Chapter 6
Emilia was sitting at her desk, with her quill in her hand, she was filling a piece of parchment with words.
Deeds, contracts, and lots of things to fill in. As a royal candidate, she needed all the support she could get. Especially considering that she had meetings with the Lords of Costuul in a few months, she needed to be well-prepared and ready for whatever the Lords would ask of her.
The half-elf let out a long yawn, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. Bags under her eyes and she felt a little irritable.
Subaru's absence had made her feel lonely and had been a source of discomfort for her. So she had thrown herself into her work to take her mind off how she was feeling.
But after a week of non-stop work, she burned out and became exhausted.
Emilia sighed and slumped over her desk.
She was then snapped out of her thoughts by a knock on her door.
?: "Emilia-sama? A letter has arrived for you!"
Emilia: "Come in Petra-san."
The door opened and the young orange-haired maid with a red ribbon walked in with a letter in her hands.
Petra: "It's from Subaru-sama. He's probably writing to tell you he arrived safely."
Petra gave the letter to Emilia who took it from her. Emilia broke the seal on the back, pulled the paper out of the envelope and opened the piece of paper inside.
Upon seeing the handwriting, she immediately recognized it was Subaru's.
She smiled and felt her cheeks heat up and her heart rate increase ever so slightly.
She couldn't understand why she reacted that way, but she brushed it off and started reading.
"Dear Emilia-tan,"
"I'm writing to you to let you know that we arrived safely and didn't encounter any issues. Aside from Beako, Meili-san and Spica-chan arguing about who was going to sit up from and who would stay in the carriage and watch Shaula."
"Ultimately, I had to deal with Beako and Spica-chan while Rem sat with Meili-san and Shaula in the carriage."
Emilia smiled. It was good to see that her knight was enjoying himself and had arrived safely.
"Anyway, Wilhelm-san greeted us and we had a chat with Felix and Crusch-san once we arrived. Felix had been working a long day so he was pretty tired. We negotiated with Crusch-san and Felix agreed to help Shaula."
"He said that Shaula's condition was similar to the victims of Pristella, so he agreed to help us free of charge."
Emilia: "Oh. That's reeeeally great news!"
She continued reading.
"Well...not entirely free of charge, he did say the cost of treatment would be pretty expensive. The cure itself is rare and hard to make and producing it is expensive. He said that because Shaula is a mabeast and not a human, he'd need to do some altering of the original cure, which would also be expensive."
Emilia frowned a bit. She didn't know how much it might cost for Felix to help them or why he needed the money. But she didn't know as much about healing as Felix did, since it was his job. So she just accepted that part.
"But other than that, we're doing fine over here. Beako is super cute as always. Rem is keeping Spica-chan from eating Crusch-san out of house and home. And Meili-san is just as smug and mischievous as ever."
"Can't wait to see you again"
"I love you Emilia-tan!"
"Subaru"
Emilia smiled at her knight's declaration of love. She felt her cheeks redden slightly with a strange warm feeling in her chest which she couldn't understand.
Meanwhile at Crusch's estate
Subaru was sat at the table outside, having a conversation with Rem while the three lolis were playing in the middle of the field.
Subaru: "So how do you think Felix is doing in there?"
Rem shook her head.
Rem: "I don't know. We just have to wait and see what he comes up with."
Subaru: "Sure. I guess I'm overthinking about this."
Rem: "It's fine. How about we have a game to take our minds off it?"
Rem opened up the chessboard on the table, revealing an assortment of black and white pieces.
Subaru: "Sure. I suppose a game or two wouldn't hurt. Do you wanna be black?"
Rem: "That's fine with me."
The two separated the black and white pieces from within the wooden box and then set the chessboard up, placing their pieces down.
Subaru: "Ladies first."
Rem shook her head.
Rem: "Thank you. But it's proper etiquette for the white player to make the first move.
Subaru: "O-okay fine, I'll go first then."
Rem smiled.
Rem: "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."
Subaru laughed.
Subaru: "I'd like to see you try Rem."
Meili: "Hey onii-san! Mind if I join you gu~ys?"
Subaru turned to the blue-haired assassin standing next to the black-haired knight.
Subaru: "Of course you can Meili."
Subaru pulled out a chair for Meili to sit on.
But the blue-haired assassin found her own his lap.
Meili leaned her head against his chest with a smile on her face.
Meili: "We haven't really spent a lot of time together onii-san. I'm sure Rem nee-san wouldn't mind me joining in would you?"
Meili turned to Rem with a cute smile.
Rem: "No of course not. You're welcome to join us if you wish."
Subaru patted Meili on the head and moved one of his pawns two squares forward.
Rem saw his move and moved a pawn forward.
Subaru then moved another pawn one square.
Meili: "Mmm. I can't wait to see naked onee-san agai~n."
Rem moved another pawn forward one square
Rem: "Tell me Meili-san. What was this Shaula like."
Meili turned to face the black-haired knight whose lap she was on.
Meili: "Hey onii-san? Can I play too?
Subaru: "Sure if you want go ahead."
Subaru smiled, wrapping his arms around the blue-haired assassin as she moved a rook forward, in line with one of Rem's pawns.
Subaru: "Really you're going for that?"
Meili smiled smugly.
Meili: "Yeah. I'm not really one who...plays it safe."
Rem put her fingers on her chin, thinking about what move to make.
Meili: "Naked onee-san was a real funny gi~rl!"
Rem smiled at Meili's description of her, moving a pawn forward two spaces.
Rem: "Was she?
Subaru patted Meili on the head, remembering back to when he first met Shaula in the Watchtower.
Subaru: "Yeah. She was really funny."
Meili laughed
Meili: "You should have seen how she reacted to seeing Onii-san! She tackle hugged him and squished drill-hair-chan between the~m. You really should've seen her fa~ce!"
Beatrice: "I heard that in fact.
Meili turned to see Beatrice and Spica standing near the table.
Beatrice was pouting in annoyance.
Annoyance towards Meili.
Beatrice: "What do you think you're doing I suppose?"
Meili smiled smugly
Meili: "Oh nothing drill-hair-chan. I'm just keeping onii-san and Rem nee-san compa~ny."
Beatrice pouted.
Beatrice: "You're in Betty's seat in fact!"
Meili snorted to herself
Meili: "So~rry. It's my seat no~w. You snooze, you lo~se!"
Beatrice pouted even more, stomping her feet in frustration. She then let out a sigh.
Subaru laughed at his spirit's cut behaviour.
He then moved a pawn forward one square
Subaru: "Shaula was a bit of an airhead. And pretty clingy and obsessive."
Rem moved her bishop diagonally right two squares, taking one of Subaru's pawns.
Rem: "I suppose you can't blame her right? If I had been stuck in one place for 400 years all alone, I'd probably be clingy and obsessive too."
Subaru sighed. Rem was right.
Subaru regretted treating Shaula so coldly and harshly back in the Watchtower. When it was completely understandable why she did.
He moved his king forward.
Subaru: "I wish I had treated her better back then. I know I wasn't her master she'd been waiting for. But I could've at least tried to be nicer to her before she transformed."
Rem: "Yes. You said that she thought you were her master correct?"
Meili chimed in, moving the rook left by four squares.
Meili: "Yeah, she said that she normally recognizes people by sme~ll. That's why she thought onii-san was her ma~ster."
Rem moved her rook forward three squares.
Rem: "That doesn't sound like a very good sign of sanity."
Subaru flinched, remembering Shaula's words clearly.
"I'm not very good at remembering people's faces. I usually go off by how they smell."
Subaru: "That's exactly why we're here."
Subaru moved his bishop diagonally left, taking Rem's rook.
Subaru: "Living alone in the Watchtower, eating nothing but mabeast meat, being stuck in one place like the Augria Sand Dunes for over 400 years must have been hell for her. And I guess it makes sense for her to go a little crazy ."
Images of pain on Shaula's face, as she transformed, came into his mind.
Subaru: "We're here to give her freedom. A second chance. The opportunity to live a real life, and see the world. Instead of being trapped in a prison for all eternity."
Everyone was taken aback by how Subaru spoke about the entire situation.
Beatrice: "You really care about that girl don't you, I suppose?"
Subaru flinched at Beatrice's question.
Rem: "Even if you regret how you treated the scorpion back in the Watchtower, you're now making the effort to fix your mistakes."
Subaru looked at Rem.
Rem: "What happened to her wasn't your fault. But it's honourable that you're trying your best now."
Subaru let out a depressed sigh.
?: "Ah, Subaru-kyun. I thought I'd find you out here."
Subaru looked up to see Felix standing near the stairs to the entrance of the mansion.
Subaru: "Hey Felix. Is something wrong?"
Felix: "No, nothing's wrong. I just need to talk to you."
Subaru: "Sure."
Meili got up off his lap and Subaru stood up. He then patted her on the head.
Subaru: "Now Meili-san. Make sure to take care of Beako and Spica-chan okay?"
Meili smiled.
Meili: "Don't worry onii-san! I'll be nice to Drill hair-chan and Teeth-chan!"
Unbeknownst to the assassin girl, Beatrice and Spica were pouting furiously at the nicknames Meili had given them.
Subaru and Felix were in Felix's lab. Shaula was in a glass box on the table in the middle of the room. There was a test tube rack on the table. Felix was holding a test tube in his hand, containing a small amount of a clear orange liquid.
Subaru: "Is this Shaula's cure?"
Felix nodded, holding the test tube up.
Felix: "It's more of a different analogue of the original compound in the Divine Dragon's blood that was used to treat the victims in Pristella. But in short, this could possibly be Shaula-san's cure."
Subaru looked at Felix in confusion.
Subaru: "What do you mean by possibly?"
Felix sighed, placing the test tube back in the test tube rack on the table.
Felix: "I'll be honest with you Subaru-kyun, I don't actually know if this will work on her or not. Because I haven't had a proper method of testing it on Shaula."
Subaru felt a sense of fear welling up inside.
Subaru: "You haven't tested it?"
Felix shook his head
Felix: "No. The original compound I used to treat Pristella's victims didn't work on Shaula. So I had to alter it to try and fit her mabeast nature. However, I did test it on a few drops of Shaula's blood and compared it to Wolgarm blood to see if it worked. But not on Shaula herself."
Subaru looked at Shaula in the small glass box, eating some food that had been given to her.
Subaru: "So how did the test go?"
Felix took a breath in and out.
Felix: "I mixed their blood with some of the compound and left them overnight. Afterwards, I used an indicator called Parawarfin. It's black by nature, but it changes colour in the presence of certain chemicals. It's the same indicator I used to make the cure for the Pristella victims."
Subaru: "So what colour was the indicator for Shaula's blood?"
Felix placed the test tube back into the rack and turned to Subaru.
Felix: "Shaula's sample went bright green. Which was the same for the people of Pristella, but it's kinda weird honestly."
Subaru: "How so?"
Felix: "Parawarfin usually turns red in mabeast samples, blue for Demi-human samples, yellow for beastfolk and green for..."
Felix's thoughts trailed off. He scratched his head and then sighed.
Felix: "I should probably get some sleep after this."
Subaru: "Of course Felix, but great job!"
Subaru felt joy. Felix had done it. He'd made a cure for Shaula!
Subaru remembered when he first met Shaula. And when she had transformed into a scorpion, how distraught she looked when she was transforming, and when she asked him to tell her to die.
But now there was a chance. Shaula could come back. She could-
Felix: "But."
Subaru stopped. Felix continued talking.
Felix: "That doesn't necessarily mean that it's 100% guaranteed to work."
Subaru looked from Shaula to Felix. He had a blank look on his face.
Felix: "You said that she originally was in the form of a young woman with long brown hair and green eyes right? And that she'd had that form ever since she could remember?"
Subaru: "Yes I did. Shaula said that she started as a fully grown woman and has been like that for as long as she can remember."
Felix: "Alright."
Felix turned his head to Subaru.
Felix: "Are you sure about this Subaru-kyun? I already told you I didn't get to properly test this on Shaula-san. So are you sure you want to proceed with this?"
Subaru flinched.
He did feel uncertain. Giving Shaula something that he wasn't even sure would work made him feel nervous.
But he remembered...meeting her in the Watchtower, her misery when transforming.
And when she jumped after him when he said he would save her.
Subaru: "Yes. I am. Any possible treatment is better than no treatment."
Subaru knew this was reckless, but he knew that if he didn't take this chance now, he may never get another one.
Felix: "Alright Subaru. I need you to take Shaula-san out and flip her over onto her back."
Subaru: "What do you mean?"
Felix: "The cure I designed for the Pristella victims was a topical agent. And since what I have here similar to that, it needs to be applied to Shaula-san's outside."
Felix picked up the test tube containing the supposed cure.
Felix: "And there's soft parts on her underbelly which have a lot of blood flow there. So that's where she'll best be able to absorb the medicine into her body."
Subaru was a little confused by what Felix was talking about, but he seemed like he knew what he was saying was true.
So, Subaru opened the box on the table and put his hand inside. The small scorpion crawled onto his hand and Subaru lifted it out.
Subaru then placed the scorpion on the table, and flipped it over onto its back. The scorpion was waving its legs and stinger around. It was clearly uncomfortable in that position.
Felix took a pipette out of his pocket and sucked up the contents of the test tube.
Felix: "Now hold her still. There isn't very much of this cure so every drop counts."
Subaru held her legs and stinger down as Felix held the pipette over her underbelly, slowly dropping the cure onto her.
A few seconds passed and Shaula seemingly was not enjoying it one bit.
Felix: "Alright, you can let her go now."
Subaru: "Wait, that's it?"
Felix: "That's it. She's been given her treatment. But you still need to be here in case something happens."
Subaru nodded.
Subaru: "Of course. I can't imagine that it would be that simple to bring her back."
Shaula had been given her treatment.
Now only time would tell if it worked.