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163. Beggar Siblings – Independence

“Lena, it’s time to wake up.”

“Eeeh, just a little more… Hot!”

In a sleepy haze, Lena shot up, startled from a dream where she was playing hide and seek with her older brother. She blinked her eyes wide at the soft sensation and unfamiliar voice, looking around in confusion.

“Did you sleep well?”

– Hiccup!

Lena unintentionally pulled the blanket up to her chin. After glancing at the woman in front of her with hiccups, she realized where she was.

“Uh, hello, sister. Did you sleep well?”

Lena jumped out of bed and quickly bowed in a deep greeting while stepping on the bedding spread on the floor.

This was Ksenia’s room.

Yesterday, her brother had told her she would stay here from now on. Lena didn’t want to be apart from him and had tried to throw a fit, but he insisted,

“I’ll come to see you often. You should stay in a nice place so I can feel better about it.”

And he had left her alone at home.

“You’ll come tomorrow, right? You’ll come every day?”

“Of course. I’ll come tomorrow and the day after. You must behave, okay? And this time, it’s just to come out of the theater, understand? It’s a promise.”

Her brother extended his pinky. But Lena, with a teary face, asked,

“…If it’s a promise, will you really come every day?”

She was afraid he might disappear, leaving her behind. She believed in him but still wanted to get his promise.

A moment of hesitation. “Yes.” — His answer came out with a slight pause. Overwhelmed with anxiety, tears were about to spill, but her brother pulled her into a warm embrace. “I promise. I will come every day,” he said, and her unease eased somewhat.

“Ksenia, please take good care of her. I won’t be a bother for long.”

“I’m sure you won’t. Don’t worry.”

And then her brother left. He turned the corner of the alley with hurried steps. The sun was beginning to set.

“Shall we go inside as well?”

“… Yes.”

The theater was quiet after the audience had left. As Lena felt Ksenia gently patting her shoulder, she followed her around the theater, looking here and there.

But it was late, so the two soon returned to the room. Unlike the silence of the 1st and 2nd floors, the 3rd floor, where people lived, was bustling with activity.

“Oh my, how pretty. I’ve never seen such a child. Who is she?”

As they walked through the corridor, several ladies spoke to them. Lena, feeling tense as they casually approached and patted her head, clutched the hem of Ksenia’s skirt.

“She’s my boyfriend’s little sister. She’ll be staying here for a while.”

“Boyfriend? Ksenia, do you have a lover?”

The attention that had been pouring onto Lena shifted in an instant. In the narrow corridor, as the ladies exchanged questions with each other at the open door, Lena felt Ksenia’s hand pushing her along.

“What kind of person is he?” “How long have you two been dating?” The chattering questions faded as the door closed behind them. Entering Ksenia’s room, Lena stood hesitantly by the door.

It was a nice room.

Through the wide-open window, the sky was painted a yellow hue, and a sweet scent of perfume wafted faintly.

However, standing there, feeling too timid to step onto the carpet, Lena suddenly felt a sharp sense of reality.

A foreign place.

An uncertain space, where she didn’t know if it was okay to touch or sit, wrapped her in loneliness.

“Heeehh… Oooobrother…”

Tears like chicken droppings welled up in Lena’s eyes.

The separation from her brother felt sudden. Before she could digest the incredible events of the day, Lena, left alone, clutched the hem of her clean dress, shaking with sobs.

That moment felt long. When the chatter from outside subsided into silence, terrified Lena finally burst into loud cries.

“Oh my, my! What should I do about this?”

Ksenia returned.

Carrying plates in both hands, she rushed into the room and quickly wrapped her arms around the sobbing Lena by the door.

“It’s because your brother isn’t here, right? That’s why you’re so sad.”

Kneeling and hugging Lena, Ksenia gently swayed her body side to side. As she patted Lena’s back in sync with her heartbeat, Lena also hugged Ksenia back.

How pitiful. Ksenia felt a rush of maternal tenderness when her cheek touched the head of the frail little girl.

Just a while ago, she had been such a bright child. When Leo had gone out with Oberg to find shoes, Lena hadn’t seemed worried at all.

Perhaps she hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of her brother leaving her behind.

The two stayed that way for a while. When the food that Ksenia had brought had grown cold, Lena’s cries gradually subsided, and Ksenia reached out for a handkerchief.

“Hmph, hmph.”

“Hic… Hih… Hmph. Huhhh.”

After wiping the snot and glancing over the handkerchief, Lena used it to dab at her snot-covered mouth. Ksenia helped pinch her adorable little nose to help her blow.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Nodding.

“Then let’s eat. You’re hungry, right? I brought only the tastiest food from the restaurant.”

Nodding.

Ksenia held Lena’s hand tightly and helped her up. Seeing Lena’s feet dangling above the floor as she sat at the table made Ksenia think they needed to get her a taller chair.

How could this child, who is just about to reach adulthood in two years, be this small? It seemed she must have grown up without enough food, yet she had somehow become so beautifully vulnerable.

Ksenia served a piece of pie from her plate onto Lena’s plate. Lena first took tiny bites of the sweet dish containing a fruit called hruska, then started to gulp it down while sobbing.

“Oh my… are you crying again? Is it because it’s delicious this time?”

Ksenia stood and approached her. Teasing her by tickling Lena’s cheeks, she laughed lightly, eliciting a small chuckle from Lena with a sad face.

“Anyone would think your brother left you forever. He’ll come tomorrow; how embarrassed will you be? Stop that now. Yes, yes, you’re a pretty girl.”

Ksenia settled back down.

“I’m Ksenia. What’s your name?” — Starting a conversation they both knew, Lena answered in a calmer voice, and their chat continued softly.

There weren’t any probing questions about how she had been living. Ksenia distracted her with small talk, asking, “Did you see me acting earlier? Did I make any mistakes?”

While they ate, Lena had planned to discuss how they would live together going forward, but that would have to wait.

As Ksenia spoke, Lena quietly nodded her head. As the sun set and darkness enveloped the surroundings, Ksenia set down blankets on the floor for sleepy Lena.

“Lie down here.”

“… Thank you.”

“For what? Just a moment.”

Ksenia closed the window and returned. For a moment, she stayed by Lena’s side in the dark and said, “Sleep well,” before climbing onto her bed to rest.

I wonder if my brother got home well.

Worried about her brother, who would be falling asleep alone in that modest house, Lena soon lost the battle against the cozy blanket and drifted off to sleep.

The first night in a strange environment passed just like that.

*

Lena gradually adjusted to life in the theater.

The three meals served daily were delicious, and everyone in the theater was kind. Although it was probably thanks to Ksenia, no one looked down on her.

There were mainly four groups of people living in this theater.

Actors performing the plays, the maintenance men managing the stage, the thuggish members of the Rauno Family safeguarding the theater,

And the ladies residing on the top floor of the theater.

Lena didn’t understand why these ladies were here, but she received exceptional affection from them. Whenever they saw her, they would say, “Oh my, how pretty. She’s truly lovely…” and gently stroke the hair of the untarnished girl with wistful eyes.

This was a stroke of luck for Lena.

If she wandered down to the audience seats to sneak a peek at Ksenia’s performance, and she was caught by some lecherous man infatuated with her looks, they wouldn’t hesitate to jump to her rescue.

They would grab the back of the man’s neck and shout, “Mr. Oberg! Get this man out of here!”

Lena began to regain her bright smile under the care of the theater people.

“Are you doing well?”

“Brother!”

Her brother came without fail every day.

Except for the first day when he had said briefly that he had some business to discuss with Mr. Oberg and left early, he spent the first few weeks by her side all day, listening to the stories of the day.

“Brother, I played with Tian in the morning, you know~”

“Santian?”

“Yes, he seems to…”

Sitting in the audience gazing at the stage where the play was being rehearsed, Lena whispered softly. Not many people would overhear it.

“I think he likes me.”

As she said that, Lena covered her face and giggled.

Tian was adorable.

He came to the theater often to keep her company, but it turned out he was younger than her!

How ridiculous for him to try to act all manly in front of her. There’s a small space under the stage where people could overhear everything happening in the dressing room, or so he had claimed with an exaggerated declaration, but it was all nonsense.

In no time, Lena and Santian found themselves caught by Mr. Oberg and being scolded, while Tian insisted he would take responsibility, saying, “Lena did nothing wrong! I was the one who planned it.”

“Of course you planned it. Who didn’t know that?” He was scolded even more.

“Ahh, what should I do! I told my brother!”

Lena peeked at her brother through her slightly parted fingers. He was making a peculiar face.

What’s with that expression?

“What do you think?”

“… Must be nice. But Lena.”

“Yeah?”

“You should only stay friends with Tian, okay?”

“… Why?”

Even though she had no thoughts on dating him, she felt an unreasonable rebelliousness. Why was it okay for him to date Ksenia but not her?

Fortunately, her brother’s follow-up response calmed her down.

“It’s just that I don’t know Tian well yet. Surely you didn’t think of dating him without your brother’s permission?”

“Ahh! That tickles, let go!”

“Eh? No way?”

“Ahhahahaha. No, I won’t. Ahh! Help!”

Lena broke free from her brother’s grasp and ran away. She dashed into the dressing room, under the table, through the ventilation under the stage, and out into the audience seats, yet somehow, her brother found her easily.

Tian, you fool! How could you boast about knowing a place my brother also knows? I’ll have to scold you later.

Wasn’t this the happiest time? Her brother visiting every day, playing hide and seek with Tian now and then, and when chased by Mr. Oberg, hiding in Ksenia’s or other ladies’ rooms to read fairy tales…

But after a few weeks, her brother’s visits began to dwindle.

What had initially been every other day turned into three days apart, and eventually, it was a dark evening after a whole week since he last came.

He told Lena he had found a job. He didn’t specify what it was but asked for understanding as it was hard for him to find time due to being busy, while Lena also started to become more independent.

It had only been a month since she entered this Orenju Theater.

One day, as she was moving in and out of the dressing room, watching Ksenia’s rehearsals, a middle-aged man with graying hair approached her.

“Is this Miss Lena? Hello, my name is…”

Lena stared wide-eyed at the neatly dressed gentleman and placed her hand on his outstretched one.

“I’m Brestin.”

His gray eyes met her golden ones. He was the owner of this theater and had once been the master of all the establishments in Orville, and he elegantly kissed the back of Lena’s hand.

“I have something to discuss with you. If you have some time, shall we step inside for a moment?”

Also, he was the half-brother of Lord Brian Zauer, the ruling lord of all the establishments in Orville.

“Sure.”

Innocently responding, Lena followed Brestin towards the private dressing room. Ksenia, who had been practicing in the distance, dashed down from the stage and followed after them, saying, “Just a moment, I’ll be right back.”