Chapter 31 31: Royal Capital First Encounter Arc, End

Emilia's solemn expression left Natsuki Subaru a little bewildered, but he went along with it and gave Ram a nod.

"Nice to meet you, Ram. I'm Natsuki Subaru — I just misspoke back there, and your name happened to slip out by accident. Sorry about that!"

"Is that so? Then I suppose we'll leave it at that."

Ram replied with cool indifference.

Emilia was trying to puzzle out what kind of strange game these two were playing, when Ram suddenly turned to face her and bowed in apology.

"I am truly, deeply sorry, Lady Emilia. It was my carelessness in losing sight of you that put you in danger."

"As your personal attendant, such a dereliction of duty is an inexcusable failing. Please, punish me as you see fit."

Emilia blinked, then recalled the offhand remark she'd just made when introducing Ram, and felt a pang of uncertainty.

Surely Ram didn't think that by mentioning how they'd gotten separated, she was actually laying blame on her?

The thought made Emilia quietly indignant.

"Honestly — I'm not that kind of mean-spirited person!"

Emilia muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?"

Ram hadn't quite caught it. Still bent at the waist, she looked up in puzzled inquiry.

"No, no, nothing — this wasn't your fault at all, Ram! Please, stand up."

Emilia waved her hands in a fluster.

"Of course. Thank you, Lady Emilia."

Ram straightened up with perfectly composed grace — almost as though she'd anticipated the reprieve, rising the very instant Emilia's voice reached her ears.

"Hey, that apology was completely half-hearted, you know. I'm pretty sure even if Emilia-tan hadn't forgiven you, you would've just stood up on your own anyway."

Subaru, standing to the side, clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath with barely-concealed cheek.

"What are you mumbling about over there? You of all people, Barusu!"

Ram shot him a look of undisguised displeasure, the same withering expression of contempt as before settling back onto her face.

"Whoa, whoa — since when did you give me a nickname?!"

Subaru's jaw dropped. Was there some kind of inescapable fate tying him and Ram together?

They'd only just met not long ago, and yet Ram had already let that familiar nickname from his memories slip out as naturally as breathing.

"Honestly… no matter how many times we start over, the thread between us just refuses to be cut."

Subaru murmured quietly to himself, caught between exasperation and a helpless laugh.

At the same moment, the three of them set off and left the Slums, with Emilia leading the way at the front.

Ram walked ahead of Subaru, her expression unchanged.

Because they were walking so close together, Ram's ear twitched — an almost imperceptible movement — and she caught every word of Subaru's quiet self-address, not missing a single syllable.

"Barusu really is… a complete and utter idiot."

Ram lowered her head slightly, gaze dropping to her own feet. Her field of vision narrowed to nothing but her own spotless white maid's shoes — and the two long shadows stretching out before her, drawn thin by the setting sun.

One was hers. The other was Natsuki Subaru's.

She watched as the two shadows crept closer and closer together in the last light of evening.

At some point without her noticing, a flush had bloomed across her face — spreading quietly from the tips of her ears, vivid against the pale white of her skin.

...

— First Encounter in the Royal Capital Arc, End —

...

"Haaah——"

Natsuki Subaru slowly opened his eyes, let out a yawn, and gazed calmly up at the ceiling above him — ornate, with its beautifully patterned molding.

"'An unfamiliar ceiling'… though at this point, it's actually pretty familiar."

Subaru propped himself up on one arm and sat upright. The silk sheets slid away in a smooth ripple, revealing his somewhat slight frame clad in a blue-grey nightshirt.

Outside the window, the first pale light of dawn was just beginning to filter through. Soft morning radiance passed through the delicate glass panes and fell in quiet pools across the floor.

The air carried the distinctive scent of Roswaal's manor — a cool, clean fragrance, a faint mingling of flowers and old paper.

"Right… so I'm back again. Count Mathers' domain. Roswaal's manor."

Subaru ran a hand through his slightly disheveled black hair and murmured to himself.

"The whole process was so surreal it felt like a dream — but the outcome isn't bad… I think?"

The memories of the night before came flooding back.

Ram had driven the land dragon carriage, bringing Emilia and him back to the manor. Because it had been so late, they'd hurriedly arranged for him a luxurious guest room — so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat — and left it at that.

And now here he was, waking up in that room the following morning.

Everything overlapped with the memories of the first time he'd come to Roswaal's manor — and yet it was entirely different.

No shadow of death hanging over him. No initial cloud of suspicion. Only Ram's nickname "Barusu" turning up a little ahead of schedule.

Subaru threw back the covers and got out of bed, stretching lazily with a long, unhurried roll of his shoulders.

The soles of his feet met the cool, smooth wooden floor, and the bracing chill snapped him fully awake.

"Still… now that Reinhard has sworn that kind of knightly oath, and Elsa actually behaved herself and left…"

Subaru drifted over to the window and pushed open the heavy glass pane. A breath of cool morning air rushed in at once, carrying with it the clean, green scent of living things.

In the distance, the neatly trimmed hedges and fountain of the manor's garden stood out crisp and clear in the early light.

"This run's starting conditions went from hell difficulty straight to beginner village starter bonuses!"

He worked his neck and shoulders; his joints gave a series of light, satisfying pops.

"Anyway — no point overthinking it."

Subaru gave both cheeks a firm slap, chasing off that stubborn, lingering sense of unreality.

"The insignia is back. Emilia-tan is safe. And I made it here in one piece — that's the best possible outcome!"

"Then — a brand new day begins, Natsuki Subaru!"

"Today's objective: enjoy every second of this hard-won, peaceful everyday life!"

Still in his blue-grey nightshirt, Subaru straightened himself up in front of the large full-length mirror standing in the corner of the room.

He flashed a grin full of fighting spirit at the reflection staring back at him — dark circles still stubbornly present, but eyes noticeably brighter than he remembered from the very first time he'd ever come here.

"Alright — move out! Natsuki Subaru begins his first manor adventure!"

He drew in a deep breath, grabbed the handle, and swung open the guest room door.

Beyond it lay the familiar long corridor of Roswaal's manor, carpeted in thick, plush runner rugs.

The manor in the early morning was strangely vast and still. The moment Subaru stepped outside, the cool morning air made him instinctively rub his arms.

On both sides of the hallway, oil portraits of successive generations of border counts hung in their frames — all wearing nearly identical faces, all wearing equally solemn expressions, as if scrutinizing this intruder who had dared enter their domain.

Subaru walked on down the corridor, absently rubbing his chin as he sorted through his thoughts.

"Hmm. However you look at it, what happened before was still a little off — way too smooth."

Too smooth… like everything had been following a carefully scripted plot.

Reinhard's pledge. Elsa's concession. Ram blurting out "Barusu" before she had any reason to.

Results that should have cost him countless deaths and desperate struggles — and yet fate had simply tossed them into his hands like loose change.

Subaru pressed on, feeling his way forward by that vague, gut-level intuition.

He was hoping to stumble across Betty's door of opportunity — just like he had in his memories of the first time he'd come to this manor — and go see her.

But strangely, the premonition that usually served him so reliably was simply… not responding.

Could it be that Betty just happened not to be in the Forbidden Archive right now?

Then a thought struck him.

Oh — right!

At this hour in the morning, Betty wouldn't be in the Forbidden Archive — she'd have gone to the dining room.

Right then. In that case, he'd head to the dining room and take a look!

His mind made up, Subaru changed direction and set off at a brisk pace.

The manor was large, but he knew its layout as well as his own home by now.

As he strode forward, the scenery along the corridor fell away on both sides in a steady blur.

Before long, the path ahead brought him to an unavoidable corner.

____

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