Subaru had been trying his best to brainstorm ways to help Felt through this, but he gave up halfway through. It didn't matter how long he planned since all of his chances for any real preparation were promptly tossed out the window thanks to a certain knight. The best he could really do is improvise when the time comes, and just hope Felt will follow along.
That aside, there was one thing he should've done. Help himself.
That would've been a great idea if it weren't for the fact that Subaru already wasted too much time being concerned for Felt that their destination was already in view.
"We're here." Reinhard announced.
"Ah!" Subaru jumped to attention. "So are we going to gather with the other candidates or…?"
"Just stay by my side and I'll explain as we go."
It wasn't long before the carriage stopped and Reinhard got out of the carriage. He swiftly sidestepped to the side Subaru was on and opened the door for both him and Grassis.
Both Subaru and Grassis hopped out of the carriage and followed Reinhard. This was the first time Subaru has seen the castle up close. Sure, he did see it from a distance while he was out and about, but this time, he was going in.
"It's finally happening." Subaru muttered to himself. Once Felt does her thing, they can both just leave all this behind and finally kickstart their shop. "Oh…" That's right, Felt wasn't warned about any of this. He was only here before her since he had the 'luxury' of having Reinhard change his clothes in a blink of an eye. He should focus all his brain power on helping Felt calm down since there's no doubt in his mind that she'll definitely be pissed once she arrives.
"Subaru-sama? Are you ok?"
Subaru flinched once he felt his sleeve get tugged on. Grassis had been tugging on him, trying to get his attention so the boy wore a bright friendly smile so he wouldn't worry her. "I'm alright, Grassis. Just a little nervous."
After his confession, Grassis immediately hugged his arm tightly. "Don't worry. I know you're going to do great! I'll be more than happy to support you whenever you need it."
Subaru chuckled and patted the young maid on her head. "I appreciate the assist but I'm pretty sure Felt's the one who's going to need it."
Grassis tilted her head. "You're worried about Lady Felt?"
"Oh yeah, more than you know. This is her big day after all, not mine. I'm worried that she'll blurt out something offensive and start a civil war."
"I have full faith that Miss Felt will do just fine." Reinhard interjected. "She has worked really hard this past month, and I'm sure her efforts will bear fruit."
Subaru nodded. "Yeah, you're right. She's just going to resign anyway so I shouldn't worry too much."
After their banter, the three officially made it inside the castle. Since Reinhard was taking the lead, the local guards wasted no time letting them in. Overall, it was very smooth getting in.
Reinhard guided them through the grand halls of the castle. Eventually they stopped near a huge fancy door. It looked like an entrance to some kind of throne room.
"Beyond this door is where we'll meet the other candidates, and where the Royal Selection will officially begin." Reinhard informed.
Subaru stared at the huge door in awe for a good moment before turning back to Reinhard. "Got it, so are we going to wait here for Felt? I'm not sure what the plan is."
"My apologies, I should've informed you sooner. I'll drop you off in the room where Miss Felt will meet with you and finish her preparations. I myself will be joining the other knights so I'll be counting on you, Grassis, and Flam to escort her to this location when she's ready."
"Wait, you want me to escort her too? Wouldn't that take away from appearances with so many people by her side?"
Reinhard shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, I believe it would boost her appeal to see just how many people are willing to be by Miss Felt's side."
"Boost her appeal? You didn't forget that she's just going to resign, did you?"
"I'm still aware of Miss Felt's disinterest in the Royal Selection. This is in case she happens to change her mind on the spur of the moment."
Subaru sighed. "Alright, if you say so. You're really going all out for someone you might not even see again."
"Are you saying you don't intend to visit again?" Before Subaru could answer, Reinhard was suddenly blasted with an epiphany and continued, "I think I understand now. You do not need to fear, no matter the circumstances, my doors will always be open to you and Miss Felt, friend. You may visit and even stay for as long as you want if you find your future endeavors to prove more difficult than anticipated."
Subaru chuckled nervously. In truth, a part of him did doubt that he'd see him again since he's an important figure. However, there was also another seeded reason that he didn't want to think about right now. "Thanks Rein. In that case, I'll be sure to visit often."
Before they moved on to the next spot, Grassis caught Subaru's attention by tugging at his sleeve. For some unexplained reason, the little maid looked flustered. "Subaru-sama? If you open up your shop, I would be happy to help you with that if you want."
Subaru couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable Grassis was and gently ruffled her hair. "I might not be able to afford workers once it starts, but if it becomes a hit, I'll be sure you're the first one I hire."
Grassis had a look of wonder in her eyes and nodded her head in excitement. "I won't let you down!"
With all that out of the way, they finally made their way to the room. Reinhard didn't enter and only gestured to it. "This is where Miss Felt will meet you two when she arrives. I trust you remember what path to take, Grassis?"
The little maid silently nodded in response. Not wanting to be left out, Subaru also piped up, "We'll be fine, Rein. You don't need to worry about us."
Reinhard smiled. "Thank you, Friend. I would love to join you in escorting Miss Felt, but since I'm not her sponsor nor official knight, I will be required to join the other knights. With that, I'll leave Miss Felt in your hands." With a courteous bow, he left the two.
Once the knight disappeared from view, Subaru turned to the door. "Alright, hopefully we'll have enough time to make sure we have our own eggs in order."
Just as Subaru opened the door, there was already a certain golden haired girl accompanied by a Grassis doppelgänger inside. Felt was already inside the room and she was with Flam. Felt was wearing her beautiful yellow dress, and she looked stunning. He had to give it to Carol and Flam, they sure knew how to make her look gorgeous.
"There you are!" Felt yelled out. "What the hell's going on?! Why am I being dragged out here all of a sudden?!"
Keeping up a calm stoic front, Subaru casually shrugged. "Honestly, I'm more confused on how you managed to beat us here."
"How should I know? Granny and Flam cornered me out of the blue then told me we had to go."
Subaru sighed and shook his head. He was right. No one told her what was going on at all. He might as well just give it to her straight. "The Royal Selection is happening… right now."
Felt's eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before glaring at Subaru. "Seriously?! Why the hell didn't anyone warn me this was happening today?!"
"C-Calm down, lil' sis. I only learned about this not too long ago myself. We've all been hit with this out of the blue."
Luckily, this was enough to calm the beast and she huffed annoyingly. "Damn it, Reinhard. I thought this was just gonna be another lame quiz or something."
"Actually, I'd be relieved if this all was a surprise quiz all along. I don't even know where to start with any of this."
"If ya ask me, I'm glad this is the real deal. That means all this can finally end today."
"Oh… Well, when you put it like that, I guess this is a pretty big relief."
"You got that right! By the way, what's with the suit, big bro?"
"Are you serious? The least I could do is dress nicely for an important event. Why? Does it look weird?"
Felt shook her head. "Nah, nothing like that. I just thought you were gonna wear that dress of yours."
An irk formed on Subaru's forehead. "That was just a one time thing! I'm not going to dress up like a girl ever again!"
Felt giggled a bit. "Calm down, I'm just messing with ya. I just wasn't expecting you to look this nice."
"Huh?" Subaru blinked a few times. Did he hear that right? Did he just receive a compliment? "Mind running that by me again?"
"Eh?" It took a moment and her cheeks reddened once the realization hit her. "I-I don't need to repeat myself! You should've just heard it the first time!"
That look said it all. Subaru grinned mischievously and held his hands together. "Pretty please, lil' sis? Just one more time? It's not like you said anything embarrassing, right?"
"I-I didn't! It's your fault that you're bad at hearin'!"
Both Flam and Grassis raised their hands in unison before speaking up. "I'm pretty sure she said-"
"Can it!" Felt immediately interrupted. "It wasn't even that important anyways!"
"Oh really?" Subaru continued, "If you ask me, it looks like you're desperately trying to- OOF!" Before he continued his taunt, Felt kicked his leg. "Alright, alright, you win."
Felt crossed her arms and huffed aloud. "Good, now are we doing this or not?"
"Yeah, just remember not to yell, hit, or taunt anyone else."
The girl rolled her eyes. "I know, tell me something new why don't you."
"Something new? Hmm…" Subaru smirked as an idea formed in his head. "Well, you look very beautiful right now."
That sentence was enough to catch her off guard and stiffened up. Her red cheeks returned as well as those dangerous fierce eyes. "Grrrr…!"
Already knowing where this was heading, Subaru took a step back and moved his hands in between himself and Felt. "Calm down, it was just a compliment. I wasn't trying to mess with you."
There was a short moment of silence in the room before Felt loosened up. "Fine, I'll buy that lousy excuse this time. You ain't too bad yourself though." Subaru gave her a weird look and was about to ask if she just called him beautiful. However, almost as if she had the ability to read his mind, she immediately clarified. "Professional! I meant that you look professional."
"Ah…" The boy was dumbfounded, and had no idea what to say now. Getting a compliment from Felt didn't come by too often after all. "Well, Thank you, Felt."
Now getting embarrassed, Felt broke eye contact. "C-Cmon! I want to get this dumb thing over with already!"
"Y-Yeah! Let's get going." Subaru nodded and immediately took the lead while the girls followed closely behind.
As they made their way there, Subaru glanced back at everyone. It was very impressive to him at how confident they all look. If he didn't know any better, perhaps he was the only one nervous here. However, he still had his worries and couldn't keep silent about it.
"Erm, lil' sis? You remember everything you have to say, right?"
Felt nodded. "Yeah, I just gotta introduce myself when they call for me, and announce that I'm resigning."
"Right. Also, don't pick fights with anyone. The whole point of this is so we don't make any enemies on our way out."
"Yeah, yeah. I know that already. Reinhard's already been hounding me about that all month, I seriously don't need to hear that from you too."
"Sorry. I guess I'm a bit nervous." Subaru scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "H-Hehe… Isn't that pathetic? This is all about you and here I am being the most stressed about this."
Just as he was trying to laugh his worries away, Felt smacked his back, nearly knocking him over. "Don't be down playin' yourself like that. I get it, this is all new and you're gettin' cold feet from it, right?"
"Yeah, something like that. Sorry."
"There's nothin' for you to apologize for so don't bother sayin' it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my own concerns about this whole shit show." Felt reached her hand out to Subaru. "Tell ya what, if you're really that nervous, let me see your hand."
Subaru blinked and looked strangely at Felt. He wasn't sure if this was some kind of trick. But he ended up relenting after seeing the sincerity in her eyes. He cautiously extended his hand out to Felt.
To the boy's surprise, she gently held onto it. Felt was just holding his hand very calmly. "Now just take a deep breath and relax. You'll even have these two squirts to vent to while I do my thing."
Subaru was caught off guard by this sudden sincerity. It's like something was possessing Felt. However, Subaru followed her instructions and took a deep breath. "Thanks, Felt."
"Don't sweat it. Think of this as me returning the favor for all the times you helped me out."
"I'm not gonna lie, I thought you were going to punch me, and say something like 'stop being a baby'."
Felt grit her teeth in annoyance. "Shut it! I'm tryin' to help ya out here! Is that concept foreign to you!?"
Subaru shook his head. "No, it's not like that. I meant that this is very nice of you to do. It makes me feel a lot better seeing you ready to go."
The girl's rage quickly subsided, and then sighed. "I said don't think too much of it, alright?"
"Yeah, but still, thanks again- huh?" Something suddenly snatched his other hand. Upon investigation, it turns out Grassis was clinging onto him with a fiery determined look. For some reason, Grassis's grip on him was a lot tighter than Felt. Considering their difference in size, he figured it'd be the other way around. "Grassis? You ok?"
"I'm fine, Subaru-sama. But Lady Felt's right, I'll be more than happy to hold your hand too if that will make you feel better."
"Hahah… Thanks. I feel better already." The way she said it was just too embarrassing but he didn't have the heart to shatter a little girl's kind gesture.
The final remaining girl, Flam, walked behind the three with an unreadable expression. Nothing about that was abnormal or anything but there was some kind of tense atmosphere about her. Subaru wondered for a moment if there was something going on in her mind.
"Hey, big bro?" Felt spoke up.
Getting his attention off of Flam, Subaru shifted his attention back to Felt. "Yeah? What's up?"
"I've been thinking, how would you feel if I ended up running for the Royal selection?"
"Eh? Well, I mean, if it's something you'd really want, I'd support you all the way, lil sis."
"Really? You wouldn't feel betrayed or anything? You know, especially considerin' our shop plan?"
Subaru shook his head. "Not at all. Whether it is running a shop or ruling over a country, they both sound like a lot of fun to try out. I mean, ruling a whole country? When will you ever get another chance to do something like that anyway?" Subaru then grinned mischievously as a thought came up in his head. "Why do you ask? Do you feel like becoming a princess now?"
Felt's face reddened before frantically shaking her head. "O-Of course not! I-I was just curious! Alright?!"
Subaru chuckled. "Alright, if you say so. But seriously, even if you change your mind at the last minute, I'm not going to hold it against you."
By the time they made it to the designated spot, Subaru released himself from the girls and briefly gave them one last glance. They all looked ready as they'll ever be.
One of the surrounding guards immediately took notice of the group's arrival and quickly approached them. He turned his attention to Subaru and peeked over at Felt. "I saw you with the sword saint earlier, is this the final Royal Candidate?"
Subaru nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's her. So, is this some kind of safety checkpoint to make sure we're clean?"
The guard shook their head. "Not at all. I doubt the sword saint would invite any suspicious individuals to such an important occasion without checking himself."
Now that he thought about it, did Reinhard ever investigate his person? Nah, he was with him the whole time so that wouldn't be possible.
…
Right…?
Getting his thoughts back on track, Subaru chuckled. "Heheh, that's a relief. It's good to see my luck is finally turning my way."
The guard more or less ignored that comment and continued with instructions. "Everyone's already waiting inside. We'll open the door for you now so please escort the Royal Candidate inside."
Subaru only nodded and stood up straight behind Felt's left flank. Grassis and Flam took their own positions behind Felt. The girl in question was ready to get this rolling, not really taking any of this as a big deal.
Once the guards opened that huge door, the group walked gracefully into the throne room. All eyes were locked on them. Inside, there were a lot of knights lined up on one side of the room and a bunch of what looked like nobles lined up on the other.
Subaru knew there would be aristocrats here according to Reinhard but it looked like the entirety of the Lugnica upper class was just crammed in this room. Now it started to make sense why he was so serious about teaching Felt etiquette.
At the end of the throne room, there were four well dressed girls. In front of them was a large empty throne and beside it were seats occupied by very old people. About ten in total.
There was a lot to take in and Subaru had to put every fiber of his being to not look around like a curious child on a field trip. He was determined to not put this whole month's worth of training to waste after all.
Not long after entering the throne room, mister 'I have very important things to do' immediately stepped forward and bowed towards Felt. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Miss Felt."
"Ah, Reinhard." Felt approached the knight with a gentle smile.
This was going very well so far, Subaru thought. Felt's behavior was his biggest fear so to see her act so well mannered made his worries ease up quite a bit. Reinhard was right, he should've had more faith in-
"You bastard!" Without warning, Felt swung her foot at Reinhard.
No! You were so close! Why did it all have to come tumbling down so quickly? Subaru really wanted to cry as all he could do was watch their efforts immediately go down the toilet.
Reinhard effortlessly caught Felt's foot, and gave her a very surprised look. "Miss Felt? What could have warrant this behavior?"
"Don't even pretend that you don't know what's up! You didn't even leave a note that this was happening today, and you straight up left me on my own! You even had the nerve to make Subaru tell me everything instead of taking responsibility! For how serious you were about getting ready for this, you sure suck at timing everything."
The knight very courteously guided Felt's foot back to the ground and then bowed apologetically. "My apologies, Miss Felt. It wasn't my intention to rush you without any warning."
Felt let out an annoyed huff and crossed her arms. "I don't really care about your sorrys right now. Let's just get this over with already."
"Of course, Miss Felt. However, I would like to suggest that you act a little more ladylike."
Felt rolled her eyes. "No more last minute surprises, and you got yourself a deal."
While this went on, Subaru glanced around the room to observe everyone's reaction. A good number of both the knights and nobles did look a little shocked but luckily, no one followed up on Felt's sudden attempted assault on the sword saint. Not immediately anyways.
"Subaru? What are you doing here?"
Subaru snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Emilia. "Oh, Emilia! I figured I'd see you here. I'm just working as one of Felt's escorts right now."
Emilia's eyes widened. "Oh! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to distract you while you were working. I could've sworn Reinhard told me you were unemployed, and you've been living with him as a guest since we last met."
Subaru blinked a few times. After recollecting his memories, he wasn't entirely sure if he actually visited Roswaal's mansion in this timeline. After discovering the shaman in the city, he urged Reinhard to inform Roswaal about the situation considering that one of their staff may have been a potential victim.
With that said, did any of them actually go visit them? If not, how would she know about his living conditions?
"Heheh, Say, Emilia, If you don't mind me asking, when did Rein tell you about that?"
"Not long ago, actually! Once I saw him arrive with the other knights, I asked how you were doing and he told me about your situation."
…
"Oh…"
Before anything else could be added, a very familiar lord still in his clown makeup inserted themself in the conversation. "Why if it isn't Subaru. I assume that you'll be assisting Miss Felt's camp for the Royal Selection?"
Subaru nearly jumped at Roswaal's sudden appearance and shook his head. "Sort of but not really. This is just a temporary thing."
Roswaal contemplated his words while still sharing a generous smile. "Is that so? Anyways, I wanted to express my gratitude for the warning you sent to us, Subaru."
"H-Heh, It's no problem. I just wanted to make sure you guys were alright since you happened to be around."
Emilia frowned. "Warning? Did something happen?"
"Um… When Reinhard stopped by, didn't he tell you about the shaman incident we ran into?"
The poor half-elf widened her eyes. "Shaman?! Are you alright, Subaru?! You weren't hurt or anything, were you? W-Wait… Don't tell me that's why you didn't come visit us!"
"Woah there, slow down. I'm just fine. It was just a chance encounter that Reinhard mainly dealt with. None of us was harmed and no curses were place."
She sighed in relief. "I'm glad you're alright. You reeeally should stop running into trouble like that."
"That reeeeminds~ me," Roswaal added. "Why didn't you come visit? You seemed quite passionate in your request to stop by whenever you desired. It huuuurts~ quite a bit to be ignored like that."
"I'm sorry about that. I got so caught up with all the new changes that I-"
Subaru was interrupted by a hearty Roswaal laugh. "It was merely a jest, Subaru. You're still free to visit whenever you have the time to. I'm sure the Royal Selection preparations have made you quite busy."
Subaru nodded, relieved by his understanding. "Yeah, it did get pretty hectic over there. I'm sure it'll be a lot easier after all this is done, though."
One of the surrounding knights cleared their throat and spoke up, putting an end to their conversation. "I would hate to ruin your reunions but I would like for you to step aside. Would Miss Felt step forward with the other candidates?"
Subaru regained his posture in an instant and immediately bowed to the knight as politely as he could. "Yes, sir." Afterwards, he stepped to the side beside Reinhard and the other knights.
Emilia hurriedly repositioned herself with the other candidates, afraid of being called out as well. Roswaal kept his cheerful demeanor as he faded back in the background.
Felt bowed in a refined way like Subaru, almost as if trying to beat him in terms of courtesy like it was a competition. She then took her spot beside the other candidates.
Reinhard didn't have time to brief Subaru on anything once he took his position at his side. Instead, the knight already stepped beside Felt in order to keep moving everything forward. "Miss Felt, please hold this for a moment."
Reinhard handed an insignia, the one he had Felt touch on their first meeting, to the girl and it glowed red in front of everyone.
"As you can see, the dragon stone has recognized Miss Felt as a priestess. Now that her participation is confirmed, we can now begin the Royal Selection process in earnest."
All the other knights in the room saluted in unison as if to confirm their agreement. Just as everything looked to be going smoothly, one of the aristocrats in the room decided to speak up.
"Even if the dragon stone has recognized her, don't you think her appearance is problematic?"
The same knight that instructed Felt from earlier quickly responded. "Are you meaning to say that the knights made a mistake?"
The loud mouth aristocrat shook his head eagerly as the pressure of every single knight in the room was now staring him down intensely. "I mean to say that her late appearance is unprecedented. Not only that, but she even attempted to strike at the sword saint!"
Subaru grimaced. He knew that was going to bite them. However, much to his surprise, Felt bowed courteously in the direction of the noble. "Sorry about that. I had a rough time getting here so I'm a bit on edge. I hope I didn't offend ya."
After her explanation, Reinhard added, "I was not offended by Miss Felt's actions. Since it was directed only to me, everything should be fine."
Even though this was all presented in a very polite and organized fashion, a certain someone thought it would be a great idea to spread more salt to this for some reason.
Among the royal candidates, the lady who wore a red dress with orange hair opened a fancy hand fan and positioned it in front of her. "This pointless blather couldn't be any more tedious. But, I suppose you trained your knight enough to withstand your menial conversions."
Felt wore her most 'Welp, I tried' look she could muster. However, she didn't make any kind of rebuttal. The most she did was let out a quiet sigh, and avoided eye contact. Subaru feared that Felt would end up starting a fight over something like this, and now he felt ashamed of himself for not giving her enough faith.
All this didn't rub one of the candidates the right way, and Emilia stepped into Felt's defense. "There isn't any reason to be talking like that. Shouldn't we all get along with each other?"
"That's rich coming from a silver haired half elf. Don't you feel sorry for drilling anyways even being here?"
Emilia flinched, and tensed up like a frightened sheep. "I understand my resemblance is off putting, but that doesn't have anything to do with this."
"So you still decide to show up knowing what that would cause? Perhaps you should apologize for being born instead."
"W-What? B-But I…" Emilia was at a loss for words. The poor girl didn't know what to do against this kind of insult. All she wanted to do was for everyone to stop fighting but instead, that made her the target.
Before Anything else could happen, Felt placed her hand over Emilia's shoulder. "Just ignore her. None of her words really matter anyways."
Emilia turned over to Felt in surprise but nodded. "Y-Yeah, you're right. Thank you, Miss Felt."
However, the rude lady in red didn't seem to be finished with her rude spree. "You have quite the knack for getting mongrels to stop barking. Perhaps you could work as a dog trainer instead. That way, you could put that skill of yours to more conventional use."
"…" Felt didn't entertain her anymore. She just looked away, back in the direction of the wise old men without uttering another word.
The lady in the red dress glanced over to Felt over her fan, almost as if she was confused as to why there wasn't any retaliation from her. Eventually, she looked away, getting bored of waiting for a response that would never come.
"That's enough." One of the old men at the end of the throne room called out. Once everyone quieted down, the old man continued, "Knight Reinhard, would you kindly explain the events leading to the final candidate's discovery?"
"Of course, around a month ago, I came across Miss Felt by chance during one of my patrols in the slums."
"What?!" That same annoying noble from before cried out. "You're saying she's a gutter rat from the slums?!"
The other surrounding nobles started to murmur to themselves in disbelief. Felt looked incredibly annoyed at this point but had enough patience to keep quiet.
In spite of that, the old man finally stepped in to put a stop to the interruptions. "Rickert from house Hoffman, I would like to hear knight Reinhard's report without any more interruptions."
The noble known as Rickert flinched at being called out and nodded in embarrassment. "O-Of course..."
After cooperating and finally shutting up, Reinhard continued. "After confirming Miss Felt's candidacy for the throne, I took it upon myself to take her in my custody."
"I see, thank you, knight Reinhard, for your contributions to Lugnica."
"I was only doing my duty."
The old man nodded, satisfied with the courtesy. "Is there anything else that should be addressed?"
"In regards to the selection, I have nothing else to report."
"In that case, I believe we can continue. Marcos, will you do the honors?"
The knight in question, the one who initially directed Felt to stand beside the other candidates, spoke up, "Will the royal selection candidates please step forward at this time; Miss Priscilla Barielle and her attendant, Al."
The lady in the red dress from earlier stepped forward along with a guy with a knight helmet that completely covered their face. The lady, now known as Priscilla, started, "The selection process is pointless. I'm the only one who's suited to rule this nation. All you people have to do is grovel before my feet."
After Priscilla spoke her piece, Marcos called on the next candidate. "The head of the Carsten Family, Miss Crusch Karsten and her attendant, the knight Felix Argyle."
The candidate known as Crusch stepped forward with the all too familiar cat boy healer.
"Wait, Felix was working with another candidate already?" Subaru asked no one. Now he wondered why Felix never told him considering all the times he's seen him. "What are the odds?"
For some reason, Subaru was somehow connected to three out of the five candidates. He wondered if this was a sign of his protagonist position that he was missing out on or if it was just a big coincidence. After mulling it over for a moment, Subaru shook his head. He already resolved his decision moving forward so that didn't matter.
His train of thought came to an end after someone tugged on his hand. The perpetrator was none other than Grassis who was now holding onto the boy's hand. "Subaru-sama, they're calling the other candidates." The young maid whispered, seeing that Subaru wasn't paying attention.
After snapping out of his thoughts, he realized that Crusch was already done, and another candidate, a girl with purple hair, just finished introducing themselves.
Subaru smiled nervously. "Thanks, Grassis." and to express his gratitude, he patted the girl's head.
The young maid closed her eyes, simply enjoying the head pat. However, the moment didn't last as Flam snatched her sister's arm, and yanked her out of Subaru's reach.
Grassis blinked a few times while giving her sister a confused look. Flam only had a pouty look on her face. But the two both stayed silent, staring each other down like they were reading each other's thoughts.
Subaru blinked a few times at the peculiar sight before smiling again and this time patting Flam on her head. The boy assumed that Flam was feeling left out. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you."
Both of the young maids looked on in shock, but Flam's cheeks reddened and began flailing her arms against Subaru in retaliation. It wasn't anything brutal, just pretty cute. But the boy didn't want to cause a scene so he stopped. Without a word, a reddened Flam was left sulking while her sister tried to comfort her.
Subaru glanced away from the twins and back to the selection. At this point, it was Emilia who was up.
The gorgeous half elf stepped forward and started her speech. "I only have one wish, equality for everyone. I want to create a world where everyone is equal."
Subaru couldn't help but smile sheepishly. Emilia was just too sweet for this world. However, practically everyone around him didn't share his sentiment. There were annoyed huffs and murmurings amongst the nobles.
It was straight up disappointing watching everyone gossip like a bunch of school kids. The longer this went on, the more Subaru wondered if everything he and Felt went through this past month really even mattered. Everyone here seemed so hellbent on enforcing their own stupid prejudice ideals for anything they say to really matter.
After Emilia finished, it was finally Felt's turn to finally put an end to this. The head knight called on her. "Finally, Miss Felt and her attendant, Reinhard Van Astrea."
Felt obliged and stood before everyone, taking a quick glance at everyone around before speaking. "Listen, I'm not really familiar with all this stuff. In all honesty, I'm not even sure if this whole ruler thing is cut out for me."
"Miss Felt," The head knight, Marcos, spoke out. "Are you meaning to say you wish to withdraw from the selection?"
Felt didn't answer immediately. It was as if she was actually contemplating that question. "I'm still thinkin' it over. Get back to me on that once you guys are done making your speeches."
…
Subaru's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. This wasn't what they planned at all! Felt was supposed to resign right there, then they would've gotten out and went about their day, finally being out of this mess.
For a moment, Subaru wondered what had gotten into that girl but it finally dawned on him after thinking back. Subaru remembered Felt asking about that 'theoretical' of hers. Normally, something like this would've upset the boy being a last minute decision, especially since this is something Reinhard would do for sure.
However, for some reason, Subaru couldn't help but feel happy and even excited. In truth, he was proud of Felt for even considering taking up such a big challenge like this.
"Heheh…" Subaru chuckled to himself. "Guess I have to adjust our plan."
Grassis immediately held onto the boy's hand, looking up at him hopefully. "Does this mean you'll be staying with us, Subaru-sama?"
"Well, if Felt does decide to go with this, we'll definitely need some backers. It definitely wouldn't hurt to have you two to hop on board."
Grassis looked on in excitement while Flam still had a very conflicting look about her.
"This is senseless!" A voice echoed throughout the room. The voice came from one of the wise men at the end of the room. This one was bald with large bushy blue eyebrows. "It's bad enough that all of our time is being wasted by the Astrea family offering a gutter rat, but are we really going to consider that half devil as a valid candidate?"
The rude comments caused Felt to squint her eyes but she managed to not erupt in rage by biting her lower lip. Emilia also had a reaction, the poor girl looked down and her body stiffened like a scared lamb.
In hopes to descale this outburst, one of the other wise men spoke out against the other. "Bordeaux, you don't need to go that far."
"We've been waiting for the last candidate to be known for a while now, and nearly half of their qualifications are questionable at best!"
More gossiping spread amongst the nobles. They were talking about how a half elf would even be allowed in here, some complained why this was stretched for as long as it was for a slum dweller. Overall, nothing pleasant was coming from this.
Subaru noticed that Felt was trying her best to not erupt in a fit of rage. Her face was red and her fists clenched into balls as if ready to throw down. Emilia looked like she was about to erupt into tears. For a moment, Subaru even looked over to Reinhard, hoping he would say something about this but the knight stood there with a disheartened look, just keeping quiet.
Subaru shook his head. He couldn't take this any more, they all have gone too far. After bracing himself, he shouted, "That's enough of your crap!"
For a brief moment, everyone in the room quieted down. More so of curiosity on who would be bold enough to speak out so vulgarly.
Taking advantage of the moment, Subaru continued. "There's no reason for everyone here to act like immature kids. A normal person would just stay quiet, let everyone say their thing, and then judge them in the parking lot or on your way home. You shouldn't be doing that in the middle of a hearing!"
At this time, one of the wise men spoke up. "Who might you be, young man?"
Subaru stood up straight and bowed. Even though he wanted to tell these guys off, he figured it would be best to play them using what he learned from Reinhard. "I'm Natsuki Subaru, sir. I'm currently working as one of Felt's escorts."
"Right, I remember seeing you come in with her." The old man assessed aloud. Subaru took this the wrong way. He thought that he was trying to dodge the question.
"I still want an answer!" Subaru interjected. "Can you at least agree with me that your guy's words are uncalled for? I prepared to be as courteous as I can, and once I arrived, I've only seen everyone here try to rip each other's throats."
The wise man with the bushy eyebrows, Bordeaux, got annoyed by the boy's audacity. Before the other wise man who was being questioned could give a response, Bordeaux spoke up. "Silence! You're speaking out of line!" Not wanting to give the boy another chance to respond, the old man quickly turned to Reinhard to put an end to this. "Is this boy truly working for you, knight Reinhard?"
Reinhard bowed respectfully and answered immediately. "Yes, Subaru is currently employed by me."
"Is that so? Then tell me where you've found this boy!" Bordeaux glanced over at Subaru with a nasty glare. "Based on his black hair, I doubt he's even a native."
Subaru really wanted to call him out. It's blatantly obvious that he's just finding ways to discriminate towards everyone at this point. However, he stayed silent. Reinhard was the one talking, and Subaru doubted he'd talk badly about him.
"Natsuki Subaru played a big role in the discovery of Lady Felt. It was only after that was when he volunteered to be her escort. I believe he has proved more than enough to be a trustworthy individual."
Subaru smirked. There's no way that they'd have anything to say to him after that explanation.
Unfortunately though, that didn't make the old man back off. "What about his origins? I still find his sudden appearance to be questionable."
"I can confirm with full confidence that Subaru is a trustworthy individual. I fail to understand how his origins are important-"
"I asked you if he is from Lugnica. Not if you trust him or not."
Reinhard paused for a moment, almost as if hesitant to give an answer. However, the knight gave in to the old man's pestering. "Natsuki Subaru is not from Lugnica."
Bordeaux narrowed his eyes. "If he isn't from Lugnica, then there's a possibility that boy's a spy!"
That explanation made Subaru's eyes widen in shock. A lot of people in the room were shocked by this claim. Even Reinhard was taken aback by that conclusion.
Not wanting his friend to be labeled as a spy, Reinhard tried to salvage the situation. "I strongly believe Subaru is not a spy. I have had him in my custody for-"
"That's enough, Reinhard." Bordeaux interrupted.
Reinhard looked down dejectedly. "My apologies…"
Now with that out of the way, the old man pointed at Subaru. "Knights! Take that boy away for questioning!"
"W-What?!" Subaru cried out. He looked over to Reinhard, hoping he'd do something to help. However, the knight was wearing a pained expression as he didn't have the courage to make eye contact. Knowing that no help was coming for him, the boy desperately pleaded, "I-I'm not a spy! I'm not trying to do anything shady or doing anything to mess anything up, you gotta believe me!"
His plea went on deaf ears as some of the surrounding knights forcefully detained him. Subaru struggled a little bit at first, knowing he was innocent, but feeling how rough the knights were with him, he stopped so he wouldn't hurt himself anymore.
"Hey! Stop it! He's not a bad guy!" Felt cried out. She was initially petrified from the shock herself but after seeing the knights swarm him, the short girl took action.
Felt tried to run over to the knights to pry Subaru away from them but some of the surrounding knights stopped her. The girl turned to Reinhard and shouted at him angrily. "Hey! What the hell are you doing just standing there, Reinhard?! They're taking Subaru away! We gotta help him!"
"I'm deeply sorry, Lady Felt, but there's nothing I can do about this…"
"Grrr!" Felt growled. "This is bullshit! You can't take him away! This isn't fair!"
"Miss Felt," Marcos, the head of the knights, spoke up. "If you do not wish to run in the royal selection, then I am not obligated to follow your commands."
Felt immediately understood what the knight meant. The golden haired girl glanced over to Subaru and back to Marcos. "Fine! I'll be in your damn selection, ya hear?! Now get your hands off of him!"
After Felt made her declaration, all the knights finally backed away from Subaru. The boy in question was left flabbergasted by the whole situation. On one hand, he wanted to apologize for being that careless with his words. However, there was no way in hell he'd even want to apologize to those inconsiderate assholes.
Felt sighed in relief and glanced over at the knights to give them a cold stare. However, she noticed that everyone in the room had their eyes on her. Felt figured that she should give everyone here a proper speech now that she admitted to running as a candidate. After all, everyone else did.
Seeing that the floor was now hers, Felt stepped before everyone and crossed her arms. "You know what? All of ya make me sick. So, once I become ruler, I'm gonna tear it all down! All your social status and your hierarchy will mean nothing once I reshape how this country's gonna run!"
It was hard to tell if everyone was too shocked by Felt's declaration or if everyone just wanted this to get over with now since everyone in the room remained silent. Regardless of that, now that Felt said her piece, Marcos continued on, "Now let us tell you how the Royal Selection will proceed-"
"Take that boy out of here first!" Bordeaux interrupted, pointing to Subaru. "I don't want any more interruptions when we proceed." He was left fuming after the turn of events, especially since there's now nothing he can do about Subaru. However, he was going to use what power he did have to remove him from the room.
This didn't rub Felt the right way at all. She glared at the old man. "You're the one interrupting here, you hypocrite! He's not going to-"
Before Felt could continue, Subaru placed his hand over her shoulder. "It's fine, Felt. I'll leave the room and catch up with you later."
All of Felt's fury ceased and she quickly turned to Subaru. "You don't have to turn your tail and run just because he's being a jerk. You did nothing wrong."
"Nah, it's fine, really. I don't want to give anyone here ammunition to use on you later. You can always fill me in on what happened here later, alright?"
Felt sighed but nodded. "Fine, get going then."
Subaru returned the nod and made his way out of the room on his own. Frankly speaking, he knew staying there any longer would just make Felt look bad because he could tell that old guy was not going to let this go. He knew leaving would just make it easier for everyone.
Once Subaru left, Felt looked over to Reinhard, giving him a look of suspicion. "You planned this, didn't you?"
Reinhard shook his head. "Certainly not. I would never plan anything so cruel to our friend. Though, I would like to think that fate must have played a role in this turn of events."
Felt looked at the knight with a deadpan expression. "Really? Fate? Is that the card you're gonna play?"
"Not at all." Reinhard then knelt down to the girl. "In any case, from now on, I am your knight."
"Fine, but I'm gonna work you to death, especially after you left big bro hanging like that."
"I'll do my best to make it up to you, then."
"Do it for Subaru, not me, you idiot."
--
After leaving the room, Subaru wandered to the waiting room he initially met with Felt and tiredly slumped into a chair. The boy was still pissed off at how everyone was treating both Felt and Emilia but now that he was out of the room, he couldn't help but feel guilty.
Not for speaking up against those jerks, because they definitely deserved it. But how he dragged Felt down like that, making her choose to be a candidate by force in order to save his sorry ass.
Reinhard was there, and if anything went wrong, he was sure he'd help him out. But instead, Felt was the one that got involved. Because of that, he stripped away Felt's chance for her to choose her own future.
While Subaru was left to his thoughts, he felt a very soft and gentle wave of bumps along his left arm. The boy looked over and found Grassis was angrily punching at his arm like it was a punching bag.
"Grassis? Are you alright?" Subaru asked, not even acknowledging the soft onslaught of punches coming his way.
The young maid stopped her punches and stomped her foot on the ground, almost as if she was trying her best to look imposing. "Don't ever do that again!"
Subaru looked away sheepishly. He then chuckled a little in hopes to lighten her mood by showing he was fine. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'll be more careful next time."
"I-If something bad were to happen to you…" Just then, Grassis's eyes began to water up.
Seeing this was going into a pretty bad direction, Subaru immediately took the girl's hand and gave her a big goofy grin. "Cmon, Grassis. It was just a little scuffle back there. Just a difference in opinion and not something to be panicking over. You really need to turn that frown upside down."
Grassis sniffled and nodded her head. However, she gave Subaru's arm one more punch just for good measure.
"Alright, alright, you can stop the punching now. I don't need two girls to be wailing on me all the time."
The young maid laughed genuinely at that and her smile returned to her before nodding. "I'm sorry, Subaru-sama. I'll leave the punching to my sister then."
"Right, thanks y- Wait, what?"