It had been a year since the disappearance of the Half-Elf's Knight in the Augria Sand Dunes. The camp had had intentions to send a rescue party for him, due to their apparent knowledge that he was somehow down south in Vollachia. However, two weeks after their return to the capital from their duties in Priestella, during their preparation to send Garfiel and Julius together as a joint negotiation and search party, the Vollachian borders had suddenly started to be patrolled to an extreme degree, and were openly hostile.
With the disappearance of Priscilla Camp's key figures, including it's candidate and knight, and witnesses claiming they had headed to Vollachia, resources were redirected at assisting the management of the Barony of Barielle. Additionally, due to the appearance of the aforementioned Julius, who had apparently been erased by the forces of Gluttony, the knight was sent on a safety patrol to Flanders to ensure his trustworthiness prior to his reinstatement as a Royal Knight. Felt camp was also working out a method with the Council to deal with the Sin Archbishop of Wrath, Sirius. In the meantime of all the chaos, the Sage Council prohibited sending a party to Vollachia.
All of the camp but Roswaal, for whatever reason, was extremely worried about this decision. Even Ram, who normally seemed indifferent to Subaru, couldn't hide her concern for both her camp's knight, and known to few outside of their camp, her twin sister. As time passed, no information came in from Vollachia other than rumors that a civil war was taking place.
Most distressed, of course, were Emilia and Beatrice. Garfiel was instituted as Emilia's temporary knight a few months after no news from Vollachia, and the border patrols remained intact and unwilling to discuss anything, both adding to her distress about Subaru's absence and the former amplifying the lack of his reassuring presence- Garfiel wasn't as smooth a talker as Subaru, and often didn't know what to say. She knew he was extremely worried himself, despite putting up a front about being confident in his boss's abilities, and Emilia didn't want to put more pressure on him.
Beatrice could still confirm that he was alive, at least, but it still wasn't too much comfort to Emilia, who felt her knight would have no way of surviving in the harsh country in the south. She was convinced he could die any day, and deeply desired the chance to race over the border and begin a search for him. She had been relieved after Beatrice confirmed he had found a way of surviving mana poisoning after a few months, but her relief didn't last. After eight months, her composure was in tatters. Her camp had been put in charge of keeping peace in Picoutatte about a month after their return to the capital due to the extreme conditions of the missing camp, border situation, and unknown locations of the Sin Archbishops, whose threat had suddenly become relevant after the attack in Priestella.
Despite the defeat of the Witch Cult in Priestella, unrest had begun to grow in greater magnitude across Lugunica and the efforts of all connected to the government were required. However, she felt useless- nothing ever happened in the merchant city, and she knew that any day could be the last chance they had to save her knight. She had missed her chance to confess, and felt that somehow the world was punishing her for it. Worst of all, she had begun to forget what his voice sounded like. She would still be able to recognize him in a flash, but some days she even had trouble recalling what he looked like.
The stress upon her shoulders seemed to increase every day, despite only the occasional thief needing to be tracked down. She knew her management and decision-making skills had improved dramatically over the last half-year, but she hadn't wanted maturity at the cost of Subaru being in constant danger. After nine months, the stress had her throwing up every few days. After ten, she was performing her duties in assisting Otto with paperwork and managing the knights and camp members dispatched to different towns with intermittent fevers.
I'm sure Subaru is suffering.
I can't slack off.
I have to be worthy of my position.
I have to earn people's respect, or I can't become King.
Am I so pathetic that I would let a little fever compromise people's safety?
It really was no surprise she ended up bedridden with an unshakeable sickness in the eleventh month, in such a state that the local healers didn't feel confident enough in their abilities to heal her. A healer kept her in a stabilized state as Ram and Patrasche brought her back to the capital, intending for Ferris to properly heal her.
"This will take some time to cure, nyaa," Ferris sighed in exasperation, and glanced over at the other side of the room, where Reinhard and Ram stood present. "What were you doing for her to be this overworked?!" Ferris glared at Ram, frustrated, the maid averting her eyes.
"She was… I wasn't…." Ram began to form an explanation, then sucked in a breath. "I have no excuse. My deepest apologies for letting my master get to this state."
The clearly frazzled, pink-haired demon looked exhausted, stressed, and had sustained some minor injuries along the way from Picoutatte that the stabilizing healer hadn't been able to focus on due to Emilia's condition. Ferris, a bit guiltily, changed his choice of words.
"Well, let me get you healed and rested, that's more important right now," the demihuman healer said. "Reinhard, you look after Emilia for about an hour. I'll send someone over to take your place soon... sorry to ask you for help on your day off, nyaa."
"It's not a problem, don't worry yourself with it," Reinhard said, the red-haired knight pulling up a chair next to the bedridden half-elf as Ferris and Ram left for another room, Ram blowing out the lamp next to the door, shrouding the room in darkness.
He peered at the silver-haired girl's resting face. Even in her sleep, Emilia didn't seem to be at peace- on the contrary, she seemed to be having a nightmare, and after a few minutes, worry and fear began to occasionally flash over her visage.
He gently placed his hand on her forehead... and nearly jumped in surprise at the heat emanating from her temples, Ferris's work not seeming to have had much staying power for now. He stood to go fetch the healer, but felt a hand grip his before he could walk away.
Turning his head, he found the half-elf's fingers around his, her eyes half-open, lashes fluttering as she struggled to keep her vision open. Her lips began to move slowly.
"Su.. baru, is that… you? I've been… soooooo worried… you know…" Her words were weak in volume but nevertheless, they pierced through Reinhard, who couldn't help but be distraught both for her and his missing friend. With what seemed to be all of her remaining strength, she pulled him in closer before he had the chance to say anything.
The tips of Reinhard's lips curved, just a bit, having at least one thing to be relieved about. "Half-elves really are strong, aren't they?" he murmured. "Even at this level of sickness, you can still move me."
"That's right, Suba… ru. Ah… so that's what… your voice… sounds like. I had… forgotten. I thought it… was… not as deep… how horrible of... me."
"Oh, I'm no-" Reinhard realized and began to correct her misconception about his identity, but she cut him off in her deliriousness.
"I've been waiting… for… soooo-" her voice broke off with a cough. "I didn't… get to tell you… what I… wanted to… back then…"
"It's alright, Emilia-sama. But I'm not Su-" she cut him off again, reaching over and grabbing his other hand and pulling him in closer, his shoulders parallel to her bed.
"Shhh… I'm just reaaaally happy… that… you're back. I've wanted to tell you that… hey, did you get… taller? That's… not fair. I wanted… to see you grow… myself. I didn't… think you would grow more… though," she coughed again.
Reinhard was, frankly, astonished; the knight had known that Natsuki Subaru loved Emilia - everyone knew that - but he hadn't known the feelings were so strong on her end, too. He tried to open his mouth to explain his identity, but realized that might do more harm to her current condition. He decided to simply hear her out. What harm could that do? He knew mental and physical states were intertwined- perhaps it would give her health some respite.
As her half-closed eyes swirled with emotion in the darkness, she spoke again. "I love you. That's… what I wanted to… tell you. I… regretted it… so much. Not… telling you."
Her next words came in hoarse whispers, and he leaned in, wide-eyed, to hear her speak. He had no experience in situations such as this- was he doing the right thing? He didn't know. For all he knew, this could be extremely unethical, but it was too late to back out now. As his head came down, Emilia let go of her grasp on his hands and reached out, cupping his cheeks in her palms, leaned forward a tiny bit, and pulled his lips to hers.
End