Chapter 4
Life at the Astrea Mansion
The guest, Natsuki Subaru, had fallen back asleep after introducing himself. Felt had gathered the rest of the mansion residents in the guest room and informed everyone of the decision to allow him to stay with them indefinitely. Initially, Subaru was supposed to have been present for the discussion, but he had fallen asleep and they did not want to wake him.
To Carol's surprise, their decision was met with less resistance than expected. Her own family stayed quiet on their thoughts, and Ezzo didn't object this time either. The only concerns raised were—
"Didn't you say you brought him here for treatment? What brought this change all of a sudden?" Rachins asked, clearly doubtful of his leader's decision.
"We can't just let him leave. He's a friend and he's in no condition to be left to himself." Felt answered, crossing her arms, annoyed at being questioned like this.
"Are you absolutely sure he isn't a Sin Archbishop though?" Camberley asked, the short squirt's eyes nervously snapping to the comatose boy.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"I assure you, he's harmless." Reinhard too spoke up in Subaru's defense. "If he was dangerous, I wouldn't have brought him here. He's already been hurt so much, so please don't hurt him anymore, that is all I'm asking." With those words, Reinhard began bowing his head to the three former thugs as they flinched back in shock.
For a moment, Carol's stoic demeanor cracked as she sighed. With the power that Reinhard held, he could have easily forced the three into submission. But just like every single time, he chose to be polite and instead request their cooperation.
'Just what part of him is a monster, Wilhelm?'
Carol despised what happened to Theresia too. Wilhelm may have truly loved the former sword saint, but Carol's love for her wasn't any less either. Unlike the old warrior, she understood that what'd happened to Theresia during the White Whale subjugation battle was an unfortunate coincidence. Was it necessary to blame a four-year old child and call him a monster?
She had at least hoped that with the White Whale finally dead that the two would finally reconcile at Priestella. But after his journey to the Watchtower, it was clear that things had only gotten worse.
On top of that, Heinkel was just as troublesome as ever. The Astrea family's dynamic was a mess that gave Carol the worst of migraines.
As a result, Reinhard had not grown up to be the kind of person who would ask for anything but instead, meekly respond to whatever was requested of him.
So this was truly a first; the very first time he had actively demanded something unreasonable, and everyone in the room knew it.
"..." Rachins frowned as wordlessly looked back and forth between the bowing Reinhard and the sleeping white-haired boy.
"But…" Camberley tried to get a word in, but couldn't think of any objections.
"Rachins, Camberley, it's fine, isn't it?" Gaston finally said in acceptance. "I mean… if the Sword Saint says he's alright, then there's nothing to worry about, right?"
His companions sighed and nodded their heads in resignation.
"Nobody else has any problems, right?" Felt asked again. "Ezzo?"
"Don't ask me. You've already made up your mind, haven't you?" The mage answered with a tired sigh. "I've got no problems."
"What about you Grandpa? Flam? Grassis?"
"...no…problem…" In a hoarse voice, Grimm answered for the three of them as Flam and Grassis shook their heads.
"And Old Man Rom. Don't you dare say no!" Felt spoke up. She received no reply. Carol was surprised too. He was standing behind Grimm just a few minutes ago. Where did he go? He better not be up to something.
Turning her head to face the sleeping Subaru, her eyes widened. Felt looked in the same direction and everyone was left flabbergasted at the scene.
There Rom was, standing beside Subaru, gently patting his head with one hand while the other was on his chin as he watched with perplexity.
"It's strange," he said. "Felt, do you know this boy?"
Felt closed her mouth that had opened up in surprise. She scratched the back of her head before answering, "I know, right? I don't know him, yet the longer I look at him, something feels wrong. It's a strange feeling. You're feeling it too, aren't you, Old Man Rom?"
"Does that mean Cromwell was familiar with the boy too before his existence was erased?" Carol asked in curiosity.
"Don't call me by that name!" Rom exclaimed, and the noise caused Subaru to grunt and stir uncomfortably.
"Keep quiet, all of you! He needs to sleep." Ezzo ordered them and they immediately fell silent.
After the mage had ensured that the guest was fast asleep, the conversation resumed from where it had left off.
"It would appear so." Reinhard spoke out all of a sudden, making everyone look at him in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Rachins asked.
"If he was familiar with Felt-sama, there is a high chance that he was familiar with Rom-dono as well."
"So that's what you meant," Rom said.
"Does that mean you have no objections either?" Carol asked.
"No. The kid can stay as long as he likes."
With the primary state of affairs addressed, a silence spread throughout the room, the only sounds breaking the pin drop silence was the occasional grunts of the sleeping Subaru.
"Huh? It went by a lot easier than I'd thought." Felt said in surprise.
"It's a good thing, isn't it, Felt-sama?" Reinhard was beaming at the results as he lifted a chair and brought it to Subaru's bedside. Seeing the happiness on his face made everyone else relax as well.
"It's decided then. Natsuki Subaru is staying with us." Felt declared with her thumb pointing at the boy. "And if any of you bastards try to sell him out, I'll release Reinhard on you!" She threatened with her hands on her hips as she walked out of the room.
"Don't worry. No one's dumb enough to do that after that threat." Ezzo mumbled as everyone slowly began dispersing away.
The room soon became empty leaving only Subaru, Reinhard and Carol. Picking up a book, Reinhard leaned back against the chair and relaxed.
"Young Master, are you going to stay here?" Carol asked. She could understand his concern when the white-haired boy hadn't woken up, but now that they had confirmed he was alright, Reinhard didn't need to continue to stay awake all night by his side any longer.
"I'm just here in case he needs something when he wakes up. If something comes up, I'll call for you." Reinhard reassured her.
Carol gave in. With a sigh, she let down her folded arms and bowed. "As you wish, Young Master."
Walking to the door, she turned back one last time. "Good night, Young Master," she said.
"Good night, Carol." Reinhard smiled as she closed the door.
Ezzo Cadner admitted he was not the smartest person around. Even then, he was at least perceptive enough to be able to detect a dangerous situation. But this situation… he could make neither heads nor tails of it.
"...Thanks." With a monotone yet sincere tone, the guest expressed his gratitude.
The person before him wasn't rude in any way. On the contrary, he was quite polite and sincere and sometimes even awkward in his words. And he was so weak that Ezzo could easily put him down if he were to try something suspicious.
But the aura that seemed to radiate from him… It somewhat rattled Ezzo. His face was deathly pale, his eyes were bottomless pits of darkness. The mage understood that torture does that to a person. But the disconnect between Subaru's personality and his demeanor threw him off a lot.
The guest loosened his robe and began unwrapping the bandages around his hands and chest exposing his scarred body; from several bite and burn marks to a large slash mark across his abdomen. Ezzo was curious as to their origin but decided to keep that question for some other time.
For now, though, there was a bigger issue. His body was just skin and bones, ribs visible through his chest. Subaru tightened his robe as Ezzo handed him the tray of food the twin maids had left for him earlier. Subaru warily looked back and forth between the tray and Ezzo before finally accepting it into his hands.
Letting out a deep exhale, "Thank you for the help," he said, melancholy filling up his eyes. "I'm sorry for the trouble I'm causing you and everyone else. I would leave but…." His eyes drifted to the door of the room, and then back at the tray of food.
"It's no big deal," Ezzo answered, trying to hide his exhaustion from his voice. It had taken him almost three days to heal him completely, requiring much mana to say the least. But he absolutely couldn't reveal this fact to his fragile patient; he felt as though he wouldn't take it well. "You are in no condition to leave anyhow. You should focus on recovering."
Subaru nodded his head and slowly picked up the spoon, his hands shaking as he did. It took him a while to get a proper grip on the spoon, but once he did, he ate in silence and Ezzo got up and left the room to inform Reinhard of the progress.
By the time Reinhard had come back to the room after finishing all his work for the day, Subaru had already finished eating and was lying down on the bed trying to sleep, but was unable to. So Reinhard took his place on the chair beside Subaru's bed and they began talking about nothing in particular.
"The weather is nice today, isn't it?"
"It is….? I haven't been outside so I don't really know."
"I see. I apologise… I hadn't thought about that before."
"It's not a problem…"
Subaru's eyes drifted away from him in unease as he wrung his hands together tightly. Reinhard hoped he could do something to help Subaru relax but considering his circumstances, it would probably take a long time before Subaru could open up to them.
"Subaru, is there anything else you need?"
"No… I'm alright."
"..."
"..."
"Subaru, if you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask."
"Yeah… sure. Thanks."
"..."
"..."
Reinhard frowned. Subaru was trying too hard not to be a bother and he was trying not to get too close to anyone. He was responding, but he would not talk anymore than required. Reinhard understood why Subaru could not put more trust in him. After his failure to protect him back in Priestella, Reinhard was disappointed at himself too. But he still wished he could help Subaru.
"The weather is really nice today."
"You've already said that before." Subaru sighed as Reinhard looked at him in concern. Fixing his bed hair, Subaru sat up straight and looked Reinhard straight in the eyes. "Reinhard, I'm completely fine. If there's anything I need I'll definitely call you. You really don't have to stay here and waste your time on-"
"—Nope! Not staying away any longer! This is way too depressing! What's wrong with you two?"
Their eyes widened as they turned to the wooden door to watch it being kicked open by the rowdy Felt and Rom. Reinhard did have the suspicion that someone was listening in through the door but didn't bother to check since it was doing no one any harm. Such childish behaviour was to be expected from Felt… but to think Rom was listening in too.
Felt stepped in without any hesitation while Rom followed from behind, sighing. "Come on! Weren't you curious about our guest? Get in here and greet him properly!" Felt ordered the old man while Reinhard watched in amusement.
"...curious about me? I'm not a circus animal…" Subaru crossed his arms and grumbled in annoyance.
"Are you an idiot?" Felt marched up to Reinhard and pointed a finger at him. "Didn't you say you wanted to talk to him? What was that earlier? I felt like I died a little on the inside listening to the two of you talk."
"It's not nice eavesdropping on someone," Subaru said in annoyance and Felt turned her crimson eyes to him.
"And you! Make more of an effort to talk! At this rate, you're not going to convince anyone you're innocent," she scolded Subaru.
"I'll try harder next time," Subaru said, crossing his arms and showing no remorse. "So what exactly did Old Man Rom want with me?"
The moment he named Rom, the three's eyes widened and they looked at each other, nodding in confirmation.
"How do you know my name, boy? Have we met before?" Rom asked in curiosity. Both Reinhard and Felt had their ears peeled, ready to listen to what Subaru had to say.
"You were one of the first people I met when I came to Lugunica. The others being Felt, Reinhard and Emilia." He answered and they looked at each other in surprise. "It's been a while since I last met you, so… it's good to see you're still alive, I guess."
Felt chuckled at his words. "Kind of glad about it myself, big bro," she said, joining in on Subaru's joke.
"I ain't dying that easily!" Rom shouted.
Although Subaru's behaviour hadn't changed too much, the fact that he was joking around this way made Reinhard hope that they would eventually close this distance someday.
"So we were your first friends…" Felt mumbled with a hand on her chin. Reinhard found it impressive how she just assumed they were friends without ever confirming if that was the case. He couldn't help but admire her confidence.
Subaru did not give any more of an explanation, but all of them had started to realise which day he was talking about. Because there was only a single day when the four he mentioned were gathered together. "The day Elsa attacked…"
Reinhard did feel suspicious about their memories of that day since a large part of the events that played out were hazy in their minds. But with Subaru's answers, the reason for their incomplete memories and frequent migraines had become apparent.
Reinhard was worried, and when he turned to face Subaru, he was frowning, his eyes darkened and he was biting his lower lip, like he was relieving a bad memory. The bowel hunter, Elsa Granhiert. And the big slash mark across his abdomen. Was that why that mark was there? Did it happen before he arrived or was it another instance of his failures?
"Say kid, there anyone else in the mansion you recognise?" Rom asked, reading the tense atmosphere and attempting to divert their attention away from the topic. Their near brush with death wasn't something they wanted to relive again.
"Others….? Well, TonChinKan tried to mug me earlier that same day," he answered in a nonchalant manner and the others tilted their heads in confusion. TonChinKan?
"Gaston, Rachins and Camberley." Subaru explained, and Felt sighed with her hand on her head.
"Why is it always those three idiots?" She turned and began walking out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Rom asked.
Turning around, "I'm going to work those idiots to death!" she declared as she left the room. Rom turned to look at Subaru one more time before he followed her out shortly after, leaving behind just Subaru and Reinhard once again.
After they had left, Reinhard looked down, his fists clenched on top of his thighs, wondering what other things Subaru had gone through and just how many times he had failed to save him. In just this one conversation, he had found out about two times Subaru was in danger and he had failed to protect him.
Maybe it was the expression on Reinhard's face but on seeing him, Subaru sighed. "Reinhard," Subaru called out from beside him.
His blue eyes turned to meet Subaru's black eyes and he noticed them soften for the first time since he'd patted him in that prison cell.
"At that time… when those three had me surrounded and I shouted for help at the top of my lungs… guess who came to save me."
Reinhard's eyes trembled as he slowly shook his head. He didn't know who helped him.
"You have saved my life, and I, Natsuki Subaru, am forever grateful."
Those clumsy words of gratitude that had entered his mind, try as he might, he couldn't remember anything beyond it. He was disappointing Subaru again. Yesterday, Subaru had cried because no one could remember who he was. And now Reinhard was failing Subaru again because he couldn't remember either.
To his surprise, when his gaze rose to meet Subaru's, he wasn't sad. For the first time since he arrived in this place, a small smile had found its way onto Subaru's lips.
"Thank you for always saving me," he said, before lying back down on his bed and turning away.
The other residents had also stopped by a few times introducing themselves before continuing on with their work.
It was around evening time when Flam and Grassis had entered Subaru's room to introduce themselves to him. The twins curtsied in sync and Subaru's brows creased up as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Flam and Grassis Remendis. In case you need something, please do not hesitate to ask them," Carol said.
His eyes narrowed hearing their names. "Remendis?"
"They are my granddaughters, Subaru-sama," Carol answered with a tiny hint of pride entering her voice as she did. She wasn't usually one to show off but it was natural to feel proud of her children, wasn't it?
Subaru turned his head from Carol to the two of them and gave them his hand. "I-I'm Natsuki Subaru. It's nice to meet you. T-Thank you for the help." He stuttered nervously.
The girls inclined their heads, looked at each other and then his hand. Without showing much excitement or much disappointment or any expression on their faces, Flam slowly raised her hand to shake his and Grassis followed suit.
"Alright now, both of you. You can go ahead and continue your work." And the two walked away while Carol and Subaru watched them.
"Are all twins always like this?" Subaru asked, making Carol raise her eyebrows.
"In Flam and Grassis's case, they've not had much interaction with others outside their work. So they can be stiff at times but are you aware of any other twins like that?"
"...The ones I knew were distant in the beginning too… but they did end up becoming more friendly with time," he said, but his expression turned bitter and his eyes were threatening to leak tears as he spoke. Perhaps they were his old acquaintances before his existence was erased. He shook his head and looked down seemingly in nostalgia.
"They're the ones who are responsible for taking care of the mansion, right? I'm really sorry for increasing their workload," he said with a regret filled expression. "Carol-san, could you let me help with the household work too? I used to be a butler for Roswaal before I became Emilia's knight, so-"
"Subaru-sama," Carol said as a sad smile fleeted across her face. "It's nothing you have to worry about. You should focus on recovering for now."
"I…." He rubbed the back of his neck, as his eyes lowered in guilt.
"Subaru-sama, you need not worry. Please focus on what you can do for now." Carol meant to say this as an encouragement, but when she said this, his expression darkened instead.
"What I can do…" He murmured, his voice shaking. He bit his lips and his eyes drifted to his bedside table atop which lay a small empty tea cup and saucer and an empty plate with cutlery resting on it. She wondered what he was thinking when he turned his attention back to her. His reaction was… concerning.
"Subaru-sama?"
"I really… really wish there was more I could do," he said, closing his eyes.
Carol sighed at his words. "Subaru-sama, I have not known you long enough for you to be able to say anything that could ease your heart at this moment, but…" With a smile, Carol lifted her hand to pat his head, and Subaru almost flinched at the gentle touch before finally relaxing. "What I can say with certainty is that Subaru-sama's time will surely come one day. That day has just not arrived yet."
"...D-do you really think so?" He asked.
"Yes, I do."
Upon hearing Carol's words, Subaru relaxed again and let her hands down. She began clearing out the dishes on the table onto a tray.
"I… hope that will be the case," Subaru muttered with a heavy sigh, turning to her and began helping her keep the empty dishes on the tray.
As they were putting everything back—
"ah—!" A tiny voice escaped his mouth as the plate and the knife slipped from his hands, almost dropping them to the floor. Fortunately, he caught the plate before it could fall. But—
"Sorry. I… I dropped the knife somewhere. " Subaru said, his regretful eyes cast downwards.
Carol narrowed her eyes. She crouched down to search for the knife but could not find it anywhere. With a sigh, "You need not worry about that. We'll search for it later. Anyways, please just rest for now," she reassured him.
Once she had finished clearing the table and he laid back down, she walked out the room leaving him to himself. Before she closed the door, she turned to look at him one last time and sighed.
Carol's life that she had spent as an attendant had taught her one very important thing. Sometimes, it was important to take a leap of faith. Because people have the tendency to amaze everyone… and all that was needed was a bit of patience.
"...Beatrice….please…." Begging, sweating and hyperventilating, his eyes red and puffy and his hair disheveled, Subaru cried in his sleep as numerous new scars opened up on his arms, creating small crimson stains on the sleeves of his robes. Those newly opened wounds were what Ezzo had been healing at the behest of Reinhard for the past hour. Vulnerable, needy and thrashing about, it was hard not to feel sorry for him.
It didn't take him long to calm Subaru down and he dimmed the lights, getting up to leave the room. It was then the door to the room opened up slightly and a narrow slit of light entered the room.
Walking up to the door, he pulled it ajar.
"Have you finished healing him?" The red-haired knight asked him.
"Yes." Ezzo answered, noticing Reinhard's shaking hands.
"I see." Reinhard looked down at the ground and then ahead at the white-haired boy sleeping with his face turned away.
After two had exited the room, Ezzo was the first to speak up.
"If you don't mind my asking… who is Beatrice?"
"...The Great Spirit of the Emilia Camp. According to him, she used to be his…contracted spirit," Reinhard responded.
"Is it possible to get her to come see him?"
"That is… impossible. She was first…" Reinhard's shoulders slumped and he let out a heavy breath. "The first to make the accusations."
Upon hearing his words, Ezzo truly understood just how unfortunate Subaru was. The person he wanted to see the most in the world was the one who had condemned him to a lifetime of hell, had Reinhard not saved him.
"...Is there anything we can do… about…" Reinhard hesitated to speak any further, opting instead to look at the ground.
Ezzo turned to look at the door for a brief moment before returning his gaze back to Reinhard. "The physical wounds I can deal with… but there's nothing I can do about his mind."
Reinhard clenched his teeth audibly at his powerlessness.
Ezzo continued, "For now, I have made sure that he will sleep dreamlessly, but it won't last long."
Reinhard nodded his head. "...I know I am incapable of doing anything in this situation, but—" He put his hand on the doorknob and walked back inside Subaru's room. "—I still wish I could do something." He said, closing the door behind him.
Ezzo watched the closed door for a while, wondering why Reinhard and Felt had such an uncanny attachment to the white-haired boy.
Maybe those two were close to Subaru before his existence was erased was what he assumed, but Subaru had not yet revealed anything about the past, so he couldn't tell for sure.
The first day had gone by without too much progress in their relationship with Subaru. All they could do was continue to help him and hope he would open up to them someday. It would at least help Ezzo get rid of the uneasiness he felt.
"I can't remember all of this!" Felt complained, slamming her fists on the book on her lap.
"Felt…" A confused voice called out to her from beside her.
"Yeah?"
"...What are you doing?"
"Studying obviously!" She replied in a matter-of-fact manner.
"I can see that, but…" Subaru's eyes twitched as he got up from the bed and looked at her in annoyance. "Why do you have to do it here!? I can't sleep with you shouting here!"
"Oh, sorry about that! My bad, big bro! I'll try to be quieter!" With a salute, she crossed her legs on the chair she sat and focussed her attention back on the book on her lap. Subaru laid back down on the bed, facing away from her.
Felt was trying her hardest to concentrate, but the book was boring. The fact that she had to memorise all of this killed her motivation to read even more. No, she had to study. If she didn't, Reinhard would drag her back to her room again. But it was boring and she hated it. But she didn't want to go back. She held her head and grunted while her sudden movements caused the chair to rock and shake creating even more noise.
"Felt, quiet!" The white-haired boy got up and threw a pillow at her, but—
"I caught it—whoaaa!" Just as she threw her hands into the air and shouted in victory, Subaru threw a second pillow, catching her off-guard and she fell, toppling over the chair she sat on, along with her and the book.
Under normal circumstances, she would have been annoyed, but right now she was far from angry. It was her own fault for disturbing him while he was trying to sleep.
Ezzo had explained earlier that healing magic didn't magically heal wounds. It simply accelerated the body's own ability to heal and since Subaru was so gravely injured, he was most likely exhausted from the healing.
Rubbing her head and hands, she got up and straightened up the chair as well. Picking up the book, she frowned and said, "Sorry about that, big bro. I guess I'll leave."
With her head down, she turned around to leave, when suddenly—
"Ah, forget it! I can't sleep anymore! You can stay if you want," he said, sweeping his white-hair back and sitting up on the bed.
She turned around in joy as he turned to sit on the edge. She rushed back and gleefully sat back down on the chair.
"What were you reading exactly?" He took the book from her hands and opened it to take a look. The moment he did—
"—Ughh!" His face contorted in disgust as he held the book open facing her. On the open page was a picture of the White Whale and even Felt couldn't help but feel unsettled by how lifelike the picture looked. The artist had done a truly wonderful job.
Moving on to the text, it was about the White Whale subjugation about fifteen years ago, the one where Reinhard's grandmother died. And reading it in Reinhard's presence…. it was uncomfortable, so she had come to Subaru's room to avoid him, but had ended up disturbing him instead.
"Seriously hate those killer rabbits and this overgrown Moby Dick. You really need to read about these? They're gone, aren't they?" He asked, pointing at the White Whale and then at the Great Rabbit after turning over the pages of the book and glancing through the contents.
"It's still something that happened and is an important part of history. Honestly though, I don't want to," she frowned. "But I have no choice-" As she spoke, she noticed Subaru was looking up with a finger on his chin.
"Big bro, are you listening?" She called out to him by shaking him.
"Huh!? What!?" The startled Subaru looked in her direction who was looking at him with curiosity.
"W-What is it?" He asked, backing away slightly.
"What were you thinking?"
"It's nothing. I was just wondering…" He sighed. "Am I the only one who finds it odd how the concept of a whale exists when there's no sea in this world?"
Sea? What could that mean? Reinhard did mention that he was a foreigner, so hearing all these new words made her want to know more about where he's from. Rocking her legs, she sat up straight and looked up at him.
"What's a sea?"
"It's a large body of water."
"Like a river?"
"No, think larger. It feels more endless."
"Really? That sounds awesome, big bro! Does that really exist?"
"Not here, but it exists where I'm from."
"I'd love to see it! How do I get there?"
"You can't. I don't know where it is and how to get there from here."
"That's disappointing." He didn't seem to be lying and it seemed to be causing him a lot of pain, so Felt decided to stop that line of questioning. "…But you guys must not have any problems running out of water then."
"That's not true. The water is salty, so you can't drink it."
"Why's it salty?"
"Rainwater is slightly acidic, so it can degrade rocks and released mineral ions are carried into the seawater as runoff." Putting a finger on his forehead, he closed his eyes, trying to recollect. "…It's also due to hydrothermal vents, I guess. Something about chemical reactions occuring because of the heating of water due to magma in the earth's core but I can't remember it very well. It's been a long time since I last studied all that stuff."
"Huh? What the hell is that? Explain in a way I can understand." Felt demanded, unsatisfied with his explanation. "What's that mineral thing? And what's hydro-something?"
Subaru closed the book and looked at her in annoyance. Placing the book beside him on the bed, he said, "When you keep asking me questions like this, it reminds me you really are a kid."
Pouting, "Who are you calling a kid?" She threw him a punch, only for it to be blocked easily by Subaru's hand. "What… you too, big bro!?" Reinhard already kept blocking all her attacks, now even Subaru had bested her.
"Too predictable." He answered, as he lowered his hand and opened and closed his fist while trying to shake off the pain. "That hurt, you know." He complained. "At least, you're not Emilia or Garfiel. If I had tried to block their punches, my arm would have been ripped right off my socket."
The moment he began mentioning his old friends, any joy she was feeling instantly vanished. He was still stretching and shaking his arm and didn't seem to have noticed her expression yet.
Everytime he fell asleep, he would cry, mostly for Beatrice, and the other Emilia Camp members. He would flail about crying, opening up his recently closed wounds and sometimes even proceed to scratch his arms to make new ones until someone could calm him down.
Did he cry like that during the time he was captured too? If he did, he didn't tell them anything. And the thought of him crying like that on the cold prison floor while no one came to his rescue pained her.
—Did none of them really feel that emptiness? They must have, right?
"I'm bored." The dull voice of the person beside her broke her out of her thoughts. "Do you have anything more interesting than books about creatures that want to eat me alive?" He asked, picking up the book and flipping through its pages again.
"There's also other books on Lugunican history, language textbooks, books on leadership and other kinds of rubbish that I need to cram into my head."
"...Maybe I'll ask Reinhard if he has any novels or something. Not really in the mood for studying," He mumbled. "Don't you have any other sources of entertainment?"
"I guess there might be a Shatranj board around here or something. But I can't really play it and I don't think you'd enjoy playing with Reinhard." Felt replied bitterly. Leaning against her chair, she looked up trying to think if there was anything else she could give him.
All of a sudden, "That's it!" he shouted as his right fist hit his left palm, startling Felt, who looked over at him in surprise.
"Big bro…?"
"Get me a few pieces of cardboard, scissors and coloured pens." He requested.
"Sure… but why?"
"I'm going to introduce you to a board game from my hometown. —One I happen to be really good at," he answered, and Felt looked in surprise at the devilish smirk that came over his face.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"/"YEESSSSSSSS!"
Felt and Ezzo screamed out in unison.
"Big Bro, he cheated, didn't he? There's no way I would lose against someone like him!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!? I won fair and square! Subaru-san, tell her!"
As Ezzo defended himself against the blonde princess' accusation, both turned to look at the third person present in the room. Sitting cross-legged atop his bed, he lifted his head from where it was resting on his palm and looked at Felt in pity.
"From what I saw, Ezzo didn't cheat. You lost this one, Felt." Subaru declared his verdict.
"See, I told you!" Ezzo smirked.
"Traitor!" Felt glared at Subaru as she gritted her teeth, but he paid no attention to her.
It had been about two days since Subaru had woken up and the three of them were currently in the guest room where he was recuperating. Subaru was sitting up on the bed, overlooking the two visitors in his room, while Felt and Ezzo were engaged in a game of Othello.
It was a strangely fun game that Subaru had introduced to them that morning and Felt had loved it so much that she had gone around challenging everyone in the mansion. She had managed to beat Gaston, Camberley, Rachins, Grimm, Flam and Grassis. Unfortunately, her winning streak was cut short when she had challenged Ezzo.
Ezzo felt a great deal of satisfaction watching Felt sulk after defeating her. It wasn't often that he got a chance to gloat over her defeat.
At the same time, while Felt had lost the game, there was something she had succeeded in. His eyes drifted to Felt arguing with an irritated Subaru, trying to get him to change his judgement. Whatever she had done, Subaru was actively interacting with them and he seemed to be enjoying it too.
"Let's go for another round! This time I'll definitely win!" Felt challenged Ezzo again.
"I think that's enough distraction for now, you've been playing since morning after all." The three simultaneously turned their heads to the door to see the flaming red haired knight walk inside, "It's time you let Subaru rest, as well as resume your studies, Felt-sama."
Felt stuck her tongue out at Reinhard and turned away from him, pouting.
"Ezzo, have you finished examining Subaru for today?" Reinhard's inquiry suddenly reminded Ezzo why he had come there in the first place before he was interrupted by Felt.
"I almost forgot! I'll do it now." Ezzo turned to Subaru and began his health examination.
"Very well. Please finish your work. I'll come back after I have taken Felt-sama back to her room," he said, mercilessly dragging the protesting blonde candidate away.
As soon as they had left, an awkward silence filled the room. Ezzo felt the need to start a conversation, but he didn't know what to say. It was like when two people who had a mutual friend but weren't really good friends themselves would talk; they conversed well enough in that person's presence but their conversation would turn awkward as soon as that cornerstone left.
He looked up only to see Subaru occasionally opening his mouth as if to start a conversation and then quickly close it. It at least comforted him that the white-haired boy felt the same and wasn't the suspicious figure Ezzo had assumed he was.
Setting aside Reinhard and Felt, even that old man, Grimm, with his unbelievably keen intuition for danger, was certain that Subaru was not dangerous. Which was a relief because it would have been a lie if Ezzo said he didn't harbour any doubts. Even if he wasn't an Archbishop, Ezzo always wondered why Subaru had been so easily condemned if he was completely innocent.
Either he had really done something suspicious or the high stress situation in Priestella must have made everyone lose their minds; Ezzo was beginning to lean more towards the latter after witnessing the boy's tortured behaviour when asleep and hearing Reinhard's account last night.
"I'm done. How do you feel?" Ezzo finally broke the silence as he put down the arm he was holding up to ensure no more wounds had opened up again.
"Thanks. I'm fine," he said, inspecting the scars on his arms; and there were tons of them all over his body.
It made him wonder, did the boy enjoy challenging death or something? It was a miracle how he was even alive and it made Ezzo even more curious about his origins. Who was he? Where did he come from? And how did he manage to keep getting into life threatening situations?
Reinhard had already confirmed that he was a foreigner. And despite his scars, he didn't seem like someone from the merciless lands of Vollachia. His mannerisms did resemble someone from Kararagi, but his hair and eye colour was more common in Gusteko. And so was his unusually high spiritual affinity that Ezzo had noticed during his treatments.
But at the same time, the stories he told—like the 'sea' thing Felt had told everyone earlier that day—almost made it seem like he didn't belong to this world. And he didn't seem like a lunatic—he was too sharp-witted and cunning to be one. So it was truly a mystery where he'd come from.
"I'm getting sick of lying down all day. My body feels stiff too." He said, cracking his neck. "Do you think I could maybe get up and maybe run around here and there for a while?"
"You won't do any such thing!" Ezzo exclaimed.
"Is it really a bad thing though? My wounds have all closed up and a little exercise could do me well, right?" Subaru shrugged, leaving Ezzo astounded at how careless he could be. He was beginning to understand why Subaru kept falling into trouble so easily.
"Just because your wounds have closed up doesn't mean you have healed completely! I am not that great of a healer, so don't ruin my hard work! You need to rest!"
"I think you are a great healer though; not too many of my scars have remained. My former spirit couldn't do that well of a job, so you've done a better job than most healers I know."
Ezzo sighed on hearing Subaru's praises. There were no ulterior motives and Ezzo knew he was being genuine in his compliments. But—
"...And yet, I can't seem to get any of the colour titles." Ezzo muttered, crossing his arms, still bitter about his title of 'Gray'. Why was he given that title? Nobody would even remember it and it only served to humiliate him further.
"Colour?" Subaru asked, his eyes gazing at Ezzo in curiosity.
"You heard that!?" Ezzo asked and Subaru nodded his head. He obviously didn't want to talk about it, but Subaru refused to back down, his mean eyes still staring at Ezzo in anticipation of an answer.
"...A mage who is the best in a particular magic attribute is given the alias of that colour. Felix Argyle, who is the best Water mage in the Kingdom, was given the alias of Blue. The Court Mage, Roswaal L Mathers holds the title of the rest of three colours, Red, Green and Yellow." Ezzo explained begrudgingly.
"It's so unfair! That man holds three titles and I am called Gray! I am…" Ezzo continued to complain when suddenly—
"That's it!" Subaru exclaimed all of a sudden, making Ezzo jump back in surprise, while Subaru's eyes widened. "I knew I've met you before! You're the idiot that broke into the Roswaal Mansion to trap the clown in your weird metia thingy and got beaten up, aren't you?"
"Who are you calling an idiot!?" Ezzo retorted back immediately and it was then he noticed the discrepancy. "...Huh!? Wait, how did you know… that…"
"Because I was the idiot that got trapped in it," Subaru answered and Ezzo held his head in pain as memories flowed into him.
He had broken into the Roswaal Mansion to trap Roswaal in his metia—'Nest of the White Fox'—and expose him as a fraud, but he was unfortunately spotted by the half-witch, and invited inside to have tea with her, a great spirit and a blonde little super-child. As he was thinking of how to escape, the real Roswaal had arrived and he realized he had trapped—
"I don't remember trapping anyone… but there was still someone trapped inside?"
"There were two of us actually. I was dressed up like Roswaal and you mistook me for him and trapped me inside with Rem," Subaru explained, while closely monitoring Ezzo's reaction.
Ezzo didn't know what Subaru was expecting from him. A recollection perhaps? A proof of his existence maybe? But the thing was, the incident was too insignificant for it to have made a difference in his life. Well, other than being proven that he was inferior to Roswaal in every way.
If Subaru was expecting something, he was better off asking Felt or Reinhard or even Old Man Rom, whose increasing frequency of migraines was making him believe it really had something to do with Subaru's existence being forgotten.
He apologetically answered, "Sorry. My memory of the incident is a bit hazy. I can't recall it properly."
Subaru sighed. "That Gluttony sure is a pain," he said, audibly gritting his teeth.
"Subaru-san?" Ezzo worriedly called out, but Subaru dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
"….Anyways, you wanted to beat Roswaal?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to show everyone I was better than him." Ezzo sighed before looking up and stating firmly with determination, "I know I lost back then but …I'm not giving up though. I'll definitely surpass the Margrave someday! Just you wait!"
Ezzo looked at Subaru, completely expecting him to laugh. But to his surprise—
"I wish you all the best for it then," Subaru said, and Ezzo's eyes widened as for the first time ever, he saw a small smile spread across Subaru's lips. "Hate the clown too, so I'd love to see his ass being handed to him."
"Y-You really believe I can beat him?" Ezzo asked in disbelief as his voice stuttered.
"I saw you practicing in the garden in the morning from my window, and from what I've seen, I think you're a better mage than most people I know. I'm sure you'll definitely surpass him someday."
"...Subaru-san!" Ezzo shrieked suddenly, all teary eyed and touched upon listening to his praises.
"Wha…?" The startled Subaru jumped back slightly on his bed.
"You are the only person who has ever said that! Everyone else just laughs at me! Subaru-san is such a good—" As Ezzo happily cried out, he suddenly had a realisation and stopped. "Wait, what did you just say? You saw me practicing in the morning!?" He blushed furiously.
"I think everyone can see you practicing in the morning." Turning around to hear who had spoken, they saw Reinhard had returned and was walking into the room. "Your fire magic is very conspicuous. Were you perhaps trying to hide it?"
"Why else do you think I practice early in the morning when everyone is supposed to be asleep!?"
"You really are an idiot." Subaru asked with pity clear on his face to which Ezzo grunted. He was about to raise a voice in complaint when—
"Umm, Subaru…." Reinhard called out to the white-haired boy meekly.
"What is it? Do you need something from me?" Subaru asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, you see…." Reinhard hesitated and his eyes drifted to the pieces of coloured cardboard cutouts placed on the table beside Subaru's bed. "I saw everyone else playing it… and Felt-sama said it was really fun. I don't really have anything to do right now, so…. I was wondering if you'd teach me how to play too?" He asked in a soft voice.
"Yeah sure, why not?" Subaru answered almost instantly as he gathered the pieces littered around on the table and began arranging them.
Reinhard beamed in joy at Subaru's response, seeming almost relieved at the answer. Ezzo looked at Reinhard in pity, wondering if he really thought Subaru would refuse.
Reinhard scraped the chair along the floor and set it down beside Subaru's bed. As they got the board ready, Ezzo felt it wouldn't hurt watching a fifteen minute game, even though he was sure Reinhard would somehow win.
Three hours later—
"How the hell did you manage to tie twenty times in a row!?" Ezzo cried out in disbelief.
"You're amazing, Big bro. How did you manage to do that?" Felt praised Subaru as he continued to play against Reinhard.
At first, it was just a fifteen minute game that ended in a draw. Ezzo, unsatisfied with the results, asked them to play once more, but that too ended in a tie. One game turned into two, two into four, and now even after twenty rounds, they still couldn't determine a winner.
They would have stopped playing after an hour, but Felt had arrived with Carol wondering where Reinhard had gone and found him playing the board game with Subaru, and forced them to continue until a winner was decided. But even, Felt was starting to grow impatient.
"I don't know whether to feel proud or disappointed," Subaru said as he put another piece on the board and turned over more of Reinhard's pieces. "But… I shouldn't be complaining. At least, I'm lucky enough to be able to keep up with you despite your divine protections."
"You call this luck!?" Both Ezzo and Felt screamed in unison. No amount of luck could help him tie twenty times in a row.
"They're right, Subaru. You are doing great." Reinhard too praised him as Subaru tried to downplay himself.
"Well, I'm better at Othello than most other games, especially ones that require luck or critical thinking." Subaru sighed. "I doubt I'll be able to win against Reinhard in something like chess or Shatranj."
"We won't know that without trying. Maybe you'd do just as well." Reinhard answered as he turned over some of Subaru's pieces.
"Now that I think about it, isn't Reinhard-san using his divine protections technically cheating?"
The moment Ezzo pointed it out, all eyes immediately turned to Reinhard and a faint blush came over his face.
"I apologise. I did not realise that until now… but I do not know how to turn it off…."
"Hehe! So that means Rein would lose against Big Bro without them," Felt inferred as she puffed her chest out in pride.
What was she so proud of? It was Subaru who was doing well and she who had lost to Ezzo a few hours ago.
"Looks like it's going to be a tie again, Young Master, Subaru-sama." Carol observed from behind Felt as she looked down on the board as only a few more spaces were left but the board was split halfway between the two colours once again.
"—Argh! Give me that! I'm tired of this already! You! Take that side!" Felt snatched Reinhard's pieces and ordered Ezzo to play for Subaru.
Two minutes later—
"NOOOOOOOOO! NOT AGAIN!" Felt cried out in defeat as her hands smashed on the cardboard sending some of the pieces flying. Both Reinhard and Subaru patted her head as they looked at her in pity.
"YEESSSSSSSSS!" Ezzo threw his hands into the air and screamed in delight.
"I hate to spoil everyone's fun but I believe it is getting late. Subaru-sama, you have not rested at all today. Please-" Carol began, but her words were cut short when Subaru spoke up.
"Actually, about that… I'm feeling a lot better now so… could you please give me a job here?" Subaru requested, his eyes drifting from one person to another in the room as they looked at each other with troubled gazes. "I'm sick of just lying down all day."
Ezzo let out a deep breath and looked at Subaru sternly. "Subaru-san, with the number of injuries you had, it took me three days to heal you completely. Your wounds may have closed, but you're still low on blood. The healing is also draining your energy. You are in no condition to work."
"But-"
"No, buts! Please go to sleep for now." Without giving him any time to protest, Ezzo immediately put Subaru to sleep and his body went limp on the bed. Holding his head, Ezzo sighed. He was such a troublesome patient!
Reinhard and Carol adjusted the sleeping Subaru's position and tucked him in. As Ezzo watched them, he noticed Felt clenching her fist tightly and a fierce determination filling her eyes.
"What are you thinking?" Ezzo asked, and her head turned to face him.
"Do you think he's happy to be with us?"
From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Reinhard and Carol looking at them, listening to their conversation.
"...I suppose so," Ezzo answered, unsure but hoping it was true. They'd had a lot of fun today, and the white haired boy had begun to grow on the camp's wizard.
"I've made up my mind." Felt declared and they all turned to face her. "We'll obviously try to get his 'Name' back. But if we can't, I'll become King and we'll prove his innocence," she announced and the three around her smiled at her determination.
Grimm gazed with sympathy at the white-haired boy as he mumbled in his sleep. The effect of Ezzo's magic was over and Subaru was crying in his sleep again. He felt a little sad thinking he could do nothing about it, but as he found out, Subaru was surprisingly responsive to touch. Even a gesture as simple as patting his head calmed him down for sometime. The boy must have been very lonely.
He turned back to look at the door and then turned his gaze back to Subaru. Reinhard had entrusted him with the responsibility of watching over Subaru while he dealt with his drunk father. He knew it was rude of him but he still wished Heinkel would leave soon. Knowing how troublesome the inebriated knight was, there was no telling what he would do.
"...I don't know…. Julius…. Ferris… please believe me…." He cried out weakly as he slept. "Beatrice… please save…. Otto…."
Grimm looked at him in concern, hating how helpless he was for the boy. Once he was able to calm him down enough, he could go call Ezzo and Reinhard here. He felt bad overworking Ezzo, but they couldn't take him to any other healer and letting him recover on his own was a bad idea considering his circumstances.
Subaru twisted and turned in his sleep and the blanket covering him slid off of him and fell down. He bent down to pick it up when—
"...Rein…hard…" A very soft whisper escaped the sleeping boy's lips.
Grimm's eyes widened upon hearing the name. This was probably the first time he had taken Reinhard's name in his sleep. Of course, he couldn't say for certain. Maybe it meant he was moving on from the Emilia Camp or at least that was what Grimm hoped.
As he stood up straight again, picking the blanket, a gust of wind blew and his eyes widened for a second time when Reinhard stood there right beside the bed with a worried expression on his face.
"...young…master…." Grimm said, as Reinhard turned his gaze in his direction.
"Did Subaru call for me?" The red-haired knight asked.
"...in…his sleep…." Grimm answered.
"I see…." There was a conflicted expression on Reinhard's face. Grimm could understand Reinhard's dilemma at that point. Should he feel happy about the fact Subaru called for him even though he was still being plagued by nightmares?
"...it's….alright…." Grimm patted Reinhard's back with a smile. Reinhard turned to face him in surprise as he said, "...little steps…."
Reinhard let out a deep breath at Grimm's reassurance. Seeing as the knight had calmed down, Grimm crossed his arms behind his back and looked at the boy again.
"Hey! Stop! What do you think you are doing?"
"This is my house in the first place. I'm free to come in and go as I please. You are the freeloaders here!"
"Heinkel-sama, please let us wait for Young Master to come back down."
"No way! What is going on here? Why did that fool stop all of sudden in the middle of talking-"
Reinhard's breath hitched. The noises from the corridor stopped right outside the open door and there stood Heinkel Astrea, gaping at the scene.
"Sorry, we tried," Felt said with a defeated sigh. It seemed Reinhard had just stopped talking and had rushed up without giving an excuse as soon as Subaru called out his name. They were careless and now Subaru's presence to Heinkel.
The red-haired deputy commander had not yet said anything yet, but there was frown visible on his face.
Grimm looked at Carol and she at him and neither had any ideas on how to fix this situation. Meanwhile, any conversations that were previously taking place had come to a halt and silence occupied the room save for the soft sound of sobbing.
Stepping forward to take a closer look at the sleeping boy's face, Heinkel put his bottle down on the table and turned to face everyone again.
"Isn't that the Sin Archbishop that Juukulius and Argyle had captured?" He asked, breaking the silence and everyone looked at each in anxiety.
With Heinkel's position as deputy commander of the Royal Knights, he was bound to know Subaru's identity someway or the other. All they could do now was hope he was not petty enough to sell them out.
To their surprise, Heinkel began laughing. "Ha-ha-ha! I can't believe it! She was really right! So this is why you weren't letting me into my own house! The fool actually grew a pair and did it! Ha-ha-ha!"
"What the….?" Felt voiced out in shock. Her eyes looked over at Reinhard who looked equally confused by the reaction.
"Someone who's in even greater trouble than my Master! Unbelievable! She will definitely love this when I tell her. She'll stop annoying me for a while with this! Oh, I've really got to thank you for this Reinhard! What a wonderful son I have! Ha-ha-ha!" With a self-satisfied smirk and those obvious words of sarcasm, he turned back, preparing to leave, while Reinhard frowned.
Subaru groaned in his sleep at the noise but thankfully, did not wake up in this situation. Heinkel turned back to look at the white-haired boy sobbing in his sleep and his laughter stopped.
"You don't shy away from insulting your son every chance you get but you don't back out when you have to reap the benefits, do you?" Felt looked at him with disgust.
"Are you really in a position to lecture me?" Heinkel retorted. With a smile that seemed proud that he had gotten an advantage over Reinhard, he began walking away.
Everyone present there looked in panic at everyone else. To their surprise, "Don't worry. I'm not going to inform anyone else of this. Can't let go of an advantage like this so easily, can I?" Still laughing, he walked out the room and left, uncaring of anyone else there.
Heinkel's words provided them no relief. If his actions in Priestella were anything to go by, there was no reason to trust his words. But still—
"He won't tell anyone," Reinhard said all of a sudden, his eyes turning grave as he looked at Subaru. "He wouldn't endanger this place."
"How can you say that with-" Felt began to question, but she was interrupted by Reinhard himself.
"—Because Mother is here in this place," he answered, grief in his eyes as he looked down at the sleeping Subaru.
It had been four days since Subaru had arrived in the Astrea Mansion and there didn't seem to have been any more problems besides Heinkel the previous night. Heinkel seemed to have kept his word about not telling anyone about Subaru.
That was a relief, because a different problem had now taken its place. Reinhard clasped his hands over his knees, wondering how he would break it to Subaru and how he would react to it.
As he was dreading the possibilities, Subaru blinked his eyes open and let out a deep breath.
"You guys have got to stop knocking me out….," he complained, sitting up on the bed. "At least let me get out of bed now. I'm not even injured anymore."
Reinhard understood Subaru's frustration at being treated like he could be broken at any instant, but it didn't stop him from worrying. And his constant nightmares only made Reinhard worry more.
While Subaru cracked his neck and moved his arms around, Reinhard braced himself.
"Subaru… There's something I need to tell you."
"...What's wrong?" Subaru asked in concern.
"I received a letter today. I am required to go and give the details of my journey to the Pleiades Tower in the Capital." Reinhard said, waiting for Subaru's reaction.
To his surprise, Subaru didn't seem too bothered by it, as his expression changed from worry to disappointment. "You looked so serious for a minute there… I thought there was a huge problem or something." He sighed. "So what's the matter with it? You don't need my permission to leave, right?" he said, fixing his bed hair, and brushing his bangs back with his fingers.
"Do you really have no problems with it, Subaru?" Reinhard asked.
Subaru raised his eyebrows. "Why would I have a problem with it?"
"You called for me in your sleep and asked me not to leave you alone." Reinhard answered.
Subaru blinked twice upon hearing his words, trying to process what he had just said. A minute later, he watched as Subaru straightened up, his eyes widened and his face flushed a light-red.
"I did that!?" He shrieked in shock.
"Subaru…?"
"I can't believe it! Please tell me you're joking! Please tell me I didn't do something this embarrassing!" He shouted, hiding his face behind his hands.
"Wha….?" Reinhard asked in bewilderment.
"What kind of public shaming is this!? This is a character assassination, I tell you!" Subaru exclaimed, overreacting to Reinhard's words as he watched in bewilderment. Was Subaru always like this?
"What else do I say at night? Please tell me it's not more embarrassing than this!" He said, squirming on his bed in embarrassment.
Reinhard's eyes shadowed up. "You mostly cry for Beatrice-sama…."
Subaru instantly froze, his expression became dead serious and all the life in his eyes disappeared.
"Is that what I do…?" He asked, and while his face wasn't betraying anything, the slight quiver in his voice made Reinhard question if he should have informed Subaru. He nodded slowly and Subaru sighed.
"Reinhard, if you're worried about me, don't be."
"But-"
"I'll be fine," Subaru said resolutely. "Don't let me be a hindrance to you," he whispered with his eyes down.
Reinhard shook his head and opened his mouth to try and refute Subaru, but Subaru stopped him.
"Reinhard, do what you need to. I'm not a child. I'll be fine."
Reinhard looked down with a heavy heart. The white haired guest shouldn't have been hiding his own discomfort for Reinhard's sake, but it didn't seem like Subaru would budge anytime soon.
"Remember when I told you that you saved me from being mugged on my first day here." Subaru asked.
Reinhard nodded his head.
"I was alone in a place I had no idea about and no one seemed to care at all. You and Emilia…." He hesitated, tears threatening to spill out as he spoke. "...You were the only ones who were nice to me back then. And you were the only one who came running when I called. ...You're literally the only person who has never abandoned me or hurt me in any way."
His gaze lowered and his hands shook. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he lifted his head again.
"Thank you for saving me, Reinhard. Thank you for always saving me. And I-... I don't want to stay here if I'm going to be a hindrance to you."
"No, that's-"
"—I'll be fine," Subaru repeated once again, his black eyes piercing into Reinhard's soul.
He had no choice but to give in.
"Not bad, kid!" Rom said, keeping the cup of tea down on the coffee table and observing Subaru who had a proud smile on his face.
"So you really can cook, big bro?" Felt, who was sitting beside Rom, said, taking another sip from the tea Subaru had prepared.
"Is it really that unbelievable that I can do household work? I used to be a butler in the Roswaal Mansion," Subaru answered, sitting on the couch opposite her and looking a bit annoyed at Felt's words.
It had been around a week since Subaru had arrived and Reinhard had left for the Royal Capital to give a report on the trip to the Pleiades Watchtower.
They were currently sitting in the reception room of the Astrea Mansion. The sofas were arranged in a U-shape with a coffee table at the centre. A teapot of steaming hot tea was placed upon it, prepared by none other than Subaru and the others were enjoying a break.
Subaru had been given more relaxation to wander around the Mansion now that he had recovered, but obviously, he was still far from being given any heavy work yet. But small tasks such as this were alright after he'd begged them to let him help. He was no longer wearing a patient's robe, but dressed lightly in a shirt and pants—some of Reinhard's clothes that had been adjusted for him.
"So, what do you two think?" Subaru asked the twins, who were seated beside him on the couch and rocking their legs while blowing on the tea and taking small sips. Flam and Grassis nodded their heads silently.
It was rare for the twins to be taking a break like this, but they were here after Subaru had insisted they take a break to taste the tea he had made.
"Umm… Subaru-san, aren't you forgetting to ask someone?" Ezzo raised his hand from the middle sofa, making them all turn towards him.
"Well, you're the one who got me stuck in tea duty. Like it or not, you have to drink that until you give me the OK to do the other work in the mansion."
"Where did your gratitude for me go!?"
Subaru sighed in disappointment. "It seems like you didn't notice it at all."
Ezzo inclined his head in confusion. The others looked at him too, wondering what he was talking about.
"I put extra effort into making your tea as a sign of my gratitude. But it seems you did not notice it at all." With a sad expression on his face, Subaru looked and everyone began to glare at Ezzo.
He shrunk back on the couch and took a sip from his cup. "Now that I'm tasting it again, it does taste a bit sweet. How did you know I have a sweet tooth?" Ezzo questioned, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I asked Carol-san, obviously," Subaru replied.
Hearing his answer, Ezzo felt touched. He happily drank his tea, not noticing that Felt had beckoned Subaru over to her. He got up from his seat and made his way to her and she whispered something in his ears.
"Did you really make that tea specially for him?" Felt asked in annoyance at the unfair treatment.
"Not really. But if I make him believe I did, then placebo can do the rest of the work," Subaru whispered, making Rom laugh.
"Pla-cee-bo?" Felt tilted her at the unknown word, but Subaru ignored her query completely.
"I'm not going to customise each of your teas for you. That would be too tiring."
Felt narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "Then shouldn't you be resting?"
"And shouldn't you be studying?" Subaru retorted back.
To his surprise, "He-he! I don't have to worry about that for now," she smiled, making him raise his eyebrows. "Nothing much is going on with Crusch, Ana and Big Sis's Camps recently. And Priscilla is under house arrest. I'm ahead in my work and studies as well, so it's alright for me to take a few breaks now and then," she explained proudly while Subaru's eyes widened.
"Wait, back up! Priscilla's under house arrest?"
"She tried to cross the Vollachian border, then killed a few Vollachian sailors." Felt said. "For all the trouble she created, the Sage Council has decided to place her under house arrest until they can decide what to do about her. She's a Royal Candidate so they've got no idea what to do."
"Wha….!?" Subaru's lips parted slightly as his eyes went in shock. Letting out a tired sigh, "Seriously, what's wrong with her? Doing whatever she likes whenever she likes… It was definitely going to catch up to her one day, so I can't say I didn't see this coming…" he said, and Felt nodded her head in agreement.
"Although…. I guess that quality of hers did help you back in Priestella…." Felt said in hesitation, as she crossed her arms before her.
"...I guess…." he said, his eyes looking down sadly and a conflicted expression coming up on his face. But before Felt could ask him anything more—
"Shit! Flam! Grassis! Help us! If that grandma sees this, she'll bite our heads off!" A panicking Rachins walked into the room and his two companions followed behind him inside.
In Gaston's hand was an obviously expensive golden dress and the TonChinKan trio looked helplessly at it, wondering what they could do to fix this situation. They had been asked to bring some of Felt's dresses from the tailor that morning and all was fine until apparently, Gaston had tripped on the stairs and accidentally ripped the skirt, also ruining the fine embroidery lining the edges.
"Are you sure we couldn't have just kept it back and pretend nothing happened? She might not have noticed," Camberley said.
"Of course she'll notice! It's too big!" Gaston refuted his suggestion.
"Oi! That's too big! You three are in big trouble when Granny sees that! You better fix it," Felt commented as the trio glared at her. "On second thought, don't. You guys are doing me a huge favour."
Everyone in the room sighed at Felt as Gaston walked to the twins and gave them the dress.
"Please help us!" The three pleaded with them and the girls looked at the dress and then at the three with troubled gazes.
To everyone's surprise, "I can fix that, you know," the white-haired boy said all of a sudden, making them immediately turn and stare at him.
"Subaru-san can sew too?" Ezzo asked, while continuing to enjoy his tea.
"Yeah. Coincidentally, I happen to be extremely good at sewing. Leave this to me!" Subaru answered rather proudly. "Can someone get me the sewing kit? I'll fix this in a few minutes."
"...Huh! Right, sewing kit! I'll go get it!" Rachins rushed to get a sewing kit while Camberley moved closer to Gaston.
"Hey, Gaston! You sure this is a good idea? I mean, that guy is…." Camberley moved closer to Gaston and whispered his doubts.
"...Reinhard thinks the kid is alright. So, it's fine, I guess." Gaston answered.
"Any problems, you two?" Felt asked, straightening her eyes at the two to which they vigorously shook their heads.
Around the same time, "Onii-san, you don't have to do this," Flam said and Grassis nodded her head, but Subaru smiled at them and patted their heads.
"It's no problem! You're the ones doing most of the mansion, right? Well, let me help you guys for once."
"It's really not a problem for us-"
"I know I'm here under suspicious circumstances so maybe… I just wanted to win over everyone's trust by working super hard to impress everyone," Subaru admitted and the twins looked at each other and sighed.
"...I suppose… it is working," Grassis answered. Flam handed him the dress and he began inspecting the tear.
"Hey man! Thanks for helping us again!" Gaston expressed his gratitude, while Camberley maintained his distance, eyeing the white-haired boy with suspicion.
"Found the sewing kit! Here!" Rachins burst in and handed Subaru the sewing kit and the dress.
"Thanks," Subaru said, rolling up his sleeves as he took it from Rachins hands and began to masterfully fix up the dress. Everyone else gathered up around him to look at him working in curiosity.
They observed him as he worked in silence, until a few minutes later—
"...What's that sound?" Ezzo asked suddenly, after hearing faint sounds coming from the distance.
"Shit! Isn't that a dragon carriage? Do we have guests now? How much longer will it take?" Rachins asked in a panic.
"Don't worry. It's done," Subaru said, plucking off the remaining thread with his teeth and handing them the dress.
Taking the dress in his hands, Camberley inspected the place that was torn. His eyes widened. "This is amazing, bro! It's like this dress was never torn in the first place." Camberley remarked in happiness, grateful for Subaru's help.
"Thanks, man! You're a lifesaver!" Rachins said, heaving a sigh of relief.
"Where did you learn how to sew, boy? This doesn't look like something you learned in one year." At the question, everyone turned their heads to Rom, and Flam and Grassis nodded eagerly, curious to know too. After having observed him, they had to admit his sewing skills were far better than theirs.
"I just had a lot of free time on my hands." He shrugged. "In the end, I guess I maxed out my sewing skills," he said. Folding his hands and placing his fingers on his chin, "You know what? How about I make dolls for you two?" He asked, turning his head towards Flam and Grassis.
"You can do that!?" Felt asked in surprise.
"Yeah, sure! Shall I make some for you too?" He asked.
Felt blushed. Turning her head away, she said, "O-Only because I'm curious. I'm not a kid, I don't need dolls."
"Yeah, yeah sure," Subaru answered with a sigh and Felt pouted, while Rom patted her on her head with a small laugh. "What about you two?"
Flam and Grassis looked at him in surprise. Soon, a smile came onto both their faces and nodded their little heads in joy.
"Alright! Leave it to me!" Subaru responded.
The others watched the scene with a smile. The tea time Subaru had arranged for them had ended up becoming more fun than they had expected. Everyone got back to their seats to enjoy the rest of their break.
And, "Shouldn't we be keeping this back now?" Gaston said, showing the dress and reminding his two companions why they had come to the room in the first place.
"Yeah, let's-"
The door to the reception room opened up all of a sudden and everyone's attention turned towards it. There stood Grimm, panicking and breathing fast.
"Grandpa… what's wrong?" Felt asked, her intuition telling her something bad was about to happen.
—With his hoarse voice, Grimm answered, "...three royal knights….are here…for escaped sin archbishop…."
Rewritten as of 11/01/2022.
Thanks a lot to Antic Master, Szouperman and Reactionist for beta reading this chapter.