"So, how's young Subaru been doing since then?"
It was night—the sun had long since sunk below the western horizon, and a slightly waning crescent moon hung in the sky. The quiet report was being delivered in that hour.
It was a spacious room. In the center sat a long reception sofa and table for welcoming guests, and toward the back was the owner's personal ebony desk paired with a leather-upholstered chair.
Documents and a quill pen were scattered across the ebony desk, and just beside them a cup still trailing wisps of steam released a faint, gentle fragrance.
At a glance, the room could be identified as an office. It was a central room on the upper floor of the mansion.
Seated in the leather chair, the one who had posed the question was a man with long blue hair and mismatched eyes—one blue, one yellow—bearing a gentle expression: Roswaal.
Though his voice was barely above a whisper, it reached the listener with perfect clarity. And for good reason: the person in a secret meeting with him was right beside him—sitting on his very lap, her small body curled up even smaller in a sideways position.
"That harsh dressing-down was five days ago—or rather, four and a half days. Shouldn't we be starting to see some results by now?"
"I'm afraid not. He's completely hopeless."
Whispered into her ear while her pink hair was gently stroked,
That was simply because it was Ram, not
At the tutor's unequivocal failing grade, Roswaal blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. He laughed hard enough to catch his breath.
"Ahhha, is that so? Completely hopeless, you say?"
"Barusu can do absolutely nothing. Cooking, terrible. Cleaning, incompetent. Leave the laundry to him and he gets all worked up. None of it can be entrusted to him."
"That's quite the predicament for a servant, especially that last part."
Looking up at the master who chuckled ruefully, wondering if that was only natural for someone his age, Ram reflected on the four days past. Each time those short but densely packed memories came into focus with crystalline clarity, the composure of her refined features visibly cracked, her composure stripped away like a cold mask.
"Seeing you make that face is rare. Was it really that bad?"
"Hopeless through and through. Not just incompetent—he genuinely doesn't know. I can only assume he had an extraordinarily privileged upbringing. And yet, for all that, he's lacking in basic education."
"Oh, I heard a bit about that. Apparently he was peppered with all sorts of questions."
"The content of those questions was equally baffling, which only compounds the problem."
Ram picked out several of the questions Subaru had bombarded her with and recited them on the spot, while Roswaal raised an eyebrow. He listened to each one carefully, then placed a hand on his chin in thought, murmuring "Hoom."
"Indeed, what
"Roswaal-sama, Roswaal-sama. That routine of yours sounds just like Barusu."
"Oh my, now that's troubling. I—the great me—falling behind a freak, a pervert, a weirdo on his home stage… How humiliating."
As the master furrowed his brows in genuine distress, Ram let out a sigh he wouldn't notice. Then she shifted her position within his arms, tucking herself even deeper inward.
Nestling more closely against Roswaal's body, she closed her eyes as if savoring his warmth. A large palm gently stroked her pink hair.
"So then, Ram—the important matter. What do you think about the possibility of him being a spy?"
The tone of his voice unchanged, Roswaal continued to smile as he asked. It was a question without a subject, but he already knew what answer he was looking for.
With her eyes still closed, Ram conjured the face of a different man than the warmth before her— "I can't rule it out entirely, but I think his eyes are far too weak for it."
"Is that so? Do explain."
"Good or bad—or rather, in the worst sense of the word, he stands out too much. The method he used to infiltrate the household, everything that came after… and above all, the man himself—"
Hesitating even as her blunt answer tumbled out.
It was a negative response to the question, but Roswaal smiled with satisfaction, as if to say "Just as I thought." Even though that satisfied smile wasn't directed at her, Ram was aware that her own cheeks were growing warm.
"I see, that makes sense. So then, he really is a well-meaning third party."
Saying this, Roswaal shifted in his chair, turning his body to face the opposite direction from the desk—toward the large window where the moonlight poured in brilliantly.
His mismatched eyes narrowed, and with the corners of his lips still relaxed, he gazed down at the scene below— "He's certainly resilient, isn't he."
Visible through the office window was the garden on the mansion grounds. Surrounded by tall fences and trees, the area was invisible from outside but could be observed with remarkable clarity from the mansion's windows.
At the far edge of that garden bathed in moonlight, a silver-haired girl and a black-haired boy could be seen chatting.
As always, it was the boy doing most of the talking, but the girl's expression never once tilted toward displeasure.
"How heartwarming. I couldn't have that kind of passion anymore."
"Most women would be happy if a guy chased after them that hard."
Ram responded to what he may have intended as a monologue, and when she opened her eyes, she noticed the master gazing down at her from close range.
Her lips trembling slightly, she met those mismatched eyes with her own glistening gaze. But— "Could it be… you actually think surprisingly highly of Subaru?"
"…He's completely hopeless, but I don't think he's bad. As for work, his memory isn't terrible—he just doesn't know things."
Displeasure flickered in Ram's eyes. At her slightly cool answer, Roswaal smiled vaguely and traced her cheek with the hand that had been stroking her hair.
Responding to the girl's expectation—her eyes shimmering as if entranced—Roswaal quietly closed his own, contemplating her answer.
It was rare for Ram to evaluate anyone this way.
She was implicitly suggesting that given the chance to learn, he could grow even further. The black-haired boy must have truly won their favor.
That fact, to Roswaal, was a genuine source of joy.
"From my position, I really ought to interfere, though."
Looking down at the garden with only his yellow eyes, Roswaal murmured. To which— "They're both just children, so nothing will happen even if we leave them be."
"That's a fair point."
A faint laugh overlapped in the office, and the curtain was drawn across the window that had been watching over the boy and girl's rendezvous.
—After that, the office became a place where even the moon could not be seen.
※ ※ ※ When the moon had settled squarely in the center of the sky, Subaru steeled himself.
He straightened the wrinkles on the butler uniform he'd slipped into, checking his appearance in the window once more. He was about to enter his fourth day wearing it, and he thought he was starting to get used to it.
"Not bad, not bad. I'm fine, I can do this. The mirror-after-a-bath effect where you look fifty percent more handsome—I feel like that's kicking in right now."
Whether the fifty percent boost was objectively real was anyone's guess, but self-suggestion was important too.
Wrapping himself in the aura of a handsome man—if nothing else in atmosphere alone—Subaru took a deep breath and stepped out.
Treading on the short-trimmed lawn of the garden, he headed toward a corner of green—surrounded by tall trees, bathed more intensely than anywhere else in the moon's beneficence.
There sat a girl whose silver hair glittered in the moonlight, enveloped in a pale glow.
That blue-white luminescence—the phenomenon that resembled firefly light—Subaru now knew was caused by 'spirits.' Knowing that fact, the fantastical scene before him nonetheless held a demonic魅力 that seized the heart of anyone who beheld it and refused to let go.
He stopped involuntarily, holding his breath. Perhaps sensing his presence, the girl—who had been speaking softly with her eyes closed—opened them.
Two amethysts locked onto Subaru as he approached.
Before he could call out, she had already spotted him, and Subaru's heartbeat stuttered slightly. Trying not to let that agitation show, he raised a hand— "O-oi! What are you doing out here? Isn't this a pretty odd spot to bump into someone?"
"You show up and butt into my morning routine every single day. Besides, calling this a coincidence… we live under the same roof, you know?"
Emilia's opening salvo cut right through any pretense of hiding his fluster. Subaru drew a sharp breath at her no-nonsense attitude, muttered "Alright" to reset, and— "Living under the same roof… saying that out loud makes my heart kinda flutter."
"You say stuff like that sometimes, but what even is this 'flutter'? It's got this really—how to put it—tingly, crawling-down-your-spine kind of sound to it."
Emilia hugged her own shoulders and shivered as if struck by a chill. Subaru broke into a grin at her gesture, then—completely naturally, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world—sat down beside her. The distance: exactly three fists. That awkward gap was the mark of a coward.
She was already so accustomed to sitting like this beside him that Emilia didn't even comment on it anymore. After having him show up every morning and squeeze in beside her for every meal, any urge to mention it had surely evaporated.
Her silent permission made him unreasonably happy inside. As a result, Subaru's voice naturally oozed irrepressible delight from every edge.
"S-so, what are you doing? What are you doing?"
"You're like a kid. …I'm extending my morning routine. I can usually meet most of the kids during the day, but some of them I can only meet during the Night."
Subaru nodded in understanding at Emilia's explanation.
"Night" was a time expression unique to this world, referring roughly to the twelve hours from six in the evening until six the following morning. Conversely, the hours from six in the morning to six in the evening were called "Day," used as a general replacement for the AM/PM divisions of his original world.
Incidentally, a full day was twenty-four hours, essentially the same as the original world. Human activity patterns appeared unchanged as well, which was a relief—his internal clock wasn't thrown off.
There were apparently finer subdivisions beyond this, but he hadn't asked for details yet. His spartan senior prioritized teaching him work content over such things. She really did seem to want to make things easy for herself.
Mentally, Subaru began grumbling about four days of spartan treatment. But even as he did, Emilia's conversation with her Night-only friends continued.
Friends you could only meet at night—it sounded a bit eerie when put that way.
He caught himself feeling a strange embarrassment at his own thoughts and rubbed his nose. Then, still watching Emilia's quiet exchange with the spirits, he murmured— "They kinda look like will-o'-the-wisps."
The spirits, who had been drifting lazily, suddenly sprang into action with startling agility—circling Subaru's face where he sat beside Emilia. Sharp, stinging pain lanced across his cheeks.
"Ow ow ow! It stings! Like being poked with toothpicks!"
"Don't say thoughtless things and anger them. They'll stop listening to even what I tell them."
Whether she sympathized with the spirits' indignation or not, Emilia's attitude toward the thoroughly besieged Subaru was blunt. Though, to be fair, she did casually cast a healing spell on him while saying "Can't be helped"—a gesture that spoke to her fundamental kindness.
His pain soothed by the pale light, Subaru remained sprawled on the ground and glanced up at Emilia from under his brows.
Before him, Emilia had resumed her quiet conversation with the spirits.
He suddenly realized he'd been gazing, entranced, at the lovely tableau of the beautiful girl and the spirits.
That realization tickled in an uncomfortable way—he'd let that quip slip earlier precisely because of it. But if he simply cleared his mind and looked at it innocuously, there was nothing to fuss about.
If he let go of the embarrassment, emptied his head and heart, and simply stared at the scene before him with a dopey face, that was all he needed to do.
"It's not that interesting to watch, you know?"
Perhaps because Subaru's silence was unusual, Emilia suddenly made that remark.
Hearing the faintly apologetic note in her voice, Subaru sat up and waved his hand dismissively.
"Hanging out with Emilia-tan? I could never find that boring."
"What—!"
At his utterly direct words, Emilia choked on her breath and turned crimson. Watching her, Subaru also realized what he'd said and blushed to the ears.
If it had been a calculated line, that would be one thing, but that had come out with complete sobriety.
It was probably the honest truth of his feelings, but for it to burst out like that without any mental preparation—that was some next-level impulsive behavior.
A sudden silence fell between them. Mortified by the awkwardness, Subaru put on a deliberate show of clearing his throat—"A-ahem"—and then— "Plus, we haven't really had a chance to just talk properly these last few days, have we?"
"Th-that's right. You've been so busy learning the mansion's duties, Subaru. Yeah, you've been working really hard… yeah, really hard…"
"The fact that your attempt to comfort me just makes me feel even more pathetic is making me want to cry."
His attempt to smooth things over with small talk had backfired spectacularly, and he'd accidentally tweeted his own sadness.
As Subaru began writing the letter "no" in the dirt out of sheer patheticness, Emilia hovered her hand awkwardly, unsure how to console him.
Over these four days, Subaru's reputation as a servant—starting his new life—had, even with maximum favoritism, generous wrapping paper, and copious bribes and kickbacks sent upstairs, been evaluated as "useless" at best.
Lacking all three essential household skills—cooking, laundry, and cleaning—Subaru was immediately thrust into the task of acquiring them, the baseline requirements for mansion service.
His current standing: all three skills rated an across-the-board C.
"The only time I got an S rating was when I re-sewed the button on a loose apron."
"So you really are disproportionately talented at just one tiny thing."
"They raised me on the philosophy of 'become a sharp, pointed man rather than a round, flat, boring one.'"
The spoils of his parents' unplanned, laissez-faire educational philosophy.
That he'd ended up honing his sewing skills from that was, even he had to admit, a bit odd.
"Oh, but I'm pretty confident in my bed-making skills. In first year of high school, when I dreamed of becoming a hotel worker, I spent half of summer vacation practicing."
"Could it be… the beds these past three days have been really, really tight because…"
"I made them with all my heart, above all with love poured into every fold."
That was exactly the intensity he'd brought—choking up with emotion at "This is Emilia-tan's room, and this is Emilia-tan's bed, and these are the futon and sheets! Ahh!"—putting in so much sincere effort that Ram had been genuinely put off.
He'd been so overboard that he'd actually been placed under a time limit specifically for Emilia's room's bed-making.
"Is that so… I'm glad. I'm glad there's something Subaru can be confident about."
Unaware of that whole episode, Emilia smiled warmly at the fact that there was at least one job Subaru could do with confidence.
Bleeding from a thousand conscience wounds, Subaru remained silent. Emilia prefaced her next words with "Also,"— "You've been doing your best with the other work too, haven't you? Ram and Rem have been praising you behind your backs, you know?"
"No way! Senpai playing it cool like that when nobody's watching—what a classic tsundere move! But the correct usage means you've got to do it in front of me for it to count!"
Tsundere was a double-edged sword: when applied incorrectly, it easily got mistaken for genuine contempt. Not recommended for amateurs.
For Subaru, however, who had thoroughly mastered the ways of tsundere through his extensive romantic history (in virtual spaces), performing it in someone's face was synonymous with a "fish on."
Though, honestly, in the eyes of the twins, he probably came across as nothing more than a perverted noble.
"Well, the only thing reflected in my eyes is Emilia-tan, so I guess we're even."
He shrugged, affecting nonchalance, but that last one was so embarrassing it barely came out as a voice. Emilia apparently didn't catch it, since she tilted her head with a faint question mark and changed the subject— "But isn't it tough every day?"
"Super tough, seriously painful. I want a rotation of Emilia-tan's arms, chest, and knees as sleeping options!"
"Sure, sure."
Emilia brushed it off without ceremony. She then extended her arm, and the pale spirits draped themselves along it, creating a sight where her slender arm itself seemed to glow.
Subaru let out an inadvertent "Hohh" of admiration. She smiled ruefully at that— "As long as you can still joke around, you seem fine."
"Come sleep beside me if I look like I'm about to break."
"I'll consider it… actually, the fact that you're saying it like that is scary, so I'm going preemptively say no."
"I missed my chance to get a verbal commitment!!"
Clutching his head, he flopped back onto the grass with theatrical abandon.
Lying there, he gazed up at the starry sky, feeling the cool grass beneath him. A sudden breeze stirred his short bangs, and Subaru found himself gazing at the moon as his thoughts took shape— "The moon is really beautiful tonight."
"It's something you can't reach out and touch, isn't it?"
"Guh—"
"What's wrong?!"
His attempt at a literary declaration of love had been shot down by an unintended remark.
Clutching his chest and groaning, Subaru drew Emilia over in a panic.
And then— "Ah…"
Emilia's voice caught as she drew near.
Still lying on his back, Subaru looked up at her. Her violet-blue eyes were fixed on his chest—on the hand he'd pressed there as part of his act of pain.
Specifically, on his left hand, covered in band-aids accumulated from one workplace mishap after another.
"Whoa, busted. Not very cool. I was supposed to keep my efforts hidden, right?"
Hiding his embarrassment, he slipped his hands behind his back and tapped his head with his right hand, pulling a "Tee-hee" gesture of reflection. But Emilia's expression remained serious.
Wondering what to do about her reaction, Subaru waited—and Emilia slightly averted her gaze.
"…It really is hard for everyone, isn't it."
She murmured this almost as if admonishing herself.
Hearing her monologue, Subaru quietly agreed with an "Ah."
He wasn't the only one learning things from scratch in this Roswaal mansion. Emilia, too, was in the midst of absorbing the countless things she needed to learn as a royal candidate.
A single servant, and a queen. The levels demanded of each, and the scope of those demands—it would be insulting to even compare the crushing weight.
Shouldering that kind of burden, it was natural to get tired sometimes. Perhaps she, too, carried worries she couldn't share with anyone.
Suddenly, Emilia reached out, and Subaru's reaction was a beat slow. Her hand took his—the one he'd hidden behind his back—and brought it before her.
Looking at those fingers, scarred and bandaged, Emilia's eyes softened with pained sympathy.
"…Shall I cast a healing spell on you?"
She asked gently.
The question was soft, and the warmth during the treatment itself was beyond words. The fresh wounds, though small, still cried out, still stinging with faint heat if he focused. But— "No, it's fine. You don't have to heal them."
"Why not?"
"Hmm, it's hard to explain… but let's see. It's because these are proof of my effort."
He gently freed his hand from her grip and answered with a grin.
In front of that beautiful face, he squeezed his battered hand into a fist— "Turns out I don't actually hate effort all that much. Otherwise, there's no way I'd keep up with daily workouts. Being able to do things you couldn't before—that's the f-e-e-l-i-n-g."
He swayed his hips in rhythm, spun around, and stood up. With the sudden change in eye level, Emilia scrambled to catch up to him—Subaru pointed a finger at her.
"It's tough, and it's super hard! But honestly? It's kinda fun. Ram and Rem are surprisingly spartan, that lolicon gets on my nerves, and old Ros is actually pretty hands-off, so he's more of a background presence than I expected."
"If you said that to Roswaal, he'd be furious."
"That furious tone doesn't really sound like 'furious'…"
He demonstrated the meaning of having his conversation interrupted by bending at the waist. Then, snapping upright like a wind-up doll, he struck a dramatic pose with one palm extended toward Emilia.
"So yeah, tackling each problem one by one isn't bad. I can't survive here without doing that… but if I can, I'd rather enjoy it."
In his original world, being able to live "on easy mode" had been enough. But in this world, that kind of comfortable life wasn't an option.
If that was the case, then Subaru would demand at least "fun." It was his small act of defiance—the stubbornness he held against whatever force had unreasonably thrown him into this world.
At Subaru's declaration of resolve, Emilia froze as if time had stopped. Her eyelids fluttered open and shut several times, and then she suddenly broke into a smile.
"You're right. Yeah, I think so. Oh, honestly, Subaru, you idiot."
"Wait, wait—your reaction's off! This is prime material for falling in love all over again!"
"I wasn't in love in the first place! Honestly, you're such an idiot… me too."
His last-muttered words about being "E.M.T. (Emilia-tan, My Goddess)" didn't reach Emilia as she brushed off her skirt hem, stood, and smiled before him.
The pressure she'd carried moments ago seemed to dissolve, at least in part, and at that smile, Subaru could only stare in silence.
When Emilia turned out like this, words like "beautiful" or "cute" were utterly inadequate to capture her. Indeed, if one had to put it— "E.M.T."
"Even when I'm thanking you, you still have to joke around."
She flicked his forehead with a look of mild irritation, and Subaru backed up while clutching the spot. The fact that it seemed unusually warm was probably not just his imagination.
She let out a bright, pleasant laugh at his reaction.
"Even so… I know you're trying your best, but how on earth did your hands end up this wrecked?"
"Oh, that's simple. This evening, when I went with Ram to the village near the mansion to do some shopping, I got chomped on by a small animal the kids were playing with."
"That wasn't the result of effort!?"
"I suppose the real issue is whether that counts as obscuring the real injuries… I mean, I'm not the type to be hated by animals, am I?"
In his original world, he hadn't been the sort to attract killing intent from small animals. Otherwise, how could he have earned the title of premier fluff enthusiast?
That said, the "tremendously popular with kids OR constantly looked down on"体质 that had manifested without fail in his original world was alive and well here too.
"The brats… they were merciless—kicking, punching, wiping snot on me. It was the worst, the little terrors. Just you wait till tomorrow…"
"You really do seem like you'd be good with little kids, Subaru."
"That's a complete misunderstanding, Emilia-tan. The plan is to tame them now while they're young, then harvest the dividends when they grow up. It's my very own Genji Plan."
"You don't have to act tough—just admit it honestly."
Ignoring him, Emilia looked up at the sky and stretched.
"I'm heading back to my room soon. What about you, Subaru?"
"I've gotta go tuck in next to Emilia-tan, so I'm heading back too."
"Please hone your skills as a servant a bit more before applying for that particular duty."
"Whoa-oah—my dreams keep expanding!"
Emilia watched with a small, wry smile as Subaru raised both hands and howled at the sky.
Then, twisting his hips to face her, Subaru— "Oh right! If you're free tomorrow or something, want to go with me to get my revenge on the brats—uh, I mean have a lovey-dovey date—I mean, go see the cute little animals together?"
"You rephrased that several times, didn't you… But, um, yes, I—"
Emilia hesitated, struggling to get the rest out.
Subaru tilted his head at her reaction. It wasn't the response of someone who didn't want to go. Which meant— "C-could it be that if you went out with me, you'd be embarrassed if people at the village gossiped… or something?"
"I wouldn't use such a horrible rejection line!"
She placed her hands on her hips in a show of indignation. If there were sound effects, it would have been a "hmph hmph" kind of motion. After that, she averted her gaze.
"It's not that I don't want to, and I am curious about those small animals too, but…"
"Then let's go!"
"But if I go, it might be trouble for you, Subaru…"
"Alright, got it! Let's go!"
"…Are you even listening?"
"Of course I am! You think I'd miss a single word from Emilia-tan?!"
"I hate you, Subaru!"
"Ahh! Ahhh! What's with that?! I caaaan't heaaar you!"
He stuffed his fingers in his ears and ran in circles, blocking out all sound.
The sheer decisiveness with which he retracted his earlier words left Emilia laughing as though a weight had been lifted. Then, prefacing it with "Oh, honestly,"— "This is conditional on my studies reaching a stopping point AND on Subaru finishing his work at the mansion properly, okay?"
"Alright! Deal struck! I'll finish everything super efficiently!"
Having secured her verbal commitment, Subaru pumped his fist in a victory pose.
Watching his mercenary enthusiasm, Emilia shook her head with a droop of her shoulders— "Looking at you, Subaru, I feel like my own worries are pretty small."
"That's not true at all! Everyone's got huge worries—like, if you're gonna become the next queen or something, that's the kind of stress that'll give you a stomach full of honeycomb!"
Emilia finally broke into laughter, unable to hold it back any longer. Drawn by her laughter, Subaru started laughing too.
And so the two of them, laughing together, brought this day's rendezvous to a close.
Finally— "Oh, one more thing—why are you dressed like that when work's already done?"
"Huh—actually yeah, I realized I hadn't gotten your opinion on this look yet. So? Not half bad, right?"
"Mm, yes. You look like you could do really competent work."
"The weight of your expectations is crushing me!"
This exchange, for the record, did occur.
※ ※ ※ "Yo-o! You asleep, little lolicon? Stay up too late and your growth hormones won't secrete and you'll stay tiny forever."
"…You've gone and broken through 'the Door' like it was nothing, haven't you."
Subaru had picked a random door, peered inside, and called out with a random greeting. In return, he got this resentful reply.
There, in the depths of the archive, a girl sat atop a wooden stepladder, glaring at him. She held a thick book in her arms, open roughly to the middle.
"If you keep reading manga in the dark at night, one day you'll end up with glasses like the bottom of a milk bottle and fail miserably at the university entrance exam you've been dreaming about!"
"More of your nonsensical rambling… Keep joking around and I'll turn you to stone."
"Yeah, yeah, yes ma'am, yes ma'am. Well then, go to sleep already. Nighty-night."
Waving dismissively, he moved to close the door when she called "Wait." Subaru stopped his hand and turned back.
"Nah, not really. I just figured I'd say goodnight before hitting the sack. I was gonna give up after opening about three doors, but I found you on the first try."
"What kind of sixth sense does this家伙 have…"
Beatrice sighed wearily, tugging at her side curls. The spirals sprang back with a bouncy弹性 when she let go. Watching was a little nostalgic in a childish way.
"Can I do that?"
"Only Nee-chan can touch Betty. Now hurry up and disappear, would you."
"What, you call me back just to say that? Well, fine. I'm in a good mood today so I'll totally let it slide!"
Making a show of his good spirits, Subaru plastered a scowl on Beatrice's face before leaving the room. But just as the door was closing— "…This has nothing to do with Betty."
He caught what sounded like a lonely voice, and it nagged at him a little.
"Anyway, when I went to open the door again to ask what she'd said—"
The open door had transformed back into an ordinary guest room.
He felt a pang of regret, but he wasn't in the mood to go searching around again. He needed to get up early and finish work as quickly as possible.
"Head to the village, make up some excuse, and keep the kids occupied. Oh, right—before that, I should scope out a spot with a good view around there, figure out where the flower fields are… Preparation before the battle! The outcome is decided before the fight even starts. I've got this!"
He puffed out his nostrils, his chest swelling with anticipation for tomorrow.
Skipping along to his assigned room—the servants' private quarters—he peeled off the butler uniform and changed into his tracksuit in record motions.
"This is what it's gotta be for sleeping, always. Having just one set is kinda nerve-wracking though… Wonder if I could ask old Ros to whip up a copy with duplication magic."
It was now a one-of-a-kind rare item in this world. He handled it with maximum care, yet wore it with the casual disregard of daily use—the paradox of a precious thing treated as expendable.
When it wore out, it wore out. That would be its lifespan. Losing the last remnant of his old world would be sad, but dwelling on it wouldn't change anything.
"That's why I live each day with hope for tomorrow, gufufu."
After an unseemly snicker, Subaru launched himself onto the bed he'd made himself. Caught by its softness, he burrowed under the covers—sleep preparations complete.
But the anticipation for tomorrow was so overwhelming that his eyes stayed wide open, and no matter what he tried, sleep wouldn't come.
"Damn it—what the hell, body?! Are you trying to crush tomorrow Subaru's hope?! You bastard—my greatest enemy was me all along…"
Subaru glared at the ceiling and groaned dramatically.
But there was a secret weapon for sleepless nights like this. Subaru grinned mockingly at his own overheated body— "Accept this—my secret weapon! One
A true fluff enthusiast could conjure the object of fluff in their mind's eye and experience virtual fluffing with reality-like sensation.
In Subaru's mind, a gray, fluffy cat materialized, and with each passing second it multiplied. Soon Subaru's entire body was wrapped in those fluffy forms, carrying him to the beyond of bliss and oblivion—faraway Avalon, the promised paradise.
"Puck… one hundred sixty… three fluffs… fluffy…"
Murmuring, Subaru's consciousness sank into the world of dreams.
With that vision of paradise painted in his mind, consciousness reached the end of fluffing—and eventually vanished.
※ ※ ※ "The sensation of waking consciousness is like surfacing from beneath the sea"—this was now his second time using that line.
Opening his eyes, Subaru squinted against the sunlight and sat up, feeling slightly sluggish.
His head felt a bit heavy. Perhaps there was some lingering fatigue. He'd just started unfamiliar work—these things happened.
But today was no time for such self-pity.
Subaru was a good morning person, and from the moment of waking, he'd been steadily rechewing last night's promise.
"That's right—
He gave an involuntary thumbs-up, flashing his signature grin.
A beautiful start to the promised day of victory. But— That expression was shattered by a pair of eyes staring at him in what looked like surprise.
Subaru buried his face in the blanket, pressing it tight, and shook his body in frantic denial— "Wh-what—?! You two were here?! That's embarrassing—say something! Ugh, ugh, ugh—seriously, so embarrassing!"
Thrashing about, trying to kill the mortification.
The twins' expressions, as always, showed minimal change. Being pointed at and laughed at was bad enough, but that flat reaction somehow felt even worse.
"Hey, hang on, you two. That reaction actually hurts. You've touched on something deeply personal here, so couldn't you at least… give me something!?"
At Subaru's desperate plea, the two exchanged glances.
He'd hoped for at least the usual cold or contemptuous retort. —Come to think of it, that was pretty sad, Subaru reflected, and it was right then— "Sister, sister, what an unusually familiar greeting we've received."
"Rem, Rem, what an awfully presumptuous greeting we've gotten."
The words brushed against Subaru's mind with a sense of wrongness.
The bluntness was the same as always—but something was off.
"Huh, and? Something feels weird? What's going on, senpai? If this is some coordinated bit, it doesn't really fit the mood here—"
As he spoke, Subaru was beginning to notice the source of his unease.
—Their eyes.
The way the twins looked at him—that warmth and familiarity from last night was gone, replaced by something that felt strangely like strangers' eyes.
And what sealed it was— "Sister, sister, it seems our guest is a bit confused."
"Rem, Rem, it looks like our guest has gone a little mad, doesn't it?"
—Being called "guest" struck Subaru speechless.
The elegance of that word belied the savagery with which it cut into the deepest part of Subaru's heart. He actually flinched with phantom pain, clutching his chest.
He didn't understand. The two of them were acting as if— "You both… haha, tough joke. You don't mean…"
To block out those eyes that looked at him like a stranger, Subaru instinctively raised his left hand to shield his vision. But in that instant, he saw something conclusive.
—The band-aids on his left hand had vanished.
The water-roughened fingertips, the back of his hand cut by unfamiliar blade work, the bite marks from the small animal during play with the kids—all of it was pristine.
At this point, there was no denying reality.
Suddenly, without warning, heat surged behind his eyes, and Subaru pressed his face into the blanket for a different reason than before.
He absolutely, absolutely did not want anyone to see this face.
Not these people. These people he loved. These people he'd been coming to love. These people he should have been able to love.
He refused to let tears fall while those people looked at him like a stranger.
"Why… did it come back?!"
He wept. Face pressed into the blanket, howling into senseless injustice, baring his teeth at the unfairness.
—The loop that had tormented Subaru for so long had once again seized him in its vortex.
The second Day One begins.