Chapter 11: Atone

It was 10 am in a run downed orphanage, although it was supposed to be a quiet and peaceful morning this day seemed to be different as screams of pain and curses were the only things that could be heard at the back of the orphanage.

"Yowch! watch it you old hag!"

"Old hag?! I'll show you whose an old hag!"

"AHHHH!!"

"They're at it again today as well huh?"

"Yup, well~~ although I liked the peace we had before, days like this aren’t so bad hehehe."

It was now approximately 10 days since Teresa was taken in by the old ha- A beautiful nun who looked young for her age!
At first, Teresa did her best to refuse, even threatening the nun with a knife she found attached to her belt Alas, with her barely being able to crawl she had no choice but to be forcefully taken by the nun.

Once she was brought to the orphanage many nuns were surprised by her presence, never in their life had they ever sew a person that badly injured. Thinking that this was a bad omen and that taking in someone as injured as her without knowing the situation was extremely dangerous, they all tried to convince the old nun.

But all their worries were rejected, with the old nun answering them;

"I'm going to die soon anyway, if saving a single person from death will allow me to gain some extra points that I can use to enter heaven, I'll fuc!—ahem* I'll gladly do it."

"…"

Everyone was stunned, so confused that they didn't even mention the fact that she had almost sworn at the end there.
They've known her for the longest time so they were already used to her antics, but things like this really reminded them that although she seemed rough, rude, crass, obnoxious, a piece of shit who eats everything in the fridge!... that at heart she was a good person.

"Hahhh, well seeing as how pitiful she looks right now I guess it's ok. But promise me, if she ever causes trouble here... it is your responsibility, understand?"

Warned another nun to the old nun.

"Don't worry, although I might look like this I'm still the head nun of this place you know? I promise that I'll watch over her while she's in this establishment."

"…but your looks do suit that of a head nun though (whisper)…"

"What was that?"

Being stared at with emotionless eyes the other nun immediately made an excuse and ran away.

And that's how the past ten days passed, although the nuns were avoiding her at first, they started to mellow down after spending more time with Teresa. One main factor was that after she was properly cleaned of the blood and her expression calmed down they found out that Teresa was actually extremely beautiful.

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Her light hazel eyes that carried a hint of innocence along with danger, and her dark brown hair which was currently hair styled as short as that of a man's to guarantee that it wouldn’t hinder her performance. Together with her unblemished skin despite the hardships she faced and her beautifully proportioned face, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that she was the most beautiful woman in the orphanage, no, in the town at that.

It is said that people tend to have better impressions of attractive people so perhaps because of this, the nuns started warming up to her faster than expected, even going as far as lending her their clothes to see how she looked in them.

Although she found it tiring at times she didn't deny their advances, she was trying to kill herself before arriving here so going along with the sisters' whims wasn't really a problem for her.

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Years passed, and it was already 5 years since she first arrived at the orphanage. The nuns now fully accepted her as one of their own, and so did she. After telling the old nun and the others of her bloody past two years ago their relationship started to become even stronger. Although they were shocked at first, they decided to trust the girl they’d come to know for so long.

"Although your past was full of sins, that doesn't mean that deep down you're a bad person. Although your sins will probably haunt you for the rest of your life, and will probably never be forgiven, try to atone. Spend your remaining years trying to atone for it. And only then, can you maybe see a glimpse of me living the life of luxury in heaven after you die, hehehehe."

Those were the final words the former head nun said to her before she ultimately passed away. Since then Teresa spent almost every single second that she could to atone for what she had done, she prayed for the lives she'd taken every opportunity that she could, and ensured that the children who left the orphanage were taken by good people.

The number of children in the orphanage was starting to lessen as fortunately, no new children were being bought in the past 3 years. And during that time Teresa was newly elected as the deputy head nun since the others didn't want the responsibility, pushing her to the task.

It was raining heavily on that particular day, thunder was proudly ringing in the sky and the strong winds hit the orphanage in a way that few creaks could be heard here and there.

Teresa was going to check if there were any damages outside so she went out. It was there that she found a young child wrapped in a thick blanket placed in front of the door. The child had dark black hair and cold grey eyes and was possibly the cutest thing she had ever seen. But instead of squealing about it all excitedly she froze on the spot.

The boy's eyes reminded her of what her father told her once, about how a person's eyes can tell you a lot about a person if you only looked deep enough. But the deeper she looked into those eyes, the more she could feel herself suddenly becoming colder. It was like she was looking at her own eyes before she met her father, eyes that were devoid of hope.

{I don't know if it's because of the weather or not, but I feel my temperature gradually dropping. Young child, seeing as how similar we are I promise you that I'll take care of you. I'll ensure that your life would go in a completely different direction from mine, a life full of regrets. That I promise you.}

The boy grew up to be quite a cute young lad, prompting Teresa to favor him even more. He was the first child that was bought into the orphanage after she became the head nun so she treated him as her first child.

Other children were also brought in soon after him, a dark-skinned refugee who escaped from the hands of a cruel cartel all by himself, a young girl whose parents died shielding her from the cold when they were trapped for weeks in the mountains, a frail blonde boy who just like Jericho, was abandoned in front of the door, and many more.

To her they were all her children, she promised herself that no one will ever hurt them and that she'll use any means necessary to keep them safe.

Although she wasn't expecting forgiveness for her sins, raising and nurturing life was the action she chose as atonement for the many lives she took.

[ Congratulations! After further observations on your attitude, ambition, and mindset you have received the gift "The Cross of Atonement".]

[ Nurture this gift to compete- ... no ... to protect those you hold dear.]

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