Chapter 78: New moves VI

Roy was nervous as hell as he left his car along with Nick who was the only one who was available for the opening ceremony of the orphanage which was dedicated to his late mother. Laila and Elicia had ballet, Victoria was in the stadium to defend her titles once more, Riza and the twins were invited to Rebecca's birthday party/bridal shower and Maes had taken his wife and his boys out for a picnic.

"Finally!" Olivier hissed into Roy's ear while she grabbed his upper arm. "I already thought that you wouldn't come. Well, now that you are finally here – c'mon, Roy and Nick!"

The generous first-in-command of the military wore a plain black dress and a simple pearl necklace while she had wrapped an emerald scarf around her shoulders. Her hair was down as usually but her sword wasn't at her side for once.

"Yes, Madam," Nick said with an ironically bow as he followed her.

"It looks wonderful," Roy complimented as he looked around in the huge entrance hall. "Honestly, you created something amazing, Olivier. How did you keep it a secret from everyone?"

"Easily," she grinned. "I just didn't speak about it with anyone. It was really, really simple to keep all of you distracted from the plans I realised in the background."

"So you tricked us all into believing that you mean no harm, yes?"

"It's new to me that building an orphanage means harm," she replied.

"People could assume that you are plotting something," Roy warned.

Jun Li was the one woman Jun Yao deeply respected. He had known her since she had been a little kid and he had always admired her strength – physically as well as mental. He remembered very well how her father who had been his personal bodyguard before her had told him about his daughter: 'She is not really fitting for being a warrior, her grandmother said, but I really hope that Lan Li is wrong. I hope that my daughter can follow me one day – but if her grandmother keeps telling her that she is born to be something more than just a simple warrior, it may destroy her character.'

Jun Yao, however, had to agree with his late sister Lan Li. Jun Li wasn't born to keep an eye on some old man who had become too weak to protect himself. Once upon a time, before she had decided to force herself to become someone she wasn't meant to be, she had been material for a princess and after her father's passing, Jun Yao had thought about adopting her because she had been so fitting for the role as an imperial princess. She had had the fragile beauty, the fairness and the kindness hardly a princess managed to achieve these days … no, she had been too good for everything. The only position which would have challenged her would have been the position as empress.

And he had tried to push her gently in this direction, the direction to her real destination. He had known of his son's crush on her because Lei Yao had never been especially subtle about his feelings but she had never noticed how much he had liked her. She had been focused on the old emperor – and somehow, it had given Jun Yaoa certain degree of happiness that at least one person still cared about him as if he had never gotten old. And Jun Li had cared for him with a devotion and bravery that was unmatched by any other guard's. When they had left the country, she had taken the risk. She had stolen the poison from the doctor in the capital and had made sure that no doctor would look to close at the dead body of the old emperor. That she had studied alkahestry had become handy since she had been able to tell everyone that she had checked if he was really dead – and since she had cried like a baby, no one had doubted her words.

Yes, he was lucky to have someone as loyal as her and he thanked it her with keeping her alive by reminding her that she was just human and that times had changed for them. She wasn't below him any longer. They had left the borderlines of social status behind them.

"…grandfather?" Cai sat down beside him while they looked out of the window and onto the city. "You like aunty Jun-Jun very much, right?"

"If it weren't for her, I would have died a long time ago," the old man replied while he patted the boy's head. "She is a really important person to me, Cai, and I hope that you will understand one day why."

"Why did she risk her life and left Xing with you? She had family…"

"Yes, I know that she left her old life behind but I never asked why."

"…Helena Hamilton was a strong woman. A woman who stood her ground and even when times got rough, she held her head high and walked right through the storm. She was also a loving wife and a good mother for her children," Olivier said. "She lived her own life and when she saw a fault somewhere, she never pointed on other people and told them what they had to do. She always was one of the first to change something … sadly, this wonderful trait of her got her killed two years ago. She was cowardly shot from behind because of her brave attempt to overthrow the corrupt generals who led our beautiful country." She took a short break and looked around in the room before her gaze returned to the statue of Lynn in the middle of the hall. "And to honour her amazing courage and her bravery which reached above the call of duty, I am more than proud to hand over the Helena-Hamilton-Orphanage to the newly founded Ministry for the Youth and the Children."

The applause was deafening since Lynn and Martin as well had been very popular among the people for their soft methods when they had investigated.
They had been careful and had never hurt the feelings of the victims while other investigator like Henry Douglas who had been finally thrown out of the military after his insane accusation that Jade had murdered Lynn and Martin while being in West City. Roy had been outraged upon hearing this sick accusation while Phil had commented it dryly: 'I always knew that my sister was skilled but I never knew that she can shot two friends of her in Central City while she is in West City.'
To Douglas' defence it had to be said that the pressure of the people to find the culprit as fast as possible had been huge.

"Amazing," Roy muttered while he clapped. "I really never would have thought that she can speak like that. This sounds like someone possessed her!"

Edward stared at his old teacher and her sister while he carefully drew the circle onto the floor.

"And you are sure, Edward?" Izumi asked while she read his notes. "The Cretan Alchemy is different from ours because they never cooperated with amestrian alchemists. They made everything alone for more than three hundred years. It can easily go wrong…"

"I trust the professor," the blonde replied. "I trust her that she wouldn't betray me this way. She was so sincere and serious all the time, I am sure that everything will be alright."

Izumi frowned while she closed her eyes. "Catherina D'Artagan…" she muttered. "There was always something strange about her but I can't remember what at the moment…"

"She was engaged with an amestrian soldier but broke up with him two days before the wedding and ran away – she never told anyone why. Later on, she became one of the few cretan alchemists who have the same level as an average amestrian state alchemist," Abigail said dryly. "Don't look at me like I just told you that I am a genius, Izumi. I am just doing my homeworks."

"We will talk about this one later," the younger sister muttered while she sighed.

"She is definitively very trustworthy since she never showed interest in any conflicts," Abigail said while she nodded at Edward. "So, boy, impress me."

He bit his lower lip before he bent down and his hands touched the ground. There was a bright silver light before a little statue of Izumi appeared on the yard.

The oldest alchemist tilted her head. "Impressive, wouldn't you agree, Izumi?" she stated.

"Impressive is the word I was searching for, yes," Izumi agreed wholeheartly.