As he exited the room with the calm and sleeping baby in his arms, Jin did not feel good. He was now shouldering a very heavy responsibility. This being's well-being was dependent on him.

He never was a father.

He did not think he became one there.

But the fact remained that he had to nurture this baby.

Only once the ego formed would the soul's memories hidden within resurface. According to Sarina, it would only happen once she reached around eight years old. Until then, this child would be as innocent as any other.

It seemed quite weird to him.

Would the first eight years of life of this child be someone different from Sarina? Would it be the original self of the child? Would it be a second original self?

He did not know.

Would two loves be ended at once through this? Or one? Or none? Sarina told him repeatedly that no souls would affix itself to the child until after a week of being born which was the reason why she could attach her own soul to it...But what about that soul that should have fixed itself to it? Did it drift apart or move towards a different body?

There were many questions weighting on his mind.

Regardless, he needed to take care of the child first.

He found the servants and began to instruct them. The story would be that he went to patrol within the roots and discovered this baby there. In order to make it even less conspicuous, Sarina and him decided to forge a whole new act. Starting from here, he would have to act as a good man trying to help the poor orphans...

Trusting 'Sarina' to the servants was no easy task. He was glad that he replaced all of the workers. Obviously, there were definitely spies within but it was unlikely that they would stoop so low as to kill or kidnap this baby right away. There was not much to gain from this.

After all, to the outside world, it would only be seen as him acting on a whim and picking up a stray from the streets.

Of course, if he began to cherish this 'stray', its well-being might come into danger. Whether he liked it or not, he was now a man of status and wealth. A prey to some...A big juicy one.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

And so was born the new 'plan'.

...

The next morning, he began to work. He called for his managers and began to tell them about what he had in mind. He would help the orphans by giving out money to the few orphanages and create one of his own right here. He would raise the kids, train them and let them decide whether to work for him or leave once they grew into adults.

That way, he would be able to hide Sarina and the next one that he would try to bring in in a few more weeks.

The managers believed that he was only trying to nurture his own forces and did not find anything suspicious about it. Everything was handled quickly and spotlessly.

Soon, his manor housed more than a hundred kids aged between one to fifteen.

He planned to let them stay until they reached eighteen. Then, they would decide whether to stay and work here or leave to find their own paths. Of course, he did not care too much about any of it.

This was just a theatrical performance.

He only needed to act like a good Samaritan in order to hide what mattered.

Ame came by every day to hang out with the kids and teach them along him. Some of the ten members of the team also came by every few days. Jin let them do as they pleased.

As for him, he made sure to go on multiple patrols every so often down into the roots. If he found orphans, he would bring them back up himself. This would help build the credibility of his actions.

It did not take long for the rumors to spread and the King heard about it as soon as Jin started. This was one of his new Vice-Captains and the one who benefitted from the demise of Harold. He made sure to keep a good eye on him.

The news that the man was starting to rear its own army from the ground up did not please the King too much. After all, that had been one of the reasons he had to force Harold away... It seemed like that man's successor was moving in the same direction.

Around a week and a half later, Jin was having an audience with His Majesty.

The King told him what he expected from Jin's actions. Jin made sure to act subservient enough and continuously reassured the King that he would let the Palace conduct recruitments first before even himself.

The King let him off after those many promises. He planned to observe for now. If this Vice-Captain tried to cross him, he would take care of him.

As Jin left, he crossed paths with someone he knew. It was Ren Jing. She wore an elegant robe and held a few books under her arms. She greeted him and he was forced into a small discussion with her.

He knew that she was a spy from the cartel. It became obvious once he saw her again here for the first time. She became a 'Strategic Advisor for the Royal Guards'...Coincidence? As if.

But that was fine since a spy whose identity was known did not matter. As long as she did not take action.

During their chat, she spoke of how impressed she was about his actions of helping the orphans and hinted many times at the fact that she hoped to visit... He neither rejected nor agreed and stuck to a distance. He was neither cold nor warm towards her and that made it even harder for her.

As they parted, she could not help but feel conflicted. He did not seem on-guard but he did not seem to be willing for their relation to progress to friendship... She was having a tough time with her mission.