Healing Hands
'An odd feeling···.' Twitch. Twitch. Julia fought to suppress the trembling in her body, squeezing her eyes shut. Rustle. Something settled onto her. Then again. And again. A whimper nearly escaped her lips, but she barely managed to hold it back. Just when she thought it was over, a firm hand reached out and gently caressed her soft skin.
"Kuhahaha."
A sinister laugh drifted over from the other side. How on earth had things come to this? Julia's eyes welled with tears.
"Who is it."
"···It's me."
"What is it, at this hour."
"I knew it. I can't sleep alone···. Lend me your hand···."
It had all started two hours earlier. Julia had steeled herself and knocked on the door to Aslan's study. It absolutely wasn't because that cursed voice had kept her awake again. Nor was it because being near Aslan felt peaceful. 'This is just to expose that villain's schemes···!'
Last night, after sleeping soundly for over twelve hours, had Aslan really done nothing? No—how had he managed to silence those voices completely in the first place? There were far too many suspicious points. There was only one way to uncover everything: pretend to sleep beside him and watch his every move with her own eyes.
'It's terrifying, but I have to do it···.' Someone had to. No matter how frightening it was, she needed to reveal Aslan's true nature. For Charlotte's sake, she had to.
When Julia entered the study with her resolve firmly in place, Aslan was buried in paperwork, his hands moving busily.
"Um···."
"Just lie down on the sofa or the floor and sleep. I'm busy."
"···."
Without so much as glancing her way, Aslan dismissed her as if she were a nuisance. His attitude remained as unfriendly as ever. In the brief moment his face was hidden behind the documents, Julia stuck out her tongue at him before flopping onto the sofa and hugging a pillow. She closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but her brows furrowed on their own.
'The voices. I can still hear them···.' Realizing something was wrong, Julia's eyes flew open. She couldn't sleep here. The voices had diminished, but not enough for her to actually rest. She shot up and marched straight toward Aslan. Strangely enough, the moment she got close, the voices vanished completely.
"I really can't sleep unless I'm right next to you···."
"Then sleep on the desk. There's plenty of space anyway."
"What? Are you serious?"
"You think I'd abandon all this work just because of you and stay glued to the bedside? If you don't like it, don't do it. The choice is yours."
"Kuh···!"
Hah. Sleep on the desk? Was that even an option? There had clearly been another alternative, but Aslan hadn't bothered to mention it. 'He wants me to beg to sleep in his arms, doesn't he!?' His intentions were obvious. His chair was large and wide. If she climbed onto his lap and leaned against his chest, there would be more than enough room. He was clearly acting shameless because he expected her to do exactly that.
Did he really think she couldn't sleep on a desk? Julia's rebellious streak flared to its peak. She kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the desk.
"Fine. I'll sleep on the desk, then."
"···."
How about that? Bet you didn't see this coming. Aslan looked slightly taken aback. Feeling a rush of triumph, Julia laid down with the pillow under her head. Sure enough, the desk was large enough for someone as small as her. With a victorious smile, she closed her eyes—only for her expression to twist in realization roughly three seconds later.
'Something's wrong here!?' It finally dawned on her that this was completely off. What on earth was this? Lying sprawled out right in front of Aslan while he worked, like some kind of display piece? Once the thrill of victory faded, it was replaced by an overwhelming sense of embarrassment.
'No, this is actually good. I came here to catch him doing something suspicious while I slept, didn't I? Today, I'm definitely making an arrest.'
Squeezing her eyes shut, Julia began breathing evenly, as if she had fallen into a peaceful sleep. This way, Aslan would drop the act and reveal his true colors. Fighting off drowsiness, Julia waited and waited.
"Young Master. Here's the estate management plan you requested for this year. But this···."
"Don't mind it. Just think of it as furniture. And bring me the transaction records with Holtzbern as well."
"You called me out of bed for this. Are you making me work again?"
"···."
"Please don't ignore me, Young Master."
"Yawn. Young Master. Here are the transaction records with Holtzbern up to last month. Also, I'm starting to···."
"Starting to what."
"Nothing at all."
"If it's nothing, go fetch the employee payroll statements."
"Do we even have those?"
"If not, make them now."
"···."
"Young Master. I've prepared the payroll statements···. Can I go to sleep now···?"
"Might as well adjust your sleep schedule while you're at it."
"Young Master. I don't know if you've forgotten, but I'm a knight, not a secretary."
"Oh, right. I didn't realize. Thanks for the reminder."
"···."
But why was this guy acting like this? He spent the entire night just shuffling through documents without doing anything else. At some point, even Silvia had started treating the Julia sprawled on the desk like furniture, not sparing her a single glance. It wasn't like Julia had been expecting anything else··· but being completely forgotten and left like this felt strangely unsettling. At this rate, she looked like some spoiled child throwing a tantrum and bothering a busy lord during work hours, didn't she?
'There's no way that's true!!!' Aslan definitely had some sinister motive. He must have used some trick to make it so she could only sleep beside him. He must have created this situation so he could do all sorts of things while she was asleep···!
'It has to be that···. It has to be···.' Gradually, Julia's conviction began to waver. Her resolve cracked. She had come here to catch Aslan red-handed. But every time she peeked through half-lidded eyes, he was only focused on his documents, showing no interest in her at all. It was as if he had completely forgotten she was there—sometimes he even absentmindedly placed documents on top of her.
'It's ticklish···.' Rustle. Rustle. Each time another document was added to the pile, the ticklish sensation made Julia twitch and tremble. Before long, she found herself covered in a blanket made of paperwork. This crazy person. What was he going to do if he forgot there was actually a person here?
"Ah. There you were."
After quite some time, the rustling of documents slowed. With a bit of breathing room, Aslan finally noticed Julia and reached out.
'He's finally showing his true colors!' Julia's mind snapped awake, sleep vanishing instantly. Right—of course Aslan Belmont wouldn't just leave a girl sleeping right in front of him without doing anything. She would expose his true nature here and now. Just as Julia braced herself with that resolve, Aslan's large hand touched her soft skin.
"Hnn···."
"Ah. She might wake up at this rate. I should be gentler."
Stroke. Strooooke. Press. Squish squish. Aslan's fingers continuously caressed Julia's cheeks, pressing down and gently tugging. The plump flesh stretched without resistance, like soft rice cake.
"Kuhahaha···."
A laugh burst from Aslan's lips, one he couldn't hold back. Who could possibly resist laughing after touching cheeks like these? Unable to overcome the addictive sensation, his hands never stopped. Rubbing nonstop. Pressing, pressing. And stretching. Aslan even began handling documents with one hand while continuing to fondle Julia's cheeks with the other, completely unaware that her face was gradually turning bright red.
'What is this!!!' She had come here to expose Aslan's true nature. She had made a huge decision, coming to a place where she might be subjected to anything. But what on earth was this? At this rate, she felt like nothing more than a stress-relief toy he was kneading while working.
Julia felt her pride crumbling rapidly, accompanied by a complicated sense of shame. It wasn't an unpleasant kind of shame, but it was embarrassing nonetheless. 'It feels like I'm the only one having weird thoughts···.' Had she been overthinking things? Did Aslan really have no ulterior motives? No—fondling her cheeks while she slept and making sinister laughing sounds was definitely strange behavior··· but it was quite far from what she had imagined. This wasn't the kind of thing the wicked Aslan Belmont would do. It wasn't the attitude of someone from the Belmont family who treated people like objects. This wasn't right···.
Moment by moment, Julia's world was collapsing. Her pride crumbled. The beliefs she had held shattered. The driving force that had kept her going disappeared. She had hated Aslan, wished for his downfall, and dreamed of escape—but if he wasn't someone worth hating, then who was she supposed to hate?
Just as Julia's thoughts grew tangled, Aslan's quiet, complicated voice slipped out.
"What a blessed body. To be able to sleep so peacefully like this."
What did that even mean? Was Aslan also suffering from insomnia? She didn't know···. Julia was no longer in any state to keep thinking. Drowsiness crept in, and her consciousness began to fade.
'Mom···.' As she drifted into the world of dreams, a warm touch seeped in. Just like it always had whenever she whined about a stomachache, a warm hand on her belly···.
"···Hm?"
"I was going to wake you, but you woke up on your own."
"Huh!?"
The sensation against her lower abdomen. That chilling feeling made Julia's eyes fly wide open. It was as if··· she had placed Aslan's hand on her stomach and covered it with her own to keep it from escaping. In an instant, her embarrassment gauge shot through the ceiling, and her body sprang up reflexively.
"Hgyah!?"
Crash! Julia's body lifted into the air before tumbling roughly off the desk and onto the floor. When she came to her senses and looked up, Aslan was sitting at the desk with a completely nonchalant expression, organizing his documents. His arrogant gaze seemed to say, 'Serves you right.'
"Quite the noisy way to wake up. It certainly works for shaking off sleep."
"Y-You jerk···! You could've caught me!"
At Aslan's sarcastic tone, Julia gritted her teeth. The anger that had lost its direction suddenly realigned. As expected, that man wasn't a good person at all! Whether he was a bad person··· she wasn't sure anymore··· but at the very least, he was definitely a mean person. An incredibly mean person, at that.
Breakfast time. Julia silently licked her dog bowl clean. Charlotte, who had been watching her, spoke up.
"Julia."
"···."
"Julia Julia Julia Juliaaa."
"What. Stop it."
"So what exactly is that mark on your forehead?"
"I don't know!"
"Why are you getting so mad···."
Hadn't her irritability decreased lately because she was sleeping well? Charlotte looked bewildered at Julia's huffing and puffing.