Chapter 12 (Just a Little Patience)
"Alright Rem, since we begin school next week. I want to introduce you to an important and vital piece of technology" Subaru said. Rem looked at him curious to what he had to show her
"What is it Subaru?" Rem asked curiously. Subaru got out of bed and walked toward the computer at the side of his room
"I remember you took interest in this device when we first got here. I wanted to wait until you could read Japanese to introduce you to this revolutionary machine. Subaru said as he turned the computer on. The computer sprung to life emitting a start up noise
Rem closed the textbook she was reading and set it down on the nightstand. She got out of bed and walked over to Subaru. He already had the computer started up at the homescreen.
Subaru immediately covered the screen as the explicit wallpaper he forgot about covered the screen. He looked over at Rem and saw her confused expression. He prayed that she didn't lay eyes on his homescreen
"Subaru what are you hiding?" Rem asked innocently. Subaru let go a sigh of relief and hastily changed the wallpaper to a random safe image he had on his computer. He revealed the screen back to Rem.
"Alright Rem. You already know this is what we call a computer. The computer gives you the ability to search up anything on the web. Like any piece of information. It's really useful for assignments" Subaru said
"It can look up anything?" Rem asked as she walked closer to the screen. Subaru nodded his head
"Yes Rem anything" Subaru said. He loaded up a map of the world and showed it to Rem. She looked at the map on the screen with curiosity and wonder in her eyes
"This Rem, is the map of the world we are currently on. Those lines indicate the borders of each country" Subaru said. Rem nodded her head. She couldn't believe Subarus world possessed so many countries
"In fact, I think this program in particular allows us to go to a street view," Subaru said as he explored the interface. The screen suddenly zoomed on a part of the globe and revealed a street view
"Ah there we go. Rem this shows us the streets of... Guysborough, Novascotia. In a country called Canada I think" Subaru said as he read the information at the top of the screen. Rem nodded her head. She couldn't believe she was able to see a whole country from the comfort of home.
"Anyways, try it out yourself" Subaru said as he reset the map of the earth. He got out of the chair and let Rem sit down in it.
"Give me your right hand," Subaru asked. Rem held out her right hand, and Subaru guided it to the mouse
"Alright Rem, what you wanna do is guide the cursor to what country you want to zoom in on" Subaru said. Rem moved the mouse and the cursor went all over the place, she had a hard time controlling it. The cursor flew all over the screen Rem was adjusted to the sensitivity
"Rem you need to move the mouse more gently," Subaru said. Rem did as instructed and moved the mouse with more precision. She eventually had some though little understanding of how to control the cursor
"Alright Rem, pick any country. Just click and drag that little figure there to go to the street view" Subaur said. Rem nodded as she stared at the map deciding what country to pick. She eventually pointed to the place she wanted to view
Subaru looked over to the place she was pointing at "The... United Kingdom... Interesting"
"Alright now click and drag that icon to the country" Subaru said. Rem hovered the corser over the icon Subaru pointed to and clicked it and moved the mouse
"Rem you need to hold down the mouse button" Subaru said. Rem tried again this time she held it and dragged the cursor over the country she wanted to visit. She hovered the icon over the country
"What now, Subaru?" Rem asked
"Release the mouse button," Subaru said. Rem did as instructed and the camera zoomed in to a street view of the United Kingdom. The camera's view was in front of a church. Rem looked at Subaru curious to why they only saw a building on the screen
"Click and drag to rotate the camera," Subaru said. Rem did as instructed and turned the camera around to view the streets and houses that populated the area
"You can click on those areas to go down the street," Subaru said. Rem did as suggested and the camera moved down the street. Rem didn't have any words to say she was so fascinated by the street view technology
"Anyway Rem, you continue to play around with that. I need to go grab something for you" Subaru said as he walked off to his dresser and dug around. He sorted through tangled wires, and eventually landed on an outdated flip phone. This one was slightly older than the one he gave Beatrice and himself, but it will do
"Found it," Subaru said as he pulled out the phone from his dresser. Rem turned to look at him and noticed the phone in his hand. Subaru walked over to Rem and handed her the phone
"Use this Rem to call me just in case you get lost or something. Even though you are going to be as close to me as humanly possible. If you somehow find yourself away from me, and don't know where you're at. Just call me and I will come find you" Subaru said. Rem flipped open the phone in her hand
"Thank you, Subaru" Rem said as she played around in the menu. She eventually landed on the camera feature. Rem was already somewhat familiar with this feature. She pointed the phone at Subaru and mashed buttons until one snapped the photo
Subaru noticed the flash go off and Rems giggling
"Hey! Don't be taking pictures of me!' Subaru said as he walked over to see the photo Rem took of him. He noticed Rem's smile faded a bit when she looked at the photo. Subaru looked over at the photo on the phone and laughed
"Ha! Your finger was over the lens!" Subaru said
In Reinhard's Domain
Reinhard awoke early in the morning as per usual. Today was a special day. Reinhard was free the entire day today, free to hang around with Ram and do whatever she wanted. However, once Reinhard gained back consciousness and opened his eyes. Something felt off
His throat was really sore, so sore it hurt to even breathe. He couldn't even breathe through his nose because it was clogged. His stomach was turned in knots, and he was sweating from his body temperature.
Reinhard rarely got sick. He only got sick one or two times a year, but whenever he did get sick it was always a giant flu that usually only took a couple days to recover from. Despite this Reinhard would usually push past his illnesses and continue his knightly responsibilities as any other day
Today was going to be no different. He got out of bed pushing past the giant illness that swarmed within him, and started to make his way to the dining room to have breakfast with Ram. Just like every morning he walked in the dining room and sat down.
He wiped some sweat off his hot skin, and let out a few very painful coughs.
Ram eventually walked into the dining room. She immediately took notice of the ill looking Reinhard at the table. His body was shivering slightly as his throat gulped multiple times.
Reinhard turned to look at Ram and smiled. He didn't greet her, his throat hurt too much to even say a single word. Rams face softened she knew Reinhard did not feel well, but was amazed that he even got out of bed to begin with
"You don't look well, Sir Reinhard, '' Ram said. Reinhard let go a few painful coughs trying to clear his throat before responding
"I'm fine, Miss Ram," Reinhard said. His voice was extremely raspy and sore. He put a hand on his throat and rubbed it. It hurt him so much to say just four words. Ram walked up closer to Reinhard
"Sir Reinhard, please go back to bed," Ram said. Reinhard coughed a couple
"Please Miss Ram, there is no need to worry about me," Reinhard responded his throat growing more sore. He gulped and winced in pain. Ram noticed this and shook her head in disapproval. She knew she was going to have to fight with Reinhard to get him to bed. Reinhard wasn't lazy, she knew that. He was also going to be instant.
"As your... Royal candidate. I command that you go back to bed and sleep it off" Ram said, pulling the authority card. Reinhard smiled a bit. He would of chuckled if his throat was not killing him.
"Well as your kni-" Reinhard cut himself off to cough painfully. Ram sighed heavily as she grew slightly annoyed.
"Go to bed Sir Reinhard, or I am going to drag you there myself!" Ram demanded in a slightly agitated tone.
"There will be no need for that Miss Ram" Reinhard said in his formal tone that never dropped no matter what situation he was in
"So will you go to bed?" Ram asked with a hopeful look in her eyes. Hoping her demand was enough to convince him.
"No," Reinhard responded stubbornly. Rams hopes were crushed, clearly Reinhard was not going to give in to any of her demands, no matter how menacing she makes herself look
She wasn't expecting Reinhard to be this stubborn. Ram was running out of options and was beginning to get desperate. She had to do something that he couldn't say no to
Ram let go one last heavy sigh "Fine you asked for it" Ram said. Reinhard had no idea what she was about to do
She looked into Reinhard's eyes, and began to soften her face putting on her puppy dog begging look. Ram would only put on that look when she was in the most dire of circumstances.
"Why are you looking at me like that Miss Ram?" Reinhard said a little uncomfortable at the cute face Ram was putting on. Ram didn't say anything, and continued her adorable puppy dog pleading look, still staring into Reinhard's eyes. Reinhard coughed a couple more times breaking eye contact
"Please go to bed... can you do it for me...?" Ram said in a sweet innocent tone. Reinhards face softened; he couldn't find it in him to say no to this adorable face in front of him. This was enough to shatter Reinhard's strong and impenetrable barrier of chivalry and formality.
"Fine, as you wish," Reinhard said as he stood up and made his way back to his room. Ram smiled. She knew that expression always worked. Though Rem had an even more deadly one.
Ram had her breakfast alone, then set out to go check on Reinhard. Ram grabbed some soup from the kitchen to bring with her, so she could feed Reinhard while she was there. Soup was the only thing Ram could feed Reinhard with his illness
She walked down the hallways and approached his room, eventually standing in front of the door that led to his room. Ram knocked lightly
"Sir Reinhard, are you feeling better?" Ram asked. She heard Reinhard heavily cough on the other side. She gripped the door knob and proceeded to open the door slowly. Ram hoped she wasn't walking in at a bad time.
Reinhard and Ram entered each other's rooms with extreme caution after a particular incident. Reinhard walked in on her while she was changing one time. They were running late to an important meeting and Reinhard walked in hastily without thinking, and got a full view of Ram in nothing but her undergarments
The millisecond Reinhard laid eyes on her, he covered his face and shut his eyes as he quickly stepped out of her room. He was out of her room so fast, Ram didn't even have time to notice him
Reinhard apologized profusely out in the hallway way. Ram was pretty humiliated being walked in on, but she appreciated that Reinhard covered his eyes and apologized and didn't just stare at her all pervertedly. Reinhards chivalry and formality was always something Ram adored
He was super embarrassed for the rest of that week. Ram would intentionally mention it to see him cover his face in humiliation. He hated it whenever she would mention that incident, it sort of became a weapon for Ram to use to see him get flustered. Though Ram rarely used it because she was also embarrassed
Ram opened the door and saw Reinhard laying in bed. He was so sick he almost resembled a dead corpse. She walked over to his his bedside and placed the soup bowl on the nightstand
"Move over," Ram said as she nudged his arm. Reinhard actually compiled without saying a word, and moved to the side to let Ram sit next to him
"Now come here. I am only going to do this once" Ram said as she patted her lap. Reinhard put on a confused look as he coughed a couple of times
"You heard me, lay your head here," Ram said. Reinhard somewhat complied, and laid his head on her knees. Ram sighed
"No, put your head on my thigh" Ram said as she grabbed Reinhard and pulled him in closer to her. Reinhard got somewhat flustered and tried to hide his face by rolling over slightly
"Look up at me, stop moving" Ram said as she tried to hold Reinhard in place. She thought it was funny to see Reinhard get all flustered, and tried to hide from her. He eventually stopped all resistance and rested in the place Ram set him in
Ram reached for the soup she brought with her on the nightstand
"Here eat this," Ram said as she pressed a spoonful of soup against Reinhard's lips. Reinhard opened his mouth slightly and consumed what was on the spoon. Ram continued to feed him little servings. Until she eventually got done feeding him the entire bowl of soup. She placed the empty bowl back on the nightstand
She proceeded to let Reinhard lay there until he eventually fell asleep. Ram brushed his hair helping him relax as he dozed off. A couple minutes went by and one of Reinhard's housekeepers walked in suddenly
He saw his master and the royal selection candidate he was backing all cuddly with each other in bed. He thought it was a funny and adorable sight to see and smiled.
Ram's face scrunched up a bit, as she looked up and shot him a deathglare. He got scared and closed the door and walked off not asking any questions. When the housekeeper left, Ram heard Reinhard mumble something that caught her attention
"Mother?" Reinhard mumbled his voice raspy. Ram looked down and noticed Reinhard's eyes were closed
She heard his raspy snores. His clogged nose and a sore throat made it sound almost painful to sleep. She laid one of her hands on Reinhard's forehead. She noticed his temperature was off the roof. Reinhard had one of the worst fevers Ram had ever seen. She decided that she was going to spend the rest of the day taking care of her loyal knight. Ram did feel bad that Reinhard rarely had days off, and the one day he actually had one, he got sick.
Ram still had election paperwork to do, but that could wait until later. Ram had experience taking care of fevers. Whenever Rem or Rosswal would get sick she was the one usually taking care of them.
She knew his fever wasn't pleasant. No fever or flu is ever pleasant. It's just that Reinhard could withstand pretty much anything. To have something like fever get the best of him was truly odd. It couldn't have been a normal fever that's for sure. Ram laid Reinhard's head on the pillows and off of her. She got up and walked to the kitchen
Ram returned with a drink she would always serve, Rem or Rosswal. It would usually help ease the symptoms of a common fever or flu
She stood over Reinhard and pressed the cup against his lips. She slowly started tilting and saw the liquid run down the cup, and into Reinhard's throat. Ram made sure not to pour too much in. She only poured little bits at a time.
She suddenly felt Reinhard grip her wrist somewhat tightly, and started to move his head. Ram knew Reinhard didn't know what he was being given. She was trying her best to hold the cup in place while Reinhard struggled, as to not spill the drink all over him
"Sir Reinhard please don't resist, this is good for you, it should help you with that fever of yours" Ram said. Ram felt the grip on her wrist loosen, as his head finally stood still as Ram continued to pour him the drink
Eventually the cup was empty. Ram placed the empty cup u[ on the nightstand. She heard Reinhard let out a few rough coughs. He had yet to open his eyes. Ram wasn't sure if he was even awake or not. Reinhard was extremely disoriented from his fever.
When Reinhard was young whenever he would get sick his mother would take care of him all day. Reinhard opened his eyes slightly and he saw his mother in front of him with her reddish pinkish hair. Stroking his hair. Reinhard wasn't sure if she was his mother or not. She looked like her, but he couldn't make out the exact details. His vision was to clouded and blurry
Reinhard tried to mumble his mothers name, his voice still feeling awful and sore. Reinhards vision eventually started to come back to him revealing his room. No one was standing in front of him. He looked over to his nightstand he noticed an empty bowl and cup
The bright sun shone through the blinds. It was currently the afternoon. Reinhard sat up and coughed a few times. He felt a little bit better from that drink he received. Reinhard heard the sound of papers crumbling. He looked down and noticed a bunch of papers scattered all over his bed. He grabbed one, and noticed they were Rams election papers
He noticed Ram's pink dress in his peripheral vision. He looked over and saw Ram sleeping next to him peacefully. Her election papers scattered all over the place. Reinhard let out a few more rough coughs and smiled. Reinhard was surprised to see Ram had been taking care of him all morning
Reinhard stood up, a small amount of his strength had been regained. He picked Ram up bridal style, and took her to her room. He walked down the halls, and entered her room. He carefully laid her down in her bed. Reinhard walked back and retrieved her election papers she had been doing beside Reinhard.
Setting them on a neat pile on her nightstand. He placed a heavy book on top of them to flatten some of the crumbled ones. He walked out of her room, and let Ram rest. Closing the door slowly as to not wake her
The next couple days passed. Reinhard had completely recovered from his fever. He was able to resume joining Ram on meetings, and going on patrol. Eventually Ram had a day off coming up. She wanted to spend it doing something special, she didn't know what though
Ram awoke early in the morning signaling the start of another day. When Ram regained consciousness, and opened her eyelids. She felt a giant knot in her stomach. She didn't feel to great
Ram pushed past it and got out of bed. She changed out of her nightgown, and made her way out of her room. She was walking towards the dining hall for breakfast. The knot in her stomach had yet to disappear in fact it worsened as time went on
She eventually reached the dining hall, she could smell breakfast being made. She opened the doors, and saw the empty dining room. Reinhard had yet to make his way there
Rams' condition was worsening with every passing second. She eventually couldn't take it anymore. She felt like her guts were about to spill out at any moment and time. She made her way back to her room to sleep it off. Ram was trying her best not to collapse on the floor, as her strength started to deplete from her body
Ram eventually made it back to her room, she immediately went over and laid down on her bed. Not bothering to change out of her dress. Rams throat began getting sore. She let out a couple of painful coughs as she shut her eyelids, and drifted off back to sleep
Reinhard was in the dining hall eating breakfast. While eating he grew increasingly concerned, Ram had yet to come to the dining hall for breakfast. Reinhard eventually finished eating, and decided to check up on Ram in her room
Reinhard was confused as to why Ram did not come out for breakfast. Usually breakfast, and dinner were one of the highlights of Rams day. Mainly because it didn't consist of her standing there and listening to a boring lecture, or doing paper work of some sorts
He eventually made it to her door. Reinhard knocked it lightly
"Miss Ram," Reinhard called out. He didn't get a response. Reinhard grew concerned Ram would never ignore him
"Miss Ram, are you ok?" Reinhard called out again. He still didn't get a response. A part of Reinhard wanted to respect Rams privacy and not walk in, but another part of him wanted to know the reason behind Rams eerie silence
He slowly opened the door, he intentionally didn't peek his head in just in case Ram was changing. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of last week's incident. He closed his eyes as he slowly opened the door. Eventually the door was opened completely, but Reinhard still stood there with his eyes closed
Reinhard slowly creaked open his eyes to see Ram in bed. He walked over to her and noticed that she didn't look well. Her breathing was raspy. Her nostrils were clogged. Reinhard could hear her struggle to breathe through her clogged nose. Her breathe was as warm as her temperature
Reinhard sighed. He felt kind of bad that he got Ram sick. It wasn't just a normal cold, it looked like a full on fever. The same fever Reinhard had a couple days ago. Reinhard took his hand and placed it on her forehead. While he noticed her high temperature he also noticed a scar along the center of her forehead
Ram awoke when she felt Reinhard touch her forehead. Reinhard gave her a smile
"Hello Miss Ram. I can see you are not feeling right" Reinhard said. Ram nodded her head. Her throat hurt too much to respond. Ram immediately knew she caught Reinhard's fever when she was taking care of him. Though Ram felt weaker than a normal fever would permit. She couldn't even lift her head without struggle and difficulty
Reinhard laid down next to Ram and held her tightly. Trying to make her feel relaxed so she could fall back asleep. He considered it returning the favor for when Ram took care of him. Ram was taken aback by this sudden action. She wasn't expecting Reinhard to do such a bold move. It left Ram with a nice lingering feeling. A feeling she would only really get from Rosswals mana infusions
Ram's eyes widened when she remembered the mandatory mana infusions. Without mana infusions she could die, since she didn't have her horn. Reinhard noticed Ram's unsettled expression, and got concerned.
"Is something wrong Miss Ram?" Reinhard asked. Ram sat up right. She coughed a few times trying to clear her throat so she could finally talk for a bit
"Sir Reinhard. Re...Remember how I told you, I lost my horn long ago. I forgot to tell you I require regular mana infu-" Ram interrupted herself by coughing. Her throat hurt so much , it hurt to much to talk every word felt like knives were being lodged deeper into her throat
"Mana infusions?" Reinhard asked. Reinhard remembered the story Ram told him about what happened to her horn and her village. He was actually quite fascinated to learn that she and her sister were Oni's. He thought Oni's all died out years ago
Ram nodded her head. Reinhard assumed Ram needed mana infusion because she didn't have her horn.
"Sir Reinhard... I could die without a mana infusion" Ram said as she collapsed onto her back. Running out of energy to keep herself up
"I could give you a mana infusion Miss Ram" Reinhard said as sat up
"You can?" Ram responded
"I am the most powerful knight in Lugnica, of course I am able to do a simple mana infusion," Reinhard said
"Come here, Miss Ram," Reinhard said while patting his lap. Ram used her last bit of energy to crawl over onto Reinhard's lap. She leaned her head on his chest. Ram pointed to the scar on her forehead were her horn once was
Reinhard began to give Ram the mana infusion. Ram closed her eyes and smiled. She hated to admit it, but she always got somewhat aroused during mana infusions. Ram didn't know what it was about it that made it so pleasurable. It could be the tingly feeling her body would get, or it could have something to do with the person giving her the infusion
Eventually the infusion was complete and Ram was all set to go. Ram continued to smile at Reinhard when he finished her mana infusion. She was grateful to have someone like Reinhard help keep her alive
"Are you alright now Miss Ram?" Reinhard asked. Ram laid back in bed and coughed a few times. Truth was she felt a little better after her infusion, but she still had a fever that she needed to recover from until she felt a hundred percent. But for the meantime she did regain some of her strength
"I unfortunately have some small business to attend to. I will be back in a couple hours to check up on you. Rest well Miss Rram" Reinhard said as he gave Ram a departing head pat, before he exited Ram's room. Ram felt herself blush when Reinhard patted her head
Ram was still in awe of all the things Reinhard had done for her. He helped when she was sick, comforted her during a nightmare, helped her get adjusted to her royal candidacy, and just recently gave her a mana infusion. Ram had only known Reinhard for a couple of weeks, and he already had done so much. Ram started to slowly realize she enjoyed being with Reinhard more than being the Rosswal. Subaru was right, she did smile more around Reinhard