Nothing eventful happened when the trio came to Reinhard's manor. Felt ended up taking a nap since she hasn't had much proper rest from getting her mana sapped. Reinhard stayed nearby Felt's room like some kind of guard dog. Finally, Subaru went out to finally explore this place like he wanted to when he first got here.

Like a child being brought to an amusement park, he was rushing around, eagerly scanning through every room he'd come across as if expecting to find some kind of secret passage. After Subaru's search, he had come to the conclusion that there was hardly anything noteworthy here except for the huge bathroom that was comparable to a private bath house. For such a sizable place, he'd assume there were more people inside but no, it was devoid of all life except for himself, Reinhard, and Felt.

Sure, it was all fancy, spacious, and really well kept but it was just missing something. There just didn't seem like anything to do here, not anything Subaru would like to do at least. He can't read so the library was out of the question. He has no fighting experience and he wasn't too keen on using Reinhard as a sparring partner for the training equipment he came across. And he couldn't really clean or tidy up anything as all of that seemed to be already done, Subaru didn't expect Reinhard to be this much of a neat freak.

Finally accepting there wasn't anything to do here after a few hours, he met back up to where he last left Reinhard and Felt. Once Subaru had arrived, he found Reinhard in Felt's room and the two were chatting with each other though Felt was sitting on the bed with her arms crossed and was looking very annoyed.

Before Subaru could properly greet the pair, Felt instantly took note of him and smiled, looking a lot happier than she had been a few seconds ago. "Perfect timing! I need your help with something." The golden haired girl called out.

"Oh, sure. What is it?" Subaru walked inside the room. There weren't any seats available so he stood by the door.

"You remember how I said I'd step down from that election, right?"

Subaru nodded. "Yep, you made that very clear this morning."

"I did! So could you tell this idiot that learning how to be a 'proper lady' is just a waste of time? I'm going back to the slums after this shitstorm anyways so learning how to act like a candidate would be a huge waste of time!" Felt ranted.

"Miss Felt, the first thing you'll have to watch out for is your wording. A lady shouldn't be swearing so much." Reinhard lectured, already taking the job of ladifying Felt seriously. Well, trying at least.

"Well I'm sorry for still being pissed off about your little kidnapping scheme!"

"I assure you, that was all a pure coincidence, no scheming was involved. Secondly, language. I suggest using 'mildly irritated' instead."

Felt growled after that last part. "Mildly?! There isn't anything mild about any of this!"

Seeing how Felt was at Reinhard's neck yet again, Subaru scoffed to get the two's attention. "If I can ask, is there a reason why Felt needs to act all ladylike?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Felt added before Reinhard could provide his explanation.

"I'm well aware of Miss Felt's disinterest in participating in the royal selection. However, I hope that you two can understand that there are rules that must be followed. You'll have to state your resignation in front of the council. Since you'll be before a large number of high standing individuals, it's important to have proper manners in front of everyone."

"And why the hell should I? I already told you I'm going straight back to the slums so why should I kiss those snobs' feet on my way out?!"

"Now Felt," Subaru interjected. "I think what he's trying to say is that you shouldn't be making powerful enemies."

Felt finally stopped for a moment and actually considered what Subaru said. However, the short girl was still pretty riled up so she still found something to complain about. "See Reinhard? Couldn't you have worded it like that at least."

"My apologies, Miss Felt. I thought I'd already made that point clear so I didn't see the need to elaborate. So I take it you're willing to learn proper etiquette now?"

"Now slow down there!" Felt nearly shouted as loud as she could. "I understand the reason now but I still refuse to even associate myself with such dumb crap! Besides, I don't give a damn about what some noble thinks of me or how many enemies it'll make."

Reinhard was caught off guard by the feisty girl's declaration. "M-Miss Felt, I pray that you understand that everything I've done thus far is to not only help you but for the entire kingdom as well. If it helps, would you at least do it for Lugnica?" Reinhard pleaded, he was rather desperate to just get on some kind of common ground with Felt.

"Screw this kingdom! Everything can burn down for all I care!"

"But Miss Felt-"

"Don't you think that's going a bit too far, Felt?" Subaru interrupted Reinhard before he could finish his plea. "I mean, a lot of people live here and if it were to burn down, wouldn't a lot of people die?"

Felt was taken aback by that comeback and from Subaru of all people. "H-Hey! You're supposed to be backing me up here!" Felt said, trying to dodge the question.

"Felt..." Subaru simply said in a calm tone.

Felt, finally admitting defeat, let out a sigh. "Yeah... I don't actually want the kingdom to burn, I just meant that metaphorically. But I'm still not taking those dumb lessons!"

"What would you do here then? You can't exactly get back to 'work' and there really isn't anything to do here." Subaru said that last part dishearteningly.

"I'm usually out on patrol so I haven't exactly prepared my home for any long term guests. I do have a library, you could read a lot about Lugnica's history since you're a foreigner and all." Reinhard offered.

However, the offer made Felt start chuckling and Subaru looked nervous. "Haha, the dumbass can't read either, ya know." Felt pointed out.

This made Reinhard look on in total shock. "Surely you jest."

Subaru shook his head and chuckled sheepishly. "No, she's right. In my homeland, we use a completely different writing system."

"Other writing system?" Felt asked, perking up an eyebrow. "I never heard of other writing systems other than the standard."

"I haven't either." Reinhard added. "It's actually hard to believe there are other countries that would stray away from the standard way of writing."

"Maybe his made up island comes with the made up writing." Felt teased and even giggled a little at her own quip. "I gotta admit though, you have a crazy way of making excuses for yourself over being illiterate."

"I'm not making excuses! I'll learn how to write your guy's way eventually!" Subaru declared as he made his signature pose just to show off how determined he was.

"Well, if you plan on staying here for a while," Reinhard started. "I could have Carol teach you. I'm sure she could help you out in that endeavor."

Both Subaru and Felt blinked at this piece of information. "Who's Carol?" Both of them asked simultaneously.

"Carol is a maid that works here. I should introduce you to the staff at some point."

This didn't make any sense to Subaru. He had scanned this establishment for the past couple hours already and he had not found anyone else besides Reinhard and Felt. "There are other people living here?!" Subaru shouted.

Reinhard nodded. "That's right. I had them leave this morning to get more assistance since I'll be having you and Miss Felt here for the time being."

That made sense to Subaru. It would explain why he couldn't find anyone else. Also, added help would make a lot of sense considering how a certain feisty blonde girl was.

"Hey, why are you staring at me like that?!" Felt suddenly shouted.

Subaru snapped out of his train of thought as that said blonde girl shouted at him. "It's nothing, I guess I'm just relieved that we'll have more company."

"I don't know, I feel like just adding more knights here is a little ridiculous. I mean, I get that this is a big deal and all to you but is it really that necessary?"

"Let me clear that misunderstanding, Miss Felt." Reinhard piped up. "I'm not bringing any other knights. My servants are just bringing some of their relatives to assist them in their duties."

"If they're not knights, then I guess it'll be fine." Felt relented, she didn't really like the idea of having so many watch dogs all over her but she can manage if she isn't going to have every single person here constantly tell her what to do.

"Anyways, I'll show you all in no time that I'm not making things up!" Subaru declared as he pointed at the two.

"Not to fear, my friend. I believe you." Reinhard assured.

"Don't get me wrong, I want to believe ya. It just sounds kinda weird, ya know?"

Subaru could understand that. After all, he was transported into this world with no explanation nor purpose blatantly written out for him. God, after thinking about it, he must sound crazy right now.

"Before we get too off track, I'd appreciate it if Miss Felt gave etiquette training a chance." Reinhard said, putting the conversation back on track.

"Oh for the love of... How many times do I have to say no before you give up?!"

"There really isn't anything to do here. Besides, wouldn't learning something new be fun?" Subaru asked, trying to stop Felt from unleashing her wrath.

"I'd rather learn something I'd actually use in my everyday life. Where the hell is etiquette gonna take me in the future?"

"Well, if we end up shooting for that shop idea, I think it would be great. It would be like running a legit business as professionals and it would make us both look good."

"Shop?" Reinhard intervened. "I didn't know you two were planning on opening a shop. If you want, I know a few people who might help with that."

Felt bit down on her lip as this was starting to turn towards a topic she didn't want Reinhard to be butting in on. "Grrr! Fine! It's not like I can leave anyways!" Felt agreed, mostly in order to avoid bringing up a certain embarrassing conversation.

The approval made Reinhard look overjoyed and that was more than enough to forget about that shop thing they were mentioning. "That's wonderful to hear. If you don't have anything planned already, we can start immediately."

"Not so fast, I'm only gonna do this under one condition. Big Bro will have to do this with me." Felt stated as she pointed over to Subaru.

Subaru looked dumbfounded at the short girl. "Me...? Wait, why do I have to do that?!"

Felt turned to the bewildered boy with a smug smirk on her face. "What's wrong? Didn't you say that this would benefit the both of us?"

"Well, I don't see a problem with that. I think it would be fun." Reinhard added, smiling like an innocent child.

Letting out a sigh, Subaru relented. "Alright, I'll be there to learn with you."

Despite his tone, Subaru really didn't mind at all learning with Felt. In all honesty, he was planning to stop by anyways. The only thing he had an issue with was being obligated to partake in all of them now.

"To start with-"

"No!" Felt nearly screamed out, abruptly interrupting what Reinhard was saying. "There's no way in hell we're starting this right now!"

"Right. You must've had a pretty exhausting day. You two are free to make yourselves at home. If you need anything, I'll be happy to give you a hand."

"Good!" Was all that Felt really had to say about that before getting out of that room, leaving Subaru and Reinhard alone in the room.

Reinhard was about to get out of the room as well, seemingly to tail Felt but Subaru stopped him. "So you said there were servants here and they were getting more, right?"

Reinhard nodded. "That's right. I intended to recruit them to help assist in Felt's path into becoming this country's queen but seeing her lack of interest for that, it will be more to help make both of you feel at ease during your time here."

"I'm pretty excited to meet them!" Subaru declared as he imagined a bunch of cute maids with those adorable maid outfits. He even creepily wiggled his fingers around just thinking about it. "Say, when should they be getting back?"

"I sent them out this morning. I'd say they should be coming back any moment now. By the way, are you feeling alright?"

Subaru was a bit caught off guard by this question. He was feeling perfectly fine and he didn't think he did anything to imply otherwise. "Yeah, I'm just fine. Why do you ask?"

"That's good to hear. I feared that you'd be very confused with everything that had happened today. I'm glad to know that those worries were unneeded."

"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm still confused out of my mind and I have a very small idea what exactly is going on! But I'll find all that out later, honestly, I think that question should be directed to your kidnapped victim."

Subaru laughed lightheartedly at his comment but Reinhard only gave off a sorrowed look. "I did ask that to Miss Felt after her nap but she was only enraged and tried to kick me."

Subaru just chuckled at the explanation. "Yeah, I'd probably be pretty mad too if I were in her shoes. You know, suddenly being put to sleep and being on house arrest when I wake up wouldn't make me the happiest camper."

Reinhard lifted an eyebrow. "House arrest?"

"Yeah, it's where someone is imprisoned in one's own home." Subaru exclaimed.

"Hm, I never would've thought to call it that." Reinhard then took a second to really reflect what Subaru had said before facing back to him. "If you don't mind me asking, could I have your opinion on how you'd do things differently?"

"Sure thing. First and probably the biggest thing, I wouldn't of... well... drain someone's life force to put them to sleep. I'd probably just explain things right there and then. Though I'd be some knight in this case so I'd also reassure her that she isn't in any trouble and I just want to help them."

"I see... How insightful." Reinhard commended. "However, what if she refused to cooperate? What method would you use to apprehend her?"

"That's simple, I wouldn't. I'd respect their choice and leave them be."

Reinhard looked at the boy dumbfounded. "That wouldn't be an option. You'd be committing the largest act of treason there could be and not only would you be terminated from the knights, but you'd also be executed."

Subaru's face grew pale. "Yikes, just for letting a girl go? This is a pretty strict country. Well, in that case, I'd bribe her."

Once again, Subaru's answer left Reinhard dumbfounded. "Bribe her? That wouldn't be knightly at all and it would ruin your name."

Subaru chuckled at this. "I'd rather be known as a knight who bribes little girls than the knight that kidnaps them." Before anything else could be said, Subaru suddenly looked distraught. "Wait, they both sound pretty bad."

"I wouldn't blame you. This is all for Lugnica and as knights, it's our duty to help protect and prosper the kingdom."

"Well, don't overdo it. I don't think kidnapping girls is a good thing no matter how you look at it."

However, before their conversation could continue, a familiar voice could be heard coming closer.

"I said let me go! Who the hell do ya think you are?!"

Both Reinhard and Subaru looked over to the door to see an old lady in a maid uniform walk in, dragging Felt with her by their hand. After coming into view, the old lady let go of Felt and the blonde girl practically jumped a few feet back and growled.

"What was that for?! You can't just grab me like that and drag me around!"

"You were climbing over the gate." The old lady responded. "That was dangerous so I brought you back inside for your own sake."

To Subaru, it sounded like Felt was trying to escape and this old lady caught her.

Reinhard only smiled at the fuming blonde girl. "You should be more careful, you're lucky Carol was there to make sure that you didn't hurt yourself."

"Shut up! Being here isn't any better!"

"Oh? If there are any safety hazards that I'm unaware of, I'll be more than happy to fix that." Reinhard then gave Felt a bright smile which only seemed to anger her more.

"That's not what I'm talking about, dumbass!" Without any time for anyone around to react, she angrily stomped away.

"Ugh, kids these days..." The old lady let out a sigh before composing herself and bowed her head towards Reinhard. "We returned from getting our grandkids, Master Reinhard. My husband is showing them around right now."

The knight nodded. "Thank you, Carol. This is Subaru, he'll be staying here for the time being."

The maid who was referred to as Carol looked towards Subaru and bowed like she had with Reinhard a moment ago. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, dear guest."

Subaru waved his hands in front of him, smiling embarrassingly. "Hahah, just Subaru is fine."

Without commenting, Carol faced Reinhard. "Does this young man need the same treatment as that feisty girl?"

"Not at all. Subaru has the right to leave if he so wishes."

Subaru was glad Felt left before she could hear any of that. He was sure all hell would break loose if that piece of information was shoved in her face.

"You said that you had your husband and grandkids here, right?" Subaru asked Carol. "Would you introduce them to me?"

"I don't see why not. Did you have anything for me, Master Reinhard?"

Reinhard shook his head. "You're fine. Just keep up the great work."

With a nod, the old maid gestured over to Subaru. "Don't just stand there, put those legs to use."

Subaru flinched at this kind of response but obliged and followed Carol. The two made their way down the hallway, after a bit of this, Carol broke the silence.

"So, are you the young lady's guardian?" The old maid asked nonchalantly.

Subaru only smirked at this. "Not at all. We only met yesterday." He sounded pretty enthusiastic while saying this and even proud. That made Carol only look at him with a concerned look on their face. It was the kind of look you'd give someone as if to silently judge their sanity.

"I see... Then I take it you're the kid who had their belly cut open. Master Reinhard had to get the best healer in Lugnica to fix you up."

"It was that bad?!"

Before he could get an answer, the pair came across two small girls walking down the hall side by side. They both had peach pink colored hair with yellow ribbons on the sides. They both wore matching pink dresses and looked perfectly identical as if they were clones.

"There you two are. Did Grimm already show you around?" Carol asked the clones.

In unison, the girls nodded. "Yes, grandmommy. We should be ready to start immediately." The one on the left said.

"Dear guest, these are my grandkids. The one on the left is Flam and Grassis is on the right." Carol then put her attention back on the twins. "And you two, this here is Subaru. He's our guest."

After the introductions, the pair of girls bowed in unison to Subaru, not saying a word at all.

"Wait, they are the extra help?! They look even younger than Felt!" Subaru was shocked at this revelation. His fantasies of beautiful maids shattering as the variety here had revealed itself to include the elderly and children, nothing in between.

"Don't worry, sir." The twin on the left, Flam, said. "My sister and I are twelve so everything should be fine."

"That's even worse! Doesn't this country have any child labor laws?!"

"We will be getting compensated for our service so there isn't a need to overthink it. I do appreciate your concern though." Flam calmly explained, making Subaru give up.

After the awkward moment that was exclusively felt by Subaru, Carol spoke up. "I'll make everyone Dinner. You two, go inform Master Reinhard."

The twins wordlessly bowed to Carol to show their understanding before heading off. Carol on the other hand returned her attention back to Subaru. "If you could follow me, I'll escort you to the dining hall."

"You're fine. I already know where that is. I'll go get Felt."

Carol looked at the boy in surprise. "Do you now? Alright, thank you for your help, dear guest." And with those words exchanged, Carol took her leave, leaving Subaru alone.

"Alright, I should get Felt before she tries to escape again." Subaru said to himself before running off towards the direction he last saw the girl. Luckily for him, Felt was found just sulking in her room, probably still mad that she was stopped by an old lady.

"Hey Felt, they're making food right now. You wanna join us?"

Finally acknowledging him, the petite girl ended her sulking session and walked towards Subaru. "Sure."

"Huh..." Subaru was kinda surprised how easy this was. He was pretty sure this was going to be the start of some kind of verbal war where a lot of compromises and bribes would take place.

"What? Ya got a problem with that?" Felt clenched her fist, already aiming it at the boy.

"N-Not at all! I just thought you'd still be mad to see everyone." Subaru already had his hand in front of his face, preparing himself for the little girl's wrath. Luckily, his words were able to settle her down.

Felt couldn't help but chuckle which in itself surprised Subaru further. "Don't be dumb. I'm not stupid enough to starve myself over a little clash."

"That makes sense, I was honestly expecting to see you yeeting yourself out the window."

"Yeeting? There you go saying stuff that doesn't make any sense again."

After exchanging a few laughs, the two started to make their way to the dining hall. "Hey, Felt?" Subaru started as the two walked beside each other, Felt turned to him, awaiting to hear what he had to say. "I know this might sound really stupid but are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, that is pretty stupid." Felt placed her hands behind her head before letting out a sigh. "It's been a pretty shitty day, all things considered."

Yeah, that was about what he expected to hear. He genuinely felt bad for the girl, how she was basically abducted by this world's version of the police and is being kept here against her will just because some stone started glowing.

"Thanks though. You know, for sticking around and going through this mess with me." Felt's cheeks warmed up slightly as she said this. It felt a tad bit embarrassing after all.

Subaru chuckled. "I could tell that you appreciated it, especially when you tried to leave me behind not even thirty minutes ago." Teased the boy, not sounding mad or anything, just giving Felt a hard time.

It was enough to break any sincerity she had and grit her teeth. "Well you're allowed to leave anytime you want! We could easily meet up somewhere once I break out!"

"Well how would I do that?!" Subaru countered, now taking the defense. "Last I checked, there isn't really a loot house anymore!"

"I'd be around! Your creepy face isn't that hard to miss anyways!"

"My mom says I have the face of an angel!"

"Well your mom clearly doesn't know what angels look like!"

"Oh? And you do?!"

"I'm pretty sure angels don't look like that! This whole world would be screwed if they did!"

The two were glaring at one another while they clashed. However, Subaru stopped and began laughing again. The random mood change only angered Felt more.

"What's so funny?!" She hissed.

"Haha, nothing, I just think it's pretty lively around you." And as if he already forgot about the potential consequences, he began to ruffle the girl's head.

"H-Hey! Don't go sentimental on me out of nowhere! I swear, I'll bite you again!"

Subaru's eyes widened and quickly pulled his hand away. For some reason, he remembered the pain of this girl's bite for the first time, almost as if those last two times finally stuck in his head. Matter of fact, it even surprised Felt a little.

"Wait, why'd you stop?" The girl asked, sounding confused. However, she was quick to catch herself and stood tall, even crossing her arms to look imposing. "I-I mean good! You should at least warn me when you're gonna pull that crap out of the blue!"

Not wanting to risk another punch in the face on the same day, Subaru didn't push the matter and just agreed. "R-Right, I'll be more careful. So... Dinner?"

"You're the one leading the way. Don't tell me you're lost!"

"Well, good thing I won't tell you that!" Subaru loudly declared before continuing to lead the way to the dining hall.

...

...

...

"You're lost, aren't you?" Felt asked after Subaru wandered around aimlessly for the past ten minutes.

The question caused Subaru to stop and place and turned to Felt, giving the most heartfelt looking smile he could to her. "Not at all! I haven't seen everything here so I thought taking a little detour would be nice to pass the time instead of sitting and waiting."

Felt eyed Subaru suspiciously before sighing. "You could've done this after we ate, ya know." Despite the unneeded detour, she made the most of this time to mentally map out everything they came across in her head. This could make great use when she inevitably tried to break out again.

This went on for a few more moments until the blonde girl noticed something oddly suspicious, they still hadn't made it to the dining hall and she noticed them revisiting certain locations, especially that vase over there, this was definitely the third time they passed it.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Felt asked, a very unimpressed look was plastered on their face.

A now nervous Subaru looked to Felt, chuckling nervously. "Maybe just a little."

She just had that same look on her face for a moment longer, staring Subaru dead in the eyes before she burst out laughing. "Damn, you really are something else. Cmon, let someone who knows what they're doing lead on."

Thus, Felt took the charge in leading the way to the dining hall.

...

...

...

"Hey Felt?" Subaru asked after ten more minutes of walking. "Didn't we pass that vase already?"

Being visibly irritated, Felt stomped over to the vase and suddenly chucked it against the wall, shattering it to pieces. The sudden aggressive action even caused Subaru to jump. "Nope! That's because there isn't any damn vase!"

"Woah there, tiger. No need to lash out at the appliances just because you're lost."

"And who's fault is that?! I assumed you knew where you were going so I wasn't keeping track!"

"Well that doesn't mean you can hurt the furniture, what did the poor guys ever do to you?" Subaru asks in an over exaggerated tone.

Suddenly, the short tempered girl smirks rather menacingly. "You're right, let's fix that."

"Wait, why are you smiling like tha- GHAAA!!!" Subaru cried in pain as he was suddenly kicked in his side, leaving him to groan in pain. "What was that for?!"

"I was just apologizing to the vase." Felt answered with an innocent looking smile.

"How does kicking me translate into apologizing?!"

Felt just giggled at how flustered Subaru was getting. However, that was put to a halt as the duo suddenly felt a cold chill jolt down their spines. Taking a look where the vase once was, a very stern looking man wearing a butler outfit was standing beside the remains of the said vase, giving both Subaru and Felt the coldest of looks.

Not wanting this tension to break him, Subaru tried to ease it up a bit. "H-Hey, you must be one of the other servants. I'm Subaru and this here is Felt. We're trying to find the dining hall to meet up with the others."

The old butler didn't say a word. He just continued to stare at Subaru with that very cold look of his.

"U-um... Would you take us there? P-Please!"

Felt stood still looking panicked. She didn't know why but that look had some strange power that just locked her in place. Hell, she didn't even have the nerve to speak up right now.

Another moment passed of the butler staring menacingly at the duo. Luckily for the two, the tension lessened when he wordlessly swept up the destroyed vase into a dustpan and started walking away.

Subaru, not wanting to comment on what just happened, quickly composed himself and followed behind the butler. "T-Thanks! I appreciate it."

That was enough for Felt to get back her bearings and followed suit. "Hey! Wait up!"

The rest of the walk was just awkward silence. Subaru tried to strike a conversation with the old man at some point but that scary look of his just instantly shut him up. It didn't take long at all for the group to have finally made it to the dining hall, finding all the remaining inhabitants patiently waiting in their respective seats with tasty looking plates of food in front of them.

Felt on the other hand instantly took notice of the young pink haired twins who too were joined at the table and pointed at them. "What the hell, Reinhard?! How many more girls are you planning to abduct?!"

The sudden accusation made Flam and Grassis tilt their head in perfect unison, looking towards Felt in confusion. Reinhard scratched the back of his head as he too shared a confused look. "Do you mean Flam and Grassis? They're the extra staff that I mentioned earlier."

Felt glared at the knight with clear suspicion in her eyes. "They're the new hires? They look even younger than me! Quit lying and admit they're your next victims."

"I assure you, Miss Felt, these two are not here against their will. I offered them the position to work here and they accepted." Reinhard tried his best to reassure.

Luckily for the knight, the twins assisted him. "Master Reinhard is correct." The girl on the left started. "Grandmother informed us about the situation and my sister and I happily volunteered." The twin on the right finished.

"Oh crap, you're for real?" Felt asked, finally starting to accept the truth after hearing the twin's side of the story. However, she kept her suspicious glare locked on Reinhard. "I'm not letting my guard down. I got my eye on you."

"I wonder what occurred that warranted such a cold stare?" Reinhard asked himself, which only made both Felt and Subaru look at him dumbfoundedly.

To those two, it was pretty obvious at this point and Subaru couldn't help but point out that fact. "I think it might be from your rather forward way of tackling issues."

"Tch, ya think?" Felt clicked her tongue. She didn't add to that though as she sat herself in one of the empty seats. "Let's eat already. I'm starving."

Subaru chuckled a little and sat beside Felt. There were plates of food already set out before the two and saying it looked and smelled delicious was an understatement. With everyone present, they all began to eat. A certain blonde haired girl chowed down more wildly than the others which made them give nervous glances to the starving girl.

"T-Try using the silverware, Miss Felt. That way you won't get yourself dirty." Reinhard advised, trying his best to sound respectful as possible considering the circumstance.

"I said we're doing that tomorrow." Felt nonchalantly stated as she continued to eat the same way she had this morning, just shoveling the food in her mouth using her hands.

Reinhard really wanted to intervene but he did agree to wait till tomorrow and he'd hate to go back on his word. Regaining his composure, he bowed his head towards Felt. "You're right. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, milady."

Reinhard didn't even get an answer. The young lady was just continuing to eat like she had been. It wasn't long though as a hand rested on her shoulder which successfully stopped her. "What is it now-"

Felt stopped talking and her face turned pale as she noticed who it was that grabbed her shoulder. Towering over her was that scary looking old butler. Despite being clearly intimated, Felt did her best to brush off that feeling. "W-What? Ya got a problem with the way I eat?"

The old man didn't say a word, he instead picked up one of Felt's untouched forks and handed it to her. Felt just stared at the fork dumbfoundingly for a few seconds before glaring at the old butler. "I said I'm not doing this right now! Back off already!"

However, the butler didn't back off. He stood still in that same position, staring at Felt with that frightfully stern look of his. Sure, Subaru had a scary look of his own but it was nothing compared to this guy. Eventually, the stare down was slowly eating away at Felt's resolve and started to falter.

"I-I said back off..." Felt nearly muttered, revealing that she was really cracking under the pressure. Sure enough, the butler silently stood his ground. It was as if he was just some kind of intimidating statue at this point.

Eventually, Felt finally cracked under the pressure and shakily grabbed the fork and started using it for its intended purpose. Satisfied, the butler finally left Felt and sat himself beside Carol who was just watching the whole scene with amusement.

"Good job, dear." Carol said to the old butler which caused him to smile. The smile he emitted was nothing like his stern look and all tension it gave off vanished during that small moment that he smiled. After that bizarre moment, the butler finally started to eat himself.

A moment of peace fell upon the table for several moments. Everyone is now eating their food in a rather peaceful manner. Well, until a certain boy wearing his jumpsuit decided now was the best time to speak up. "Say, Carol, you never introduced me to the butler."

Carol who was almost done with her food anyways looked over to the old man then back to Subaru. "Huh, I guess you're right. Forgive me, it slipped my mind. This is my husband, Grimm. He can't talk that well anymore so don't go thinking he's giving you the cold shoulder."

Well, that explained a lot Subaru thought to himself. He was under the impression that he was just giving him and Felt the silent treatment. Even Felt was a bit relieved by this piece of information, it'll certainly help with not seeing him as someone so intimidating.

"O-Oh! That's great to know. I thought there was tension between us at first." Subaru nervously chuckled to himself before continuing, "Well I'm Natsuki Subaru. I'm jobless and broke beyond comparison!"

"Don't forget to add illiterate to that list of yours." Felt added with a smug smirk across her face.

"That's out of my control! Besides, that's at the top of my to-do list for things I'm working on."

Carol waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Master Reinhard had informed me of that already. We can start after you eat if you want."

Eager to prove a certain blonde girl what's for, he eagerly agreed to the arrangement. After eating, Carol led Subaru to his room, bringing the twin maid, Flam, along as an assistant of sorts. Carol had Subaru wait by a desk in his room as she gathered several blank sheets of paper as well as that classic feather and ink to write with.

After everything was gathered, the lesson had started. However, the only material that was gone over was this world's alphabet. It wasn't too hard to learn it since it was mostly changing certain characters from his own alphabet. That didn't mean that the lessons weren't lengthy, this still was the equivalent of learning a brand new language except everyone spoke the same way.

"I must admit, you're picking up on this faster than I thought." Carol praised. Even Flam nodded, agreeing with her grandmother's intuition.

"What are you talking about? It's been like three hours and I still haven't figured out the alphabet." Subaru complained.

"You can't honestly expect to learn something like writing in a single afternoon, young man. Even a child would take about a week to only learn the simplest form of writing."

Subaru blinked a few times as he wasn't even close to that bridge yet. "Well, I guess you're right, I guess I have all week to catch up."

Carol shook her head. "At the pace you're going, I'd say you'll catch up to the kids in about two weeks."

"Wait... I thought you said I was doing great!"

"I said you're doing better than I thought. I thought it would take you a year to two."

Subaru just looked as if he experienced the biggest betrayal of his lifetime. "What are you talking about?! I'm not some kind of idiot!"

"You're not?" The young twin, Flam asked as she tilted her head. She genuinely believed Subaru was just that.

"Don't worry, young man. You're still seen as an idiot. Don't let anyone take that away from you." Carol calmly explained.

"No please, I would LOVE for someone to take that away." Subaru replied.

Subaru took a little more time to review today's lesson before the day had finally come to an end. He was understandably pretty exhausted and when Carol and Flam left, Subaru flopped himself on the bed letting out a long groan.

"Uuuugh..."

That was all said before climbing in bed and reflected on everything that had happened. After the loot house incident, he learned that Felt was some kind of princess. With that knowledge, he did the most honorable thing one could do and goof off and look around Reinhard's manor.

"I'm so pathetic... I should've checked up on Emilia..." Subaru lamented to himself.

In all truth, there wasn't any real way to contact her at this time. Reinhard already mentioned that she promised to stop by at some point in the future. He was just worried about her considering there was literally an assassin threatening her life. He really wished that he went with her instead.

He thought that he'd just have to wait for Emilia's arrival. He was sure that no one would mind if he hopped aboard the Emilia train.

...

...

...

Oh yeah... There was Felt he had to consider. He didn't want to leave that poor girl alone with everything that had happened.

Subaru shook his head and sighed yet again.

"I guess staying here wouldn't be bad either."