Chapter 7: Adopting the Child

The painful wails of a weeping old man could be heard echoing throughout the Grunewald Forest, overpowering even the loud sirens of the police. It was the husband of the late Elder Caretaker. In the background of Julius' view, the cuffed Julia was taken to custody smoothly, in contrast to her rather robust behavior earlier.

"Why did you do it?" Julius asked the murderer. Julia looked upon his eyes, then the child hiding behind Julius, and then back to his eyes before laughing hysterically like a madman.

"I SEE! I SEE IT NOW! I SEE WHY! NO HARD FEELINGS?! HAHAHAHAHA-" her ramblings would continue before the old man from earlier bashed her face in with a cane. Despite his old stature, he managed to take 2 of her teeth. However, she didn't stop laughing.

"YOU'RE LAUGHING?! YOU'RE LAUGHING WHEN JUST KILLED PETRA? GO TO HELL YOU FUCKING BITCH-" was the old man's words before passing out due to high blood pressure. He was immediately taken to the hospital along with the other injured caretakers.

Eventually, even her laughs would stop. 

The loud ambiance would little by little, fade away...

and away...

and away...

Until all that was left was an odd silence, as if nobody was there except the three of them even though they were surrounded by all manner of people. When Julius looked around him, the police, the children, the ambulance, even the Orphanage. Everyone was gone. All that was left is him, the dark forest, and-

Where's Julia?

He looked left and right, until he turned around and found Julia's face uncomfortably close-up to his. Her eyes were dead, much like his, but it was different. The smile on her face... it was disturbingly wide... as if her mouth was forcibly stretched up to her ears.

Wait... she's much shorter than Julius, how is she...

Is she... levitating?

All of a sudden, Julius felt a feeling. A familiar one. A wild thumping of the chest and an impossibly uneasy feeling in the stomach. He had felt this a long time ago, but it was so long that he forgot when exactly and how.

"Be careful of what you wish for."

After her uttering of these words, it seemed as if everything was just an illusion of hers. Julia was seen laughing in the background as she was dragged into the car by the police. Is it because he drank too much wine before coming to the orphanage? He snaps out of his thoughts when a gentle hand tugged the hems of his shirt. 

"Are you okay?" asked Yuu in English, his face clearly troubled. At first Julius thought it was the kid's concern, but by the look of things-

Grumble~

The intention is probably different. No words were spoken further, and the next thing the child knew is that he's sitting in a comfortably soft chair with a sumptuous meal in front of him.

"Eat up." Julius spoke, almost sternly. 

Yuu was hesitant at first, but when he took his first spoonful, he immediately wolfed the entire plate. It was as if his life wasn't threatened earlier.

I guess kids are just different. - Julius thought to himself.

Knock knock knock!

A slight knocking on the window caught the attention of Julius. It was the general, and he looked even more tired than he usually does. The old man came in to dine with his favorite soldier.

"I left you on your own for an entire day and you've already ran into trouble." The general breathed a long-suffering sigh. "Maybe you shouldn't retire just yet after all. I've already heard everything from the police-"

While talking, a piece of the green peas the child was eating flew into the general's face by accident.

"... Who is this kid?" He asked, but Julius responded silence. Upon recalling the events earlier, The general immediately pieced everything together but still hoped the situation is not what he's thinking it is.

He gazed at Julius, his eyes saying "You can't be thinking of doing what I think you could be doing, right?"

And in return, Julius returned the gaze with his own saying "...Totally not."

But it was futile. The general already knows that when Julius is lying, he tends to scratch the back of his head. 

"I... I have dandruff." The young man refuted even though the general hasn't said anything yet.

And thus, the hour-long sermon started. Will Julius survive the time it's due? He could only endure.

"What an eventful day."