'After all this time… Never Finding You… Please accept… My Gift...'

Were the words that had manifested within an inexplicable umbral plane, which was laden with a tone of grief.

It was a timeless void full of nothingness, where not even light could penetrate through the spatial chasm with its radiance, yet the boy could not help but reach out subconsciously throughout the incorporeal vacuum with a sense of longing in his being.

Then there was a flicker of light that had consumed his senses as he jolted back into reality, as a subtle pain had parsed through his heart.

His vision was still hazy from the concussion, which had made it difficult to open his eyes. But he was no longer writhing in agony from his merited beat-down earlier.

In contrast, his body was now imbued with an invigorating feeling that had washed away his pent up stress to be, to which he had associated with the convoluted workings of some type of healing magic.

He had found himself lying on a fluffy surface that had engulfed him with a strange fusion of warmth and frigidness. Yet he could not help but snuggle on the surface with a strange feeling of bliss flooding throughout his being.

Subaru could make out the peculiar shape of the surface, quickly coming to the conclusion that he was lying on someone's lap.

After lying there motionlessly for a few seconds, he started recalling the events that had led up to the moment he passed out, signifying a major turning point in his otherworldly adventure. After all the hurdles that Subaru had undergone, his luck had finally paid off at the fact that he had met the main heroine of this adventure.

Once again, the feeling of uncontrollable excitement had once again saturated throughout his being.

"Hmmm, I didn't know that a cute girl's legs could be this fluffy..." Realization had hit Subaru with the intensity of an Isekai Truck. "Wait a minute, that can't be right!"

He had shot up almost instantly, nearly butting his head on a mysterious figure's chin in the process.

Scrambling away a few meters to absorb the preemptive shock of this unforeseen development, he had looked up to see a rather unusual sight.

In front of the youth was a human-shaped feline that had sat on the cobblestone steps with an amused look on its face. If Subaru didn't know any better, he would have mistaken the creature with a life-sized version of a Yuru-chara cat mascot. But just without the blue stripes that had accompanied them. The creature had sported an earring on its floppy ear, and had touted around a magenta handbag.

"Oh, you're awake? This was just a thoughtful little arrangement that we had, so that you could at least feel at home when you woke up."

The creature had spoken with an amused high pitched voice, much to Subaru's indignation.

"First off, don't speak to me with such a high pitched voice. No guy is ever going to buy it. And second off, how are you real?!"

Subaru had scolded the oversized caricature with a scandalized look plastered on his face. To which the cat had tilted his head with a confused look.

"No matter how I look at it, isn't it typical for a guy to swoon for a beautiful girl's charms like that? And here I was certain that this arrangement would make you happy once everything was said and done."

Puck had teased the mortified teen who had scampered towards one of the freakishly mortared walls that decorated the alley. To which the wall's smooth surface had served to define that this world's masonry had worked in tandem with an undefined force of magic.

"I'm not happy not with this arrangement at all!"

"Puck, stop teasing the poor boy already."

A mature yet soothing voice had spoken from the sidelines, to which Subaru's head had instinctively pivoted with a hint of tension lingering in his breath.

Next to the creature, by just a few paces away, was his original saving grace. She was leaning against one of the walls in the alley-way with a preoccupied expression stretched across her face, and had her arms cross over her chest-plate.

Subaru had felt a peculiar ripple of anxiety start to flood his mind on how to properly introduce himself to the mysterious and attractive girl. But much to his relief, she had seemed to have glanced in his general direction, beaming a small smile at her rescuee.

"You seem to be doing well. You had a broken nose when I had performed water healing on various parts of your body. I was almost worried that you had succumbed to your injuries when you had fainted, but thankfully there didn't seem to be any major complications. However, I would appreciate it if you alerted me to any other lingering complications that I might have missed right away."

The mysterious heroine had spoken with a gentle voice, in efforts to not frighten the man in front of her. Subaru's voice was caught in his throat for a brief moment, as the woman had seemed to speak informally to him.

Her attractive face didn't help his situation either as he seemed to have nearly lost himself in those amethyst gems that had served as eyes. Yet, the air she had given off had radiated an abundance of caution.

"T-thank you for taking the time to heal me, it feels like my stress has just packed up and vanished into thin air. At the moment, I don't feel like anything's too off, but how long was I out for?"

Subaru had initially stammered, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as if to convey his infinite gratitude towards his savior.

"Not too long after healing you, the Dragon's blessings have seemed to have smiled upon you on this very day. But if you were in a much more precarious position. Those injuries would have certainly proven fatal for you."

The woman had bluntly remarked with a tone of tepidness in her voice, as if to insinuate a deadly theme of Darwinism.

Subaru had gaped at the girl's apathetic statement, his sharp gaze had landed on her pristine armor once again. Stoicism, and Attentiveness were key features of a hardened warrior, especially when they give you a crass answer that may find to be off-putting.

But despite the exacerbating remark, Subaru was not going to let his opportunity of compassion slip from his grasp once again, even if he had to cross a burning bridge to get what he needed.

"Yeah, no kidding..." Subaru had quipped, before his mind had reeled from the fact that he undoubtedly owed this mysterious girl his life for saving him. And to add insult to injury, he did not have any money on him.

"Um, just to let you know. I don't have any money on me to pay you back for this favor at the moment. But if there's something that you need, I would be happy to help."

Subaru had offered an agreeable proposal so that they could get started off on the right foot.

"Hmmm, I don't typically expect money for my services rendered. But if you don't mind, I do have a small inquiry for you."

The mysterious woman replied with a passive tone. Subaru had raised an eyebrow at her answer.

"By any chance, have you seen a small blonde thief with ruby eyes and tattered clothing run through this alleyway?"

The woman had question, as Subaru had shot up straight in with a strained feeling of outrage from that girl's reception earlier.

"Are you talking about that little brat with the red scarf? Yeah, she ran right that way a little bit earlier, but she just used some sort of super-speed on par with the Flash to propel herself on to these buildings and just disappeared. So I have no idea where she went.

I still don't know what her deal was though."

Subaru had answered honestly, pointed towards the route that he had seen the thief take. Before scratching his chin to recall the specifics of that lead up to their initial meeting.

"Hmm, so it would seem like she can use a certain Divine Blessing. Looks like we were destined to cross paths here."

The woman had left out a surprising sigh of relief as she had earnestly looked towards her potential witness from her inconvenience earlier.

Although she was curious on what a "Flash" was but she decided that it probably wasn't important. She took a broad step forward as if to symbolize that he spoke with a layer of truth in his voice.

"To further clarify on why it matters, that rapscallion had stolen something from me when I was heading over to the Guard's Station to make a certain report on my benefactor's territory. As much as it pains me to admit it, I did get a little sidetracked by some of the frolicking merchants and their impressive wares.

While I did sense their presence initially, I had thought nothing of it since it didn't involve me and left the whole matter to the jurisdiction of the knights. Thinking back on it now, it might have been foolish of me to ignore them, considering that I am now on a wild quest to retrieve it before I return to my benefactor's territory. But I have a faint idea on where they might be residing."

The woman had admitted sheepishly, receiving a sympathetic look from Subaru in return.

"I knew that little brat was up to something!" Subaru had exclaimed, with indignation in his voice.

"You said you had a clue on her whereabouts. Any ideas on where she went?"

"Well, I don't want to be that guy. But doesn't all the evidence points towards the slums district?"

The oversized cat mascot had questioned with his usual cheerfulness in his voice. Which had earned an intuitive nod from the woman who had agreed with his assessment.

Even Subaru had found it hard to argue with his logic, considering that statistics in his old world tend to associate poverty with higher rates of crime. Which would always result in stigmas spawned from the affluent areas in response to those who are more socially disadvantaged.

"I had also come to that same conclusion. Considering that people in that district tend to resort to unsavory practices in order to live another day.

The Council of Elders and the endless greed of the Noble's district are particularly to blame for the rise in poverty throughout the last few decades. Passing tyrannical reforms which have essentially subjugated those they deem as inferior to live like rats in the slums. And now that a certain event has transpired, it may or may not make their situation worse.

While I am trying to sympathize with that thief's desperation. Why did she specifically aim for my insignia, instead of all the other much more eye-catching possessions on my person?"

The woman had specifically inquired, as Subaru had carefully listened to what she had to say.

After a brief rumination of the timeline of her situation, Subaru decided to pull a page straight out of Sherlock Holmes playbook.

"Well, shouldn't that be obvious? That insignia probably has a substantial value to it, and the thief was probably aiming for it specifically."

Subaru had affirmed, to which the woman had nodded in agreement.

All the clues seemed to have pointed directly towards a false flag operation that aimed towards taking her out of the equation early on.

"I concur, and there's no doubt in my mind that someone had been directly complicit with the arrangement as well.

Still, I should have expected as much as I came to the capital with just a maid. But I digress on the matter, considering the underlying tones of my situation."

The woman had reaffirmed, with a hint of amusement creasing her lips. Subaru had raised an eyebrow at her implication.

"Are you like a lost princess or something? I don't want to be disrespectful of your position if that's the case."

Subaru had hastily responded with not much to ride on, based on what he had gathered from the woman.

The woman in question had narrowed her eyes, with a scrutinizing look on her face. But then let out a sigh of discontent as if to reaffirm Subaru's suppositions.

"Naturally, I would ask you to not inquire further on the subject matter, nor spread information on what I'm about to reveal to you. But I pride myself on my good judgment of character, to which has discerned to me that you are someone of trustworthy character. So to answer your inquiry, yes you are partially right..."

The woman had confirmed, to which Subaru had felt a skittish feeling start to seep in the pit of his stomach.

He then instinctively got down to one knee and tried his best impression of genuflection for the secretive princess in front of him.

"But Lia~, you said that you don't even place your trust in me. What makes you drop your guard around a foreign boy who doesn't even look like he's even worked a day in his life. I mean, just look at those strange clothes of his, he could be a potential spy for all we know!"

The spirit had complained in an infantile manner, rolling on the cobblestone alleyway with mock grief in his voice.

"Be quiet Puck, this is based on my own intuition. Spies typically tend to have a more observant, cunning, and calculative flair to them, and we've seen plenty of those in our time. This boy doesn't strike me as one of those tergiversating types.

And before you say that I am being fleeceable for disregarding him as a potential spy or enemy, remember I still hold power over your confectionery pantry. So unless if you want your strownberry pastries to never see the light of day again, I would ask you to drop the subject at hand in the meantime."

The woman referred to as Lia, had admonished her companion with a threatening tone in her voice.

Puck had sulked at her answer, letting out a pout in faux defeat over the fact that his Lia had conferred with a strange boy who had seemed innocent enough but could prove to be a menace.

Lia had then turned towards the foreigner with a look of concern on her face.

"You don't have to be formal with me considering that I don't care about prestige, not to mention that I don't have that rite of passage yet. So please rise on behalf of this inconvenience."

"I mean, while I appreciate the trust that you had faithfully put in me. Doesn't your companion also raise a valid question?

What if I really am a spy whose primary goal is to get closer to you? That could very well spell out a doom flag for someone of your status."

Subaru had decided to further challenge her claims, hurt by her initial impression of him. So he had pettily decided to retort on her judgment of character.

"It would certainly be more entertaining if you were. Considering that I am currently dealing with a certain dubious sponsor's machinations for the foreseeable future.

But despite my detestation for that deplorable man, he had conferred to me a rather amusing prophecy just before arriving in the capital. About a scenario on how I would encounter a man with a sharp gaze that could scare away even the most courageous of warriors..."

Lia had decided to entertain his theories, before her voice had strained from a certain realization that had popped in her head.

She had instantly closed the gap between the two of them, and had held a finger on his chin; tilting his head in the process.

The beautiful woman had scrutinized his features meticulously, which had unknowingly caused Subaru's face to flush from their close proximity with each other.

"Was that theory just a coincidence...?" Lia had pondered with a hint of curiosity in her voice, her mystifying eyes were teeming with wonder.

Subaru did not know what to make of his current situation, so he decided to give her free reign to scan his bodily features within reason.

"Um, aren't you going to chase after that girl? If you leave her to own devices, she could very well leave this city and scrub her hands of this incident before it makes rounds across the kingdom."

Subaru had decided to cleave through awkward air in efforts to steer the conversation back onto the most pressing matter at hand and not waste any more of their valuable time.

He had to accompany her on the pretext that he was returning the favor to her, unless he wanted incidents like that run-in with the thieves to happen again. Lia had given off the impression that she was an extremely competent fighter, and he had hoped that she could train him in order to thwart off the looming evil that he was destined to fight.

Subaru's assertion had spontaneously caused Lia to snap out her inquisitive trance. Before she had heeded his anxious plight by giving him his much needed breathing room.

"I want to give her the false impression that she had lost sight of her pursuer, because I need more information on who the possible third party is that is trying to mingle in the Kingdom's affairs. So I appreciate all the information that you have provided to me."

She had gestured towards Puck to follow her, to which the spirit had responded with a harrumph and shrunk back to his original size in compliance.

Lia had crossed a curt distance between the sets of individuals, only to stop a few meters away, with her back facing towards her accomplice.

Subaru was uncertain of the fate that had awaited him if he had followed his heart and helped her retrieve a potential precious antique. Despite Lia seeming tactfully indifferent about its value when she spoke of it to him.

"Now that you know of my circumstances. I believe that you might provide a reasonable cover for this retrieval quest, so I must carefully outline what your role in this covert operation is going to be."

Lia had turned her head to the side, giving Subaru a reassuring look.

"Are you by any chance comfortable with the concept of cross-dressing?"

Subaru's eyes had widened at her implication, an uncomfortable feeling had started to creep up his stomach at her somewhat scandalous plan.

"Um, I uh… Not necessarily." Subaru was uncertain on how to respond to her question.

There was a point in his childhood where his class had dressed him up like a girl for a play, and surprisingly he had seemed to fit the part. It was one of few topics that had frequently popped up at some of his family reunions, which had caused Subaru an endless stream of embarrassment.

Despite those embarrassing memories, he remembered that she had been the first people that had been genuinely nice to him since arriving here, and he wanted to do anything to return that favor.

"But if it's to help you on your plan, then I don't necessarily hate it either."

"Good, I seemed to have spotted a boutique along one the streets on my travels here. We will make haste towards it immediately."

She had declared with a flair of resolution in her voice. Subaru's breath had hitched from her somewhat exorbitant plan.

'Why do I feel like I've just signed a deal with the devil?'

To clarify why Emilia had decided to reveal earlier. It ties in together with her distrust of Roswaal since she figured out some of his shady "business dealings" early on, not to mention she really doesn't care that much about the Royal Selection right now. Since she considers it just another tenure of service to the common people. She only cares about one thing, and that is information on a certain tragic event. And she'll even resort to underhanded methods to obtain it. But that is not to say that some of the aspects of that prized throne don't partially interest her either. Since she was planning to use it to completely wipe out the Witch's Cult for the peace she strives to achieve.