"Subaru?" Beatrice called as she sat at the edge of Subaru's bed.

Subaru had just finished changing and turned his attention to Beatrice. Originally, he wanted the short spirit to wait outside of his room but she insisted on staying to ensure he wasn't malnourished. "Yeah? What's up, Beatrice?"

The spirit nervously fiddled her hands together before starting, "As you're fully aware, Betty will be staying by your side from now on."

The gloomy boy stared at Beatrice for a solid moment. "Yeah, you made that pretty obvious already."

Beatrice's cheeks flushed pink before she angrily shook her fists in the air. "Let me finish! Since we will be living together under these circumstances, it's important for our old contract to be improved, I suppose."

"Oh yeah…" Subaru scratched the back of his head as he recalled that moment one year ago. "I guess that promise of yours should be expired by now, isn't it?"

"Betty never remembered putting a time limit on our first contract. As far as I'm aware, we are still contracted. However, Betty wants to make a new contract."

"So what would this new contract be about then?"

"Betty wants to be your contracted spirit, I suppose."

"That's it?" Subaru shrugged. "Sounds easy enough."

"You don't understand. Betty is a unique spirit. When contracted, you won't be able to contract with any other spirit, in fact." The spirit explained.

"I mean, I wasn't planning to contract with anyone to begin with so that should be fine…"

"I will also require a steady intake of mana. Betty's reserves can only last for so long, so when contracted, you will be my only source of mana from now on."

That piece of information caused Subaru to twitch a little, vaguely remembering the time his mana was drained by the spirit. "Um… so how much are we talking about?"

Beatrice took a second to calculate in her head. "Considering your gate is weak and your mana capacity isn't anything impressive, Betty believes collecting around 70% of your mana on a daily basis should suffice."

Subaru's jaw dropped. "That much?! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Beatrice nearly panicked and shook her head quickly. "No! I-It's nothing like that. It's just…" She hesitated a little before continuing. "Once again, Betty is a very unique spirit. I can't collect or use mana from the environment like other spirits so draining mana from others is my only option, I suppose."

Seeing Beatrice's panicked look calmed the boy down a little. Seeing her like that just made him want to calm her down as fast as he could. "Alright, I think I get it. So once we're contracted, you'll need to specifically collect my mana from now on."

Beatrice nodded nervously. "That is correct. I'm sorry for being such a useless spirit…"

Subaru sighed and placed his hand over the girl's shoulder. "You're not useless. Out of everyone I know, you're the only person who actually did something for me."

The short spirit's cheeks heated up a little. "I appreciate that you think so highly of Betty, I suppose."

"So, is there anything else I should know before we contact?"

Beatrice nodded. "Of course. In return for your exclusivity and mana, Betty will vow to be your partner. From now and until either of our passing, you may use Betty however you please."

Subaru flinched at the last part. "Er… Try phrasing that a little better next time. So what else is there?"

She shook her head. "That is all, I suppose." Beatrice extended her hand out towards Subaru. "Give me your hand."

The gloomy boy nodded and carefully held Beatrice's small hand, their fingers intertwining. "I, Beatrice, on my honor, are bound by this contract." After those words, there was a gentle glow emitting from both of their hands. "From now on, I vow to be partnered with Subaru. Wherever Betty's Subaru may go, I will follow without exception."

The glow settled and Beatrice let go of Subaru's hand.

"So, we're contracted now?" Subaru asked.

Beatrice nodded. "Yes. From now on, Betty is your official contracted spirit."

"I don't remember there being a glow last time we contracted, has it something to do with the vow you said?"

"It has nothing to do with that. Words aren't required to form a contract as long as both parties are aware of what they're contracting for, in fact."

Subaru blinked a few times. "So what exactly was that grand vow all about?"

The spirit folded her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "Betty merely felt it to be necessary to provide a verbal reminder during the formation of our contract, I suppose."

The boy let out a sigh. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"Considering it took you a year to come back for Betty, it's highly likely."

Subaru tensed up at that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sorry, Beako."

Beatrice waved her hand dismissively. "You did come back in the end so it doesn't matter anym-" The spirit stopped as she suddenly processed what Subaru just said. "Wait, what did you just call me?!"

"Oh, it's just a nickname. I think we're close enough for that now. What do you think?"

"Well, if that name is supposed to be proof of our bond, then Betty will allow it, I suppose." The spirit answered.

Subaru couldn't help but smile at this. These little one on one interactions were very refreshing after all.

Suddenly, Beatrice wrapped her arms around Subaru, hugging him rather tightly. "Thank you, Subaru. Thank you for choosing Betty."

The boy looked down at the girl for a moment before carefully returning the hug. "Yeah. Of course, Beako."

Beatrice looked up, making eye contact with her new contractor. Her grip was still strong. "Are you ready to provide your cute spirit with her daily intake of mana, I wonder?"

Crap.

--

One week later…

--

Ever since Subaru brought Beatrice with him to Pandemonium, the great spirit adapted very quickly to this new environment. Though it was mainly thanks to Subaru who was trying his best to make her comfortable.

However, something peculiar happened not too long ago and Subaru couldn't help but stare in disbelief at what he was now seeing. He was about to go into the bathroom but instead, he found an all too familiar library, one that he didn't think he'd ever see again. The gloomy boy didn't exactly show his surprise, he just blankly stared at the bizarre sight before him.

"Huh, I didn't know we had a library, boss."

Subaru looked to his side to find Halibel standing right by him, appearing out of nowhere like he typically does. Subaru let out a sigh. "We don't." After those words, he closed the door and walked off in the other direction.

Before Halibel made his leave too, he opened the door again to find that there was the bathroom in there instead of the library he saw before. "Well what do you know? Guess we really don't have a library."

Subaru ignored Halibel's comment as he just continued forth. He knew very well who was behind this strange occurrence already and he was going to get to the bottom of this.

He soon made it back to his room and began the process of unlocking his many locks. However, before he could finish, the door suddenly opened and Beatrice stood by the door frame.

"Good morning, Subaru." The spirit started. "Are you here to apologize for your rude transgression, I wonder?"

"My what…?" Subaru asked, staring at the short girl with a dumbfounded expression.

"You know very well what you've done, Subaru! You have failed your duty to wake up your cute spirit and give them all the attention they rightfully deserve, I suppose!" Beatrice crossed her arms and stared at the gloomy boy expectantly.

Subaru had let out yet another sigh after being provided with this explanation. "You looked peaceful. I didn't want to ruin that, Beako."

"Then you should've stayed to admire your contracted spirit's peaceful slumber."

"No… That's just creepy…" Before things got too off track, Subaru continued, "Would you tell me what your library is doing here?"

This question pulled Beatrice out of her pouty mood and caused her to lift an eyebrow curiously. "You've found it already?"

"It's kind of hard to miss if you block the bathroom with it. Didn't you want to get away from there?"

"The forbidden library is connected to Betty. Keeping its existence at Roswaal's mansion would be far too taxing on my mana reserves. I've grown accustomed to Pandemonium by now so connecting the forbidden library here would be far more conventional, in fact.

As for your second question, Betty indeed has no use for the forbidden library anymore. However, just because it's no longer of use for me, that doesn't mean you won't have a use for it, I suppose."

Subaru took a moment to digest everything Beatrice explained. "So you're keeping it around in case I want to use it for something?"

The loli spirit nodded. "That is correct."

"So that was you? That's pretty impressive, little miss."

Beatrice nearly jumped as Halibel suddenly appeared, leaning on the wall next to Subaru's room.

"H-How many times do I have to say this?! You don't have permission to call Betty by that infuriating name, I suppose!" The flustered spirit shouted.

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that, little miss." Halibel calmly replied.

Beatrice stomped her foot down and growled. She lifted her hand up towards the all too casual wolfman. "That's it, time to teach you a lesson!"

In an instant, a powerful gust of wind shot from the spirit, completely tearing and knocking down everything through the hall Halibel was in. However, the problem was that Halibel wasn't there anymore. Actually, he was now leaning against the wall on the opposite side of Subaru's door.

"Woah there, I was just apologizing. I've seen the error of my ways and I'll treat you nicer, little miss." Halibel pleaded. Though, his words sounded very calm and seemed to hold very little merit.

Needless to say, Beatrice wasn't having it. "If you're sorry, you'll stop calling Betty 'little', I suppose!"

"Yeah, guess you're right. I'll try a little harder from now on, little miss." Halibel answered.

The spirit was fuming. "You still insist on making fun of Betty?! You will not be forgiven!" With a furious look on her face, she lifted her hand, getting ready to throw another attack at Halibel.

However, Beatrice immediately froze in place as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tear the place apart…" Subaru stated.

Finally realizing what she had done, she hurryingly turned her attention to Subaru. "It was that infuriating demihuman's fault for testing Betty's patience, in fact!"

"Yeah yeah, but could you please tone it down a little? We don't exactly have maids to clean up after you."

Beatrice folded her arms under her chest and puffed out her cheeks. "As long as that mutt learns proper manners, then there shouldn't be an issue."

Halibel lifted an eyebrow to that. "Mutt? Gotta say, you're pretty good at coming up with nicknames, little miss." He commented, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Why you…!"

Beatrice's words were put to an immediate halt once more as Subaru placed both hands over her shoulders, making sure he had the spirit's full attention. "Beako, please just ignore him. I really don't want to deal with this right now."

Seeing Subaru's serious demeanor was enough to make the prideful spirit finally give in. "If that is what Betty's Subaru desires, then it can't be helped, I suppose."

Subaru nodded, satisfied with this answer. "Good… Let's get going now. I've got a lot of work to take care of."

Subaru gently held onto Beatrice's hand and started on his way. However, the spirit wasn't budging. "Not so fast, Subaru. I granted your request but you must grant Betty a request in return."

"Sure, what is it?" Subaru hastily said.

"You must eat breakfast first."

Subaru silently stared at Beatrice for a moment before shaking his head. "It's fine, Beako. I'm not hungry."

"That won't do. You usually only have one meal a day. If you keep this up, your body will inevitably fail you, I suppose."

"I said it's fine. Stop worrying about it." Subaru said, sounding more serious and annoyed.

Beatrice stayed silent for a moment. Thinking she gave in, Subaru continued forward. However, the little girl kept her ground and tightened her grip.

"Please… Betty doesn't want to watch you wither away…" Beatrice's hand began to shudder as she carefully thought of her next words. "If not for your own sake, will you take better care of yourself for Betty's sake?"

Subaru stared at Beatrice. He hated this. She should just drop it and not worry about such a stupid thing. He already said that he's fine so she should just shut up and drop it already. He glared at the spirit. His scary gaze looked hundreds of times scarier.

"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!! I SAID I'M FINE!!! JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!!!" Subaru screamed out.

Seeing how terrifying Subaru was acting made Beatrice flinch and began trembling. The spirit was left speechless as she was feeling to scared and guilty to speak up anymore.

Subaru really hated this.

But…

He hated that look more. Subaru could vividly see that terrified look on the girl's face and with all of her pretty colors, it made him feel sick. In fact, the more he looked at it, the more he felt scared. He was scared to see Beatrice cry again.

As much as he hated her for interfering with his choices, he hated seeing her cry more.

Subaru sighed as his signature gloomy look returned to him. "Fine, let's go eat first."

"Really…?" Beatrice asked in a shaky but relieved voice. Immediately catching her own tone, Beatrice stood tall and reacquainted with her calm demeanor. "I-I mean thank you for fulfilling Betty's request."

Subaru went into a different direction, heading straight to the kitchen. There weren't any maids for cooking and the men he usually had to do it weren't immediately accessible at this time so he decided to do it himself.

As Subaru walked, he could still feel Beatrice's hand trembling. Feeling guilty, he started,"Sorry for scaring you like that, Beako."

"There's nothing to apologize for. You had every right to be angry. Betty was unrightfully trying to pull you out of your comfort zone and I should've been more considerate, I suppose…"

Subaru shook his head. "No, what I did wasn't right. I know you're only trying to help and I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

Beatrice's cheeks warmed up. "If you insist on being at fault, then Betty will accept your apology. However, you must grant me one more favor if you want to prove that you're truly sorry."

Subaru nodded, kinda relieved that she wanted some kind of compensation. He was sure this would brighten the short spirit's mood considerably. "Of course, what is it?"

"You must carry Betty to our destinations for the rest of the day." Beatrice proudly requested.

Subaru blinked a few times. "Um… ok?"

Not wasting any time, Subaru carefully lifted Beatrice off the ground and gave her a piggyback ride. "How's this?"

Beatrice wrapped her arms around Subaru's shoulders to keep her balance as she pondered the position. "This is acceptable, I suppose."

"Yeah, it's pretty cute." Halibel added.

Both Subaru and Beatrice turned to Halibel. They forgot that he was there for pretty much the whole time.

Seeing Subaru's scary look returning, Halibel waved at the two. "I guess I'll see you both at breakfast." And like that, the wolfman vanished from the pair's sight.

After a long moment of silence between the two, Subaru just silently carried his Beako over to the kitchen to start making breakfast, pretending that didn't happen. At the very least, Subaru was relieved that Beatrice was no longer trembling.

--

"Oh! I didn't know that you ate in the mornings, boss." Cecilus commented out loud as he walked into the dining hall. This was the first time during his time here he saw the gloomy boy here in the mornings.

Both Subaru and Beatrice were already settled at the table eating their respective meals. Halibel was also present but he was leaning against the wall nearby the two.

Immediately getting annoyed, Subaru grit his teeth. "I just felt like doing it today, stop asking."

Cecilus gave the gloomy boy a curious look, seemingly intrigued by his sour attitude but shrugged it off instantly. "That makes sense, you're the boss after all so you can do whatever you want." Before he took a seat of his own, he glanced over to Halibel. "What about you? I don't see you that much."

"I'm just looking after the boss, I'm his bodyguard after all." Halibel humbly answered.

"Bodyguard?" Cecilus asked, staring at the wolfman quizzingly. "Oh! That makes sense. I thought you were his stalker." Cecilus laughed to himself.

Halibel merely shrugged at this and shared a laugh of his own. "Well, my job is to stick around the boss all day and protect him so I guess stalking is half of the job."

Immediately getting angered over where this conversation was turning towards, Subaru piped up, "You're a bodyguard, not a stalker." He sternly corrected, not in the mood for this kind of joke.

Halibel recognized the scary eyed boy's intent instantly and waved his hand dismissively in response. "Yeah, I got it, boss."

After clarifying that point, Subaru continued with his meal. Cecilus finally took his seat before glancing around the room. "Hey boss, where's my plate?"

Subaru momentarily gave the blue haired swordsman a glance before instantly returning to eating his own food. "On the plate rack in the kitchen."

Cecilus frowned at that answer. "Aww, I thought we were friends here, boss."

"I got my own plate. Beatrice got her own plate. Halibel got his own plate. There isn't any special treatment." Subaru replied.

"Betty's certain that you can get your own plate just as Subaru has. Perhaps you lack the ability to do so, I suppose." Beatrice added.

Cecilus's eyes seemed to lighten up, not that Subaru could tell though. "So you give your friends the freedom to choose. You really know how to entertain this story's star!"

Subaru let out a heavy annoyed sigh and nothing else as he wasn't planning to encourage this kind of behavior. The gloomy boy found all this annoying. He was sick and tired of everyone acting all friendly towards him only to betray him yet again.

It was both bothersome and exhausting.

Luckily for him, Cecilus left, presumably to the kitchen.

"Subaru? Are you feeling alright?"

Subaru turned to Beatrice who gently held onto his arm. "I'm fine, Beako."

His stern way of answering caused the spirit to not question the boy any further. Instead, she gave Subaru an acknowledging nod. "I will put my trust in you. Don't hesitate to share your burdens with Betty. This contract between us is designed to support one another, I suppose."

Subaru nodded. "Yeah, I get it, Beako."

"There is nothing to fret over then as long as you're aware." Beatrice finished. Now satisfied, she finished up her meal.

Subaru finished quickly as well before getting up. "Halibel, would you put the plates away?"

"Huh, did I get promoted to a butler?" The wolfman asked.

"How is that a promotion…?" Subaru muttered before shaking his head to dismiss the thought. "Just put it away and meet me at the workshop."

"Sure thing, boss." Without another word, Halibel collected both Subaru's and Beatrice's plates before vanishing from the corner of the two's eyes.

Beatrice let out an annoyed sigh. "Betty isn't sure if she'll ever get used to that annoying dog."

"I'm sure you can manage. Let's get going now."

"You said that you planned to visit your workshop. Do you still intend to invent this 'washing machine' you mentioned, I wonder?"

Subaru nodded. "Yeah, I think it'll finally work. If I use the combination of water stones, fire runes and wind magic, it should replicate the function of washing."

Beatrice waved her hand dismissively. "Betty isn't sure what you're rambling about. If there is nothing else for you to do here, then Betty will be ready to go with you, I suppose." The short spirit then extended her arms towards Subaru, looking at him expectantly.

Already knowing what to do, he turned himself around and hauled the light girl on his back, giving her a piggyback ride. "Ready?"

The great spirit wrapped her slim arms around Subaru's shoulders tightly before nodding. "You may start going now."

Subaru started making his way out and noticed Beatrice's grip tightened ever so slightly. "Thank you again for listening to Betty's request."

Cecilus looked around the dining hall as he carried a plate almost overflowing with many different foods. The blue haired swordsman looked down dejectedly as there were no signs of anyone in here.

"Aww… Did I do something wrong?"

--

At this time, Roswaal was sitting at his office with a troubled look on his face. Everything that had gone on this year was certainly stressful for the lord but what occurred today couldn't even compare to this.

Earlier, he noticed a strange surge mana stretching across the manor. He tried summoning Beatrice for her assistance on the matter but he couldn't make a connection.

At first, he assumed it had something to do with Puck. The clown didn't quite see eye to eye with the cat spirit for quite a while and knowing how much Beatrice adored him, it would make sense why she was ignoring his call.

However, Roswaal wasn't going to risk another Subaru incident. He was left with no choice but to bypass Beatrice's door crossing by opening every door in the manor.

After opening the last door, he didn't find the forbidden library.

What concerned him the most was what he discussed with Puck after the discovery.

"Puck, you wouldn't happen to know where Miss Beatrice is, wooould~ you?"

The great spirit was found alone, floating around in the halls as if on patrol. "That's a new one. I can't say I ever heard you ask about Betty before."

"I was just hoping to inquire about her opinion. I'm sure you also noticed that maaaana~ surge. Do you possibly have an idea about that?"

"Nope. Can't say I have. It's a shame Betty doesn't want to see you. You probably should work on being nicer to people."

Roswaal smiled, thinking he caught an answer. "That's neeeews~ to me. What makes you think that, Puck?"

The cat casually shrugged. "Just a guess. You haven't exactly been nice to anyone."

Roswaal brushed that comment off before continuing, "I tried bypassing Miss Beatrice's door crossing but even that failed to woooork~"

This time, Puck seemed to get caught off guard with that answer as he too looked surprised. "You opened all the doors and still couldn't find Betty?"

Puck took a moment to ponder that information before providing the most genuine smile that Roswaal had seen from the great spirit for a while. "I think I get it now. I'm happy for her."

"Oh? So you know what happened then?" Roswaal asked with a grin.

However, the floating cat merely shrugged. "Not really. But I don't think we'll be seeing her anymore."

That.

That was the answer Roswaal didn't want to hear. The clown grit his teeth and even dropped his accent. "Why would you think that?"

"Heh, just an instinct, you clown." Before Roswaal could rebuttal, Puck began to float away. "I'm going to check up on Lia. Thanks for letting me know about Betty."

Roswaal slammed his fist down on his desk.

"Puck… What are you hiding?"