After breakfast, while the rest of the children began their morning classes as usual, Elena picked up her breakfast to attend to Benedictus, who was still bedridden and recuperating.
The orphanage wasn't large; Benedictus's room was just a few minutes' walk from the dining hall.
The unique wooden and stone structure of the buildings in the British region, though sturdy, posed significant challenges in terms of moisture and dampness.
As soon as Elena pushed the door open, she felt the distinctive dampness of the lakeside house. Frowning, she placed the tray she was carrying down and walked to the window, opening it.
The cool breeze of the early morning swept away the dampness from the room, invigorating the atmosphere.
"Thank goodness you're here. Otherwise, the orphanage would have been in chaos by now. You've really been through a lot," came a deep voice from behind Elena. Turning around, she saw Benedictus sitting up in bed, leaning against the wall. Though his face was still somewhat pale due to the cold and a headache, his spirit seemed much better than a few days ago.
"If you ever hide things from me again and secretly go to illegal boxing matches to earn money, I swear I won't help you next time."
The silver-haired girl huffed, striding aggressively to Benedictus's bedside, her lake-blue eyes filled with reproach.
If there were a contest for overly kind people, Benedictus would surely be among the top few.
Benedictus was born into a poor family, unable to afford education. He struggled with drugs, mingled in society, sought help from priests, only to be turned away from churches. Luckily, a Spanish brotherhood took him in, educated him, and guided him to become a priest.
Reflecting on his helpless childhood, Benedictus established an orphanage near his own small church. Relying on government aid, donations, and his income as a priest, he cared for the orphans.
Elena was one of the orphans he rescued from the streets of London back then. Six years ago, when Elena had just crossed over, her English was a mix of broken American and Chinese. If not for Benedictus, survival would have been extremely challenging.
However, as the children grew older and the global economy declined, the orphanage's funding became increasingly tight.
Reluctant to give up on the orphans, Benedictus resorted to working odd jobs in nearby towns to raise funds. He even started secretly attending underground boxing matches in the city a few days ago.
If it hadn't been for the severe headache from the recent cold, forcing Benedictus to seek Elena's help, she might still have been kept in the dark, blissfully enjoying three square meals a day.
Elena grumpily picked up a bowl and handed it to Benedictus, complaining while questioning him.
"During the World Cup last year, didn't you have a lot of money left from the bets? Why resort to illegal fights? Besides, we agreed that I'd figure out ways to fund the orphanage. Just have the soup—"
Even though she wasn't a die-hard soccer fan from her past life, she vaguely remembered the melancholic Argentina led by Maradona during that tournament, which earned her almost six thousand pounds thanks to some surprising upsets.
Considering the recent renovation of the orphanage's premises and better meals, it shouldn't have been so financially dire that Benedictus had to resort to underground boxing matches.
Glancing at the silver-haired girl, Benedictus lightly blew on the soup bowl in his hand, took a sip, and calmly replied.
"I saved that six thousand pounds for you. The renovation and meals were covered by the orphanage's savings."
"Why?! Who asked you to save it?!"
Upon hearing Benedictus's response, the silver-haired girl exploded like an angered cat, waving her arms and angrily confronting the man in front of her.
If it weren't for his recent recovery, Elena might have felt the urge to swell up his other eye as well.
Benedictus shrugged and nonchalantly finished his egg, looking at the furious Elena curiously, pointing at his empty bowl and asking.
"Tell me, what's this about? Remember, the last time you blew up fish in the lake, the Wildlife Protection Association came knocking. Moreover, I have no idea when a new breed called 'Scottish Round Fatty Chicken' suddenly appeared nearby."
Every time this question came up before, Elena casually made up an excuse to brush it off. Hence, Benedictus had been very curious about the origin of this free chicken soup these days.
Seeing the somewhat recovered priest, Elena hesitated for a few seconds, then spread her hands and confessed straightforwardly, "Okay, it's actually owl stew."
"O...OWL?! Are you a devil?!"
Benedictus made a strange gargling sound in his throat, his mouth opening wide enough to fit an egg. His face was full of shock as he looked at Elena.
He had thought it might be some other wild bird, given the variety of birds that lived around Loch Lomond all year round.
"So, these past few days were... Oh, my goodness! Are you the devil?!"
Suddenly feeling another headache despite his recent recovery, Benedictus raised his left hand to massage his temple. "Thankfully, it's not the Middle Ages; otherwise, you'd be condemned as a witch. Only wizards from legendary stories eat owls, right?"
"No, actually, from what I know, the Chinese used to eat them too, exclusively for royalty and nobility, but now they're protected animals over there. But leaving that aside, the taste is indeed good, and I assure you these aren't wild animals from the lakeside protection area."
Elena blinked, smiled to appease, raised her right hand to swear, then continued to explain earnestly.
"Owls have good medicinal value, nourishing yin and tonifying weakness. Their meat is more tender than ordinary chicken, and once you remove the innards, the entire body can be used medicinally. Most importantly, owl meat contains some pain-relieving medicinal components.
I noticed your recent headaches, so I thought of using owl to stew soup, which is best for your health. Unfortunately, we only have 'Gastrodia' in Asia; otherwise, if we could stew a pot of Gastrodia owl soup, the taste would be simply marvelous."
Clang!
At that moment, a strange noise came from the windowsill, sounding like someone accidentally bumped into the partially open window.
Alerted, Elena stopped talking and turned to look outside, seeing a brown-black tabby cat fall from the eaves, landing on the open windowsill.
She hadn't expected such a clumsy wild cat. Life must be tough for it, stumbling even while walking, she thought.
Elena blinked, snatched a piece of meat from Benedictus's bowl, crouched down, and gently placed it in front of the wild cat on the windowsill, smiling as she said, "Kitty, eat up."
To her surprise, the moment the cat saw the meat, it exploded as if deeply offended, emitting a low growl, evidently very angry.
Upon closer inspection, there was a strange square pattern around the cat's eye sockets. It looked like a pair of glasses at first glance.
Frowning, Elena
looked at the cat and said in a low voice, "Well, suit yourself."
The wild cat turned around angrily, jumping down from the windowsill in a manner that seemed more like fleeing than walking.
"Hey, Elena, are you okay? You suddenly stopped talking. What happened?"
Benedictus had been puzzled by Elena's abrupt change in expression and actions.