When did it start?
When I stopped being able to sleep.
But, is this a hallucination? Or just a dream?
Whatever.

Yulia decided to clear her head of these complicated thoughts.

'It started back then... right after I prayed...'

The orphanage where Yulia ended up after losing both of her parents was, to put it mildly, far from being a good place.
Meals were always cold, hard bread or porridge made from damp rice.
In winter, cold wind seeped through, and in summer, the dorms were scorching.
And from a young age, she was put to work, forced to labor without rest.

At the orphanage, this kind of life was considered normal.
She lived believing the headmaster's words that this was much better than being thrown out onto the streets.
She grew up hearing threats about being sold as a slave to become a test subject for the Vermont family.
What kept her going through all of this were the friends who held her hand and stood by her.

Charlotte. And Yuri.
They bickered and fought a lot at first, but...
The three of them, sharing similar pain, quickly grew close and went everywhere together.

They’d talk about how, once they left the orphanage, they’d live together, just the three of them.
They’d set up a little shop, work hard together.
They held onto that promise without an end date, using it as hope to keep going.

Leaving the orphanage would make everything better.
They were just young and powerless now, enduring life there only until they could manage on their own.
They even dreamed of giving the headmaster a piece of their mind and walking out with a little revenge.

'The church can’t support us anymore, so it's hard to keep this place running. I know someone who can find you a nice place to go. Don’t forget the kindness I’ve shown you by taking care of brats like you. Be grateful.'

But those dreams were all shattered.
Before they could even attempt to graduate, the slavers came.
The headmaster had secretly sold them off as slaves, unbeknownst to the church.

Yulia and the other children, who had been free, were suddenly reduced to slaves overnight.
Yuri tried to escape but was quickly caught.
That night, Yulia heard the sound of Yuri being beaten, with the men laughing, saying they’d seen plenty of kids like her.
Crying, Yulia prayed to the heavens.

'Oh, angel... Are you listening? If you haven’t abandoned us yet, please help me. Give me strength to endure this suffering...'

Yes, it all started that day.
Instead of the strength she so desperately wanted, Yulia found herself cursed with severe insomnia.
Its cause? The ceaseless voices that haunted her.

At first, it was just a faint buzzing, like an insect.
It was a bit bothersome if she paid attention, but not enough to cause real harm.
Yet, as time passed, the voices grew louder and multiplied.

Incomprehensible whispers constantly murmured at her, words she couldn’t understand.
She covered her ears, begged them to stop, but they never did.
If she concentrated on something else, she could forget for a moment.
But as soon as her focus waned, the torment resumed.

The worst part was that these voices persisted even as she slept.
What had once been a background hum grew until it began to disturb her sleep, eventually keeping her awake entirely.
Naturally, this led to heightened irritability and growing anxiety.

'I shouldn’t have gotten mad at Yuri. I might never see her again...'

She’d told her to run away alone.
Why did she insist on dragging all of them along and increasing the chance of getting caught?
She’d snapped at Yuri, shoving her away.
Looking back now, she regretted her harsh words.
She hadn’t needed to say things that would hurt her so much...

It was all because of those damned voices.
If only they weren’t there, driving her mad.
If it weren’t for this relentless torture...
Wait. Huh?
Why can’t I hear anything now?

Strange.
There was only peace and quiet—no voices to torment her, just a sense of tranquility.
It had been so long since she felt this kind of peace, forgotten so long ago, that a smile spread across her face.

And then, the warmth pressing against her cheek.
The softness surrounding her...
How long had it been since she’d felt something like this?
It reminded her of her father’s large, warm hand, the one he’d place on her cheek when she was little...

“How much longer are you going to sleep?”
“Huh?”

What’s that? This voice...
A wave of unpleasantness hit her, and as soon as she realized who it was, a chill ran down her spine, causing her to jump up.

“Eek!?”

Thud, thud!
Yulia rolled to the side, and with a sense of falling, her eyes flew open.
She was falling!?
After rolling once and finally stopping, she looked up with simmering irritation.
She was ready to unleash all the pent-up frustration from these past few days.

“What are you doing? Are we having a staring contest or something?”
“Uh, no, I...”

The moment she met Aslan’s eyes, as he closed a book with a bored expression, that frustration disappeared completely.
Why?
He was someone she disliked.
A bad man, full of schemes and deceit.
But she didn’t feel any anger—not because she lacked the energy, but because the anger itself had simply vanished.

And the fatigue was gone.
No drowsiness pulling at her eyes.
What’s going on? Did I really sleep so deeply?
For a few seconds, Yulia glanced around in confusion.

'Could it be?'

The rising sun.
Aslan’s shirt, heavily wrinkled as if she’d been pressing against it for a long time.
The wet mark of her drool on his thigh.
Taking it all in, Yulia’s face flushed a deep red.

“Ah! No way!”
“Keep it down in the study. You’re spitting. Do you intend to turn my precious collection into a mold farm?”
“You! What did you do to me!?”
“Judging by your voice, it seems you slept well. If you have nothing else to do, go wash up and prepare for breakfast.”

Aslan casually turned his back to her, ignoring her outburst, as if he were used to it.
Yulia was about to growl and lash out again, but then stopped.
When she last remembered, the sun was still setting.
But now it was rising, so she must have been asleep for at least 12 hours.

Which meant she’d been sleeping on Aslan’s thigh without him moving for over 12 hours...
As the thought took hold, Yulia’s face grew even redder, feeling like it was about to explode.

“How long... How long was I asleep!?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t count. I just tossed you aside when my leg started to go numb.”
“You... How did you do it? How did you stop the voices that were echoing in my head?”
“Do I look like I know? Why don’t you ask those voices yourself?”
“Hey!”
“I’m not joking. Try focusing on them. Don’t just dismiss it as some simple tinnitus—try to converse with it. But first, you’ll need to learn how to handle mana.”

His tone was unusually serious.
Yulia flinched, feeling as though he knew something about the voices.

“Why should I do that?”
“So you can escape your insomnia. Or do you want to keep sleeping on my hand every night, using it as a pillow?”
“What!?”
“If that’s not what you want, then hurry and learn to control it. I have no interest in wasting my time on you alone.”

Bang! The door slammed shut.
Left alone in the study, Yulia stood there, face flushed, breathing heavily.
She’d put her face on that man’s hand willingly?

The evidence and logic pointed to Aslan being right.
She understood that much.
But her heart wasn’t ready to accept it.

“You bastard. Damn bastard...”

With teary eyes, Yulia picked up a book from the pile in front of her.
A beginner’s guide to mana handling.
It was a book on how to control mana.
If Aslan was right, and if she wanted to keep those voices under control, she’d have to learn.

“I refuse. I’ll never do it again. Never again will I sleep on his arm...”

The memory of the warmth on her cheek sent a shiver through her body.
She had to learn to handle mana, quickly.
She’d rather die than sleep beside him again.
She’d rather die...

“Urgh!”

Snap.
The pencil in her hand snapped in half.

An investigation. I need to conduct an investigation.
I’ve spent these past couple of days paying too much attention to Charlotte and Yulia.
Charlotte seems to have taken an interest in Sylvia’s sword training, and Yulia now has a solid motivation to diligently study magic.
So, I can consider both of them to be on a stable path, at least for now.

But the real problem lies within the Vermont family.
I still haven’t fully grasped what I know and don’t know about Aslan and this family.
Although I played through Chapter 1, the story revealed only a fraction of what’s there.
If I dig deeper, I’m sure I’ll uncover a bottomless well of things I have no idea about.

'I need to find out just how many people know Aslan’s secrets.'

The most dangerous secret Aslan carries is his connection to the Evil God Kali.
If he were merely a favorite, I could at least plead my case.
But given that there’s an actual contract involved, if someone were to report this to the royal family, it’d be straight to the guillotine for me.

So, I discreetly questioned each servant to see if they knew anything.
None of them seemed aware of the contract.
Except for one person—Sylvia.

'It’s terrifying.'

She holds a weakness of mine—this contract with an evil god.
And she has both the strength and the courage to rip out her brand and make an escape anytime she wishes.
Frankly, if she were to betray the Vermont family and stab me to death right now, I wouldn’t be surprised.

The only thing keeping Sylvia in check right now is Charlotte and Yulia.
If I die, those kids would automatically fall under the care of my sister, Irene.
They’re the lifeline keeping Sylvia from ending my life.
I should be grateful Sylvia has a fondness for the kids.
Although, when I see her around Charlotte, it doesn’t seem like she’s that fond of her...

'I've also found something else interesting.'

I met with each servant, using the skill ‘Appraisal’ on them one by one.
For people I don’t have a strong relationship with, their profiles only contain surface-level information.
But the affinity level always shows up.

As expected, most of them had a negative affinity score for me.
However, a few had either a positive score or even a surprisingly high one.
People who harbor positive feelings toward Aslan, who’s practically a product of all the world’s evils combined?
What could that mean?
Of course, it means they’re evil as well.

'List of people to weed out—complete.'

Now, I can keep a list of those who need to be dealt with in advance.
I had felt that the Vermont family collapsed too quickly in Chapter 1.
It seems that the parasites, rotting away from the inside, accelerated the downfall by taking advantage of the chaos and fleeing.
I’ll have to eliminate these vermin all at once when the opportunity arises.

'But, what’s with all these documents...?'

Let’s put that aside for now.
Aslan has a mountain of neglected tasks.
Since the count has died, his son should, in principle, succeed him and handle these documents, but Aslan’s been holed up in the study all this time...
There’s no way I can finish all of this in one night.

'At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if a bailiff came to slap a red notice on us tomorrow.'

As long as I’m possessing this body, I can’t let the Vermont family go bankrupt.
I need to put out any urgent fires, like paying off immediate debts or overdue transactions.
I was about to sigh and get to work when—

“Who’s there?”
“...It’s me.”
“What’s the matter? In the middle of the night?”
“I just can’t sleep alone... Could you lend me a hand...?”

The door creaked open.
Yulia stood there, hugging a pillow tightly as she stepped into the office.