepted the coins. "We’ll do our best to make as many paper lanterns as we can."

"Good."

With that, Caroline gave a slight nod and turned to leave.

Once the two nuns had departed, Roswitha crossed her arms over her chest, huffing softly.

"You really are the kind of person who does good deeds without leaving a name, aren't you? BROTHER LEON," Roswitha teased.

Leon grinned widely and hooked Roswitha's arm. "Didn't I leave a name just now?"

Roswitha couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

"Leaving the name 'Constantine'? What does that even count as, you idiot!"

"Building up public goodwill in advance for the Crimson Flame Dragon King’s support three days from now," Leon said seriously, crafting a quick excuse.

Roswitha rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, let's head back."

After a short pause, she turned around to look at Leon again and flashed a fawning smile. "Want me to give you a ride and fly you back, Brother Leon?"

"You’re no fun, you old dragon!"

…

Meanwhile, back at the orphanage canteen, Caroline and Sharon were busy handing out dinner to the children.

After finishing the distribution, the two sat to the side and started chatting in a low voice.

"Mr. Constantine really is a kind person," young nun Sharon said softly, her tone tinged with admiration.

However, Caroline furrowed her brow slightly.

"But I still feel he’s so much like Leon... really, eerily similar."

Sharon scratched her temple and sighed. "I think so too, but Brother Leon hasn’t been heard from in so many years. Who knows where he is now. I really wish he would come back to help us…"

Help us…

Caroline lowered her gaze to the few gold coins in her hand. They were given to them earlier by "Mr. Constantine."

After a moment of deep thought, Caroline’s eyes slowly widened.

"Sharon…"

"What is it, Sister Caroline?"

"I never told that man my name during the entire conversation, so why did he keep calling me ‘Ms. Caroline’?"

It was as if a bolt of lightning struck Sharon’s mind, exploding with a deafening bang.

She froze for a second, then inhaled sharply, exclaiming in disbelief,

"Le-Leon-bro is bac—mmph!"

This time, Caroline acted fast and covered Sharon’s mouth.

Just as Sharon was about to brush Caroline's hand off, she realized something remarkable: this veteran nun, who had served at the orphanage for decades, was now lightly leaning against her shoulders, quietly sobbing.

"He’s back… Sharon, he’s really back."