“As expected… Aslan completely sees us as children.”
“Ju—Julia? Why do you look so upset? Why are you suddenly burning with competitive spirit!?”
“Mister only thinks about marrying one of us! I even went and proved it! So why don’t either of you believe me?”
Julia ground her teeth, unable to hide her frustration.
Yuri, flustered, grew visibly uneasy.
Charlotte, meanwhile, was indignant, unable to accept the injustice of the situation.
“Mister was so obviously serious about it! You two just eavesdropped from behind the door. You didn’t see it with your own eyes, so you don’t know anything!”
“Y-yeah… sure, if you say so.”
“Agh! There it is again! That look like I’m some kind of fool! Maid! Hey, Maid!”
“Hmm? What is it, young miss?”
Charlotte, venting her exasperation, grabbed a passing maid. The maid stopped with a smile, intrigued by the bold voice coming from behind her.
“I just made a promise with Mister! He said he’d marry me when I grow up!”
“Oh, really?”
“And not only that, we even signed and stamped a contract, then made copies! That makes it an official document, right? Right!?”
“Of course. If you bring this up once you’re all grown up, the Count will surely be delighted.”
“Hmph! See? Even the maid says I’m right!”
“…”
“…”
With a playful chuckle at Charlotte’s confidence, the maid resumed her tasks.
Charlotte, now even more emboldened, puffed out her chest triumphantly.
Julia and Yuri, however, were left speechless, utterly dumbfounded.
This girl…
She’s so pure, it’s almost too much.
At this point, they felt bad even considering the idea of shattering Charlotte’s sparkly little world with a rebuttal.
“Charlotte is wrong.”
“Yeah… even if we said it a hundred times, it wouldn’t make a difference. Let’s just wait for her to grow up and realize the truth herself. Then she can roll around in embarrassment later.”
“You two are so mean!”
In the end, Charlotte’s words were concluded to be partially true, and their long debate reached its anticlimactic conclusion.
“Huh… That felt like such a hollow ending.”
Julia muttered, twisting a strand of her hair in her fingers with a pout.
At first, it had felt a little thrilling. A small part of her even thought Charlotte’s words might hold some truth.
But now… she felt more convinced than ever that Aslan simply wanted to raise them properly and see them married off elsewhere.
Aslan cares about us.
He even dotes on us.
But what kind of affection it is remains debatable.
If they took Charlotte’s words at face value, Aslan was systematically raising children abandoned to cruel fates, educating them carefully to match his tastes, and then planning to marry them.
But there’s no way such a crazy, perverted person could exist in this world.
Charlotte just believes whatever she sees with her own eyes…
“That silly promise doesn’t even mean anything…”
Charlotte’s promise was useless anyway. It was wrong to take it seriously.
With that thought, Julia rustled a piece of paper in her hand and gently pushed open the office door.
“Aslan…?”
“Yes? Have you come to use my arm as a pillow for an afternoon nap again?”
“N-no way! That’s just what you want to happen!”
“Then what’s this about?”
“W-well, um…”
“…?”
Julia hesitated, then placed a neatly written document on Aslan’s desk.
Aslan’s eyebrows twitched as he glanced at it.
And this is…?
“That, that promise with Charlotte… you know.”
“I know it.”
“Then do it with me too. Write it out properly and make it a contract! With signatures and everything!”
“…”
Swish.
Julia produced a pen from her pocket and placed it atop the paper.
‘Charlotte is too naive. Verbal promises can just be denied later, saying you don’t remember them. They’re worthless.’
Relying on a verbal agreement was one of the most foolish things you could do. People always sold out their conscience when things didn’t go their way.
So, to leave no room for excuses, she wanted solid proof—a written contract.
That’s the difference between Charlotte and me.
I’m much more cautious and meticulous than she is!
Feeling proud of herself, Julia pushed the paper closer to Aslan.
But what she hadn’t anticipated was his response.
“What promise?”
“Huh?”
“What specific promise are you talking about?”
“I mean, the one with Charlotte… you know, the one about…”
“Be specific. I’m not the type to gossip about private agreements made one-on-one. If you want me to write a contract, you’ll have to clearly state what kind of promise you want.”
“Wha—!?”
With an amused smirk, Aslan leaned back comfortably in his chair.
Julia, caught off guard, gasped in disbelief.
She hadn’t accounted for him playing dumb like this!
“Go ahead. Tell me what kind of contract you want.”
“You already know! You just want me to say it out loud!”
“Well, if you can’t say it, there’s nothing I can do.”
“…!”
Aslan moved to push the paper aside, but Julia, panicked, grabbed his wrist.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red as her lips trembled.
“I-I want… a promise that I can marry you too! When I grow up and become beautiful!”
“Hmm…”
“A-and of course, it has to be under the same conditions as Charlotte’s! A one-sided agreement that benefits me! If I want, you have to marry me without complaint, but if I don’t want to, it’s void! This is a completely advantageous deal for me, so there’s no reason not to agree! It’s not like I’m desperate to marry you or anything, okay!? I’m just saying!”
Julia fired off her words like a rapid-fire cannon, then stopped to catch her breath.
Aslan, still wearing a calm, teasing smile, looked at her, a knowing glint in his eyes.
Clearly, there was something Julia hadn’t quite realized yet.
“Under the same conditions as the promise with Charlotte? Sure. If you’re willing to accept the same terms as Charlotte.”
“W-what terms…?”
“Did you forget something? I don’t think I’ve heard you say you like me enough to want to marry me.”
“Wha—! W-what are you saying…?!”
Whoaah.
Julia’s face flushed bright red in an instant.
She froze, her thoughts scattering, her words faltering.
D-did he just tell me to say I like him?!
To his face?!
Is he joking?!
Aslan sat there looking amused, while Julia struggled, utterly flustered.
“Give and take, Julia. I can’t just offer you something so one-sided for free. If the price for that privilege is just a single phrase I want to hear, I’d say that’s a bargain.”
“Ughhh!”
Julia puffed her cheeks out like an irritated child.
This was infuriating!
What made it worse was that he was right.
Of course, it wouldn’t make sense for him to accept such a lopsided deal—me getting to marry him if I feel like it, while he has no say.
His unnecessary logic made it all the more aggravating.
“F-fine! I’ll say it! …Okay?!”
“But it has to be genuine. If it’s forced or insincere, it doesn’t count.”
“It’s not… completely insincere… There’s maybe a tiny bit of truth in it… maybe…”
Muttering and stammering, Julia hesitated, her lips trembling as she tried to summon the courage to speak.
Finally, she straightened her posture, clenched her fists, and blurted out:
“I—I like you! I want to marry you! But since I still have a long time before I’m fully grown, I’m scared you’ll marry someone else before then… That’s why I want to reserve you now! So just sign the stupid contract already!”
Her words tumbled out in a heated rush, her voice laced with frustration and embarrassment.
What on earth is wrong with me?
Julia thought.
She had never been able to share her feelings openly with Aslan before.
It was too embarrassing, too mortifying. But now, for some reason, the words came spilling out.
Of course, her tone was sharper than she intended, but at least she’d said what was buried deep inside.
And, as much as it embarrassed her, she felt a small sense of relief—though that didn’t stop her face from burning even brighter after the fact.
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard you call me you. Well, since you worked up enough courage to turn into a tomato, I suppose I can’t refuse. I like you too, Julia. You’re precious to me.”
“I-I’m not a tomato!”
“Sure, sure. Just sign here.”
With swift strokes, Aslan completed a formal-looking contract and slid it over.
Though it looked official, Julia felt a second wave of embarrassment wash over her as she realized how childish the content was.
Still… she couldn’t help but feel oddly proud of herself.
“Here’s your copy. I don’t know duplication magic, so I just wrote another by hand.”
“Th-thanks. I’ll keep it safe… okay?”
“You do that. I’ll file mine in the case as well.”
“Yeah…”
Julia clutched her copy tightly, an inexplicable satisfaction filling her chest.
It was her reward for summoning her courage.
With a faint creak, Aslan placed his copy of the contract in a drawer, returning to his work as though nothing had happened.
Julia, watching him, couldn’t help but give a bittersweet smile.
‘He’ll probably forget about it soon enough.’
To him, this was probably just another silly game with Charlotte and her.
He wouldn’t take the contract seriously or attach much meaning to it.
He likely assumed that they, too, would lose it or forget about it before long.
‘But I won’t. Never.’
Julia vowed to treasure the contract, even going as far as to laminate it to keep it pristine.
Someday, she’d shove it in his face so he couldn’t deny it.
Hugging the contract tightly to her chest, Julia left the office with a bright smile.
“Aah… even Julia…”
But from her hidden vantage point, Yuri’s face grew more haggard as she watched the scene unfold.