When Oswald wheeled Aiwass in, it wasn't just the family's butler who came to greet them.
Yulia was wearing pajamas, holding her doll, and standing quietly in front of the window.
She watched Oswald pushing his wheelchair slowly coming from the front path, and then she trotted to the door to greet him.
"Miss Yulia is waiting for you."
Oswald said quietly behind Aiwass.
Aiwass nodded and lowered his voice as well: "I think Yuli is just a little lonely. After all, those kids her age are playing with their classmates at school. But I'm the only one of her age that Yuli can see."
The old butler sighed and said nothing more.
Just as Yulia came over, she closed the door, blocking out the cold winter wind in the evening.
He frowned and said seriously, "Ms. Yulia, it's cold in winter. Please don't get too close to the main entrance."
"… I am okay."
Yulia said in a low voice somewhat stubbornly: "I have taken the medicine twice."
"That's not OK."
The old housekeeper said without hesitation: "You are already weak, it will be even more troublesome if you catch a cold..."
"… It's okay, Mr. Oswald. Now if Yuli gets sick, I can help her treat it."
Aiwas interrupted in a gentle voice: "I think the sacred skills taught to me by Bishop Mathers should be used at this moment."
As he spoke, he took off his coat first, revealing the sweater underneath.
Aiwass put his hands inside his sweater, trying to warm them with his body heat.
He had just come back from outside, and his coat and hands were covered in cold air. For Yulia, whose body temperature was higher than that of an ordinary person, it would be very uncomfortable, just like a person with a fever would be afraid of the cold.
This is also Yulia's old problem.
Since she was very young, Julia has had a juvenile phantom demon, the Flame-Defying Butterfly, living inside her body.
Qualified people like this who have a young phantom demon in their body are called "Phantom Demon Eggs".
Their mental strength, physical strength, and even life force will be continuously drawn out and supplied to the phantom demons in their bodies. When they die due to weakness or external forces, the phantom demons in their bodies will wake up and cause disasters. However, if the phantom demons can be safely developed to a certain level, they can borrow some of the power of the phantom demons in their bodies without even embarking on the path of transcendence.
As the phantom develops further, the strength of the phantom egg will gradually increase, and the nutrients required for growth will become higher and more demanding. When the phantom grows to a complete personality, it is considered fully developed. At that time, they can choose to wake up forcibly, or become a symbiotic partner with their host.
The initiative of choice lies in the hands of the phantom demon, not in the hands of the host. That is why the host is called the egg of the phantom demon - because the majority of phantom demons choose the former.
But even though the phantom demon in Yulia's body has not yet awakened, it has already given her some power, but also put a higher burden on her.
Yulia's body temperature is several degrees higher than that of ordinary people.
Specifically, it was like she was in a state of constant fever. Her body temperature was higher than that of an average person... When she was six or seven years old, it was half a degree higher than that of an average person; now it is two degrees higher than that of an average person.
Her body temperature was around 38.5 degrees all year round... If she hadn't received regular treatment from the church pastor, she would have died long ago.
And the worst thing is that this high fever has nothing to do with illness or curse, so it cannot be cured by supernatural means. Her nerves and organs can only be healed by illumination magic, and potions can be used to help the body replenish the nutrients needed by the phantom.
Julia is not James' biological daughter either. She is also his adopted daughter.
The reason she was so close to Aiwass was because they grew up in the same orphanage.
When Aiwas was four years old, his biological parents died in an accident. He was too young at the time and his memory was vague. He didn't know what happened exactly.
After that, Aiwass entered an orphanage and met Yulia.
At that time, Yulia was still an abandoned baby in swaddling clothes.
Although she was still a baby, Yulia had a great strength that was almost demonic, and she often hurt the caregivers. At that time, there were not many people who could easily get close to her, only the director's grandmother, Aunt Misu who cooked, and Aiwas. So the job of taking care of her fell on the director's grandmother... But the grandmother was old, and Aiwas, who had been very sensible since childhood, would take the initiative to help.
Aiwas was only three and a half years older than Yulia, but he was unusually mature. Not only did he not have the childish habits of his peers, but he was also unusually calm and never panicked, like an experienced adult. If he was not indeed as innocent as a child and did not really know anything, some people would probably suspect that he had another soul living inside him.
This is not impossible.
The Twilight Way's preservers and amber craftsmen can put a person's soul into another person's body. Aiwass is even abnormal to the point of being frightening.
The orphanage specially invited a pastor from the church to examine whether his soul belonged to them.
The relationship between the two equally abnormal children became better and better. Yulia almost always stayed by Aiwass' side.
At that time, the orphans in the orphanage were all wearing very thin clothes. Yulia, whose body was like a furnace, made Aiwas very comfortable in the winter. At that time, Aiwas could only sleep peacefully by holding Yulia in his arms without shivering with cold.
It wasn't until Aiwass was six years old that the two of them were adopted by James Moriarty.
Here Aiwas remembers it clearly—
In fact, at the beginning, James only wanted to adopt Julia, not Aiwass.
But when Yulia was taken away from Aiwass, she cried very hard and her heart was broken. Her mental state was very unstable. And her strength at that time was extremely huge - completely different from the weakness now, she had an innate terrifying power.
She was only three years old at the time, but even several adults couldn't pull her away.
Some people were even dragged to the ground by her, and the scene was in chaos. The whole orphanage was in turmoil for a long time, and many things were pulled down and broken by the crazy Yulia.
Later, James asked the director's mother-in-law about something, and then he suddenly changed his mind and took them both away. Only then did Yulia calm down.
As Yulia gradually learned to read, her personality gradually became gentle and introverted, and her innate strange strength gradually faded. Today, her body is so weak that it is even weaker than that of girls of the same age. She can only barely survive by relying on priests and magic potions.
Aiwass has always been grateful to Yulia in his heart.
It was because of her that he had the opportunity to change his original fate. Born in an orphanage without a father or a mother, he and the nobleman named "Moriarty" must have completely different futures. He was not adopted originally, but just a "surplus" to Yulia. Although James was very good to Aiwass, he never forgot that he was not needed in the first place.
For Aiwass, who lost his parents at a very young age, Yulia was the person he had spent the longest time with, two years longer than his adoptive father and older brother.
And Yulia is also very dependent on Aiwass.
She has no feelings for her biological parents. For her, who has no parents since she can remember, the Aiwass are her real family. The next ones are the director's mother-in-law, Aunt Misu, James and her eldest brother Edward.
After warming his hands, Aiwass gestured for Yulia to come over.
The frail girl with white hair and red eyes obediently hugged Aiwass' neck from the front. She knelt on her left knee beside Aiwass's legs, carefully avoiding putting her weight on Aiwass.
"Don't worry, Yuli. I'm not that fragile."
Aiwass couldn't help laughing.
He stretched out his right hand and gently pressed the left side of Yulia's back, behind her heart.
With a little fire-attributed magic power as a trigger, a soft light bloomed in the palm of his right hand.
As the soft light seeped out from Aiwas' fingers, Yulia's body gradually relaxed. Her short and shallow breathing also gradually became smoother - Aiwass easily dispelled the pain.
Although she had been ill for a long time, her illness was not serious because James had been treating her continuously. He would ask a priest to treat her injuries every time her condition worsened. Aiwass only spent two points of light mana to heal her.
Then, Aiwass took his still shining right hand away from his back and pressed it on Yulia's forehead.
As the light nourished her spirit, her sluggish mental state immediately improved a lot. This time, Aiwass didn't even have to spend any mana.
Yulia's body was still hot, but she was obviously able to sleep well today.
"Good girl," Aiwass's mouth corners slightly raised, "Let's go, let's go eat..."
At this moment, Aiwass casually reached for the "Shepherd's Secret Sutra" placed on his knees.
His movements paused for a moment.
Because he had never touched Yulia's "Shepherd's Secret Sutra", when he touched it now, he felt the same scorching heat as Yulia's body, and a strange feeling that was completely different from before.
It was as if Aiwass was not stroking the cover of the book, but touching the skin on Yulia's back.
Without the barrier of clothes, the heat was even greater than what Aiwass had felt when he touched Yulia just now. It was so hot that it was almost scalding.
But the strange feeling of incongruity made Aiwas look down.
The air did not emit any steam, and the material did not change at all. It was still the same cowhide-like material.
At this moment, Aiwas suddenly realized that it was so hot, but he did not feel the heat on his legs. Only his right hand, which had just used the lighting technique, had this illusion, and even his left hand felt normal temperature.
So Aiwass calmly handed the burning hot secret book to Yulia and said, "Please help me put this book in my study, okay?"
"Um."
Yulia nodded slightly in response.
She took the book without any special reaction.
It was as if he didn't feel its heat at all.
Aiwass asked with concern: "Does it feel a little cold? It has just been exposed outside for a long time."
"A little, but it doesn't matter," Yulia hummed and then asked, "Where should I put it, brother?"
"Put it in front of the desk. This is the book that my brother will read after dinner."
"OK."
Yulia nodded and left with the book.
Aiwass confirmed one thing.
It seems that I am the only one who can feel the changes in the temperature and touch of "The Shepherd's Secret Sutra".
Interesting, he thought.
Let's study it carefully after dinner.