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Five minutes later...
Both of them were sitting on the dirty floor of the alleyway. Silence filled the air until Emilia spoke.
"Hey, kid. How did you get yourself into this situation? If it hadn't been for me, you would've been dead by now."
Alphonso didn’t want to converse with her, but he was still grateful to his benefactor, so he reluctantly replied.
"I needed the money. That guy was an easy target, so I stole his wallet."
"I see... But you didn't have to resort to thievery," Emilia replied gently.
Alphonso remained silent.
"If you could, tell me more about yourself. Don't worry, I'm not the type of person to report people like you to the police." Emilia smiled warmly at the pitiful boy.
Alphonso was hesitant. He didn’t want to reveal anything about himself, but he was captivated by the woman’s dazzling smile.
"I... I just wanted some easy money. My dad's a bastard alcoholic. Every day, he makes me do low-paying jobs while he does nothing but lay around and drink in our run-down house. If I don't buy him rum, he abuses me. I want to run away, but I don't have anywhere to go..." Alphonso's voice started trembling, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Emilia understood his situation and patted his head to comfort him. This boy was merely a teenager, yet his father was truly a piece of shit.
Emilia whispered to herself, "Author, I want to take him in."
[Eh? You're taking him in? Okay, well, it's your choice, Leo.]
Emilia nodded after hearing the Author's words. She whispered in the crying boy's ear.
"Do you want to be my butler, Alphonso?"
Alphonso was taken aback. She wants him to be her... butler?
Alphonso wiped his tears with his arm and looked at her with hopeful eyes.
"Do you really want me to become your butler? A person less than a commoner with no good traits, serving a noble as a butler?"
Emilia patted his back and nodded. "Yes. You don't have to serve your father like you're responsible for him. I don't want you to end up as a bad person being abused daily in these slums. Run away, and be my butler, Alphonso."
She couldn’t stand letting a poor boy be abused by his own father and treated like a slave. He was someone like her after all—a kid with nowhere to go who still had to continue living, even if it meant resorting to petty crimes.
Alphonso was truly grateful to meet such a kind person. Overwhelmed by his intense emotions, he fainted in her arms.
"I guess that is a yes then." Emilia said softly. She latched his body onto her in a piggyback carry and headed home.
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AN: I finally have enough wishes for a guaranteed Furina! (Spent like a 100$ for enough primos) Happy wishing!
Also, I didn't lie when I said I was going to post double chapters today, hehe.
Ex-orphan obtained orphan! The tycoo- I mean family is growing! Heh.
Tftc
Congratulations!!! If I wasn't busy playing arknights she's the only i would pay for too.
I'm playing Arknights right now as well! Although I'm completely new at it and I've just started. Is the game's story any good?
@ggezlmao The lore, world building and themes of the main stories and side stories are some of the best ive read of in fiction... However it's a chore to read, because of overall writing and translation issues, the word count of the first few chapters and side stories are bloated and some characters talk on and on and on... Still good to read, if you got the time... I especially love the Seaborn Intermezzi stories and accompanying stories. And the later Infi-Icefield demon stories are building up to that level too. And the main story is very well done, especially later chapters..
@MiMuMi I see. I've been playing for some time now and I have like, a single complaint on Arknights for now. Some of the characters don't have English voicelines and they either have Japanese or Chinese voicelines. If this is a feature, then it's pretty cool. If it's not a feature, then they should patch it immediately.
@ggezlmao By some time I mean 2 hours :rofl:
@ggezlmao It's amazing, the best written video game in my opinion. I'll say tho, it's tough, so don't be afraid to look for help. But eventually you'll grow to love learning how to beat each level and experimenting with new operators. Its one weakness is that it can get pretty grindy, when it gets like that, just take it easy, trying to force the grind will just make you resent it. Don't worry if you can't finish an event, they're basically cycled through the year, and you can unlock them permanently eventually. If you're stuck in the story it's also fine to go through some events.