Surviving As The Villainess
Chapter 117 - Noel and Astraea House

23 Years ago...

At that moment, it snowed so heavily. The night sky was so dark it felt so dark.

The cold air felt extremely sharp, piercing all the way to the bones.

In front of Astraea's door was a 10-year-old boy. He stood in front of the entrance while hugging a child smaller than him.

Judging from their similar physical traits, it was likely that the two of them were brother and sister. The older brother, who was much older than the younger brother, hugged the little body tightly. He tried to make his sister protected from the very cold air.

But it seems like what he did to his brother did not work. There was a puff of smoke as he breathed, revealing how cold the air was tonight.

The brother pressed the bell at the door. He did not understand why they had to wait outside for hours even though the parlors themselves wanted them to come.

Actually the two children were other beach dwellers but one day someone came and held a test for the children's home.

Noel who currently received the highest rating was immediately asked to move orphanages. Seeing that he was about to move, Noel could not take it for granted. After all he had a younger brother, he couldn't go anywhere without his sister.

That's why he asked representatives from Astraea parlors to accept his sister as well. After agreeing to his request, Noel happily moved to the Astraea parlour.

Noel remembered how he first came to the orphanage. At that time his brother was 1 year old, he was still very weak.

Both of his parents just threw them away. They left them in a country they didn't know. In fact, at that time Noel could not speak the language of Zenis.

He, who was 9 years old at the time, did not know what to do but go to the orphanage. Calling the police was free, he did not know what his parents would do if they returned.

If his father and mother dare to throw them away, it means they do not want him and his sister. Nor would they care about what would happen to them.

And if they just came back, it was likely that both parents would take more extreme measures.

Yeah, it's better this way. Living in an orphanage and taking shelter for a while.

Since long ago, Noel was a pretty brilliant kid. His learning ability was so high that he could very easily learn the language of the Zenis. In just one year, Noel was able to speak the language fluently.

Because he had been in the orphanage for a long time, Noel also heard rumors about Astraea. It is said, the orphanage is the best orphanage in Zen country because of their non-playful sponsorship.

The family of the richest conglomerate in Elishien built the orphanage and their image in public is very positive.

This is what makes Noel did not hesitate to accept the offer to move orphanages. If he moved to a better place, then his sister could live comfortably.

Back then, only such thoughts were always filling his mind.

"You've arrived?" A middle-aged woman opened the door of the home and greeted Noel. He was wearing thick clothes that were very warm, his hair he pigtailed back, revealing his forehead which was not covered by a single hair.

"Welcome home." Said the woman.

He smiled so kindly and invited Noel to come in immediately. The woman took him to the room he was going to occupy.

"Do you know why this home is called Astraea?"

Noel shook his head slowly because he did not know why this home was called Astraea.

"You know, Astraea is the name of a Goddess of Justice. This place was given the same name as the Goddess in order to give justice to less fortunate children like you." The woman explained what the name Astraea meant with great excitement.

"If I can follow all the rules in the parlour, I'm sure one day you can get a lot of things."

The woman stopped at one of the doors and opened it, revealing the contents of a very neat and clean room. There were two mattresses in the room and it looked like it was a room for Noel and his sister.

"This is the room you're going to occupy with your sister. Oh yes, I am the caretaker of this home. My name is Elijah."

When Noel had entered the room, Elijah immediately closed it.

Noel put his sister to sleep on a soft and warm mattress. After entering this room, Noel so know why this parlour is called the best home.

Judging from the facilities and buildings alone, this orphanage was much nicer than the one he had previously occupied.

Because it was night, Noel laid his body on the next bed. That night he slept very well without dreaming anything.

The next day, Noel woke up to hear a bell ringing. He could hear the footsteps of other beach boys. When he opened the door, he saw countless children walking in the same direction.

"Excuse me, where are they going?" Noel asked one of the orphanage children who was walking past his room.

The boy looked at Noel with a look of disbelief. But he quickly returned to put on a calm face when he saw Noel who was still wearing ordinary clothes.

"The gel that just went off was a notice to take the daily test."

"Daily tests?"

"You're the new kid, huh? You better come with us and take the test. After that go to the housekeeper's office and ask for a uniform."

Noel seemed to wonder at the explanation of the child but the child did not seem to want to explain further.

Arriving at the test room, Noel could see there were a lot of orphanage children who were already sitting at their respective tables. In front of them were gadgets and stylus pens for writing. Beside them are also headphones that are neatly arranged.

When he saw the other children who had been sitting neatly at the table, Noel began to realize something.

All the children in the parlour wore the same clothes, a shirt with light blue crates and matching colored pants and skirts.

Seeing that, Noel immediately knew that it was a uniform. The boy she asked also mentioned something about the uniform.

Noel's gaze was diverted to a number on the chest to the right of the orphanage children. It says their name and also a number.

"Suspended number?" Mumbled.

There is no other explanation other than that is the absent number.

"Why don't you sit down?" Ask a supervisor who just came.

Noel looked at the supervisor with a questioning face. Seeing Noel who was not wearing a uniform, the supervisor immediately knew that he was a child who had just entered because it was impossible for the old child not to follow the rules.

"You! Sit in that empty place." Speak to the supervisor, pointing to an empty seat.

Noel could feel the atmosphere quite tense. Quickly, he followed the speech of the supervisor of the room and sat down in an empty spot.

The test only runs for 2 hours. After the test was over, the children could see their results on a scoreboard that was outside the room.

"Ah, no! My grades are down."

"How could I possibly rank down?"

"How's this? I don't want to go down the ranks."

Noel can hear other children who look very frustrated to see the results of their tests but there are also those who look satisfied and happy.

Noel looked up at the screen and searched for his name.

"Rank 20." Lirih.

The number of children taking the exam is 30, while Noel is currently ranked 20. For him it was not a good rank but not a bad rank either.

"Why did I bus out of the top twenty?"

"I don't want to be a ranker."

After looking at his ranking, Noel did not think too hard about it. He immediately went to the office manager's room to ask for a uniform like the child had said.

"This is your uniform." The head of the caretaker gave two uniforms to Noel.

"One for your sister."

"Thank you."

"So you've taken the daily test?"

"It."

"How did it go?"

"I got a 20."

"uh? Twenty, yeah. Not bad for your first day. You'd better keep your rank, lest you be under 20."

"Why?"

"Because it's a lower rank."

"Read the rules of the parlour that are in this book. You have to adapt because this is your new place. After this, go to the dining room for breakfast together."

Noel took the book of the caretaker's head. Based on their conversation, the head of the caretaker named Verlon. He was a middle-aged man over 40 years old.

Noel went back to his room to take his sister for breakfast. He put Verlon's book on the bed.

When Noel left the room, the book Verlon had given him was opened by the wind and stopped on a single sheet.

'Rules'

At that time, Noel did not know that the parlor that took the name of the Goddess of Justice was very different from his shadow.

The comfortable life she dreamed of never happened. He had to wait six years to get all the freedom he wanted.

TB