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When did it start?

When she became unable to sleep.

Was this a hallucination? Or a dream?

It didn’t matter.

Julia decided to clear her mind of all complicated thoughts.

‘It was from then… after I prayed…’

The orphanage Julia ended up in after losing both her parents was, to put it mildly, a terrible place.

The meals were always cold, hard bread or porridge made from soggy rice.

In winter, the dormitories were freezing, and in summer, they were stiflingly hot.

From the age they could run, the children were forced into hard labor, working endlessly.

In the orphanage, this life was considered normal.

They lived believing the director’s words that this was much better than being thrown out on the streets.

They grew up with the threat that they could be sold as slaves and become experimental subjects for the Vermont family.

What helped them endure was the friends who held their hands through it all.

Charlotte and Yuri.

At first, they had their share of arguments and fights.

But sharing similar pains, they quickly became close and were inseparable wherever they went.

They dreamed of living together once they left the orphanage.

They planned to open a small shop and work hard together.

That was the hopeful promise that kept them going.

Once they left the orphanage, everything would be fine.

They were only enduring this place because they were young and powerless.

They secretly prepared for independence, dreaming of informing the director and leaving together.

It was a small, timid revenge they fantasized about.

‘The church’s support has dwindled, and it’s become difficult to keep running. I’ll ask someone I know to find you a good place to go. Remember the grace of having fed and housed you, you ungrateful wretches. Be thankful.’

But those dreams were shattered.

Before they could attempt to graduate, slave traders came.

The director had secretly sold the children as slaves.

Julia and the children, who had been free, were reduced to slaves overnight.

Yuri tried to escape but was quickly caught.

Julia remembered the night she heard Yuri being beaten, the slavers saying they were used to dealing with children like her.

That night, Julia prayed, sobbing.

‘Angel, are you listening? If you haven’t abandoned us, please help a little. Give me strength to overcome this hardship…’

Yes, it was from that night.

Instead of the strength she had wished for, Julia gained severe insomnia.

Its true nature was incessant voices.

At first, they sounded like the faint noise of small insects.

It was only slightly annoying if she focused on it.

But the voices grew louder and more numerous over time.

Incomprehensible whispers continued ceaselessly, heard even when she covered her ears or shouted for them to stop.

Focusing on something helped her forget them temporarily.

But the moment she lost concentration, the tormenting voices returned.

The biggest problem was that the voices continued even when she tried to sleep.

What started as natural sounds grew louder and eventually prevented her from sleeping at all.

Naturally, this led to increased irritability and paranoia.

‘Ah, I shouldn’t have snapped at Yuri. I may never see her again…’

She had pushed Yuri away, complaining about risking capture by trying to escape together.

In hindsight, she regretted those words.

There was no need to hurt her like that…

It was all because of those damn voices.

If it weren’t for the maddening voices…

If it weren’t for this mental torture…

Wait a minute. Huh?

‘Why can’t I hear anything now?’

This was strange.

There were no voices tormenting her, just peace.

Julia smiled at the long-forgotten feeling of quiet and peace.

And the warmth and softness against her cheek…

How long had it been?

This large, warm hand felt just like her late father’s…

“How long do you plan to sleep?”

“Mm?”

What was that voice?

Her mood soured instantly.

Realizing the voice’s owner, her body jerked awake, shivering.

“Ugh!?”

Thud!

Julia rolled to the side, feeling the sudden sensation of falling, and opened her eyes.

Falling!?

She rolled once and finally stopped, glaring up angrily.

She had meant to unleash her pent-up frustration all at once.

“What are you doing? Trying to have a staring contest with me?”

“No, I…”

Seeing Aslan close the book he was holding with a bored expression, Julia’s anger vanished.

Why was that?

He was someone she disliked.

A bad person with ulterior motives.

It wasn’t that she lacked the energy to be angry; it felt as if all her ‘anger’ had disappeared.

She also didn’t feel tired.

There was no sleepiness making her eyelids heavy.

What happened? Did she actually sleep well?

Julia looked around, confused, for about three seconds.

‘Could it be?’

The rising sun.

Aslan’s shirt, heavily wrinkled from being leaned on.

And the clear drool stain on Aslan’s thigh.

Combining all these clues, Julia’s face turned bright red.

“Ah! Ahh… Did I really?”

“Quiet in the library. You’ll spit on my precious books and turn them into mold farms.”

“You! What did you do to me!?”

“Judging by your voice, it seems you slept well. If you have nothing to do, get washed and prepare for breakfast.”

Ignoring Julia’s outburst, Aslan turned his back calmly, as if he was used to her rants.

This made Julia want to growl more, but she held back.

She remembered the last time she looked at the clock before falling asleep, it was before sunset.

Now, the sun was rising, so she had been sleeping for at least 12 hours?

That meant she had been resting on Aslan’s lap for over 12 hours…

Realizing this, Julia’s face turned even redder, ready to burst.

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t count. I just threw you off when my leg went numb.”

“You… How did you do it? How did you stop the voices in my head?”

“How would I know? Ask the voices yourself.”

“Hey!”

“I’m not joking. Focus on the voices. Don’t dismiss them as mere tinnitus; try to communicate with them. Mastering mana control comes first.”

He spoke seriously.

Julia flinched slightly.

It sounded like he knew something about these voices.

“Why should I do that?”

“To get rid of your insomnia. Unless you want to sleep every night with my hand on your cheek.”

“What!?”

“If not, learn to control it. I hate wasting my precious time on you.”

The door slammed shut.

Julia, left in the library, was furious, her face bright red.

Did I really put his hand on my cheek myself?

All evidence and logic pointed to Aslan being right.

Her head understood it, but her heart couldn’t accept it yet.

“Damned bastard…”

Tears welled up as Julia grabbed a book from the stack.

Basic Mana Handling.

It was a book about handling mana.

If she was to control the voices that started up again the moment Aslan left, she needed to learn to control mana first.

If Aslan was right…

“I hate it. Never again. I refuse to sleep in his lap again…”

The memory of the warmth on her cheek made her shudder.

She needed to learn mana control quickly.

Sleeping near that guy again was out of the question.

Never…

“Ugh.”

Crack.

The pencil in Julia’s hand snapped.

***

I need an investigation. I need to investigate.

These past two days, I’ve been too focused on Charlotte and Julia.

Charlotte seems interested in Sylvia’s swordsmanship training.

Julia now has a strong motivation to study magic.

Both seem to be on a stable path.

The real problem is the Vermont family.

I haven’t fully grasped what I know and don’t know about Aslan and this family.

Even though I played the first chapter, the game’s story reveals only a small part.

If I dig deeper, there will be countless things I don’t know.

‘I need to find out who knows Aslan’s secrets.’

The most dangerous secret is the relationship with the evil god Kali.

If it were just a matter of being favored, I could argue it’s unfair.

But since there’s a contract, if someone reported this to the royal family, I’d be headed for the guillotine.

After subtly probing the employees one by one, I found that none of them knew about the contract.

Except for one, Sylvia.

‘Scary.’

She holds my weakness, the contract with the evil god.

She has the strength and courage to rip off the seal and escape anytime.

If she betrayed the Vermont family and killed me, it wouldn’t be surprising.

The only thing keeping Sylvia in check is Charlotte and Julia.

Those kids are the lifeline that protects my life from Sylvia’s blade.

I should be thankful Sylvia likes them.

Although, she doesn’t seem to like Charlotte much…

‘I learned something interesting.’

I used the ‘Appraisal’ skill on each employee.

Those with whom I had little interaction showed only superficial information.

But their affection level was always displayed.

As expected, most had negative affection.

But a few had positive or even high levels of affection.

Someone liking Aslan, a result of all the world’s evil combined?

What does that mean?

It means they’re bad too.

‘Completed the list of people to weed out.’

Now I can record those to be dealt with later.

I thought the Vermont family’s collapse in the final part of Chapter 1 was sudden.

It must have been parasites within the family who accelerated its fall by exploiting the crisis.

These people need to be dealt with all at once when the time comes.

‘But this paperwork…’

The amount was overwhelming.

These were the tasks Aslan had neglected all this time.

With the Count’s death, his son was supposed to inherit and manage these documents, but Aslan had been hiding in the library instead…

It was impossible to finish it all in one night.

‘If I leave this as it is, it wouldn’t be surprising if an enforcer shows up tomorrow to put a red tag on the door.’

As long as I’m here, I can’t let the Vermont family collapse.

I need to deal with the urgent debts and overdue payments first.

Just as I sighed and started working…

“Who’s there?”

“…It’s me.”

“What do you want at this hour?”

“I still can’t sleep alone… Please lend me your hand…”

The door creaked open.

Julia, holding a pillow in her hands, stepped into the office.