Chapter 10

Meili: "Naked onee-san! You're finally awa~ke!"

Meili rushed up to the bed to hug Shaula. But this made Shaula back away and feel nervous towards her advances.

Meili: "It's great to see you agai~n! You look really good with your hair loo~se."

Shaula narrowed her eyes at Meili. Meili noticed how she was acting and she felt a sense of confusion.

Meili: "Hey, why are you acting like tha~t?"

Shaula: "Do I...know you?"

Meili: "Huh?"

Meili looked at her with confusion

Shaula: "Why did you call me that?"

Subaru: "She doesn't remember anything Meili. I asked her earlier and she didn't know who I was"

Meili looked at Subaru then back at Shaula.

Meili: "Seriously? Do you really not remember anything naked oneesan."

Shaula got annoyed at the small girl's name for her.

Shaula: "Stop calling me "naked onee-san". I'm wearing clothes. And no I'm sorry, but I don't remember who you are...Meili, is it?"

Meili: "Wait, if you don't remember anything then how do you know my name?"

Meili waved her fingers at her.

Shaula: "Your friend here said that a blue-haired girl put this gown on me after I passed out. I'm assuming that it was you who dressed me?"

Meili got caught off guard for a moment, but then smiled and waved her fingers

Meili: "Yeah, that was me~. I just thought you'd be cold if you didn't have any clothes on yo~u."

Shaula: "What are you doing?"

Meili: "Huh?"

Shaula: "Why did you wave your fingers like that?"

Meili was surprised. But she brushed it off and waved her fingers again.

Meili: "It was nothi~ng naked onee-san! Just relax oka~y?"

Shaula was getting irritated

Shaula: "You're doing that again. Why are you waving your fingers like that? And I told you not to call me "naked onee-san". It's Shaula. Or so I've been told."

She then looked over to Subaru as she hugged a pillow close to her.

To say Meili was surprised was an understatement. Something was seriously off. Why wasn't it working? How was Shaula resisting her? It should be impossible for-

Shaula: "Could you just get out please? Both of you just leave. I'm...I'm not in the mood to talk right now."

Meili stammered and wanted to say something.

Meili: "But I-"

Subaru put his hand in her shoulder.

Subaru: "No, it's fine Shaula. I'm sure you're tired so we'll get out of your hair now. Sorry to bother you."

Shaula then lied back down on her bed and pulled the sheets over her.

Shaula: "It's fine, alright? Just go."

With that, Subaru and Meili left Shaula's room and gave her some privacy.

Outside the room Meili had finally said what she wanted to say.

Meili: "Onii-san, something is wro~ng!"

Subaru: "Yeah, I guess so. I mean she clearly looks and sounds like Shaula, but it's like she's a completely different person."

Meili pouted

Meili: "No it's not tha~t!"

Subaru: "Then what's wrong?"

Meili: "My divine protection isn't worki~ng!"

Subaru: "What do you mean?"

Meili sighed

Meili: "Didn't you see me waving my fingers? I tried three times in there to use my divine protection on naked onee-san. But nothing happened. It's always worked before."

Subaru then patted her on the head.

Subaru: "Hey don't worry Meili. Maybe you're just having an off day and your divine protections on the fritz or something."

?: "Surprise seeing you here Subaru-kyun."

Subaru heard a voice. He turned his head to see Felix Argyle standing in front of him.

Behind him was a small girl in a pink frilly dress with pigtails in the shape of drills with her hands on her hips.

Beatrice: "You, brat. How dare you sneak away and not wake Betty I suppose!"

Meili smiled smugly and puffed her chest out with pride.

Meili: "I never said I would wake you nee-chan. You just assumed I said yes."

Beatrice pouted, stomping her foot.

Beatrice: "Why you-"

Beatrice didn't have a chance to retort to Meili as Subaru had picked her up.

Subaru: "Aw come on Beako-chan! You know my life is meaning less unless you're here. Don't be so moody."

Subaru hugged her and rubbed his cheek against hers.

Felix: "Glad to see you're feeling better Subaru-kyun. So how is Shaula-san doing?"

Subaru then stopped giving Beatrice his love to answer Felix's question.

Subaru: "Well, she's awake now. But she said she's not in the mood to talk right now. I think she's just taking a nap now. I don't think it's a good idea to disturb her."

Felix sighed

Felix: "That's fine. But it's good to hear that she's awake now. She has been asleep for the past two days. So did you two catch up?"

Subaru cast his eyes down and felt sad upon hearing those words.

Felix: "I take it from your sombre demeanour that's a no then?"

Subaru shook his head

Subaru: "She has amnesia. She said she doesn't know who I am. And she didn't even recognise Meili."

Felix: "I see. So she has absolutely no memories of you or her past life?"

Subaru: "Yes."

Meili: "Also, I tried to use my divine protection on her, but she seemed to...not be affected by it."

Subaru: "It's ok, Meili. Like I said, you're probably just having an off day."

Felix: "That's not true actually Subaru-kyun."

Subaru looked from Meili over to Felix

Felix: "Divine protections are usually very accurate. I don't think it's her divine protection that's the problem. It may be something with Shaula-san."

Subaru flinched at Felix's words. Something wrong with her? Those words made him feel worried about the woman in the room behind them.

Felix waved his hand and brushed the issue off

Felix: "But it's late. I did come over to check up on her. But if she wants to be left alone, then it's probably best if we do so. I can check up on her in the morning."

Subaru nodded in agreement and then stretched his arms.

Subaru: "Yeah. It's been a long day. I think we should all get some rest.

It was the middle of the night in the Karsten estate. Everyone was asleep, expect for one person.

Shaula was staring into the only darkness of her room.

She couldn't sleep

She tried her best. Closing her eyes and telling herself to relax.

But she couldn't. She was thinking. Thinking about her first encounter with that weird guy. Waking up in that strange room. Then that man coming up to her, acting as if he knew her. How? She had never met this man before.

Shaula: "No. No, no, no! Just get some sleep. You're just tired. Yeah, that's it. You're just tired."

But she couldn't stop thinking. Her mind then went onto that blue-haired girl. Meili was it? She too acted like she knew her. But she couldn't for the life of her recall any blue-haired little girl from her memories.

Shaula: "Who are these people?"

Shaula tried and tried, but she couldn't sleep, no matter how hard she tried

Subaru made his way through Crusch's manor down to Shaula's room. He saw the door was slightly open. He walked up and was about to knock until he heard talking coming from within.

?: "May I?"

Shaula: "Um, yes?"

Subaru peered through the crack in the door to see Felix holding a strange purple crystal in his hand, hovering it in front of Shaula's eyes. Meili was sitting on the bed next to her.

Shaula saw something in the shadows outside her door.

Shaula: "Who's there?"

Subaru froze. He'd been caught. The door opened and Felix was there to greet Subaru.

Felix: "Oh Subaru-kyun. Are you here to see Shaula-san?"

Subaru: "I uh. Sorry I-"

Felix: "It's fine. In fact, I was finished with my diagnosis of Shaula now if you want to hear what I've found."

Subaru perked up at Felix's words

Subaru: "That would be really helpful. If something's wrong don't sugarcoat it"

Meili then walked out of the room to join the two.

Meili: "Nothing wrong with Shaula-san. She's perfectly fi~ne"

Subaru looked at Meili

Subaru: "Really? Is she really doing okay?

Felix interjected

Felix: "Mentally and emotionally, no. But physically yes. Aside from her amnesia, she doesn't have any illnesses, no curses, nothing physically life-threatening at all."

Subaru let out a sigh of relief. Shaula wasn't ill or anything bad, which made him feel less tense.

Felix: "However, I tried everything I could, but I couldn't figure out why Meili's divine protection wasn't working on her. But other than that, she's normal. But I probably wouldn't disturb her if I were you."

Subaru: "Huh? Why not?"

Meili: "Shaula-san didn't sleep well last ni~ght. She's really ti~red."

Subaru: "Oh. Alright, I'll just see her some other time. And hey, you stopped calling her naked onee-san."

Meili: "She said she hated being called tha~t, so she asked me to sto~p."

Subaru was about to leave but the door suddenly opened and Shaula was standing there.

Shaula: "Excuse me? Subaru? Can we talk? Please? Alone?"

Shaula looked at Meili and Felix who were surprised when Shaula opened the door so suddenly.

Meili: "Um, okay Shaula-san. I'll see you guys later."

With that Meili walked away

Felix: "Sorry to leave like this Subaru-kyun. But I have a lot of work to do, so I can't stay here all day. I'm sorry Shaula-san, I have other duties to attend to."

Shaula: "It's alright Felix-san. I just want to talk to Subaru."

Subaru then walked into Shaula's room, with Shaula closing the door behind her.

Shaula then pulled the desk chair opposite her bed for Subaru to sit on.

Subaru sat on the chair while Shaula sat on the bed opposite him.

Shaula places both her hands together on her lap.

Subaru was looking at Shaula sat across from him. She was still wearing the black gown she had worn last night. Her long brown hair was no longer tied into her self-proclaimed "scorpion tail". It was loose and flowing past her shoulders, down to her waist. Her emerald green eyes were downcast and Subaru could see black lines underneath.

She really hadn't slept well last night.

Subaru: "Hey, Shaula. I-"

Shaula: "I'm sorry"

Shaula interrupted Subaru with an apology which caught Subaru off guard.

Shaula: "For what happened a few days ago. I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to hurt you."

Subaru then waved his hand and tried to deflect Shaula's apology

Subaru: "No, no don't apologise. It's only natural you'd react that way. It was my fault. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You have every right not to trust me, okay?"

What happened next is a sight Subaru had never seen before. Shaula had tears streaming down her beautiful face, her emerald green eyes were full of fear and uncertainty.

Subaru was surprised at the way Shaula was acting. The Shaula he remembered would have probably leapt on top of him and tried to hug him and probably cracked a few ribs in the process.

But the girl sitting across from him was in tears. Her amnesiac state was clearly a source of great discomfort for the brunette.

Shaula felt a hand touch her shoulder, and looked up at the black-haired knight.

Subaru: "Don't worry so much. You have nothing to apologise for. I'm sure what you're going through is really rough. And if you need anything, you're free to talk to me or any of our camp. We're here for you, so don't feel like you're a burden okay?"

Shaula felt a strange feeling when Subaru touched her on the shoulder. And then a wave of relief upon his reassurance of her innocence when she acted the way she did a few days ago. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, looking down, avoiding Subaru's scary brown eyes.

Shaula: "Thanks. I...appreciate you saying that."

Subaru: "It's fine. I'm happy to help"

For the first time in what felt like forever, Shaula had a small smile on her face.