Chapter 38 38: Rem, You're the One Who Should Withdraw the Most!

Once that thought took root, desire spread like wild vines — wrapping tighter and tighter around Rem's heart.

If things truly came to that — Rem would swear an oath: she would never let Subaru suffer again. Not even a little. Not even by a hair.

She would use every means at her disposal to shield him beneath her wings.

She would see to it that he lived always in warmth, in hope, in happiness.

On the other side.

Deep within Emilia's violet eyes, the reflection of Rem's faintly trembling form swam into focus.

In her eyes, the blue-haired maid was like a wildly unstable bomb — one that could go off at any moment.

Setting aside the strangeness of her behavior — so unlike the Rem from Emilia's memory, who was supposed to regard Natsuki Subaru with cold indifference — the Rem standing before her harbored unmistakably warm feelings toward him.

That unsettling display reminded Emilia of someone: Elsa.

What weighed on Emilia even more heavily was this.

In the story as she had originally lived it — not long after she returned to the manor — Rem would die in a sudden, unforeseen accident.

Of course, she grieved for Rem's death.

She would try to change that outcome.

But at the same time, she had to prepare for the worst.

Rem... was ultimately someone fated to die.

That cold, immovable fact made Emilia's feelings all the more tangled.

She absolutely could not let Subaru grow too attached to Rem.

Because she could not bear to watch him grieve again.

To protect Subaru — and to protect him from Ram, who would not hold back her fury if the worst came to pass — Emilia knew she had to keep the bond between Subaru and Rem from running too deep, even if doing so looked cold-hearted.

In Emilia's eyes, Rem's existence had become an unstable element that needed to be carefully kept at a distance — a poor, doomed girl whose time was already running out.

Across the dining table, Rem and Emilia — one flanking Natsuki Subaru on either side — found themselves staring each other down.

In the same instant, a look of quiet, steely resolve flashed through both pairs of eyes.

At almost precisely the same moment, each of them made a silent vow: she would have Natsuki Subaru for herself alone — and push the other away.

Natsuki Subaru glanced down at his arms — both of them caught in the embrace of one girl or the other — and knitted his brows.

After a moment's thought, he slipped his hand free from Emilia's grasp, raised it, and brought it down on the tabletop with a dull, decisive thud.

"Bang!"

The strange, charged atmosphere that had been building around the table shattered at once. Nearly every pair of eyes in the room snapped to Natsuki Subaru's face.

Without exception, they all waited for the man who could now, by any measure, be called the new master of the manor to speak.

Natsuki Subaru turned his sharp gaze first to his left — toward Emilia.

She was darting her eyes away, her expression flustered and at a loss — with a hint of puzzled hurt mixed in, as though she couldn't understand why he had suddenly pulled his hand away and seemed displeased.

"Emilia?"

His face was calm, his voice even as he said her name.

"Y-yes!"

"Subaru, what is it? All of a sudden..."

Emilia gave a small start, and forced the corners of her mouth into a strained smile.

Seeing that, Subaru's expression grew a shade more serious, his brow creasing deeper.

He had known something was off with Emilia from the very first time they met. But after spending the day together in the Royal Capital, she had slowly, gradually seemed to come back to herself — edging closer to the Emilia he knew: open, warm-hearted, and guileless.

Yet since the battle at the Loot House, the symptoms seemed to have flared up again.

From the way she had cheerfully joined him in calling Roswaal by that nickname, to the teasing little show she had put on under the table just moments ago — Emilia had been tilting toward him, flattering and provoking him, consciously or not, with absolutely no restraint.

One could even say that the Emilia in front of him right now was in love with him.

But this kind of love was not the fruit of two people's feelings growing naturally into something real.

It was a warped, desperate affection — riddled with dependence and self-doubt — poured out toward him even at the cost of abandoning herself.

Rather than say that Emilia was in love with him, Natsuki Subaru thought it was more accurate to say she was willingly dismantling her own identity to become his obedient little pet.

Judging by how she was acting now, Subaru even suspected that no matter what absurd demand he made, Emilia would cast aside every last scruple and comply without a moment's hesitation.

It was exactly like... the Sanctuary trials.

Natsuki Subaru sank into memory.

He remembered one particular loop during the Sanctuary trials.

Emilia had missed the letter he'd left when he slipped away without a word. With Puck absent, the villagers had pressured her into attempting the trials again and again — and she had failed, over and over, until her mind finally broke. She poured all her dependence onto him, her only anchor.

When Subaru returned to the trial cave, what awaited him was an Emilia with hollow darkness at the bottom of her eyes — who told him she loved him, and kissed him for the very first time, right then and there.

Whether it was that Emilia from the Sanctuary trials, or the Emilia standing before him now — Natsuki Subaru understood, in his bones, that neither version of that love was real. Neither was truly "Emilia's love."

Because what Emilia's love looked like — when it was genuine — he had already felt it, in memories that had yet to happen.

Perhaps it wasn't passionate enough. Perhaps it wasn't eager enough, or direct enough, or overwhelming enough...

But it was the best love Emilia was capable of giving him.

And only that kind of love could give back to her the happiness she truly deserved — letting her keep that innocent, carefree smile without a shadow of worry.

With that thought, Subaru raised his eyes, met Emilia's gaze squarely, and said in a quiet, level voice:

"Emilia-tan, didn't you say that whatever I need, you'd be the one to provide it?"

"In that case — would you make me a cup of tea right now?"

Make tea? Why is Subaru suddenly saying that?

Emilia instinctively followed the direction Subaru's fingers pointed — and of course, she could see perfectly well that there was already a cup of black tea on the table, freshly brewed by Rem.

So then, why ask me?

Her mind turned it over — and landed on the words Subaru had just referenced: something she herself had said.

Could it be... that Subaru was unhappy with how forward she'd been?!

The more she thought about it, the more her heart lurched in alarm — a wave of panic rising up before she could stop it — and the uncertainty bled openly onto her face.

"I'm sorry, Subaru, I shouldn't have—"

Emilia stumbled over herself trying to apologize — but was cut off by Subaru, who had broken into a warm, relieved smile.

"Well done, Emilia-tan. That's exactly what I wanted to tell you."

Subaru looked straight into her still-bewildered eyes, his voice earnest and unhurried:

"Just like the unreasonable demand I made just now — there was already tea on the table, and you're not exactly a skilled tea-brewer. In a situation like that, you shouldn't simply go along with whatever I say."

He even spoke to her as though coaxing a child:

"Don't put any pressure on yourself. Saying no to me isn't rejection — it's you taking your own feelings seriously."

Emilia blinked, and her thoughts spun quietly in her head for a good while before she slowly worked out what he was trying to say.

Oh? So Subaru hadn't actually been bothered by that too-assertive thing she'd said earlier at all?

Emilia nearly laughed out loud — but seeing the utterly serious look on his face, she bit it back with some effort.

She kept her expression composed and began to think over what he was really getting at.

So — Subaru wanted her to learn to say no?

Emilia's lips parted slightly, eyes wide with surprise.

But how on earth did Subaru know that she couldn't bring herself to refuse his requests?

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