Volume 5, Chapter 22 – The Necklaces That Connect Souls

“Andrea, is this the orphanage?”

Looking at the orphanage in front of her, which could be described as nothing less than “dilapidated,” Yisi subconsciously voiced her inner question.

Andrea lowered her head in shame. “Yes. Due to funding issues, the orphanage was renovated from abandoned houses…”

“Better than no place to live,” Tiffany encouraged Andrea.

But that didn’t change the facts. Yisi had initially thought the orphanage would have a design similar to a monastery, but it turned out to be just a cluster of single-story stone houses. If these houses weren’t enclosed by a two-meter-high wall, no one would ever think this was an orphanage. ¹ corruuupttttt?!?! smhhh

Moss crawled over the surface of the stone walls, and the areas not covered by the dark green were weathered and peeling, reminiscent of uneven fish scales. Peeking inside through the iron gate, the entire courtyard was barren. There were no paving stones, nor were there any flowers or plants—to be precise, there was something like plants, but it was actually a vegetable garden, which an elderly woman was tending to.

The [Omniscient Map] showed that there were fewer than ten people in the orphanage, a huge discrepancy from the situation Andrea had described, where each orphanage had at least a hundred people.

As if she knew the way by heart, Andrea walked to the iron gate and knocked by pulling the iron ring on the door. The elderly woman in the front yard stopped what she was doing and walked step by step to the gate. Upon seeing Andrea, her mouth fell open in an exaggerated way, and she hurriedly opened the gate.

“Th-This is Her Majesty the Queen!” As she spoke, the old woman opened the gate. Soon, her gaze fell on Yisi. “Your Majesty, these three are…?”

“They’re friends I made recently.” Clearly acquainted with the elderly woman, Andrea puffed out her chest proudly and introduced the three of them. The five of them walked into the orphanage together.

According to the old woman, she was the director of this orphanage. There were a total of 114 children under the age of 15 in the entire orphanage, as well as seven staff members responsible for its operation, all of whom were middle-aged women.

Hearing Andrea relay the news from the noble council about the orphanage’s future, the old woman, whose face was covered in wrinkles, breathed a sigh of relief.

“So the nobles and you, Your Majesty, will be responsible for the orphanage’s expenses from now on? That’s wonderful. To be honest, although the orphanage is for protecting the children, whenever I think about spending the treasury’s money that’s meant for buying weapons for the soldiers, my conscience troubles me at night.”

“The orphanage was a decision approved by everyone. You don’t need to put that psychological burden on yourself, Director.” Andrea responded to the old woman with a vibrant smile.

However, Andrea only relayed the result to the director and didn’t talk about the process, such as how some nobles had wanted to close the orphanage, or how she had initially intended to bear all the expenses herself. The reason she didn’t say anything was likely to avoid adding to the director’s stress.

She’s too kind.

Yisi, who had been following behind the two, took the initiative to ask a question for the first time.

“I don’t seem to see any of the children from the orphanage. Where did they go?”

Although they hadn’t actually gone inside the rooms, there were no sounds of children in the corridors.

The director said with a wry smile, “It’s natural that you wouldn’t know, Your Grace, since this is your first time here. Most of those children are currently working as apprentices in the workshops in the Royal Castle. When they come of age or are able to work, they can leave the orphanage and become adults. This is for their future’s sake.”

“Eh, are all the children here capable of being apprentices?”

“A large portion of them. As long as they are over ten years old, the boys can go out and become someone’s apprentice. Those who are not yet ten gather firewood on the outskirts of the city. This can both supplement the orphanage’s daily needs and build up their physical strength. Of course, we always send someone with them each time to prevent them from getting lost. As for the children who are not yet six, they can only stay in the orphanage and learn to read and write.”

“I see.”

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It sounded harsh, but it was actually a common practice in this world. Children from ordinary families would go out to gather firewood and wild vegetables with the neighborhood kids after they turned six. When they were a little older, they could become apprentices in workshops. In comparison, the orphanage also taught simple reading and writing in their spare time, which was already much better than most families—the literacy rate in this other world was extremely low.

Taking Mary and Tiffany as an example, neither of them knew the Hyurent language of the Blood Clan, so when communicating normally, Yisi and Camilla would specifically choose to use the Hels language of the Hels Kingdom. Of course, Yisi had thought about changing the situation, for example, by asking Camilla and Refina to teach Mary and Tiffany the Blood Clan’s script, but due to the lack of teaching materials, and the fact that learning a language is not a matter of a day or two, neither of them had made much progress so far.

“Is Your Grace here to adopt a child?” the director asked abruptly. “Although you look young, Your Grace, we of the Blood Clan cannot judge age by appearance. Since you have a half-elf and a human child with you, it must mean that you already have experience with adoption.”

“No, no, that’s not it. I’m not yet an adult.” Edith was only 14, so she, who had a copy of Edith’s body, was naturally not much older.

A look of disappointment appeared in the director’s eyes, her gaze resting on Mary and Tiffany behind Yisi. “I thought some lucky child would be taken in by Your Grace. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such healthy children. Dressed so beautifully, just like princesses.”

If Mary could understand what the director was saying, she would definitely have a happy and proud expression right now. Yisi had this feeling, but unfortunately, Mary and Tiffany could only look at the old woman with curious eyes.

Yisi changed the subject in a timely manner. “When do the children of the orphanage get back?”

“It’s already morning. They should be back one after another soon.”

“May we borrow the kitchen?”

“The kitchen? Your Grace is going to…” The director’s cloudy eyes were full of confusion. Yisi placed her hand on the wistful-looking Andrea’s shoulder.

“Bake pastries.”

…

Although the director had tactfully expressed that the Queen could not go into the kitchen, as it would damage her majesty’s dignity if others found out, Yisi had guaranteed that no one else would be allowed near the kitchen, and Andrea herself had strongly requested to bake. In the end, the director could only reluctantly agree.

Now, the four of them were in a room that could be considered spacious.

“As expected of a kitchen that prepares food for over a hundred people. It’s much bigger than a normal kitchen.”

“It needs a bit of cleaning.”

“Leave it to me.” Tiffany patted her chest at Mary, but of course, Mary wouldn’t let her be solely responsible and took the initiative to pick up a broom.

“I’ll help.”

“Mm.”

Seeing Mary and Tiffany start to clean the kitchen—with Tiffany around, it was hard for dust to accumulate—Yisi and Andrea began to prepare the desserts.

Facing a workstation piled high with flour, sugar, butter, and eggs, Andrea took out a pair of well-washed cotton gloves from her storage magic, put them on eagerly, and tilted her head to look at Yisi.

“Do you know how to make pastries too, Lady Yisi? I always thought you were an adult, but I didn’t expect you to be the same as me… Boris is over a hundred years old and is only Level 52. Why were you able to become so strong?”

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“Well, talent? You’re already very strong, Andrea, being Level 21 before you’re even 13.”

“I’m still far from my mother…” Halfway through her sentence, Andrea’s gaze was drawn to the square iron box in Yisi’s hand. “What is that in your hand, Lady Yisi? I can feel magic circuits inside. Is it a magic tool?”

“I suppose you could call it a magic tool?”

Using a questioning tone uncertainly, Yisi placed the iron box, which required both hands to hold, on the workstation. This was a simple oven she had made in a short amount of time using [Foundry Platform – Tier 4]. Because the production time was very short, and she had never studied the principles of an oven in the past, the entire oven was exceptionally crude. It had no knobs to adjust the baking time or temperature, no insulation, and even the glass window for observing the inside of the oven had been replaced with an iron plate. To an outsider, it looked no different from an ordinary iron box.

Only Yisi herself knew the details.

The oven itself had a double-layered structure, with a gap between the layers. In this gap, Yisi had added a “Flame” magic circuit. As long as magic was injected into the oven, flames would ignite in the gap between the layers. At the same time, to ensure the flames could continue to burn, Yisi had also added magic to ensure air circulation. As for how to control the temperature and baking time, it could only be controlled by the user. The more magic injected at one time, the longer the flames would burn. The different magic circuits injected would also change the temperature of the flames. Yisi had set a total of five different levels of magic circuits, with the lowest being 100 degrees Celsius and the highest being 300 degrees Celsius.

Andrea’s eyes widened as she carefully observed the oven, a look of curiosity on her face. “What does it do?”

Since it was something she had made with her own hands, it naturally gave her a sense of pride to see it arouse someone’s curiosity. Yisi crossed her arms. “Hmph, this is a magic tool that can create delicious food.”

Just like on Earth, the bread in this world was made by baking. The difference was that because there were no ovens, it could only be baked in earthen stoves made of brick and stone with a grid. Of course, not every household had such equipment. If ordinary people didn’t want to buy finished bread from a shop, they could only take their own dough to a place with a stove and rent it. This would cost extra time, energy, and money, which was why Yisi had thought of making a portable oven that could be used at any time.

To demonstrate for Andrea, Yisi first took a ball of fermented dough and placed it on a grid tray. Then, she slid the grid tray onto the tracks reserved in the oven.

Closing the oven door, she injected magic into the oven. The sound of flames igniting could be heard. After a few seconds, Yisi felt a distinct heat in her palm.

If it were an ordinary person, their hand would probably have a layer of skin burned off by now. She would have to make an insulation device later. Thinking this, Yisi estimated the time. After about half a minute, she stopped injecting magic and let the residual magic in the circuit run its course.

After waiting for a while, Yisi opened the oven. The dough that had been stuffed inside was now a slightly charred yellow.

…The temperature was too high.

But Andrea’s eyes were sparkling like stars. “So… so amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a magic tool like this. It can bake bread without any visible flames. Lady Yisi, can I use it too? If I have this magic tool, I can try even more desserts in my room!”

“Not yet. We have to wait until I add a layer of insulation to the outside of the oven, otherwise you’ll get burned, Andrea. Hmm—want to try some?” Yisi shook the slightly burnt, steaming bread at Andrea. Something made by one’s own hands would taste delicious even if it wasn’t good. After tasting a little, Yisi felt that it wasn’t much worse than the bread sold in the shops.

Taking the small piece of bread Yisi handed her with her gloved hand, Andrea kept blowing on it, trying to cool it down. Her cute appearance made Yisi unable to help but laugh.

Looking at her like this, Andrea was completely a child.

“What color oven do you want, Andrea?”

“Eh? Me?”

“That’s right. I can make many of these ovens. If you want a pink one, Andrea, I just need to add a pink shell.”

“But to just give me something so precious…”

“It’s fine.”

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Recalling the large bag of gold coins Yisi had taken out at the dessert shop, Andrea swallowed hard. After hesitating for a long time, she finally succumbed to the charm of the oven and said in an exceptionally small voice, “Then… then I’ll have a pink one… Thank you, Lady Yisi.”

Being asked by Andrea, Yisi felt a surge of motivation.

“Hmph, leave it to me.”

“I feel like if you were to sell such a convenient tool, you could make a lot of money. The nobles would surely be lining up to buy it.”

“I have no intention of selling ovens. That would be too much trouble. I only give them to people I like.”

“L-L-L-Like…”

Without any warning, Andrea’s cheeks turned red with a ‘poof,’ and her speech began to stammer.

She must have thought of Camilla and Edith’s slanderous remarks again. Yisi quickly corrected her.

“The ‘like’ here refers to the like between friends. Although it’s perverted of me to admit that I like beautiful girls in front of you, Andrea, I wouldn’t get excited over you.”

If she could get excited over Andrea, she could be thrown in prison.

As if her pride had been hurt, Andrea looked up with her golden eyes, unwilling to back down, her wings beating forcefully.

“Why wouldn’t you get excited over me? I-I’m a beautiful girl too. In just a few more years…”

Does a beautiful girl call herself a beautiful girl? Although she wanted to ask that, Yisi deliberately chose a different way to tease Andrea.

“Well then, do you want me to get excited, Andrea?”

Like a boiling kettle, Andrea’s whole body went rigid. The blush on her face quickly spread from her neck to the tips of her ears. Her shoulders fidgeted, and her gaze guiltily shifted away from Yisi.

“Th-That… would be very troubling for me…”

With a “just as I thought” look, Yisi threw up her hands. “There you have it.”

“But if it’s what you like, Lady Yisi, it’s… it’s not impossible… I’ll just force myself… force myself to endure it…”

“That’s not going to happen.” Yisi tapped Andrea on the head with a karate chop.

What is this girl thinking about all day? She was a queen, yet surprisingly innocent.

The pain on her forehead and the emotional trauma made Andrea look up with teary eyes.

“You’re so mean, Lady Yisi!”

“You… you don’t even know what you’re thinking yourself, do you? Now, if we don’t hurry up and make the desserts, we’ll run out of time.”

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“Nnnngh.” As if throwing a tantrum, Andrea made a dissatisfied sound, but her hands obediently began to make the desserts.

Her pink pigtails and night-colored formal dress swayed gently with the movement of her hands as she kneaded the pastry. Her serious profile, illuminated by the morning light streaming through the window, became clear and dazzling. Coupled with her petite body and not-yet-fully-developed delicate wings, it naturally made one want to protect her.

Abruptly, a feeling of annoyance welled up in Yisi’s heart.

Andrea will probably become a very virtuous, gentle, and lovely wife in the future. Damn it, the guy who gets to marry Andrea will have used up his entire life’s luck. If only Andrea were a few years older—

“…Actually, those people were giving me a hard time earlier because I hurt them.”

Without any warning, Andrea spoke.

Those people from earlier? Yisi was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood who Andrea was referring to. The “people from earlier” must be the students from the academy who had used attack magic on Andrea. Yisi subconsciously asked, “You hurt them, Andrea?”

As if she found it hard to say, yet was forcing herself to for some reason, Andrea bit her lip, her right hand tightly clutching the spot on her neck where the necklace used to be—now there was nothing there.

“Yes… You must have heard what they said, Lady Yisi, about me being possessed by a demon.”

Yisi put down the dough in her hand. “Wasn’t that just them slandering you, Andrea?”

“It’s not like that. Actually, I have hardly ever participated in political matters.”

Andrea’s voice became extremely quiet. Yisi did not interrupt, but let her continue as if she were talking to herself.

“On my sixth birthday, my mother gave me a necklace. She said it was a magic tool that could protect me, and I always wore it as a good luck charm. Nothing happened at first, until I was eight years old, when my mother fought the fallen angel Camael…”

What followed must have been the death of Alvier VI in battle, and Andrea taking over as the Queen of the Blood Clan.

“After I ascended the throne without knowing anything, looking at the chaotic mess of the noble council, I discovered the function of the necklace for the first time—it could swap bodies with the other person wearing a necklace.”

Another person? Swap bodies? Hetty’s words suddenly came to mind. At the time, Hetty had told her that the Queen of the Blood Clan and the next Pope of the Ymir Church possessed necklaces that could connect souls. At that time, her attention had been entirely on the fact that the two necklaces could create a new body when combined. Looking back now, the so-called connecting of souls must have referred to what Andrea was talking about, swapping bodies.

Although it was incredible, this was a world with magic. Trying to explain it with science was just asking for trouble. Of course, there were still many points of doubt, such as why the next Pope of the church would have the other half of the necklace.

Lost in her memories, Andrea continued to murmur. “You might find this incredible, Lady Yisi, and you might be angry at what I’ve done, but this is something I must face. The person I swapped bodies with is the next Pope of the Ymir Church, Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu. With the help of the necklaces, as long as we both agree, we can exchange souls. I become the next Pope of the church, and Evelyn becomes the seventh-generation Queen of the Blood Clan, Alvier VII.”

“Evelyn was tired of an environment where she couldn’t use her talents. After we got to know each other, we reached a secret known only to the two of us. I would guide the believers and complete the prayers in the church in her place, and she would manage the internal affairs of the Blood Clan and preside over the noble council in my place.”

“Although I would correct things I didn’t like afterward, I wouldn’t interfere too much with the overall picture. The new policies everyone talks about were actually proposed by Evelyn. The implementation of the new policies would break the old system and contravene the interests of a large number of nobles, so Evelyn moved all the nobles who stood in the way to nominal positions, and those families fell into decline.”

A faint sadness appeared in Andrea’s eyes.

“Although it was not my doing, I permit it all. It’s only natural that they resent me. Just as they said, I’m just an incompetent king.”