Chapter 111: Teaching While Sitting in One's Lap

Emilia stared at Natsuki Subaru with a hint of nervousness, terrified that he would voice his disagreement.

Meanwhile, Natsuki Subaru was lost in a daze, his mind turning over what Emilia had just said....

Become her teacher? Teach her the knowledge of how to become a king?

How strange. Setting aside the fact that this world had already undergone an upheaval and turned into this state—

how was it that his pre-amnesia self seemed to have already secured victory?

Skipping right past the competition of the Royal Selection, and having Emilia begin learning how to become a proper king?

As he mulled it over, Natsuki Subaru realized something was off.

Not much time had passed since before he lost his memories, so how could so many changes have taken place? The discrepancies from his own memories were far too great.

So it was rather unlikely that the problem lay with him—which meant the only possibility was that something was wrong with Emilia's memories.

Natsuki Subaru once again recalled what the Gospel had mentioned: that the personalities of everyone in the manor had undergone an upheaval.

He had felt a certain familiarity with this notion for quite some time.

Triggered by this, Natsuki Subaru suddenly connected the Emilia before him with the yandere Emilia he had seen in the alley right after first crossing over into this world.

The same change in personality, the same possession of experiences and memories utterly different from those in his impression.

So—the fundamental reason the Emilia before him had undergone this upheaval and had her personality changed...

was that her memories had been overwritten by a segment of memories belonging to a version of herself from another possible world?

He really had no idea what sort of image he now held in Emilia's current perception.

Still, Emilia's earlier spontaneous request had given Natsuki Subaru an idea.

First, go along with what she wanted, and through idle chatter gradually piece together what exactly had happened in her memories.

With this thought, Natsuki Subaru lifted his head and gave Emilia a smile.

"Alright, let's go then—to your room."

"Click!"

Natsuki Subaru pushed open the door to Emilia's bedroom and stepped inside first.

He looked left, looked right, surveyed the place all over, and then nodded.

Mm, the layout of the room was exactly the same as in his memories—not the slightest difference.

He thought it over: since this was supposed to be a lesson, then he would first sit down at the desk, and then have Emilia bring over another chair.

With this in mind, Natsuki Subaru walked over to a wooden desk in Emilia's bedroom and sat down.

He turned his head, about to say something to Emilia, who was following close behind him.

At that moment, a figure suddenly hurried from behind him around to the front, and Natsuki Subaru felt a weight settle on his thighs, immediately followed by soft warmth and gentle fragrance falling into his arms.

Looking closely, he realized that Emilia had turned sideways of her own accord and seated herself upon his thighs.

She nestled obediently in Natsuki Subaru's embrace, pressed close against his warm chest, the silver short hair at the back of her head swaying gently—as alluring as the fur of a silver-shaded British Shorthair kitten, tempting one to give it a stroke or two.

"Emilia-tan? What are you doing?"

After a brief moment of astonishment, Natsuki Subaru asked hesitantly.

"Subaru used to teach me knowledge just like this before—is there something wrong?"

Hearing this, Natsuki Subaru looked at Emilia, who had turned her head to stare at him with big, blinking eyes, and an inexplicable sense of guilt instantly welled up in his heart.

For some reason, the Emilia before him seemed even more innocent and adorably naive than before, lacking even the most basic wariness between a man and a woman.

Then again, this was all the fault of himself in another possible world!

What kind of beast was that—whoever heard of teaching someone while holding them in your arms!?

Natsuki Subaru screamed in frantic agony within his heart, yet on the surface he betrayed nothing.

Not only did he make no move of resistance, he even adjusted his posture to let Emilia sit a little more comfortably.

Ahem—after all, Emilia's current psychological state was very unstable, so he couldn't openly show resistance to her closeness.

Natsuki Subaru talked himself into it inwardly.

That's right, that's exactly it.

Besides, Emilia had an innocent personality, so she wouldn't be harboring any other thoughts.

So there was no problem in doing this—he was simply teaching Emilia, that was all!

Thinking this, Natsuki Subaru's aged face flushed red; he couldn't shake the feeling that he was making up excuses in a rather forced manner.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Emilia hadn't noticed that Natsuki Subaru had gone through so much inner turmoil in such a short span of time.

A moment ago she had only subconsciously turned her head to observe Natsuki Subaru's reaction, to see whether he would feel any resistance toward her suddenly sitting on top of him.

After all... she had lied.

That's right—all that about Natsuki Subaru having taught her knowledge in this position before was fake.

Not only that, but the very claim that Natsuki Subaru had given her lessons held little truth either.

In her memories, right after the Sanctuary incident had ended, there had been a period when Natsuki Subaru would seek her out day after day in high spirits, teaching her all sorts of knowledge.

But that teaching had only lasted a brief while; soon it was as if Natsuki Subaru had lost all interest in her, and without her even realizing it, his attention toward her had gradually dwindled.

It made sense, really—Emilia could roughly guess some of the reasons.

Back then, sunk into the grief of the past because of the Sanctuary's trial, she had practically withdrawn into herself and couldn't take in a single word of Subaru's teaching no matter what.

Faced with a dull, mood-killing woman like her, it was only natural that he would lose interest.

Good for nothing as she was, the only thing she could do was become a puppet controlled by Subaru, obediently carrying out the commands Subaru issued.

But... but, you know.

Emilia lowered her head and bit down hard on her lip, concealing the expression she now wore.

Every now and then, her heart would feel sorrow over this.

It wasn't that she was discontent about being controlled by Subaru, but rather that she felt powerless in the face of Subaru ignoring her more and more.

She didn't understand what exactly had happened to Subaru.

She only sensed that the world Subaru inhabited was not the same as the world in her eyes.

She and Subaru were like two people walking along parallel lines that only occasionally intersected.

What Subaru was thinking, what Subaru was worried about, what Subaru was suffering over... she had no idea about any of it, and could only silently gaze at the lonely back Subaru left behind as he walked ahead of her.

She had no right to walk alongside Subaru, because... she was merely Subaru's puppet, nothing more.

It had always been this way, and she had endured such a situation.

Until yesterday, when Emilia learned that Natsuki Subaru had lost his memories.

On top of that, this morning, Natsuki Subaru had without hesitation stood on her side and chosen to believe her.

This made Emilia feel as though she were living in a dream, because Natsuki Subaru's gaze, in this state of amnesia, seemed to have briefly returned to rest upon her once more.

Ecstatic joy, the regaining of what was lost... all sorts of complex emotions intertwined deep in Emilia's heart.

After dealing with the Imitation Human's corpse, Emilia had returned to the second floor and seen Natsuki Subaru standing rooted in place with his brow tightly furrowed, and her heart couldn't help but ache for him.

It was right then that an unprecedented impulse rose up in Emilia's heart.

She wanted to comfort him; she wanted to make him smile again.

Come to think of it, wasn't this precisely the role she, as a puppet, ought to fulfill?

And so, when Natsuki Subaru asked her in confusion what she usually did, Emilia lied for the very first time.

"Usually? Around this time, Subaru would... teach me some principles of becoming a king, give me encouragement, and do some things to make me happy."

"So, Subaru, please come to my room—what comes next is... Subaru's time as the teacher."

At this thought, a trace of a sweet smile appeared at the corner of Emilia's lips.

Things were proceeding very smoothly.

Sitting in Natsuki Subaru's arms was, naturally, also part of the plan.

At the same time, this was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

As a puppet, being held and toyed with in her master's arms was a perfectly normal thing, wasn't it?

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