Chapter 85: “I'm sure that, hundreds of years ago, I said I love you, but you forgot……”

Ram let out a soft sigh, about to step forward and comfort Emilia.

Suddenly her steps halted, and she stared ahead, alarmed and uncertain.

From her vantage point, she saw that Emilia — who only moments ago had been interrogating some unknown presence — had now fallen silent.

Her head hung low, her eyes fixed dead on the floor, her mouth open yet her teeth clenched tight, her eyes opened to their absolute widest, even her brows knit hard together, as though she had witnessed something utterly shocking.

"Emilia... my lady?"

Rem also sensed something was wrong and was about to step forward to support Emilia, only to be abruptly yanked back by Ram, who had noticed something.

And it was a good thing she had been pulled back.

Because at nearly the very same moment, Emilia whipped her head around and stared dead at the two sisters, Rem and Ram, her gaze terrifying and brimming with hatred.

As if she meant to swallow the two sisters alive, flesh and all.

Seeing this, even Ram's mind went completely blank.

What... had happened to Lady Emilia?

"Ah, Subaru has come to my Forbidden Archive!"

At that moment, Betty's cheer broke the nearly frozen atmosphere within the small space the three of them occupied.

And in the blink of an eye, Ram saw Emilia's expression return to normal.

No, to call it normal wasn't quite right either, for her face remained utterly cold, and now and then she would still shoot the two sisters a hateful glance.

Ram's heart pounded with dread, and at the same time she felt lost, unsure of what had just happened.

There was no enemy in this space, and there was no way Lady Emilia could have suffered some kind of mental attack...

Her mind full of questions, she returned her gaze to the image on the screen.

[Natsuki Subaru easily found the Door of Passage and arrived in Betty's Forbidden Archive.

At first he slumped to the floor by the doorway, utterly dispirited, until he heard Betty say she still remembered him — only then did his spirits revive.

Seeing that Betty's attitude toward him hadn't changed in the slightest, Natsuki Subaru felt an inexplicable wave of relief, a small measure of comfort.]

"Calming down precisely after being insulted — Subaru really is a pervert to the extreme, I suppose!"

Outside the screen, Betty watched her own self up there interacting with Natsuki Subaru with a cold face and a sharp tongue, and felt an inexplicable embarrassment.

It wasn't until she saw Natsuki Subaru say that he had calmed down that she finally couldn't hold it in any longer and cried out loud.

By sheer coincidence, what she shouted turned out to be word for word identical to what her own self on the screen said, as though across space and time the two had overlapped in this very instant.

["Are you leaving?"

Snapping the book shut, one hand propped against her cheek, Betty was speaking with gusto when she suddenly noticed Natsuki Subaru turn around and place his hand on the handle of the Forbidden Archive's door.

"Are you leaving?"

Betty's cute little face froze for a moment, as though caught completely off guard by Natsuki Subaru's sudden move to leave.

And within that question she voiced, there seemed to linger the faintest trace of a wish for him to stay.

"Mm, if I'm going to feel down, that can wait until later!"

Natsuki Subaru didn't notice Betty's feelings; he merely turned his head, flashed a sunny, confident smile, and then opened the door.]

"Ah... so Lady Betty was already getting along this well with Mr. Natsuki even back before the contract was made."

Otto chuckled, watching the interaction between Betty and Mr. Natsuki, feeling an inexplicable lightness of heart.

"Hmph, you fellow, where in the world did you get that Betty and Subaru were getting along well at that time, I suppose?"

Betty huffed and turned her face away, an awkward, sulky look crossing it.

At this, everyone in the viewing area immediately burst into laughter.

After all, Betty's feelings were written all over her face and shown in her every action.

And who could say who it was that felt such reluctance at the departure of a Natsuki Subaru she'd known for only a single day~

["Mou~ Subaru, where did you run off to? You'd only just woken up and then suddenly bolted away — Rem and Ram are anxiously searching for you!"

Emilia was the first to notice Natsuki Subaru stepping out through the open Door of Passage, and hurriedly came pattering up to him.

"Why do you go making people worry like that, Subaru!"

Natsuki Subaru looked at Emilia drawing near, her face full of concern over his having vanished, and couldn't help being momentarily struck dumb at the sight of her.

Those slightly furrowed brows, those crimson-purple eyes of pure beauty, and that adorable habit of unconsciously quickening her speech whenever she grew anxious — every bit of it sent his heart racing.

As she went on talking, she sensed there was no response beside her.

Emilia turned her head to check, and ended up meeting the gaze of Natsuki Subaru, who had been staring at her the whole time.

The two were very close, close enough that their breaths could brush against each other's faces.

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

Emilia flusteredly touched her own face.

"There are cute eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth."

Natsuki Subaru praised her with a smile.

"Honestly, Subaru's being silly again like this — so anyway, how is your body doing?"

Emilia put her hands on her hips with a pout, then composed her expression and asked with concern.

"My body's doing pretty well — apart from being a little short on blood, having a bit of my mana levied off me, having burned through quite a lot of stamina from the shock after waking up, and feeling mentally like I've been bludgeoned all over with a baseball bat... I'm doing just fine!"

Natsuki Subaru held up his fingers and counted off his debuffs one by one.

"Is that so, that's gre—"

Emilia was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when it suddenly dawned on her that Natsuki Subaru was actually describing his body being in terrible shape!

So she blinked, then flusteredly raised both hands and waved them.

"How does that sound like your body's been left battered and broken — maybe you should just head back and rest, Subaru!"

"Hahaha, it's a joke, a joke! Emilia-tan!"

Natsuki Subaru clutched his belly, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten his back.

"You're teasing me again — Subaru is just so mean-hearted!"

Emilia tilted her head with a pretend pout of grievance, but then couldn't keep her expression and burst out laughing with a snort.

"All right, if Subaru likes teasing me, you can do it anytime."

Emilia took a few steps back, charmingly clasping her hands behind her and leaning her body forward, a playful smile on her face.

"After all, that night it was Subaru who protected me, so if it's Subaru, then it's okay!"

A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard, stirring up the silken hem of the skirt over Emilia's fair, lovely legs and her long silver hair.

"EMT..."

Natsuki Subaru gazed blankly at the scene before him, feeling that the girl in front of him was truly an angel.]

"This is the youthful springtime between a boy and a girl — it reminds this old man of the scene back then, when I first met Theresia."

Wilhelm tilted his head back and let out a sigh of emotion.

"No wonder she could so firmly seize hold of Mr. Subaru's heart. Lady Emilia under the filter of this scene is truly breathtaking..."

Frederica lightly covered her lips with one hand and exclaimed in admiration.

"Mm... so this is the type Subaru likes? A pity it doesn't quite suit me — but for your sake, I'd be willing to change."

An inexplicable light flickered in Elsa's eyes, and the corners of her lips curved slightly upward.

"When it comes to pleasing one's husband, I am willing to call you the strongest — though of course, this lady means out of bed."

Priscilla lifted her head proudly and thrust out her chest — a manner of praise that amounts to deliberately propping up a rival, all the better to make oneself appear the more formidable.

Yet Emilia, who was being praised by everyone, was at this moment staring forlornly at the image on the screen.

Before she had been imprisoned in that pure-white palace built by the Purge King, she had shared so little interaction with Subaru.

So it turned out there had once been such a beautiful experience between her and Subaru — one worth carving into the depths of her memory.

Perhaps she had met Subaru hundreds of years ago, and the two had confessed their love to one another.

It was only that Subaru had forgotten, and she had never remembered either.

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