There was a room that didn't get much use nowadays, a room larger than most bedrooms in the castle, but smaller than its more noteworthy halls and chambers. Three magic fireplaces burned eternally, one in each wall, the wood charmed to convert its smoke into regenerative energy. Paintings of Lugnica's most devout allies throughout history gazed warmly upon the room's would-be occupants, divided by vases as large as a man, themselves potted with things that looked crossed between a palm tree and a pine tree that reached the ceiling. Two days without the maids left needles scattered about stone dishes that were bone-dry. A bar, stocked with precious centuries-old liquors, stood unmanned in the corner. There was only one bottle uncorked, but not a single empty glass. Something of a private lounge, Lugnica's kings and queens of old would use it to nurture alliances or please important guests. Nowadays, the current rulers used it to, in their words, "foster friendships."

Regardless of its purpose, it didn't get many visitors these days.

Subaru, upon entering, found just four people making use of its several sofas. "Oh! What a re- lief! " He sagged, genuinely. "Glad it's just you guys. For real. I thought I'd die if I had to smile for another second." Emilia turned away from him as soon as their eyes met, as though scared of him.

"Nyo worries! It's been us for a while nyow." Taking up a dragonleather sofa, Felix tittered from his place lying on Crusch's lap. "Bold of Subaru, taking his crown off while standing in the doorway!"

"It's still on my head, though." Subaru took the crown in front of him, dropped, and punted it. Ringing, pin-balling off the wall, it bounced the opposite direction before stopping in front of Beatrice, now a half-moon shape. "That felt good."

"Wow. Scorched earth much?" Worry laced Felix's joke.

"That crown is older than Emilia, I believe."

If he was trying to make Subaru regret abusing the blood-drenched heirloom, it was having the opposite effect. "Oh, Julius , please hit me with another shot of dopamine."

"Honestly." Julius smiled around a drink of wine; his feet were up on the coffee table, boots-off. How uncouth. "You'll regret that tomorrow, Subaru."

"I've always wanted to do that, though. And nothing's binding me not to kick my crown like a football."

Crusch permitted herself an internal chortle. "I cannot say the sentiment is lost on me, Subaru Natsuki."

As they occupied the couch Emilia sat on, facing everyone, Beatrice said, "Subaru will just have a master blacksmith hammer out the dents, I suppose."

He laughed, happier with his success in making Beatrice smirk. She loathed the crown's weight, particularly the change it'd inflicted upon their prior closeness, however small.

"Might want to keep it resting on the back of your head, pointed towards the wall until then," said Crusch.

Was that a joke? Subaru wondered while sitting himself and Betty beside Emilia. "Y'know, that's probably the funniest thing you've ever said, Crusch Karsten."

"And I believe that's the highest praise my sense of humor has ever garnered."

"It's true!" Felix added, happily closing his eyes before Crusch's hand chopped him gently.

Subaru smiled, warmed by the display as Emilia took his hand in hers, squeezing them between one another's thigh. Her thumb rubbed his—she wasn't mad at him. Subaru hated how relieved he suddenly felt, not even realizing that had been a worry. The atmosphere of the others were a total contrast to the aura Emilia exuded beside him, though.

After all, these friends were chewing the fat like it was nothing. Despite the oncoming threat. Why were they not noticing Emilia's clear discomfort?

"Emilia?" Subaru couldn't keep thinking in circles.

"Huh?!" She blinked with a jolt as soon as he touched her arm.

Maybe Subaru was being paranoid. "Were you daydreaming in front of guests, Mili?"

"N-no! I was just—"

A short sigh silenced her, Crusch easing Felix off her as he sat up. "It appears I've failed to restore our prior mood, Emilia. I apologize once again for my husband's improper behavior," she said, bowing until her head was between her knees. Felix frowned before following, Julius mimicking close behind.

"No, I swear, I said it was fine and I meant it," Emilia murmured, hand on her heart. It was the frailest Subaru heard her all loop. "It's perfectly understandable. Justifiable, even. I'm sure, no, I'm positive I would act the same way in Felix's position."

"You're too forgiving, Your Grace." Sitting up, Crusch continued, "Still, I will not allow this transgression go unacknowledged." To Subaru, she explained, "Felix has always been a very… personable individual, as you know. It's made him forget the divide between stations more often than not."

" Nyot that I hear any complainin'," Felix grumbled, turning away from Crusch whilst holding up an ungloved hand before her. Copper inlaid with emeralds twinkled around his ring finger.

Crusch shut her eyes, turning toward the couple. "I'm fairly lax about the 'time and place' I let my hair down, Felix. You know that's not what I meant… I am sorry, though."

Subaru couldn't help but boggle his eyes. Crusch was no longer Gluttony'd, right?

Felix crossed his arms firmly, only to whip out an award-winning smile on Crusch. "I knyow! I just like to show off how cute you can be to my friends, is all!"

"You're incorrigible sometimes." Crusch smiled fondly as she said this. Subaru only noticed because it dropped as soon as her firm, authoritative glare fixed itself on the royal family. "Regardless, I am the cause of distress here, my king. Our intent wasn't to insult Queen Emilia's decision or yours."

"Uh, what? Were you guys just hazing my wife?"

"Not that the duchess held any ill-intent." Julius was putting his feet and drink down. "All the same, we were thoughtless to direct such a blunt line of questioning to only half of the ruling body. If there's any ire to be had, then blame me for not having this on the forefront of my mind, ready to advise the duchess against it." Julius braced himself on his knees, head bent to the royal family once more.

"No, please." Emilia's hand lifted, the motion as frail as she sounded. "You didn't do anything wrong, none of you. Crusch, you were even kind enough to wait until it was just the four of us."

Subaru had a bad feeling. "What did you ask?" What else could make Emilia lock up like she was?

Crusch, decked out in all but her trademark cap, looked a different person with worry knitting her brow. "Only the truth of our current situation. Particularly its origins."

For Subaru, that had a long, complicated, and humiliating answer.

"This isn't a question of loyalty, mind you," said Crusch. "Simply put, if we were to die for a noble cause, it would put my mind at ease if I knew the full extent of its foundations, however terrible. It's merely a matter of my mind not being kept in the dark, that is all." Crusch articulated it as a totally reasonable thing. Subaru couldn't blame her so far.

"But Crusch is Crusch," said Felix. "So, with nyothin' to do but reserve mana, I took it up upon myself to do some sleuthing on her behalf."

"Much to my chagrin," said Crusch, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, you might be fine with dyin' by the queen's command, I might be, but I'm nyot okay with you dyin' for something as absurd as this —nyot when there's so much I feel like Emilia and Subaru's keepin' from us!" Felix's glare softened in a snap as he gazed upon Emilia, who stiffened guiltily against Subaru's arm. "Sheesh, listen to me. M'sorry, Emilia. I'm sure you understand, but… m'sorry anyway."

"I do get it." She shook her head, managing a smile. "No. It's really okay. It was wrong of me to be dishonest in the first place."

"In this instance, under these circumstances, I believe it was a wise decision," said Julius. "A distorted truth is at times necessary to run a country, Your Grace. Sometimes, in war, it's what a man needs most in order to stare death in the face."

"An unfortunate, inescapable truth of our world. Particularly our weakness as individuals." Crusch opened her eyes, exposing a tiredness Subaru had never noticed until now. "I, too, am guilty of getting others drunk on such a lie, inebriated myself with such delusions of grandeur for as long as the Royal Selection had run. Perhaps even longer than that." Shaking her head, Crusch donned a smile kind enough to give her Gluttony'd version a run for her money. "So, again, you'll find no judgement or condemnation from us here. The bottom line is that we're allies united by a common enemy. There's no room for personal grudges in this relationship."

"What Crusch is too awkward to say is that… we're buddies!" Crusch gave a choking noise as Felix swiftly took her hands in his, their palms kissing. "So, c'mon, we won't leave nya, promise! Remember? We're, uh—! Um… 'd-dubbubble—'"

"'Double dates,'" said Subaru.

"Nyeah! We're double dates!" Felix giggled, his face pink remembering the night before Coronation Day.

"Y-yes, as Felix said." Crusch pulled her hands away, coughing into a fist. Like that, her own flush was pale once more. She had incredible internal control, the duchess of Karsten. "Bonds deeper than the rivalry of the Royal Selection connect us. When Felix asked the questions that he did, Emilia, I'm sure it was these exact sentiments that brought his emotions to a boil."

"You don't have to explain that to me," said Emilia. "I understand."

"'Kay, cool!" Felix clapped his hands together. "So now that we're all friends again, and Subaru's here, howsabout we finally have a real-talk, hm?" He cocked his head, his impish smile, as he asked, "So, howd'ya knyow about these Witches comin', if the most recent report from the Outrider Company dates to last week? Subaru?"

And now everything clicked. Otto, you bonehead! Put a lock on your fucking filing cabinet! Beatrice squeezed Subaru's hand, surely thinking the same thing.

"Emilia, tell us already, please ," Felix cried. "What's there to keep a secret by this point? We've been through so much together already!"

"Felix. Take a breath."

"These are our lives they're playing with!" The knight finally gasped, eyes flashing wetly as his comrade, Julius, took him by the fist.

"Calm yourself," he said. "I sincerely hope you're not of the same mind as Lady Grace."

"N-n-nyo! Of course nyot!" Felix pleaded with all his heart. "I'm nyot thinkin' of you that way, Emilia, but—!"

"I believe… " Crusch clasped the top of Felix's head hard, before proceeding to rub him between the ears, "...that my worrisome beloved has grown too accustomed to utter honesty within my presence. It dulled his senses, you see. Made him forget that, sometimes, we must lie if it's for a reason greater than our self-interests." Felix wilted his ears, red-faced and embittered.

"Felix has a point as much as Crusch does, in my opinion," said Subaru, upon which their hidden handhold became a death-grip. Emilia's gaze awaited, wide and wild with some internal battle raging. Whatever it was, clearly the heart of the matter involved Return by Death. "It's your call, Mili."

Surprise overtook her intensity. "Wh-what? Why?"

"I don't… trust myself. With this." Subaru felt his face mirroring her's; weren't they usually on the same page? "Well, what's the worry, then?"

Emilia took a breath, only to fall short of making a sound. "I'm afraid," she said, "that I can't be sure, dear husband. Will things be different after we leave this room? Will we find ourselves alone? And then there's the 'how.'" She folded her arms, nodding, before opening her eyes on Subaru. "I'm torn, and I can't move. I feel like I'm frozen and I just wanna thaw out already but I can't. "

"Okay. Okay." Felix was breathing audibly. "It's not personal, I get that, but… what's so bad thatcha can't tell us? What are we doing here , Emilia? What's really going on?"

Throughout that, Emilia's eyes didn't stop pleading to Subaru. Nails dug into his palm, the hand grasping his shivering. "I'm… hoping that this is about more than just… what you think I'll do. Again." Subaru scratched the back of his head. "N-not that I blame you or anything! Like I said, I hardly trust myself by this point—!"

He choked on his excuses as soon as hurt flashed across Emilia's face. "Oh, Subaru, no, no-no. A worry, sure, but not a true concern. Honest." And with a hand on her heart, Subaru's wife has won him over again.

He took that hand, taking care to lace Emilia's fingers between his. "Then, if it's not about this, then… then let's trust our friends." Emilia really was afraid of standing alone, herself between Subaru, Beatrice, and the Witches of Sin. "Let's trust them. We gotta. At least… at least this one time."

Emilia shut her eyes, gasping softly. Then she nodded, ultimately conceding. Scared, but knowing what had to be done. "I guess it can't be any worse than it already is, huh?" She bore a smile rife with exhaustion. Subaru felt that. And she probably wasn't referring to Felix's raised hackles alone.

"You still got me, though, Emilia." Subaru took Beatrice's hand in his other one. "You with us?"

"Yes, what do you think, Beatrice?"

She stiffened, seemingly irritated by the sudden weight of responsibility. "This particular matter goes beyond Betty's paygrade, I suppose. But she is on the side of Subaru and Emily forever." Beatrice finished with a smile.

For whatever reason, that lightened Subaru's gut. "Got it."

"'Paygrade?' You're sounding more and more like Subaru every year, Beatrice!" Emilia giggled.

"Perish the thought! Betty will have to start spending more time with books than with Subaru, I suppose."

"Sweet, more free time. Shall we work out a weekend deal, where I pick up Beako from the library every five days or so?" Subaru laughed at the tiny fist that struck him in the side. "Gotcha~"

"Subaru is an abusive contractor, I suppose. Julius, rescue Betty from this plight!"

"Ahem." Crusch lowered her fist, her amber eyes sliding open.

Felix spoke for their more polite guests: "Yer all actin' strange given the circumstances. Have ya all snapped, or what?"

"It's how the Natsuki Dynasty operates." Subaru waved a hand, crossing his legs. "Don't read into it. It's how we cope."

"Sounds to me like a cause for concern," said Julius.

"Aw, whadda you know, Juukulius?"

"I must agree with my knight." Crusch crossed her arms. "This wilful aversion to reality at the eleventh hour doesn't bode well for my previous line of questioning. In short… I'm more concerned now than ever."

"R-right." Subaru lowered his head in apology, Emilia and Beatrice mirroring him simultaneously, their faces reflecting the oncoming heaviness in his stomach.

"We apologize," Emilia added.

"Remorse is for the lost. We're concerned with the truth. That's all."

Emilia picked her head up faster than Subaru could get the words out, saying, "Subaru is cursed. I'm sorry." Julius and Felix's eyes boggled at that. "That's how we know, Miss Crusch. I'm sorry." She was rattling off apologies quicker than Subaru could process them.

"It's only 'Crusch' to you in this company, Your Grace." Her smile was weak, but meant for reassurance. "I don't need my Wind Reading to tell me that's the truth. In light of this, whatever the curse entails, it explains why a wind didn't pick up until Lady Beatrice chewed out that petulant Rosby boy."

"Emily and Subaru require unwavering cooperation, in fact. Betty determined that the best course, both for the sake of this goal as well as efficiency, I suppose."

"Nyeah, I don't blame ya." Subaru caught Felix shooting a glance at Crusch's stoic demeanor; there was probably some tell they had for when a lie was caught. There wasn't one, because Felix smiled as he continued, "Thanks for shutting that guy up. He was a royal pain the whole trip since his family's closest to ours."

"What a pitiful excuse, I suppose."

"Hey, I'm nyot excusing the guy. That's just how he is."

"Moving swiftly along," said Crusch, opening her eyes on the royal family, "just what exactly does this curse entail? Is it connected to the Witches of Sin in some way?" She sent Emilia cowering with a glance.

"More to the point, will defeating them free you, Subaru?" The hands bracing Julius's thighs had balled into fists, ready to take action at a moment's notice if asked.

"No. It's nothing so simple, I'm afraid. You see, Subaru is cursed… um, cursed t-t-to… cursed to live! Err, to never die! Is… what I mean," Emilia quickly explained. "Subaru's been cursed for as long as he's lived in Lugnica. Every time something awful has happened to us, Subaru was there, willing to save us all at the cost of himself." Her gaze and blush seemed intent on burning a hole in her lap, all the while squeezing Subaru's hand to death.

Before he could advise Emilia not to push herself, to relieve her of this duty, a deep, horrified voice cut into his heartache:

"How can that be…?" It was Crusch, utterly stupefied.

"Wait, is she for real?!" Felix turned his shock from Crusch to Subaru, Emilia, then back to Subaru, who couldn't help but mirror his wife upon seeing Julius's shared aghast. "Subaru, is that—?"

"That's why everything'd always turned out hunky-dorey for everyone, yes, that's why!" Shit. I'm causing a scene. I just wanted to get it out and over with. His own fists, wrangling poor Emilia and Betty's, trembled upon his lap. Calm down. Subaru's fingers unfurled, only for his girls to reclaim them equally fierce—refusing to leave him alone in this. "S'why we got ourselves this castle," Subaru continued, maintaining his bow. "Not because I'm some great tactician, but because… I'm… a cheat, a fraud! And I'm—!" Choking, wishing to clap a hand over his mouth but lacking the hands to do so, Subaru was forced to look Julius in the eye. "I'm sorry about Reinhardt. I'm so sorry I couldn't save him, too." He should be apologizing for essentially cheating Emilia's way to the throne. Reinhardt popped into mind instead.

Julius looked pained, but only after the second part of that apology. "Reinhardt was up against the Pride Archbishop. Your comfort from back then isn't suddenly invalid, Subaru: he was the only one who could—"

"I don't know. I don't know. I think, if I tried harder, maybe I could've—"

"Subaru—"

"Reinhardt's gone because of me, and those are the facts!" Calm down, he told himself with a breath.

'Calm down,' squeezed Emilia.

'Calm down,' squeezed Beatrice. Their faces weren't telling him to shut up, or even to calm down for the sake of saving face.

Their faces were of pity, the same that now colored Julius's expression as he said, "Reinhardt died because he was a hero."

"And… and a hero was all he could be." Those were our last words together. That, and thanks. Subaru couldn't believe he sent off Reinhardt with a smile; he had no idea the Sword Saint would be bested and victorious at the same time. "Still, if I wasn't so scared of going back for another run… maybe I could've—"

"You acted as Reinhardt would, and went beyond your call of duty. From the start, might I add. Because of his best efforts and yours, Reinhardt lives on as a hero first, and the only casualty of that tragic day second. Those , Your Grace, are the facts; the core truth of our old comrade's character. I mean no offense when I say… you had little influence over Reinhardt's final moments. And to presume otherwise is to diminish the meaning of his sacrifice. Your heart is in the right place, Subaru, but your mind on this is, understandably, not."

"Julius…" This was more, far more than whatever Subaru's heart had been bracing itself for.

"Pardon me, Juukulius." Crusch gingerly snatched Julius's wine glass and downed the rest in a single gulp. "Pardon," she gasped softly, turning the chalice between her fingers. "I don't normally partake outside of dinner parties, but…"

"But this's a doozy-and-a-half, nyo kiddin'." Felix ran his hands through his hair, shrieking for just a moment. "This's so messed up! So, even with the White Whale—?"

"Even with the White Whale."

Felix paled as if he thought he'd lost Crusch all over again—for the umpteenth time in Subaru's memory. "That's horrifying," he uttered in a frail, scared voice. "H-how many—?"

"Technically two."

Julius hissed, "Felix, for goodness' sake."

"Have some tact for once," Crusch said, as severe as she was at breakfast.

Felix withered guiltily as Subaru continued, unoffended and unbothered. "Our history together was my second encounter with it, but my first attempt trying to actually do something about it." Instead of getting Rem killed for his sorry ass several times.

With this in mind, it was weird to see admiration don everyone's features. Even Beatrice and Emilia's.

"Really, Subaru? Is that the truth?" his wife asked.

"That explains your awe-inspiring recklessness." Crusch's shoulders bounced with laughter, laughter that burst out and was quickly smothered. "Oh, pardon me, Your Grace. I was merely recalling the way my jaw slacked as you and Miss Rem charged the White Whale on your lonesome. We collectively refused to be upstaged by you in death and glory. Like we were a gaggle of insecure children rather than an organized fighting force."

"I myself am finding peace of mind, knowing your victories weren't all built on luck, but your own sweat and tears."

And blood. But Julius was conscientious like that. Subaru felt weirdly appreciative of the guy suddenly.

"Do you have any control over where you…" Felix drawled, rolling his hand, and ending with a shrug. "I guess, where you come back? After…"

"It's… a little random."

Beatrice added, "Yesterday morning, in fact. Approximately one hour after sunrise. That is the specific moment where Subaru awakens, Betty secure in his arms, ready to console him if need be."

"A-and me, too!" Emilia flushed, looking super serious. "Um, I'm right beside Subaru as well! And all our friends, too," she said, her smile turning on him. Emilia seemed comforted by this; Subaru focused on how good he had it enough to smile back, in spite of all the bad that came bundled with it.

"Good." Relief was washing over Felix's body in a wave, from his expression down his shoulders—sagging at long last, Subaru noticed. "I guess that's nyot so bad. Right, Subaru? Comin' back to that?"

Considering how bad some checkpoints were… "Yeah. I'm really happy this checkpoint's a generous one. Usually I'm not so lucky!"

"Thank you. Everyone." Emilia pledged with all sincerity, "I appreciate you not thinking ill of my husband in light of this revelation. However, it makes me happier than words can describe, hearing you all so effortlessly shower him with kindness." Her eyes flashed to his, glistening, as her smile broadened unevenly. "Oh, Subaru, I'm so happy for you. This must be such a relief."

"Y-yeah." He was still trying to wrap his head around it; this felt like a dream too good to be true. And then there was Emilia, who continued to worry and think about him. And I've been… scared of her, doubting her at every turn.

"Considering the last few years," said a lighthearted voice, "I'd say my opinion on Subaru has improved remarkably." Julius tossed his hair, a smile dashing in place. "To not only overcome all that adversity, with not only your friends' lives secured, but those of your political opponents? Reckless and overly sentimental. But above all, admirable. And very Subaru Natuski."

"Even if it was out of necessity?" Subaru was surprised Crusch hadn't gone there. Maybe she had, but was withholding judgement. "Don't let my shine blind you now, Julius."

"Intent hardly changes what the facts present. But, take care not to get too big a head, Your Grace. A polished stone is still but a rock, after all."

"You never miss an opportunity to take me down, do ya?"

Julius laughed a little too loudly. "I suppose I don't, my friend."

"Well, nyow I'm beginning to understand why I haven't seen hide nyor hair of Garfiel or Rem. Um…" Felix rubbed his arm, looking uncertain about who to direct his thoughts to. "So, if you don't mind my asking… h-how does it work? Does it hurt?"

" Felix ."

"What? I'm curious! And worried." Felix turned away from Crusch, his sympathy directed towards Subaru. "And I'm nyot gonna judge you guys for keeping this a secret until nyow, 'kay? The things we've faced… Coronation Day, the White Whale, Priestella…" Felix trailed off before shaking his head. "It'd be redundant to say I can't imagine what you've been through, Subaru. I don't think there's a soul who could."

Subaru resisted glancing at Emilia or Beatrice. "It's… a lot. And more often than not, we've ended up either dead or wishing we were. Don't forget, I've obviously failed you guys a ton as well. There's nothing I can do to make up for all that, I know. Nothing except—"

"Except to keep moving forward," said the Duchess Crusch Karsten.

I was going to say I'd keep saving you guys. But that was in the same, familiar ballpark. "Y-yeah," Subaru stammered. Emilia squeaked beside him, face twisting with agony despite this being her exact advice.

Crusch continued with folded arms and crossed legs: "Don't tarry lingering on the past, Subaru. It's already gone and behind you. And don't suffer by comparing yourself to the successes of others. Everybody's past, mine included, is rife with mistakes. Mistakes that have hurt the people we treasure most." Felix looked heavy-hearted as he leaned against his wife, who didn't reciprocate nor repel. "And what we do with mistakes, Subaru Natsuki, why, you probably have a better understanding than I believe even Juukulius here."

The Knight of Knights nodded before towards the Royal Family, regarding each of them. "You try and try again until you succeed."

"And don't give up. Yeah." Subaru felt like he could overcome any tragedy that would come tonight—a dangerous feeling he breathed in and out to wrangle under control. "There's a saying in my homeland," he said for distraction. "'Fall down seven times, stand up eight.'"

"And… our household has its own saying, too." Emilia managed a smile, one as faint as her voice. "'What matters isn't how it starts, or what happens in the middle. It's all in how it ends.'"

Mom. Subaru wanted a hug from her right now.

"Strong words to live by," said Crusch. "Just be mindful enough of the middle, to ensure you reach a desirable end."

"Emily just got done saying, 'it's all in how it ends,' and Betty feels that implies plenty of mindfulness!"

Crusch gave a laugh. "Indeed, it does. Pardon the redundancy, I let emotions overtake my common sense."

The hands each grasping Subaru's reaffirmed themselves; his were still shaking. Maybe it was all this overwhelming encouragement. Or perhaps because of it. "I'm surprised you're all taking this so well," Subaru said, what he wanted to say most then and there.

Felix shrugged without a care in the world. "We already had nyothin' but gratitude and respect for how much you guys've helped this country. The only thing that's changed is we knyow Subaru's dirty little secret," he finished teasingly.

"And it's like Duchess Karsten had said before," Julius added, "we don't have room for personal grudges in this relationship, even if we ourselves held any."

"Frankly," Crusch said with a sigh, a deep one, "and it cannot be stressed enough, how deranged this might sound, but frankly, I'm feeling emboldened now that I know this isn't a hopeless fight." She smiled at her monarchs, only for it to immediately vanish. "This won't be the end of us, not truly. We don't have to fear the mistakes we'll inevitably make tonight. So long as you internalize this, Subaru Natsuki, then even death itself will become a stepping stone to your success."

Subaru was speechless; not a single one of them was casting him doubts or condemnation. Not even a hint of it. Except, maybe… "Felix, are you okay with all this?"

"Pssht, no , of course nyot. Don't tell me you are."

"No way! Of course I'm not! I hate that it has to be this way—!" A finger poked him in the cheek. "E-Emilia?" Subaru touched where her prodding lingered.

"You're so bad at getting outside of your own head, Subaru. Honestly." Emilia nodded a smile in Felix's direction. "Does he look like he's thinking, 'this guy's a fraud, he's a monster beyond compare,' to you?"

Felix cocked his smiling head, well-aware that he was playing into it. He did look less bothered now than he did before, though. "I honestly don't know what he's thinking half the time."

"How rude! Well, you have nyothing to worry about on my end! I may not like it when Crusch puts herself in danger, but, well, danger is kinda the lifestyle we chose." The Knight of Lugnica wrapped an arm around a surprised Duchess of Karsten. "But hey, knyowin' there'll be a tomorrow's, like, every commander's ideal. In that respect, your curse is like a Divine Protection, Subaru!" Felix's glee receded suddenly, awkwardly, probably from the reaction Subaru couldn't help but make. "Um, sorry, got a little fired up there!" he sheepishly laughed. "All I'm sayin' is, I was ready and willing to do my part before. But nyow? Nyow, I'm happy to do so." He scratched the back of his head, giving another awkward titter. "Nya, what a wild day. Part of me's still expectin' to wake up!"

Subaru inhaled sharply—Felix wouldn't be as lighthearted about it if he was, let's just say, one of the friends who'd departed last night.

"Hey, what gives? I just gave the most empowering speech ever!"

Subaru glanced to either side of him; to Emilia, teeth gritting, wide eyes rife with uncertainty and guilt. Beatrice's resting face was on, bored as ever, but the quick rise and fall of her chest informed she'd been hanging on every word thus far. All three of them were thinking the same thing. Calm down, Subaru told himself. Calm down, calm down. Don't get swept up in your emotions again. Don't send them to die, afraid, when they just found their hope. There's no reason for it, no reason but your own self-satisfaction!

"It's nothing—! That… matters by this point," Subaru sighed, palming his forehead. "I'm… just… really sorry you have to go through all this for us. I really wish it didn't have to be this way." Subaru had worded it carefully so as not to trigger Crusch's lie detector.

"It is merely the hand you've been dealt, Subaru Natsuki. There's no sense taking responsibility over something far outside your control." The lack of a change in atmosphere conveyed success on that account.

"I know." Subaru bowed. Once again, in the furthest reaches of thought, Ram insisted Subaru account for his choices. The effect he's had on others—enough to make Crusch and Felix so absurdly loyal as they are now—was well-within his realm of control. He one-hundred percent didn't want another Reinhardt situation, but… Subaru was just one man who couldn't die. "I won't disappoint you." He was one man who could move forward; he could try and try again until he succeeded.

That's what Subaru decided he was going to do for them, then and there.

Crusch smiled, equal parts fond and proud. "As far as the me sitting here is concerned, you never have."

Subaru wondered about the Crusch Karsten from the first loops of the Royal Selection; the one where he was a raving madman in her eyes. The contrast between the two stood as reason enough that her faith wasn't entirely misplaced.

The door behind them crashed open with a breathless cry of, "Your Graces!" Subaru's heart shot into his throat as Beatrice redoubled her grip around his hand, Emilia and the others all but ejecting from their seats. "Your Graces," gasped the Knight of Lugnica.

Julius approached in full uniform, hand on his sword hilt. "Tell us, Jon. Bluntly."

Jon's eyes were huge with disbelief. "It's the capital," he said, pointing down the hall, "it's screaming. "

Pink and purple divided the sky, vying for dominance with an army of stars to either side and some dashes of orange clouds. It was a beautiful, romantic night, the atmosphere tainted by screams that rolled over and over on themselves like thunder.

Screams arose as quickly as they ended, always starting up again with renewed, insanity-fueled vigor: screams of pain. Screams of men. Screams of women. Screams of little children. All around the castle, in every direction, screams screamed and screaming turned to wailing, a perpetual backdrop to the horror: buildings blasted apart in the west, many leveled in three blasts of invisible force. In the east, they collapsed, as though simultaneously giving out per the block. In the north, where most of the capital spilled out before the castle, smoke columns and panic suffocated the streets. Bodies flew, flung upright, shrieking, soaring higher than the buildings before splattering below. Bodies filled the air, ten after another, dancing on the strings of some invisible god. Within the panic, coursing through the streets like the city's very lifeblood, people collapsed in quick succession, leaving bloody trails in their wake. And screaming. The crowd rushed over them in a wave, some falling, the rest uncaring of who was swallowed too. They were making for the castle, and before Emilia could snap out of it and call for the drawbridge to be lowered, the citizens—still a couple miles from safety—were yanked back in a mighty, ghostly lasso in several groups of a dozen. Many flying away from the castle smashed to a halt against jutting buildings, left as staining heaps in several alleyways. The rest faded too quickly in the smoke and mayhem to discern their fates further.

Buildings blew apart.

Bodies flew.

Screams screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed.

"I-I-I know I didn't get a chance… t-t-to see outside… But this? " No, this was different from last time. It had to be, the Witches waited patiently for an audience with Lugnica's monarchs before. But now? What was the trigger for such a violent approach?

A stupid question with an obvious answer, Subaru realized. The real ones lie in the 'how' and 'where.' What have the done these last two days? Where were they hiding?

No, that's not what mattered now: It was stupid to bet everything on the Witches only caring about me.

"Wh-wh-what's happening?" Emilia cut into Subaru's self-loathing, her eyes huge, her bottom lip quivering. "Why isn't anybody helping them?"

"They're trying to lure us out, I suppose. If we take the bait, all of our efforts will be in vain, in fact."

Emilia clasped her ears, gripping them. Blocking out the sound wouldn't stop her from hearing the screams, Subaru could tell. "Why?" she cried. "Why didn't we evacuate the capital, too?!"

"Too involved, not enough time or manpower or resources, in fact." Beatrice kept her back against the ramparts she was too short to peer over, not that she made any effort. "It was an impossible choice—"

"I know that, Beatrice! I don't wanna hear it!"

Subaru reached, ready and willing to do something for Emilia, when suddenly—"Your Graces."

Crusch was alone, armored and armed with her ridiculous ranged sword in its scabbard. "Unless this changes your priorities, our plan remains unaffected by this development." Her voice was calm as a city screamed in its final bloody moments.

Emilia shook her head, then nodded, struggling to find her voice all the while. Subaru covered for her: "No, nothing's changed, Crusch. I don't know how much time we have, we should get everyone in position ASAP. Remember, we can't give Minerva an advantage, so dispersion and retreat will be our top priorities!"

A single nod, no emotion to be had on her face. "I took a presumptuous gamble and sent Felix and Julius to do just that. My army will be ready within minutes. The Knights of Lugnica shall join them, team the ramparts, and man the inner depths of the castle equally swift, if not quicker."

The screaming dwindled before the sun could fully set, leaving the capital of Lugnica as silent as the grave. Emilia's eyes raked across the expanse of ruins and deserted districts, as if she could see anyone from up here. Knowing her, she was probably hoping to. Not that it would do her any good.

Subaru wondered how she could ignore the mountain of human bodies blocking the capital's northernmost gate, the one the castle had a clear view of. Taller than the outer wall it was slumped against. Subaru wished he had Emilia's willpower right now.

What… the absolute hell? His fingertips were raw from gripping the brick. What the hell're you doing to all these poor people, you monsters?!

An epiphany hit, cold and gutting upon wondering this: "Ammunition," was Minerva's explanation, to which Otto screamed back, "Don't you give me that NONSENSE AGAIN! …What'd you do to poor Petra?!"

Subaru hated how slow he was. "Move." He should have known Minerva could be worse. She was practically toying with them during the last loop. "Move!"

"Huh?" and "Subaru?" Emilia and Beatrice respectively flinched, snapping to him.

Subaru was backing away from the corpse mountain. "We have to move. Now ." He scooped Beatrice in one arm, throwing her against his chest while seizing Emilia by the hand. "They're gonna make us come to them whether we want to or not."

"I suspect that you are right, I suppose!" The crosses were tiny in Betty's bulging eyes—Subaru realized he'd abruptly tossed her into full-view of the horror.

He got them several meters to safety, wherever that was, when: "I… I-I have to stay on the ramparts, then, Subaru." Emilia yanked herself free upon reentering the castle, looking as possessed as she sounded. "I have to be ready. Ready for whoever finds Typhon or Minerva, first. Or even Sekhmet if need be." Knights would be with each group, ready to signal the queen with a fireball. Only she could exceed a ground dragon in terms of mobility, it had to be her. Had to be.

Subaru balanced Beatrice on his arm as he took Emilia by the cheek, kissing her with all his love and worry. "Please be safe," he cried. "Get out of there if they're giving you hell, even just a little. We'll do it together. If you feel the ramparts start to give beneath your feet, you slide yourself over to the courtyard."

"I know what I have to do, Subaru." Emilia remained looking conflicted. "Just… just make sure you and Beatrice stay safe! For me, and… you're our trump card, even more so than Julius." Emilia's face wrenched guiltily. "I'm sorry. I hope it doesn't come to that."

"It's just the way things are, Mili."

"Worry not, Emily. Betty is adept enough to keep Subaru safe, I suppose." Beatrice peeped as Emilia cupped her little face.

"Please do, I know you can," she cooed, planting a firm kiss on the spirit's reddening cheek. Emilia's composure deteriorated seconds into the gesture, her breaths breaking apart as she pulled away, gasping. "I love you both. Please, please stay alive."

"Emily…" Beatrice's fingers caressed where her first kiss from Emilia lingered.

Words couldn't describe the backflips Subaru's heart did as it soared. "We're not going anywhere without you. I promise!"

The Royal Family of Lugnica bade one another a final goodbye before attending to their duties.

It boggles the mind, just how big the capital is.

The Witches made it seem so tiny when they were wreaking havoc, so much so that Subaru had almost forgotten about what lay between the city proper and castle perimeter, a wall in of itself. A mile's length of countryside encircled the heart of the capital, run by the kingdom's upper crust who'd fled alongside the castle occupants. The land provided extra protection for an army to defend their queen and king, should the city ever be breached. However, it was a hindrance with little tactical advantage against monsters like these. The army needed to move before the Witches did; hopefully they were dumb enough to start razing the empty castle. That would give them time, hopefully.

Hopes, hopes, and more hopes. They were all Subaru ever had, his gambles often betting on the lives of his friends.

"Don't waver, Subaru." Beatrice kept her gaze firm on the corridors opening before them, the bends jerking this way and that to the sound of Subaru's panting and equally frantic gallop. "Just keep ahold of Betty, and we'll make the Witches of Sin regret their trespasses, I suppose."

"Yeah." Subaru couldn't force himself to sound confident now, but Beatrice didn't scoff or sneer. While maintaining focus on the path ahead, her arm reached and looped around Subaru's neck, the sleeve soft and warm against his skin like a scarf. "Thanks for that. Beako."

"This is nothing, I suppose."

They found themselves in a courtyard in what felt like an instant, a stony expanse connected to the garage with several entrances along the wall. Their paths circulated the capital's inner grasslands like veins. White coats and armor plating jogged through the drawn gates in a somewhat organized mess, the sons and daughters who'd reluctantly come manning the walls, or guided their soldiers by each gate, barking this and that. The Knights' spellswords must have already left and were lying in wait, ready to grant cover once the fighting started. Good. This wasn't hopeless—awful, but not without reason to fight.

"King Subaru, Your Grace!" Duchess Karsten tore across the cobblestone, astride a ground dragon with her heels in its belly. "Lady Beatrice," she exhaled, jerking the mount aside, pulling up beside them. "The retreat squads are entering position as we speak. Juukulius is among them."

"Good to hear. What about Felix?"

"Gathering the Knights within, spreading a message to join us out here. My apologies," she said, bowing a second. "It's not my desire to wrestle command from under you. But… there's a pile of bodies they've gathered that worries me. I realized quickly that those able-bodied men and women inside the castle are as good as a sword in its hilt, so I made a judgement call before this could get any worse."

That went for the mabeasts, too. "Shit! You're right, that was a good call. Mili and I aren't the best in these kinds of situations, so we appreciate it. I mean that."

Crusch turned her ride back for the dispersing soldiers. "You'd best improve quickly, then, Subaru Natsuki, or the enemy will catch you unawares in the next life!" she called in her dragon's wake. "Don't let our sacrifices be for naught!" Crusch rode up the closest wooden stairwell against the wall, ascending the castle perimeter and riding it. Her gaze was on the columns dispersing into smaller groups, surely. Or perhaps the bloodshed that had gripped her country's long-standing capital.

"This's crazy, right?" Subaru said breathlessly.

"You can drop the tough-guy act now. It is only your Beako here, in fact."

He leveled a serious look at the spirit in his arms. "You're so fresh sometimes."

"What, I suppose?" Beatrice whined.

"I'm tryna get you to stop shaking like a leaf, ya goof! So quit looking for the strings and just fall for the magic trick. For me?" Subaru fluttered his eyelashes, to Beatrice's exaggerated disgust.

"This is it, Subaru has snapped, I suppose."

"Up! Up! Is that—? There's a smile! I see one, I do!"

"Because you're just so ridiculous, in fact!" Beatrice turned her bashful grin on the river of armor plate trickling out the courtyard in several channels. The faces among them were a spectrum of emotion, but all stood undoubtedly united under the discipline and strength of Crusch's leadership.

"Wait." Beatrice's smile was gone. In place of her neutral, bored disposition… looming terror that stuffed Subaru to the brim with chills. "Wait, what are they doing?"

"Huh? What? What're you seeing?" Subaru followed her gaze in a zip, pouring his focus past the northern gate's sea of bobbing helmets, into the purpling, dark sky "Oh… oh, my God."

Without Beatrice, Subaru would have missed the two shadows suspended high above the capital, gowned forms denoting their identities instantly. Equally as quick, as soon as Subaru spotted them, one of the shadows split into two pieces; those two chunks became four, then eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four… on and on, until it was one shape shrouded in fog.

A fog of tattered flesh that soared across the twilight, careening towards the castle.

"B-Beako—"

"Disperse."

"—wh-what do we do?"

"Disperse, I suppose! SCATTER, YOU FOOLS!"

At the same time, upon the wall, Crusch whipped around, horror writ on her face—arriving at the same conclusion. "EVERYONE—!"

Like soft hail, scraps of Carmilla slapped and splattered upon their heads, upon the stone. Immediately the stomach-churning sound was joined by a choir of choking gasps, nails on breastplate, bodies hitting stones in metallic heaps, one after another after anoth—an—another—after another and another and another. Screams rose once again, throughout the chaos, churning all around Subaru as he shielded Beatrice with his body, making for the castle. Several guys were quicker than him, or quicker to react, vanishing inside the castle. If Beatrice died, it would all be Subaru's fault, so he ran, too.

The capital exploded at their backs, and the world itself seemed to quiver with terror. As soon as it began to tremble, a stone dropped where Subaru's foot was about to land. Painted white, like the castle.

Above their heads, his home and Emilia's and Beako's—its turrets and towers and ramparts—fractured, crumbled, and collapsed like a sandcastle in the sun. From top to bottom, it simply fell apart.

How the HELL?! Stones fell, the world shook, people screamed or choked or were crushed all around. Outrage and vengeance beat out self-preservation enough for Subaru to face the oncoming flood of panicked peasants, all weaponless and covering their heads from another downpour of Carmilla and her heart-stopping Authority.

The "how" awaited, bright and blazing like a declaration of war: a heart-shaped ring that then dissipated in the starry, clear evening sky. Below it, the corpse mountain—no, the wounded—now flew screaming, scattering shapes across the capital's northern district and its countryside. Bugs splattering on a windshield, splattering on rooftops and stony streets.

Lugnica Castle was being razed to the ground, because Minerva used all the mana in its foundations to heal hundreds in a second.

"I Will Continue to Show You Favor Until the End"