Even though this was something they'd expected from what Bearice told them, they failed to realize how frustrated he'd truly be. Stuttering, looking between long lost family and his camp; sucking in his breath, Subaru slowly collected himself. His hands intertwined with Beatrice and Emilias, were shaking.

"Wh-whats going on? Wh- ho-"

The appearance of his parents was shocking to say the least. The couple in question knew Subaru had been unaware of their presence judging from what they'd been told. Naoko and Kenichi silently watched their son as his eyes fluttered shut, mouth opening and closing without forming a sound.

One step back, and then another closer to the door he came from. Had he not forgotten he was clinging to Emilia and Beatrice, Subaru would've fallen over on the spot.

They knew that he would be angry for their sake, but at their core, they were shaken to see their son this way. It wasn't just that either. He was confused. Frustrated. His eyes were darting between the two of them, he bit his lips and he tried lifting his hands to his face despite them being firmly grasped alongside him.

"Subaru, Betty understands what you are feeling, but calm down, I suppose." Beatrice spoke up with a soft and calming voice.

Subaru's eyes widened and he turned to face her, he might not have meant it, but he turned all of his emotions on Beatrice.

"Beatrice, did you know about this? Why did—" His forceful yet pleading question was cut off by Beatrice, who was looking at him straight in the eye, unflinching and resolved,

"Subaru, if we told you this, would you believe us? You said it yourself, that it is impossible for them to be here, in fact."

"Yeah but…" Subaru was still unsatisfied with what he heard, his expression twisted into a pained frown ready to retort, but Emilia tightened her grip on his hand, he turned to her surprised. "Emilia?"

"Beatrice has your best interests at heart…I also agreed to keep it a secret until you meet them because we figured this would happen."

"Emilia….You knew too?" Subaru muttered, new emotions welled up in his eyes. Disbelief, but most important to Emilia was the flicker of betrayal across his expression.

Emilia bit her lips lightly and while his expression hurt her, she was far more worried about him. Speaking softly, "Subaru, we know you are upset but please try to understand."

Subaru's tense gaze never left Emilia's pleading amethyst's eyes. A hidden conversation was had between them with just their eyes alone. Her plea got through to Subaru as he began to waver with a harsh sigh.

Beatrice squeezed his hand as well, making him look at her. "Subaru, Betty has said it once and shall say it again, I will forever stand at your side."

"We truly just want the best for you, please trust us." Emilia chimed in, complimenting Beatrice's words.

Those reassuring words were the final pangs against his heart needed as warm colors returned to his pale hands. His shoulders slouched, his breathing steadied. Subaru looked down and asked in a low, nervous voice, "Do they know? Does Rem know?"

"Rem and Tanza are the only ones that don't know, Ram and the others will explain everything to them later, I suppose."

"I see…even my own parents...I-"

"None of that, Subaru. The current situation isn't something you expected right? Nobody did, so…don't punish yourself over something like this, you taught me that, you know?" Emilia chided Subaru, with a blush on his face and his eyes planted to the ground.

"I…yeah..sorry…Beako, Emilia. Thanks, for being here with me and supporting me."

His dark eyes swam with so many emotions that his parents couldn't parse. He opened his mouth and softly asked "How have you….are…are you both alright? Mom? Dad?"

"Ye-yes we're okay. Your friend, Julius-kun found and helped us secure a place in this inn."

"Damn it, of course he did, as expected of that elegant bastard. Guess I owe him one." A small tug on his lips formed before quickly dissipating with the jerk of his head.

Silence permeated through the air, even the couple themselves did not know what to do. After two years of disappearance, after two years of hell, of despair of thinking they will not see him again, here he was. Their son was here, hearing his voice, wanting to hold him. There was so much to say, but nothing would come out.

This stasis would have continued if not for Emilia speaking out. "Everyone, Let's sit down and think slowly, okay? We have the whole day."

Hearing that, the Natsuki couple jolted with awkward mumbles while sitting down. Subaru sat in front of them, anxiously repositioning himself before settling.

Naoko and Kenichi studied their son in further detail, his hair, although the same style as always, had grown longer. His eyes were full of life even with all the complex grit stirring within them. It wasn't like before, there was purpose in the way he acted and the tired boy they knew was gone. The tracksuit he always wore was in rough condition now, Subaru never let it go.

His posture was shockingly formal, upright. They were not sure if he was doing it on purpose, but it felt similar to Julius. Then, it hit them again that he was a knight, their son, Natsuki Subaru, was a knight. It would make sense that he would fashion himself similar to the man that helped them on the first day.

Beatrice and Emilia held fast by his side, rubbing over the knuckles on his hand in anticipation of one of the parties breaking the silence.

"Su-"

"Mo-"

Subaru and Naoko spoke up at once, cutting each other off and falling silent when the awkward atmosphere proved too heavy. They were back with their son. The son they were longing for, the son that they heard so much about from the people that trusted him, respected him, loved him. So why was it impossible to speak up? To simply have a conversation with him?

Naoko swallowed the welling pit in her throat and opened her mouth. There were a lot of things that she wanted to say, there were a lot of things she wanted to ask, but there was only one thing she could truly say at this moment, her true feelings upon seeing Subaru for the first time in these long, grueling two years.

"Subaru, I'm glad you're safe." The moment she completed that short sentence filled with care, love, relief and everything between, Subaru's head dropped in response, shuddering as repressed sobs pierced the quiet room.

"I…I…Mom…Dad, I—i" Subaru started weeping, the girls used their free hands to rub his shoulders, but the ones that were in shock the most were his parents. They were stunned, but they quickly snapped out of it and rushed to Subaru at his side. The girls wanted to move but Subaru was holding onto their hands tightly, not willing to let go.

They were stuck in an awkward position of being in front and behind of Subaru, but regardless they cradled him close, causing him to bawl his eyes out more.

"Hkkk…Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I...just. On that day…I…" Subaru was crying his heart out, mumbling out shattered little apologies from what they could tell. But he hadn't rejected them. He hadn't given up on them, perhaps that was what kept them from speaking like they wanted to. Understanding this, the Natsuki family huddled together. This was still Subaru, even after everything that had happened.

"Subaru...you're alive, safe, safe..truly…thank you for being alive." Naoko feelings were pouring out, it wasn't everything—it could never be. But in that moment, holding her son, touching him, ruffling his hair, hearing him, was all she could ever want. .

"It's alright Subaru, let it all out." Kenichi was rubbing his back, every touch filled him with delight. When Subaru first disappeared, the back of Kenichi's mind always had an itch, the thought of his failures lingered. He wondered if he could've done more for his son, wondered if his decision to let Subaru open up at his own pace was a mistake, wondered if the reason he disappeared had to do with his incompetence as a father. Perhaps he didn't love him enough, perhaps he did not do enough, but for all Kenichi knew, there was no way to get an answer. Subaru was gone and, somewhere, in his heart, he gave up any hope of finding him. But here and now, those feelings were blown away. The little voice in the back of his head slipped away and all he had left was the feeling of gratitude, and great, great overwhelming love. "I-i am truly grateful, it's good that you are still alive my dear son."

Each word seemed to hammer into Subaru as he bawled, the sound louder and louder; his voice began to crack. Every word more incoherent than the last in a loving swirl. Kenichi and Naoko couldn't understand what he was saying, they didn't need to. They knew he was relieved as well.

The girls beside him smiled wryly, unable to pry their hands from Subaru, soon realizing that he wanted them beside him, even if it was a tender moment they felt they shouldn't intrude in. Subaru's unwillingness to part showed how much he was relying on them, and they were happy he did. In a situation so deeply personal to the family, why would they ever disrupt it?

After what felt like hours, the couple pulled away and returned to their seats, wiping away tears. They were smiling, a huge unseen burden disappearing from their chests and more importantly, their son who they had been searching for was right in front of their eyes. He was trying to hide his furious blushing with hands that no longer held onto the girls at his side. The two of them were grinning at Subaru, poking him where his cupped hands couldn't cover.

"Hey, Subaru?"

"What is it, Emilia-tan?"

Tan? such an honorific was being used by him for Emilia, the couple was told that he had a nickname for her, but they didn't expect it to be something so simplistically silly as Emilia-tan. Otto had told them Subaru was openly affectionate to her, they didn't expect it to be as severe as the grimace on Otto's face had suggested but…it was so adorable.

Emilia simply smiled at him "Don't be embarrassed about crying okay? I don't think Father and Mother mind at all, right?"

"Don't tal- wait- Father and Mother?! Emilia-Tan? Did our relationship progress so quickly to marriage already!?"

"Mar- you dummy, you told me to call them that didn't you?" Emilia flushed slightly, pouting at Subaru who clearly didn't expect this reaction from her. His face scarlet already, got even redder and he gulped at her reaction.

With a faltering tone, he replied back, "I mean, I told you to say that as a joke, since.."

"Well, it's too late now Subaru, I won't change the way I call them."

"Emilia-tan major cruelty... Uhm, Mom, Dad?" He asked meekly, eyeing his parent's reactions.

All these new emotions he was displaying were very new to them, his affection, his lively, very boisterous attitude was refreshing to see. And then, Naoko had a thought. She smiled menacingly and she gave her answer. "We have already accepted her, Subaru."

Subaru's eyes widened and he slack-jawed at Naoko, "Accepted her?"

"Right on my son. She's part of the Natsuki family now, we are thankful we have such a beautiful daughter in law!" Kenichi pinched in with his own take, forcing Subaru to do a double take.

"Daughter in law? Waitwaitwaitwait, me and Emilia-tan aren't at that stage yet!"

Yet. The word he said, Yet.

A massive grin spread across the parents' faces, what absolute confidence coming from him. It didn't help that they knew Emilia loved their child back and that, currently she was furiously blushing without rejecting what he said.

"Regardless, it's your fault that she called us that you know? Emilia-chan is a good-natured girl, and you are her knight are you not? It would be obvious that she listened to you right?" Naoko bent and reached over to Subaru's forehead, giving it a light tap on his head. A loving tap that was a reminisce of the old time she would do this.

It felt like old times, when she would scold Subaru for acting out as a joke, even his reaction was the same. He would've furrowed his eyebrows with a slight pout, his eyes would show some hint of shame. Which means he was truly taking the words Naoko told him to heart. Although now, the corner of his lips was tugging slightly and there was an additional emotion of nostalgia in his eyes

"Gah, I get it. I get it but I didn't know you two would be isekai-ed here as well!"

"Ise-?"

"Kaied?"

Emilia and Beatrice tilted their heads, repeating the words that Subaru had spoken. The couple wanted to answer what it meant but

"Hmm, that is true but—tricking Emilia-chan like that is no good as well, isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess….I didn't expect her to actually call you that." Subaru's hand resting on his heart or something as he calms himself

Subaru's voice grew softer as he spoke, and while it was terribly cute to relive these lovey dovey moments the anxiety and embarrassment of parental confrontation still mingled in his head.

However, Naoko and Kenichi were delighted, this was the first time that Subaru had shown romantic interest in anyone from their time on Earth and it was such a cute sight to see for them. They were seeing their son all grown up, a completely different experience from hearing about it. They hadn't even breached the surface of gossip to be spilled.

"What are you doin' calling your master 'Tan' anyways? Disrespecting your girlfriend on the first day…I can't believe it." Kenichi leaned over in mock grief, more than teasing Subaru he wanted to weasel out an explanation for the nickname—or at the very least incite more of the ongoing 'bully Subaru' campaign.

"Ah, it's alright Father, I wouldn't have Subaru call me anything else, I like the way he calls me." Emilia spoke up, while she did not understand his intentions with the question, it did allow Kenichi to see Subaru's embarrassed face. And the fact that she didn't even reject the girlfriend statement, seemed to have gone over Subaru's head.

"Emilia-tannnnnnn, please don't say that so easily…."

"Hm? I'm just being honest. I like 'Emilia-tan', it's cute."

Subaru groaned and covered his face when Emilia tilted her head in confusion.

In the midst of their lovey dovey moment, the parents were slightly confused about their relationship. While it was clear that Emilia and Subaru had strong feelings and were longing for each other, they were still not lovers despite acting like it. They were aware of Emilia's decision to confess tonight and wondered why it took so long. But all they need to do now is to wait for the good news.

"Cease this incessantly flirting, I suppose. It is tiring to see this all day, everyday without end."

Beako grumbled, her eyes slanted at Subaru turning to face her with a grin on his face.

"Sorry Beako, I didn't mean to make you feel lonely, you'll get pampered with all of my attention too!"

"Don't put words in Betty's mouth, in fact."

Hearing that, Subaru picked her up and put her on his lap and furiously rubbed her head, messing her hair up.

"Grr, stop messing with Betty's hair!"

"Sorry, sorry, it just that you were too cute, so it couldn't be helped"

"That you are correct, but cut it out in fact!""

The furious rubbing gradually turned into loving head pats, Subaru sporting a peaceful smile on his face while Emilia looked over them warmly. The Natsuki couple simply giggled silently at the cute interaction.

Kenichi rubbed his palms before speaking up again, "Subaru, what's your job scope as a knight?"

"My job here is to support my Emilia-tan, she's one of the five royal candidates fighting for the throne of Lugunica, the country we reside in. The seat has been empty due to…reasons, and Emilia-tan is the one destined to win it."

Subaru's proud comment was met with a grin from Emilia, "I'm not his yet, but Subaru always does his best to help me win."

Then, gesturing to Beatrice's messy hair, "To help me, Beako here is my spirit, basically she is my partner in crime for everything, be it finding a good date spot or sleeping in and missing out on work!"

"That has nothing to do with being a knight, Subaru should be grateful that Betty is nice enough to tolerate his mischievous conduct, I suppose. No other spirit would ever do this for you, in fact."

"Yep, don't worry, you're the only spirit for me Beako." Subaru replied, lovingly caressing her head.

His explanation did help for Emilia, but for Beatrice, the circumstances were still vague, all that was said was that they were always working together. Perhaps that's all the Natsukis needed to know.

"Subaru." Kenichi spoke up seriously, Subaru blinked—straightening his back in response to the tone shift.

"Yes?"

"We know—we hope—that you were most likely not sent here by choice, but can you…catch us up on the times we missed with you since then?"

"No, no I would—I'd never leave either of you behind willingly. I don't mind but, it's going to take a while, are you sure? Everything?"

Kenichi smugly pushed his glasses upward, "Well, Mom and Dad here have already heard stories from Julius-kun, Emilia-chan, Ram-chan, Otto-kun and Garf-chan, now let's hear it from the man himself."

"Everyone in the camp?! Wa-wait, even Julius too?!"

Naoko chimed in with a thin smile, "You have good friends don't you Subaru? Julius-kun especially seems to hold you in very high regard."

"Julius, looking up to me? That guy….nevermind, what did Julius tell you?"

"Oh, many useful things on you and how great you are, but! Disregard that for a moment, come, let's talk about you, we wanna know what you've been up to all this time."

"Alright but don't say I didn't warn you, ok?"

The couple nodded and waited while Subaru put a hand to his chin, seemingly in deep thought, then he opened his mouth. His tale began.

When he first got transported here, he heard rumors of something being stolen while walking around exploring the city and heard how a girl was desperately searching for the stolen item, he wanted to help because he felt bad for the girl and that girl ended up being Emilia.

"So that was why you were the loot house that day? How did you know I was the one searching for it?"

"There were rumors there was a very scary silver-haired elf blasting a little thief with ice powers"

"I am not scary and i was definitely not blasting her with ice"

"That is true! You are very cute, not scary"

"You know you are the only one to call me cute, Subaru?"

"That's totally a lie! You know Emilia-tan, your cuteness has spread throughout the country already, by thiiiiiis much at least." Subaru turned to her with his arms stretched wide for measure, earning him a bashful shove.

"Dummy, I mean at that point."

"Mhmm! That means I was the first one to know of Emilia-tan's charm!"

Emilia pouted at Subaru, and he just grinned at her.

"Betty thinks you should stop going off into your own world like usual, your parents are waiting to continue the story, in fact." The spirit sighed and prodded at his deflating cheek.

"Ah right, sorry, sorry."

Subaru then continued, claiming he heard the thief was from the slums, getting directions from bystanders and heading there hoping for the best. After questioning (and bribing) some of the residents to figure out where she stayed, he took his trek up to the loothouse in all its glory. The rest went almost the same as Emilia's retelling—but there was something the parents decided to bring up.

"Subaru, how did you know Puck's name?"

Subaru flinched slightly, not expecting this question.

"The residents told me that they heard Emilia-tan call out that name often like 'Puck, stop her!' or such, so I assume it was someone Emilia was working with."

"Hmmm, that is true, I did call out Puck multiple times, I guess that makes sense"

To Naoko, it was rather strange that Emilia hadn't mentioned it, but given that it was a long time ago, she could have forgotten. Moreover…

"Why'd you go so far to help someone you didn't know yet?" Kenichi prodded.

"And, from what we heard, Emilia-chan said you acted very familiar with her, what is up with that?" Naoko pitched in alongside him.

"How did you know it was an insignia?" This time leaning over the table, they spoke in unison.

Under the barrage of questions Subaru began to deflate, he couldn't say anything and it wasn't like they were cautious of him, they were genuinely curious about his knowledge and familiarity considering how closed off he was before. Even so—

"...I forgot" was all he could muster.

The parents raised their eyebrows. Forgot? They felt that something was off and wanted to clarify on the situation, but held back when they noticed Beatrice looking at them shaking her head, motioning them to drop the matter. They had no idea what was going on, but they could see that Subaru was reluctant to converse about the matter further and she didn't want to ruin the mood, so they decided to cooperate.

Subaru carried on with how he woke up and met Beatrice, the maids, and found himself employed in the Roswaal Manor by request.

"Hmm, was there a reason why you decided to work on the mansion as your reward?"

"Well, I wanted to help Rem and Ram since the two of them were working their hardest to clean up a big mansion by themselves and I didn't want to waste away like I did before arriving here."

Kenichi nodded his head. That was a good decision, finding a place to live while earning money was one of the highest priority for survival and how he wanted to change, he was proud of him for that. Though Kenichi could tell that Subaru wasn't saying everything, he was hiding it well, just not well enough.

"Come now Subaru, don't try to hide anything from me, even though it's been two years your dad hasn't up and gone senile."

There was a twinge in Subaru's voice as he spoke, resisting the urge to scratch his cheek. "Guess I can't hide anything from you, huh Dad? Well…..

…it's because I wanted to stay close to Emilia-tan…"

Kenichi was stunned

"Huh?"

"W-well, being a butler was the easiest way to get close to her and to help the maids around"

"Wait, you just wanted to stay close to her?"

He nodded.

"Didn't you just meet her?"

Nodded again.

Kenichi tilted his head, for his main goal to be staying close to her would mean...His eyes sparkled and a huge grin bloomed on his face. He had an inkling and he liked it.

"Subaru, you little…! Did you fall in love with Emila-chan at first sight?"

"We-uhm, let's not go into that long talk yet."

Subaru pleaded out of embarrassment, but that facial expression told Kenichi everything he wanted to know. He was satisfied.

Respecting His son's request. He decided not to ask further, settling that he was going to squeeze out every little detail about how and why Subaru fell in love with her.

Understanding his intentions now, Kenichi still had a single question for him.

"Was there no other way to get closer to her? Other than working as a butler"

"Well, there was, but I didn't want to be lazy like before. I wanted to work, earn my right to live there and, it was the only way for me to get what I wanted."

"What you wanted?"

"Don't mind it, just talking to myself, it was a huge rush for me, honestly, I don't think I even had the chance to think about the reward though, all I wanted at that point was to be close to Emilia-tan."

"Mhm~ on the first day of the job, you worked so hard that you started sniffling" Emilia spoke up, as she reminisced about the past, though the comment stunned Subaru who went "eh?"

Naoko widened her eyes in shock. Her son cried? Emilia did not mention this at all when she was talking to them about Subaru.

"Hoooo? So you cried Subaru? What happened?" While Kenichi was concerned, Subaru was doing fine now and he hoped that he wouldn't shy away from talking about it.

"Urgh…well, just like Emilia-tan said, I overworked myself. Dealing with Elsa and the recovery, left me scared to stop moving I guess. Not to mention I was still a class-A NEET so the stress of trying to do well got to me."

"You took time off right? To relax and recover"

"Not exactly…" He replied shyly and simply glanced at Emilia, they kept that eye-contact, and as she slowly connected the dots—her face flushed red. Seeing this, Subaru's eyes widened and he followed suit. The two stared at each other silently until Beatrice sighed and pulled Subaru's cheeks.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Beako!"

"Betty needs to do this otherwise the both of you will be staying in your flirting world, I suppose."

"And to answer for the two of you, I suppose. Subaru recovered because Emilia gave him a nice lap pillow, in fact."

Kenichi started laughing so much that he started wheezing and he had to use the table as a support while Naoko simply giggled. "A lap pillow?" she asked.

"Correct, Subaru came to visit me to brag about Emilia giving him a lap pillow when he woke up"

"Bra- I wasn't bragging Beako!"

"Clearly you were Subaru, coming into my library to tell me how embarrassing it was and how much you enjoyed it."

"Wha-?! I didn't say how much I enjoyed it!"

"Subaru, was it that embarrassing for you to get a lap pillow from me? Did you not like it?"

"Emilia-tan?! No-I mean-ye-I mean GAHHHH. Yes, It was embarrassing and no, I don't like it, I love it!"

"Hmuhmu, good to know."

Emilia nodded her head satisfied, leaving Subaru huffing in shame.

While the parents did enjoy the cute interaction, they were slowly digesting the words that were told to them. 'Assassin', 'Death'. He so casually spoke about those experiences on his first day, dealing with an assassin and from what was gathered from the tale,he was fighting with very little fear. Adrenaline was one thing, but considering he did cry and destress about it later on, that would explain why he was so casual about it now.

With a fake cough into his collar, Subaru retook the conversation. "Anyway, before we veer off topic, let me continue."

—Arlam Village, cursebeasts called wolgarm, getting bitten by one and teasing Beatrice later in the night before she noticed he'd been bitten. A conversation about magics and curses came up and Beatrice found one on him. He managed to get Rem to help fend off the dogs and save the kids—being saved by the blue oni himself, at the cost of all the endured bites.

"Hmm, Subaru, what did you talk about regarding curses with Beatrice-chan?"

"I was curious if the concept of curses existed in this world, seeing as how I failed at magic earlier. It was purely coincidence that I got cursed beforehand, though I'm not sure if that's good or bad luck on my end."

He was once again being nonchalant about these kinds of events and Naoko was not happy about it, he might be relaxed about it but he was making light of events that were dangerous to him and she had a temptation to lecture him about his sense of danger.

"Is that true, Beatrice-chan?"

"….that is true, I suppose, Subaru barged into my library and rambled about curses and to show him how it works, it turns out that he was indeed cursed."

With Beatrice seemingly agreeing with Subaru, he couldn't say much, but he noticed. Beatrice was deep in her thoughts before answering Subaru and him giving out small huffs of relief.

He continued with how he woke up with his wounds healed by an exhausted Emilia, discovering that he was still cursed—even more so than before. Rem left for the forest to eradicate the rest of the mabeasts, only able to find her with Ram's assistance. How then he acted as bait, again, to help them escape, and finally Roswaal ending the conflict after Subaru's costly display of yin magic.

"Bait? Why did you have to act as bait?" Naoko's eyebrows furrowed, her voice hardened the moment she processed his last exploit.

"Uhm, I needed a way for Rem and Ram to escape?"

"Did you really have to be bait? Couldn't you've ran away with them?"

"The mabeasts had a chance of catching up to all of us so—"

"What would have happened if Rosswal-san hadn't saved you in time? Did you have a plan?"

"Well no, my own goal was to uh...save them, and hope for the best….?"

Subaru meekly answered and was met with a glare from Naoko. Truthfully there was nothing he could defend himself with, quietly accepting her judgment as he fumbled with his hands in his lap.

"Ooooooh, you've got her mad now son." Slapping Subarus shoulder from across the table was Kenichi, while outwardly he was taking it in stride, he would've reacted the same way as Naoko if she wasn't carrying both of their frustrations in her sentiment.

Naoko sighed, she knew that it was done a long time ago—over a year—and he'd surely learned his lesson, so there wasn't much of a reason to scold him. It was also true that he was safe and sound, but she needed to know just one more thing.

"And, Natsuki Subaru, did you continue to act as 'bait' after this?"

"Yes, I suppose, Subaru has a habit of being bait by showing off."

"Yes, that's why he always gets into trouble and it reaaalllly worries me a lot"

The two girls instantly answered for Subaru and he seemed to shrink further into his seat, not rejecting their answer. Naoko sighed. It looks like their son had developed a bad habit, he was pushing his extremely good luck here. She needed to teach him a lesson when this was all done and over with.

"Subaru."

"Ye-yes mum?"

"We are having a lecture after this."

"I…i understand, a lecture, huh?" He paused for a moment, deep in thought with his lips curved. "Yes ma'am, i'll be there."

Despite the stern scolding, Subaru looked oddly happy with the outcome, his lips trying to contort into a smile that he was fighting back.

Naoko was somewhat curious about this, this was almost the same reaction he had when she lightly told Subaru off for tricking Emilia into calling them mother and father,she decided to put it off until Subaru finished his story and they had more free time.

With the capital now as the main topic, he explained how he made a fool of himself during the royal selection event and that caused a lot of problems with Emilia.

"Right, right. Emilia-chan didn't look too happy talking about it, but you seem to be comfortable." It was a topic Kenichi was deeply interested in, leaning forward with his arms crossed in fascination. Naoko settled for simply listening, satisfied with her earlier scolding.

"I just made a fool of myself, I overstepped the boundaries of what I should've said and insulted the knights. I was only thinking about myself the entire time and I—I deserved what happened."

Kenichi tilted his head, Subaru was Emilia's knight right? Why would he insult his colleagues?

"Aren't you a knight yourself? Why did you insult them?"

"I wasn't Emilia's knight at that point. I was just a butler forcing my thoughts and feelings on Emilia, I wanted to be the one to save her from harm's way but, it was only for me. If it wasn't for Julius, I…"

"Julius? What did he do?"

"He and I had a…man to man talk, is all" replying quickly, he looked away as he said that while Emilia giggled.

Emilia turned to Subaru with warm eyes and said "The next time we're there, it won't happen again."

"That's right, next time they will be the ones to bow down to you and praise you"

She huffed. "No, no, not what I mean. You'll be respected and you can speak on my behalf, you're my one and only knight, afterall."

"No, it would be better if you did the talking, you would give a speech and I would cheer like 'Emilia-tan is always correct!' or 'my Emilia-tan has the greatest of all ideas!"

Emilia pouted in response and Subaru just chuckled.

Kenichi wanted to ask more but it seemed that both Subaru and Emilia remained hesitant about sharing the moment, not that he was upset, he was perfectly happy with living in the moment with them.

He carried on with his tale of staying back due to the fight with Emilia. Finding out about the White Whale, the Witch Cult and all of their atrocities planning to attack the villagers.

With the help of Rem, he convinced Crusch to forge an alliance with the Emilia camp using Elior Forest and slaying of the whale as a bargaining tool with the help of the Anatasia camp. Kenichi and Naoko both spoke up about the candidates, familiar names with no faces or achievements to attach them to—why they would help in the first place.

Subaru grinned and replied that ridding of the whale helped merchants like Anastasia run business far more efficiently. For Crusch, the achievement gained on the frontlines alone would put her ahead, it was an offer neither could resist. His phone, the parents were baffled that he would sell his phone, a relic of his old world to remember by.

"It wasn't that serious, people's lives are way more important than my glorified flashlight. If selling my phone can save them, I will always make that choice." was what Subaru replied with, a serious look and tone shadowed in his features.

The parents were taken aback, a serious Subaru was something they hardly saw. Pride rose up in their chests. For their son to say something that heroic was something to be proud of and it seems that the two girls beside him felt the same, Emilia had a smug look on her face and Beatrice was nodding like it was natural.

—Recounting the battle with the whale, gripping the parents with the tales of what the whale could do and what it had done. Once again Subaru truly had pushed his luck. Naoko was unendingly frustrated that he was constantly playing with fire, but she already promised a lecture and Subaru was eyeing them bashfully when he mentioned how he used his "unique odor" to his advantage, something he obtained when he arrived in this world.

Terrible as it seemed to even think about, Naoko wondered how her son was still alive with everything he said he had gone through. She was extremely worried to hear all of this had gone down within a year and there was still more to come.

She could only sigh whilst steeling her racing heart—waiting to hear more from Subaru's story.

After prevailing against the whale, mercenaries under Anastasia known as the 'Iron Fang' came to help them with the subjugation of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti.

When Sloth's name was uttered, Emilia shifted slightly in her seat and Beatrice huffed out lightly. While it looked like that it was a coincidental moment. Kenichi did not miss out their eyes showing a tinge of sadness, their eyes drop a bit before almost instantly going back to normal. What surprised him more was Subaru's lack of awareness of their reaction. Given how close the three of them were, he assumed that they knew everything about each other. But it seems that not everything was shared.

They worked quickly, cornering the spies from the witch cult, evacuating everyone and then killing Geuse with Juilius. Once that was done, they went back and found that one of the carriages that were carrying the villagers to safety was rigged with active firestones. Without Otto he could've never made it, and when he did—he saw Emilia, huddled unsuspectingly next to the bomb under the planks.

Emilia hummed listening to the retelling, sliding her hand over Subarus as he narrated.

'Hmm? What's up Emilia-tan?"

"That day, you really did your best to save me, didnt you, Subaru?"

"Of course i did, i will always do my best to save you, no matter what"

"Yes, i'm counting on you, my knight."

Subaru's happy grin was met with Emilia's bashful smile. Emilia's hand slowly clenched Subarus and the parents could tell once again that they were in their own world, giving Beatrice a small smile. She had a defeated look on her face, resigned to pinching Subaru again in protest. The same song and dance played out again before the two. It felt like a comedy routine with how often this had happened, but the parents enjoyed every single moment of it, wishing it would never stop. Subaru apologetically waved at his parents and spoke,

"Well…after all of that we went to Crusch mansion…and-"

Saying that, his face darkened. Seeing the sudden shift in emotions, the parents instantly perked up and Naoko asked out of concern. "Subaru, what's wrong?"

"...During the trip, it was when we found out rem was eaten" He spoke softly, looking down. Emilia and Beatrice were rubbing his back telling him stuff like "she's fine now isn't she?" and "you did save her in the end, in fact"

Subaru could only smile weakly and shake his head. From his end there was nothing left to be said, but the parents couldn't let one thing go. Eaten?

"When you say eaten, do you mean, by Gluttony?" Naoko clarified

"You guys know about Gluttony?"

"Yes, Julius explained Gluttony to us and the powers they have."

Subaru nodded and explained Rem was eaten and that no one remembered her but Subaru, and he failed her as her-

"Rem would tell you off for saying that, I suppose."

Subaru winced in bitter understanding, he wanted to speak up but Beatrice continued.

"You saved her with Louis' help, you protected her in Vollachia, you cared for her daily during the

year she was asleep. I think you did the best you could, do not hold yourself accountable for the world, I suppose."

"Maybe, I could have done more eve—" Subaru attempted a stubborn retort, but…

…His stomach rumbled.

Looking at the clock revealed that they'd talked their way to fire time—noon. They had been talking for so long that it was lunch time already, they decided to continue talking later after their meal and planned to meet up with the rest of the camp for a huge fest and to introduce Rem to the they were keen on meeting. The parents wanted to see Subaru's relationship with the rest. As far as they could remember, Subaru had never brought anyone back home and they knew he was having issues with people in general. They wanted to give him the time to sort it out and it seems it was sorted out here.

Naoko and Kenichi mulled over the details, while Subaru had gone into great detail of his accomplishments they were still filled with vagueness that not even Emilia or Beatrice seemed privy to. They had been swept up in the mood but now…what had Subaru done behind the scenes? How did he know Wilhelm wanted to slay the whale? How did he find out about the Witch Cult? Events he knew of that he didn't speak about, sweeping inconsistencies upon other things. Perhaps once he recontinued his story, they would ask him about it, especially with him being the sole rememberer of Gluttony.

As everyone stepped out of the inn, the citizens looked over and immediately pointed at Subaru in glee, chatting amongst themselves. Their eyes glistened like they saw their idol and they were trying to hide their excitement. The parents were proud of Subaru, what parents wouldn't be? For their child to be the center of respect and to be looked upon by other people; it was a magnificent experience, pride welling in their chest and all.

Although it didn't seem like Subaru was too concerned, or to be more precise, he didn't notice the looks people were giving him, too focused on bantering with Emilia and Beatrice as they laughed and bickered with him. In moments of silence, he'd steal a peek at Naoko and Kenichi trailing behind them, still caught up in the celebration.

Their peaceful walk continued until Subaru suddenly rolled to a halt. Emilia and Beatrice rushed to his attention, holding his face, waving over him with concern donned on their faces. The couple broke the distance between them in a sprint, till Subaru jolted upright and turned. With a hardened voice, he informed them.

"We need to get everyone quick. Capella is coming"