Chapter 36 36: “Shura Field Shows Initial Signs”

On the other side——

Roswaal's brow furrowed the moment he saw how Natsuki Subaru had acted.

Not out of offense at the boy's impertinence.

No — what stunned him was this: nowhere in the Gospel's prophetic guidance, which laid out the future like a script, was there any scene in which Natsuki Subaru already knew his name.

On the contrary. The brash, green-behind-the-ears Subaru was supposed to be surprised by his identity at this very encounter.

But then, just as quickly, the furrow in his brow smoothed away — and despite himself, a flicker of delighted surprise crossed his face.

A variable.

Roswaal realized it. At last, he had come face to face with the man who would bring the unexpected — the man who would, someday, resurrect his teacher — Echidna's person.

"My, my~ what a fascinatingly interesting suggestion. If our guest prefers to address me that way, I have absolutely no objection~"

Roswaal made no move to ask how Subaru had come to know his name.

Instead, he kept to his peculiar, drawn-out cadence, smoothing over the thickening tension in the room and playing the gracious host to perfection.

As he spoke, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of Emilia, standing beside Subaru — her lips parting, then closing again, as though she wanted to say something but couldn't quite bring herself to.

With the air of a man who understood perfectly, he offered a warm smile and spoke up:

"Now, now, no need to worry, Lady Emilia~ It is only a name, after all. I would never take offense over something so trivial."

"?"

"What are you talking about?"

Emilia's expression turned cold the instant the words left his mouth — like frost spreading across glass in an instant.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Roz."

"I was never worried about you getting angry. I was simply wondering whether your name really is as much of a mouthful as Subaru said."

"And now that I think about it——"

Emilia propped her cheek against one hand, gazing at Subaru's face with the utterly lovestruck expression of someone completely lost in a daydream, and continued:

"Subaru is absolutely right. The one who was wrong was me — how could I have ever doubted anything he said?"

"..."

For the first time in more years than he could count, Roswaal stood there with his mouth hanging open, wearing a look of pure, undisguised shock.

Hold on — he was certain he hadn't wandered into some kind of illusion, right?

The woman before him, absolutely besotted with Natsuki Subaru — that was Emilia?

No, seriously — who in the world had gone and set the Royal Selection candidate's disposition to this?

The composed, unflappable mask Roswaal had worn for so long cracked — and then shattered, piece by piece.

"The hour grows late. Please, everyone, take your seats."

Roswaal cast one long, searching look at Natsuki Subaru, and even forgot to maintain the eccentric drawl he had always kept up without fail.

Then he walked straight to his seat at the head of the table.

The others took their seats as well.

But with the exception of Betty — who ended up across from Natsuki Subaru — the positions everyone else chose were conspicuously off, each carrying an unmistakable pull in a very particular direction.

Take Rem, for instance. She should have been standing behind the master of the house, Roswaal, lined up alongside her sister Ram — but instead, with an expression of perfect composure, she walked directly to the back of Natsuki Subaru's chair and took her place there.

Her hands were clasped neatly at her waist, her posture impeccably maid-like in every detail.

But in that moment, she looked far more like Natsuki Subaru's personal attendant than anything else.

Emilia didn't even bother putting on a show.

Throwing propriety to the wind entirely, she simply dragged her chair right up beside Natsuki Subaru's.

The distance between them was just right — carefully, perfectly calibrated.

The moment she sat down, her long, fair legs could brush against him at any moment, giving off a teasing, will-they-won't-they kind of intimacy.

"Rem?"

The one who reacted most visibly to this scene wasn't Roswaal — it was Ram.

She tilted her head, eyes moving to Rem, a puzzled sound escaping her lips before she could stop it.

Rem, of course, noticed her sister's gaze. She turned her head slightly and gave Ram a little wink.

In the wordless language that only sisters share, she conveyed the message clearly:

There's a reason for all this — I'll explain everything once we're back.

Ram hesitated at that, but gave a small nod to show she understood.

Roswaal, for his part, took it all in stride. Now that he knew Natsuki Subaru was the man he had been waiting for, this kind of "minor deviation" felt hardly worth fretting over.

Skipping past the pleasantries, Roswaal announced that he was prepared to grant Natsuki Subaru a wish — as a reward for rescuing Emilia from the Bowel Hunter and reclaiming the insignia.

"Huh, hold on — did I actually do any of that this time around?"

Natsuki Subaru rubbed his chin, genuinely puzzled.

Just then, he felt something shift against his leg beneath the table.

On reflex, his eyes followed the sensation — and landed on the thigh of Emilia, sitting right beside him.

Her pink-lavender nightgown, already short enough that it barely reached her knees, looked even shorter now that she was seated, just managing to drape over what seemed like increasingly generous curves.

The cream-white over-the-knee stockings she wore were mostly hidden by the table.

But the strip of skin between the hem of her nightgown and the top of her stockings — that sliver of "absolute territory" — was on quiet, exclusive display, as if it existed for Natsuki Subaru's eyes alone.

Natsuki Subaru felt his eyes suddenly very well-fed, his heart lurching into a rapid rhythm, his mouth going just a little dry.

At the same time, his gaze darted upward on instinct, sneaking a glance at Emilia's face — trying to check whether she'd caught him in the act.

But it seemed that the very moment he looked up, Emilia sensed it.

Like she had a sixth sense, she turned her head toward him at almost the exact same instant — and the two of them locked eyes in a perfectly "coincidental" stare.

"Shh!"

Emilia raised one finger to her lips and made a quiet gesture at Natsuki Subaru.

Then the corner of her mouth curved up into a smile — warm and secret, as though she had seen this coming all along.

"Wh… what do you mean?"

Natsuki Subaru's heart gave a hard thump. That smile of hers — knowing and indulgent all at once — left him both flustered and a little unsettled.

He was still trying to work out whether the "shh" meant she wanted him to keep quiet about having looked, or whether it was an invitation to keep looking as much as he liked — when a cool, respectful voice cut cleanly through his thoughts.

"Master. Your tea."

Rem, standing at his side, bent forward slightly and set a cup of steaming black tea — brewed at some point without him noticing — smoothly onto the table in front of him.

Her movements were fluid and precise, as though she were performing the most ordinary act of service imaginable.

But as she leaned in, she drifted, whether deliberately or not, just a little closer to him — letting her sky-blue hair and her faint, natural fragrance brush teasingly against him for a brief moment before she straightened up again.

And yet the position she now held — pressed close against his right side, with Emilia filling his left — put Natsuki Subaru nearly sandwiched between the two of them.

It was very difficult to call that anything other than intentional.

And for Emilia, Rem's deliberate little maneuver was nothing less than a silent declaration of war.

Rem set the teacup down and settled quietly into her place beside him.

Her deep-blue eyes were cast downward — yet her gaze seemed fixed on Natsuki Subaru's profile, holding a focus so tender it bordered on reverent.

At the sight of it, the smile on Emilia's face froze solid.

___

👻🔥Read More: Walnut-chan🔥👻

🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting with Shirogane Kei

Help us hit our community goals:

🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone