"Alright, ti for Detective Natsuki Subaru to recap the situation — first up, Emilia!"
On the bustling, crowded street, Natsuki Subaru walked with his arms folded and a hand propped under his chin, muttering to himself as he went.
"Point one: we've never t, yet she already knew who I was."
"Point two: she claims to be a hostage I imprisoned, which could easily be a delusion — and on top of that, her personality seems to have drifted dangerously in the yandere direction…"
"Honestly, Subaru! I'm right here beside you, you know? I can hear every word you're saying!"
Emilia, walking just behind him, puffed up her cheeks and put on an exaggerated show of being offended.
Subaru turned to look at her with a deadpan expression, genuinely baffled by how many different faces this girl seed to have.
Just monts ago in that alley, she'd been terrifyingly obsessive. But now, walking beside him on the street, she gave him an uncanny sense of déjà vu — as if the Emilia he rembered from his mories had sohow co back to him.
He let out a quiet sigh. His mind churned without rest, analyzing possible reasons for Emilia's change, even as his mouth kept running on autopilot.
"…Point three: for so reason, her affection toward is unusually high. There's no way she has sothing similar to what I have… no, that's the one possibility that doesn't hold up no matter how I look at it."
"Subaru, stop ignoring !"
Emilia voiced her dissatisfaction at being tuned out — and then walked straight into Subaru's back as he stopped without warning.
"Huh, Subaru…?"
She instinctively looked up toward his face, but with his back to her, all she could make out was the shadow cast by the sunlight falling over him.
"Subaru, are you angry?"
Emilia bit down hard on her lip until it went pale. Her arms wrapped around herself, and a faint trembling ran through her.
"S-sorry… I got carried away."
Every ti her mind conjured images of Subaru abandoning her, despising her, rejecting her — she ca apart at the seams.
What she had no way of knowing, however, was that on his end, Subaru had stopped for an entirely different reason.
He'd spotted a familiar green-haired little girl not far ahead.
According to the cues from his mories, the child had apparently been separated from her parents.
Subaru was about to call out to Emilia behind him and suggest they go take a look — but then he noticed she'd gone unusually quiet.
He turned around, and nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Huh? Emilia, what's wrong?"
The bright, lively girl from just a mont ago had inexplicably sunken into herself. The light in her eyes had reverted to that hollow, lifeless darkness from when they'd first t, and a heavy, suffocating aura hung around her.
"Emilia, what happened — don't scare like this!"
Subaru rushed over and placed both hands on her shoulders, his gaze filled with unmistakable worry and concern.
"Subaru, please don't abandon . Please don't hate . Lia will be good — I promise!"
Emilia threw herself into Subaru's arms with desperate urgency, like a nestling finally finding its way ho. The violent storm raging inside her only began to settle once she'd found her anchor.
Subaru gently patted her back to soothe her. At the sa ti, his mind raced at full speed, piecing together the clues and narrowing in on what was most likely the truth.
Strange. Emilia's ntal state bears a striking resemblance to what she was like during one of the Sanctuary trials.
And the fact that she's so familiar with … could it be —
Could Emilia be like — soone who received mories of this world's future?
No, based on how she's acting, it might be closer to a New Ga .
But both possibilities fell apart almost as quickly as he'd ford them.
Neither of those explanations actually works. After all, I have the future mories too.
If Emilia is begging not to abandon her — does that an that in her version of events, I did abandon her? That I did despise her?
At that thought, Subaru gave a firm, decisive shake of his head. Sothing cold and resolute flashed in his eyes.
No. There is no version of that would ever abandon Emilia.
Unless… it was what the second trial in the Sanctuary showed — those "presents that should never have existed" — the worlds that kept going even after I activated Return by Death.
Subaru felt as though he'd brushed the edge of the truth — but a thick fog still clung to it, blocking his view.
For now, what he knew was this: Emilia had been reborn. But from which discarded tiline, he couldn't say.
None of that, however, was the most pressing issue right now.
With that thought, Subaru gently and tenderly reached up to pat the top of Emilia's head. His gaze was soft with compassion as he asked, his feelings a complex tangle:
"Emilia… are you tired?"
"Huh? Why suddenly ask that… I an, it's still early, I'm not tired at all."
Emilia lifted her head from Subaru's arms. So of the color had returned to her, but her eyes darted away — she couldn't bring herself to et his gaze, and she found herself quietly trying to guess at why he'd asked.
"Are you struggling right now? Feeling lost, not sure what you're supposed to do?"
Subaru didn't look at the flustered Emilia. Instead, his gaze drifted upward with a quiet, complicated lancholy toward the distant sky, as though he were searching for the faint silhouette of soone from a mory.
If his guess was right — then he could at least begin to understand, in so small way, what Emilia was feeling right now.
"I don't know either. But right now… I feel safe."
Emilia stared, transfixed, at the warm and unwavering look Subaru turned toward her.
Ah — yes. That was it.
She rembered now. It was exactly this kind of look —
Her gaze grew distant and hazy. Her hands drifted back to her chest and clasped together there, completely on instinct — the pose of soone offering a prayer to a god.
It had been so long. So long since she'd felt this — Subaru's unwavering, unshakeable choice of her, his absolute trust…
It had really been far, far too long.
Seeing Emilia in a daze, Subaru leaned in close to her ear. His voice fell soft and quiet, like a breeze skimming the surface of a still lake and sending ripples spreading out in every direction:
"It's been a long road to get here, hasn't it?"
"You've done so well… Lia."
Emilia's small, delicate body gave a sudden, full-body shudder. In that instant, it felt as though every wall she'd built around herself had simply dissolved in Subaru's presence.
No need to be sad anymore. No need to stay braced and on edge.
Because she had found her safe harbor — the one place in this world that was hers alone.
A warmth unlike anything she had ever known surged up through Emilia's heart, and in that mont, the only thing that existed in her world was the figure of Natsuki Subaru.
"Ah, Subaru…"
"If you keep being this gentle with , I'm afraid I might really —"
No.
I think the right now has already fallen in love with you.
Emilia told herself this, sweetly, in the hidden depths of her heart.
"Okay, feeling better now? No more moping — that kind of face is bad luck, you know. Might scare off a whole year's worth of good fortune."
Subaru took Emilia's hand and gave her a thumbs-up with his free one, flashing her a bright, sunny grin.
"Quick, look over there — doesn't that little girl look like she's lost?"
"She does… wait, that child is —!"
Emilia looked in the direction he pointed and sure enough, there was the green-haired girl — tears brimming in her eyes, standing in place and frantically scanning the crowd for any sign of her parents.
She recognized her. This was the apple-stall uncle's daughter.
Of all things, she'd run into her again in this new loop — and still alongside Subaru, no less.
Barring the unexpected, the next thing to happen would be the two of them taking the little girl by the hand and helping her find her mother.
She hadn't paid close attention to it at the ti, but thinking back on it now as an outside observer —
She couldn't help but let her imagination wander, a little shyly, to the image of the three of them walking hand-in-hand down the street — just like a family.
With that thought, Emilia suddenly realized that her hand was still being held by Subaru.
The warmth radiating from his palm made her cheeks flush hot, and she stood rooted to the spot.
"Heh heh, we definitely can't just leave her there. Co on, Emilia, let's do our good deed for the day — one good deed a day!"
Subaru didn't overthink it. With those words, he tugged Emilia along and the two of them crouched down quietly in front of the little girl.
Faced with two strangers who had appeared out of nowhere, the green-haired girl shifted uncomfortably, standing her ground and steeling herself to eye them with wary suspicion.
"Hey there, little one! Could you do your big brother and big sister a small favor?"
"If you say yes, there might be a mystery gift in it for you."
Kids are kids in the end. Whatever her mother had taught her about being careful around strangers, it was no match for the curiosity now sparking to life inside her. She couldn't resist asking:
"A mystery… gift? What is it?"
Subaru could see he'd successfully hooked her attention. He smiled.
He swung the large backpack he'd been lugging around — the one that nobody seed to pay much attention to — off his back and set it down at his feet.
At the sa ti, he launched into a quick explanation:
"You see, your big brother and big sister here are traveling rchants who sell little toys at street stalls. This pack is full of our goods."
As he said this, Subaru reached into the bag and produced an exquisitely crafted pellet drum, dangling it in the air to lend his story so weight.
"Oh! I've never seen one of those before… but if you're a stall vendor, is it like how Papa sells apples at his stall?"
The mont the pellet drum appeared, the little girl's eyes locked onto it with complete fascination, and the tension in her face steadily lted away.
"Exactly! These are toys made specially for kids just like you."
"But we weren't sure whether a little one like you would enjoy them — so we wanted to ask for your help."
Still smiling, Subaru held the pellet drum out toward the green-haired girl. She hesitated for only a brief mont — then reached out and took it.
"Dong, dong, dong…"
The green-haired girl shook the drum with a natural ease, as though she'd always known how. The cheerful, bell-like rattling rang out crisp and clear, scattering the loneliness and anxiety that had built up since she'd lost her mother.
Still the sa as ever, isn't he.
Still just as good at making little kids smile~
Emilia stood quietly to the side without saying a word, and simply tightened her grip on Subaru's hand.
She recalled from the extra layer of mories she carried that it was a coin-trick Subaru had used back then — a little sleight of hand that had made this sa green-haired girl burst into laughter.
If they ever got married soday and had a child of their own, Subaru would definitely be a more natural parent than her, wouldn't he?
Ah — no, wait. Why was she suddenly thinking about marriage…
Emilia's cheeks blazed crimson the instant she caught herself. The embarrassnt was enough to make her want to disappear on the spot.
But while she was still drifting in that daze, Subaru's voice suddenly cut sharply through the air.
"Emilia, look out!"
"Huh, what?"
Emilia snapped to attention. A small, petite blonde girl ca streaking toward her, surrounded by a swirl of accelerating wind.
"Gotcha!"
Felt wore a triumphant grin on her face. In the split second she blew past Emilia, her fingers deftly plucked sothing right off her.
"Thanks a bunch, big sis! I'll be taking this — see ya!"
For whatever reason, Emilia seed unable to react in ti. Only after Felt had already sprinted a good distance away did she frantically begin checking herself over.
Sure enough, the insignia that marked her identity was gone.
"Emilia, are you okay?"
Subaru imdiately let go of Emilia's hand and stepped forward with a look of concern.
The mont the warmth disappeared from her hand, Emilia felt a hollow, aching emptiness open up inside her — as though a piece of her had simply been scooped away.
"I'm fine. It's just… the insignia that represents my status has been stolen."
Emilia pursed her lips. She wavered for a mont, half-tempted to brush it off — then ultimately chose to be honest.
At those words, Subaru felt things click into place — the story had found its rails again.
He'd seen the theft of the insignia coming from a mile away.
Of course, he could have warned Emilia ahead of ti and spared them the threat of the gut-hunter down the line.
But there was no need for that — he had all the information already. Did they seriously think the house-edge was in anyone's favor here?
Dodge her blade? Ha!
Subaru's mind was made up, but on the surface he kept playing along.
Because beyond the goal of taking down the gut-hunter, another goal had taken shape inside him:
He wanted to squeeze out as much ti as possible and walk with Emilia through the royal capital — retracing the roads that, in countless previous loops of his mory, they had walked together.
He needed more ti with Emilia. More chances to find clues about her experiences, to piece together exactly what had happened in the discarded tiline she'd co from.
Although… if he was being honest, calling this kind of thing a…
Date?!
The thought made him light up with barely contained glee. His mories had plenty of dates with Emilia — but in actual reality, none of them had ever truly happened.
"Subaru, did sothing good happen? You look really happy."
Emilia tilted her head, studying Subaru's dopey grin with undisguised puzzlent.
"Ah — I was just thinking: sothing that important to you — shouldn't we go after it right away? How about we head out now?"
Subaru caught himself, scratched the back of his head, and floated the suggestion in a tone that was carefully nonchalant.
Emilia blinked at that — then answered without a mont's hesitation:
"No. Compared to sothing unimportant like a badge, I treasure the ti I spend with Subaru far more."
"What?"
Subaru almost convinced himself he'd misheard — because this, too, was wildly at odds with the Emilia he knew from his mories.
Emilia had stumbled onto the path to the throne for the sake of saving the friends and people of the Elior Forest. At this point in the story, she should have been placing enormous value on that insignia, anxious to track it down and take it back from Felt.
And yet now — "sothing unimportant"? What was that about?
Subaru's expression gradually turned serious.
Emilia's inexplicable warmth toward him stirred a quiet, private happiness inside him — but his rational mind latched onto the critical implication:
Emilia's attitude toward becoming king seed to have fundantally changed.
Could that also be the influence of that discarded tiline?
"Um… oh, right!"
Seeing Subaru suddenly freeze up, Emilia belatedly realized she'd slipped.
The old her would never have said sothing like "the badge doesn't matter" — Subaru would definitely suspect sothing.
But she ca up with a solution almost imdiately —
After all, even back then, after the insignia was stolen, hadn't she spent ti with Subaru helping the little girl find her mother?
So…
"Subaru, look! We can't just leave this child here. Her mother must be out there sowhere, frantic with worry — we have to help!"
"Besides, this is our good deed for the day!"
Emilia rushed to add that last part — and as luck would have it, things seed to be unfolding exactly as she'd hoped.
Subaru's furrowed brow slowly relaxed.
But not for the reason Emilia imagined.
Subaru hadn't bought the cover story for a second — he simply decided that now wasn't the mont to call her out on it.
"Emilia-tan, has anyone ever told you that you're a really terrible liar?"
"Ah… I suppose no one ever has, actually."
Subaru thought of Puck — of the parental influence that spirit-father of hers had provided, and of Emilia's inherent nature.
Of course she was bad at deception. It was practically inevitable.
But speaking of which — where was Puck?
Strange. Now that he thought about it, why hadn't it shown up at all?
Subaru suddenly pinpointed where the low hum of wrongness he'd been feeling was coming from.
Beyond Emilia's strange behavior and words, the great spirit who was supposed to be her constant companion was nowhere to be seen — and had made no sound whatsoever.
Was it still asleep?
After a mont's thought, Subaru recalled that in the normal course of events, he'd encounter Puck appearing at Emilia's side. But since they'd t ahead of schedule this ti around, there was a reasonable chance Puck was still in slumber.
Well. Puck would turn up eventually.
Subaru dismissed the thought with a small internal shake of his head and moved on.
With his original goal in mind, he decided to start by walking Emilia over to send the little girl ho safely.
And then, naturally and smoothly, the two of them would begin their…
Date!
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