Re: Tales from the Multiverse: Option One

by Ernalore

Subaru, along with his Camp, his rival Camps, his parents, and Meili, have all suddenly teleported into a theater, controlled by "the Warden". Said Warden has told them that they'd be watching alternate realities, and the Cast would be responsible for what they'd be watching. Seeing that their first option is Emilia arriving in Japan, Subaru makes sure that his secrets remain his.

11. Chapter 11: Raven-Black & Emerald-Green

Chapter 11: Raven-Black and Emerald Green

"Welp… that just happened." Subaru said in mild exasperation.

Everyone got up and stretched for a bit, as they discussed what they watched, whether it was the fact of how dangerous Gluttony was, or to make sure that Subaru never suffered that fate.

Subaru was on his own, until he saw someone approach. "Oh, hey, Priscilla."

"Prisca," she said, in a low tone, to make sure no one heard her.

"Huh?"

"Prisca Benedict," she smiled. "That's my true name."

Subaru was stunned for a few moments before he recollected himself. "Huh, I didn't take you for the type of person to use a fake name."

"I have my reasons for keeping my secrets, just like you have yours."

"Okay, but why tell me your real name?" Subaru couldn't help but be confused at the Sun Princess's behavior.

"Because I want to make you mine. I thought I made this clear." Prisca gave a huff at Subaru's somewhat lack of perception. "And also… because trust is a two-way street."

Subaru gave a sigh of his own as he felt he needed to get it out of the way. "Look… Priscilla, or Prisca, whatever you want me to call you…"

"Either is fine."

"Look, I'm flattered that you feel that way about me, but my love life is a complicated mess already. Between Emilia-tan and Rem, finding out what me and Satella had back then exactly, and now you… I just… I don't know what to do."

"You know you can marry all of us," Prisca nonchalantly stated.

Subaru took a minute to fully process what the Sun Princess said. "...What?"

"Polygamy is not uncommon among the higher class of our world, especially in Vollachia. A man can have more than one wife, and a woman can have more than one husband, so long as all parties are in agreement," Prisca explained to the confused Subaru.

"Wait, really? I… didn't know that was an option…" Subaru did remember that he promised to make Rem his second wife if Emilia allowed it, but he didn't expect this.

"Although, these polygamist marriages are rarely done out of love. They're usually done for inheritance, business merging, or producing a powerful offspring. The latter is very common in Vollachia due to our people valuing strength."

"Huh, kinda like Quirk Marriages from My Hero Academia…" Subaru made the comparison.

"While I have no idea what exactly you're referencing, I'm just saying it happens. I'm not saying you should marry all of us, but it is something you should think about." Prisca said. "In the meantime, I'll do what I can to make sure that you are treated correctly."

"Okay, I'll give it some thought when we get back home." Subaru agreed.

"Hey, we got our new options!" Tivey shouted, focusing everyone's attention on the screen.

What if Subaru was summoned over fifty years ago?

OR

What if Subaru was summoned during the Demi-Human War?

"I have no context for either of this," Kenichi said.

"Neither do I," Naoko said. "Al-san? Mind shedding some light on the subject?"

"Sure, I can try to do that," Al said, grabbing the remote.

Conditions: None.

Conditions: None.

"Alright, who's the biggest history buff here?" Subaru asked.

"Well, not to brag," Julius smiled. "But I do have a large collection of –"

"That's interesting, but I sure don't care!" the Japanese teenager said. "I just want to know two things: What notable things happened fifty years ago, and when did the war happen?"

"A waste of my knowledge, but alright," the purple-haired knight said. "The Demi-Human War began fifty years ago, so the first option sees you summoned before the war. The king at the time was King Gionis Lugnica, he was succeeded by our last king. An interesting piece of trivia, he was related to a princess of ours who died young due to a mysterious illness, but our history books are unsure if she was his sister, his daughter, aunt, or what."

"What was that princess's name?" Emilia asked.

"Emerada Lugnica."

In that instant, Meili ducked behind Subaru, something that everyone took notice of. Meanwhile, Subaru's glare intensified. "Julius, please tell me that what you said is a bad joke."

"No, I'm afraid not. Why are you asking…?"

"Because if my sources are correct, this version of me might end up interacting with a Sin Archbishop before she even became one," the supposed Great Sage explained.

"WHAT?!" Felt freaked out.

Crusch looked at Subaru in confusion. "Subaru, what are you talking about…"

Then it hit her, along with everyone else. "Capella…"

When everyone heard what the green-haired warrior said, they all connected the dots.

In the previous episode, they all saw themselves fighting the Sin Archbishop of Lust. In fact, they had seen her in all of the introductions, and she always looked the same: Blonde with red eyes. Those were the traits of the previous Lugnican Royal Family.

"Al, pick it," Subaru told the helmeted knight.

"You don't have to tell me twice," the one-armed knight growled in an equal amount of anger.

"Wait, what?!" Emilia couldn't help but shout in disbelief. "Why would we pick this option if we know who's involved? Why not pick the second option?"

"A part of me wants to know what makes Capella tick," Subaru explained. "Also, I'd rather not be anywhere near a younger Theresia, if the previous episodes are anything to go off of."

"Why would you not want to be near my grandmother – Ohhhh…" Reinhard quickly realized what his friend meant. "Yes, I believe the first option would be for the best. Preferably, now."

"What?" Wilhelm asked. "What do you mean –?"

"Okay! Everyone in your seats!" Subaru announced, as both he and Reinhard were doing everything they could to avoid talking to Wilhelm.

Once everyone got to their seats, the lights dimmed, and the show began once more.

What if Subaru was summoned over fifty years ago?

Conditions: None.

"Agh! I've been summoned to a parallel world without powers! What even is the point of being here if I don't get to be a hero!?"

"Oh my God, someone kill me now," Subaru cringed, his anger immediately dissipating.

"That actually explains so much about when we first met," Julius said.

"Well, I'm sorry that I didn't know that the world actually worked like a real world!"

"Nah, fer you, it works more like a big conspiracy," Garfiel said.

Subaru Natsuki lamented his situation.

Little over two hours ago (in EST, Earthen Standard Time), he had been summoned to a completely different world after spending an entire day holed up in his room gaming. For him, this presented an amazing opportunity: the chance to become a hero! Whatever he had been summoned for, be it saving a girl from a desert tower guarded by a dragon or slaying an evil wizard who could bend reality, he was ready!

Contrary to his expectations, all he got was a complete let-down.

"Well, technically, I gotta slay a reality-warping woman," Subaru said to the screen. "That's as close to a Demon King or an evil wizard as I'm gonna get."

After stumbling into a women's bathroom because he cannot read this new language, being kicked into a river by a thug, and almost seeing a child be ran over by an overgrown lizard because he thought he could use his magic, Subaru began to wonder if this world was as amazing as he thought.

There was still a chance this was just a rocky start, though! If he could find an adventurer's guild or stumble across a mysterious yet well-meaning stranger who offered to take him into his party, he would be on the right path! Maybe the cute girl who summoned him to this world was coming right now to explain why his powers had not manifested!

All he could do, then, was sit in this alley with his chips, instant ramen, phone, and wet clothes.

Oh, well, at least it was warm today.

"I'm having so many flashbacks right now."

"Subaru-kun?" Rem looked at her love with concern.

"Those exact things happened to me on my very first loop, before Emilia-tan saved me from getting mugged," Subaru groaned. "I was so stupid to treat this like a game."

"Why would you treat it like a game?" Julius honestly couldn't comprehend Subaru's thought process sometimes. Al meanwhile, paused the viewing.

"Well, on Earth, there's a genre of stories called "isekai", which involves the main character getting summoned to another world for various reasons." Subaru explained.

"Like what happened to you?" Otto asked.

"Yep, but usually when the main character is summoned, they're given context as to why. Like helping to defeat the Demon King, or fighting waves of monsters that want to kill everyone, or just pissing off God himself. Also, usually in these worlds, it would have stats like a video game that would determine how strong you are. So, I thought it would be something like that, but I was way in over my head. And it didn't help that my one ability was a literal game mechanic."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Emilia asked in confusion.

"Well, Return by Death functions almost exactly like how save points in video games do. When you die, you respawn at a previous point in the game, almost like…"

Subaru's eyes widened as he realized something. "... time was reset..."

"Subaru? Are you okay?" Emilia asked in concern.

"Beako." Beatrice perked up at the mention of her name. "You said that Authorities manifest themselves based on their user's desires, right? Does their mind also play a factor in developing the Authority?"

"That is correct." Beatrice nodded, but unsure where Subaru was going with this.

"In that case… I don't think Satella actually gave me Return by Death. I think… I did."

No one could say a word as they let Subaru continue talking.

"When I was summoned, Satella might have slipped part of the Authority of Envy into me, hoping that it would manifest an ability to help me survive. I thought the world I was in was the equivalent to a video game, and that I was the main character. Combine that with my desire to save Emilia-tan from Elsa…"

"..."

"… and you get Return by Death."

The Cast didn't like the idea. To think that Subaru doomed himself with such a cursed power was hard to swallow. But time and again they saw that Authority wielders shaped their powers based on their own desires. The Warlock of Envy used the Authority of Wrath to create the most painful torture device imaginable for Pandora due to his hatred for her, while Hector wanted to spread his crushing misery onto others with his Authority of Melancholy, and Echinda wanted as much knowledge as possible, even at the cost of others, which the Authority of Greed delivered in spades.

He was right. It was awful to think about, but he was right.

Could he maybe change the weather if he learned magic? That was an intriguing thought, one he should save for later.

"Man, this better be just a bad beginning to my great adventure," he mumbled, mostly to himself since there was no one else in the alley.

Or so he thought.

"Now that I think about it, I don't think Subaru-sama was that far off the mark."

"Huh? Petra-chan?" Frederica looked at her student in confusion.

"Think about it: You're usually supposed to defeat a Demon King, right? Well, Pandora fits that role quite well. The Witch Cult and Great Mabeats serve as the hordes of monsters, yeah?"

"That's an excellent observation, child," Priscilla complemented the little maid.

"Wait…" Mimi realized. "Does this mean that the Theater is our context?"

"Huh?!" Ricardo looked at his smaller companion. "Whaddya mean?!"

"These infinite realities, they're different, sure, but they're giving us context to our world, our history, who the real enemy is…" Tivey picked up what his sister was putting down.

"And to top it all off, it has shown time and time again that Barusu is the catalyst for such changes, making him, in fact, the protagonist," Ram finished it.

"Well, fuck me! I had to bust my ass in four different hell loops before I got started on the main quest?!" Subaru yelled. "What was that for?! I can only think of either emotional maturity or to collect my party members, and both those options are finicky, at best!"

Soon after, he felt a cold blade position itself against the right side of his neck, and a male voice uttered, "Now, now, boy, if ya don't want trouble, you oughta get out of my way."

It seemed as if time had slowed to crawl. Great, his first day and he was already being mugged! What could he even give the man, his ramen?

"Boy, are ya stupid or deaf?"

"Oh, great, you already met an asshole NPC," Al joked.

"What's an NPC?" Petra asked.

"NPCs are non-player characters, so anyone who is an enemy, a helpful shopkeep, a guide, basically anyone who is not me, the player, or any other player," Subaru explained.

"Does that make us NPCs to you?" Otto asked.

"If I still treated this world like a game, then yes." Subaru took a moment to realize how that sounded. "Uh… no offense guys."

"Ah, I, ah, I don't have anything to give you… if you're mugging me that is…"

For a second, there was silence. "Aight, then ya pay with your life."

"That escalated from zero to a hundred real fucking quick," Al hummed.

As the metal blade separated from his neck, no doubt preparing to cut it off, Subaru reacted by swinging his grocery bag at the attacker. With all the strength he could muster, he struck the foul mugger in the head!

And it did nothing!

Because, standing behind him, were two people. One of them, the presumed "mugger," was dressed in the clothes of a knight, although they appeared less well-kept than the shining suits of armor he saw in movies. The knight, if he even was one, had an eyepatch on his left eye, matted bluish hair, and was probably nearing his mid-life crisis. He was probably just a city guard obsessed with his power who liked to abuse the weak!

The other person was a girl of about fifteen years old.

Subaru held Meili's hand tight when he saw who entered the screen.

Everyone knew who that was. She was the Sin Archbishop of Lust.

With light green garments that just screamed "I'm rich and my dad owns a medieval castle in Romania," short blond hair with a single long strand, and blood-red eyes (they seemed to be natural), she stood a couple of steps behind the knight and appeared to be the very definition of either "princess in distress" or "spoiled rich brat."

Once he saw her smirk, Subaru decided on the latter.

"It's her…" Melie whispered. "It's really Mama…"

Subaru held the little girl tighter. "I'm not going to let her touch you again."

"That's enough, Niko," she said to the knight. "You scared him pretty well, so feel happy you were of some service, but this lovely lady does not need to see a corpse today."

Meili shivered in fear. She even talks in the same way…

"Niko" bowed to the woman and sheathed his sword. "As you wish, my lady. Forgive me for getting carried away."

She just huffed and waved her hand at him.

For the first time since turning around and slapping a guard with a plastic bag, Subaru spoke, "Hey! You can't go around terrifying people like that! What if someone gets hurt, lady?!"

"Pretty sure she doesn't care," Al commented.

Is it just my imagination, or was there some venom in Al's tone? Crusch wondered, though considering the person in question, it wasn't hard to see why.

Before Niko could respond, the woman cut him off. "Why should this lovely lady explain herself to a lowly rat such as yourself? Even if that malformed chunk of meat in your head that you call your brain could comprehend my divine actions, what would I get out of it?"

What?

Was her thinking seriously so twisted?

As Subaru's brain struggled to comprehend the woman's absolutely insane response, she nodded to her companion, who moved Subaru out of the way and escorted her out of the alley.

Only when they were out of sight did he utter, "Man! So this place has snotty nobles too! Why I should've taught her a lesson!"

Picking up his grocery bag, he stepped out of the alley.

Time to find an adventurer's guild!

Opening Theme: Voracity

The screen begins to glitch, as it changes to Subaru, in his traveling clothes, crossing a desert. The screen glitches again, with words that can't be read, as it changes back to Subaru, who gets closer. This keeps on repeating, until…

Tales from the Multiverse

Volume III

The next scene opens with Minerva attacking, and it reading, "WRATH," followed by Typhon dancing around with the words "PRIDE." Then, Echidna and "GREED." Sekhmet with "SLOTH." Carmilla panicking while "LUST" appears, and then Daphne biting at the camera while the word "GLUTTONY" appears. And finally, Subaru, with madness all over his face, drags his finger over his throat, as he's bestowed with the title of "ENVY."

"Yep, still creepy," Subaru commented on his on-screen self.

In the next scene, Elsa, Zarestia, and Shion are all seen together, and laughing, but their eyes are cut off from the screen, and their smiles are sadistic. Then, an army of Witch Cultists appears in the next shot, as the camera pans up to reveal the Sin Archbishops.

Subaru glared at the image of Capella, along with the other Sin Archbishops.

Meanwhile, Rem, along with Crusch and her Camp, glared at the various Sin Archbishops of Gluttony, along with the Sin Archbishop of Greed, and the Sin Archbishop of Pride.

Elsewhere, Emilia simply looked at Petelgeuse with pity.

The scene changes to show Stride Vollahcia next to a younger Grim and Carol Remedis, along with Julia, while the camera pans up to also show Vincent Vollahcia, Priscilla, Rem, Louis, Flop, Medium, and Subaru, all while Pandora is pulling the puppet strings.

He would be alive in this time period, Wilhelm thought to himself. How will Subaru-dono deal with both him and Lust without any of us? The only people he would have would be Beatrice-sama, and Roswaal-sama, and perhaps Emilia-sama, but that's it. And that's not even counting Greed and the destruction he could bring…

And finally, the scene shows a close-up of Subaru, as he bites his own tongue. As the blood escapes his mouth, he laughs maniacally, as the camera pans out to show that behind him, the shadowy monster known as the Witch of Envy has appeared roaring, and ready to tear apart the silhouettes of the enemies in front of Subaru.

The final shot shows each one of the six Witches of Sin in a black void, each one of them smiling, as the shot changes to Subaru and Pandora, alone in the desert, ready for their final battle. Then, the camera pans over the desert of corpses, and the opening ends.

Episode Ten:

Raven-Black and Emerald-Green

Walking through the capital's streets, Niko could feel the crowds' eyes on him and his lady.

Not a good sign.

When most other nobles graced the common masses with their presence, everyone bowed and fought with each other to get on their good graces, so why was his lady, a princess of the kingdom, treated like human trash?

It made him want to teach them all some respect!

"Did you ever meet this fanatic, Wil, Ros-chi?" Subaru asked.

"I wasn't born yet, Subaru-dono," the Sword Demon answered.

"I might have a vague memory," Roswaal said. "But it was so long ago…"

Whatever the crowds spat at him and the princess, he could take, and he was sure she had even better self-control than him, so insults barely had an effect.

Of course, sometimes things got physical.

More than once, he had to end lives in service to the princess.

Some would wonder: In service to the princess or the monarchy?

Niko just responded to such questions with a chuckle.

"That's an interesting philosophical question," Reinhard said.

"I don't get it," Felt said.

"I believe that the debate boils down to whether your loyalty is to those in control of the country, or to the country itself, and the ideals it represents," Julius explains.

"Well, there's no princess anymore, so the monarchy instantly wins!" Anastasia said.

"Well, yes, while that is true, and our knights are all loyal to our nation, they are also loyal to us, who could potentially become the next rulers, so the debate still stands," Crusch said.

"Fair enough, Karsten."

"Niko," the princess called to him. "Did that filth from earlier catch your attention?"

He pondered for a minute. "Who? Do you mean the one who tried to scam us for that hat, my lady?"

"Not that one, although this lovely lady admits that the hat was fashionable. No, I was referring to the one in the alley."

"Ah. Well, he had some nice clothes on, so he was probably a noble, and black hair means he's either Vollachian or Gustekan, so… I believe I may have threatened a foreign noble, my lady."

"Are my clothes really that fancy?"

"Bro, that tracksuit is made out of polyesters that these people haven't even discovered yet," Al said. "Regardless of style, that thing you're wearing is top-notch in materials alone."

Polyesters, huh? Anastasia thought to herself. How would I go 'bout makin' those…?

"Indeed. Well, they know they stand no chance against our kingdom, so expect only a slight fuss over it."

"My lady, if that boy was more influential than expected…"

"What if he was? Would Gusteko send an army to kill us? I know you'd die defending this lovely lady, so I've nothing to worry about."

Niko bowed to her, affirming her belief.

The two continued their walk toward the royal palace in silence, not knowing that the boy would, indeed, be more influential than expected.

"We've got a scene change," Felt spoke.

"Who th' fuck's this guy?" Garfiel asked.

Within an abandoned building in the slums, a man with a red and green attire stood with his back against one of the walls.

His customer had called an emergency meeting a short while ago, and he had no choice but to attend, lest he lose his greatest employer.

As well as that man paid, he sure was a weird one.

Nonetheless, the pay was what mattered.

Finally, he heard the door to the room on the other side of the wall open, and footsteps made their way to the wall.

"My, I expected you to arrive later," came the employer's voice, still holding the usual giddiness.

"Oh, fuck me," Roswaal cursed, knowing full-well who that is.

The employee retorted, "I expected you to arrive on time."

"Yes, there was a slight detour I had to take. Find it in your heart to forgive me."

"I don't need to forgive you, jester, I need to get paid, or else I'll starve. Isn't that clear enough?"

"So eager for another job, are we?"

His groan was the response.

"Jester?" Frederica asked.

Everyone looked toward Roswaal.

"Okay, fine, I'll talk," he said. "He used to be an old contact of mine. He would do what I asked of him, for a fair sum of money. Spying, assassinations, you name it, he was my guy."

"And what was his name?" Naoko asked, slightly irate.

"Doesn't matter. He's been dead for decades now."

The Cast decided to let it slide this one time.

This little hideout was one his employer had designated for meetings.

With each of them on different sides of the wall, they could speak without revealing themselves.

For seven years, the man had been employed by this particular eccentric, and not once had they met face-to-face.

That was not to say he harbored suspicions about who his employer was.

Only nobles and royals had access to the amount of money he paid, and no foreigner would risk coming to the Lugnican capital for a single employee.

"If you're here to chat, then I suppose I should take my leave," the man said.

His employer replied, "Ah, don't get fussy now, my friend. Please try to understand this is just who I am."

Silence.

Everyone else was just as silent as the hired assassin.

"What?" Roswaal asked.

"Ya were a shitty clown then, yer a shitty clown now," Garfiel growled.

"And your attempts at humor are sub-par," Otto continued.

"Well then, I have an important job for you, my star agent: there is a person I would be pleased if you spied on."

"Weird that you don't want me to blow them up."

"On the contrary, if you harm this particular target, I would be inclined to harm you in return."

"Scary…"

"Mhm. Now, the target is quite easy to spot. He is around 17 years old, has black hair, and his clothes are sure to look strange, possibly even like those of a noble."

"Spying on nobles isn't my strong suit."

The employer chuckled. "You won't be spying on a noble. He's just a normal boy."

"Noted."

"His name is Subaru Natsuki, and I implore you to keep me updated on his progress."

"Looks like my book updated in this reality," Roswaal said.

"Subaru will stop you, regardless of where and when," Emilia said.

"I fully expect that."

"Why are there no adventurer's guilds!? This place sucks!"

For hours, Subaru had wandered the city, looking for anything that would point him in the direction of his new quest. Until now, all he managed was to embarrass himself further, and he found no holy sword, great mage, or secret meeting that would aid him on his world-changing mission.

A couple of times, he even bumped into fancy-looking individuals and questioned them about any possible hints that would lead to his heroic path. As expected, they all shoved him away.

"Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off…" Subaru grumbled over and over again.

"Barusu, while I don't like you, stop saying that to your counterpart," Ram said.

"Ram, it's pretty much open knowledge that I hate myself above all else –"

"Even more than Pandora?"

"Okay, sans her. But basically, because I hate myself as much as I do…

"I don't like where this is going," Frederica whispered to Otto.

"...so, what do you think would happen when two Subarus meet each other?"

"More than likely try to kill each other," Ram said. "Like with the Envy Archbishop."

"Exactly," Subaru said. "Pretty sure there's a Rick and Morty line about this…"

Now, seeing the sun begin to set, he wondered where he would even sleep. Without any money or friends, he was practically stuck out in the open, and if there were more nobles like that girl from earlier…

"Hey, pal, you alright?"

In front of Subaru stood a man in the most elegant armor he'd ever seen. The man had fiery red hair and a kind face, which – paired with the fact that he appeared to be near forty – made him look like the popular uncle everyone likes but shows up only on family reunions.

Wilhelm immediately recognized who that was, even if he was decades younger.

"Yeah, I'm mostly alright," Subaru responded.

"Well, if you tell me why you're only 'mostly' alright, then maybe I can help!"

"Well, see, I'm kinda… broke and homeless… heh."

"Ah, yes, those totally are minor inconveniences," Otto joked.

"I mean, when you have to deal with my shit… yeah?"

The merchant decided not to argue with his friend's logic.

The man's smile did not falter for a second as he answered, "Well then! I'd be glad to give you a temporary residence! My family would be thrilled to have you."

"Hey! Thanks! Ah, I forgot to introduce myself: I'm Natsuki Subaru, and not only am I clueless, but I'm broke beyond compare!"

He struck a pose while saying this.

The man smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you, Subaru. My name's Fribal. Fribal van Astrea, though most call me the 'Sword Saint.'"

"Hey, uh, that nickname's not a euphemism for… is it… is it referring to an actual sword or…?"

At that moment, Reinhard suddenly seemed to have developed a coughing fit.

Al, Ricardo and Gafiel, meanwhile, were laughing their asses off.

Fribal's face grew as red as his hair, and he quickly removed an ornate sword from his back and displayed it, trying his best to put an end to the thought that his name implied certain unwanted ideas.

Subaru sighed in relief that the name referred to a weapon and not…not something else…

As both of them looked for words, Fribal spoke first. "Say, Subaru, how about we get going? It'll be night soon, and I've a patrol to complete today, but the house's not far from here."

"Oh! That'd be great, thanks!"

Maybe this was how his adventure started!

"I get the feeling that something bad is about to happen," Crusch said.

"You'll get that feeling a lot when around me," Subaru said.

"Fribal," a familiar voice came in. "Still picking up strays, I see."

Great.

Joining the conversation were a blond woman in a green dress and a dirty knight with dark blue hair.

Fribal bowed. "Lady Emerada. You've graced me with your presence. May I be of assistance?"

"Yes, you may," Emerada responded with a conceited grin. "You could tell this lovely lady why you're inviting a rabid mutt into your home."

"Oh, look, I was right," the green-haired woman said

"Well, fuck you too, lady," Felix hissed, glaring at Capella.

"Lady Emerada, forgive my speaking, but he hardly looks like a rabid mutt," the Sword Saint retorted.

"That wild dog attacked my knight with that… thing… he's holding."

Fribal's face changed into an expression that most accurately conveyed the thought "I have to treat you well because you're royalty but if you weren't I'd put a crab in your shoe."

"Might I suggest the French option?" Subaru smiled.

"Subaru, NO," Naoko got on her son's case again.

"Indeed," the blond narcissist continued. "Viciously, and without provocation, that… that meatbag assaulted a knight of the kingdom."

"I see, your highness. Then, allow me to escort him to the Astrea estate for further questioning and observation. It is renowned for its capable fighters, after all."

Emerada huffed, clearly displeased with those words, and waved her hand as if to say "Keep talking but I'll only be paying attention to myself because I'm the best and there is none greater."

Subaru hated her, but given that he barely knew her, he was not stupid enough to insult her and give her the excuse necessary to jail him or worse.

"Take care then, lady Emerada, Niko," Fribal said as he grabbed Subaru by the arm as if arresting him and led him away, while the noble and her knight walked in the opposite direction.

Turning to his new redhead acquaintance, Subaru whispered, "I hate that woman! She's so stuck-up and such a snob!"

"I am afraid I don't understand those words, but you would do well to treat lady Emerada with due respect."

"'Due respect?' The respect she's owed is a slap to the face!"

"Subaru-kun, while that is technically correct, she is still royalty," Rem said.

"And like I've said before, if these leaders take it too far, Rein and I revolt," Subaru replied.

"Oh, right, your comments on revolution, how could we forget?" Felix asked sarcastically.

"Vive la révolution!" the black-haired boy chanted. "Also, vive la France!"

"Those are obscure Earth references, aren't they?" Beatrice groaned.

"I'll tell you about them later, Beako."

Fribal halted, and Subaru could tell he had crossed a line. "I'll only say this once, Subaru: you would do well to respect the lady. Especially since she's one of the king's heirs."

"SHE'S A PRINCESS!?"

"Indeed. Have you not heard of her?"

"I don't even know how to read!"

With a sigh, Fribal resolved to at least help this boy get started on a better path in life.

It was going to be a long night.

But this was the calm before the tempest.

"Okay, show of hands, how many think I'll end this world?"

Three hands.

"Okay, how many think I'll drastically change it?"

Eleven hands.

"What about everyone else?"

"I'm just hoping it's a comforting slice-of-life," Kenichi said.

"Maybe you'll save Capella from becoming a monster?" Otto suggested.

Subaru thought those options over, before saying, "Dang, those are good ideas."

Over the course of the next year, Subaru slowly adapted to this new world.

Under the tutelage of various private instructors hired by the Astreas, he made quick progress and began to understand the land he'd been thrown into.

The first book he managed to read was one about a being called the "Witch of Envy."

Apparently, this Witch destroyed half of the world nearly four hundred years ago, and it took three legendary heroes to stop her. Even then the Witch did not die, and she remains sealed in a far-off place where she cannot escape.

Subaru grimaced a bit. Don't worry Satella-tan, you won't be in there much longer.

After that, he was taught about several other influential figures in history, like the Great Sage Shaula, whose knowledge changed the world. Kind of strange they named him after a star but Subaru guessed some people are just fancy like that.

There was also Reid Astrea, the first Sword Saint and Fribal's ancestor, who was so powerful, he could cut even concepts.

Volcanica, the Divine Dragon that has protected Lugnica for more than three hundred years, and who aided in sealing the Witch.

Hoshin of the Wasteland, who turned city-states into the nation now known as Kararagi, and was a massive fan of Japanese things (the guy introduced kimonos to this world).

And then there was the enigmatic Flugel, who apparently planted a tree, vandalized it, and disappeared forevermore.

Subaru could already tell who was his favorite.

"Ha-ha, self-referential humor," Subaru joked.

"Isn't it a bit biased to pick yourself as your favorite Hero?" Tivey asked.

"That's the funny: He doesn't know it yet!"

"I think he'll get a massive freak-out when figures it out," Al said.

"You know, I think I'd actually pay to see that," Julius said.

It took some getting used to this new land, which constantly made him both excited and terrified to live in. Sure, there were amazing powers that could help one bend literal light to their will, but there were also people who would use those powers for evil any chance they got.

He also became proficient in reading the three script styles that were commonplace here, and, under Fribal's tutelage, began training with various weapons. The Sword Saint had told him that this world was an unforgiving one, and since everyone lived only once, they had to protect that life as best they could.

Subaru agreed, especially since he was in no mood to die anytime soon.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Subaru broke into a hysterical fit.

No one honestly knew how to deal with that.

For three months, his every-day life consisted of being confined to the Astrea manor and meeting with various tutors (Fribal was still his favorite). As enthusiastic as he was to learn about the new world, he still wanted to be of some use. The Astreas had hosted him for free, and they were going through so much just to help him when he never helped them.

So, on the first days of his fourth month in Lugnica, Subaru introduced the world to a sacred item that could change the world much like the great heroes did.

On his fourth month, the raven-haired boy invented mayonnaise.

Immediately, the entirety of the Emilia Camp perked up at the mention of that food.

"Mayonnaise?" Crusch asked, "What is that?"

"It's super good!" Meili said. "It's this white sauce that is both sweet and sour at the same time!"

"And you say it's from Natsuki-kun's world?" Anastasia asked.

Immediately, the holy food fit for gods was revered by the redheaded Astreas, and even Fribal gave it his seal of approval. To pay back for his months of lazing around, Subaru asked one of the Astreas, the bearded young Veltol, to aid him in selling mayo to the people of the kingdom. Veltol discussed it with Fribal, his older brother, and the two agreed to start selling the heaven-sent condiment to the masses, so long as they took credit for the invention.

To say it was a hit would be an understatement.

"Is this "mayonnaise" thing really that good?!" Mimi was excited to try it.

"It is!" Petra answered. "Subaru-sama makes it with extreme precision and deliciousness."

In the third week after mayonnaise was brought to this cruel and brutal land, the demand for it became so overwhelming that Subaru had no choice but to teach some of the Astreas and their staff to make it as well. With increased production, the noble family and their foreigner guest became renowned for both their swordplay and their sanctified food.

When Fribal came home early one day, he informed his family, staff, and guest that mayonnaise had become a hit even among the royals, and king Gionis Lugnica was praising it! Such an announcement spiked sales even further, and Subaru, who had argued to receive the smaller cut of the profits, was practically swimming in enough money to buy his own estate.

"Wait, what?! I could have been rich already!?" Subaru screamed in frustration.

"We could still sell it and make quite a profit, Subaru." Emilia said, hoping to comfort Subaru.

Meanwhile, Anastasia was kicking herself for her previous self's actions.

Sadly, the popularity caught the eye of his two most detested nemeses.

"Of course it fucking did," Garfiel growled.

"Nah, that Subaru has it too good," the supposed Great Sage said. "His "nemesis" is a princess who might end up becoming a Sin Archbishop. Sure, it sounds bad, but compared to Pandora, some kid calling you names and her glorified butler is a fucking walk in the park!"

Veltol and his wife, Tishua, had a son named Thames. When Thames's tenth birthday came around, the king and almost every royal attended the celebration at the Astrea residence. Those that could not attend were out of the country, and even then, they sent gifts or messages assuring that they would attend as soon as they were able. King Gionis stated that he wanted to visit the residence for many reasons, and one of those was to meet the mastermind behind Lugnica's new hit food.

So, when he arrived, the entire residence – black-haired guest included – welcomed them with such reverence that it seemed like they were celebrating his birthday. As royal knights led their king into the main house, and various Royal Family members greeted their hosts – never separating from their armed entourage – one of the king's relatives strayed from the rest, and immediately zeroed in on Subaru like a predator who found a fast meal.

Once he saw the girl in green and her gruff, one-eyed bodyguard, he wanted to throw himself out the highest window in the house.

"Heh, good times," Subaru chuckled.

"Subaru, you never told us that happened to you!" Emilia gasped.

"Well, technically, Beako threw me out the window whenever I went into the Forbidden Library," Subaru said. "Speaking of which, I hope this version of me finds her, too."

"I hope so, too, in fact," the Great Spirit said.

"Well then," the arrogant princess's guardian said to him. "I seem to remember you from somewhere, though I'm afraid I cannot quite put my finger on it. Maybe if I put a sword to your neck, it would help me recall."

Subaru just glared at him. "You! Don't tell me you forgot threatening me in an alley for no reason! Do you treat lives that carelessly!?"

"Ah! You're the one that hit me with the weird thing you were holding! I remember now!"

"Niko, if this tyke interests you more than your job, you're quite free to play around with him," said princess commented with the exact same tone one would use to address a cockroach coming out of their kitchen sink.

"Forgive me, my lady. He caught my interest much the same way a carriage crash would: with morbid curiosity."

For the first time, Subaru heard Emerada laugh.

It would have been an angelic sound, if she did not have the personality of someone who laughs at kittens struggling to reach food.

"If we had any doubts now, they were immediately dashed," Julius said.

"Yep, that's without a doubt th' future Sin Archbishop o' Lust," Anastasia agreed.

"Good to see that her "knight" shares the same sense of humor, nyah," Felix sarcastically said.

"Ah," she said when her laughter ended. "If the boy piques your curiosity, then I suppose you can keep him, so long as you promise to feed him at least twice a day. This lovely lady is kind and generous, after all."

"Hey, you two," Subaru interrupted. "Don't talk about me like I'm just an abandoned puppy! I invented mayo, you know!"

Niko waved his hand. "That thing everyone's talking 'bout? Never tried it."

The princess looked at him with bewilderment. "Hm, you should try it. It is… unique."

"Hah," the black-haired inventor scoffed. "There! So you admit I'm good for something!"

"No, this lovely lady called it 'unique,' which, for all you know, could be as unique as a skinless ground dragon. Unique does not mean good, but a simple cur like you wouldn't comprehend that."

I'm the only one who gets to insult Barusu, you demented whore of a pig, Ram thought to herself.

Elsewhere, Otto had to try hard to NOT imagine Frufoo without all her skin.

Subaru has the same thought, just with Patrasche instead.

Before he could retort, one of the guards, a man who Subaru did not recognize, came up to them and whispered something to Emerada. Whatever it was, she showed an incomprehensible flicker of emotion for a second, before returning to her usual malicious smirk and walking toward the other royals, with her protector following close behind.

For the rest of the day, the celebration proceeded smoothly, and the spoiled princess did not approach him again. Subaru saw her playing with Thames a short time after the main dinner, but that was the last he saw of her.

Something told him they would meet again.

For the next five months and a half, Subaru spent his time attempting to recreate things from his old world. Ketchup was a success, and it was not long before some madman discovered golf sauce. After ketchup, he created a flashlight. Then, after many attempts and some incidents in which Fribal had to intervene, he created a freezer and fridge.

"What the hell is golf sauce?" Felt asked.

The only response was a darkened expression on all three of the Natuskis' faces, and Al, in the most serious tone, saying, "We do not talk about golf sauce."

"Okay…" Felt decided not to touch that. "What's a flashlight, then?"

"Oh, a flashlight is a piece of tech from Earth that is basically a small, portable electric light that allows a person to see in the dark," Subaru answered, looking cheerful again. "And a fridge is a storage space that keeps food cold, thus keeping it fresh, and a freezer is even colder!"

Meanwhile, Anasatisa was drooling heavily at those new inventions.

By now, Subaru, now eighteen years old, was becoming a semi-celebrity among Lugnicans. His inventions were as unique as they were life-changing, and the Astrea estate even received letters from Vollachians who wanted to express thanks.

At one point, Subaru received a marriage proposal from a Kararagian merchant.

Everyone looked toward the Kararagian merchant in the Theater.

"What? I wasn't born yet!" the purple-haired merchant exclaimed.

"Don't worry!" Mimi reassured her liege. "You'll make a great bride for Bro!"

Ricardo did his best to hold down his laughter, while Tivey stared at his sister, horrified.

His products had become so popular that, one day, Fribal approached him with a proposition: King Gionis was interested in the young inventor and whatever the boy created. The king was willing to aid Subaru in creating his own company so long as the goods brought forth by it were sold exclusively in Lugnica.

Upon hearing that, everyone had some interesting thoughts to say.

"Hmm…" Subaru analyzed the situation. "On the one hand, meeting the king would be considered a pretty big deal in this world, and he could give me a theoretically limitless supply of funds, but on the other hand, entire countries having monopolies have never played out well…"

"What's a monopoly?" Crusch asked.

"Monopolies are when a single entity, be it a country or corporation, are the sole creators of sellers of certain products," the black-haired knight explained. "Due to the fact that they're the only seller, customers have no choice but to buy from them, allowing them to keep explaining in power. In my world, monopolies have been banned."

"What a fascinating economic structure…" Priscilla awed.

To discuss this proposition, Gionis invited Subaru to the Royal Castle, and informed him that the king's heirs would be present at the discussion along with some notable merchants that could help the new company grow.

When the day came for him to attend the meeting, Subaru went dressed in his finest clothes (purchased with his money) and having spent hours practicing what to say to the Royal Family and how to answer any questions either they or the various other entrepreneurs might have.

Once he arrived at the castle, he was escorted to a large conference room and told to wait outside until he was called in. It took a couple of minutes for the meeting in progress to conclude, but Subaru was patient and polite enough to wait by himself.

The doors opened, and out came a man that looked, by far, the most out of place in the entire castle. With brightly-colored robes and make-up, he would have looked like a jester, and Subaru would easily have mistaken him for one had he not paid attention to the history lessons he was taught.

The man before him was the Court Mage, Roswaal I. Mathers.

"My, my," Roswaal said. "I taaaaake it you're the young man behiiiiind these marvelous inventions?"

"Don't pretend, Roswaal," Subaru said. "You knew my every move since day one."

"That is true," the clown smiled. "But remember, that you does not know."

"Doesn't make it any better."

"Yes, that would happen to be me, sir Mathers."

"Pleaaaaase, no need for formalities, Subaru. Your name is well-knooooown these days, and I look forward to your success."

That was the entire conversation and, truthfully, he was glad that the clown was leaving. Everything about the Court Mage was off-putting, from his mannerisms to his appearance, and he was content to only know the all-powerful Roswaal I. Mathers as a passing acquaintance.

"Let Rem make an educated guess: Your book wouldn't allow that?" Rem asked.

"Probably not," Roswaal answered. "In our timeline, the book made sure that Subaru-kun would come to our mansion, but given that I'm not as present here, my guesses would be that it instructed me to either pull the strings from the shadows, or, my preferable choice, make more and more frequent appearances to Subaru-kun, and potentially winning his favor."

"Why do you prefer that one?" Frederica asked.

"It makes me act nicer," Roswaal said. "The whole "pulling the strings" thing is usually a euphemism for assassins. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be going that route, instead."

Everyone simply looked at the mage with disgust once more.

From inside the conference room, a joyous voice called out, "Subaru Natsuki! Please, come in! We're pleased to have you!"

Heating the king say this, Subaru stepped into the room and took a quick glance around.

The presence of the various individuals in the room overwhelmed him. Apart from king Gionis, a jolly-looking man who kind of reminded him of Santa Claus, and the king's two sons, Randohal and Ford, there was no one he recognized. All of them were big-shot merchants who could easily monopolize the market, and it was unclear to him if they were present to aid a new ally or to monitor a potential threat to their business.

Crusch internally felt pain at seeing the Royal Family. All of them were killed by one of their own, and none of them spared, not even… Fourier…

Meanwhile, Meili asked, "What's a Santa Claus?"

"He's basically a jolly old man who lives in the North Pole of our world, which kinda doesn't exist here, since your world is flat. Basically, he spends all year making toys for all the good kids in the world, and if you've been naughty, then you get coal."

"Then why does this iteration of our King look like him?" Wilhelm asked.

"Because they're both fat with those huge-ass beards," Al answered.

His answer was appreciated by few. The rest just glared at him.

It was then that he realized that the youngest of the king's heirs and her bodyguard were not present.

Good. If she was here, then this conversation would never get underway.

Once he sat down, the king presented his offer: In exchange for selling his goods only in Lugnica, Subaru would be given assistance in starting his own company (which he had decided to name "Alcyone") and a workspace in the Royal Castle.

"I'm assuming that's the name of yet another star, in fact?" Beatrice guessed.

"Yep! I'm so proud of you!" Subaru cheered for his adoptive sister.

"Between the names of the Witches, the Sin Archbishops, the Pleiades Watchtower, Shaula, and now this company, you Natuskis really have an odd fascination with stars."

"Hey, we just named our son after one!" Kenichi defined himself from Felt.

"Yes, yes, he's the one responsible for all the star-related names in your world," Naoko said.

Subaru was fine with the offer, but he wanted access to the Kararagian market as well, since most of the country's citizens were merchants. If he could sell his products there too, it would give him a massive income boost.

A couple of the merchants agreed with him: After all, if Alcyone focused on Kararagi, they would have less competition in Lugnica.

The conversation lasted for an hour and a half, and it ended once Gionis agreed to Subaru's terms. With his new inventions, Lugnica would gain an edge over its main rival, Vollachia.

With the meeting concluded, he was free to explore the castle. Given, now it was to be his home, so he felt exploring it would be of some use in the future. All he had on his schedule was to get his belongings from the Astrea manor and settle in. Oh, and he'd have to find a spot for Alcyone's first building. Now that he thought about it, there was a lot he needed to do, so maybe it would be best t—

"Hah! And look who's here, Niko, it's that scullion who thinks so highly of himself!"

"Yes, my lady, I see him."

Princess Emerada and her bodyguard strike again!

"At this point, she's just kinda annoying," Felt groaned.

"Yes, I agree," Julius said. "She currently doesn't possess her Authority, so she has no real power. All she can do is order others to do her bidding, and only Niko is willing."

"Too bad we can't really arrest her anymore," Subaru grumbled.

"Yes, that does come with being a Sin Archbishop," Reinhard agreed.

"You two," Subaru spoke, turning to face the two people he's loathed since he first came to this world. "Is your entire schedule just finding people to bully?!"

"No," she replied. "This lovely lady just takes joy in seeing you be reminded of your place."

"Go remind someone else, you no-life thugs! Why don't you pester your brothers?!"

"Simple: My brothers are no fun."

"Then go ask your dad to buy you a new castle or something! Stop chasing me around like a… like an obsessed dog!"

In the silence that followed, Subaru could see Niko glare daggers at him, and if looks could kill, his body would never be found.

"Ha! Joke's on you, I can't die!" Subaru laughed at Niko.

"Subaru, we clearly saw from the previous viewing that just because they can't kill you permanently doesn't mean that you can't suffer," Emilia reminded her knight.

"And given that she eventually becomes the Sin Archbishop of Lust, her methods might be far more cruel than even what happened in the previous episode," Crusch said.

Several in the audience flinched at the previous Subaru's treatment.

Emerada just looked into his eyes, unblinking, as if no one in her sixteen years of life had ever stood up to her. "Niko, I see this dim-witted cretin needs to remember his place."

"My lady," her guard interjected. "I think the castle's hallway is a… less than ideal place to do so. What if the king finds out?"

"He won't, at least, not from us."

"Wait a second," the teenaged inventor said. "You guys aren't gonna kill me are you?!"

The princess's smile said it all.

Knowing that since Emerada was a princess, she could probably get away with murder, Subaru did the sensible thing and turned to run.

He made it one step before she grabbed him from the back of his neck and brought a small knife to his neck.

Great, this is how he died: Pissing off a stuck-up princess.

Everyone's heartbeats immediately sped-up at the sight in front of them.

It was a sight they were all-too familiar with, and one they never liked watching.

Subaru was about to die.

Petra and Meili immediately hid their eyes with Frederica and Otto, while Mimi and Tivey hid theirs with Ricardo. Naoko simply prayed that her little boy wouldn't suffer, as Kenichi held her hand. All of the knights glared angrily at the rotten princess…

Meanwhile, the woman who had grown infatuated with Subaru now felt their hearts break. They felt useless, like they couldn't help the one they had grown to love.

Much to his surprise, she did not kill him, but rather pressed the knife's sharp blade to his neck and said, "This lovely lady is kind enough to forgive you this time, filth, but you would do well to remember who's really more important. Do you think they'd listen to the word of a foreign innovator over that of a princess?"

"You're so damn brutal! Why can't you be more like your father, lady?!"

She edged the knife closer to his carotid artery. "Ha, just you wait. When that good-for-nothing bastard finally drops dead, who will you go off crying to? My brothers couldn't care less, and who has the gall to resist a royal's command?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Subaru was gonna live.

Footsteps came from one end of the hallway, and Emerada immediately let him go. With a swift movement, she hid the knife in her shoe and kicked Subaru in the knee, forcing him to fall on the floor. As he hit the carpet, she bent down and acted like she was picking him up.

The perfect cover-up.

A man walked into hallway, dressed in simplistic red and green robe, the man's scarred mouth broke into a genuine smile when he saw the princess. "Lady Emerada, it is quite the surprise, seeing you here, but it is a welcome surprise. I take it you're… socializing with this young man, hm?"

"Yes, lord Zerzel," she replied. "This boy tripped and I decided to help him!"

Subaru made a mental note to get her back for this.

"THAT BITCH!"

Everyone immediately gasped, as they all turned to look at the culprit.

"Petra-chan!" Frederica was white as a sheet. "Where did you learn such language?!"

"Garfilel, mostly," the little maid answered. "But that's not the point! How could she be so cruel?! She's a liar, who doesn't care about her own father, and views people's lives as her playthings!"

"Yep," Meili said, her expression dead. "That's Capella for you."

Zerzel's grin somehow grew bigger. "As expected of a royal, lady Emerada, your graciousness never ceases to amaze me. And, Niko, I trust you have been taking good care of the princess here, hm?"

Niko stood silent.

"Ah, well," Zerzel spoke. "I suppose one can never give the wrong answer if one never speaks. You, my one-eyed friend, are much wiser than I could ever hope to be. Now, as to the black-haired young man here, you must be quite the individual to get on the princess's good graces. Do not waste that talent."

With a short bow, Zerzel made his way to the other end of the hallway, leaving the three alone again.

That includes people, too.

"Ha-ha," Subaru sarcastically laughed at the narration.

"Oh, good, we have a scene change," Crusch said.

With an overdramatic strum on his guitar's strings, Subaru Natsuki finished his demonstration, and the crowd collectively cheered for him.

Even while they sang his praises and revered him as some kind of genius, some comparing him to Hoshin of the Wasteland, Subaru still felt that singing in public was simply not his forte.

So, why was he even doing it in the first place?

Well, it may have something to do with Alcyone's latest product, the guitar. Since this world has "lyulyres" and they have never known the beauty of guitars and similar instruments, he took it upon himself to deliver it to the masses. Now, he had just finished presenting the guitar's final model to a crowd of the capital's inhabitants, who had gathered just to catch a glimpse of the inventor that revolutionized their world in the last year.

Several people oohed and awed at Subaru's invention, along with his demonstration at playing it. "Subaru-kun, that's amazing!" Rem exclaimed. "You never told us you could play!"

"Well, it never came up," he said. "Also, I'm just decent. I'm not that good."

"If yer th' only person who can play it 'n our world, yer automatically th' best," Anastasia said.

"Musician, cook, seamster, hard ta believe he's still single," Ricardo joked.

The demi-human suddenly felt several pairs of eyes glaring at him. Big mistake.

Since the display was over, Subaru made his way backstage, where a group of his employees and some investors waited for him. Unlike in all his other presentations, however, there was a new individual among the investors.

A man in red and green robes.

Subaru barely remembered the man. Emerada had called him "Lord Zerzel," so it was safe to assume he was a lord and a Zerzel. Apart from that, however, the raven-haired boy had never seen this man. It did not help that it had been about a month since that scene.

On the flipside, though, it had been a month since he had to deal with Emerada.

That alone counted as a major victory for him!

"Subaru Natsuki, hm," Zerzel spoke. "Impressive demonstration. I've never been one for music, hm? But, for those who are, this new creation of yours could change everything. Say, how would you feel about a business contract?"

Subaru, being the smart boy he is, decided to ask for details. "A contract? What would it entail? And who even are you?"

"Forgive me, mister Natsuki. My name is Yorghan Zerzel, and I'm a member of the Kararagian Border Committee, hm? If you accept my contract, I can help distribute your goods across every country except Gusteko since, you know, it doesn't border Kararagi. Seriously, my young friend, the Vollachians would kill for a taste of that… what was it… ketchup. I guess the resemblance to blood may be a positive for them, hm?"

"Uhh… Anastasia, you're from Kararagi, is this guy big news?" Subaru asked.

"Kinda?" the purple-haired merchant answered. "Ta put it 'n th' most simplest o' terms, th' Border Committee is a border-located merchant guild tha' brings goods from otha' nations ta everywhere else. But, 'n this case, yeah, they're big."

"Otto, write that down," Subaru whispered to his friend's ear.

"Sure thing, Natuski-san."

As Yorghan finished, Subaru raised his hand, trying to catch his undivided attention. "Ah, how do I say this, you see… I kinda can't sell outside of Lugnica and Kararagi… heh..."

"Hm?"

"Oh, yeah, the contract with the King, nyah," Felix said.

"The one that pretty much locked him into the nation," Reinhard continued.

"Yeah, Alcyone can't sell to the other two countries, sorry. But if you want, you can help me distribute stuff across the countries I can sell to!"

"Well, it would be my pleasure to do so. Of course, I will need something out of this, hm? I believe 30% of the sale profit will be enough to quench the Committee's thirst."

"No way! Lower it a bit! I'll give you 20% at most!"

Yorghan sighed. "Alright, alright. 20% it is, and only because you've so much potential."

While the red-green man slumped over in defeat, Subaru puffed his chest out, as if he had just won a championship game he had spent all year training for.

Even as his heart swelled with pride, all it took was one sentence to shatter it completely.

"I suppose this lovely lady must praise your singing, dog."

Oh, no.

"Fucking, fucking, fucking, fucking, fucking, fuck," Felt cursed.

Everyone agreed with her sentiment, with the exception of Frederica, who was completely caught off-guard from the blonde candidate's swear storm.

"I may have also learned some of those words from some others," Petra added.

It was all starting to begin to make some sense to the beast maid.

From the group of investors and employees, which had began talking among themselves after Yorghan made his offer, emerged princess Emerada, the one and only. See, Subaru knows it is her because no one else would, in their right mind, get a haircut like hers, or wear a flashy green dress that costs more than he makes in a year.

Shockingly enough, her brutish-looking bodyguard was nowhere to be found.

As he kind of covertly looked for the one-eyed guard that accompanied the princess everywhere, Emerada's smirk grew and she slightly laughed, probably at him. "If you're so scared of Niko, then you'll be pleased to know he is unavailable at the moment. Certain matters required his attention, and he has left this lovely lady to wander about by herself."

For drama, she clutched her chest as if heartbroken and took on a sad expression, which was soon replaced by her usual smile.

"Ugh, it's like looking at an evil version of Felt," Emilia groaned.

"Heh, yeah, you're right," Felt chuckled. "We could be mistaken for sisters. The same short blonde hair, the same red eyes, the same physique, the same… pointy… tooth…"

As Felt quieted down, everyone did a double-take to look at Felt. Then back at the on-screen Capella. In fact, Al paused to help them look at one and the other.

"Uhh… Felt?" Subaru asked, worryingly. "When were you born?"

"Fourteen to fifteen years ago, why?" she asked, looking a bit worried.

"Reinhard…" Crusch growled. "Did you tell no one of this, or…?"

"While it is true that she may bear an uncanny resemblance to them, I merely took her in due to the fact that the insignia deemed her a worthy Candidate, not due to potential bloodlines," the Sword Saint said. "The only other person who knows is Miklotov, but he is also unsure."

"Unsure?" Felt asked. "What are you idiots talking about –?"

"Allow me, Reinhard," Wilhelm addressed his grandson. "I should break the news."

"Of course, grandfather," the redhead said, scooting far away from his mistress.

"Felt-sama," the old man addressed the blonde. "Over fourteen years ago, a group of thieves stormed the Royal Castle and kidnapped King Rhandol's infant niece, Freya Lugnica."

Felt was silent. She looked at the image of Capella, then back to everyone looking at her with concern, and did the same thing over and over, until she finally said one word:

"Fuck."

"Nonetheless, I can handle bringing a cur like you along on my excursion. Though, should you try anything…"

Once again, she chuckled.

"You'll find this lovely lady can be the opposite of generous as well."

Great, so he was being forced to go with her to who knows where. Wait, was she kidnapping him?

Before he could object to any potential kidnapping or possible disappearance from a crowded square, the princess grabbed him by the arm and forced him along, most likely to an abandoned building filled with torture tools for her sick amusement.

Could this day get any worse?

"NO! BAD TOUCH! STRANGER DANGER!"

"Subaru, what are these things you're yelling?" Crusch asked in confusion.

"Things we taught our kids to yell when they're being abducted."

"Uh-huh…" Priscilla said, also listening in on the conversation. "And when you mean "our kids" do you refer to the children of Japan, or are you referring to your own future offspring?"

The answer resulted in a very pink Subaru gasping for air.

To say the atmosphere in the carriage was tense would be putting it mildly.

On one side sat Subaru, as stiff as a human can get without shattering in half. Opposite to him was Emerada, sprawled over her seat without a care in the world, but still managing to give him a sidelong glance that conveyed "Either speak and amuse me or I'll toss you under the carriage's wheels."

"Toss me, I beg you."

"Subaru-kun!"

"Sorry, Rem, but death is a preferable alternative to this bullshit."

Meanwhile, Reinahrd looked over to his mistress. "Are you alright, Felt-sama?"

"I could be related to this bitch…"

She wasn't taking it all that well, it seemed.

Unfortunately for her, not only is he terrible at conversation, but he is awkward beyond compare!

It seems that the princess also realized it, as she finally broke the silence and said, "So, pray tell, where did a tyke such as yourself come from?"

"Oh, heh, you probably won't believe me, but I come from an island nation in the east!"

"No, I don't believe you at all. Lugnica is the easternmost country, but this lovely lady supposes an inept meatbag like yourself would not know such basic geography."

"Were you asking just to make fun of me?!"

She chuckled. "No, but you end up making it easy to laugh at you."

"Now that I think about it, would we incorporate otherworldly countries into our base geography?" Emilia wondered. "Or would we simply update our world map?"

"Well, it technically depends on my world's relationship to yours, Emilia-tan," Subaru said.

"Really?" Julius wondered. "How so?"

"The basic scientific consensus in my world is that life on other planets would evolve completely different than on my world, which means that your world isn't a part of my universe, and that Al and I stumbled into another reality," the black-haired knight explained.

Otto looked at Subaru skeptically. "I'm sensing a "however" somewhere in there…"

"However," Subaru continued. "These viewings have shown us that me ending up in your world is a universal constant, which must mean that your world exists within the boundaries of my universe. Either that, or me entering an all-new reality is a common occurrence."

"So the question is… where in the universe are we?" Crusch summed it up.

Subaru would have slapped her if she was not nobility. "How can you keep making such comments?! Seriously, isn't it tiring to carry that massive ego around?!"

"Ha! As if you'd even know what an ego is!"

"Hey! I don't take kindly to such things! I may not have become a god-slayer, but without me, you wouldn't have mayo!"

"Oh, how heartbreaking," she replied, with mock sadness.

Crusch, much like everyone else, glared at Capella.

But unlike most everyone else, she had a different reason.

You killed Fourier.

She didn't forget what had happened with the Divine Dragon. That reality's Subaru had told her that it was Capella's fault for the death of the Royal Family, that she was responsible for –

"Crusch-sama?"

"Hmm? What is it Felix?"

"Are you alright, nyah?"

"Fine," she lied. "I just don't like how she speaks to Subaru."

Elsewhere, Reinhard knew that Crusch was lying.

"Why, you!"

"Why, me? Oh, you wouldn't be referring to this lovely lady who, so graciously, has given you the gift of being in her presence, would you?"

Pointing at her, he said, "Alright! I don't know who raised you this way, but I promise I'll give them a piece of my mind! And you're next, young lady!"

"Come now, you're all bark and no bite!"

Before he could retaliate, the carriage stopped, and the driver opened the door. He offered Emerada a hand, but she simply hopped off by herself, leaving Subaru to catch up. He did, and was about to ask where she had whisked him away to when he saw the pond in front of him.

A beautiful meadow with a pond.

Seriously, it was so stunningly mesmerizing that it seemed like the stereotypical place where couples propose and get married.

Upon hearing that last piece of narration, Subaru suddenly came down with a coughing fit.

"SUBARU-KUN?!" Rem looked at her coughing hero in worry.

"Eguh… I'm good, Rem…" Subaru reassured her, though in the back of his mind, Subaru was thinking other things. This narration better not be implying what I think it's implying…

Emerada took a couple of steps and neared the pond. Once she was close to it, she sat down and looked at the water as if expecting it to perform tricks for her amusement.

Subaru sat near her, but still out of arm's reach, so she could not just throw him into the water which was, surely, filled with man-eating piranhas or something similar.

"What are piranhas?" Meili asked.

"They're a type of fish that have sharp teeth," Kenichi informed the little girl. "While they're mostly small and harmless on their own, they tend to team up in larger groups, and have been known to attack old and sickly animals whenever one of them swims in their waters."

"Tha' don't sound too scary," Garfiel said.

"Keep in mind that those old and sickly animals are usually larger than people," Al helpfully added. "And that there have been a few cases where piranhas attacked people."

Emilia and Beatrice grabbed Subaru's hands, as they recalled the Great Rabbit. They were smart enough to know that there was a possibility that Subaru was eaten by those things.

Looking behind him, where the carriage had stopped, Subaru noticed that they had left the capital, and the glorious city was a breath-taking backdrop.

The princess reached into her pocket and, instead of taking out some elaborate set of torture tools, got a handful of what seemed to be food of some kind.

As Subaru watched on, thinking that she was probably going to use that food for nefarious purposes, she tossed the handful into the pond. Immediately, various kinds of fish-like animals and other pond-dwellers began going for the food.

"I see now," he commented. "You probably take pleasure in seeing them fight one another for food!"

"No, I just enjoy feeding them. Are you so laughably moronic that you can't see that?"

"Sure! Now you'll tell me you can fly!"

Emerada made an indiscernible expression and continued tossing handfuls of food into the pond.

"She'll fly when she grows the wings of some evil dragon," Subaru hissed.

"Barusu, how do you know that?" Ram asked.

"Ram, we both saw th' last viewing, right?" Garfiel asked his crush. "Ya saw th' bitch grow th' giant claw an' then turn into a fuckin' dragon, right? He made an inference."

Frederica looked at her brother in shock. "I'm surprised you knew what that word meant."

"YA CALLIN' MA AMAZIN' SELF STUPID?!"

The two sat in silence for a while, until she said, "Aren't these little creatures just great?"

Not expecting the cold-blooded psychopathic maniac to ask that, Subaru remained quiet as he thought of an answer. "I don't know, I've never seen them before."

"It's not a matter of if you've seen them or not. Look, they want food, and they go for it. Such a simple thought process makes them predictable."

"I'm guessing you're not the type that likes surprise parties."

"Charming. Look at them, so simple-minded. So… unlike us."

He looked at the pond creatures and laughed. "Well, yeah. We don't live in a pond and eat leftovers! We live in a society, duh."

""""BOOOOO!"""" Immediately, the entire Nartuski family, and Al, started to boo.

"What was that for?" Reinhard asked.

"I don't want to think about the Joker again during my time here!" Subaru said.

And I especially don't wanna see more versions of me that act like him…

"Who ever is the Joker?" Otto couldn't help but ask.

"Since Bro probably doesn't wanna talk about it, I'll explain." Al got everyone's attention. "In DC Comics, not gonna get into what a comic is, the Joker is the archenemy of one of the greatest superheroes of all time. He's completely insane, finds humor in just about any form of torture, death, and destruction you can imagine, and easily has a bigger body count than every Witch Cultist in the world combined, all the while dressing up like a clown."

Everyone was completely silent at that.

"Well… shit…" Garfiel didn't know what to say to that.

"Yeah, you better be glad he ain't real."

"No," she countered, shaking her head. "I meant: Are people as simple-minded and predictable as these little ones?"

"Uh, I guess not."

"Correct. People have so many faces that it becomes difficult to tell which is real and which isn't. For example, to everyone, you are a mastermind, but I know what a fool you really are."

"That was so uncalled for!"

The princess chuckled and cleaned her hands, having run out of food. "Yes, yes it was. But… I guess I like your predictability."

With those words, the maybe-not-so-insane-after-all princess smiled warmly at him, and her joy actually seemed genuine.

As she made her way back to the carriage, Subaru looked at the small pond-dwellers and asked, "Does she really like these things so much?"

He knew what he was going to build next.

"Hold up, hold up," Al said. "Is the narration implying…"

"That she has some sort of soul?" Naoko finished his question. "Yes."

"Well, it does make sense," Subaru said. "Evil people don't just pop out of nowhere, something makes them go evil. If I was betting, I'd say that she was neglected by her family, and the fact that she was royalty gave her a power trip, as she closed off any part of her that could be deemed good. Then Pandora found her, offered her revenge on her family in exchange for power, and voila, brand-new Sin Archbishop."

"So Pandora finds those who are mentally ill, the desperate, or those of weak minds and she then makes into her puppets?" Priscilla summed up in anger. "Despicable."

"No one ever starts out evil," the black-hiared knight said. "Just look at Geuse."

Everyone's breath hitched as the scene changed. The kind green-haired man that was driven mad by an Authority and forced to be put down by Subaru. Someone who was never supposed to be a villain, but Pandora forced that role upon him.

"So, mind telling us what exactly you brought?"

It had been little more than two months since Subaru's chat with the princess, when he discovered that she apparently liked watching lobster-like pond creatures because they were "predictable" or whatever.

Since then, he had spent his time designing a peace offering of sorts. A gift for the unpredictable, lobster-watching fiend so that she would finally admit that she had been wrong about him.

Oh, he could already imagine it! Emerada begging for forgiveness and admitting that he was the super-duper greatest inventor in the world! Yes, that would do just fine!

Like always, his plan was trumped by fate's cruel tricks. Since this world had no oceans, that meant that there were very few water-living creatures. So, without those creatures, people could not appreciate them, which meant that, when Subaru brought his latest creation to the princess to show off, neither she nor her guard had any clue what the water-filled glass box was supposed to even do.

"What even is that thing?" Petra asked, kinda mesmerized.

"I believe that is what is known as an aquarium, in fact," Beatrice guessed.

"A what?" Wilhelm looked stumped, as did several others.

"Aquariums, also known as fish tanks, are transparent containers of water in which fish and other water creatures are kept," Naoko explained. "They're usually used as habitats for animals undergoing scientific research, or as homes for those who have pet fish."

"Oh, so they're basically see-through fish ponds!" Anastasia exclaimed.

"Oh, you have these here in your world?" Subaru asked.

"Eh, I saw rich folk back 'n Kararagi have 'em, an' maybe some in Lugnica."

I guess Hoshin brought the concept of koi ponds to this world, too… Subaru thought.

"This lovely lady agrees with Niko's query. What is it your less-than-optimal mind has come up with this time, and why have you brought it to my presence?"

Subaru fought back the urge to yell at them. "Seriously?! You don't know what an aquarium is?!"

"Whatever this 'awcurium' is, it seems quite worthless," the princess responded.

"It looks like a miniature bath," Niko added. "But who's supposed to use it?"

"You idiots! Are you so damn stupid!? It's not a bath! It's for FISH! You know, the little things at the pond!"

"Natsuki-san, those things in the pond weren't fish," Otto said.

"What were they then, Mr. Zoologist?" Subaru asked, sarcastically.

"Hey! I have an idea!" Al said. "Maybe if you shut up, we'll hear the answer!"

Emerada stared at him without malice, but her confusion was somehow more overbearing than her usual evil personality. "'Fish?' The little pond creatures are Xeeli bugs, and they're distant relatives of Zodda bugs. And you call yourself a mastermind, huh?"

"How can you expect me to remember the name of some useless little insect!?"

"Funny you should say that! Have you noticed how this lovely lady never calls you by name?"

"I walked right into that one, didn't I?" Subaru asked.

No one denied it.

"Why, you!"

As Emerada chuckled and Subaru fumed, Niko pointed to the aquarium. "Interesting thing you made. But, do you even know who'd like to own a Xeeli bug? Those things can be quite nasty."

"Sure, I do," the black-haired innovator answered. "The princess here likes those little things!"

"Kyahaha! Yes, I do like those little bugs, but what makes you think that this lovely lady would even want to own one?!"

Ah, yeah, that was kind of a good point.

"Don't let her get into your head, Big Bro!" Felt said.

"Yeah, it's still awesome that ya made it!" Ricardo cheered him on.

"Aw, thanks, guys," Subaru smiled. Maybe I'll make one when we get back…

"Look," he said. "You like the pond. You like the little bugs. So why would you not like a miniature pond with the little bugs that you can keep in your room?"

Another good point.

For a second, Emerada considered whether the aquarium was really worth actually bringing into her room, as if its mere presence would taint a sacred space reserved for the purest of existences.

Her response came in the form of a shrug.

"FUCK YOU, LADY!" Priscilla yelled at the screen.

"Pris?!" Subaru yelped, shocked by her choice of words.

"This iteration of yourself poured their heart and soul into something for that spoiled mongrel which has done nothing but berate you and threaten your life, and her sole reaction to this peace offering of a gift is to give it a SHRUG?!" she screeched. "HOW DARE SHE?!"

Wow, she really is serious about treating me right, huh?

Subaru waited for a second or two before speaking. "What do you mean by that?! Do you want the thing or not?!"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to keep it. Niko, take the box to this lovely lady's room."

Niko bowed and carried the aquarium as best he could back to the princess's room.

With a sigh of relief, Subaru let out the worry he did not even know he had.

Shockingly enough, Emerada smiled at him and spoke, "Thank you. This… 'acuriam' of yours is… strangely captivating."

"It's an aquarium!"

"Hmph," Prscilla huffed, sitting back down. "That's better."

"How is she mispronouncing it?" Otto asked.

"I think that she's emphasizing the 'oo' sound," Petra gave her two cents.

"What did I say?"

"'Acuriam!'"

"Is that not its name?"

"No! It's a… never mind, call it whatever you want…"

With an exaggerated look of triumph on her face, Emerada smiled as if she had just conquered an entire country by herself. "That's right! Sing my praises and know your place!"

Ugh, it's like looking at an old version of me, Priscilla groaned in her head. She was fully aware that she had her head as far up her ass as the future Sin Archbishop just a few hours ago, and now that she had reached a new sense of clarity, all she could do was cringe.

Meanwhile, Anastasia was wondering how this version of Subaru created this aquarium.

Before he could retort, something clicked in Subaru's mind, and, with a mischievous smile, he realized what a perfect opportunity he had been given. "Emerada…you wouldn't happen to be a tsundere, would you?"

Instead of retorting with some witty comment, the princess just appeared confused. "Huh? What's that?"

"Agh! Foiled by the cultural barrier!"

"Hey, now that I think about it, we never did ask you what a tsundere was!" Felt said.

"That's right," Reinhard realized. "It was only mentioned once by the Gluttonous you!"

"Please don't remind us of him," Subaru asked. "But the word does escape my vocabulary."

"Okay, I guess I can explain it to you guys," Subaru said. "A tsundere is a woman who acts cold and mean, but is actually nice on the inside. A prime example of that would be Ram."

"Don't drag me into your sick perversions, Barusu."

"See? A tsundere."

"Oh, it looks like the scene with the aquarium is over," Frederica pointed out.

Fribal van Astrea was overjoyed.

What would to everyone else be a normal day was, to him, another marvelous day.

His brother, Veltol, recently informed him that he would be having another child, as Tishua was apparently pregnant again.

Upon hearing that, many people raised their eyebrows.

Especially Wilhelm and Reinhard.

Of course Fribal would be exhilarated at such an announcement!

He heard the couple exchange ideas for names. Apparently, they wanted to name the child Theresia if she was a girl and Cassiles if he was a boy.

Wilhelm looked down on his lap, in shame.

Perhaps this version of Subaru would be able to prevent Theresia from dying to Pandora's hands. Or, better yet, he could save Fribal from his death, thus preventing her from ever becoming the Sword Saint. Well, whatever were to happen…

… it would certainly be better than what happened in their reality.

Well, they were both wonderful names!

Oh! He should host a celebration for this moment!

Yes, that would be splendid!

All that was left to do was… well, everything.

No matter, he was the Sword Saint!

Surely, he could handle setting up a small party.

"Jesus, do you guys really like to party that much?" Subaru asked.

"The Astreas are one of the most influential families in the nation," Reinhard told his friend. "We need our parties to be frequent and lavish to show off our status to the other nobles."

"That… seems excessive," Kenichi winced.

"It is. And for a while… our parties have been… less celebratory, and more… formal."

It is night in Lugnica, and Subaru cannot sleep.

He does not know why exactly sleep eludes him, but he just cannot seem to slip into the pleasant realm of dreams.

Well, mostly pleasant. Two weeks ago, he had a dream about a woman-like being saying it loved him while he floated in an endless abyss darker than black. He felt kind of rude, rejecting the being's love, but he is a simple man: One that does not fall in love without at least a first date, and a dream does not count as a date.

Internally, Subaru cringed, as he knew that was no dream.

Everyone looked right at him like he was insane.

"Big Bro, how could you?!" Felt gasped in a fake shock. "That's your wife!"

"More like his ex, but yes, Subaru, have you no shame?" Crusch joined in on the fun.

"Did you seriously just reject Satella's advances?" Felix asked.

"Uhh… judging by the description it seems more like it was the Witch, not Satella."

Upon hearing Subaru's answer, the laughter died down, and everyone looked around the Theater, awkwardly. They decided to keep going with the viewing after that.

Now he wanders around the royal castle's halls, looking for a way to pass the time.

The halls are at least pleasant to be in. They remind him of those one would see within a fancy hotel. Then again, fancy hotels are where most horror movies take place… ah, whatever. If he finds Room 237, he knows better than to peek inside. Really, he ought to thank Jack Nicholson for that life-saving tip!

"Who the heck is Jack Nicholson?" Mimi asked.

"He's a famous movie actor," Subaru explained.

"What's a movie actor?"

"You know how we're watching this show?" Kenichi asked. "Well, think of a movie like that, but instead of several episodes, it's one continuous story that only lasts around an hour and a half, on average. And the actors are those who play those fictitious characters."

"I see, so it's a modern version of our thespians…" Crusch hummed.

And thus, he wanders about, looking at paintings and avoiding eye contact with the poor guards that still litter the hallways. Funnily enough, he feels safer now, in the night, than when he walks through the hall in the morning.

During his expedition, he got lost a bit and asked a guard how to find his way back. He passed by the throne room and overheard two guards bickering. He found the armory and wanted to go in, but discovered that the quartermaster is more terrifying than an enraged dragon.

To top it all off, he found a door left slightly ajar.

Everyone groaned. They knew whose room that probably was.

Meanwhile, Naoko's voice was like venom. "Subaru…"

"I swear I would never go into a woman's bedroom without permission!" Subaru yelped.

"It's true!" Emilia said. "He announced his presence before he barged into mine –"

"Emilia-tan! Use different phrasing! You make me sound like a brute!"

Wondering who could possibly leave this door unlocked, especially in the one hallway that had like one guard, Subaru did the sensible thing and peeked inside. Now, before anyone claims that what he did was wrong, he knows, but he did it out of concern for the room's inhabitant's wellbeing, so he cannot be held responsible!

(Un)fortunately, the person in the room was someone he was quite familiar with: The princess.

On the flip side, at least he did not find her conducting a demonic ritual or bathed in the blood of her hated enemies. Not that it would change his opinion of her or surprise him, mind you, but it certainly would have been rude to just barge in and disrupt the careful preparation a dark liturgy calls for.

Wait, why was he making excuses for these hypothetical scenarios?

Contrary to his expectation that Emerada would probably be a Witch Cultist in disguise and turn people into flies for fun when no one was looking, all Subaru could see her doing was… really nothing.

"That was… super on the nose," Emilia said.

"I agree, it's not like it's happened yet, in fact," Beatrice said.

"Yeah, I… wait a minute," Subaru realized, grabbing everyone's attention. "Uh… I think that this version of me might end up preventing Capella from becoming a Sin Archbishop."

"What?!" Rem gasped, in shock. "How?!"

"Well, I'm kinda a positive influence on her? She obviously had a caring side, albeit a small side… one that was snuffed out by the time she became a Sin Archbishop."

"So… ya believe tha' this version o' ya 's gonna feed into dat nice side o' her, rather than le' 'er go down 'er "normal" path?" Anastasia asked.

"Well, there is nothing more noble than bringing a villain into the light, am I right?" Subaru asked. "Even if this version of me is technically preventing her from becoming a villain."

The Cast prayed that Subaru's counterpart would succeed in that reality.

She was most likely awake, given how she seemed to stir a lot. Thankfully, she had turned away from the door, so it was extremely likely that she had not seen Subaru, and she gave no indication of having heard him. All she was doing was laying on her bed, with a pillow clutched to her chest, and looking at the empty aquarium.

What entertainment can one get from a glass box filled with water?

The aquarium actually seemed to fit with the rest of the large room, as it really did not have a set theme. No single color dominated her den, but all those present were bright, and not a single dull one could be found. Emerada herself was tucked in and surrounded by an army of her loyal subjects, which was comprised entirely of plushies.

One of them was a white rabbit with a horn on its head! How adorable!

"NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, FUCK THAT SHIT!" Subaru yelled, covering his eyes.

"Subaru, what's wrong?" Crusch asked.

Subaru, with his eyes still covered, replied. "You remember that I said I had to fight off the Great Rabbit at the Sanctuary? I forgot to add that the little shits killed me. Twice."

Everyone stared at him in horror when he said that.

"So, now, whenever I see a rabbit, I get flashbacks, and – Huh?"

Uncovering his eyes, Subaru saw that Emilia, Rem, Crusch, Priscilla, and even Anastasia had all left their seats and crowded all around his area, all of them holding a part of him, trying to calm him down from getting a panic attack. "Uh… thanks, I guess?"

They decided to continue with the viewing with the new seating arrangements.

Much to the bitching and moaning of both Al and Garfiel.

Feeling like she might turn at any moment and decide to add his head to her list of decorations, Subaru did the right thing and slowly backed away from the door. Then, he closed it. There, now he could continue wandering about!

Or so he thought.

When a hand grabbed his shoulder, all his instincts kicked into "fight or flight" mode. Much to the residents' dismay, he picked the secret third option, "scream."

There was no sound as a hand covered his mouth.

Seriously, was this how he died? Being slaughtered by an unseen assassin in a hallway? So much for feeling safe!

Then, a familiar voice spoke, "Now, now, you're quite the curious one, aren't ya?"

"Shit," Subaru cursed.

"You only have yourself to blame, young man," Naoko pouted.

Subaru could barely hold back the urge to slap himself. "Niko!? What're you even doing up at this hour, old man!?"

"I could say the same t' you!"

"Hey! I can't sleep!"

"So you decided to spy on the princess?!"

Ah, that was… a fair point.

"Ha. Barusu will die because of his lust," Ram chuckled.

"I mean, our version of Bro might also die from that, too," Al pointed out.

"Hm? How?"

"Well, five women… chances are he might die of exhaustion –"

SLAP!

"Yep," Al deadpanned, feeling the sting of Ram's wrath. "Shoulda seen it coming."

Subaru had completely forgotten that the princess barely went anywhere without her trusted guardian, so it was not entirely unexpected that he would watch over her even at this hour.

"I shoulda known you were untrustworthy," the gruff bodyguard said. "Good thing I can get rid of ya now…"

"Hey! I don't wanna die! I'm telling you, I just couldn't sleep!"

Before Niko could snuff out the peeking fool's life, the door opened, and Emerada glared at the two with a look that said "I would sacrifice you two on an altar if I wasn't so damned tired."

"Saved by the villain!" Mimi cheered.

"Please don't say it like that," Tivey said.

"I sure hope she wuz jokin' 'bout th' whole "sacrificing" thing," Ricardo gulped.

No one wanted to place a bet on that.

"You two," she said, her voice barely audible. "If you're going to kill each other, do the sensible thing and leave me out of it. I need to go to sleep."

As she moved to close the door, Subaru could practically count the last seconds of his life on one hand.

Abruptly, she kept the door open. "Niko, let him go. The moron may've snuck his nose where it doesn't belong, but this lovely lady is sure he learned his lesson. Next time he's this nosy, cut it off."

The poor black-haired boy wanted to ask what exactly "it" was referencing, but he decided to keep his mouth shut and hope for the best.

That last comment made quite a few men in the audience tense.

There were some fates truly worse than death, indeed.

"As for you, fool: Are you so simple-minded that you peek into the first open door you find?"

"Yes," he sighed.

"Have you learned your lesson?"

"Yes."

"Will you do it again?"

He shook his head as best he could. "No, I won't."

Emerada grinned and beckoned for Niko to release him, clearly content with the confession she extracted from this intruder. "Niko, you can resume your job. You, come in."

Making sure, Subaru asked, "Me? You're not planning to rip my heart out, are you?!"

Her glare made it clear that she would rip his heart out if he did not go in, so he took his chance and followed her order.

"Hey, quick question: Royalty isn't above the law, right?" Subaru asked.

"What do you mean?" Crusch asked.

"I mean, under the hypothetical situation that Capella does murder me, or worse, in that timeline, would she face legal consequences, like, you know, get arrested? Tried, maybe?"

"Well, given that she would be royalty, even if she was found guilty of such a thing, the chances of her facing any actual consequences would be slim to none," Reinhard said.

"Looks like I gotta introduce to you guys the Magna Carta…" Subaru groaned.

Without the door in the way, he could see Emerada was wearing the complete opposite of her usual attire. Whereas she always wore a complex and intricate green dress, now she had on a simple white onesie with a hoodie.

Also, now that he was in the room, Subaru could see just how massive it was. It could easily fit a group of nine people comfortably, and it must be a massive pain to clean. Every part of the room was cluttered with something, from clothes carelessly tossed aside to drawings and, finally, the aquarium from earlier that day.

Still looking around, he felt out of place. The entire room represented Emerada, and he was an intruder with no reason to even be in here. Why did she even order him inside? Was she going to laugh at him and send him away when she was pleased?

"Come now," she said. "You know this lovely lady would never stain her floor with a fool's blood. There's no need to be so tense."

"That doesn't help me relax!"

She nodded with a smile and jumped on her bed, once more being submerged in the unnatural amount of plushies that shared her bed. After some seconds of moving the stuffed animals aside, she grabbed the pillow from before and beckoned for Subaru to sit next to her, in front of the aquarium.

Once he sat down, she asked, "How did you make it?"

"The aquarium? Uh, it took a couple of water mages and some skilled engineers, but it wasn't that hard, you know."

"Julius, right tha' down," Anastaisa order her knight.

"Way ahead of you, my liege," Julius said, scribbling down everything. "I started wiring everything I saw the second that version of Subaru invented mayonnaise."

"I love it when people think smart!"

"Mhm. And, why did you make it?"

"I thought you'd finally get off my case," he sighed. "If you saw what I could do, then maybe you'd treat me better."

"Isn't revenge such a good motivator?"

"Yeah, but… I guess there was another reason…"

Her eyes lit up with curiosity, and she leaned closer to him. "Well now, you have my undivided attention."

For the black-haired inventor, the room suddenly felt… claustrophobic, and he did not really want to admit why else he had created the item. "Oh! Look at the time, heh, gotta sleep now! Bye!"

Emilia, with the several other women surrounding Subaru, suddenly got tense.

If what they thought was happening… was happening…

… it better not be.

He could have tried a mad dash to the door, but her hand caught the back of his neck and forced him on his rear and back where he was previously. "Come on, now, I reeeeeally want to know…"

"I guess," he began, avoiding eye contact. "When you were at the pond… you seemed genuinely happy, like your other personality was a fake, and… I guess I liked seeing you actually happy… heh…"

Everyone looked at Subaru, with varying degrees of disappointment.

"What?"

"Dude, let me be straight with you here," Al said, his tone lacking any comedic elements. "You have gotten into the pants of Satella, Shaula, several of the Royal Candidates, various different Witches, and now… it looks like you're trying to get into the pants of a Sin Archbishop."

"I…" Subaru looked towards everyone in the audience, and then towards the screen, the implications sinking in. "WHAT?! NO! That is wrong on so many levels!"

"What other reasoning is there behind it?" Ram asked.

"To make her act nicer?!"

Ram simply stares at him for a bit, as if expecting for him to crack under her gaze. When she detected no signs of deception, she simply said, "Alright," and turned back to the screen.

At that point, Subaru breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Subaru waited for her mocking laugh, but it never came. Instead, he felt a weight against his sides as Emerada wrapped her arms around him. What surprised him the most was that, after a few seconds of this, she did not just toss him to the floor and order him to grovel for her.

"Do you know why I said I prefer animals to people?"

He was taken aback, but he remembered their interaction at the pond. "You said something about predictability, but not much else."

"Mhm. Animals are predictable and simple to understand. Instincts guide them. People are liars, and it's hard to tell which side of them is a lie and which isn't. People are guided not by instinct, but by vices like greed, lust, and wrath."

Ironic, coming from her, Reinhard thought to himself.

But that line got him, along with a few others, thinking. Was this the true face of Capella long ago? A little girl who hid her real face from the world, and merely acted as cruel as the world she perceived around her? And if so, when did the mask stop being the mask?

When did she fully embrace her villainous role?

From where he was sitting, he could feel Emerada scoot a little closer to him. She let go of him and lay on his lap, still clutching the pillow, and closed her eyes.

"You," she said. "You're different. Somehow, I can predict what you'll say or do, and that comforts me. If I tease you, you'll act all angry. If I appear from nowhere, your expression falls. Isn't it great?"

"Great for you, maybe…"

He was looking at the aquarium when she grabbed him by the chin and forced his gaze down. "Now, now, don't get too mad. We both said some things that you're going to regret, but we have not killed each other, have we?"

Subaru just remained silent.

"Don't be so cold," she laughed. "It'll ruin your face, and that's arguably your best trait. Well, I don't really like your hair, but the rest is fine, I guess…"

"Hey! Have you seen your own haircut!?"

"Mhm, and I quite like it! Isn't it so fluffy and cute? If you let your hair down, I might just change my mind…"

"You know… I hope they find happiness together."

Everyone looked toward Subaru, like he was insane.

"Subaru!" Emilia yelled. "That's the Sin Archbishop of Lust! You can't just –"

"Correction, Emilia-tan: The Sin Archbishop of Lust technically doesn't exist yet. All I see in front of me is a girl that acts out the way she does in some desperate attempt to make her presence known to others, and maybe, to feel something that would thaw out her heart."

"..."

"I hope that this version of me helps her. That he stays close to her, to melt her frozen heart, and to save a girl before she becomes a monster. It would certainly save several other people down the line, too," Subaru said, as he looked at Meili. "But hey, that's just my wish…"

Everyone looked toward one another in thought. Sure, their version of Capella is beyond saving, but maybe, just maybe, the one they were seeing wasn't too far gone.

Just as he was about to retort, she shifted her body and faced sideways, holding the pillow a little tighter. Subaru was terrible at reading the mood, but even he could tell that she wanted to sleep and end the conversation there.

For a few minutes, he kept looking at the various things that the princess had thrown around the room, and his wandering gaze stopped moving when he heard her breathing slow and become more rhythmic, a sure sign that she was asleep.

With care, he rolled her over to the mass of plushies and left her there. He silently stood and made his way outside the room, where Niko was, thankfully, nowhere to be found.

Making his way back to his room, Subaru wondered what else there was to know about the princess that he had never truly seen.

Also, he wondered how he would look with his hair down.

As the lights came back on with the line, everyone slowly got up and moved around a bit more. It wasn't too bad, it certainly could have been a lot worse, that was for sure.

Priscilla stared at the blank screen, remembering Capella. She was spoiled, she was arrogant, in all honesty, it was like looking into a mirror. So, she silently vowed herself that she wouldn't regress back to being like her. She vowed that she would better herself.

For Suabru's sake.

Meanwhile, Subaru got up, and headed right towards… "Meili."

"Oh, hey, Onii-chan," the blue-haired girl said. "I guess you changed your mind?"

"No."

The former assassin looked at the nasty-eyed teenager in surprise.

"Meili, just because Capella was capable of redemption a long time ago doesn't mean she deserves it now," Subaru said, lowering himself to her level. "She lost that chance the moment she laid her hands on someone, when she laid her hands on you. The little princess we saw on that screen is long gone. All that's left is that hollow husk Lust is inhabiting."

Meili simply stared at him, as he continued.

"I promise, I'll kill her, and I promise that you will be free."

As Meili hugged him in gratitude, Felt watched from afar, feeling conflicted about her own situation. That was, until Reinhard gestured her towards the lobby.

She followed him outside of the Theater, and then he spoke.

"So… do you wish, as Subaru would say, to talk about it?" he asked.

---

Author's Note: Huh, that was oddly wholesome, am I right?

The original story is called "Raven-Black and Emerald-Green," and can be found through this link s/13942393/1/Raven-Black-And-Emerald-Green on , and with /works/35723920/chapters/89076511 on ArchiveonOurOwn. And now, onto the comments!

Guest #1: That complaint is for last week's sister chapter, my friend.

Guest #2: I explicitly tried to avoid that in this chapter.

Chuck B. Winanaki: Yeah, Infinite and I have been trying to write a satisfying conclusion to Ram's story, and I think we're on the right track. I promise we'll have moments where Naoko will be babying the lolis in the future. The last episode we had them react to was… something, alright. And according to the timeline, Wilhelm wouldn't have been born yet, since we said "over" fifty years ago.

TheAsterix: Yeah, Priscilla might be the most extreme example of the two timelines being different, but there are indeed some more examples. And while I am doing the King of Pride, I will be doing a different part of the story. Though, thanks for the suggestion.

Pryd: I will always try to keep these stories tasteful, thank you very much. I'm not planning to do Sealed due to the fact that the story would contradict several finale spoilers, but I was deeply considering it, albeit with some editing.

Wally991: The comedy tag was not intended for that.

Deathenglegamers1144: It was actually a reference to some Jojo meme, not a KSI one. And I was very proud of that Avengers joke, thank you very much. I'm glad to hear that you will be sticking around for my furniture projects!

5queso: Yeah, "Voracity" was a pretty good choice for the final opening song. And in terms of Subaru having a gun, well… next week's story does actually cover that, eventually. And I'm glad you brought up that GATE reference, because… one of my future projects may or may not have taken some influence from that anime.

R-king 93: Awesome comment.

Scattershot98: Yeah, I knew that when it came to the Re: Forgotten series, I would have to use the best of the best, and I delivered. And while Naoko might not vocally say anything, at least she knows that Priscilla is capable of being a good person.

Ronnie 101: Glad you liked the last chapters. And good to know that comic book fans have a tad bit of restraint. But I agree with you, I hope the author's okay.

ralts konet: That's one way of putting it, I'll give you that.

calderoneric758: I was considering a bunch of gender-bent ones, but there were so many concepts I wanted to cover that I figured the one I did was good enough.

LouisCy: Thanks for your patience, Happy New Year to you, too!

The reader2234: Thanks for joining my Discord, and as for your question, I think it would be funnier to make everyone just quietly assume Subaru's genius is nothing big.

Claudespeed123: Okay, I'm guilty of doing the same thing, so I'll just give you the run-down: Roswaal was outed as the guy who has been manipulating everything from behind the scenes, and the only person defending him is Ram. Rem asks why, and Ram has no clue, which makes Rem angry. Subaru tries to get Rem to understand what's going on with Ram, and Ram now has to decide what she wants.

hlglh: Yay! Hearts!

Terra: Yeah, that might actually be the best way to describe the relationship between the two stories. There will be more Anastasia development in the next chapter, and Option Two is gonna get a break from all the angst, for now at least. I'll also let Infinite know about the video you shared! Glad to see you back here, man!

Stingrasher: Of course I would give you a chance, you were one of the first options, after all! Making a smooth narrative was a piece of cake, considering I remembered most of the story beats! Thanks in advance for reading all of my future work!

PandaOverlord: Yeah, I make the limit per episode anywhere between twenty and thirty pages, so not everything can make it. Sorry, but I can't write everything.

AlexG2409: Glad to see so many fans of PrisBaru!

Bob2: Well, someone's a big fan of Stingrasher.

Now that that's out of the way, a special thanks to Infinite the Celestain for helping me in making this story, and for being an all-around great guy! If you want to join my Discord server, the link is /Gq3Z3kBu. You can chat with others, post memes and fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, and fan art, and I'll drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! If you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! I also have an Instagram where I post my art, called "eranlore_aka_the_writer," so if you wanna check it out, please do!

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

- Ernalore

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Next time:

What if Subaru teamed up with the Anastasia Camp?

OR

What if Subaru started his own merchant group?