Chapter 88: Can you let me ~ stop this chase......

The shock to her mind had been too great, and Rem had fainted. By unspoken agreement, everyone left a stretch of seats empty so that she could lie down and rest.

Seeing Rem like this, everyone felt a pang in their hearts. Even Rem, who loved Natsuki Subaru so deeply, had once killed him.

Then among them—all of them closely connected to Natsuki Subaru—how many had directly or indirectly killed Natsuki Subaru, humiliated Natsuki Subaru, or gotten Natsuki Subaru killed?

Only Priscilla and the other three royal selection candidates were the exceptions.

Proud as she was, Priscilla naturally did not believe she would ever harm the man she loved.

Because from the very first time she met Natsuki Subaru, she had found this man to be quite interesting.

Subaru had played the hero rescuing a damsel when she was lost and cornered in an alley by ruffians, and he had even taught her what an apple really looked like, daring to speak the plain truth.

Whether it was Subaru's blunt way of speaking or his casual, easygoing manner toward her, it all struck the very points that excited her, stirring in her a curiosity about the man before her—and... a desire to conquer.

Once a woman develops curiosity about a man, what naturally follows next is falling for him.

So it could also be said that she had fallen in love with Natsuki Subaru at first sight.

The love between her and Subaru was, just like she herself, blessed by the heavens—perfect and flawless.

Felt, on the other hand, was all smiles, for she had owed Subaru her life ever since back in the Slums (cortiços).

Though it was also her who later sent word to Reinhard and saved Subaru, after all.

But in any case, the one here least likely to ever harm Subaru was her!

After all, there was an upright knight like Reinhard around too!

Anastasia thought it over—her own encounter with Subaru had been rather ordinary.

Back then she had lived so wearily, calculating this and figuring that day after day, only to keep losing in the end, gaining nothing at all.

Living the way she did now was really quite nice.

Crusch crossed her arms with a touch of worry, pressing the magnificent fullness of her chest into a deep cleavage.

Her first meeting with Subaru... a pity she couldn't remember it. She fretted that she might have done something to hurt Subaru.

As the elder sister, Ram naturally took up the duty of looking after Rem.

Tenderly she wiped her little sister's grubby hands and face, sighing silently in her heart. As the elder sister, how could she not know what the Rem on the screen had done? She had simply chosen to let it pass!

"If that's how it is, then I share your guilt, Rem."

Ram let out a low sigh.

[Soon, Natsuki Subaru once again woke up on the luxurious bed.

"Aaah—my left hand!"

Natsuki Subaru screamed in terror, jolting upright in bed.

But when he saw Rem and Ram across from him, clinging to each other and trembling, frightened by the commotion he'd made, he hurriedly reined in his expression.

"Return by Death again? And sure enough, they don't remember me again?"]

"I see, so at this point Barusu still hasn't realized that the one who killed him last night was Rem..."

Ram breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

Saying so might be a little despicable.

But this way, for the time being, she wouldn't have to dread seeing certain scenes she didn't want to see appear on the screen.

"This is the first time I've thought that Mr. Natsuki's ability—this so-called Return by Death—being able to reset memories isn't such a bad thing."

Otto said helplessly.

"After all, Miss Rem's impression of Mr. Natsuki from the previous loop was probably anything but good, right?"

Everyone fell into an awkward silence.

This was hardly just "not good"—hadn't they seen his very eyeballs get knocked out?

["Alright, let's do it over—Natsuki Subaru of this morning, reboot!"

To dispel the fear of the two sisters Rem and Ram, Natsuki Subaru threw off the covers and stood on the bed with his hands on his hips, striking a goofy, ridiculous pose as he spoke.

Seeing this, the two sisters across from him did indeed calm down.

Their original fear turned into curiosity and wariness toward Natsuki Subaru.

"How gentle. I've never seen this side of Lord Subaru before."

The cat ears atop Ferris, the catgirl, twitched, and a ripple stirred in eyes that had been as still as stagnant water.

The longer she spent with Lord Subaru, the more she came to understand the pitiable fate of being treated by him as nothing more than a tool.

She knew, in truth, that reviving the fourth prince in her memories was nothing but a vague, intangible goal—yet she could not bring herself to stop this pursuit.

In the end, was she following Lord Subaru in order to revive His Highness, or was she using the pretext of reviving His Highness in order to follow Lord Subaru?

She could no longer tell, because she was always deceiving herself.

But... the relaxed happiness of her everyday time spent with Lord Subaru, and the occasional bickering with him, would let her briefly forget that emptiness, that hollowness—of having lost most of her memories, as if she had forgotten the most important person in her life.

It was as if a great chunk had been savagely gouged from her heart.

The closer she drew to Lord Subaru, the more she craved this warmth that was like quenching thirst with poisoned wine.

But at the same time, the closer she got, the more she could perceive the true nature of Lord Subaru's cold heart—and a heart that, like her own, had turned into utter, deathly stillness.

Between the two of them, it was like hedgehogs on a bitter, frozen winter's day, longing to embrace one another, yet only wounding each other the moment they truly drew near.

And so she made a wish—if only she could return to the past.

If only she could meet the Lord Subaru who had not yet been wounded in heart, who still kept toward everything that passion hidden deep within him!

Ferris thought.

If it were so, then she would surely approach Subaru, embrace Subaru, in her most passionate and most perfect state!

After all, Subaru had long since become her entire world!

[After parting with Rem and Ram, Natsuki Subaru decided to wander about and clear his head, and somehow ended up walking into Betty's Forbidden Archive.

So he simply set about sorting out his thoughts there.

After circling round and round Betty for quite a while, his mood settled, and then he was urged by Betty to leave.

But this was Natsuki Subaru we were talking about—he ran his mouth and made a few snide remarks, and then got blasted by one of Betty's impact spells down into a mud-filled thicket on the floor below.

Time sped up—before long, Natsuki Subaru was once again seated in the dining hall.

Faced once more with Roswaal's offer to grant him any wish he pleased, Natsuki Subaru slapped the table.

"Please let me stay in the manor as a freeloader!"

This time, Natsuki Subaru changed his strategy, deciding to no longer be a servant and waste his precious information-gathering time on endless chores.

After that, he became the most idle person in the entire manor.

He began his reconnaissance of the manor: the kitchen, the bathroom, the changing room...

Every place where the "enemy" who might kill him could be hiding, he turned upside down.

However, although his movements were stealthy, it was inevitable that in the dining hall he ran into Roswaal, who for some reason had come there—and then it was another long bout of wasted breath.

After this incident, he acted even more cautiously.

While gathering information, he didn't forget to win over Rem and Ram either, doing his best to build a good relationship with them.

Only—every time Rem encountered him, she would act polite but distant.

Even when he approached to strike up a conversation, Rem wouldn't chat with him for more than three sentences before running off, leaving Natsuki Subaru utterly exasperated.

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