When Oswald pushed Iver through the door, it was not only the household footman who came to welcome them.
Yulia stood quietly by the window in her pajamas, clutching her rag doll.
She watched eagerly as Oswald slowly pushed the wheelchair along the front path. Only then did she trot over to the door to greet them.
"Miss Yulia has been waiting for you."
Oswald spoke softly behind Iver.
Iver nodded and lowered his voice as well. "I think Yuli is just a little lonely. After all, children her age are all playing with their classmates at school. But the only person her age Yuli can see is me."
The old butler sighed and said nothing more.
He merely closed the door behind Yulia as she came over, shutting out the biting winter wind of evening.
His brows furrowed deeply as he said sternly, "Miss Yulia, the winter wind is cold. Please don't stand so close to the front door."
"...I'm fine."
Yulia spoke stubbornly in a small voice. "I've already taken my medicine twice."
"That still won't do."
The old butler said without hesitation, "You're already weak by nature. If you catch a cold, it will only make things more troublesome..."
"...It's all right, Mr. Oswald. If Yuli gets sick now, I can treat her too."
Iver interrupted gently. "I think the Sacred Art Bishop Mathers taught me is meant to be used at times like this."
As he spoke, he removed his coat first, revealing the sweater beneath.
Iver slipped his hands inside the sweater, trying to warm them with his body heat.
He had just come in from outside. His coat and hands were full of cold air, which would be very uncomfortable for Yulia, whose body temperature was higher than normal. It was like how someone with a fever felt cold.
This was also Yulia's old affliction.
From a very young age, Yulia had harbored the juvenile Phantom Demon, the Paradox Flame Butterfly, inside her body.
Those compatible individuals who harbored juvenile Phantom Demons within them were known as "Phantom Demon Eggs."
Their mental strength, physical strength, and even life force were continuously drawn away to nourish the Phantom Demon inside them. When they died from weakness or external forces, the Phantom Demon within them would awaken and cause a disaster. However, if the Phantom Demon could safely mature to a certain degree, they could borrow part of its power without even setting foot on the supernatural path.
As the Phantom Demon developed further, the strength of the Phantom Demon Egg would gradually increase, while the nourishment required for its growth would become more abundant and demanding. Only after the Phantom Demon matured enough to gain a complete personality was its development considered complete. At that point, it could choose either to forcibly awaken or to become a symbiotic partner with its host.
The right to choose lay with the Phantom Demon, not the host. That was why the host was called a Phantom Demon Egg—because the vast majority of Phantom Demons chose the former option.
But even though the Phantom Demon inside Yulia had yet to awaken, it had already granted her a portion of its power. It had also given her a heavier burden.
Yulia's body temperature was several degrees higher than an ordinary person's.
More specifically, it was as if she remained in a constant state of fever. Her temperature was somewhat higher than normal... When she was six or seven, it was half a degree higher; now, it was two degrees higher.
With her temperature remaining around thirty-eight and a half degrees Celsius year-round... she would have died long ago if she had not regularly received treatment from the church's priests.
The most troublesome part was that this high fever was unrelated to illness or curses, so it could not be cured through supernatural means. Only Illumination Spell could heal her nerves and internal organs, while potions helped replenish the nutrients her body needed to nourish the Phantom Demon.
Yulia was not James's biological daughter either. She was also his adopted daughter.
The reason she was so close to Iver was that they had grown up in the same orphanage.
When Iver was four, his biological parents died in an accident. He had been too young at the time, and his memories were vague. He did not know exactly what had happened.
After that, Iver entered an orphanage, where he met Yulia.
At that time, Yulia was still an abandoned infant in swaddling clothes.
Though she was still a baby, Yulia possessed almost demonic strength and often injured the caretakers. There were few people who could easily approach her: only the old matron, Aunt Misu, who did the cooking, and Iver. Thus, caring for her fell to the old matron... But the matron was elderly, and Iver, who had been unusually sensible since childhood, would take the initiative to help.
Iver was only three and a half years older than Yulia, yet he was remarkably mature. He had none of the childish habits of his peers. Whenever something happened, he remained exceptionally calm and never panicked in the slightest, like a well-traveled adult. If he had not truly possessed a child's innocent nature and genuinely known nothing, people might have suspected that another soul resided within him.
That was not impossible, either.
The preservers of the Twilight Path, the Amber Artisans, could place one person's soul inside another's body. Iver was even abnormal enough to frighten people.
The orphanage had specially invited a church priest to determine whether his soul truly belonged to him.
The relationship between the two unusual children grew closer and closer. Yulia stayed practically glued to Iver's side.
At the orphanage, their clothes had been very thin. Yulia's body was like a furnace, allowing Iver to stay warm through the winter. Back then, Iver could sleep soundly only while holding Yulia, instead of shivering from the cold.
Then, when Iver was six, the two of them were adopted by James Moriarty.
Iver remembered this part very clearly—
At first, James had only wanted to adopt Yulia, not Iver.
But whenever Yulia was pulled away from Iver, she would cry terribly, screaming as if her heart were breaking, and become extremely unstable. Her strength at the time was also extraordinarily great—completely unlike her current frail helplessness. She possessed a terrifying, innate power.
Though she was only three years old, even several adults could not pull her away.
Some were even dragged to the ground by her, throwing the scene into chaos. The entire orphanage was in an uproar for a long time, and many things were knocked over and smashed by the enraged Yulia.
Later, James asked the old matron about something and suddenly changed his mind, taking both of them away together. Only then did Yulia calm down.
As Yulia gradually learned to read and her personality became gentler and more introverted, that strange, innate strength gradually faded as well. Now, her body was so frail that she was even weaker than other girls her age. She could barely stay alive with the help of priests and potions.
Iver had always been deeply grateful to Yulia.
It was because of her that he had the chance to change his original fate. An orphan with no father or mother and a noble young master surnamed "Moriarty" were destined to have completely different futures. He had not originally been adopted at all, merely Yulia's "extra." Although James treated Iver very well, he had never forgotten that he had not been wanted in the beginning.
For Iver, who had lost his parents at such a young age, Yulia was the person he had truly spent the longest time with—two years longer than his adoptive father and elder brother.
Yulia also depended heavily on Iver.
She felt nothing for her biological parents. Since she had been without parents for as long as she could remember, Iver was her true family. After him came the old matron, Aunt Misu, James, and her elder brother Edward.
After warming his hands, Iver reached out to beckon Yulia over.
The frail, white-haired, red-eyed girl obediently hugged Iver around the neck from the front. She knelt with her left knee beside his leg, carefully ensuring that her weight did not press down on him.
"Don't worry, Yuli. I'm not that fragile."
Iver could not help laughing.
He extended his right hand and gently pressed it against the left side of Yulia's back, behind her heart.
Using a trace of Fire Attribute mana as a catalyst, a gentle radiance blossomed from his right palm.
As the soft light seeped through Iver's fingers, Yulia's body gradually relaxed. Her hurried, shallow breathing slowly steadied as well—the pain was easily dispelled by Iver.
Although she had been ill for a long time, she was not actually in serious condition under James's continued treatment. Before her condition worsened each time, he would invite a priest to treat her hidden injuries. Iver had used only two points of Light Attribute mana to heal her body.
Then, Iver withdrew his still-glowing right hand from her back and pressed it against Yulia's forehead.
As the light nourished her mind, her listless mental state immediately improved considerably. This time, Iver had used less than one point of mana.
Yulia's body was still burning hot. But clearly, she would be able to sleep well tonight.
"Good girl," Iver said with a slight smile. "Come on, let's go eat..."
Just then, Iver casually reached toward the Shepherd's Secret Covenant resting on his knees.
His movement paused for an instant.
He had never touched Yulia with the Shepherd's Secret Covenant, yet when he touched it now, it transmitted a surging heat as scorching as Yulia's body, along with a strange texture entirely different from before.
It was as if Iver were not stroking the book's cover, but touching the skin of Yulia's back.
With no clothing between them, its heat was even greater than what Iver had felt when he had just touched Yulia. It was so hot that it was almost painful to touch.
The strange incongruity made Iver lower his head and take a look.
No steam rose from the air, and its material had not changed at all. It was still the same leather-like substance.
Then Iver suddenly realized—although it was scorching hot, his legs felt none of the heat. Only his right hand, which had just used Illumination Spell, produced this sensation. Even when his left hand touched it, its temperature felt normal.
Thus, without revealing anything, Iver handed the scorching Grimoire to Yulia. "Could you take this book to my study for me, Yuli?"
"Mm."
Yulia nodded lightly in reply.
After taking the book, she showed no unusual reaction at all.
It was as if she had not felt its heat in the slightest.
Iver asked with concern, "Does it feel a little cold? It was outside for quite a while just now."
"A little, but it's fine." Yulia gave a small hum, then asked, "Where should I put it, Brother?"
"On the desk. It's a book I'll be reading after dinner."
"All right."
Yulia nodded and left with the book.
Iver confirmed one thing.
It seemed that he truly was the only one who could sense the changes in the Shepherd's Secret Covenant's temperature and texture.
Interesting, he thought.
I'll study it carefully after dinner.