"--Okay, it's finished!"
Subaru thrust the two branches he had picked up into the mass of snow in front of him and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
It was an amateur piece that took about an hour to make, but I was impressed with the result. The audience who were watching over the finished product let out murmurs of admiration, "Wow!"
"I think I have a talent for this kind of thing after all. If I ever find myself struggling to make a living, then I'll make it snow with Emilia-tan and become a living national treasure as a snow artist."
"Don't be stupid again. I'm not going to help you make it snow with that sort of thing. But you're really good at it."
Emilia, who was sitting on the stone steps and watching Subaru work, let out a white sigh.
Reflected in her amethyst eyes was the snowman Subaru had completed - although to describe it simply like that would be misleading, so perhaps it should be called a snow sculpture.
He collected the snow that remained in the Sanctuary and created about twenty snow sculptures of Puck. What motivated Subaru to go that far? Even Subaru himself can only describe it as a romantic idea.
For now, Emilia and the residents of the Sanctuary are happy, so that should be fine.
"I don't think he's doing it on purpose, but I still think Barusu is an idiot."
There were also those who harshly assessed Subaru in this way.
The girl was sitting on the stone steps just like Emilia, her head resting on her lap. She had taken off her trademark maid uniform and was now dressed in a simple white outfit.
His uniform was scorched, and he was on the verge of death. His face looked paler than its usual paleness, but that didn't affect the tone of his voice or the sharpness of his venom.
"You two keep calling me stupid… but in the first place, wouldn't it be better if you were nicer to me, the one who contributed to all this trouble? I don't think I'm being kind enough to you."
"Yeah, that's true. I'm really grateful to you, Subaru. But, I was the one who worked hard while you were away, so I'd rather you reward me."
"Emilia-tan, you've suddenly started talking like that..."
In fact, it was Emilia's achievement to protect the Sanctuary while Subaru and the others were away. Without her instructions, there is no way to know whether the residents who entered the tomb would have been able to escape the fangs of the Great Rabbit, and in the first place, they would not have been able to secure a place of refuge if Emilia had not cleared the Trials.
Even if Subaru had been there, it was unclear whether he would have thought about using the tomb as a shelter. After all, he was only thinking about getting away before the snow started to fall.
Subaru: "Well, it was a pleasant surprise that the return of the Youth Group members ignited Emilia-tan's motivation. …Really, you saved us."
That's not to say it hasn't been like this before, but this time there were particularly too many gambling moments.
Subaru's impression was that he was always being helped by the people around him, as he was not enough on his own. Even though he had decided that he would take on the toughest parts.
"That's not natural. If we had to rely on Subaru to do everything, we wouldn't know what we were here for. Subaru is always running around so much that he could use a little rest."
"No, but I lack both brains and strength, so if I want to be of any use, the only way is to run around like an idiot."
"But that won't be the case from now on, right?"
Emilia patted Ram's head as she lay on her lap, chuckling as she mocked Subaru for belittling her. Subaru immediately realised what she was referring to and replied, "Yeah," rubbing the area under his nose with his fingers.
I missed a lot of things, and I was always helped by people around me, but I managed to pick up most of the things I needed to pick up. And I'm sure I won't have to continue worrying alone.
Subaru no longer hesitates to rely on those around him, and he doesn't slack off on the efforts he makes to do so, and there are people who will kick his ass when he does so.
"――――"
Subaru looked up and turned his gaze from the square towards the tomb.
Passing Emilia, who was sitting on the stone steps in front of him, his gaze went to the entrance of the tomb. Now, two people were stepping into the tomb, where the Trials system had disappeared.
I was worried about what they were talking about inside.
"Well, even I can read the atmosphere as being good enough to let them spend some time alone."
Although there were plenty of opportunities to talk, the two of them never had a chance to do so.
I'm sure they have a ton of things they've been wanting to talk about.
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
The tall man and the girl faced each other with the transparent coffin between them.
"mother..."
Looking down into the coffin and at the woman lying inside the crystal, the girl murmured.
He felt like his feet weren't on the ground, floating and floating. This was partly because the excitement of the battle was still there, partly because of the sense of loss and liberation he felt at having lost the place where he had spent so much time, and partly because the scene before his eyes felt so unreal.
I never thought the day would come when I would see my mother like this again.
The woman sleeping in the coffin - the witch, Echidna - looked not the least bit different from the way she remembered.
With her long, beautiful white hair and her beautiful face, she exuded intelligence yet a gentle touch. Although it was rare, the memory of her smiling at me came back to me vividly.
I can still remember the instructions and words we were given when we parted ways.
"Betty, I wonder if I couldn't keep my promise to your mother. I'm sorry."
Stroking the coffin with her fingers, Beatrice begins their reunion after four hundred years with an apology.
Before they parted ways, Echidna instructed Beatrice to hand over her library of knowledge to "that person." She was given the numerous books that would fill the Forbidden Library, and the Gospel that would reveal the future.
Beatrice no longer had either of these things in her hands.
The Gospels, which showed Beatrice the future her mother hoped for her, and all the knowledge she had accumulated over a long period of time, were all consumed by the flames that reduced everything to ashes and vanished from this world.
"Betty couldn't even meet 'that person'... and she even burned the book. I guess there are too many things she needs to apologize for."
Beatrice judges herself to be a poor daughter.
She was a foolish girl who couldn't even follow the instructions her mother had given her over the course of 400 years. And now, at this very moment, she should have met her mother, whom she could not even face, and sincerely apologized for her actions.
"...But considering that, you have a pretty clear face."
The tall man standing in front of her muttered these words, as if to easily expose what was in Beatrice's heart.
Glancing up into the darkness, she sees a long-haired man with loose lips - Roswaal. Though she knows his face, Beatrice cannot help but feel uneasy about his behavior.
This may be because there is a bewildering look in the eyes of a man who has been dominated by insane purpose ever since they first met, and because he has now removed his clown makeup to reveal his true face.
"If we're talking about feeling refreshed, then you're the one to beat me, Roswaal. Standing in front of Betty without any makeup on is practically breaking the orders of my predecessor."
"The clown makeup was like war paint to me. By wearing it, I was able to interact with others with the same enthusiasm as if I was wearing a mask. However, there's something I noticed."
"What did you notice?"
"With or without makeup, I'm a clown now, aren't I? So what meaning is there left in whether I wear makeup or not?"
"I see, that's right."
Roswaal shrugged his shoulders playfully, and Beatrice pulled her chin in. "So," the girl continued, fiddling with her own curls in frustration.
"I wonder if you yourself have something you want to say to your mother. Reuniting with your mother must have been your long-cherished wish...for your family."
"..."
"Since the first generation, who knew Mother personally, you must be close to being the tenth generation Roswaal. The heads of the Mathers family have always been short-lived, so the people who show up at the Forbidden Archives have changed frequently. Perhaps you've been different since you were little."
Although she has not been deeply involved in the history of the Mathers family, it is perhaps the history that Beatrice has witnessed most closely.
The first Roswaal was Echidna's only pupil. He lost most of his magical talent in the battle with the demon Hector, but he still didn't give up on being Echidna's pupil.
Even after Echidna's death, he continued to hang out in the Forbidden Library, chasing something as if obsessed with something other than Beatrice, leaving her stunned and confused, and it is likely that he passed this on to the next generation before his death.
Since then, every successor to Roswaal's family has demonstrated magical powers and made discoveries that rivaled those of the first generation, expanding the Mathers family line even further.
And the current Roswaal――that is, the man before him.
This Roswaal L. Mathers displayed the most outstanding talent of all the Roswaals up to that point, even at a young age, and was such a talented individual that even Beatrice secretly trembled in fear.
His abilities surpassed even those of the original Roswaal, who was personally discovered by Echidna, and he likely earned the title of one of the world's strongest wizards.
"Even with such talent, you couldn't escape the curse of the Mathers family. The Mathers family has always walked a harsh path, dreaming only of being reunited with their deceased mother… I wonder if Betty has some sympathy for you two."
"Really? But how different are you from us? You've been bound by your dead mother's words for the last 400 years, that doesn't change anything. No, unlike us who have been replaced by other generations, you've spent your time alone, and no one could sympathize with your pain. Unlike us who pushed forward with what we had to do, you've just continued to squat down and suffer."
Roswaal responds to Beatrice in grave terms.
In the end, I think it's all torn between the two.
There is also the Roswaal family, who continued to share their feelings over their short lifespans and sought to be reunited with the one person they had.
And Beatrice, who trapped her endless life in an empty cage, waiting for the day when her promise would be fulfilled.
In the eyes of those around them, they were both equally foolish buffoons.
"――――"
For a while, the two of them looked at each other in silence.
However, this silent rivalry was suddenly interrupted when Roswaal averted his gaze.
"It's just a pointless argument. Two fools pointing fingers at each other and making fun of each other is just pointless and ridiculous."
"...Well, that's certainly true."
"Just one thing, can I ask you?"
Roswaal, sarcastically commenting on each other's situations, holds up one finger. Beatrice wordlessly tilts her chin up, indicating her approval by not denying it.
Seeing the girl's attitude, Roswaal gently looked down at Echidna, who was sleeping in the coffin,
"Subaru-kun, have you become "that person"?"
A question. And when he mentioned the word "that person," Beatrice gasped. She had never directly spoken to Roswaal about "that person." Still, she thought it would not be strange for him to know something about Beatrice without her knowing.
In the first place, the people who had been in and out of the Forbidden Archives before were all people brought there by the previous Roswaal. It would have been natural for him to hear their stories and pass them on to his descendants.
To put it bluntly, even Subaru could be said to be someone that Roswaal brought with him.
--If you say something like that, Subaru himself probably won't admit it.
"...Why are you laughing?"
"--Ah. Sorry about that. I wasn't laughing at Roswaal or anything. It's just that it was funny thinking about it."
It was interesting to me how I could trace in my mind exactly what the black-haired young man was going to say. It was that simple, and I didn't want to think about it any further than that.
However, Beatrice shook her head at Roswaal's answer.
"That man...Subaru is not worthy of being 'that person' for Betty."
"...Huh."
"In the first place, Subaru lacks all the qualifications to inherit the knowledge of Mother's Forbidden Library. He has neither the education nor the sense of purpose to use the knowledge, nor the foundation for it. He also doesn't have a good-looking face, is no good at all in terms of strength, can't use magic at all, and his legs are short. There's no way he could be 'that person' Betty has been waiting for."
"Well, that's a pretty harsh assessment."
"I wonder, Betty is strict. Maybe that's why she's wasted every opportunity for the past 400 years....Betty's selfishness has led 'that person' around."
Thinking back on it now, he felt something like guilt towards the people who had tried to take Beatrice out of the Forbidden Archives. They had not reached out to Beatrice purely out of ambition or selfish feelings. Surely there were words of consideration for Beatrice among them.
But Beatrice shook off every hand that was extended to her.
"I'm sure Betty should have chosen 'that person' herself. She should have faced each and every person that called out to her and given them a proper answer. Betty should have chosen someone worthy of inheriting Echidna's knowledge of the Forbidden Library...I'm sure that's what it was."
"But isn't the Subaru you chose not worthy of being 'that person'?"
"That's true. But is that okay? The one Betty chose was Subaru. Not 'that person'. I wonder if she chose Subaru."
Beatrice's answer made Roswaal gasp and widen his eyes.
Given how much he loved and devoted he was to Echidna, this answer may have been difficult to accept, but Beatrice, who had been in the same position until just a short time ago, understood Roswaal's feelings all too well.
It was precisely because I understood this that I felt it was necessary to express it in words.
"Subaru scoffed at my wish to be 'that person'. He probably boasted that he could make you happier than some guy he didn't even know."
"That's... an arrogant answer."
"But I don't dislike it because it's pushy."
Rather than politely telling Beatrice what she should do, or explaining how she could make use of Echidna's knowledge, he was completely naked.
"But no matter what you do, you can never be number one to Subaru-kun, right? You can tell that by looking at him now… I know that too."
"I think you may be mistaken, Roswaal."
"misunderstanding?"
"Betty didn't leave the Forbidden Archive because she wanted to be Subaru's number one. I think she left the Forbidden Archive because she wanted Subaru to be Betty's number one."
Choose me, I was told.
He told me that he would be lonely and unable to live without me.
I think it's a convenient phrase, and a nice-sounding gibberish.
But Beatrice's heart was shaken. It resonated. Her heart, which had remained frozen in the same place for four hundred years, was now shaken.
And the moment I took his hand and we left the Forbidden Library, I experienced a sense of liberation that made me want to cry, and my heart didn't stop.
"Even if she loses her qualifications as Mother's spirit by abandoning her duties, Betty doesn't mind. Betty is now the spirit of the contractor, Natsuki Subaru. There's no need to regret or feel ashamed about that... I guess."
Or perhaps this was a betrayal to Roswaal.
For him, who had been bound by Echidna's curse for four hundred years, just like Beatrice, declaring that he would be the first to leave might have been a betrayal. Not by accomplishment, but by abandoning his duties.
To even show my face to my mother or Roswaal would be to show defiance.
"――――"
The mind has already been made. The hands have already been joined.
From now on, Beatrice will burn images that are vivid enough not to turn sepia-toned. She will burn them so that she will not forget what is important to her after a long, long time has passed.
So I remained quiet and waited to see what Roswaal had to say.
「There's no need to be so defensive. I'm not a spokesperson for the Witch Echidna or anything. No matter what answer you give, I have no right to say anything about it. Do as you like.」
"Roswaal..."
"Besides, even if you hadn't given up, Echidna's orders to you would never have been carried out. I was willing to sacrifice you in order to prioritize my own desires. If that's a betrayal, then that's even more of a betrayal."
"――――"
As if in repentance, Roswaal admits his guilt for the events that occurred at the mansion.
Just as Beatrice had realized in the Forbidden Library, it was Roswaal who plotted to take Beatrice's life at the mansion. He suspects that all of this was done because of what was written in Roswaal's Gospel. It's unclear how this will all come together, though.
"Roswaal. I wonder what happened to your Gospel?"
"...It was burned. By the hands of an evil maid who rebelled against her master. So the future is entirely in ashes. Or maybe everything is."
"Everything seems so empty and I can't see the future...but considering that, you look pretty refreshed."
"---About that, I wonder."
Roswaal lowered his head as Beatrice repeated the exact same exchange from earlier. He then reached out his fingers, unable to touch Echidna, in the coffin.
"It's sad and frightening to have lost sight of the path that is sure to lead to the answer you seek. ...But perhaps there is also joy in reading through a story you've never read before. It's a feeling I've only had for over four hundred years, so I don't know if it's real, though."
"...?"
Beatrice frowned, feeling a subtle sense of incongruity in the contents.
Seeing this, Roswaal smiled slightly and, looking at the questioning Beatrice, said with self-mockery, "You and I really don't exchange enough words."
"It can't be helped, right? Unlike the beginning when we had to be blind, we had time. We spent more than enough time together in the same mansion. And yet, even though we were seeing the same things, we continued to avoid talking about what we were seeing, as if we were afraid."
"Roswaal, what is it you want to say?"
"I'm just saying that we could have spent these past four hundred years together like we did in the past... like we did together in your laboratory."
"height...!?"
Beatrice gasps at Roswaal's gentle words, finding a familiar tone in them.
The girl swallowed it and let out a shaky breath, not knowing what it meant.
"You're...Roswaal?"
"I've always been Roswaal."
"No! It's not that... I'm sure you know that!"
"I was just kidding. That's right, I'm - I'm Roswaal, Beatrice."
As soon as he changed his name, Beatrice saw Roswaal's figure overlap.
There was a tall man with long indigo hair and a young man with the same hair color. It was a talented young man who had once adored Echidna and followed her around.
"Then... Roswaal, what are you...?!"
"The principle is the application of soul transfer technology in the quest for immortality that Sensei came up with. Of all the experiments carried out in this 'Sanctuary', I chose the one with the lowest risk and performed it on myself."
"Soul transfer... an experiment to transfer consciousness and memories into an empty vessel, achieving subjective immortality... but the soul didn't settle, so it ended up being an incomplete experiment!"
"With an empty vessel, the rate of adhesion with the transferred soul is poor. It was thwarted once, but... I solved the problem by force. If the affinity between the vessel and the soul becomes an issue, the problem can be overcome by bringing the affinity closer."
The research was thwarted due to the problem of the affinity between the vessel and the soul.
Following the trend of using Lewes Meyer as the core of the "Sanctuary", this was one of the results of Echidna's insane desire for knowledge, as she wondered if the crystallized Lewes' existence could be used for other experiments.
However, the cloned body of Lewes was not capable of accepting another soul, and as a result the experiment failed. Roswaal managed to overcome this by bringing the vessel and soul closer together.
And as he digests its meaning, he truly understands the existence of Roswaal standing before him.
--The first Roswaal had steadily paved the way to fulfill his own wishes by transferring his soul into the body of a descendant close to him.
"Are you calling me a monster? Beatrice."
"..."
"Would you call me an inhuman for my cruelty in connecting my ignorant descendants to a vessel, with the sole desire to be reunited with Sensei?"
Roswaal's words pierce Beatrice.
However, looking at Roswaal with incredibly calm eyes, it seemed as if he was waiting for Beatrice to denounce him.
Does Roswaal also want to be judged? Like he had reported to Echidna, who had sought him out, that he had broken his contract with her?
Perhaps Beatrice, who knows Echidna, wants to question Roswaal about the rightness of his actions, his single-minded, yet annoying, obsession with unrequited love that has continued for four hundred years.
"...It's not Betty's place to say anything about that. I should say it this way, but I don't think Betty had much connection with your descendants. Well, looking back on it now, it was all because of you. So I wonder if the fact that you made your descendants the foundation of your life is more repulsive than it seems. Well, I do think it's a bit disgusting."
"Wow, huh? That's harsh."
"But, well, that's all. More than that, I just want to be happy that my acquaintance from 400 years ago is still alive."
"...Is that so?"
Roswaal closed his eyes at Beatrice's answer. Perhaps it wasn't the answer he was looking for, but that was none of Beatrice's business.
Beatrice will honestly express her feelings. That's what she decided to do when she left the Forbidden Library. For now,
"Roswaal. Maybe I should squat down there for a bit."
"Squat? Here?"
Beatrice points down at her feet and instructs Roswaal, tilting his head. Beatrice nods and follows her orders, and Roswaal crouches down on the spot, eyes wide.
Watching Roswaal squat down, Beatrice took off her right shoe, then firmly placed it in her right hand, and then,
"Just grit your teeth."
"--Guh?!"
The right slap, equipped with a shoe, pierces the side of his face at just the right height.
A satisfying sound rang out, and Roswaal's face was flipped to the side. He clutched his reddened cheeks and rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile, Beatrice put the shoe she had taken off from her right hand back on.
"Betty is generous, so maybe I'll let her off the hook with this… Either way, it's nothing more than a simple consequence. Subaru seems to forgive you as well, so maybe I'll forgive him."
"...No one died, so I think that's just a consequence of that."
"That's right. And Subaru running around trying to stop him from dying was amazing. You should learn from Subaru a bit, too."
"--- Ha, hahaha! Is that so? I should follow his example! Haha! Oh, this is... aah, really, isn't it funny?"
As Beatrice stands there with her hands on her hips, Roswaal laughs as if he's just heard the best joke. Unable to contain his laughter, he leans back and bangs his head against the wall. He bangs the back of his head against the wall several times, then lets out a deep sigh.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I've done anything wrong. That's all I'll say."
"I don't think that's necessary. If you're going to apologize, you should apologize to everyone except Betty."
In response to Beatrice's cold reply, Roswaal nodded and said, "That's right."
Then he sits on the ground and looks up at the coffin.
and,
"Beatrice. From now on, this will be just between you and me."
"――――"
Beatrice narrows her eyes as Roswaal lowers his voice.
Beatrice folded her arms and jerked her chin, telling him to just talk. After witnessing this, Roswaal put his hands on the coffin, stood up, and gazed upon Echidna inside.
Those two eyes of different colors, filled with a maddening passion,
"---If a true reunion with Sensei were to come true, would you cooperate with it?"
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
"It's taking a while for him to come out. I'm sure there's a lot of things to talk about, but isn't it too much?"
Subaru, who was waiting in the plaza, was getting impatient with the situation not changing, and he pursed his lips.
Already, about ten more snowmen had been added since then. In total, there were thirty ice sculptures of Puck with all sorts of expressions, and the residents of the Sanctuary and Emilia were glued to them.
Incidentally, Ram, who had been enviously borrowing Emilia's lap just a moment ago, now seemed to have recovered considerably and was resting her weight comfortably on the stone steps. However, her gaze kept wandering towards the tomb, so there was no doubt she was curious about what was inside.
Beatrice has had her eyes opened, and Roswaal is in a lull.
I don't think anything violent will happen, but I can understand Ram's concerns. After all, she hasn't directly asked Roswaal if he's calmed down since he was so desperate.
I just thought to myself that it might be okay.
"Well, I left that to Bearko."
Beatrice must have known Ram longer than he did. Beatrice had told him that there was a woman's body in the tomb - that it was Echidna's.
If they were to talk about it, it would be best if it was just the two of them who knew about their past days.
As for what to do with Echidna's corpse, that was a topic Subaru could discuss later.
"Besides, it'll be easier to decide on our future direction once Garfiel and the others join us."
If they managed to escape the mansion safely, they should be heading straight for the Sanctuary. I asked one of the members of the Young Men's Group to relay a message and get one of the dragon carriages that had returned to drive to Aram Village. I should be able to meet up with them by tomorrow night at the latest.
Considering the time it would take to clean up the damage caused by the snow that covered the Sanctuary, it would be better to have that much free time. It would also be enough to calm his mind.
Subaru had also lost track of time and concentrated on making a snowman, and felt that he had calmed down considerably. He should be able to have a calm discussion with Roswaal.
I can. I can. I intend to.
"Subaru, good job… why are you waving your arms around so wildly?"
「Ah, no, nothing in particular? I'm not shadowing you just to throw it at the side of that hated Annyarou! I have a feeling that maybe he's already done it!」
"Really?"
Emilia came over next to me and tilted her head, not really understanding what I meant.
Then, next to Subaru, she enjoyed the spectacular view of the rows of snow sculptures,
"It's a mountain of packs. I'm sure he'll be very happy if he sees them."
"Really? I can see him complaining, saying, 'I thought I was cuter than that.'"
"Oh, maybe it looks similar now. Puck too... oh, he looks like he's asleep right now."
Laughing at Subaru's answer, Emilia took out a blue crystal from her pocket and muttered.
The deep blue crystal had adjusted its shape to a certain extent, and was now receiving the sunlight reflecting off the snow in Emilia's hand.
Within that crystal is sealed Puck, who has released his contract with Emilia.
"But in that state you won't be able to summon it like before, right?"
"Yes, that's right. It seems that this crystal isn't pure enough to seal a powerful spirit like Puck. Right now I'm trying to keep Puck from being active so that he won't break, but... at this rate I don't think we'll be able to touch or talk to him."
"You need a better stone, like the green one from before."
The crystal Emilia was wearing around her neck. It had shattered into pieces when Puck's contract was terminated, and it appears to have been a very rare crystal.
It seems that Puck originally brought it with him when he made a contract with Emilia, and even Emilia has no idea where he got it.
"But one day, I will definitely get a stone that is comparable to that and get Puck back. And then... I want to tell you about a lot of things. About the things Puck would have kept secret from me, and how I was able to find out thanks to him."
With determination in her amethyst eyes, Emilia lovingly strokes the surface of the crystal with her fingers.
Her profile was so beautiful that Subaru gasped. Emilia noticed him and looked up, "Hmm?", so Subaru rubbed his nose.
"Ah, well… Emilia-tan, you feel like you've changed. How should I put it, you've always been cute, but now you seem a bit stronger?"
"If that's the case, then it's all thanks to Subaru and everyone else. I've only received things. I want to be able to give back to everyone soon."
"If you're talking about gifts, I feel like I get a lot of those too."
Subaru and Emilia are both people who have painfully felt their powerlessness.
But that doesn't mean he wants to lick his wounds. Subaru senses this in Emilia's attitude, and it makes him feel both reassured and lonely.
At last, he had gained a little confidence and a strength to support her, but Emilia had run off on her own to the point where she no longer needed it.
Even though I've been running for a long time, it feels like I can't catch up.
"By the way, Subaru...um, you see."
"Yeah?"
"The two in the tomb are slow. ...Yeah, they're slow."
As Subaru was immersed in sentimentality, Emilia suddenly spoke to him, choking on her words. She glanced occasionally at the tomb, which remained unchanged as ever.
However, in contrast to that, Emilia's complexion was rapidly changing. Her profile was dyed crimson red, and even her ears, which were slightly longer than her clan's, were dyed bright red, and Subaru panicked.
"Eh, Emilia-tan?! Your face is turning red incredibly fast, are you okay?!"
"It's alright. I'm totally fine. Anyway, there's something I want to tell you."
"Ha, ha, that's very polite."
For some reason, Subaru responds in polite language in response to Emilia's polite speech.
Emilia checked her surroundings to make sure there was no one nearby, then, still red-faced, she stared at Subaru. More specifically, she stared at his mouth.
"Well, you know… Subaru told me that he… loved me, right?"
"Uh, uh, yes. I told you. I like you."
"--That, well, I'm really, really happy about that."
Subaru sensed a bad connotation in Emilia's words as she blushed.
After all, it ended with "I'm happy though," and in Subaru's imagination, there was only one possible thing that could come next.
This is totally in keeping with the "Let's just be friends" theme.
"But like I said before, I'll wait for Emilia-tan to turn to me, and I'll do my best to make her turn to me."
"Well... I'm happy about that too. But even though you say that, I still don't really understand what it means to fall in love with someone."
"..."
"It was the same with the dragon carriage last time, and it was the same with the tomb this time. Subaru told me he loved me, but I couldn't say anything to him again. I thought that was really cruel…"
Hearing her words grow weaker, Subaru sighed in relief.
In other words, Emilia's answer was to maintain the status quo. Nothing changed, nothing different from before, so that was fine.
If she hadn't grown tired of Subaru's repeated persistent confessions, then it was okay. As long as Emilia was still undecided, Subaru could hold out his hand as many times as he wanted.
Subaru and Emilia have a slight misunderstanding about their feelings for each other. But one next word from Emilia makes that all become irrelevant.
"But, well, I think I need to tell you about the baby in my belly properly!"
"――――"
--――.
----------.
------------------.
"Pa-don?"
"I don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl, but either way I have to love it properly! But I've never been taught anything about that sort of thing, so I don't know what to do... I need to talk to my dad about this sort of thing."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait...wait, wait..."
Subaru couldn't keep up with Emilia's red-faced ramblings.
Emilia was also talking quickly and breathing heavily, and I could tell she was excited. There was no way I could have a proper discussion with her in her current state.
"Emilia-tan, first take a deep breath and calm down a bit. I'll also take a deep breath now and calm down a little. Ah, the snow has fallen in just the right place."
Subaru crouched down, picked up some snow, and placed it on his face to physically cool his head. Listening to Emilia take a deep breath, Subaru tried to remain calm as he thought deeply.
Emilia has a baby in her belly. And the mother is Emilia, and the father is Subaru. It doesn't make sense. Subaru has definitely never taken a step into adulthood.
"Emilia-tan. A baby means a baby, right?"
"Y-yes. I know it's terrible to do something like this in the middle of the royal selection process... but the baby that's about to be born isn't a bad thing, and I want to make sure she's happy! I want to make sure that she is the first child who is loved by the person who should love her."
Emilia's decision is noble and beautiful.
But their stories are contradictory. Subaru has never done anything like that with Emilia. So what if Emilia was with someone else? No, he doesn't want to think about that either.
"Emilia-tan… babies aren't delivered by storks, and you can't just collect them from cabbage patches, you know?"
"But if a man and a woman kiss, a baby will be made, right?"
"――――"
I was speechless.
I was left speechless by Emilia's lack of sexual knowledge, and by how cute she was that she had this misconception.
"Subaru? What's wrong? It's Subaru."
With a look of ignorance on her face, Emilia called out to the silent Subaru.
There was something about her face that seemed to have been born of the strength that came from her awareness as a mother. Perhaps that was why Emilia seemed a little strong-minded. If so, was it a bad idea to correct this mistake?
--No. Absolutely not. This is not the time to be saying such things. If it continued like this, the story would continue with Emilia still in a phantom pregnancy. With each passing day, Emilia, the loving mother, would speak to her imaginary belly, which was growing bigger and bigger in her mind. That was cute in its own way, but if that was to be taken as an excuse, then it would be problematic.
"Subaru, do you regret kissing me...?"
"I haven't done it at all, but I want to do it as many times as I can!"
"I, I see..."
As the misunderstanding deepened, Subaru began to regret his knee-jerk reaction.
To Emilia, what she had just said was the same as Subaru wanting to have children as many times as he wanted. That was what he felt, but it was something to consider after they'd taken things a step further.
So now, as the first step, I must give Emilia the correct knowledge.
But, what kind of situation would cause Subaru to have to do this?
"I, I hate you, Puck...!"
Subaru muttered a resentful remark to the cat spirit that was not there, but was still sleeping deeply within the crystal stone.
In my mind, I thought I could see Koneko putting her hand to her head and sticking out her tongue and saying, "Tehepero."
--After much struggle, Subaru realized he should leave the details to Ram and Frederica, when Emilia was pestering him to choose a name for their child.