Chapter 136: This is her and Subaru's once-in-ten-days date

Natsuki Subaru slowly walked into the depths of Pandaemonium, coming to a stop before a great door fitted with countless locks.

An outsider, merely gazing upon all these locks, could surely grasp just how much their master treasured this "vault," couldn't they?

But even if they couldn't grasp it, it hardly mattered—for there was not a single key in all the world that could match this door.

And so, if one wished to open this doorway—

"Yo, Subaru!"

Hearing that clear, gentle, familiar voice ring out beside his ear, the tightly furrowed brows of Natsuki Subaru relaxed ever so slightly.

"Puck. I've come to see Emilia. Open the door."

Natsuki Subaru gazed calmly straight ahead. Though not the faintest trace of Puck appeared before him, he knew Puck was watching him, and could hear his command clearly.

"As you command, O [King]~"

Puck answered in a breezy tone, and whether the final word she spat out came from the heart or was mere mockery, none could say.

But her capacity for action was swift indeed.

In an instant, the moisture in the air condensed into a key of ice, which slid into the keyhole—and the sound of a lock coming undone rang out.

Natsuki Subaru let out a soft breath, then lifted his leg and stepped inside.

"Huh? Why's it that little cat spirit? Don't tell me the one waiting inside really is that Emilia?"

Garfiel raised an eyebrow, his face full of bewilderment.

"Wait—so that means, what that flunky said earlier, about Emilia being the big boss's mistress—that was actually true?"

Only now did Garfiel belatedly realize that what had surfaced in Cecilus Segmunt's heart earlier wasn't just a rumor—it had been the truth all along!

"Actually, it makes sense. Given this Purge King's temperament, after invading the manor he'd definitely have carried off Lady Emilia. No, wait… it might not even have been by force."

Frederica stared fixedly at the scene before her as she responded to Garfiel.

"Hard to imagine, though. That the big boss would actually do something like this…"

Garfiel stroked his chin, and soon a broad grin spread across his face—so wide that even the sharp shark teeth in his mouth were bared.

"Heh heh heh, if you ask me, he should've done it ages ago. You want a woman, you just knock her out and haul her home. The old big boss and that whole…"

Garfiel's last few words dropped so low they were nearly inaudible, but he was definitely sneaking in a couple of jabs at his own big boss—no doubt about it.

Within the pure-white room, Natsuki Subaru now lay asleep upon Emilia's lap.

He was curled into a ball out of some deep insecurity, yet perhaps because he was resting his head against the one who set his heart at ease, his thumb had crept to his lips as he sank into slumber like an infant.

"How long has it been since he last slept properly? Mou~ what a stubborn child you are."

Emilia gently ran her fingers through the hair of Natsuki Subaru—hair that had grown somewhat disheveled again since he'd last departed—and murmured softly to herself.

The frequency with which she and Natsuki Subaru met was roughly once every ten days.

But in her eyes, this little sliver of time together was truly, utterly not enough.

Because after Subaru left this place, he was always alone, all by himself, and he never took proper care of himself.

Because of the dangerous environment out there, he couldn't sleep well, had no time to tend to his appearance—only here, with her, only here could he rest a little while at last…

Ah…

At this thought, Emilia's heart couldn't help but tremble; the feeling of being needed brimmed over and filled her entire heart.

She, whom no one acknowledged; she, whom no one needed—was now being desperately relied upon by Natsuki Subaru.

This joy that welled up from within, this indescribable sense of fulfillment, let Emilia feel an incomparable… happiness!

And so she had changed her mind.

In the beginning, there had been so many things she'd wanted to do.

Just as her long-held wish had been to create a nation without racial discrimination, to thaw her frozen homeland of Elior Forest—for this she had wanted to enter the Royal Selection and make it all come true.

But with Ram's disappearance, her royal endorser and the master of the manor, Roswaal, had fallen into utter despair; and after the villages within the domain were breached and slaughtered by rampaging Mabeasts, she had long since lost her qualification to take part in the Royal Selection.

Yet she had not given up—because these were things she absolutely had to do, and so she could not give up!

And yet all of this resolve and conviction had scattered like empty words on the very day Natsuki Subaru returned to the manor for his revenge.

The arrogant boy had imprisoned her, and, wrapped up in his own anguish, had cried out in pain—pleading to her for salvation like a drowning man.

But she, at that time, had without a doubt been furious.

The boy had stripped away her freedom, had disregarded her ideals, her wishes—and then, incomprehensibly, had sent out a plea for rescue to her?

How to save him? How could she save him? Save what?!

Emilia could well imagine that her expression back then must have been even uglier than she'd pictured.

She had been like a gambler with eyes gone red from losing, one who had already lost every shred of reason!

Even with nothing left, she still wanted to turn the tables, still pinned her hopes on a future self who could reverse it all!

And yet Natsuki Subaru's act of imprisoning her back then had crushed dead even that final sliver of hope of hers, utterly…

How could this not grieve her? How could it not enrage her!

At this thought, Emilia's gaze grew somewhat dim.

When all was said and done, her heart and mind weren't all that mature, and every thought would naturally write itself across her face.

And so, inevitably, that fury of hers back then had all been seen by Natsuki Subaru, taken in by his eyes, etched into his heart.

This was why, for a very long time afterward, Natsuki Subaru had never spoken a word to her.

Every time he came here, he said nothing at all—was it because he was angry with her?

And yet, even angry, this Natsuki Subaru who still relied upon her so—him, too, she liked so very much.

She no longer knew just how much time had passed since coming to this pure-white cage.

But the her of now—did she still hate Natsuki Subaru?

The answer, she thought, was surely no.

More than that—she now wanted to find a chance to formally apologize to Natsuki Subaru, to lay bare her true feelings, and to undo the misunderstanding that had first arisen between the two of them because of her own immaturity!

Why not, then—she would set it for their next "date," the one that came every ten days.

What sort of expression would Subaru show then?

Surprise? Or delight?

Emilia mused with a touch of sweetness in her heart, imagining the scene that was to come…

"What sort of expression… huh?"

Outside the scene, Emilia bit down hard on her lip, a thread of blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth and dripping away.

She recalled the expression she had seen on Subaru's face that day.

Terror, fury… as though he had been betrayed—so much so that merely remembering it sent a heart-rending agony tearing through her chest.

"After all this, why? Don't be gentle with me! Hate me, just like you did at the very start!"

Beside Emilia's ear, it was as if the throat-tearing accusations Natsuki Subaru had hurled at her back then were echoing still.

It was only that she did not understand.

"I don't understand—I don't understand, Subaru!"

"Why—why does it have to be that I hate you?"

Clutching her head, beneath the gazes of the others in the viewing seats, Emilia cried out in sorrow, begging for an answer.

…

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