“Was it a mistake...?”

Charlotte, with her innocent smile, was holding the bear plushie. Watching her like that made me feel a bit complicated. After all, I had promised to buy her a doll. She had specifically pointed out the bear plushie she wanted, so I had bought it for her...

“What would Yulia think?”

Yulia, who had originally wanted a bear plushie, might be feeling quite upset. Those worries began to surface. But why had Charlotte chosen a bear of all things?

“Could it be that she picked it just to tease Yulia even though she doesn't really like it...? That can’t be it.”

Facing Charlotte’s innocent smile, I quickly brushed away such doubts. There was no way that such a pure-looking child would do something like that.

“I should probably buy another doll for Yulia later.”

In any case, it was something that could definitely hurt her feelings. Yulia appeared sharp and composed, but she had her childish sides too. It was the right age for someone to laugh and cry over a single plushie.

“I’ve never held a doll before. I thought it would feel similar to Heuk-Heuk, but it’s actually much lighter...!”

Charlotte shook the bear plushie around excitedly, as if it were a treasure, marveling at its weight. The way she played with it seemed more like how boys handled their robot toys than how girls usually treated dolls.

“It’s warm and fluffy. I can understand why some kids love dolls!”
“It sounds like you don’t like them very much?”
“Ah.”

Charlotte widened her eyes in surprise before breaking into a mischievous smile.

“Did you catch me? Honestly, I wasn’t interested in dolls, but after seeing you buy it for Yulia, I wanted one too. Hehe.”
“Then it would have been better to buy something other than a doll.”
“I don’t think it matters that much. What’s important isn’t what I get, but that it was given to me by uncle.”

“...”

Charlotte held the bear plushie tightly, as if it were something precious. If you only looked at this moment, she appeared to be an innocent girl who loved her plushie. I couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the absurdity of it all.

Soon, the carriage stopped. As I reached in to help her down, Charlotte raised the bear high above her head, cheering.

“Let me down!”

With a quick movement, I slipped my hand under her armpit and lifted her up. The smoothness of her underarm made me want to poke it out of sheer impulse.

When I let go, Charlotte landed lightly on her feet, exclaiming, “Whee!” Did she not mind being treated like a child? In that moment, it became evident just how opposite her nature was compared to Yulia.

“Hmm...”

Just before entering the mansion, Charlotte stopped at the doorway, spun around, and faced me. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.

“Uncle, Yulia might come over soon to sulk at you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’m going to provoke her quite a bit.”
“...”

Was the bear plushie part of that plan? She had a surprisingly mischievous side.

Charlotte flashed a slightly bitter smile. “But please don’t hate Yulia too much. She’s more fragile than she seems, and her way of expressing affection is just a bit rough.”
“I understand what you’re worried about.”

Gently, I placed my hand on her head, and she looked up at me with a puzzled expression. Here she was, a girl who couldn’t even take care of herself, worrying about her friend. How cheeky yet adorable.

If she was worried, she could just speak more gently. But from her intention to provoke Yulia, it seemed Charlotte also struggled with her way of expressing affection.

“But there’s no need to worry. I’m quite patient.”

There was no way I didn’t know Yulia was tsundere. Thankfully, I could show almost infinite patience when it came to young children. I didn’t really want Charlotte and Yulia to earn billions; I just hoped they wouldn’t hate me enough to want to kill me.

If I were to be a bit greedy, I would wish they could one day speak highly of me to Yuri.

But anything beyond that... well, that would be too much to ask.

The most assured way would be to make both of them my loyal allies, but that seemed quite unrealistic.

'I can’t just raise them to eat them like the maids say.'

Perhaps Yuri might have feelings for one of them. Would I steal one of them away in that situation? It wouldn’t be surprising if I ended up torn to pieces by Yuri for that.

Ah. If only Yuri weren’t such a brat, everything would be solved.

“Phew. I’m glad.”

Finally turning around with a relieved expression, Charlotte grabbed the doorknob.

“Wait. What exactly are you planning to do to provoke Yulia?”
“It’s nothing special. I’ll just use a little magic to make her more honest.”
“...? ”
“I’ll become the villain!”

With a determined look in her eyes, Charlotte made me feel uneasy.

“Hand!”
“...? ”
“Hand! Give it to me! ...Please!”

With a bang, Yulia burst into my office, shouting incomprehensibly. When I didn’t respond, she walked over, clutching her shark plushie tightly under one arm.

“Grrr! Ugh!”

Without hesitation, she dragged a large sofa over to my side. Then she flopped down onto the sofa, holding her shark plushie, and boldly pushed her head toward me.

...Her demands for my hand had become quite assertive.

“Did you sleep well last night?”
“I didn’t sleep at all... ”
“Do you think you can sleep now?”
“I don’t know... ”

Whipping her shark plushie onto my desk in plain sight, Yulia turned her head away to avoid eye contact. It was quite a purposeful protest.

“I’ll buy you the bear plushie you wanted when we go out again. After visiting again, I see the owner has stocked up on a variety of plushies.”
“...I don’t need it.”
“Don’t be sulky; just accept it. You’ll regret it later.”
“No. I’m not sulking; I really don’t need it. This is enough for me...”

Perhaps feeling wronged at being misunderstood as sulking, Yulia tried to maintain a serious expression. This was enough for her?

It seemed she had grown attached to her shark plushie. Well, nothing could outmatch the bond formed from having spent so much time together.

So please, can’t you grow attached to me too...?

I felt a strong desire to plead for that.

‘It smells like Yulia.’

Sigh. Hah.

I secretly buried my nose into the shark plushie and inhaled. The unmistakable scent of Yulia was so vivid that it felt as if I had pressed my nose against her shoulder. It was proof that we had embraced each other often and for a long time.

“Hey. Aslan.”
“...”

She came here claiming she wanted to sleep, yet she was talking quite a bit. It didn’t seem like she had come just to sulk. What was her purpose?

“Am I bothering you?”
“...”

Damn. Had she come to throw a fit?

“Hey? Can you answer me? Am I bothering you? ...Please.”
“You’re extremely bothersome. It takes a lot of effort.”

That was the literal meaning. Whenever Yulia went to sleep, one of my hands was pinned down.

“What would happen if I could sleep without you, then? ...What do you think?”
“That would be very comfortable.”
“... ”
“And it might feel a bit empty too.”

I felt Yulia tremble as she held my hand.

People are creatures of adaptation, after all. At first, it had been quite inconvenient, and I couldn’t handle things properly, but now I could manage my work at a pace not much different from when I was whole, even with one hand tied up by Yulia.

When Yulia fell asleep, I could secretly pinch her soft cheeks, and perhaps because of that buff effect, my productivity seemed to increase. Overall, it might even be a benefit.

“I don’t care either way.”
“...You don’t care? Really? I noticed that if I forcibly closed my eyes, I could sleep for a while. After a few days, I might really be able to sleep without you. Should I not come to visit every night from now on?”

Why was she asking me that? From the way she spoke, it was clear she was clinging to her lingering feelings.

“Just keep coming.”
“...Yeah. I will.”

Yulia agreed submissively, but her posture remained turned away from me. ...I was slowly starting to understand what Yulia was thinking.

“This girl.”
“Eek!?”

I grabbed Yulia’s cheek and stretched it out playfully, causing her to jump in surprise and let out a high-pitched scream.

“What are you doing!? ...Please!”
“I just felt like doing it because you were talking nonsense.”
“What do you mean by that...!”
“Were you worried that I might favor only Charlotte? Were you afraid you wouldn’t be able to gather a billion Larks all by yourself?”
“Ah, no... That’s not it...”

It was a thought she might easily have. She was probably just thinking of ways to escape the whole time. The moment she felt I was starting to neglect her, Yulia would worry about her income being cut off.

“Unfortunately, I have no intention of letting either of you fall behind. I’ll make sure both of you become helpful to me somehow. The one who needs to worry is me, the one who has to make it work, not you two. If you understand, you can go to sleep now. No more strange talk.”
“...”

Did I hit the mark? Slowly, Yulia laid back on the sofa without saying anything, pulling my hand closer and pressing it against her cheek.

“Fufufu.”
“...? ”

Did I just hear a strangely silly laugh just now? Was it my imagination?