Upon hearing the caretaker lady’s concern, Leon finally snapped back to the reality that the situation with Happiness Apartments was not as straightforward as it seemed.
The caretaker couple were too "human-like," which caused Leon to always treat them as particularly kind neighbors, somewhat neglecting their "non-human" essence.
The birth of Happiness Apartments was not only due to the seed of abnormality provided by the Aquarius Director but also stemmed from the gratitude and remembrance of those within the Charitable Asylum over ninety years ago, for the old couple who had helped them, and their heartfelt hope for the couple’s continued existence.
Therefore, as an abnormal object, although the two were administrators and even received salaries from the city council, in reality, they were "vassals" of the building, not actual human beings, unable to exist independently of the apartment.
Moreover, abnormal objects themselves are not indestructible.
Like Leon’s Witch’s Broom, once broken, it never reacted again. If the city council were merely conducting maintenance, it probably wouldn’t affect the old couple’s existence. But if there was a large-scale renovation or expansion, the situation would become uncertain.
"I can’t say for sure..."
Understanding the crux of the matter, Leon’s expression became serious, and after contemplating for a moment, he proposed:
"How about this, I can submit a report to the Clean-up Bureau in the name of protecting the continuity of the abnormal object, to stop this renovation, and then ask for a large amount of funding, allowing you to decide what to do, so you don’t have to worry about any issues."
However, what Leon hadn’t expected was that after hearing his proposal, the caretaker lady hesitated a bit and ultimately shook her head and refused:
"Let’s just have the apartment renovated normally. Rather than stopping the renovation and expansion, the old man and I would prefer for you to ensure that they don’t evict the tenants after expansion and don’t raise the rent here."
"That definitely won’t happen."
Although Leon didn’t like to use the privileges brought by his noble status, given a reasonable request , he naturally had no reason to refuse and directly nodded in agreement.
But then, he hesitated slightly and reminded:
"However, are you sure it’s okay? I can’t determine if this expansion counts as maintenance or damage to Happiness Apartments itself. If the outcome leans more toward damage, you and Uncle John might indeed disappear!"
Hearing Leon agree to her promise, the caretaker lady smiled reassuredly and explained:
"This place indeed needs a good renovation. There’s a significant missing section of handrails on the stairs, and every time your two little ones run around the building, I’m on edge, worried they’ll fall off the stairs while playing.
Moreover, Hannah and a few other families living here are planning to have children in the coming years. We can’t let those children continue to live in such unsafe conditions, can we?"
"Aunt Mary, these two matters are not conflicting."
"Based on my understanding of abnormal objects, if the city council isn’t leading it but you are in charge of the renovation, you should be able to ensure the impact is minimized. This way, even if there’s a major renovation, it likely won’t affect your continued existence."
The caretaker lady pondered for a while before shaking her head, gently refusing with a kind expression:
"We can only manage some repairs, we don’t have the capability to expand the building. But the city council folks said they’ve already coordinated with the surrounding buildings and even acquired the abandoned factory at the back, planning to expand Happiness Apartments eight to nine times.
Besides continuing to offer cheap rental housing, they seem to be preparing to reopen the former Charitable Asylum to take in children who’ve lost parents in the old city, providing some basic education and teaching vocational skills.
They said this is the new decree from the Princess because children represent the future of a country, so where conditions allow, the financial budget would prioritize education and childcare, with substantial annual funding allocations."
As she spoke, the caretaker lady seemed to have fully accepted the situation, initially smiled apologetically, and then expressed her happiness amid Leon’s silence:
"I’ve never been too concerned about these decrees, so I don’t quite understand what they say, but I think, as long as more homeless children can be taken care of, it’s always a good thing, so let’s do it however we should!"
"But if there really is expansion, the possibility of you disappearing with Happiness Apartments will be very high."
Leon considered and insisted:
"Here’s what could be done, I can notify them to skip the Happiness Apartments area during expansion, focusing elsewhere, so both can remain intact."
Seeing Leon’s determination to preserve Happiness Apartments, the caretaker lady thought for a moment before knitting a circle of the yarn in her hands, then smiled kindly and declined:
"Happiness Apartments faces the street directly, if we skip this building, the future Charitable Asylum and the apartment would either need to bypass or open a new alley from the back, which would be quite troublesome.
Besides, the old man and I have lived long enough. Including life before and after death, I’ve lived for over a hundred and fifty years, even the city council folks who issued us our paychecks have died of old age, so there’s no need to keep clinging!"
"Thank you, dear, I know you don’t want us to disappear, but we’ve really made up our minds."
Seeing Leon about to say more, the caretaker lady gently explained:
"Originally, we wanted to survive to take care of those evicted children, and once they all... left, we’d feel that the good people in the Royal Capital weren’t living easy lives, so we thought to help if we could.
But we two, weren’t anything remarkable in life, nor capable after death, couldn’t do much, only helping out wherever we saw difficulty.
Now, with rare good news, once the new Charitable Asylum is built, this remaining building and patch of land can help more people, we are already content with no regrets."
It was unexpected that the Princess’s ascension would impact the sustainability of Happiness Apartments. Seeing the caretaker lady’s serene face post-discussion, Leon nodded and chose to respect their personal wishes.
Yet, respect aside, some things still need to be attempted.
Noting the subtle anticipation on the caretaker lady’s face for the completion of the new Charitable Asylum, Leon tentatively suggested:
"Here’s what I can do. I won’t stop them from expanding Happiness Apartments, but can attempt to minimize changes to the original structure wherever possible, to see if your essence can be preserved.
Also, I somewhat understand the secret technique used by the Aquarius Director for your creation, perhaps when the city council begins construction, I might try using the secret technique to bond you two with the new Charitable Asylum... How would that be?"
Bond us with the new Charitable Asylum?
Upon hearing Leon’s words, the caretaker lady hesitated slightly, but still expressed concern:
"But won’t this affect..."
"Consider it like taking on a part-time job, besides supervising Happiness Apartments, also being administrators and gardeners for the new Charitable Asylum!"
Pausing slightly, Leon then spoke to the caretaker lady, whose face showed signs of doubt:
"Aunt Mary, surely you wouldn’t want to vanish before witnessing the new Charitable Asylum open, right?"