Note: Consider this an addendum to the first chapter. I just made this to have something to put out on my boy, Subaru's, birthday.
The Real Gift
Beatrice was sitting down in Subaru's room, her eyebrows furrowed, and legs crossed.
More specifically, she was seated at the edge of the young man's bed, staring outside the open window out into the clear morning sky.
Despite the beautiful view in front of her, there was one thing that was still souring her mood, extremely so. No, two things actually – the first of which was the note which she had read, which was currently left sitting on the one and only table within the room.
It had been there immediately after she woke up, so the spirit assumed that the entire thing had been composed far before then.
'Hey, Beako. I'm gonna be out for a while, so you just hang tight, alright? I'll be back in a jiffy to get ya! Oh, and...I know this is a lot to ask, but could you not tell anyone off about yesterday? I, uh...even with everything, I don't wanna burden everyone by making it a big deal.
Thanks in advance!
-Your contractor, Emilia's Knight, Natsuki Subaru!'
"Betty's contractor can be so frustrating sometimes, I suppose!" Never one to be shy about her emotions, Beatrice allowed herself at least a short shout of frustration over the note's contents.
She already knew he would probably make an unreasonable request like letting everyone simply forget the mistake they had made – but just because she expected it, it didn't make her any less angry. It would have been one thing if they were complete strangers, but these people were ones that called themselves her contractor's 'friends', and they utterly forgot his birthday.
Today, she had already planned to explode her frustrations at practically every one of them on his behalf...but now, that was ruined. All at the hands of the boy who she felt deserved a proper apology or hint of regret from them the most.
'You're nice...much too nice...frustratingly nice, I suppose...and was the part about being the half-elf's knight truly necessary at the end of that note?!'
The spirit's internal scream was followed by a sharp shaking of her head. For now, she would have to give up a small bit of her ambition, just for the sake of her contractor's wishes.
Still, she felt that if she heard something that particularly annoyed her, she probably wouldn't be able to hold back so well. That much couldn't be blamed on her, when the ones who should be asking for forgiveness would be the other inhabitants of the mansion, not Beatrice herself.
And the second thing was...an even worse offense than the first, if such a thing were even possible.
Despite her being in her contractor's room, waking up in the room that she and her contractor shared, in the bed the she and her contractor shared...there was a remarkable lack of her scary-eyed, dark-haired contractor.
She had been waiting for what felt like almost an hour now, and her distinct Subaru deficiency was really beginning to get to her.
"Aaaaah!" Beatrice let out a frustrated yell, kicking her feet into the air. The girl took the moment to pout, before hopping up off of the bed. "And after Betty allowed him such a wonderful birthday party...Betty at least thought she deserved a single morning with him! Did he consider himself too much of a 'big shot' to spend some time with Betty, I suppose?" The spirit grumbled, cutely stomping her way towards the door.
She wondered for a moment if he would ever return to the room as his note indicated, the thought occurring to her that he may have just left to get a shower, or to get breakfast, but considering that she had waited for over an hour now, it was clear that no matter how long she waited, he wouldn't just walk back into the room, despite what his note said.
"I swear, where could Betty's silly contractor have wandered off to, now?" She pushed the door aside with a small huff of effort, taking a short moment to close it behind her. Now outside the room, she turned her sky-blue eyes to stare down the hall, looking from left to right as if to make sure that her contractor wouldn't just appear in her vision.
Almost comically, it entirely slipped Beatrice's mind that she could easily just locate him through the bond formed between the two by their contract – so, after noting that her contractor wasn't anywhere nearby, Beatrice began her search through the Miload mansion to find out just where Subaru could possibly be.
Of course, the first place the blonde-haired spirit checked was the kitchen, where she found Ram, putting up food that was presumably from the breakfast the rest of the manor already had (besides her, considering the only times she chose to eat was when it was a part of spending time with Subaru).
"Pink-haired maid. Have you seen Betty's contractor?" Without realizing it, her words had come out a little more annoyed than she meant them to. She hadn't just forgotten about yesterday, after all…
Ram paused her movements, looking to the spirit with her usual indifferent expression.
"Barusu, huh…? My deepest apologies, Beatrice-sama. Ram doesn't keep much track of where that hopeless man is, or what he is doing. At the very least, I do believe that I saw him scurrying around the mansion somewhere today. The most he gave me was a short good morning. Not that I expected refined manners from Barusu." With that answer, the maid went back to working, while Beatrice mulled over her incredibly rude response.
Her response was as blunt as ever, but it made Beatrice almost bust a gasket. She hated how curt the maid was when it came to Subaru – no matter how many times her contractor reassured her that it was just Ram's way of showing her care, it didn't mean she couldn't absolutely loathe the woman's mannerisms.
Of course, she wasn't free of sin, either. But at least her teasing of her contractor didn't sound like outright, venomous insults. Not to mention...she hadn't uttered a single word about the grave sin that she had committed yesterday.
'Refined manners? Rich, coming from one who can't even remember the birthday of Betty's contractor, after all he's done for you.' It disgusted Beatrice to know that this pink-haired maid would probably gladly remember that insufferable jester's birthday, but not Subaru's...reluctantly, she let go of it.
"Is that all, Beatrice-sama?" Ram, now finished with her tasks, turned her gaze back to the blonde. She seemed to be somewhat concerned, noticing the long time the Great Spirit had spent just standing there, seemingly absorbed in her thoughts. For a moment, she even imagined that she had felt some sort of hostility emanating from Beatrice...which she assumed to be her imagination.
Beatrice gave a dismissive wave, turning away from the suspicious maid.
"Yes, that is all. Is there anything else Betty should know?"
The pink-haired Oni hummed, giving a short bow of her head in reply. Before allowing Beatrice's departure, however, she added one more piece of information. "...Yes, Roswaal-sama is entertaining a very important guest today, please keep that in mind."
"Yes, yes. If that is all, then Betty will be leaving, I suppose." Beatrice barely grumbled back a response, already tired of being in the maid's presence.
Even at the end, Beatrice had been holding out hope that Ram would acknowledge her mistake – it seemed that was a little too much to expect.
With a disappointed sigh, Beatrice would walk away from the woman, deciding to head out to her next destination. Ram hummed again, her eyebrows ever-so-slightly raised as she watched the blonde loli depart.
As Beatrice walked down the hall, she thought of what other people within the mansion she could speak to. Annerose and Clind were out of the question – Annerose's relationship with Subaru, in some ways, was probably worse than Ram. Not really because they particularly disliked each other, but mostly because they lacked almost any interaction at all. They were more like acquaintances.
And as for Clind...Beatrice never quite liked the aura that man gave off. She found him a little off, almost like Roswaal. The true reason was that he only ever spent time around Subaru when they were practicing his skills with the whip, however.
"The blonde-haired brat is likely out training, so Betty doubts she will get much from him...then that leaves the young girl, Frederica, the half-elf, that pitiful ex-merchant, and…" Her lips curled downwards into a frown radiating disgust. "...Roswaal."
Beatrice scratched that name off of her list the moment it came into her mind. Not really because of any true logical reason, but just because the idea of having a long, extended conversation with that man by herself made almost every cell in her body scream out in disgust and exasperation. She had ended any semblance of a connection with him when they both had that last look at her Mother's body in Sanctuary, and she preferred to keep it that way.
Sighing, the girl huffed and continued stomping her way through the hallway with puffed cheeks. "Even when you're not here, you give Betty too much work, I suppose!"
Beatrice had become so absorbed in her anger, that she hadn't even noticed two pairs of eyes staring at her from back in the kitchen, one red, and one dark brown.
"...Was that fine, Barusu? Beatrice-sama seemed as if she was searching for you particularly desperately. It wouldn't do to keep her waiting, not that I have much faith in your ability to read the mood of others."
"As harsh as ever, aren't you, big sis? You don't need to worry so much about it, I've got a good, proper reason for running Beako around in circles like this. I'll just count my lucky stars that she didn't use her magical contract location-finding thing." Subaru's recognizable voice added into the mix, the boy letting out a relieved sigh.
"Ram counts her unlucky stars for having to deal with your usual foolishness so early in the morning." The pink-haired maid responded with clear exasperation, an exasperation which Subaru could only chuckle to.
He had asked the pink-haired maid to hide him in the room, for, well...to put it simply...a surprise. A surprise that he had only begun planning this morning.
After everything that Beatrice had gone through to lift his soured mood yesterday, he couldn't just leave her with nothing but his verbal thanks. There was a lot of stuff he could do in the mansion – maybe sew her something, cook her some food, make her some sort of dessert, just spend a day outside with her...but he didn't feel like any of that was special enough.
For as much effort as Beatrice put in for him – getting him presents, working hard to bake him a cake on her own, there was no way he could just half-ass it.
So when he'd woken up extra-early today, he decided almost instantly what he wanted to do for her. First, he'd asked Roswaal for an advance in his paycheck, and then he'd gone around the mansion, asking everyone to keep his movements a secret from the little spirit.
The plan was simple.
He and Beatrice would spend a night in the capital, where Subaru would take her to a little festival that they were having. There was also some sort of play that they were showing, that he figured she might like, too.
And of course, just like she'd surprised him, he wanted it to be a complete surprise for her! He, at the very least, needed to keep things a secret until the afternoon, when they would depart (it had to be early, to make sure that they would actually arrive there in the same day).
The trip to the capital from here was basically half a day anyways, so for him and Beatrice to have a night of hanging out on the town, the timing needed to be just right!
"Still, was that really all you came here to ask Ram to do? Neither of you hide your emotions especially well, it was all-too-easy for Ram to tell that the two of you are hiding something. Especially not you, Barusu." The maid questioned, her unusually perceptive nature coming to the surface once more.
At her words, Subaru gave a bitter smile, one that didn't even come close to reaching his eyes. Ram's gaze lost a bit of its' sharpness, seeing such a suddenly forlorn, hurt expression appear on the young man's face.
'Why does he suddenly seem so...sad?' The maid was aware of her words, but she never saw Subaru as the soft type to be easily hurt by them – at least, that was how he usually acted.
It was only natural that the maid would be confused, of course. After all, Subaru had decided to keep those feelings that had stirred up in him yesterday – every single bit of it under wraps.
Nobody in the mansion besides him and Beatrice were aware that his birthday had been yesterday, and that everyone had completely forgotten it.
"Don't worry about it, big sis. Just make sure to keep up with your part of the deal, alright?"
With surprisingly distant words, Subaru departed from the kitchen, making his way in the opposite direction from Beatrice. Ram watched the young man go, feeling something tug at her heart in her chest. For some reason, something about the interactions she'd had with him and Beatrice didn't sit right. As if there was now some wall between the both of them that hadn't existed before.
"...Right."
But all the maid could do was watch him leave, just as she had watched Beatrice leave.
The rest of the day was pretty much a huge cat-and-mouse game between Subaru and Beatrice. Beatrice would keep moving around the mansion, looking for her contractor, and said contractor would keep moving around the mansion, avoiding Beatrice the best she could.
With each interaction Beatrice had with the inhabitants, she only grew more and more suspicious.
First was Petra, who was cleaning up a room that Frederica had assigned her to work in. The brown-haired maid didn't spill the beans…although Beatrice found her incredibly nervous, almost guilty response extremely suspicious.
"S-Subaru? No, I haven't seen him anywhere around here! Nu-uh!" She answered, shaking her head quickly.
Then there was Frederica, who gave a similar response, albeit, seeming quite more composed than her junior.
"Subaru-sama? I believe not, I haven't seen him since the beginning of the day. I had assumed he was with you, Beatrice-sama...was he not?"
Of course, if they hadn't seen him, then it was pretty pointless asking Otto, who was ever-immersed in the swamp of work that he seemed to be constantly buried under in his office. After all, the maids would always visit the man's office to freshen it up.
And when she had asked the short-tempered demihuman, Garfiel, after he'd come back from his training, he seemed the most genuinely clueless out of everyone.
"Cap'n? Nah, I ain't seen him, I been out fer early mornin' trainin' since before th' sun came up! Hehe!"
"...What a useless muscle brain, I suppose." Beatrice turned away, letting out an annoyed sigh. One could almost see the steam rising off of Garfiel's head at her deadpan reaction, the young boy raising both fists in outrage.
"Hey, what th' heck's that supposed to mean?!"
With that, she had become sure – the people in the mansion were involved in some sort of unsaid agreement to not speak about Subaru's whereabouts. Even asking the other miscellaneous beasthuman maids didn't produce any results, which she found only more odd.
Even Emilia, who seemed to at least interact with Subaru once a day had absolutely no idea where the young man was.
"Subaru…? I don't think I remember seeing him since me and Otto-san went out to that reeeeeally important meeting. I feel like there's something even more important I was supposed to tell him, though…"
"Right...such an important meeting." She was practically seething as she left the half-elf's room.
Beatrice had to leave her questioning with Emilia much earlier than the others. The fact that the half-elf could clearly remember dealing with useless political drivel, but not with the boy who she'd come to recognize as her official knight angered her to no end.
She was sure if she pushed a little bit, she could find out where Subaru was...but every time that thought came to her mind, she remembered the request he'd made through his note.
She wanted to know where Subaru was, but she also didn't want to disappoint her contractor by causing a scene when he explicitly asked her to. Everyone else had hurt him enough already – she didn't want to become a part of that group by betraying his trust.
With a dejected sigh, Beatrice had now sat herself down outside the mansion's steps, staring up at the midday sky. It was bright, but it didn't really hurt her eyes.
"Did Betty do something wrong, perhaps? Was Subaru not satisfied with the meager celebration she offered him…?"
The Great Spirit just couldn't help but feel that her contractor was intentionally avoiding her for some reason. Of course, she had long realized that she could use their contract to locate him now, but after realizing that he was likely hiding from her of his own volition, she didn't have the bravery to just...confront him.
She let out a large sigh, burying her head in her lap, ignoring the heat of the sun that was licking away at her small body. The girl hadn't even been able to hear the sound of someone plopping down next to her.
"...Why do you look so down?"
A voice spoke up, originating from somewhere to her right. Beatrice felt like it was familiar, but she also couldn't recognize it at the same time. She looked besides her, only to see a man wearing some sort of cloak. For some reason she couldn't discern his identity at all...but she figured that he was probably the guest that Ram had briefly mentioned. Although, the cloak he was wearing seemed somewhat familiar, Beatrice couldn't exactly put a pin on it at the moment.
It felt like some sort of magic spell to conceal his identity, and considering how proficient she was in magic, she could probably easily see past it if she wished...but she didn't care much for such things at the moment, not with the incredibly sour mood that she was in.
"Why should Betty have to share that sort of information with you? You're nothing but a stranger, I suppose." Beatrice shrugged off the strange person's words, having no desire to engage in conversation with some person she didn't even know.
"Now, now, hear me out. If I had to guess...you're that 'Beatrice' spirit that the Lord of the mansion mentioned, right? He mentioned that you'd probably be out here, looking for someone." The stranger explained, chuckling at how they had been shrugged off. Beatrice had tuned out all of his other words, but his final words made her eyes practically sparkle.
"That clown did?! So, Betty's contractor is around here somewhere, after all?!" Beatrice asked excitedly. However, she realized that she was showing such behavior to a stranger almost immediately and tried her best to reign in her silence, clearing her throat and looking away. The stranger just gave an amused chuckle to her words.
"I'm guessin' so. I was told that we're s'posed to be traveling partners, and that you'd meet him somewhere on the way." With a grunt, the hooded man got to his feet, brushing the dust off of his legs. "Apparently, we'll find the kid you're looking for. He's gone on ahead of us."
Beatrice's butterfly irises appraised the man, regarding him with suspicion in a not-so-subtle way. Obviously, it was strange how this man who she didn't know, who had apparently just finished a meeting with an important Lord, was now taking a trip with her to find her mysteriously disappearing contractor.
However, Beatrice didn't really have much issues engaging in a whim like this. She doubted that this man could really do anything to her – she had some of Subaru's mana in store, so one or two Minya crystals would be enough to blast a weakling like this very easily. It was easy to see by watching him – his level of strength was near her contractor's. And as for magic, she couldn't sense any innate sense for magic from him, either...she wondered if this person even had a functioning gate.
He was remarkably similar to her contractor…
"Hmm...very well. Betty does not hesitate to let you know that the moment you try anything suspicious, she can easily cut your life short, I suppose.."
"Haha, right, right. Heard you were pretty ill-tempered, already!"
"Urgh…I've only just met you, but you're quite the infuriating man."
Even the way he just brushed off her words as a Great Spirit was remarkably similar to her contractor, as well…
With this agreement between the two of them, Beatrice and the stranger made their way to the gate of the estate, jumping into the back of a prepared dragon-drawn cart. Inside, Beatrice found another note in the back, one which had her contractor's exact handwriting.
'Hey, Beako! Sorry that I gotta leave you another note like this – nothing makes me happier than seeing my cute Beako in person – but, well, I had to head out on a bit of a surprising errand. Looks like Ros-chi wanted me to do something in the capital, so I headed on my way there first. I made sure to set up a way for you to come along too if you wanted, though! Stay safe if you decide to come, alright?'
The spirit hummed upon reading the note, trying her best to keep a blush of embarrassment from showing on her face. She would still never get used to how forthright Subaru was with expressing his care and praise for her, even if she enjoyed every second of it.
Still, it put her senses at ease, a little bit. The way the writing was framed, the handwriting, and the nicknames he used were all things that only Subaru would use. Not to mention, the fact that he mentioned the previous note, when Beatrice was completely sure that nobody had been in that room besides her and Subaru, was authenticity enough.
So, she settled down in the cart, her relaxing in the back, while the stranger – who seemed pretty comfortable dealing with handling earth dragons – handled steering the cart up front.
As the hours passed by, Beatrice thought of how she had spent her day, talking to the residents of the mansion...and how none of them had even brought up the fact that they had completely forgotten her contractor's birthday. Not even those closest to him: (besides her rightful spot, of course), Emilia, Otto, and Garfiel seemed to have a single clue of missing anything.
The Great Spirit just found it all too cruel.
"...Something still weighing on your mind, miss?" The man in front asked, seemingly deciding to engage in some idle conversation with the spirit, though also trying to not sound too intrusive.
Beatrice had half a mind to dismiss the man's annoying attempt at starting up conversation, but she soon remembered that it was an old, nasty habit of hers. She remembered her contractor's words, about trying to be more open with people, and trying to make some more friends…this guy was a stranger to her, but the fact that she probably wasn't going to see him again meant that whatever she said was probably going into an open void, anyway.
...And the fact that he sort of reminded her of Subaru was comfort enough.
With a sigh, the blonde spirit began to speak.
"Are you aware of what a 'birthday' is?"
The man took a pause, as if mulling over her words, before replying to her. "You mean that thing where people celebrate the day they were born? Big party and everything? Heard it only happens in certain places 'round the continent."
Beatrice hummed, surprised at the man's knowledge. "Right...recently, Betty's contractor had his birthday come up. Of course, you would naturally consider such a day important to celebrate, I suppose. However...the people around him seemed to almost entirely forget it. They even made plans to do other things on that day!"
The spirit's fists were closed tightly, her eyes looking off to the side.
There was a moment of silence, before the stranger eventually replied to her words. "I...I, uh...I see. That is mighty unfortunate...but maybe they were busy? Didn't have time to fully plan out something?"
At the mention of this as a possible excuse for their actions, Beatrice merely scoffed, looking out the back of the caravan. "That's one thing...but they weren't just busy. They haven't even acknowledged that they forgot it, in fact. Even today, not a single one of them seemed to explicitly realize it...despite already celebrating some birthdays of their own."
The man in the front was silent for an even longer length of time, before letting out a sigh and replying once more. "Guess you really can't excuse it, in that case...and this guy...he's that important to them? If they can't even remember his birthday, don't you think that says a lot for how they see him?"
This time, it was Beatrice who was quiet for a while, her eyes closing as she spoke her next words.
"Not necessarily. Betty knows for a fact that despite this foolish mistake, most of them care deeply for her contractor...however, even if they might have not regarded it as important, Betty's contractor was looking forward to it. He's had things quite difficult as of late, and she's been able to tell just how horrible he's felt on the inside...do you think you could forget a friend's birthday knowing they are in that state? It may just be one mistake, but how hurt Betty's contractor looked from just that one error..it was nearly irreversible damage, I suppose."
The man gave a bitter chuckle at her words, as if they resonated with him in a way that he both did not appreciate, but found ironically comedic at the same time.
"...You know...that contractor of yours must really appreciate the care you have for him. I can imagine that it'd be easy for any person to crumble under that sort of pressure, especially when it might seem like nobody even values 'em...yeah...that would really be bad, huh?"
"That's why Betty was so incredibly angered at his impertinence to tell her not to even attempt pursuing retribution on his behalf! He is much too forgiving, and he keeps so much of his pain bottled in...truly a foolish contractor, I suppose. But no matter what happens, no matter who forgets about him, or who doesn't, Betty will always be there for him. He was there for Betty when nobody else was, after all."
A small, yet bright smile showed on the face of the little spirit.
In the short time they had spent together, Natsuki Subaru had completely changed her life. He'd spent more time with her than anyone had in the last 400 years, and it actually felt like it meant something to her, for once.
Subaru meant more to her than anything else could. And seeing him ignored so brutally, even if it wasn't malicious in nature, it wounded her and angered her in equal parts more than anything else. Knowing how hard he worked, knowing the nightmares he'd frequently have, seeing the way he'd cut into his own skin with his fingernails…
And most importantly of all…
"Betty knows what it feels like to feel like you're worth nothing. She will never let the man who brought her from that place feel that way, I suppose."
Her words were nothing but truthful. No matter the time, no matter the situation, Beatrice would never allow Subaru to fully sink into the pit of despair she had once found herself in – not while she was around and well.
There was a moment of silence, much longer than anything the two had between them before. Beatrice turned her gaze to the side, wondering why the man seemed to dip into a complete lack of response all of a sudden.
"...Is something wrong? I didn't expect you to be so quiet, all of a sudden. Perhaps something in this story resonates with you…?" A small smile came to the spirit's face.
"A-Ah, no, well, I mean, uh…"
"Relax. Putting some effort to it, Betty could tell right away just who you really were, 'important guest'. Attempting to surprise and deceive Betty using such an enchantment...only a fool would attempt such a thing, I suppose. A fool who has been incessantly avoiding Betty all day."
"Gah…" Subaru groaned from the front, rubbing the back of the hood of his cloak. He couldn't believe that Beatrice had figured out his plot so easily, but in hindsight, he should have expected it from someone specialized in magic, like her. "I'm...well...I'm sorry, B-"
"Betty can forgive you this one time, I suppose...as long as Betty can receive whatever she wishes." She interrupted, and with a yawn, began to allow herself to drift off. "Just make sure to properly wake Betty when we arrive. Though Betty will be surprised if her contractor doesn't fall asleep at the wheel, himself."
"Heeeey, I can focus just fine! Ain't that right, Patrasche?!"
Subaru's indignant cries was met by complete silence from his still-running ground dragon. Fake tears ran down his face.
"Betrayal, betrayal all around me…"
Funny enough, however, Subaru didn't really need to fake his tears...after all, despite trying to hide it the best he could, Beatrice's words...they had already brought a veritable fountain of water to run down his cheeks.
'Guess Beako realized it…' He chuckled, figuring that was why she had probably made herself go to sleep. Beatrice usually sucked at reading the mood more than others, but when it came to him, she was always strangely in tune with her emotionally sensitive side...thinking back to her words, it was easy for him to understand why.
The contract between them wasn't one sided.
That day, Subaru had asked Beatrice to save him, but he had, in the end, felt like he was the one saving her from that dark, hopeless destruction of any future she could've had that was awaiting her in that burning library.
But even now, she was the one saving him from herself. No...maybe it was better to say that they were saving each other from themselves.
Subaru first chuckled...then began to laugh...and he just couldn't stop laughing, as more and more tears ran down his face. He couldn't properly control the reins, but thankfully, Patrasche was smart enough to keep on the road, herself.
"Dang it, Beako...you really are the best, huh? Might as well just call this another birthday present...one I don't even feel like I deserve."
A short sob escaped his lips, Subaru's eyes shutting closed tightly.
"Forget everything else...you're the real gift here, Beako..."
Beatrice allowed herself a small smile, hearing the words of her contractor as her mind lulled itself into the land of sleep. Just because his birthday was over, didn't mean that Beatrice couldn't continue to grant her contractor some gifts every now and then.
And more than anything, she would endeavor to be the one gift of his that would just keep giving. Up until the end, Beatrice would keep her promise – she would forever be by Subaru's side.
'Again...happy birthday...Betty's silly contractor…'
Back at the mansion, a meeting had been called. A gathering of six, all located entirely within Otto's office.
Petra, Frederica, Ram, Garfiel, Emilia...and Otto himself, who was still at his desk, working on paperwork. He peeked up over from the stack of papers for only a moment.
"Why do you all insist on doing this inside of my office…?"
And of course, he was promptly ignored.
"So, what is the purpose of this meeting?" Frederica questioned, looking among the others that were currently present.
Emilia looked around at everyone, before lightly slamming her hands down on the table. "Subaru! I've felt like I've been missing out on something for the past two days, involving Subaru! And talking with Beatrice reeeeeeally confirmed my weird feeling! I mean, didn't anyone else feel the same way?"
Garfiel hummed, rubbing the back of his head. "Somethin' different? Not anythin' that I can 'member. All I been doin' s' trainin' fer th' past two days."
"Hey, don't just ignore me-!" Otto protested, as the conversation yet again continued on without him.
"Now that you mention it...I did feel as if something was off with Beatrice-sama and Barusu. Though it is more of a rare occasion when something odd isn't happening around Barusu." Ram murmured, bringing a hand to her chin.
"Beatrice-sama did feel a little cold today...just when I thought we were getting along, too…" Petra sighed, her shoulders lowering dejectedly. Frederica gave her junior maid a sympathetic smile, gently patting her head.
"That, that!" Emilia pointed out. "Beatrice felt reeeeeeeally off today. It felt like she was suuuuuuper angry at me for something. And Subaru looked reeeeeally sad, too…" The half-elf was at a loss, unsure of what these meant.
"Exactly what could that mean? We may be sure that Subaru-sama and Beatrice-sama are hiding something, but I doubt we would have forgotten anything important that we could actually remember with a simple meeting." Frederica shook her head, giving a light shrug.
"Of course, I know that, but...I just can't shake the weird feeling that it's not something that we don't know, it's just something that we're forgetting…" The silver-haired girl answered, slowly turning her eyes to the white-haired ex-merchant.
There was a moment of silence, as the rest of the group wordlessly turned their gaze to the newly minted Head of Internal Affairs.
"...It hurts to know that I'm only being acknowledged now that I'm useful to the conversation…" Otto bemoaned, shoulders slumping down at his sides.
"Oh, c'mon, Otto-bro, f'there's gonna be anyone rememberin' things, it's you! You got all those brains up there!" Garfiel tapped a finger to his head, leaving Ram to snicker and look away.
"Brains that you truly seem to lack, Garf."
"O-Oi, Ram!"
"An important date, then…?" Ignoring his friend's outraged outcry, Otto began to dig deep in his memory, trying to think of any single reason why either today or the day before would have been particularly special…if it was tied to the dates, then it was something that everyone there must have been capable of knowing and remembering.
And almost like a harsh typhoon, the truth slammed Otto with a devastating realization. The young man's eyes opened wide, as a haunting look came over his face, his sharp, bright blue eyes dulling with guilt and horror. His gaze lowered to the desk, as if he was trying to hide his eyes.
"W-what? What's wrong, Otto-san?" Petra asked, frightened by the look that the ex-merchant had taken on. No, mostly everyone at the table was disturbed by the look that appeared on his face.
"Natsuki-san…"
He spoke in a trembling voice, slowly bringing his gaze back up to meet the gazes of the group.
"We completely forgot...Natsuki-san's important, meaningful, birthday."
Everyone immediately understood, a look of horror slowly eclipsing onto all of their faces.
They had made a horrible mistake.
Destiny's Author Corner!
Hey, just a short update here for Subaru's actual birthday. Hope you all enjoyed. Might make this a yearly thing, updating only every time April 1st comes around. If I'm even still writing at all by then, huh? Haha!
Destiny out!