“Are there any devices that can detect curses or dark magic?”

Yulia nodded vigorously. Sylvia paused for a moment, trying to grasp the intent behind the question.

'Does she think she’s under a curse?'

How did she come to that conclusion? I almost asked Yulia directly but bit my lip, reconsidering. The answer would most likely involve Aslan’s name, and I felt awkward bringing it up.

“Here. This magic circle will light up if it detects a curse. I’ll lend it to you for a moment.”
“Oh! Thank you! Is it okay if I return it tonight or tomorrow?”
“Sure.”

With a casual gesture, Yulia received a rosary from Sylvia. A magic circle that detects curses...! I can’t believe such a thing really exists! Yulia gripped the rosary tightly in her hands, fearing she might lose it.

“I’ll take good care of it and return it!”

Thump, thump, thump. Yulia hung the rosary around her neck and tucked it inside her clothes. This should do it. If Aslan cast a curse, I could catch it right away!

Yulia lifted her clothes slightly to check the rosary. She confirmed it wasn’t glowing. For now, it seemed there wasn’t a curse active on her.

Thump, thump, thump. She headed straight for Aslan’s office and knocked on the door. Come to think of it, she felt so sleepy! Extremely sleepy!

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

Aslan consistently ignored Yulia’s bold demands. Why was he pretending not to care? He wanted to be alone with her so badly that he’d come up with ridiculous excuses...!

With a determined stride, Yulia marched straight into the office, dragging a sofa next to the desk. Then she placed her shark plushie on the desk and closed her eyes, leaning her head forward. Hmph! He better offer that large, warm hand of his!

“I’ll buy you the bear plushie you wanted when we go out again. I saw that the owner has stocked up on a variety of plushies this time.”
“...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...”

Ah! Did he think I was begging for a plushie? Did he really think I’d be upset after seeing him buy a bear plushie for Charlotte? Did he think I was that petty and childish? I was just baffled.

...After saying that, she felt a little disappointed. She had wanted a bear plushie. A fluffy, cuddly bear plushie. Hmph.

“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...”

As Aslan persisted, Yulia replied in a serious tone. It was true she felt a bit disappointed, but that was all. She didn’t want a new plushie.

It looked kind of silly, but as she kept looking at her shark plushie, it became cute. Perhaps because it was the first plushie she ever owned. She felt strange asking for another one, like she was being unfaithful. For now, it seemed best to focus on pouring love into her shark plushie.

‘Here he comes.’

Finally, Aslan reached out his hand casually.

Swipe.

Unable to wait any longer, Yulia leaned in closer to touch his hand.

Surprisingly, she felt her eyes slowly close, and drowsiness washed over her. Gotcha! He just cast a curse on me, didn’t he? Yulia quickly glanced under her clothes.

‘Huh? It’s not glowing...?’

But the rosary remained unchanged. It wasn’t glowing or reacting at all. With her mouth agape, Yulia paused for a moment as her thoughts came to a halt.

‘It’s not a curse or dark magic...?’

Neither a curse nor dark magic. Recently, I had become sensitive to the movements of mana while practicing commands, so if magic had been used, I would have sensed it immediately. It meant it wasn’t magic either. So how was it that I felt sleepy the moment Aslan touched me?

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s strange...!’

The voices of the spirits had already faded away. Yet, perhaps the long sleeplessness had left a trauma. Whenever Yulia tried to sleep, she still heard echoes of those voices.

Even without the echoes, sleep didn’t come easily. The fear of when those voices might wake her up was always with Yulia.

‘Could it be that I can finally sleep without fear when I’m by Aslan’s side...?'

Realizing this shocking fact left Yulia stunned. Did I feel at ease when I was close to that man? Did I find comfort enough to forget my deep trauma? No way...?

Just a moment of denying reality in my mind. Yulia soon prepared to accept the truth.

“...”

Slowly, she lifted her head to steal a glance at Aslan. One hand was resting on top of her head. Occasionally, he would stroke her hair, touch her ears, and sometimes, he would pretend to squeeze her cheeks while continuing with his work nonchalantly.

‘He looks uncomfortable...’

He had never shown any signs of distress. Until now, Aslan had never voiced a complaint.

This entire situation, Yulia had thought, was deliberately orchestrated by Aslan. She believed he had purposely cast a curse that would make her seek him out.

Now, realizing that Aslan had also been enduring discomfort, Yulia felt a pang of guilt in her heart.

‘Why doesn’t he show it...?’

He must have hated it. It must have been uncomfortable. He had likely thought to himself countless times that this little brat was a bother. Why had he never let on even once?

Curious, Yulia asked, “Hey. Aslan.”
“... ”
“Am I bothering you?”

Unable to hold back any longer, she blurted out the question she had wanted to keep to herself. After saying it, she felt a pang of regret. She already knew what his answer would be.

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

...Just as expected. Yulia’s shoulders slumped.

Yeah. It’s time to stop coming here. I should learn to sleep alone.

Just as she resolved to do so, Aslan asked, “What would happen if I could sleep without you...? ”

“It would be very comfortable.”
“... ”
“And it might feel a bit empty too.”

Huh? Really? Was that true? Yulia’s shoulders perked up slightly.

“I don’t particularly care.”
“...You don’t care? Really? I tried forcing my eyes shut and managed to sleep for a while. Maybe in a few days, I’ll really be able to sleep without you. Should I stop coming to visit every night?”
“Just keep coming.”
“...Yeah. I will.”

Aslan’s resolute reply caused Yulia’s lips to curl up into a smirk. Hehe. So he wasn’t bothered at all. In fact, he’d feel empty without her.

Aslan hadn’t seen her as a nuisance after all.

With that thought, her previously heavy heart began to swell with joy.

‘Huh!? But why do I feel relieved?’

Wait a minute. Why should I feel bad for bothering Aslan? If it’s bothering that villain, isn’t that a good thing? So why was I feeling happy about it...?

Yulia's heart was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.

In that moment, Charlotte’s words echoed in her mind.

‘What about you, Yulia? Is your only reason for wanting to monopolize uncle just because you want to sleep peacefully?’

I don’t know... What do I want? Why does it annoy me so much when Charlotte is with uncle?

With her eyes tightly shut, Yulia could no longer resist the overwhelming drowsiness and began to lose her consciousness. It was a pleasantly comforting feeling, just like always.

...

“Excuse me, Head of Household. I need to retrieve something for a moment...”

As Sylvia entered the office, she scanned the room briefly before walking straight toward the sleeping Yulia.

“That child is asleep. Don’t disturb her.”
“The item I want to retrieve is with her.”
“Hmmm.”
“I will be careful not to wake her.”
“Feel free to touch her. But if she wakes up, there will be a pay cut.”
“...”

Rustle.

With trembling hands, Sylvia cautiously reached for Yulia’s neck, retrieving the rosary hidden beneath her clothes. That rosary...!

“I have an urgent matter to attend to. After conducting some background checks, it seems one of the successful interview candidates is involved in unsatisfactory activities. I’ll rush to the site to confirm, and if it’s true, I’ll eliminate them.”
“...Thank you for your hard work.”

That rosary. Sylvia always kept it on her person. I didn’t know what it meant to her, but it was undoubtedly a precious item.

It seemed okay to take it off temporarily, but she couldn’t leave without it. But why was it with Yulia?

“Is there something special about that rosary?”
“This rosary? No. It’s completely ordinary. It’s a very plain rosary.”
“Is that so? Understood. Make sure to succeed in the field retrieval.”
“Understood.”

Thump, thump, thump.

After politely bowing, Sylvia exited the office. A completely ordinary rosary, huh?

“I should squeeze her cheeks.”

It’s nothing special. I decided not to worry too much about it. Spending time worrying about it would be far less beneficial than squeezing Yulia's cheeks even once more.