Although doing so might dirty the blanket with her sweat... after all, it was the Flame Spirit, and after drying, it could actually provide a decent temperature.
Just at that moment—less than half a minute had passed—a clean towel soaked in warm water was brought over by Oswald.
He also passed over a basin of water, setting it down on the rack beside them.
Aiwass nodded as he took it and carefully wiped Yulia's body, which was covered in sweat.
With just a few wipes, the originally pure white towel had turned red, but it did not look like the dark red of blood, rather like it had been wiped over strawberry jam that had been dropped on a table.
He handed the towel back to Oswald, indicating that he should go wash it clean.
After repeating the process three times, he had basically wiped off all the Flame Spirit essence exuding from her body. He also deliberately kept some and put it in his pocket.
And finally, Yulia's body temperature returned to normal, and with a tilt of her head, she laid down on the pillow and fell into a deep sleep.
Without waiting for Aiwass's instructions, Oswald had already brought over a soft, warm blanket. He wrapped it around the old one, tucking the already-sleeping Yulia into the new blanket, and switched out the blanket and bedsheet contaminated by the Flame Spirit.
"This blanket is obviously no longer usable—there are Flame Spirit residues all over."
Aiwass sighed in relief, leaning slightly on the wheelchair, as he quietly explained, "Just basin. Even dead, it's very dangerous—once dried, just a bit of Flame Spirit residue and a spark, or a slightly higher temperature, and they would ignite on their own. Similarly, pouring them into the drain is unsafe."
"I understand, Mr. Aiwass," Oswald nodded, clearly proficient in handling the current situation, "I'll find a place to burn them first."
As Aiwass watched the old housekeeper leave, he glanced at the deeply sleeping Yulia and then turned to his brother Edward.
In a grave voice, he asked, "What exactly is going on?"
"You should know that Yulia is a 'Phantom Demon Egg,' right?"
Pressing hard against his forehead, Edward let out a deep breath and responded in a tired voice, "Even if you didn't know before, after coming into contact with so many occult books, you must have guessed.
"Yulia is already fifteen years old. Generally speaking, it's hard for Phantom Demon Eggs to live past twelve...but the Hypnos Soup that father bought can keep the Phantom Demon inside her in a constant sleep, and the Blood Fiend Magic Potion can gradually extract fluids contaminated by Phantom Demon Power.
"But as she grows older, the suppressed power within her grows stronger. Nowadays, even a double dose of Hypnos Soup can't easily suppress the Phantom Demon anymore, and increasing the dose could cause irreparable damage to her nerves. A slight emotional fluctuation might trigger a power leak."
At this point, Edward pressed his hand firmly against his temple, opened his eyes to look at Aiwass and said, "You know, this matter is somewhat related to you."
"...Me?" Aiwass's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes. Because you were attacked and fell into a coma last week, she was very worried about you. She didn't sleep well that night and came to see you several times. The next morning, she started to run a high fever."
Edward said gravely, "Yulia foresaw that she was about to lose control. But since father hadn't left yet, she immediately told him about it.
"Father sent Mr. Oswald to take Yulia to a deserted seafood warehouse nearby, letting her burn off her excess strength——that warehouse is a subsidiary of our family's company, so there's no need to worry about the owner requesting an investigation by the Supervisory Bureau or hiring a private Detective due to property losses."
"As a result, perhaps because he had vented last time, Father forgot to reinforce her seal... Today, it acted up again, possibly because you attended Princess Isabel's evening party, or maybe because you are going to school tomorrow, or there could be some other reason. Anyway, Yulia lost control again. It must have started when Mr. Oswald was seeing you out."
"At that time, you and Mr. Oswald went to attend the princess's banquet, I was invited by Sherlock to investigate a gang in Lohar District, and Father had also briefly left Avalon. The other servants hadn't experienced the Transcendent, didn't know who to seek help from, feared causing us trouble, so she decided to handle it herself."
"I guess she must have thought of going to that same warehouse. After all, it's not far from home, and it would take about fifteen minutes to walk there... but she wouldn't know that the place is currently under martial law."
"Unable to enter her destination and not knowing which way to go on the outside, she started looking for another deserted warehouse... Eventually, she was fortunate enough, before losing consciousness, to run into an abandoned stone warehouse."
"Yulia can't even recognize the way, yet she still dares to go out on her own..."
Hearing Edward's words, Aiwass shook his head with some relief: "Luckily, she didn't run too far, still within the White Queen District. It would have been dangerous if she had gone to the Lohar District."
"No, I actually think she has a pretty good sense of direction. Last time, she only went there once, carried by Mr. Oswald, even while she was feverish and delirious. This time, she actually managed to find that warehouse on her own with only her residual memory."
"I think her actions were too decisive. If not for that, the mansion might have already been burned down by now. Surely, a number of servants would have died, and her identity as a Phantom Demon Egg might have been exposed——according to current laws, Phantom Demon Eggs are usually euthanized."
"From this perspective, perhaps Yulia possesses the adaptability of the Path of Balance or the Path of Wisdom. Rather than scolding, I think she deserves more praise."
Edward sighed: "But it's no use talking about that now since it's already over. To be optimistic, it might also be a good thing. Yulia has used Phantom Demon Power twice in succession and has almost exhausted the Phantom Demon's strength. I've just used a secret method to reinforce the seal——as long as she takes the Magic Potion on schedule, even if her emotions fluctuate, she won't lose control so easily."
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Aiwass's elder brother, lying wearily on the sofa, said so.
Even though his clothes appeared a bit disheveled, half covered in ash and partially torn, Edward's voice was still calm and steady, unruffled: "Don't worry, Aiwass. Today is really too late, and it's been delayed for so long... that's why you needed to use 'Illumination Art.' If it were daytime, I could have called Bishop Mathers over."
"Although this time the fire wasn't as fierce as the last, it's also for this reason that I found out about the fire too late. I wasn't at home that day——fortunately, this morning, I happened to hear Mr. Oswald mention it. So when I saw the fire, the first thing I thought of was Yulia, and I was able to rush over in time."
"But this time, her burning lasted too long, causing her spiritual shell to start breaking and rotting. If we can suppress her in time next time, things won't happen, and the seal will be much simpler."
This man with a square face, serious expression, always frowning, spoke with a calm and clear voice of a reliable adult: "I'm to blame this time, for forgetting to remind Father to check the seal, and Father left in too much of a hurry... It won't happen again in the future."
"As for the residual Flame Spirit, you don't have to worry about that either. Due to historical and political reasons, there are not many Alchemists that the Avalon royal family can employ. The scholar responsible for examining the dangerous alchemical products brought back by the Glass Island Supervisory Bureau is only one person."
"Who is it?" Aiwass inquired.
"Doctor William Wayne Wesker. He is currently teaching Alchemy at the fifth department of Royal Law University—Department of Occult Studies, as well as teaching anatomy in other departments. You might encounter him at school. He's Father's good friend, and Father has already made arrangements... I will accompany you to school tomorrow, and while we're there, pay him a visit."
Edward narrowed his eyes, his calm voice emitting a dangerous tone: "I trust that after his detection, he will only provide another result."
Then, he looked at Aiwass and comforted him: "Although Father is not here, I will come home every day to check. If there's nothing going on at the Supervisory Court, I won't leave the house."
"You go to school with peace of mind, study hard. Leave everything at home to your elder brother."