Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Crusch Karsten, along with her three companions, were scheduled to arrive in a few hours.

The mood in the dining room was heavy. For a change of pace, and partially due to the maids being tired from all their hard work, Subaru took it upon himself to make breakfast for once.

Of course, the only breakfast he knew how to make. Plain rice and miso soup. Or an imitation of that at least, the rice here wasn't as good as back on Earth, and miso didn't exist…

Oh well, he'd have to figure something out. There should be something similar lying around, Roswaal had bought ingredients from basically all over the world. And enough of them to feed an entire village for a full season.

He was distracted by a chopping sound coming from his left. Turning his head, he saw Spica wearing a pink apron and cutting some vegetables.

"My brother is too busy playing with Uncle Garfiel and Rina to come and help," she said.

"I was supposed to make breakfast myself..." Subaru sighed and then smiled, turning on the stove with fire stones. Picking up a pot full of water and waiting for it to boil, he continued, "It's nice to know that you're getting along with Chocorina."

"Why wouldn't I?" She dropped the knife on the table before tightly clenching her hands together in front of her chest. "Rina is soooo cute! I love how her cheeks are so squishy, when he pouts I just want to pat her head and-"

She was interrupted by Subaru patting her head. With a slight blush, she looked down and let herself be patted.

"I was worried that you wouldn't get along with her because…" Subaru paused for a second, looking for the best words to say. This was complicated. "Because she isn't your real sister."

Spica swiped her father's hands away and looked at him with an expression he couldn't decipher. Was it a smile? A scowl? Was she going to try to comfort him? Say how pathetic he was for daring to love two people he wasn't worthy of?

"Dad." Spica looked up to him. "I like Chocorina. I consider her my sister. You love both mom and Emilia, right?" Subaru could only give a faint nod as an answer. "Then everything is fine."

"The dad I know loves mom and only mom. The dad Rina knows loves Emilia and only Emilia. The dad we both know loves both, so there's no problem."

It wasn't like that. Subaru knew himself perfectly. Him not loving Rem… That's something he couldn't believe would happen. And for Rigel and Spica… Emilia was dead. No matter how much time passed, him not feeling anything was a thought he couldn't wrap his head around.

Maybe not love. But regret? For sure. How many resets did it take for that Subaru to accept she was gone? How stacked were the odds against him? Both Subaru's, the one that married Emilia and the one that married Rem, must have loved both.

They were his number 1 and number 2. Nothing would change that. Nothing could change that.

Even if Spica was wrong, her words still helped. Everything was good simply because he loved both. An answer so… simple. Obvious. Childish. Yet it hadn't crossed his mind.

"Thanks, Spica," he said, his lips curving into a slight smile. "Now, let's finish making breakfast, okay?"


Having finished making breakfast, Subaru headed towards the dining room, behind a sizable trolley loaded with various trays. When he opened the door, he found most of the mansion's occupants absent.

Garfiel alone was already in his seat, giving his Captain a quick nod while leaning back in his chair. Soon after, Otto and Roswaal entered, with Frederica following behind. The lord of the mansion kept his usual grin, while Otto had even worse eyebags than before and Frederica let out a long yawn along the way to her seat. It was strange to see the maid so tired, considering how early she usually gets up.

The two other maids, along with Rigel carrying Chocorina on his back, entered a minute after them. To Subaru's surprise, Rigel sat next to his aunt instead of his mother. On a similar note, Chocorina decided to use Otto's lap as a seat, before Frederica promptly pulled her away. While Subaru took notice of the curious seating arrangement, Spica made her way into the room and sat next to her brother.

And finally, Rem and Emilia waltzed in side by side, holding the same determined expression. What had they been talking about, surely this couldn't be a coincidence? Once the pair was in front of him, something clicked inside Subaru's head.

Ram had moved away from Roswaal, only Frederica remaining at his side. Rigel and Spica were eating with her aunt, and Chocorina was sitting in between Garfiel and Otto. It just so happened that there were two free seats, each at his side.

Wait, two? Shouldn't it be three? Where was his cute little Beako?

"Ah, uhm, Emilia-tan?" Subaru asked the beauty at his left, "Where's Beako?"

"Beatrice-sama? She said she had an urgent matter to take care of…" answered Rem, earning a glare from Emilia. She closed her eyes and smiled in retaliation. Just what had they been talking about?

Thanks to this incident, their relationship had become even more tense than usual. There was no way harem anime was right about women fighting each other for affection, right!?

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any more incidents. All that happened was Rem and Emilia glaring at each other, leaving Subaru even more confused.

A few minutes later, Ram broke the silence the residents found themselves submerged in.

"As expected of Barusu, this soup is as bland as your face," she spat out, letting go of the spoon and moving the bowl to the side.

With Rigel in between Ram and Spica, the oni couldn't see Spica's face falling off and reddening.

"Ah, Ram, the truth is… I was the one to prepare the rice. Spi-"

"As expected of my adorable niece, not even Rem's food is a match for this." After interrupting Subaru, Ram picked the spoon back up and quickly devoured all of her soup. After gulping it all down, she flashed a smile to Spica.

"It was delicious, Spica. Meanwhile, Barusu's rice…" Her previous kindly smile transformed into a deep belittling frown.

Subaru slammed his fist on the table, standing up with a scowl. "Don't act like that! You thought I was too useless to even cook breakfast, right!? Yet you ate everything I made!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Barusu."

"And aren't you pampering Spica too much!?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Barusu," she deadpanned. "I am merely giving the daughter of my adorable sister the treatment she deserves."

Subaru sat back on his chair while muttering some words, earning a giggle from Rem and Emilia. The rest of the mansion residents were unfazed by the event, it was a common occurrence by now.

"No~w." Putting aside his utensils and wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, Roswaal grabbed everyone's attention. "Has everything been prepa~red for Crusch-sama's arrival?"

Frederica straightened up, speaking in a serious tone. "Yes, Roswaal-sama. I double checked everything and there doesn't seem to be any mistakes."

Roswaal gave a nod of approval before continuing, "Ve~ry well. Now, it's time to wa~it for them. They should be arriving soon. Ram."

"Yes, Roswaal-sama." There was no need for a command. Ram closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again.

"The children in Arlam saw a carriage pass by. They should arrive in a few minutes."

"Ve~ry well. Let's wait at the main entrance then."

Standing up, Subaru's right hand was taken by Emilia. She held it right above her chest, forcing Subaru to look at her.

"Are you ok-ey, Subaru? Your hand was trembling." Not even the cute use of a Subaruism could calm him down.

"I…" He was about to meet the son he had with Crusch. Just… how could that be? How could that other Subaru had fallen in love with her?

He had admitted Crusch could have become the third spot on his heart. But, to think it did happen… Had he failed to save Emilia from Petelgeuse? In that alley, was he saved by the gallant duchess instead of Emilia? Was he kicked out of her camp?

How… How could he have left Emilia's side? How much of a failure had he been? Thinking about it… It terrified him.

"I'm fine, Emilia-tan." He forced a smile on his face and shook her hand away.

Emilia watched as he walked past, an obvious look of concern on her face. She took a deep breath, and her expression turned into serious determination.


A luxurious carriage could be seen trekking down a thick forest. Painted with a crimson color and decorated with golden ornaments, it moved at a fast pace despite the rough terrain. Carried by a pair of earth dragons with green and brown scales and bulging muscles, the carriage didn't budge an inch off course despite the uneven rocky path.

Soon, the forest cleared and the road changed from uneven dirt to somewhat level cobblestone. A few houses could be seen at the sides, with more at the horizon. The driver, an old man with battle-hardened features, heard a knock coming from the inside, signaling him to come to a halt. He followed the order coming from the duchess or prince inside, stopping halfway through a square. Many of the villagers around stopped whatever they were doing and stared with puzzled faces.

The driver, who many recognized from Sloth's hunt, stepped down from his seat and opened the door, from which came a green-haired prince, followed by the Karsten Duchess. He stopped to gaze at his surroundings, inspecting every building and saving every face in his memory.

"Why did we stop here-nya?" An androgynous voice rang out, belonging to yet another familiar face for the villagers.

Seeing both the greatest healer in the kingdom as well as the Sword Demon, they figured out the two other people had to be from the Karsten house, surely here due to some business with their partners in the Royal Selection.

They returned to their jobs, except for a bunch of kids who approached the prince with sparkling eyes, hiding mischievous smiles behind their innocent and impressed faces.

"Wilhelm, Ferris, you two should go on. Leo and I will spend some time here, then continue to the mansion," Crusch said, and then turned to face her son. "Is this what you want?"

Leo nodded and, posing cutely, Felix spoke. "As you say Crusch-sama! I'll make sure Subaru-kyun is ready to receive you!" He hopped back inside the carriage, the duchess blissfully unaware of what he truly meant.

His tone, however, didn't go unnoticed by Leo. With a simple glance at Wilhelm's eyes he communicated his message: "Don't let Ferris get too excited." Wilhelm nodded in response, and climbed back onto the rider seat, spoiling the two earth dragons to move forward.

"Who are you mister?" "Are you a knight?" "Can you show us your sword!?"

A barrage of questions was launched his way by the group of kids circling around them. One of them tried to snatch his sword but he swatted his hand away, other attempted to put some dirt in his pockets.

He coughed and glared at the children from above. They stopped playing with him, waiting in front of him in a straight line, fidgeting with their heads down as if they had been caught playing a prank on their parents.

Leo bent his knees until he met the children at their level, patting the heads of two of them. However, before he could speak, the kids squirmed out of his grasp with scowls on their faces.

"Hey, only Subaru can do that to us!" the skinny one said.

"Yeah!" the chubby one agreed.

At this, the prince smiled, before it quickly faded into a frown. He stood tall and regarded the group, none older than twelve or thirteen. In his world, they forever remained this age, never growing into adulthood, never living past the crisis the witch cult brought.

Leo clenched his fist, thinking, "I understand now, father. You treated these children like family, gave them care and attention without being asked or told or expected to, all because you wanted to…

"And I understand why it hurt you so much to lose them, without even accounting for those in the mansion itself you lost…"

"I can see why," Leo replied to the confused children, "he is truly someone to respect."

And just as the crowd of kids were going to recount the dozens of embarrassing stories they had of the black haired boy, a stronger voice replied to the prince.

"Correct, in fact. Betty's Subaru is Betty's, so naturally he's deserving of praise."

It was another child, who had quickly pushed through the line, and was staring up at Leo with her butterfly-shaped pupils. Before anyone could say a word, the blonde haired girl stole a glance at Crusch and gave a quick nod with a proud smile, then grabbed Leo's hand and dragged him away.

Surprised by the strength the little girl had, he stumbled for a few steps. "You're here to see him, I suppose," she spoke, noting Leo's light resistance. "Betty has no time to waste with petty children, so come with me."

Seeing that this girl was no normal child, the prince decided to go along with her. As they ignored the cries of the children left behind and trekked towards the mansion, Crusch followed after the pair. Both mother and child held a sense of trepidation in their hearts, but all Beatrice had was yet another reason to put on a smug smile.


After five minutes of walking, Beatrice, Leo, and Crusch arrived at Roswaal's manor. Two maids were waiting at the door, one blonde and the other with pink hair. Both bowed in unison once the trio got close.

"Welcome, Crusch-sama, Beatrice-sama, Leo-sama," they spoke. Crusch and Leo stared in confusion at each other, how did they know his name? She hadn't mentioned it in the letter. And no one could possibly deduce his identity.

"Please, follow us. Emilia-sama and Subaru-sama are waiting," the blonde maid said. Beatrice strolled inside, a big grin on her face. Still bewildered as to how they knew who he was, Leo sighed and followed Frederica, with Crusch and Ram behind him.

After turning a corner, Beatrice vanished from sight, leaving the awkward group by themselves. Leo could feel Ram's stare boring into the back of his skull. Somehow, he could sense a weird mix of pride and disgust in her gaze.

With nothing better to do, and feeling too nervous to speak to his mother, he inspected the walls of the mansion: shining in pristine white, just like the floor, with potted plants and vases next to every door. Just how he expected from one of the most influential families in Lugunica… At least before they all died out.

A demihuman in the corner of his vision grabbed his attention. Through a window, he saw a demihuman stepping into a garden, followed by a familiar butler. Of course. Wilhelm and Felix had arrived before them, so it wasn't all too weird that they knew his name.

Arriving at a pair of ornate wooden doors, Leo took a deep breath. How would he explain this? Just walk in, say that he was Subaru's son despite being as old as him, and hope everything went right?

The entire kingdom knew how devoted Subaru was to Emilia. He wouldn't accept the fact that he fell in love with someone else. Much less Emilia herself. Curling his hands into fists, he stopped himself from shaking. Trying to explain the situation to his mother was nothing compared to this.

The first thing he noticed when entering the room were two couches, one in front of the other. Subaru was sitting in the middle of one, keeping his head low and hands on his knees, flanked by a silver-haired elf and a blue-haired maid, who raised their heads and looked at them once they entered.

The elf had to be Emilia, but who—

"Yo," a voice rang out. Turning his head, Rigel—sitting in front of Subaru—took a good look at the two visitors. After a quick glance at Crusch, he focused on Leo. "Been awhile since we met."

Another tuft of silver hair peeked through the backrest, eyeing Crusch. "Are you my third mommy?" she asked.

Before either of them could react, Subaru rose his head and spoke, his voice cracking a bit. He was even more nervous than Leo. "You can sit down, Crusch, Leo. It's complicated, but…" He quickly glanced at the two figures sitting in front of him. "You know Rigel, right? You don't have to explain who you are."

Mother and daughter looked at each other in confusion. Neither could speak a word. Why was Rigel here? Why were there two Emilias? How did they know who he really was!? Wilhelm and Felix would keep it a secret. They'd never reveal it before Leo himself could.

As they approached the group, Emilia patted the seat to her right, indicating Crusch to sit down there. Meanwhile, a dark-haired girl and Beatrice made some space for Leo on the other couch. Seeing as there were too many people sitting there, Beatrice stood up and sat on Subaru's lap instead.

"Emilia-sama," Crusch said, earning the attention of everyone in the room. "I sent a letter wishing to discuss our alliance, but the truth is-"

"We already know that Leo is Subaru's child," Emilia said, cutting off Crusch and looking at Leo straight in the eyes. His mouth went gape and his mind, blank. He wanted to say that was absurd, but the way she was gazing at him and the tone of her voice convinced him that it was true. Was this how Crusch felt when he introduced himself to her?

The only thing more ridiculous than someone saying they were someone's child from the future was someone else knowing about it.

"I know that this sounds impossible, but it isn't the first time this has happened. The truth is," Subaru eyed Rigel before turning back to Leo. "Rigel is also my son."

"WHAT!?" Leo exclaimed, looking at Rigel, then back at Subaru, repeating the process a few times. He could see some of the similarities between father and son now. He hadn't paid that much attention to her, but the dark-haired girl sitting next to Rigel was wearing similar clothes to him. Were they brothers?

"Let me explain everything," Subaru said. "A week ago, I was buying some supplies in the village when I met Chocorina. I brought her here, and she turned out to be my daughter. My daughter with my beloved Emilia-tan, coming from the-" Subaru started getting excited, raising the tone of his voice, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He muttered a quick apology and continued.

"Then, the next day, Rigel and Spica came here, and they were Rem's children. And finally, when we received a letter from Crusch, Rigel told us that he had met Leo. And this leads us to this moment."

"I see," Crusch said. "It certainly is a hard prospect to believe."

"I'm sorry that you ended up dragged onto this," Subaru said, deviating his gaze from her. Seeing as the air in the room became awkward, Rem raised her voice.

"We've made preparations for your stay, Crusch-sama. Rigel, Spica, why don't you show Leo around?"

Rigel and Rem met their eyes for a split second before he nodded. He stood up and grabbed Chocorina by her shoulders, then nodded at Leo.

"I wanted to talk to my third mommy…" Chocorina pleaded, earning a pat from Spica. Once they left the room, Rigel let go of Chocorina, who had her hand grabbed by Spica and dragged away.

Seeing his two adorable sisters turning a corner, Rigel stretched his arms high and turned towards Leo.

"Man, thank Od Laguna that we left that room. The air was so tense I could slice it with a knife." He patted Leo's back and continued. "I'll introduce you to everyone."

Leo looked back at the door, thinking about what his mother could be discussing. "Sure…" he muttered, a tone of indecisiveness in his voice.

"Mind if I ask a few questions?" Rigel said in a serious tone. Leo nodded, and the half-oni shot the first one.

"Do you think that something feels… weird? How everyone just accepted what happened?" Rigel continued speaking, not giving Leo a chance to answer. "I know there's no option but to shrug this off and accept it… But, dunno, it doesn't sit right with me. It doesn't feel real."

"At first I was scared that Mother wouldn't believe me, but-"

"Yeah, same! But everyone trusted you without thinking twice about it, right!? And those weird hands, never heard of anything like that. Who brought us here?"

"I'm afraid I have no clues."

"I thought so…" Rigel answered, dropping his head and sighing. "Oh, one more thing. Whatever happened in your life, how dad ended up with your mom, and all of that, don't mention a word to him. This whole mess is being hard on him, no need to worry him more. Not sure how he's even taking your whole existence."

Having finished speaking, Rigel hopped and put his right arm over Leo's left shoulder, closing the distance between the two.

"But enough chit-chat, let's go meet your aunt!" A puzzled look crossed his face. "Hey, do you think the sister of the mom of a half-brother from another timeline counts as an aunt?"

As you can see, this chapter isn't finished. The very last part is unpolished as fuck, and that's because fuck this fic. Been trying to write this single chapter for months and it's just never good enough, the characters don't sound real, the body language is scarce and I can't for the love of me be happy with what I wrote.

I love this fic, I really do. I was excited when I first began, and I loved the first chapters and how the characters came to life. But writing it has been a fucking chore. I had more plans, more interactions between everyone, but it soon became a hassle to manage everything. I kept cutting ideas until eventually I arrived at whatever mess this chapter is. And I quit here. This mess is destroying my love for writing.

Because you probably want to know the rest of the fic, I will tell you. If some poor soul wants to write the ending, feel free to do it. Dm it to me (my discord tag is Syra#1737, though dm's also work. A google docs link if possible) and I will edit it a bit, give you credit and post it. I don't enjoy people making spinoffs or spiritual successors off this, so please don't do it.

As for the rest of the plot, here you go, straight from my notes. Thanks for reading and for all the love.

Helena meets Nikolai and Maia in Arlam, instantly deduces who they are. She gets on Maia's nerves by making fun of Nikolai's inexistent sense of fashion. They go towards Anastasia's carriage, where she and Priscilla are bickering and not getting along like usual.

They storm into the mansion and take Subaru by surprise, because a certain clown conveniently forgot to mention the two other letters that arrived a day after Crusch's. True reason why everyone was so overworked, the mansion has like four times the people than usual.

A very tense lunch takes place. Subaru wishes to just disappear from the place. He can't take hold on his feelings towards Crusch, he did admit she could be third place in his heart. But a timeline where he ended with Anastasia and Priscilla? He barely knew one of them and hated the other!

After eating, Rigel has the same talk he had with Leo with Ana and Pris kids. Man just worries about his father. The "no one needs to know they died" line really impacted him.

The meeting continues, except this time Anastasia and Priscilla have joined. Some pointless talk and a bunch of insults after, Subaru feels something tingling his spine. A black shadow overtakes the room.

Satella's plan backfired (who could have predicted this? The jealous girl got jealous!). Seeing how happy everyone seemed, Envy took over and decided to pay everyone a visit and remind the whores who Subaru belonged to.

Fight breaks out, but like it's Satella, they ain't doing jackshit. In the end, Subaru is forced to stab his throat with an ice shard that broke off one of Emilia's ice spears.

Open ending. Interpret what happens next as you will. Subaru was cut off by Tella-chan, but he was about to reject everyone but Emilia and Rem.