After leaving Blair Adley’s mansion, Raphael protected Kristin and the children from the director’s influence and started walking towards the orphanage with Rain.

They were 500 meters from the orphanage’s storage, and given that they were using an underground tunnel, Raphael thought it would take a lot of work to find their way.

However, with Rain’s help, they quickly found the path to Vincent Orphanage.

Throughout the journey to the orphanage, Director Blair Adley seemed to prefer death, biting her tongue or making desperate attempts to escape by untying her hands.

Yet, with Raphael and Rain holding her from both sides, she couldn’t easily flee.

On the other hand, Kristin gently supported the weakened children as they made their way to the orphanage.

Upon finally arriving at Vincent Orphanage, the sight of the wounded Raphael and Kristin left the commoners, Selena Scarlet, and the inspectors from the palace speechless.

Moreover, blood was dripping from Kristin’s arm, causing Selena Scarlet to momentarily lose her words before quickly regaining her composure and walking toward her.

At the same time, Winston arrived at the orphanage and rushed towards Kristin.

To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, Winston had brought his knights to Vincent Orphanage.

Although the inspector’s role seemed meaningless, he had obtained the authority to investigate after receiving permission from the administration, thinking it would be an effective way to pressure Director Blair Adley.

However, contrary to that intention, seeing Kristin, whom he cherished, with a deep wound on her arm filled his eyes with pain.

He felt guilt for not arriving sooner and the emptiness of being unable to help Kristin once again.

With mixed emotions, he spoke to Kristin in a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry, Kristin. I wanted to choose a safer way because I didn’t want to see you get hurt. But it seems I was too late.”

Kristin carefully opened her mouth to respond to Winston.

“It’s okay. Duke Raphael helped me. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but the knight named Rain and the Duke knew each other, which made things easier. But please, take care of these children first. I beg you.”

Kristin gently removed Winston’s hand, which had been holding her injured arm, and then slowly walked toward Raphael.

As she walked, her heart was swollen with the same affection she once had for Raphael. Along with the excitement she felt when she first met him, her heart was now overflowing with the kindness and warmth she had never felt from him before.

The hatred she harbored for him since her regression had disappeared.

“Duke Raphael, you should get treated too,” she said softly.

“Wait, just for a moment,” he replied.

In his words, Kristin realized they still had things to address.

Blood continued to flow from her arm, and although the wound from the dagger might leave a permanent scar, there were important matters to resolve, such as accusing Director Blair in front of many witnesses.

Only then did Kristin understand that intention. Seeing Winston checking on the children’s condition, she took out the documents she had hidden in her clothes and slowly scanned the contents written on them.

What she found was entirely different from the budget she had seen on the desk. She could confirm all the funds the orphanage had received so far, along with the illegal gambling parlors and shopping lists used by Director Blair and the records of money siphoned off from the children’s care expenses to cover it up.

“Director Blair, is it true that you used this money for the children’s care? Then why didn’t you buy proper clothes for them? And why did you keep the poor children locked up until they ended up like this?” Kristin asked, her voice filled with disgust.

For the first time in her life, Kristin felt an overwhelming urge to slap someone.

Even when Elena, her stepmother’s daughter, stole from her and framed her, she had never felt such emotions.

Thinking about how the children had suffered abuse at the hands of someone worse than a mere human, and that they were trapped in a cramped space with bugs crawling around, she could no longer suppress her anger and walked towards Director Blair, slapping her across the face.

Smack.

The sharp sound slicing through the air left everyone present, including the commoners, in shock.

Before anyone could understand why Kristin was so angry, she slapped the other side of the director’s face and loudly proclaimed to everyone.

“You may punish me for insulting a countess who is older than I am. However, I cannot forgive Director Blair Adley. She has lived in a luxurious mansion while abusing the children in this orphanage, and she hasn’t even properly cared for the sick children. How can such behavior befit a noble’s treatment of young lords and ladies?”

“What?”

“What are you saying? Director Blair Adley would never do something like that. Lady Kristin, I think you’re mistaken.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. There are always children in the orphanage who cause trouble and bully others. Surely, those children must have been punished. Isn’t that what Lady Kristin is misunderstanding?”

The nobles who had come to the orphanage were not part of the charity gathering and were completely unaware of the situation.

They had come to donate funds in line with the orphanage’s opening day.

“If what I say is a lie, I would be willing to give my life in place of this director. Here, look at these documents and records.”

Kristin raised the documents high for the nobles to see and continued speaking.

“The money you sent here has been misappropriated by Director Blair as if it were her own. Not only that, but she has also used it for illegal gambling and shopping. This ledger I have contains the truth from the past few years.”

“That’s impossible. Director Blair would never act that way.”

The nobles who had sent money to the director did not want to face the fact that they had been deceived.

If Kristin’s words were true, then the palace inspector could not possibly have been unaware, and they began to turn towards the inspector, who was standing in a corner wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.

“Excuse me, Inspector. Could you please say something? You’ve been coming here for inspections for several years; have you seen anything?”

“Exactly. The inspector has seen everything, yet Lady Kristin is saying strange things. We need to examine those documents closely, but if the director has indeed caused problems, why didn’t the inspector know about it all this time? Didn’t you come every second Friday of the month? That’s already twelve times a year.”

Indeed, twelve times a year.

With the consensus of many nobles, the orphanage had been established for over ten years.

That meant there had been at least 120 opportunities for inspection.

However, the inspections had not been conducted properly, and even before this inspector arrived, the director had deceived other inspectors.

Kristin was beginning to question how this could happen. She turned to the inspector, who seemed completely unaware or oblivious to the situation.

“Inspector, did you know nothing? If you noticed something but pretended not to, that too is negligence and complicity in child abuse. If you were completely unaware of what has happened, that also constitutes a dereliction of duty. If either is true, there’s no escape for you. Am I wrong?”

Kristin’s voice carried no warmth.

The commoners, aside from the nobles, murmured among themselves as they looked at the restrained director, nodding in agreement with Kristin’s words.

In either case, the inspector bore some responsibility.

However, the inspector, his face flushed with shame, could only remain silent. Then, in a sudden burst of anger, he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it with all his might at Director Blair before finally speaking.

“Why should I be involved with someone like you? All that time you served me tea so kindly—was it just to cover up these things?”

The stone struck Director Blair on the forehead, causing her to bleed as she looked up in shock.

Even in the face of such public outrage, she wore an expression that suggested she believed she had done nothing wrong.

“It seems you still don’t understand what you did wrong,” Kristin remarked coldly.

As Kristin spoke to Director Blair, Selena Scarlet took out a handwritten letter she had received from Father Benjamin and shouted to everyone to support Kristin.

“Everything Lady Kristin is saying is true. Here is this letter!”

Just then, Father Benjamin, who had been escorted into the orphanage, rushed over to the nobles.

“Oh, I’m glad I’m not too late. I also received a message from Lady Selena Scarlet. Yes, I sent the letter that Lady Selina is holding.”

“Father Benjamin?”

TL NOTE: Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories