Chapter 4:
Subaru slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he realized was he had slept while sitting in the chair. He looked through the window and saw the carriage. He suddenly remembered last night. Subaru got up from his chair with excitement. Felt also woke up because of Subaru's sudden movement. Felt looked at Subaru with confused eyes. Their eyes met with each other.
"Did you sleep well?" Subaru asked with a fatherly tone.
"..." Felt couldn't bring herself to say anything.
"It really saddens me when you don't say anything. " Subaru walked towards his bed and sat down.
"I'm sorry for yesterday Big bro..." Felt said with visible shame on her face.
"There is nothing to apologize, Felt, I did what I had to do. That man was a sinful person so I had to punish him." Subaru assured Felt.
"You are always saving me but I haven't done anything for you" Felt told him.
"That means nothing Felt. Maybe you haven't done anything for me yet but that doesn't mean you can't help me." Subaru smiled at her.
"How can I help you, Big bro, I'm too little, I don't have any powers as you have." Felt stuttered.
"What!? You have powers Felt, You have powers that I don't have." Subaru looked through her blood-red eyes.
"How so..." Felt was looking like she was going to cry.
"You managed to stay alive in those slums for years, you are probably the smartest person I know, Felt." Subaru hugs her. Felt started to cry.
"Do you want to help me?" Subaru asked with a low voice.
"Yes, I do." Felt hugged Subaru harder.
"Then work for me Felt, support my right for the throne." Subaru gave a smile but only saw a shocked Felt.
"Your... right for the throne?" She asked in awe.
"Yes, Felt. I'm one of the Royal Candidates." Subaru kept his smile.
"Join me and support me through this journey, Felt." Subaru took her hand.
"I will Big bro, I'll help you with everything I have" Felt also gave a big smile while holding his hand.
"That's the spirit I wanted to see." Subaru laughed.
"You should go and see Old Man Rom now. He should be worried by now. I also have to do something so I won't be here for few days."
"Don't worry, the first thing I'll do when I get back will be finding you," Subaru explains.
"Okay, Big bro," Felt said with a smile.
Felt quickly got out of the bed and left the room while keeping her smile.
Subaru also got out of the bed and walked to his wardrobe. He looked through his clothes and saw a black and white uniform which had orange stripes on it, also there was a cape attached to its shoulders with the same design. He took it and changed his clothes. He looked himself at the mirror. He had changed a lot since he came to this world not only physically but also mentally. He thought about his powers. "The Authority of Pride" maybe that's was the reason for his changed personality. While he was thinking this he heard a knock on the door and a voice.
"Your carriage is ready Lord Subaru." Eliza talked.
Eliza was waiting for Subaru with her head low. When Subaru left his room. Eliza looked and saw him in his new clothes. She thought how his lord looked so good in his new uniform. She bowed to him and walked from his behind.
They got out of the mansion. Subaru saw Reinhard waiting for him near the carriage.
"Good morning, my Lord." Reinhard bowed to his lord.
"Good morning to you too, Rein." Subaru gave a warm smile.
"I saw Felt earlier, She was running fast as she could with a smile on her face. What happened?" Reinhard asked.
"Yeah, I told her to work for me," Subaru answered.
"Work for you?" Reinhard was shocked. "May I ask why, my Lord," Reinhard asked.
"Because I wanted her out of the slums, Old Man Rom can look after himself but her... She deserves a chance." Subaru was looking at the road.
Reinhard was once again understood his Lord's kindness. He was proud of serving him.
"Anyway, We should leave. I cant wait to see Emilia. I wonder how will she reacts when she sees me." A smile has begun to form on Subaru's face.
"Sadly I won't be able to come with you my Lord. The Royal Guards needs my assistance once again. I will sign another guard for your safety."
"Oh... There is no need for that Rein. I'll be fine with just Eliza. Don't worry about my safety. Just do what you gotta do. Subaru put his hand to Rein's shoulder.
"Thank you for your kind words Lord Subaru but I must insist." Reinhard gave a serious look.
"If it makes you happy, It's fine I think." Subaru was looking back at Reinhard.
"Thank you once again, Lord Subaru. I will send the guard to margrave's domain." Reinhard smiled again.
Subaru turned to Eliza and spoke.
"We should leave then." He smiled
"As you wish Lord Subaru" Eliza smiled back while She got on the carriage.
Subaru also got in and waved to Reinhard while they started to move.
"I cant wait to see Emilia again." Subaru thought to himself.
Eliza had to stop the carriage because ground dragons needed some rest. They were near some river. Subaru got out of the carriage and walked towards Eliza.
"Thanks for coming with me Eliza. I don't even know what would I do without you" Subaru broke the silence.
"I'm here to serve you, Lord Subaru, there is no need to thank me" Eliza talked back.
"I know but since we are here together, you should know that I'm glad to have you on my side."
"Thank you for your kind words, Lord Subaru"
There was a smile on her face while talking to Subaru.
"May I ask why we are going to margrave's territory." Eliza lost to her curiosity.
"I want to see Emilia, The girl I met when I first got here. She's also a candidate." Subaru explained.
"Oh, I see." Eliza talked back.
"Is there any specific reason why you wanted to see her?" Eliza asked with a low voice.
"Other than seeing a beautiful silver-haired half-elf, I don't think so." Subaru laughed but find her with a terrified face.
"Half-elf with silver hair?" Eliza asked in terror.
"Huh?" Subaru was confused.
"I'm sorry Lord Subaru please forgive my rudeness." Eliza apologized.
"No need for that" Subaru said.
Subaru was sitting at the riverside. He thought about his other authority, "Touch of Redemption". While he was thinking he felt something was blocking it, something like a seal. He couldn't reach it.
He walked back to the carriage.
2 hours passed since their break at the riverside. Subaru saw a village ahead of them. Subaru turned to Eliza and asked if she knows this village. Eliza turned and answered.
"I haven't come here before but I believe this village's name is Irlam. They are under the care of Master Roswall." She explains.
"So we are already in margrave's territory, huh?" Subaru asked.
"Yes, Lord Subaru. The mansion shouldn't be too far away." Eliza answered.
"Can we stop at the village? I wanna see the people in there." Subaru told her.
"As you wish, my Lord" Eliza nodded.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of Irlam village. Subaru got off from the carriage and walked towards the village. Eliza followed him from behind. Subaru saw kids playing. He slowly approached them. The kids turned around and most of them screamed as they ran away after seeing Subaru. There was only one kid that hasn't run away. A girl with reddish-brown hair and cyan blue eyes. She came closer.
"Hey what's your name, Sir?" The girl asked with curiosity.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru, What's your name, young lady?" Subaru asked.
"My name is Petra." Petra jumped with excitement.
"Your clothes are too pretty, are you a noble?" Petra asked again.
"Yeah, kinda I am." Subaru talked back to Petra.
"I want to be a tailor in the capital when I grow up. I want to make clothes like yours" Petra smiled.
"Then, when you are older I want to see you as my personal tailor." Subaru smiled back.
Petra blushed as she smiled but then she asked one last thing.
"Sir, What happened to your eye?" Petra asked with a low voice.
Subaru looked at her and gave a half-smile.
"I had to pay a price for being who I am right now" Subaru also answered with a low voice.
There was a moment of silence but it broke when Petra hugged Subaru and ran away. Eliza was watching him from behind.
"You are pretty good with kids," Eliza said with a smile on her face.
"Yeah... If they don't run away from me." Subaru said with a sarcastic voice.
Then The village's chief came towards Subaru.
"I'm really sorry for our children's disrespect," Chief said.
"Ah, don't worry they are children after all" Subaru assured the chief.
"Thank you sir" Chief was thankful.
"We should leave now Lord Subaru," Eliza said.
Subaru turned to Eliza and nodded. Before getting to the carriage Subaru saw Petra was looking at him from a gap between the window.
"Take care Petra!" Subaru shouted while smiling.
Petra quickly got inside with haste.
They got to the mansion's entrance. Two maids were waiting for them. Subaru got off from the carriage and walked towards them. They looked like they were the same person. The only difference between them was their hair and eye colors. Their facial expressions were different too. When the maids saw Subaru they bowed to him. The pink one had a neutral face but the blue one was disturbed by something. Subaru understood that by just looking at her.
"I'm Natsuki Subaru, I came here for seeing Emilia and Master Roswall." Subaru was still looking at the maids.
Pink one opened her mouth but she got cut off.
"Subaru?" A familiar voice talked.
Subaru looked behind the maids and saw a girl with silver hair.
"Emilia..." Subaru was mesmerized once again by the beauty of this girl.
Emilia ran towards Subaru and hugged him.
"I was so worried, Subaru. I'm glad you are okay now and I'm also so sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you." Emilia looked at his eyes.
"Aww, you are going to make me cry, Emilia. I didn't know you cared for me this much" Subaru laughed.
Upon hearing this Emilia quickly pushed him and blushed.
"Just because you got hurt because of me. Don't think anything else." Emilia quickly turned around to hide her blush.
"Cute..." Subaru thought to himself.
And then the magical cat flew towards Subaru and punched his cheek. Subaru felt the fluffy punch. He grabbed the cat and then he started to tickle its belly.
"It's good to see you, Puck.' Subaru smiled.
"Yeah, I can say the same for you, Subaru. Thanks again for saving, Lia." Puck freed himself from Subaru's grasp.
Emilia turned to impressed maid twins and talked.
"Do you remember when I talked about someone saving my life? Subaru was the one saving me that day. Please treat him kindly." Emila smiled at the maids.
"So this is the guy who thought he can stop blades with his body." The pink maid said with a mocking tone.
"Yeah, who could've know that would work, right?" Subaru smiled.
"I was also shocked to see blades shatter when they hit me," Subaru said with confidence.
The pink maid was shocked to hear this. She thought he got hurt by the blades. She turned to Emilia with eyes full of questions.
"You were so brave Subaru. Thanks for saving me once again." Emilia thanked Subaru.
"We should get inside. I'll show you around Subaru come with me." Emilia grabbed Subaru's hand.
They walked around the mansion while Emilia talked about what happened after the fight with Elsa. Subaru suddenly stopped. The others were looked at him with a confused face. Eliza came and asked Subaru if he was okay. Subaru didn't say anything. He only walked towards one of the doors. He suddenly opened it. He saw it leads to a library. The others were shocked to see this even Puck was impressed. In the library, a girl was sitting in the middle. She looked up and saw Subaru standing.
"Hey there!" Subaru shouted while walking towards her.
"Don't come any closer, I suppose." The little girl talked back."
"Aww... That's not nice, Is that how you treat your visitors." Subaru asked.
"You are no visitor, just a trespasser to Betty's library." The little girl got off her chair and walked towards Subaru.
"You are hurting me. Didn't your mother taught you this is not a nice way to talk to your elders?" Subaru was smiling.
Beatrice slowly put her hand at the Subaru's chest and started to absorb his mana. Subaru falls to the ground with pain.
"What the hell did you do to me!" Subaru was breathing heavily but then he saw her saddened face. The little girl came to her senses when she realized Subaru was also looking at her with a confused face.
"I draw mana from your pathetic body, You should leave now, I suppose." The little girl answered and then she turned around.
Subaru limped back to the door and looked at her one last time. She looked confused now. Subaru opened the door and walked back outside of the library. The others were waiting for him at the other side of the door. Subaru looked at them and saw they all were looking at him with impressed faces.
"Why you are looking at me like that, did I do something weird?" Subaru asked.
"You just broke Beatrice's door crossing," Emilia explained.
"Uhh... I don't know what that is Emilia." Subaru was still confused.
"It's a spell that allows her to change her library's door between the doors of this mansion. Somehow you managed to find her on the first try." Puck explained.
"Oh, I get it now. The girl in there was not very nice though." Subaru tried to smile but he was still in pain.
"Beatrice is a Great Spirit of Yin, she's the guardian of this library." The pink maid continued to explain after Puck.
"I don't know what that means but I have a feeling that we will get along with her." Subaru smiled.
They walked a bit more but then the maids stopped and pointed to a door.
"You can use this room while waiting for Master Roswall. He should be here before dinner." The pink maid explained.
"I didn't get your names." Subaru was looking at the maids.
"Forgive us for our rudeness. My name is Ram and this is my sister her name is Rem." Rem told him while they both bowed to him once again before leaving.
"I also should be going Subaru. Just tell me or Ram if you need something." Emilia quickly ran away leaving only Subaru and Eliza.
They both got to the room as Eliza placed her lord's belongings then she turned around and spoke.
"If you need anything let me know, my Lord." Eliza talked.
While Subaru and Eliza got to their room, The Great Spirit was thinking to herself in the library. Her eyes were widened with his mana in her hand, she gained a slight knowledge about his insides. She felt something just like her. In her mind, she commented.
"I felt like I just drained my own mana I suppose. He felt like me. He felt old." Beatrice was mumbling to herself.
"Could he be that person?" Beatrice asked one last time before shutting her eyes.
Subaru was roaming around the mansion. He knew he had to wait for Roswaal. While he was walking he saw a blue-haired maid looking at him with disgust on her face. He looked at her just to be sure. The maid turned her face when she realized Subaru was looking at her. Subaru was confused after the maid's behavior. He turned to his room after his encounter with Rem.
A few hours passed while Subaru was lying on his bed. He was thinking about Emilia and his relationship with her. He wanted to be close to her. He wanted to be with her and then he heard a knock on the door. A sweet voice called for Subaru behind the door.
"Subaru, dinner is ready. Roswall is waiting for you at the table." Emilia talked.
Subaru quickly got up from the bed and opened the door. Emilia recoiled with fear after Subaru's sudden movement.
"Ah, I didn't want to scare you, Emilia-Tan."
"-Tan?" Emilia asked.
"Ah, It just my way to show my affection for you." Subaru smiled at her.
Emilia quickly blushed and hid her face.
"Don't say things like that, you dunderhead," Emilia spoke under her breath.
Subaru laughed at the sight of Emilia.
At the dinner Subaru saw a man with clown make-up, He was looking... exotic? Subaru sat down to the chair. The dinner got served by the maids. Subaru was happy about the meal. It was delicious. The silence broke by the man with clown makeup.
"Thank you for saving Emilia and retrieving her insigniaaa." Clown talked in an unusual manner.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I did because I wanted to help a beautiful girl." Subaru smiled while Emilia blushed.
"Subaruuu..." Emilia was hiding her face from embarrassment.
"As I margrave of this domain and supporter of Emilia's right for the throne. I'll grant you a wish." Roswall smiled.
Subaru smiled upon hearing this and then he turned to Emilia. Puck was staring at him with visible hospitality since he taught Subaru was going to ask something lewd.
"I want to have a date with Emilia-Tan"
There was a moment of silence that broke by Ram's sneeze.
Emilia looked at him and smiled.
"I want to know you better." Subaru looked at her.
"I want to know you better too," Emilia said with a blush on her face.
"It's good to see both of you get along. That way your wish granted then" clown smiled at him.
After dinner, Subaru was walking to his room but he stopped as he felt something. He opened the door beside him and was greeted by the library once again. He looked at Beatrice and saw her reading a book.
"How did you pass my door crossing this easily?" The little girl asked.
"I don't know. I just felt like a connection between me and this place." Subaru looked at her.
Upon hearing this Beatrice looked at him with pleading eyes. He came closer to her and kneeled beside her.
"You always look so lonely and sad. Do you want any company?" Subaru told her with a sad but sincere face.
"I can stay with you as long as you want," Subaru assured her.
"Why are you saying these things to me, I suppose" Beatrice talked.
Subaru slowly patted her head with a half-smile.
"Because you look like you need to hear this kinda things, Beatrice." Subaru turned around.
"I'll be here for you as long as you want until you hate me or kill me," Subaru said while looking at the bookshelves.
Beatrice looked like she was touched by the things Subaru said. Her lips trembled.
"Are you that person?" Beatrice asked with a low voice even Subaru couldn't hear.
Subaru turned around and saw the girl said nothing.
"It looks like you don't want me here. I'm going back to my room, Beako. I'll see you in the morning." Subaru gave one last smile to the sad-looking little girl before leaving the library.
Eliza was also walking through the hallway. Their gaze meets up with each other.
"How did your conversations went with, Master Roswall?" Eliza asked.
"It was fine. He was quite an unusual type though." Subaru laughed as Eliza also giggled.
"He also granted me a wish," Subaru explained.
"A wish?" Eliza asked in shock.
"I wished a date with Emilia-Tan ." Subaru's excitement can be heard from his voice.
"A date?" The maid didn't know how to think of this but seeing her Lord this happy. It made her happy too.
I'm going to bed. Are you sure you'll be fine with the other maids? They looked quite excessive. If it'll make you feel better I can request another room for you or even you can stay in my room. I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor." Subaru smiled.
Eliza panicked upon hearing this. Why did her Lord was thinking so deeply for her?
"I would be fine my Lord. You don't need to worry about me." Eliza talked with a quite speed.
Subaru smiled once again before getting inside his room.
"It's good to hear. Have a good night Eliza." Subaru said.
"Have a good night too my Lord." Eliza talked before Subaru got inside.
After Eliza came down to Maid's bedroom, She saw Rem was looking at her. She was confused. Why did Rem look at her with such a look in her eyes?
"Did I do something wrong? Rem-sama" Eliza asked.
Rem just clicked her tongue and a "Tch" sound echoed through the room.
Eliza was looking with awe at all of this but she didn't think much of it.
Subaru had woken up in the middle of the night. He got up from his bed and started to walk around the mansion.
He heard something in the distance. It was coming closer. Something sounded like chains.
It got closer and closer and closer... Subaru turned around and saw her under the moonlight came from the window.
Rem with her morning star in her hand. She was looking at him with wrathful eyes. Subaru took a step back after seeing Rem.
"I have finally found you..." Rem hissed under her breath
Subaru was confused. He opened his mouth and only one word came out of it.
"Why..."