A Hand in the Dark
When had it started? The moment I became unable to sleep. Was this a hallucination? Or a dream? Either way, it didn't matter. Julia decided to clear her mind of all complicated thoughts.
'It was from then... After I offered that prayer...'
The orphanage Julia was sent to after losing her parents was, to put it mildly, far from a good facility. Meals were always cold, hard bread or soggy rice porridge. In winter, the wind seeped through the cracks, making it freezing cold, while in summer, the dormitory grew so hot it felt like being steamed alive. Even from the age when they could run, the children were forced into labor with no rest. That was simply how life was at the orphanage. They lived believing the director's words that this was far better than being thrown out onto the streets. They grew up under the constant threat: did they want to be sold as slaves and become test subjects for the Belmont family?
What allowed them to endure all of that was, of course, the friends who held their hands by their sides. Charlotte. And Yuri. Though they had bickered and fought at first, the three children, sharing similar pains at the same age, quickly grew close and went everywhere together. When we leave the orphanage, let's live together. Let's open a small shop and work hard side by side. They had endured by clinging to that uncertain promise as their hope. Once they left the orphanage, everything would work out. They were only enduring this place now because they were young and powerless. They would secretly prepare to stand on their own, then boldly announce their departure to the director. They even dreamed of that small act of revenge.
'Church support has dwindled, making it impossible to continue operations. I'll arrange for you to be sent to good places through someone I know. You'll remember the grace of being fed all this time, won't you? Be grateful.'
But that dream shattered into nothing. Before they could even attempt to graduate, the slave traders arrived. The director had secretly sold the children into slavery behind the church's back. Julia and the others, who had been free, became slaves overnight. Yuri tried to escape but was quickly caught. On the night they heard the sound of Yuri being beaten, the traders sneering, "You think we haven't seen brats like you trying to run before?" Julia sobbed and prayed to the heavens.
'Angel. Are you listening? If you haven't abandoned us yet, please help us just a little. Give me strength. The strength to overcome this hardship...'
Yes. It was from that day. From that day onward, instead of the strength she had so desperately wanted, Julia gained a terrible case of insomnia. Its true nature was the ceaseless voices that echoed in her ears. At first, they sounded like nothing more than the buzzing of insects. If she focused on them, they were merely annoying, nothing she couldn't handle. But as the days passed, the voices grew louder and multiplied. Incomprehensible whispers constantly murmured to her, audible even when she covered her ears, and they wouldn't stop no matter how much she screamed for them to cease. She could forget them temporarily if she concentrated on something, but the moment her focus broke, the torment resumed without fail.
The biggest problem was that the voices continued even when she tried to sleep. What had started as faint background noise gradually grew louder, eventually disturbing her rest, until at some point, she became completely unable to sleep at all. Naturally, her wariness increased, and so did her irritability.
'Ah. I shouldn't have snapped at Yuri. I might never see her again...'
She had told Yuri to run away alone. Why was she trying to take them along and increase the chances of getting caught? She had pushed Yuri away in irritation. Looking back now, it was something she regretted. There had been no need to hurt her like that... It was all because of those damned voices. If only those voices that drove people mad weren't there. If only this torture that broke one's mind didn't exist...
Wait a second. Huh? What?
'Why can't I hear anything right now?'
Something was wrong. She only felt at ease. The voices that had relentlessly tormented Julia were gone. So this was what life without the voices was like. A smile spread across her face at the pleasant silence and peace she thought she had forgotten long ago. And then there was the warmth touching her cheek. And the softness... How long had it been since she'd felt this? This large, warm hand felt just like her late father's from when she was young...
"How long do you plan on sleeping?"
"Huh?"
What was this voice? Suddenly, her mood soured completely. The moment she realized who the voice belonged to, a chill ran down her spine and her body sprang up on its own.
"Ugh!?"
Thud! Julia's body rolled to the side. With the sudden sensation of falling, her eyes flew open. She was falling!? After rolling in a full circle and finally coming to a stop, Julia lifted her head, ready to unleash all her pent-up irritation at once. But the moment her eyes met Aslan's, who had closed the book in his hand with a look of annoyance, that feeling vanished completely.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to start a staring contest with me?"
"No. Ah..."
Why? He was clearly someone she disliked. A man with ulterior motives, a bad person. Yet rather than lacking the energy to be angry, it felt as if the anger itself had disappeared entirely. No, there was no fatigue either. No drowsiness making her eyes close. What was this? Had she actually slept soundly? Julia looked around in confusion for about three seconds.
'No way...'
The sun was slowly rising. Aslan's shirt was heavily wrinkled, as if something had been pressing against it for a long time. And there, on Aslan's thigh, was a clear imprint of drool. After piecing all of this together, a wave of crimson spread across Julia's face.
"Ah! Aaaah...! No way!"
"Keep it down in the study. You're spitting. Are you trying to turn my prized book into a mold farm?"
"You! What did you do to my body!?"
"From the sound of your voice, you slept well. If you have nothing to do, go wash up and prepare for breakfast."
As if already accustomed to this, Aslan ignored Julia's fierce attack and calmly turned his back. At that sight, Julia growled and tried to get angry again, but the anger subsided once more. Now that she thought about it, the last thing she remembered before falling asleep was clearly before sunset. But now the sun was rising, which meant she had slept for at least twelve hours? Did that mean she had been sleeping on Aslan's thigh, keeping him completely immobilized, for over twelve hours...?
The moment that realization hit, Julia's face grew even redder, looking as if it might burst at any moment.
"H-How many hours was I asleep for!?"
"I don't know. I didn't count. I just threw you off when my leg started going numb."
"You... How did you do it? How did you get rid of the voices that were buzzing in my head?"
"How would I know? Go ask those voices yourself."
"Hey!"
"I'm not joking. Focus on those voices. Don't treat them as simple tinnitus. Try talking to them. Being able to handle mana should come first, though."
His tone was quite serious. Julia flinched for a moment. It sounded as if he knew something about these voices.
"Why should I do that?"
"Because then you'll be able to escape your insomnia. Unless you want to sleep every night holding my hand to your cheek like today."
"What!?"
"If not, hurry up and learn to control them. I have no desire to waste precious time because of you."
The door slammed shut with a thud. All that remained in the study was Julia, huffing with a face flushed bright red.
Me, I brought that man's hand to my cheek myself? All the circumstances and evidence supported Aslan's words, and though her mind had already accepted it long ago, Julia's heart still couldn't come to terms with it.
"You bastard. You absolute bastard..."
Julia sniffled, tears welling in her eyes, and picked up one of the stacked books. Mana Handling Basics. It was a book about how to control mana. If she wanted to control these voices that had started returning the moment Aslan left, she first needed to learn how to handle mana. That is, if Aslan's words were correct...
"I hate this. Never again. Sleeping in that man's arms is the last thing I want..."
The sensation that had touched her cheek resurfaced, and Julia shuddered violently. She needed to learn how to control mana as soon as possible. Because she absolutely, positively did not want to sleep next to that man ever again.
"Kugh."
Crack. The pencil in Julia's hand snapped weakly.
***
Investigation. I needed to investigate. For the past two days, I had been too focused on Charlotte and Julia. Charlotte seemed to have taken an interest in Silvia's sword training, and Julia had gained a strong motivation to study magic, so both of them could be considered to have reached a somewhat stable point. Now, the real big problem lay with the Belmont family. I still hadn't properly grasped what I knew and didn't know about Aslan and this family. Even though I'd played through Chapter 1, the parts revealed in the game story were only a tiny fraction. If I dug deeper, there would be no end to the things I didn't know.
'First, I need to find out how many people know about Aslan's secret.'
The most fatal secret Aslan possessed was, of course, his relationship with the evil god Kali. If it were just one-sided favoritism, there might be room to protest his innocence, but in reality, they had formed a contract. If someone reported this to the imperial family, I would be sent straight to the guillotine. After calling in the employees one by one and subtly probing them, I found that none of the employees knew about the contract. Except for one person—Silvia.
'This is terrifying.'
She held my weakness—the contract with an evil god—and possessed both the power and the courage to tear off the brand and escape at any time. In other words, it wouldn't be strange if she betrayed the Belmont family right now and stabbed me to death. What was currently holding Silvia back was none other than Charlotte and Julia. Those children, who would automatically fall into the hands of my sister, Irene, if I died, were the lifeline protecting my life from Silvia. I should be grateful that Silvia liked the children. Though when I saw how she treated Charlotte, it didn't seem like she liked her that much...?
'I also discovered something else interesting.'
While meeting the employees one by one, I used the skill Appraisal on each of them. Profiles of people who weren't very close only contained information visible from their appearance, but favorability was displayed in all cases. Naturally, most of them had favorability that had plummeted into the negatives. However, a very small number had positive favorability, or even quite high values. Liking Aslan, who was essentially the embodiment of all the world's evil? What did that mean? Obviously, it meant that person was also evil.
'List of people to eliminate: complete.'
Thanks to that, I was able to record in advance who needed to be dealt with. I had thought it felt like the Belmont family collapsed too abruptly at the end of Chapter 1, and it was clear that the parasites who had been eating away at it from the inside had accelerated the collapse by taking advantage of the crisis to feast and flee. These bastards needed to be dealt with all at once when the opportunity arose.
'But this amount of paperwork...'
That was enough for now. There was a mountain of work that Aslan had been neglecting. Since the count had died, in principle, his son should have succeeded him and handled these documents, but Aslan had been holed up in the study... There was no way this amount could be finished in a single night.
'If I leave it like this, it wouldn't be strange if an executor came to slap a red notice on the door tomorrow.'
At the very least, as long as I was possessing this body, I couldn't let the Belmont family fall apart. I needed to put out the urgent fires first—debts that could be repaid immediately, overdue transaction payments, and the like. Just as I sighed and was about to start working, there was a knock.
"Who is it?"
"...It's me."
"What is it? At this hour?"
"I still can't sleep alone... Lend me your hand..."
The door creaked open, and Julia stepped into the office, clutching a pillow tightly to her chest.