1 Chapter 1 — Guests

First 10 chapters are introductory, in Leo's original world, who is still unaware of magic and everything related with other worlds, so there will be no action but it will still show Leo's development and his first women. Why do I do this? well, they will not appear in at least 100 chapters as I have planned so I hope with this you can understand why they are important to Leo.

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Italy – 9:00 p.m.

Unlike a normal day at the orphanage where no one could have the lights on after 7:00 p.m. today you could see the worn out light bulbs trying to illuminate the hallway and living room with all their might.

The caregivers were nervously walking in circles waiting for an important and high status person to visit this old building, they couldn't afford to offend the guests and they didn't know what they wanted from them either, an old lady and children with no family.

When the priest of the church, located in the center of the city, approached them yesterday, they were hoping to have received an incredible donation since the same priest came in person, but never imagined he would bring them news of high-ranking people's arrival from the capital.

They did not have the money to buy fresh bread, much less to properly receive people from the capital.

That same day they decided to make a collection among all the orphanage workers, who gave all their savings, and buy the best ingredients they could quote to prepare the most appetizing breakfast and lunch possible with their scarce resources.

They were so anxious that they didn't consider that people like them would never stoop to eat in such a place. However, it would be much worse to offend them by not preparing anything for them so in a way it wasn't a waste.

Returning to the present, in a humble room 3 people were with their hands clasped on their chests.

One of them was an old woman with small spots on her face that were obviously not those pretty freckles of a girl, but marks of the passage of time on that skin that once attracted young men who needed a woman's affection.

She was the matron of the orphanage, and next to her were the cook and the teacher, they were both quite young, but they lived in the capital until a few months ago, so they have the best manners among all the residents and were assigned to accompany Mrs. Lorenza.

Although their appearance could be considered ordinary, life in a remote orphanage had shaped their bodies giving them a delicate and slender appearance, of course some people would call it malnutrition as anyone could say that with a little more fat in the right places and they would be very attractive ladies for male eyes.

The two young girls had stopped walking in circles and began to pray that the guests wouldn't stay too long in their old building.

While they were upset that they wasted the expensive food they prepared with the money from the orphanage, they weren't going to do anything more than that, if they were other people they might as well go to sleep without receiving them.

Though they were poor, they had principles and respected others, in the same way they expected others to respect them and not look down on them because they were from an orphanage.

However, this time they just wanted to avoid disturbing the latecomers. Its humble room and flickering lights plus the coldness felt through the thin walls would surely make anyone uncomfortable.

"Mrs. Lorenza, they are taking too long! if they don't come soon we'll have to greet them with candles because these old light bulbs will soon go out" said the cook anxiously, unable to bear the uncomfortable silence any longer.

"We can only pray Larissa, it's not like we can do anything to rush them. You know we are just homeless outcasts in their eyes" replied the young teacher.

"Haa… if we only knew what they want from us… we don't have anything that can catch their attention, I am not even that beautiful for a young master to have fallen in love with me during my time in the capital", Larissa said with a sigh before joining hands again to pray again.

'I don't understand how you can maintain your vanity even in this situation' Irina thought before letting out a sigh as she remembered all the times she had heard Larissa praise her own beauty in the last few months.

Mrs. Lorenza said nothing. She knew they could only wait and she had a bad feeling about what would happen tonight.

She didn't pray to avoid the guests' displeasure, she had lived long enough to understand people with money and power. She was undoubtedly a wise and cunning person, during her youth she saw many things, and she learned how to use her beauty to live in the best possible way.

Now that she only had the knowledge and the wrinkles of life left, she was satisfied taking care of children no one wants. She never had children and she was grateful for that for a long time, but at some point she began to dream of being a mother.

Every time she saw her friends' children she wondered if she would smile the same way if she had a child. She might be sly and manipulative, but she wasn't a bad person. She was only looking for the best way to be happy.

After meeting several men she found one who broke through to her heart. She wanted to form a family with him, but she was infertile. They got married and built this orphanage, those were the happiest moments of her life...

No memories of those days when she ate fancy meals with rich young men who praised her beauty were better than the ones she formed with homeless children and her husband.

Now all she had left was this old building and the children. Her husband died 8 years ago when he went to the capital for a talk with one of his old friends to raise some money to remodel the orphanage. However, a construction accident took the lives of 13 people, including her husband who was visiting one of the children they had previously taken care for.

Many of the children who left the orphanage did not return, that's how she raised them. She knew very well how the world worked and sentimental and naive people would be used and discarded. She was proud of them, she knew they were good people, maybe not rich, but they ensured their happiness. She loves them as if they were her own children and no matter how ungrateful or inconsiderate they are, a mother will always hold them in her heart.

All the old woman wanted was being able to care for these children to the end and she couldn't help but feel that today's visitors would bring bad news. With her age there was little she could do, so she just could pray.

10 p.m.

*Knock Knock Knock Knock*

The rapping of knuckles against the wooden door echoed through the room.

"I-Irina it's them!" Larissa said as a stutter escaped her out of nervousness.

"They must be. Calm down Larissa, we don't want to cause any trouble for the orphanage" said Irina taking a deep breath to calm down as she was also a bit nervous.

"Well girls, who will open the door? We must not keep the guests waiting" Mrs. Lorenza asked with a calm smile. Both girls could only admire the temperament of her matron.

"I'll go" Irina said before heading towards the door with quick steps. She knew that if she let Larissa greet visitors she might as well faint before letting them in.

"Huff..." A sigh of relief came out of Larissa when she saw that she didn't have to open the door.

Mrs. Lorenza shook her head seeing how young and immature they were and thought she should teach them some things later.

....

Even though the flickering lights in the hallway illuminate the room at times, I can't be as happy as the children around me. Mom Lorenza said I should treat them as if they were my siblings because those of us who live in this house are a family, but I've given up on that, they will never see me as their brother.

I came to this house more than a year ago, I don't have many memories before that but I know I had parents and they loved me but for some reason we couldn't be together. The last thing I remember is a woman handing me mom Lorenza when I was half asleep, she was my real mother I can tell. Although I don't remember what she looked like, I can feel that she was important to me.

I'm smarter than kids my age and since I didn't have many memories of my past, I accepted the idea that the people in this house would be my new family, or so I hoped.

At first the other kids looked at me with curiosity and amusement, I can't blame them for that, I know I'm different, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with being treated like the cute house pet. I recognize I am physically weaker than I should be at my age and I may appear listless but I don't really have the energy to do what I want so I just give up on things that require physical exertion as I will only hurt myself if I try to be like the others.

I don't mind be different, but I can't say I'm happy either. Besides being physically weak, I can't hear properly either, and the most important thing are my eyes. I'm not blind or anything like that, but you could say that I have cat eyes, although I prefer to call them dragon eyes, like the ones that appear in some of sister Irina's books.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the people in this house. Although they treat me differently, I can say that some care about me. And I have no problem considering those who respect me as my family; however, they are only older people like sister Irina, who is acting as our teacher since we can't go to school.

Back on topic, my eyes made me the cute pet of the children of this house. While it made me uncomfortable, I couldn't do much to change it, I'm too weak to argue with energetic children who can't dialogue properly.

After a year living here, each of us began to recognize each other's characteristics and identify their role in the house. There was the obese boy, even though we didn't have much to eat; the girl who liked to dress pretty, always wearing the best clothes in the orphanage; the boy who liked to make jokes, some of them about me; and so there were many more. My apathetic attitude and eyes got me the nickname of the cat boy, the cute pet, as I should have expected...

However, that did not last long, as we grew up our habits changed as well. Not everyone slept when they lay down in bed, even in complete darkness some wanted to talk or play, always keeping noise to a minimum to avoid drawing the attention of one of our caregivers.

It was when I wanted to tell them they were being too noisy that they all fell silent without me saying anything. My look with furrowed eyebrows, due to the discomfort of not being able to sleep, caused commotion in the children. It was after a few seconds that they all started screaming… leaving me speechless. I couldn't understand why they were screaming until I heard some terrified screams calling me a 'monster' and I understood that I was the cause of their fear.

Seconds later, mom Lorenza and sister Irina arrived. They were the ones who worried about us the most, and seeing that everyone was horrified and shouted 'monster' they couldn't understand what monster they were talking about until some of them pointed at me. I was still in my bed looking at everything without saying a word. I was too shocked, and when I felt the look of mom Lorenza and sister Irina I felt like I might die of anxiety. I didn't want to be a monster, I didn't want them to call me a monster too. I can be quite smart for my age and control my feelings so I don't get carried away and hate them, but that doesn't mean I don't feel anything. I would rather be called cat boy than be a monster, and seeing sister Irina's frightened face I could feel nails being hammered into my chest mercilessly as tears began to fall from my face.