When Oswald pushed Aiwass through the door, it wasn't just the house's male servants who came to greet them.
Yulia, dressed in her nightgown and holding her doll, stood quietly by the window.
She watched, wide-eyed, as Oswald slowly pushed the wheelchair along the path from the front door, then scurried to the entrance to greet them.
"Miss Yulia has been waiting for you," Oswald whispered behind Aiwass.
Aiwass nodded, similarly lowering his voice: "I think Yuli is just a little lonely. After all, children her age play with their classmates at school. But the only person Yuli can see who is her age is me."
Mr. Oswald sighed, saying nothing more.
He simply closed the door as Yulia approached, keeping the biting winter wind of the evening outside.
He frowned deeply, saying sternly, "Miss Yulia, the winter wind is cold. Please don't get too close to the front door."
"...I'm fine," Yulia said in a small, stubborn voice. "I've already taken my medicine twice."
"That's still not allowed," Mr. Oswald said without hesitation. "You are already frail; if you catch a cold, it will be even more troublesome—"
"...It's alright, Mr. Oswald. Now, if Yuli gets sick, I can help treat her as well."
Aiwass gently interrupted, "I believe the sacred art Bishop Mathers taught me should be used at this moment."
Saying this, he first took off his coat, revealing the sweater underneath.
Aiwass put his hands into his sweater, trying to warm them with his body heat.
He had just returned from outside, and his coat and hands were full of cold. For Yulia, whose body temperature was higher than normal, it would be very uncomfortable, just as someone with a fever fears the cold.
This was an old problem for Yulia.
Since she was very young, a larval Phantom Demon, the Paradoxical Flame Butterfly, had resided within Yulia's body.
Those who host a larval Phantom Demon within their bodies are called "Phantom Demon Eggs."
Their mental strength, physical strength, and even life force are continuously drawn out and supplied to the Phantom Demon within them. When they die due to weakness or external force, the Phantom Demon within will awaken, leading to disaster. However, if the Phantom Demon can safely develop to a certain extent, one can borrow some of its power even without embarking on the path of the extraordinary.
As the Phantom Demon further develops, the strength of the Phantom Demon Egg will gradually increase, and the nutrients required for growth will become higher and more demanding. Only when the Phantom Demon grows to acquire a complete personality is it considered fully developed. At that point, they can choose to forcibly awaken or become a symbiotic partner with their host.
The initiative for this choice lies with the Phantom Demon, not the host. This is why the host is called a Phantom Demon Egg—because the vast majority of Phantom Demons choose the former.
But even though the Phantom Demon inside Yulia had not yet awakened, it had already granted her some power. It also placed a greater burden on her.
Yulia's body temperature was a few degrees higher than that of an ordinary person.
Specifically, it was like being in a perpetual state of fever. Her body temperature was slightly higher than normal... when she was six or seven, it was half a degree higher; now it was two degrees higher than normal.
Constantly having a body temperature around thirty-eight point five degrees Celsius... if not for regular treatment from the church's Shepherd, she would probably have died long ago.
Moreover, the most critical part was that this high fever was unrelated to illness or Curse, and thus could not be cured by extraordinary means. It could only be treated by Illumination to heal her nerves and organs, and by potions to help her body replenish the nutrients required by the Phantom Demon.
Yulia was not James's biological daughter. She was also his adopted daughter.
The reason she was very close to Aiwass was because they were in the same orphanage when they were young.
When Aiwass was four years old, his biological parents died in an accident. He was too young then, and his memory was very vague. He didn't know exactly what happened.
After that, Aiwass entered an orphanage and met Yulia.
At that time, Yulia was an abandoned infant in swaddling clothes.
Even as a baby, Yulia possessed an almost demonic strength, often injuring the caregivers. Few people could easily approach her at the time, only the orphanage director, Grandma Misu who cooked, and Aiwass. So the task of caring for her fell to the director... but the director was old, and Aiwass, who had been unusually sensible since childhood, would voluntarily help.
Aiwass was only three and a half years older than Yulia, but he was exceptionally mature. Not only did he lack the childish habits of his peers, but he was also unusually calm when faced with problems, never showing any panic, like a well-traveled adult—if not for his genuinely pure childlike nature and his genuine lack of understanding, some might have suspected that another soul resided within him.
This was not impossible.
Preservationists and Amber Artisans of the Twilight Path could implant one person's soul into another's body. Aiwass was even frighteningly abnormal.
The orphanage specifically invited a Shepherd from the church to verify if his soul belonged to him.
The two equally abnormal children grew closer and closer. Yulia almost always stayed by Aiwass's side.
At the orphanage, their clothes were thin. Yulia, whose body was like a furnace, made Aiwass comfortable in winter; at that time, Aiwass could only sleep soundly by holding Yulia, so as not to shiver from the cold.
It wasn't until Aiwass was six years old that they were both adopted by James Moriarty.
Aiwass remembered this very clearly—
Initially, James only wanted to adopt Yulia, not Aiwass.
But as soon as Yulia was pulled away from Aiwass, she cried terribly, heartbroken, and her mental state became very unstable. And her strength at that time was extraordinarily immense—completely different from her current delicate weakness, a terrifying innate power.
At just three years old, she couldn't be pulled away by several adults. Some even fell to the ground directly because of her, and the scene was chaotic. The entire orphanage was in an uproar for a long time, and many things were pulled down and shattered by the frantic Yulia.
Later, James inquired about something from the director, and then suddenly changed his mind, taking both of them. Only then did Yulia calm down.
As Yulia gradually learned to read and her personality became gentle and introverted, that strange innate immense strength also gradually faded. To this day, her body is so frail that she is even weaker than girls her age. She can barely maintain her life with the help of the Shepherd and potions.
Aiwass was always very grateful to Yulia in his heart.
It was because of her that he had the opportunity to change his original destiny. An orphan from an orphanage, without parents, and a noble young master with the surname "Moriarty"—they were bound to have vastly different futures. And he was not originally going to be adopted, merely Yulia's "bonus." Although James was very good to Aiwass, he never forgot that he was initially unwanted.
For Aiwass, who lost his parents at a very young age, Yulia was the person he had truly spent the longest time with. Two years more than his adoptive father and older brother.
And Yulia was also very dependent on Aiwass.
She had no feelings for her biological parents. For her, who had no parents before she could remember, Aiwass was her true family. Next were the director, Grandma Misu, James, and older 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's neck from the front. Her left knee knelt beside Aiwass's leg, carefully avoiding putting her weight on Aiwass.
"Don't worry, Yuli. I'm not that fragile."
Aiwass couldn't help but chuckle.
He extended his right hand and gently pressed it against Yulia's left upper back, behind her heart.
Using a bit of fire-attributed mana as an inducement, a soft light bloomed from the palm of his right hand.
As the soft light seeped from between Aiwass's fingers, Yulia's body gradually relaxed. Her slightly hurried and shallow breathing also gradually became smooth—her illness was easily dispelled by Aiwass.
Although she had been ill for a long time, given James's consistent treatment, her illness was not severe—because before her condition worsened each time, he would invite a Shepherd to treat various hidden injuries. Aiwass only spent two points of light-attributed mana to heal her body.
Immediately after, Aiwass removed his still-glowing right hand from her back and placed it on Yulia's forehead.
With the nourishment of the light on her mind, her languid mental state immediately improved significantly. This time, Aiwass even spent less than one point of mana.
Yulia's body was still burning hot. But clearly, she would get a good night's sleep today.
"Good girl," Aiwass's lips curved slightly upward, "Let's go, time to eat—"
Just then, Aiwass casually reached for the shepherds apocryphon resting on his lap.
His movement paused for a moment.
Because the shepherds apocryphon, which he had not touched Yulia with at all, now felt just as scorching hot as Yulia's body, and had a strange, completely different texture than before.
It was as if Aiwass was not stroking the book's cover, but rather touching the skin on Yulia's back.
Without the obstruction of clothing, its heat even surpassed the heat Aiwass felt when he first touched Yulia. It was scorching to the point of being almost scalding.
But a strange sense of incongruity made Aiwass lower his head to look.
The air did not steam with heat, nor did its material change at all. It was still that cowhide-like material.
It was then that Aiwass suddenly realized—it was so scorching hot, yet his legs felt no heat. Only his right hand, which had just used Illumination, experienced this illusion; even his left hand felt a normal temperature.
So Aiwass, without a change in expression, handed the scorching hot apocryphon to Yulia: "Could you help brother put this book in brother's study, please?"
"Mm," Yulia nodded softly in response.
She showed no special reaction upon taking the book.
It was as if she didn't feel its heat at all.
Aiwass asked with concern, "Does it feel a bit cool? It was exposed outside for a long time just now."
"A little, but it's okay," Yulia hummed and then asked, "Where should I put it, brother?"
"Put it in front of the desk. This is the book brother will read after dinner."
"Okay."
Yulia nodded in agreement and left with the book.
Aiwass confirmed one thing.
It seemed that only he could perceive the changes in the shepherds apocryphon's temperature and texture.
Interesting, he thought.
He would study it thoroughly after dinner.