Chapter 127: Elsa, don't be so unhappy, smile

"What's wrong? Gone quiet again all of a sudden? Looks like you've finally recognized your own true nature, haven't you, Ram?"

Watching Ram lower her head and clench her fists in silence, Emilia showed not the slightest intention of letting her off the hook.

Compared to the pressure this pink-haired maid had once inflicted on Subaru, what she was doing now really amounted to nothing.

And a woman like this still wanted to fight her for Subaru—how utterly shameless!

The thought made Emilia's whole body churn with dark, seething emotions.

But just then Ram suddenly lifted her head, clenched her teeth into a ferocious expression, and Wind-blade magic burst out from around her body, distorting even the very air, as if she were about to lash out and strike at any moment.

"Mm, that's far enough. Don't even think about hurting Lia any further."

All at once, a palm-sized figure interposed itself in front of Emilia, its leisurely tone carrying an unmistakable note of warning.

"Lord Puck… no, Puck, this is a matter between the two of us. Please, step aside!"

Ram said through gritted teeth.

"No, of course I won't. After all, I'm Lia's guardian, so I'm terribly sorry—but there's no question that I'm on Lia's side."

Floating in midair, Puck kept up an outwardly grinning, adorable little front.

Yet at this moment the fur all over his body was giving off a faint glow, as though his magic had long since been prepared and was poised to unleash.

"In other words, little pink-haired maid, if you don't know when to back down, then I'll just kill you, okay?"

Puck spoke the most terrifying words in the calmest of tones, yet no one thought for a second that he was joking.

"Tch!"

Ram let out a cold snort, clearly unwilling to concede.

Just as the rule forbidding violence held no power over Emilia, she too could of course now wield her own strength.

And though for some reason it seemed Puck across from her had also recovered his power, well—who was she?

As the absolute heroine of the Purge King route, a woman who could rightly be called the Purge King's consort, surely there'd be no problem in her crowning herself a Pressure Queen?

So it had only ever been Ram's role to pressure others—since when was it anyone else's turn to pressure her?

However, before Ram's mounting discontent could erupt—

The stifling, deadlocked atmosphere between the group was shattered by a suddenly rising, languid little laugh, lazy as a venomous scorpion.

"Hehe~ I don't really want to interrupt you all, but seeing that man reduced to such a state over these two little maids, one blue-haired and one pink-haired, well… even I find myself a little dissatisfied."

Elsa spoke offhandedly, idly digging her finger into a wound on her own arm—a gash she had casually opened herself with the curved dagger she carried.

"Aw~ Elsa, don't be so upset."

Meili, who was closest to Elsa, puffed out her cheeks and spoke with heartache and concern.

"Hm? But I'm not upset at all."

Elsa's attention was drawn away, and she let out a light, unconcerned chuckle in denial.

"You are so upset."

Meili crossed her arms and closed her eyes, reciting it like she knew it by heart.

"Whenever Elsa's upset, she always digs into her own wounds."

"Is that so?"

Elsa asked back.

"That's just how it is."

Meili and Elsa carried on their seemingly pointless little exchange up in the spectator stands, as if no one else existed.

"Is that so?"

"That's just how it is!"

Ah… even Meili said so, so it must be true.

Elsa suddenly understood—whenever she felt restless and unhappy, she did indeed have this little habit.

And this instinctive behavior was perhaps ironclad proof of just how much she cared about Subaru.

At this point, there was no point in denying it—though she'd never been the type to rein in her feelings in the first place.

Elsa tilted back her fair, clean neck as she thought this.

Then, as if something had occurred to her, she turned her head.

Under the terrified or disgusted gazes of everyone drawn over by her voice, Elsa maintained her habitual smile and spoke to those who had turned their eyes toward her.

"Ah, that's right, I lied just now. What I'm feeling right now isn't merely dissatisfaction. That man called Natsuki Subaru is, to me…"

As she spoke, Elsa suddenly froze.

How was she supposed to describe the relationship between the two of them? Just what kind of relationship was it, anyway?

For someone like her, this question was a little too complicated—and a little too extravagant.

But, unexpectedly, she did not dislike the process of pondering the answer.

Her thoughts gradually drifted, and somehow Elsa suddenly recalled an utterly ordinary afternoon.

Back then, she, Meili, and that man had been resting at one of their strongholds.

"This commission was another perfect success, wasn't it? Does that mean we're one step closer to being killed by you? Mm, sideki~"

She lounged back against a shabby old sofa, gazing at the gloomy man sitting bolt upright in its very center, and spoke lazily like that.

"Hmph."

Natsuki Subaru, holding the pose of his hands crossed and propped beneath his chin, let out a cold snort at her words—but today, unusually, he did not give that one and only answer without hesitation as he always had.

He fell into an eerie silence for a moment, and then chose not to answer the question head-on.

Instead he turned to look at Meili, who sat beside him hugging his arm, and asked.

"Come to think of it, I've been meaning to ask for a while—Elsa aside, why is it that you, Meili, would choose to stand on my side too?"

"Hm? What kind of question is that?"

Hearing that it now concerned her as well, Meili—who had been leaning against Natsuki Subaru with a happy little smile, watching him and Elsa go through their usual banter—widened her eyes, somewhat surprised.

She freed one finger to tap at her lips, and thought it over. Figuring that since Big Brother had asked her, there must surely be some deeper meaning behind it, she began to rack her brains hard.

This question—was he asking about her attitude? Or about her view of Big Brother?

Hmm, to her, Elsa was like a mother, so Big Brother, who was loved by Elsa, would be like a father figure?

Hm? No, no, that's not right!

Meili shook her head vigorously. If she had to say, then to her, Subaru was more like a big brother.

"To Meili, Subaru is like a big brother!"

Meili declared with certainty.

But the next second, she let out a yelp of pain—Natsuki Subaru had delivered a chop to the top of her head.

Then Natsuki Subaru's displeased words reached her ears.

"You furrowed your brow and made faces for ages, and I thought you were actually thinking about something—but you went completely off track, didn't you?"

"I'm asking why you'd choose to help me. Is it because of Elsa?"

This time Meili understood. She clapped her hands and quickly gave her answer.

"Ah, so that's what you were asking."

"But what's so strange about it? Weren't Big Brother and I already doing things together right from the very start?"

"So let's just keep going like this, and find more interesting jobs for me to help out with!"

At her words, Natsuki Subaru helplessly clutched his head and gave a soft chuckle.

"Feels like a weird, roundabout answer either way… but never mind. At the very least, right now, we're already comrades."

With that, he turned his gaze onto Elsa, let it linger for a moment, and then asked.

"So then, Elsa—what about you?"

____

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