11 (part 1)

The theater room has been emptied as a testament to the effect of the last viewing session. None of the camps had responded to the call from Tivey or his sister. It was only after Tivey had spent a great amount of time to try and settle the confused newest additions to the theater that people started coming back to ask some questions.

Tivey noted that the head of house Karsten and the diligent maids of lord Mathers were the only ones who showed intrigue towards the new summons from the Warden. The two individuals were questioned thoroughly about the affairs outside of the theater and what had become of the world.

Was anyone looking for them? Was there any news about other camp members who were left outside like Hetaro?

The twins had asked their questions along with all of the others who had come to greet the two late visitors.

As it turned out, the Warden was a shrewd person. Tivey had expected him to be. Even Tivey's own camp leader was cursing profanities forbidden in the western city-states by the time their newest comrades explained what they had remembered.

A memory wipe. How comical.

Tivey noted that the two looked to be in excellent form without a scratch on their armor or clothing. They also have no injuries of course.

By the end of his inspection, the cat-eared boy noticed that a lot of the watchers and members of other camps had peculiar reactions to the two that didn't give off the best vibes.

Especially coming from the Knights respective to his own camp as well as the others.

It was fascinating to Tivey. With just a small decision, the Warden managed to cause a form of chaos that destroyed everyone's plans on how they would tackle the next session. By adding these two new recruits to his collection, Warden forced a powder-keg effect upon the entire cast. By the time the next session started, Tivey had doubts that the mood would be calm and collected.

He just couldn't tell why the man behind the screen would want such a thing to happen. The boy could only watch from his seat as the mere presence of these two already caused a big change in the theater. It left him wondering. If the Warden had picked anyone else from the outside to join them… would it feel as tense as right now?

Would it be well received at all?

Or was the Warden teaching all of them a lesson by showing them how helpless they all are?

Maybe this was all a test to help them overcome the previous viewing without blowing up. Maybe the Warden was actually a benevolent entity that sought to help rather than break.

Tivey closes his journal once he finds his sister waving to him from the crowd. All of these questions are important for a scholar like him. They were essential.

He hoped that answers would come soon, otherwise, the black-haired boy sitting in the front row would have broken stumps for hands by the end of this.

Tivey gave a nod to the new recruits, giving them support in their exploration of the theater, and ran towards his sister, hoping he could brainstorm a few of these questions with her as they went with their master towards the various doors inside the hallway.

The newest additions to the cast were left to their own devices by the rest after everything was established. Tivey had an idea where each of them would mingle first but he didn't have the curiosity to see to it that they find their master's room.

The boy would rather eat dirt than get close to that nasty woman.

:

In one of the Theater's residential rooms, the contracted great spirit sat alone on the bed. Her butterfly irises withheld a glossy look that was pointed at her folded knees. Beatrice glared with such hatred that someone would melt beneath her gaze. That's what she'd imagined.

It was so unlucky that her door opened and allowed someone to come inside her room. So unfortunate that her imagination wasn't a reality.

The forces of the universe seemed to be unified in working against her this day or night.

"... If we could tell the time in this gr~aaa~nd hall, I could've told you how unladylike your sulking has become."

"Betty doesn't allow visitors into her chambers. Please leave, in fact."

Roswaal gave the girl a bigger grin that showed off his newly applied makeup. The spirit was more than disgusted with the cheer he seemed to possess.

"As disturbing as Beatrice-sama's cold rejection is, I'd pref~eee~r it if you heard what your dear brother has to say."

"Bubby was Betty's only brother," her glare moved from her knees toward the cheerful clown once more, showing disappointment and coldness.

"Then how do you feel about your 'only brother' killing Subaru-kun?"

His question was cold as ice to the spirit. It wouldn't surprise Beatrice if he asked this question as an act of malice.

Beatrice held off on screaming at the man. She saw the glee in his eyes and noticed that he was playing another one of his games.

"You dare come here to toy with Betty, I suppose?" Beatrice said coherently and coldly, eyes narrowed on the man who seemed none the wiser to the fury bubbling up inside of the girl.

"You d~ooo~n't have to worry about Subaru-kun's well-being. You just have to trust that he will come through for you in the end."

"What is this supposed to be, I wonder?" This time, Beatrice showed complete fascination at the audacity of this person before her.

Contrary to what he would always get, Beatrice actually felt a lot of sympathy for Roswaal. This man couldn't escape the curse placed upon him that she had. It's not because he was alone with no one to be his 'person'. It was more of the fact that he didn't want anyone to help him out of it.

The Od itself knows, the pink-haired maid, even if she instilled a deep-rooted disgust within Beatrice, was the only hope to get him out of his madness. But Beatrice could care less if she succeeds or not.

She could care less if Roswaal was hiding his guilt and pain behind a cheerful facade.

"Leave Betty alone, in fact," she sighs, showing a moment of mature calmness that puts surprise on the man's face for a second.

"... I see." Roswaal lowered his arms were raised in one of his eccentric poses and looked at the girl more deeply. "You're something special, Beatrice."

Using no honorific, Roswaal distilled the notion that they were speaking with the facade of the modern-day Beatrice and Roswaal. The two beings haven't spoken a word to each other in the last four hundred years.

They were looking at one another as equals, as torture victims from one cruel yet kind mistress.

"Why is that, I suppose?"

"You gave up on suffering for other people to focus on your one special person."

"...The irony has escaped you this much, in fact?" Beatrice queried with a pity-filled stare at the man. "Have you forgotten the pathetic excuses you were making for Mother? May I remind you that you're the one accessory and accomplice to everyone's plight here? You did all those plans with full knowledge of-"

"A~aaaah," he gave her a look that said he got her right where he wanted her. "You seem to think that I am here to talk about my handsome s~eeelf."

Beatrice double-blinked at the confusing man.

"Rest assured Beatrice-sama, I have no intention of forgetting my own sins and Subaru-kun's pain," his voice dropped to a certain point that made Beatrice shiver. "... However much I believe that all of it was needed for teacher's plans."

"...?!"

Beatrice exchanged the look of confidence on his face with a full-blown glare of hatred and confusion of her own.

"You still harbor a belief in the gospel?!" Beatrice bellows in astonishment. "Have you not brought the book as vain to Otto, I suppose? Have you not cursed Mother's teachings because of Subaru's deaths?! You say these were needed?!"

By now the Spirit's mana began to flare around her to the point her twin tails began flapping around. She scorched the man with a furious, demanding look.

He must answer to this change in behavior. Beatrice won't have been such a pitiful being as he think that the gospel's actions were just.

"Are you so sure that my teacher's gospel was wrong?" He asked of her, with such emptiness in his voice it unsettled the spirit.

"It doesn't matter whether it had merit or not, in fact!" Beatrice shouts her rejection, "What happened to Subaru was UNJUSTIFIABLE and cruel, I suppose! Betty won't have you concocting such a fallacy to save yourself from the truth that mother lied!"

"... And you know so much about the truth as to judge me or my teacher for following our own desires… Yet here you are ignoring everyone except your own dear contractor."

"What are you on about, I wonder?" Beatrice looks livid as she couldn't stand the clown's cold, stone-like approach.

He stared into her mana void as he spoke, "For now, I'll take my leave. But I want you to focus on the fact that you hadn't shown the slightest bit of a reaction when it was someone else dying other than Subaru-kun."

"Yes I did, in fact. You must have been too focused on your plans and games coming to fruition while my Subaru got butchered!"

Roswaal simply gives his sister the eccentric, usual smiling facade as always.

"Had that been the case, and had you truly thought about everyone who suffered inside of Subaru-kun's bubble, then you would've noticed the reason why your mother's teachings are my most justifiable gospel."

"What…"

He turned to leave the baffled girl in her room, ignoring her calls.

"Wait, I suppose!"

"Remember, Beatrice," his tone was cold and heavy, making the spirit freeze in place but he didn't turn to her. "Never forget the effects of my teacher's gospel. Had it not compelled me to make Subaru-kun a part of our lives the way I did, the people of Arlam village wouldn't be alive today. Frederica could've come back to an abandoned home with bodies littering the garden. Our Geuse wouldn't have been able to rest in peace from this disgusting corrupted form. Puck-san could've possibly destroyed the whole wide world… He would've died by Reinhard's righteous duty to protect the kingdom from catastrophe."

"..."

The man left Beatrice to her devices with nothing more to say. The cloud of factual information collided with imagery that forced the little girl to become more inclined to pull on her twin tails than face the doorway.

"I… I cannot believe this heresy, in fact!" Beatrice shouts and glares right through her closed door.

"He dares to justify Betty's contractor dying for such reasons… That clown will face his comeuppance!"

The spirit's statement was weaker than her voice as she said it. By reminding her of the people around her contractor as well as Geuse's awful form, Roswaal effectively made her realize that Subaru being here actually helped a lot of souls rather than get tortured for no reason.

And it made her realize that-

"Subaru's deaths… Him dying is just another aspect that helps those people…"

Beatrice's eyes widened in horror. Her gaze immediately fell on the mirror before her bed.

"... Subaru," she whispers softly, her right hand balled, "you died to get me out of that mansion."

She realized just how true Roswaal's words were, and just how unremarkable her existence for Subaru's life was.

"How selfish, I suppose. No matter what I proclaim or threaten, Subaru will die." The spirit whispers into the silence of her room.

:

Crusch was sitting by herself in her room for the first time since her summoning into the theater. In the lonesome atmosphere, she reflected upon her plans for escaping this captivity.

"Warden… only a narcissist would admit themselves to such a name." Crusch leans into her chair and glares towards the wall.

In truth, Crusch never thought about leaving this theater for at least a few viewings now. She was busy watching the literal hell Emilia's knight had been dealing with since he was transported from his world to hers.

The consequences of that last viewing left an ugly feeling in Crusch's chest, one that she would not be able to shake no matter how many times she became emotional towards Subaru's death.

"There must be a weakness about this place," her words were spoken from beneath a finger covering her mouth. She tapped her cheek and closed her eyes to get lost in her own world. "A theater that holds the Sword Saint himself… A boy sent from another world…"

Lazily, Crusch decides to let her head rest back while she relaxes in her chair. She felt intoxicated for a second, the thrill of having all of these mysteries didn't dawn on her until she realized how little she knew and how many pieces she was missing.

"The Witch of Envy… No doubt that Natsuki Subaru is cursed by her," she mumbles without coherence. As a matter of fact it was safe to say that she wasn't even realizing how much of a trance she was in.

"You know that thinking out loud isn't a sign of very good health, Crusch-sama."

Crusch's lips purse and her back stiffens. "Ferris," she opens her eyes to look at her knight. "You're here."

"I am, Crusch-sama," with a note of her unperturbed reaction to his arrival, the cat-eared boy gave a warm smile.

"I hope that you're not hiding your guilt behind that smile of yours, Ferris." Crusch's words were cutthroat to the point they made him flinch.

"... You don't forget easily, Crusch-sama, nyan," he gave a little mumble that resembled her name. He remained unmoving in the doorway. His lady didn't allow him inside, only stared at him from her chair.

"Far from your perception of my old self who lost her memories, I am not one to dwell on the past." Crusch stood up from her chair and walked towards him. "—but, you have disappointed me."

Felix seems hurt by this, unable to take the judging gaze within her amber eyes once she stood in front of him. "Ferri-chan apologized to Priscilla-sama though—"

"Have you no shame, Ferris?" Crusch's cold tone of voice and unrelenting glare forced a cold shower of dread upon Felix. All he could do in response was stare open-mouthed.

Crusch herself seemed to be more talkative however. "You have not consulted me about your apology to Barielle at all. Do you expect me to believe that nothing happened to you when you placed yourself at her mercy?"

"H-How did you—" Felix's question was cut short by the sudden narrowing of his lady's eyes as she glared at him.

"It is not a question of how I knew. What kind of master would I be if I did not notice my own Knight's humiliated face? I have seen your head down in that theater right before Barielle acknowledged your existence!"

Her voice, though not loud or raised by the slightest margin, boomed in his ears. The disappointment and anger vibrated through every word Crusch gave.

"That girl does not see people as individuals, she is an aristocrat to the very essence and does not give attention to someone unless they amuse her with their misery."

The duchess held him hostage with her glare. Felix couldn't see the hint of remorse in her eyes nor hear it in her voice as he became a lot more panicked and fearful from her next words.

"... Knowing how you are, Ferris, I don't doubt that she played you to insult me when you apologized to her. She is the type to have a personal grudge against someone for arguing in the opposite to her opinions."

"B-But Ferri did what his master wanted!" Felix blurts without a moment to take her words into account.

"You're not hearing me," Crusch shakes her head at her knight. "I wanted you to apologize for the constant distrust and ugly conduct against Natsuki Subaru and his camp members, Barrielle only deserved words of apology for the way you spoke to her. No one said anything about being Priscilla Barrielle's plaything."

At this, the healer looked dumbfounded by his lady's explanation. She offered him a disappointed frown and a small pang of pity that burned his insides with rage. Between each of these two glares, Crusch trapped him in a most frustrating hell that rode his soul from defeat to shame and then back like a sick carriage ride.

"Crusch-sama doesn't even know what Ferri did for her!" Felix grits his teeth after his outburst, unable but to glare at the girl he would've never in his wildest dreams thought he'd challenge.

This didn't surprise Crusch the slightest bit as her response was steeled and nonplussed, "never did I ask you for such shameless loyalty, Ferris. What you did inside of Barielle's room is unknown to me but your reaction can tell me everything I need to know. You chose to shame yourself and your title for what you suppose was my sake."

"YOU GAVE ME THE ORDER!" Felix bellows, face flushed.

Crusch did not relent, "To apologize. I didn't tell you to earn anyone's forgiveness."

Felix's fists shook, "IT WAS MY DUTY TO EARN HER FORGIVENESS! IT WAS TO KEEP YOU HAPPY-"

Her fist connected with the door frame instantly, stopping him from finishing that sentence.

"I do not know what is more disappointing," Crusch quickly regained her composure and expression after she gained his silence. A neat trick she learned from her father to quickly gain someone's attention when they are rambling uselessly.

"The fact that my dearest friend and my most trusted companion shames himself in my name behind my back or the fact that he self projects all of his insecurities to the point of becoming cruel to an innocent person that is suffering," he flinches and looks to the floor, unable to bare the betrayal in her voice, much less the face she's giving him.

"... I… I…" Felix bites his lip, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes.

"Do not hurt your lips." Crusch gives a soft command. Her voice was below a whisper but the iron in her resolve was nonplussed. Felix let go of it, leaving his lip to whimper.

Their eyes met and Felix couldn't help but notice her expecting gaze. She wanted something from him.

The boy's memory wasn't as foggy as to not remember the last few viewings and his lady's reactions to them. It was clear as day to Felix that his master grew very fond of Subaru Natsuki because of his journey. He remembered every time Crusch would shut him down whenever he berated or insulted Subaru.

As if the guilt he's felt since the last viewing wasn't amplified enough, he remembered the way Julius cut him out coldly. Even though Felix also tried to help the knight by doing something a little bit disgusting, he truly didn't feel like he was in the wrong.

"Why can't anyone see it, nyan…"

Crusch looked on as he trembled with rage and desperation. She allowed him to speak his mind, less he blows up in front of the others and further tumbles his image into the mud.

"Ferri was only trying to help all of you! Subaru-kun's behavior wasn't right at the time so I did what I could to fix things! I did it for you all! Julius, Old Man Will, Reinhard—!"

"Advising you not to mention me on that list, Ferris. Because I disown this type of behavior." Crusch scolds him and makes him step aback with how coldly she stared at him.

"... I know what I said was horrible, nyan!" Felix protests with his hand out so she hears him. "Ferri will apologize sincerely to Emilia-sama once more! I will do whatever it takes to show that I have regret for what I said!"

"... You would only disappoint Emilia more, Ferris." Crusch looks at him with pity and anger.

"...?!"

"How much I hate seeing you like this," she shakes her head once more and looks away from him. "You are breaking all the promises Emilia bestowed upon you just before our last viewing was finished."

Felix felt a lump in his throat, panic began settling inside of him to the point he blurted out that shocked even himself.

"H-Have you replaced me?" He questions suddenly, making Crusch lower her head to hide her eyes. "You have. You replaced Ferri…" Felix opened and closed his jaw like a fish, looking at her with betrayal. "Subaru-kun really replaced me. Ferri isn't like him and that upsets Crusch-sama."

"..."

Crusch closed her eyes, leaned her head back to aim for the ceiling of the room, and let out a long stress-filled puff of air.

Calmly, comfortably, she opens her eyes and gives Felix the coldest glare since their talk started.

It was better than a thousand words the duchess could say to stamp and hurt the knight's fragile heart. Felix was left with a pang of pain poisoning his chest to the point he wanted to be on his knees rather than stand there and take her cold eyes.

He began trembling again but this time out of pure fear rather than fury. There was no need to justify himself because he realized the more he went into it the more he caused the rift between them to extend.

Felix thought of begging her. Accepting the place of his existence in her eyes to be lowered. He would kiss her shoe a thousand more times than Priscilla demanded of him. He would die for her.

The feeling of the cold sweat running down his back was suddenly dissipated once a gloved palm placed itself atop his head.

"I'm sorry, Ferris."

Even though she gave him this small act of compassion, Felix kept staring to the floor.

"Why are you apologizing, nyan?"

Crusch answers him sympathetically, ruffling his kitty-ears and hair, "Because not only was I atrociously incompetent as to cause you so much stress and pain in order to take care of me. I never went out of my way to understand how harmful this loyalty of yours has become."

"M-My loyalty?!" Felix looked up towards his master in shock. "How am I harming Crusch-sama with my loyalty?!"

Crusch gave a cold, guilt-ridden frown when she answered. "Loyalty is another matter from this," her hand leaves his hair bangs and lowers away from him. He looks at the gloved palm like a starved cat.

"This… Is an obsession."

Felix looks from the hand to her, finding himself overwhelmed with shame as he realized that Crusch was proving a point by making him yearn for her touch and not comforting him.

"Same way Natsuki Subaru continues to die for his friends and for Emilia's sake when all he had to do was trust in her to stand by his side. The same way the Archbishop of Sloth continues to carry out these horrific deeds in the name of a Witch he's never seen in person. Ferris, you are doing the exact same thing as these two without realizing it."

The healer stares at her, stunned. Wordless. Crusch couldn't stare at him for long. She seemed more ashamed of herself than disappointed with him.

"... I'd appreciate it if you stay away from me for the next viewing, Ferris."

Crusch's request didn't hurt as much as he expected it to be. Maybe it was because Felix knew it was coming.

"Yes… Crusch-sama," he whispers back obediently, feeling the sheer weight of how large the rift between them has become.

"Thank you. And please think of what we talked about here today with an open mind."

Without any further acknowledgement from her, Felix was left alone in the room. Crusch strode out of the doorway and took wide steps in the hall.

"I can't help my best friend and loyal knight with this problem. How am I meant to help someone like you, Subaru Natsuki?" Crusch laments quietly while walking away from the tension-filled room.

She thought about how similar both Subaru and Felix were and just how dangerous her knight can become if his obsession with her was pushed further enough. The excuses he makes, the weight behind his ability to ignore responsibility, the embracement of any toxic attributes she would show him just to please her.

"What a disgusting pit you fell into because of me, Ferris." Crusch stops for a moment, feeling the rush of momentum suddenly collide with her back. She realized that she had been striding with fast stomps all this time. She was furious at herself.

The duchess met the wall with her fist, showing a glare of hatred to the spot she punched.

"I can't help the both of you," she speaks while the images of Subaru's frozen corpse and Felix's kneeling form before Priscilla were shown in her mind.

Her knuckle grounded the wall and she hit it again.

"Incompetent," she curses as she takes another moment to regain her barrings before anyone comes into the hall.

:

A few minutes before Crusch reprimanded her knight, the room next door had a similar sort of tension between its occupants as the Valkyrie's. The silence reigned supreme between the two sisters. Even though their places showed various hints toward their moods, the silence came from an unexpected rift that was growing between the two Onis.

Ram, the pink-haired maid, was sitting on her sister's bed, arms hugging her twin as tightly as possible. No one could deny the passion once they see this overprotective hold. Ram was far more than an older sister at this moment. Her usually stoic expression was replaced with tiredness, depression, and a small hint of relief.

After all, what she had seen happen to her sister was more than enough to justify washing her smuginess and snark away. Ram was completely vulnerable. She cared about nothing outside of this room.

"Sister… You're holding on to me… tightly."

"... Apologies."

Ram didn't let go of her sister's frail shoulders. Matter of fact, she may have held tighter than before.

The soft voiced Rem didn't protest, the pale shoulders comfortably sank in Ram's grasp and the legs on her lap adjusted to a new position that let Rem's body lay on her sister's. It was comfortable for both of them. The two twins can meet one another's eyes like this.

"I don't suppose we can talk about what had happened?" Rem voices abruptly.

Ram gazed down at her sister with thinned lips. "We don't have to do such a thing."

Seeing the melancholic aura within her big sister's eyes, Rem knew that this was a lie. "Why?"

"This isn't important right now," she whispers to Rem with a hint of emotion breaking through. "This is more important to me."

When Ram's voice broke, Rem couldn't but stare at the ceiling with guilt painting her expression.

"You're alive." Ram utters with a shaky voice. "My only sister is alive. That's what matters."

Rem felt her sister's hands tremble while they held her shoulders. It was an unsightly look for the youngest Oni. Her sister was the epitome of strength and elegance. The sarcasm, the snark, the haughty smile, these were not present on her dear sister right now.

"Sister…"

"Shh." Ram shushes the girl laying on her lap. "Rem has nothing to say to her sister."

The pink-haired Oni speaks as if this was a finality. Rem didn't get any say so as her sister continues blabbering with a serious look.

"Roswaal-sama chose the right path… You were saved from a terrible fate and you got back to me. No one will ever harm you again. Not that Archbishop or any of his other kind should they dare come clos-"

"What are you talking about, sister?" Rem questions, puzzled and a little terrified as the fire in Ram's eyes turned visible almost from how hard she was glaring.

The eldest Oni paused, moving a hand to toy with her sister's blue flocks of disheveled hair.

"Sister… I noticed it before with all the other people joining us in this prison…" Rem draws out for a moment, leaving the silence to hang in the air between them after she referred to the theater as what it really was. None of the twins could deny the term still had longevity in association with their captivity.

"Why is it that Roswaal-sama is constantly blamed for what happens to Subaru-kun?"

Even though Rem's eyes demanded honesty, all her sister had to give was dead silence.

"Rem has heard how Beatrice-sama speaks about our master whenever danger surrounds Subaru-kun." Rem pushes on, looking uncertain but determined for an answer while Ram only stares thin-lipped. "I've heard Emilia-sama talking about Roswaal-sama in a bad light… Why would a girl like that talk this way about her own benefactor?"

"You know how people are toward Roswaal-sama's eccentricity-"

"Emilia-sama isn't like any of the judgemental people around us, sister. And Beatrice-sama has become Subaru's contracted spirit… A lot may have happened while I was gone but Rem can tell something egregious was exposed about our master."

Rem faced her sister with conviction. Ram stared at the girl on her lap with emptiness.

"Are you diverting the blame of your mistakes towards our master, Rem?"

"... What?"

Ram moves her hand to flick a few strands of blue hair away, wanting her sister to clearly see her when she speaks.

"Rem," she affirms to her sister, "our master's faults and tactics are in the past now. They have been dealt with by Barusu's resilience, loathsome for me to admit. I will owe him gratitude for this my whole life."

Was her sister displaying affection… for Subaru?! Rem couldn't bring herself to stop the jaw from hanging open at this moment.

But Ram merely withheld an unamused frown. "But like it or not, Barusu's… unforgiving deaths—"

Both maid girls gave different degrees of flinches at the sentence. Having experienced the boy's painful end over and over again, sometimes directly because of their own foolish actions and intentions toward him, they weren't keen on remembering these experiences. They were both tired enough.

"— They happened for good reason."

"Sister!"

Rem's outrage was halted by a finger pushing on her lips firmly.

"Barusu needed to die to save you— to save all of us." Ram's eyes didn't betray a look of enjoyment when saying this. Even so, Rem had to sit from her sister's grasp and lap to give her a stare.

"That is ridiculous sister!" Rem bites with a disappointed stare aiming for the first time towards her beloved twin. "Subaru-kun didn't have to die… His pain was completely unjustified!"

"... Who said I was justifying his suffering, Rem?" Ram calmly asks.

The blue-haired girl pauses for a second at the weirdness of her sister's answer.

"You did? Why else would you be giving Subaru-kun's curse a purpose now?"

"Like the time you said the Witch of Envy was protecting Barusu?" Ram displays outstanding calmness when speaking about the entity that swallowed half of the world.

That fact went unnoticed by Rem however as she got busy with flinching from her sister's condemning gaze.

"... I– I…"

"Rem was speaking how she really felt," the older sister cuts her twin off. "This happened a few days ago, when the viewing showed Barusu's journey throughout his first week in the mansion, his first week with us."

"..." Rem remained silent, looking at the floor forlornly.

"This is where you realized that had it not been for the 'curse' the Witch had placed on him, he wouldn't be alive with us today because he died unfairly from his first week in our household. Heck he died in an alleyway much earlier than meeting us." Ram continued to explain things as if she was talking to a child. Her sister didn't cut her off or call her out.

On the contrary, Rem's frown showed that she was agreeing with Ram more and more.

This gave the elder sister an incentive to continue. "So this notion that Barusu is 'cursed' is starting to become null to everyone in here. We don't have to justify his pain or the suffering he's been through, but we cannot say that it didn't help us in the end… Him dyin—"

"Stop it."

Unlike the cold and calculating Ram, Rem voiced her rejection of such a notion almost immediately even if she's been lectured into silence before.

"Sister," she calls out to Ram softly, "I would rather not have you speak to me as if I don't know how much we owe Subaru-kun. But I refuse to let you come to that conclusion without mentioning the main factor of his torture."

"What factor is that? Barusu has always been on this path. So helping us was paramount." Ram raises a brow to the point Rem shakes her head.

"Subaru-kun didn't have to save any of us to be able to live on, sister." Rem frowns in disappointment at her surprised sister. "It was his kindness that factored as his main drive to preserve through the pain."

"..."

"Sister, you speak about his hell as if it was always meant to be. When in reality it's his determination to save all of us, even the ones who caused him as much horror and pain as that disgusting Archbishop, even me," she gives a little sniffle of overflowing emotion, Ram couldn't but stay silent when faced with such passion from her dear twin.

"Subaru-kun's a hero, but you shouldn't act like he's always going to be there to save you… I learned how things really are going for him." Rem held pity in her eyes as she remembers her hero's transportation and constant suffering in her world. "We don't get to call on him to help us after what we have seen. Even if Rem's hero will always come out on top to help everyone!"

"I see," after a few seconds of silence, Ram speaks, her voice was monotone, "I apologize if I seemed too conspicuous with my expectations."

Rem smiled at her sister compassionately, happy that this notion about Subaru has been fully fixed in Ram's eyes.

"But that's just the thing, dear Rem." Ram interrupts her happy thoughts with a determined stare that surprised Rem greatly. "You don't get to make that opinion about Barusu's determination or free will. You simply can't."

Rem had a hundred questions in her head right now about why her older sister was doing this.

But Ram continued, uninterrupted. "You would rather bask in your knowledge of Barusu's true tragedy now that you've seen everything but you refuse to see how harmful your own heroics have been to everyone else."

"Sister?"

"I know you've chosen that boy to love. It pains and completely disappoints Ram that you've chosen him in the end, but there is no denying that your feelings are real."

Rem couldn't but bite her lip and look away for a moment in embarrassment, remembering that the viewing had exposed her feelings more than once to the audience of strangers as well as her sister.

"P-Please do not joke that way about Subaru-kun, sister." Rem tries her best to reprimand, not feeling her sister's gaze increase in intensity.

"I'm not making a spiteful mockery of the person who saved both you and me, dear sister." Ram surprises her twin with how compassionate she spoke about Subaru. "I've been trying to point this out for you many times to no avail."

At the confused look she got, Ram sighs tiredly.

"You treated him as that hero who overcomes anything and everything. It was your sacrifices to clear his path and cement your place in his heart that caused him the most pain."

"... What?" Rem looked heartbroken at her sister's words. The girl seemed to be in disbelief.

"... I'm sorry sister." Ram speaks with gentle compassion yet placed a firm hand on Rem's. "But carelessly sacrificing yourself and putting your life on the line has done Barusu more harm than good."

Ram's words didn't seem to register correctly within Rem. The youngest twin seemed like she was going to blow up into tears any moment.

Still, Ram continued. "You can love him. You can do your most to help him. But you cannot ignore how important you are to Barusu's happy ending. With every single one of your needless deaths, he loses his will to fight."

Rem's eyes widen suddenly as she remembers how broken he was on that hillside. Placed with the knowledge of how she's been dying to the Archbishop in the last viewing…

"... You always do what you think is best. You're always headstrong into trouble for his sake yet end up getting hurt. How is that supposed to make Barusu feel? How is that supposed to make your older sister feel?" By now, there are new tears in Ram's eyes.

"Sister…"

"I know I haven't been the best sister in the world. It's my fault that you don't have much self worth… But you have to realize that you mean much more than a sacrifice to us."

Rem ended up with a baffled look that showcased her shock at this personal turn of conversation from her usually collected sister. Needless to say, her guilt returned in full force once she had finally noticed how much this has been affecting Ram. Her older sister was carrying these feelings of self-blame for a while.

"... He stayed by your side for an entire year." Ram sniffles, now looking away from her twin.

Rem stays silent, looking away also to show some respect.

"Barusu's been hit hard when you were attacked by the Archbishop of Gluttony."

Rem flinches at the memory of the attack. Remembering that this was yet another act of her self-sacrifice that seemed so problematic to a lot of her dearest people.

"He's losing his mind in the next viewing in order to enact revenge on the Sloth Archbishop for what he did to you."

The blue-haired maid gives a silent stare of horror as she realizes how right her sister was.

"Your death… will most surely cause his own." Ram finalizes for her younger sister with an empty, tired tone. "So please stay alive for him… and for me." Ram leaves her sister to lament on these words.

Rem sits by herself without anyone to see her reaction to that.

:

Otto stomped across the hallway of the theater to a specific location. He moved swiftly from one door to another, looking for the target that earned the glare he's been sending for a while now.

"Damn bastard," he spits quietly and continues to search.

"Even if Roswaal says the book couldn't tell him about Natsuki-san's true situation, he still must've facilitated this all in order to pressure Natsuki-san into taking his hand!" Otto breathes heavily as he enters another empty room.

"Damn it!" Otto loses his last remaining coolness and kicks a chair out of frustration.

"What he said to Natsuki-san back at the Sanctuary. It was all his doing to break my friend…" Otto's voice was shaky as he remembers the time he and Garfiel watched Subaru engage Roswaal head first and everything that's been said between them.

"Natsuki-san had no idea what exactly Roswaal knew. And the Margrave was more inclined to believe in his book than care about the suffering this all would cause. He used this pain and suffering to torture Natsuki-san!" Otto bites his lip and presses a hand on the burnt book in his pocket.

"Damn bastard!" He bites with hatred seeping in his broken voice. Otto hated how negative he's been the past few days spent in the theater. Luckily there was no one around to see him breathing heavily while resting his palms on his knees.

"Otto-sama?"

The Minister of the Interior Affairs in the Emilia camp immediately stood still and turned around with his best smile plastered on his face.

"Frederica-san? My what a coincidence! I was just looking for my room but found out this place has no organization whatsoever, haha!"

"... Our names are on the doors." Frederica stares at the boy with worry.

"Oh." Otto wishes the ground would swallow him sooner than later. "I kind of… forgot?"

At this, Frederica looks at him with a sad smile. "Otto-sama doesn't have to act like he isn't sad or affected by Subaru-sama's pain. You know… It's in your nature to care for your friends."

The merchant's upbeat posture disappears and his gaze turns to the ground for a moment. "I guess you can read me easily, huh Frederica-san."

"Oh please," she gave an elegant giggle that sent butterflies in Otto's stomach, "anyone can read your compassion to help your friends from the far end of the room, Otto-sama."

"Don't say it as if even the kids are counted in there!"

"But they very much are~" Frederica teases the outraged boy, further embarrassing him.

"Ahhh!" Otto captures his head in misery.

"There there now," she comforts him playfully and gives a snicker. "You can always get Garf's help with anyone who bullies you for it."

"This does not sound comforting, more so humiliating. I can take care of myself, thank you."

"I know. Forgive me but I was just teasing," Frederica gave a small pleasant smile that was contagious for the minister.

"I-It's alright. I knew that. I just didn't take you as the type to make such jokes." Otto stammers while looking away from the lady.

Frederica moved her hand from the doorway and nervously toyed with her dress.

"Even us maids need some stress relief from time to time, you know?"

"Seems rather cruel for the people on the receiving end," he snorts before going wide-eyed, "wait, this is why Ram-san is so spiteful all the time!" Frederica giggled once again.

"Don't let her hear that!" Otto points at her with a panicked expression.

"I'll be sure to keep it to myself," she promises while looking at him mischievously.

Otto lets out a breath of relief before turning to the maid again. He tried to keep the butterflies at bay.

Before he noticed the sudden downward turn her lips took.

"It's a shame for me to admit it," she leans against the doorway and holds her wrist. "But I'm in need of your help once again, Otto-sama."

He recognized that she was being serious so he fiddled with the hat on his head to fix it appropriately.

"How can I assist?"

Frederica summoned a small grin when she saw the determined look on Otto's face. She didn't notice his hand scraping the inner pocket of his jacket from the outside.

"He'll have to wait. I can't go and accuse him of anything, guns blazing like this. There must be more to be shown in these viewings."

With this thought in mind, Otto listened to Frederica's problem.

:

Garfiel didn't know what to do in such a situation.

"Don't hold on so tight!"

His demand was ignored by the person capturing his torso in a deadlock. Garfiel would've been insulted for whining about such strength but he was more worried about the person hurting themselves while hanging on to him than if they were hurting his torso.

"... Sorry." Petra shuffles around but keeps her hands around him. "I apologize," the little girl repeats but keeps holding on to him anyway.

Garfiel had to give a long winded sigh and let it go. He patted Petra's head to console the girl.

"Ya know, that's not gonna do ya any good," he tries to be supportive and wise to the girl, but what he received was a hushed whisper that made him shiver.

"Please don't give me advice," she trembles while holding on to him. "I already know I'm pathetic and useless. I don't need any advice."

The blonde tiger was amiss with this reaction from the girl even more now. No wonder his sister Frederica gave him the task of keeping Petra company while she went out of the room to do something. This state Petra was in seemed so complicated and fragile, Garfiel could not help but feel inadequate and out of his depth.

"Listen," he tried to get her to look him in the eye, but the girl was reserved to look at the wall while hugging him. "Ya don't gotta continue through with this. These visions or whatever they ar-"

"WOULD EVERYONE STOP SAYING THAT?!" Petra suddenly springs up from him and shoots him a glare with her reddened eyes. "Nobody has a right to tell me what to do! I wanted to watch for my own sake to help Subaru, I knew what was going to happen!"

"Calm down ya' twerp," the blonde held Petra's eyes with his glare, not at all disturbed by her outburst.

"Don't tell me to calm down," she lowers her voice this time and stares away from the Shield with a small glare to hide her embarrassment.

Garfiel sighs again, "Mine amazing selfs don't like being treated like a kid either. Best believe that tis would earn a knuckle to someone's face!"

When he noticed the unimpressed look coming from the child, Garfiel shook off his little power pose and focused on the conversation he apparently was leading suddenly.

"It isn't yer fault for wantin' to watch these fuckin' visions of our Cap'n. Mine amazing selfs also wants t' watch everythin' my Cap'n's been through," he makes sure Petra is seeing his soul when he speaks. The little girl gives him acknowledgement for how open he was about his feelings which was a good thing for Garfiel. He hated being this personal and open.

"Ya gotta find some grit t' be able to stand by someone like Cap'n," he says with wisdom coating his voice, surprising Petra since she realized the person speaking to her in such an elderly tone was the same boy who covered himself in mud once to be 'one with the earth magics'.

"There's a lotta strength in ya fer wantin' t' do the same, lil sis. It should be respected." Garfiel gives the girl encouragement for her effort, something that may as well be the first time for Petra. "Take yer time. What the hell's someone gonna do when they see their family and friends killed like tha'?"

He looks angry at some form of phantom enemy that only his eyes could see at the edge of the room.

"Mine amazing selfs would give an arm t' be back there with Cap'n. T' be in that village before these bastards attacked," he ruffled his hair brashly out of frustration. "I wanna be there so bad! Argh~!" Garfiel continued to growl like a beast born into dissatisfaction.

Petra stared at him with a thin-lipped expression. Noting a small pang of relief that someone else was willing to protect her home and family alongside Subaru.

Maybe that relief encouraged her to speak to him, cutting off his pep talk. "Yeah… But Subaru had to save them on his own."

Her trailing voice made him look at her and stop ruffling his head.

"Ya don' gotta make it sound so cruel."

"Eh?" Petra gave him a child-like confusion in her stare.

Garfiel simply allowed an easy smirk to reach his face. "Cap'n's the one that chose to protect yer family and his friends. He's got the guts 'f a hero and the bravery 'f an idiot. Can't have anyone better t' rise against that bastard of a cultist."

Petra seemed more surprised by each word coming out of Garfiel's mouth.

"You didn't lose hope in Subaru, big bro Garf?" Petra's reddened eyes seemed to light up with hope when she asked this.

Garfiel understood quickly that this was Petra conveying one of her troubles to him. He gave the most confident nod to the girl and smirked like the tough guy he was.

"Course not! Cap'n's an even greater man than before!"

"... Then did you lose hope in our friends… in the people surrounding him?"

Garfiel's cheer of admiration was cut short by Petra's hasty question. It seems the girl was hoping for something far more convenient than just to see someone keeping belief in Subaru's abilities.

The little girl noticed Garfiel's sudden silence and immediately realized her brashness.

"Um, sorry. Nevermind what I said, Big Bro Garf." Petra shakes her head, fixing a bit of her disheveled hair.

"..." Garfiel kept his gaze on the little maid, going thin-lipped. "Sure sure," he said with his eyes narrowed, but gaze moving towards the floor. "Ya're welcome to talk to me 'bout this later if ya want… Or with Nee-sama, even better."

"Yes yes." Petra doesn't give an indication to what she was feeling. She sounded like her old childish self but her eyes and tone were empty of cheer or light.

Still, Garfiel recognized how badly Petra was closing off from anyone who might see her as a child. He recognizes this need of hers to take on the challenge of dealing with the grief by herself. But the little girl has shown clear damage from her last viewing where her family and friends turned into corpses.

Now Garfiel went from receiving an endless hug of comfort to being a reserve watcher at the edge of the room as Petra goes to her dresser and starts combing her hair in silence.

:

"Now that the captain of the royal guard is here, I believe you shouldn't be so overly vocal in your plans, Anastasia-sama." Julius faced his lady for the first time in a long time in her room which had been turned into a meeting quarters for her camp members.

"Hmmm, you come in 'ere after a long absence to gimme a caution flag? Julius ya must pick up the slack and help me figure out a way to help Natsuki-kun—"

"Forgive me for being so crude," he cuts her off, which greatly surprised both the lady and the demihuman overlooking the interaction from the back. It was rare to find Julius so willing to speak over his lady. "I wouldn't regard these plans to trap Emilia-sama's camp into debt and blackmail a way to 'help' Natsuki Subaru. Besides making him stuck with our side of this selection as his only allies, then nothing in your ambitions is helping Emilia-sama's knight."

"Ay, Julius when did ya get so mouthy?!" Ricardo looked aghast at Julius.

"Now now~, I wanna hear my dearest knight." Anastasia leaves her cup to steam beside her as she grins toward the determined Julius. "You must be head over heels for 'em to talk to your master this way. I wonder where your loyalty lies, Juukulius."

"... I beg your forgiveness, my lady. I didn't mean any question to my belief in your ways." Julius bowed in courtesy, seeming more perfect with his head low than a person who was prostrating should be.

Ricardo notices a small disappointed glint in Anatastasia's gaze at this reaction. Until Julius continues.

"—However, I would prefer that my way of helping Subaru be considered first. It is far more preferable to your current plan from my viewpoint."

"Hm, ya beg for my forgiveness but demand your own will over me, in the same breath?" Anastasia raises a brow of surprise at the audacity.

"My master once said she likes my confidence most," he gave a charming grin to her.

Anastasia huffed and gripped her tea in annoyance, "I do remember it being 'Your pretty looks' and not confidence."

"Is that so?" Julius rises and smiles at his lady.

Once seeing that smile of his, Anastasia couldn't but give a bright grin.

"Finally standing up for yer friend. I'm proud of ya, Julius."

At his master's congratulations, Julius merely bobbed a courtesy bow.

"I've been… Humbled by a friend of Subaru's. Hard it is for me to admit, but the guy owns a respectable circle of people around him."

Anastasia rolls her eyes as Ricardo lets out a laugh at the attitude that never seems to go away from Julius towards Subaru.

"Well, whateva' speeches you've been getting, Julius. I assure you that there will be no harm done to Subaru-kun and his camp members."

"If you say it, I believe it, Milady." Julius sits before the candidate, feeling at home for the first time in a while.

"Now let's getcha up to speed," Anastasia's smile disappears suddenly and she becomes determined before her two companions. "Because this Archbishop crap has opened my eyes to a lotta suspicious coincidences involving our dear Mathers Margrave."

"The clown fella? Really? I haven't seen him at all in that last session, Boss." Ricardo holds back a flinch as he speaks the next statement reluctantly. "Ya sure we don't wanna talk about what actually happened to Bro in there? His life fucking sucks…"

Julius gives his lady a silent sharp look of understanding, conveying to her a level of observation that she had missed since his absence from her meetings.

Feeling more confident than ever before, Anastasia looks at her demihuman friend with a dangerous smile. "Natsuki-kun's pain may have been planned all along, Ricardo."

The beastman widened his eyes in alarm, letting out an immediate "Huh?!" whilst his mistress and her knight began explaining their reasoning.

By the time they finished, Ricardo found himself unable to do anything but stare at the carpet. Not a joke or a growl. Just stare towards the ground.

"Ah, man. This kid's just having our world shit on 'em at this point," appearing to agree with them, that's all the dogman had to say in sympathy towards the raven-haired boy sleeping outside in the theater room.

Julius looked away from the mercenary to stare at the wall, in deep thought.

Anastasia simply ruffled her blue scarf and moved to pour herself a glass of the strongest drinks she can have this Warden muster.

:

A young boy that looked to be in his early teens sat to the side of his mistress. His hair was peach-pink in color and extremely tidy for such a young child. Even though the silence in the room was almost deafening, that did not mean nothing was happening.

The boy's neatly combed hair became an instrument in Priscilla Barrielle's hand as she ruffled it without a word to anyone. He took a look at her, the red-dressed lady that instilled a bewitching spell on whomever dared to gaze upon her beauty. His master. His savoir.

Priscilla Barielle had missed him. It was clear that even after an hour of time had passed with him stuck in between her arms and bosom, she refused to let him stay away from her side.

"Bring another drink, Schult." The boy immediately ran to the other side of the room to grasp the chosen bottle of liquor, meant to be poured in her awaiting glass. As he scrambled, he thought about how coldly she regarded her order. How can she have the most gentle touch in this world, yet remain as stinging as a spiked vine?

The servant boy placed the bottle in his hands, waiting patiently for the princess to drink her glass empty so he could pour into it again.

"Schult."

"Yes, Priscilla-sama!"

"..."

Even though he showed her absolute resilience and adoration with his stance, his attitude would falter once he realized that his mistress never took her sight from the dresser mirror.

"... Leave mineself be. You shall not be needed for now."

"Yes, Priscilla-sama."

Though it had hurt him, the boy moved out of the room as quickly as he was brought in by her command. The child servant of Priscilla sat outside of her door, not knowing where to go in this weird place.

"Did I do something wrong?" Schult asks himself, a hint of a frown on his face. "I tried my best to remember how Heinkel-sama and I got into this weird space… Please forgive me, Priscilla-sama."

"She ain't mad at you, Schult-kun."

The voice tinged with a metal echo was familiar to the wallowing child, who stood up immediately to meet with the knight who stood over him.

"How ya doin' shorty? Missed us the past few days?" Al cheerfully ruffled the boy's head and laughed. "Wait, I guess you don't remember how long it's been from what you said."

"Yes, Al-sama. I only remember being with you and our lady before a light suddenly flashed."

Al nods his head and mentions for the boy to follow him. "I see… Welp. Nothing to be done about it, buddy. Let us go rest in another room."

"W-Wait!" The boy stops Al desperately. "What about Priscilla-sama? Why can't we stay with her? And why is she disappointed in me, what did I do?"

The boy's despair was clear in voice and in body language to the point Al had to respond appropriately with a bombacious laugh.

"B-Buddy… Pfft… You don't gotta make this personal to you." Al wheezed for a second before regaining his strength to speak clearly. "Princess wouldn't have hugged ya for as long as she did if she was angry with you. Would she?"

Schult looked at the ground in thought, remembering the way Priscilla immediately ordered him to come closer and scooped him up in a tight hug right after he woke up in this weird large space.

"Then why–"

"Don't matter why, Schult-kun." Al cuts off the boy's next line of questions, further enveloping the servant with curiosity. "What matters is that you're here, safe and sound. I mean me and the princess already knew that you'd be safe in our carriage but that Heinkel fella is what was bugging me."

Al starts walking towards his room while Schult is catching up with him.

"Dun worry, Princess' been worried about ya too."

Schult feels a decent warmth washing over him which eluded the one-armed knight. Or maybe Al already knew the effect of the statement on him anyways.

"... Al-sama… How long has it been since we last saw each other? For me it was only a second where I left you and Priscilla-sama to ride the front of the carriage with Heinkel-sama, then I met you and Priscilla-sama after the bright light." Schult asks curiously, wishing he would get straight answers this time. These thoughts were plaguing his mind since he woke up on one of those weird leathery chairs in the massive hall but Priscilla immediately put him to work after he was questioned to high heaven by some weird characters he's never met before.

Now it was his chance to get some answers. "Why is our lady so silent if I wasn't the problem? What was happening before–"

"We were in here for a few days now, I presume. But no one can tell since there are no clocks or windows here." Al explains and shocks the boy. "Yep. We've been here, against our own will to watch somethings that are really becoming tiresome on us all. We also got a lotta company as you saw once you were awake."

"S-Someone's been holding Priscilla-sama against her will?!" Schult looked terrified at this information. "W-Wait. That also means we're stuck in here too!"

"Nothing much she could've done about it really," the knight gives a shrug. "This has been a trip for the princess to the point that she's been having a lotta strange thoughts 'bout herself."

"So… She's busy thinking about the things she saw?"

"Yep." Al opens the door and enters the room, making sure the boy follows before closing it behind him.

"What exactly… did you all see?" The boy looked sheepish to ask this but his red-eyes showed a little bit of sadness for being left out.

Al simply sighed. "I'll tell ya that it ain't nothing pleasant, buddy," the knight slumped on a desk chair and waited for the boy to do the same opposite to him. "It's just another damn game to the universe I guess."

"...?" Schult's eyebrows raise at such an intriguing statement.

"I'll let ya know everything ya need. But expect Princess to be a lot more… rough with us for the next few sessions of this viewing."

The boy seemed to be offended by the knight's wording about their master. "Priscilla-sama has never laid a finger on me! She's not ba–"

"I ain't saying that, dummy." Al's tone is joking and calming to the point Schult blushes from embarrassment at his outburst. "Ya just gotta expect that our lady will become a lot more cold and brutal with herself the next time we are going to be called for a session. Naturally that will lead her to abuse us since it's stress relief, so be prepared."

"..."

The boy showed another expression telling of how desperate he was for answers. What would affect his lady to this degree?!

Al only laughs. "Sure sure. Let me run this down for ya. Just be ready since the next part of this will not be pretty for the princess. It will be a bloodbath."

With such a serious tone from the eldest brother the orphan could say he has, Schult listened to Al's explanation all throughout, finding more questions piling up for every answered one.

By the end, the Barielle servant was truly curious more than ever.

What was he about to watch?

And why does his lady care this much about it?

:

As a parallel to the questions of her human-pillow, the matriarch herself was lost in thought.

"Having come to terms with his faults and behavior, mineself would have to admit that his struggles were amusing," she expressed herself with a tone of boredom. "Now it's becoming grating to watch such piggishness from that servant of the half-wit."

"..."

"Are thou going to answer for your crime, I wonder?" Priscilla finally moves her gaze from her dresser mirror to the man who's been sitting on the other chair all this time.

["H-Hot take, and this is just me s-spit balling my opinion which I know you hate very much."]

"I'll allow you to speak your mind." Priscilla grins smugly at the wounded man, knowing he can't do anything but take it in this position.

"Maybe other people just have their own troubles in life? Maybe me being on the verge of collapsing from blood loss should be far more important than the dullness of your entertainment? Just MAAAAAYBE–"

"— lost interest. Yapping and whining for attention is a bore." Priscilla rolls her eyes and sips more of her wine. The man's wounds caught her attention for the first time since he collapsed into her room through his portal. "How far is it?" She questions curiously.

"Show a hint of compassion, well ya? These are just the ones you see. Pretty sure I got some cracked bones underneath these clothes."

"Hm," she hums with a raised brow. "How amusing. You're healing faster than expected."

The Warden looked at her through his goggles and then stared at his gutted torso and gashing thigh— No longer, as both appeared to now have closed up with a new layer of skin forming to remove the wounds.

"Huh, didn't expect you to keep an eye on my wounds. Thanks."

Priscilla blinks at the man. "The annoying stutter of yours was diminishing. Don't misunderstand."

"Ah," he looks away from her stinging gaze and coughs. "Well… I don't suppose you want some answers?"

Priscilla never faltered her gaze away from the so-called powerful entity that kept her in this prison. The lady in red showed him an air of coldness and regality as she spoke down to him.

"Mineself allowed you asylum in my divine privacy. Now you shall be a slave to my will as the world demands it. My property can answer any question I desire."

Even though she affirmed her position over the person before her, the man only gave her a tilt of his head, his face was unseen behind his hood and goggles.

"Pardon?"

"You're bound with gratitude." Priscilla explains, haughty and matter-of-factly. "This favor of yours shall forever put you in debt to mineself."

"Nah, kinky but no thank you."

"Your life has been saved by mineself's charitous actions has it not?" She asks with a raised brow and a cocky grin.

Warden ignorantly started fixing his tattered pants with a weird glowing needle that seemed to bring extra material out of thin air to patch the tears. Absent-mindedly he also answered her. "Mhm. Sure I was saved. I need to be inside of this domain to get healed quicker. You know how this place has magical properties in regards to people's safety and all."

"Then that does it, dear mangy dog," she laughs and brings her fan to hide her wide smirk. "You shall pay back your debt with only one demand if you wish to live your life aimlessly."

"Oh?" He didn't turn his head toward her but showed a sign of attention via another tilt of his head. "What demand might that be, Priscilla-sama?"

Even though she was faced with the prospect of having total control over this powerful man, Priscilla only saw use of him for one single action. And that action was—

"... Show me that world." Priscilla spoke in a most serious tone. Demanding what she thought was hers by right.

The man's posture became stiff. His head finally turns towards the blood baroness like a lazy owl.

"I didn't suppose you'd cared," he noted montonely. "You sure as hell didn't care enough to give some respect when you spoke about Subaru's viewing sessions. Were they not turning dull for you, Priscilla-sama?"

"Careful with how you talk to your benefactors." Priscilla threatens with a squinted gaze.

He only stared through his dark goggles. "The arrogance on your ass is amazing. Didn't you just say Subaru's deaths were amusing and grating in such a contradictory and dehumanizing manner?"

"Have you no such understanding of the word 'Superior'?" Priscilla's blinks looked innocent but they were mocking. "I do not care for this world's half-elf loser. Bring me one that dares to justify his existence in mineself's life."

"Hm. It is true that I said you have many futures connected to Subaru Natsuki. Didn't really say if I can show you those futures like Subaru's past in the theater."

"A disgusting man like you wouldn't dare make such a deal without proof." Priscilla scoffed and pointed the tip of her fan at him. "Show it. Or else be still so that my tuanshan could finish the dragon's will and end you."

"Hm, it would be a shame," the masked man mused calmly. "I've managed to survive the dragon of Lugunica himself… only to be killed in my own domain by one of his subjects."

"How laughable. It's so funny." Warden let out a small chuckle.

"..." The crimson baroness squints at him, strangely going silent even though her expression burned a thousand words of her distaste at being called a subject.

"You—" Her eyes widen suddenly as her voice disappears from her. Priscilla remains in place, looking at the masked person beneath her with the same expression from a few seconds before.

"—Yeaaaaah… you forgot I still have absolute power in here even if I was getting my ass kicked on the outside. Some goddess you are." He stood with a lazy drawl in his voice.

Priscilla watched from within her eyes, the windows of her soul which seemed the closest thing to a form of control over her own body. She witnessed his black mask moving closer and closer, until her world was hinged entirely on staring into the darkness of his glasses.

"I froze your body," he says nonchalantly, no doubt reveling in the many curses and oaths the baroness is surely shouting from within her mind, "I apologize for not taking advantage of the situation. I wouldn't want to insult how you look." Warden's gloved hand moved the floral fan away from his face, along with the delicate hand clenching it that belongs to the countess.

"Too bad the person on the inside of this beautiful form is as nasty as they come." Warden kept looking at her up and down, exasperating the action to infuriate the girl that couldn't do anything but take his insult and showboating.

"But you know what's odd? I respect you more than anyone in this gang, Priscilla-sama. That is no lie," he moves away from her body and returns the chair he was resting on to its proper place. A feeling of ease and peacefulness filled the room because of the man's actions, as if he was a snail with no one to come after him, the opposite of what Priscilla knows. "I can't count the times I wished to be like you. Confident, powerful, or even clever."

Not to say it was a feeling of obligation, but Priscilla's fury didn't stop her from hearing his words with interest. It took her a second to realize that this is the most open that this entity had been with her. Even when he begged her to hide him, he was reclusive.

"Even your snark and arrogance are appealing to watch at times. You never say anything wrong— Nasty things, but never wrong," the man continues even though he knew that if she could scoff, she would.

He stands away from her, giving her privacy to try and free herself from the hold on her muscles.

"Thanks for giving me the time to heal in your room without letting the others know. My end has been fulfilled by bringing Schult in here safe and sound. You asked for him and only him… I do admit I took liberty with Heinkel though."

Priscilla's might never waned as she forced more power into her arms and legs. Her wrath would hit this cursed gremlin with a vengeance unbecoming of a goddess but deserved upon the rodent standing behind her.

"Now now, I know that you must be cursing my mother for creating such a magnificent creature who forced you into this powerless position."

He stood next to her ear. Spoke in a monotone voice that hinted at no other emotion except for boredom. Furious she may be, it would do her no good but to listen to what he has to say. It was all she could do.

"I don't think you understand why, specifically, 'you' were chosen to be here, Priscilla-sama."

She listened carefully, promising death towards this man who dared speak down to her.

"You need to continue watching this boy's life not for an explicit purpose or something to gain. Those come after the realization hits."

"What does a commoner think there is to realize in this atrocious bore of an endeavor?" Priscilla didn't realize that her lips committed to follow her train of thought this time and were allowed to speak her words.

She focused on getting any form of an answer from the man holding her hostage.

His voice betrays the mystery of his mask's brooding aura. "Realization that you just wanna help him rather than let him die helplessly."

Priscilla's glare could burn if it wasn't going towards an entity with powers to protect it. "Free mineself at once."

"Why? We are good talking the way we are."

"I have no intention of entertaining such a worthless babble with you. As far as this goddess is concerned, you would be best to start kissing the dirt beneath mineself in apology before I kill you." Priscilla gave nothing but arrogance and hate through both expression and voice. Too bad those were all she could use.

"That's a shame," he doesn't look her in the eye any longer. He struts away with a haste. "I can't believe we spent all this time together without discussing anything of importance!"

"... Have you not condemned us all here because of your perverted knowledge?" Priscilla voices her question with a bewildered glare taking over her expression from the rage it used to harbor.

"Oh I know a lot of things, princess," the masked man stopped in his tracks and raised his hand to show the palm of his glove to the air.

"For example," he turned to her one final time, a portal similar to the one he would just open to move into her room was spawned in the space behind him. "I know you asked for your servant to be a part of my theater because you understand that the outside world is in shambles right now."

Her eyes give a twitch with this.

"You also could not keep the idea that there is something for you to learn from this theater away. Even though you know how disappointing the next viewing session will be, you still keep on trying to watch the theater by any justification necessary. Same reason why you kicked Felix away last time."

"That broken dog has no bearing on mine actions. He wants to be nailed to his master's coffin, then so be it."

"Not sure if you're talking about Felix or Subaru here… Uh," he rubs the back of his hood and turns to the portal, ignoring the eyes of crimson rage behind him. "I'll be going now. Thanks for listening to my deal and agreeing to my terms."

"Bring yourself no comfort, commoner," she warns. "Those who wish for your blood are as powerful and many on the inside as they are on the outside."

Warden looks on at the frozen Baroness. Nothing was betrayed from his emotions through his mask. A sense of dread filled the room from the spiteful warning Priscilla made.

"And I know that only one person on both ends is willing to say this to your face." Warden moved through his portal and clicked his finger, freeing Priscilla's body and allowing her to move.

She stood awaiting his words with scrutiny.

The coward let his portal close half way through before leaving her with his message.

"Unlike you, Priscilla Barielle, Prisca Benedict wouldn't have made any excuses to befriend Subaru Natsuki."

It only took a moment for her heel to end up going through the wall of where the portal, and incidentally, the face of the man used to be.

"COME OUT AND FACE YOUR PENANCE!" Priscilla shouts with no attempt at saving face.

Those words got through to her more than anything else this Warden had said or done today.

She refused to give any thought towards them. Less they really did hold any truth, this would be outrageous.

"Um… P-Princess? Who the hell are ya talking to?!" Al reminds her that she just broke through a wall by her kick alone and exposed herself to both the knight and her shell-shocked boy servant sitting in the other room.

"Hmph, silence. Your slothfulness to protect my domain allowed a fly to get inside this goddess' room and privacy. A disgusting, filth-ridden creature with pigs for parents—!"

"Woah calm down! Hey, there's a kid here, princess!" Al tries to persuade his lady from going further into her rant and moves through the newly caved hole to scan her room for anyone.

"You… You really broke something in the Theater… That's amazing, princess." After seeing nothing warranting her wrath like this, Al turned to his master with complete bafflement painting his reaction at the lady's strength. "Though, why would a fly anger you this much? And how did a fly even get into this area in the first plac—"

"Quit speaking about this and bring me another glass of wine." Priscilla orders him abruptly.

"Yes, princess…"

Al looked at his master for a moment before moving onwards to the wine collection on the other side of the room. His head was filled with queries about what had just happened in this room a moment before and what his lady's mind was going through right now.

He managed to capture the young servant's eyes through his helmet for a second. Both Al and Schult had an unspoken agreement through this.

Things were growing agitating for their master… And they might bear the brunt of her wrath if she doesn't get consolation soon.

:

Her breathing was the only sound that swept the room after sitting up. The alarm on her face could've been taken as an explanation towards the level of fear she felt. A level that appropriately made her defined features sag from fatigue.

Heavy breathing was not the only sign of the girl's distress. Her sweat could be covering her whole face in a sheen if it wasn't for the bangs of silver hair that fell on it.

"H-How much time…" Emilia looked around her room until she found who was laying by her side. "He's breathing?"

Expecting coldness, the lady in white brought a hand to the person's face. The peaceful features she was met with stung her to the point she couldn't process the heat touching her skin from the exhaled air coming from his nose.

"..."

Emilia didn't say anything after registering her knight's peacefulness being sleep and not death. She brought her body down so she could continue resting her head on his chest and hear his heartbeat.

"Alive…" she gasps weightlessly as her hand connects with his, intertwining their fingers in a comfortable link for warmth. Emilia felt more warmth when she was holding his hand than when she was directly resting on him.

His heartbeat acted like a ticking clock for her. Each thumping sensation from his chest was like a tiny push for her to do something about this situation. She felt ever more helpless to the point that even her promise to stay away from Subaru's and Rem's love became another mistake on her consciousness. She couldn't help but feel isolated even after so many defended her in the theater.

Emilia was helpless and alone, and she couldn't do anything to put a brave face through it all.

"I'm sorry," she croaked, handling his cheek with care in her palm. "How peaceful you look like this, always so peaceful."

She wondered if he was hearing her right now, through the darkness of his eyelids.

"Are you there? Can you hear me, Subaru? Please give me any sign… Anything to believe you still..." Emilia quit asking her questions. The useless questions managed to make her feel more stupid than anything else.

"I suppose we have to go back," she quickly unfolds her booted legs and finds the will to stand on the room's carpet. "I hope Rem and Beatrice can forgive me for your long absence."

Despite having a smile on her face, Emilia knew that it was fake. She felt no enthusiasm to get out in that theater once more. She held no ill intention with keeping Subaru by her side even in the confines of her bedroom but this is where she felt safest.

Emilia couldn't understand any of the politicking around her. Yet she knew that her underlying issue with seemingly everyone in the theater was, and always has been, her deficiency with handling Subaru.

"..."

Beating back her urge to gaze more at his features, Emilia rolled her legs out of the mattress and stood up, losing the comfort and warmth she lavished from her bed.

Slowly but with great regret, her body began moving in the process to carry Subaru in a somewhat humiliating manner.

"I hoped you would wake up and hate me for doing this…" Emilia chuckled to herself, though it was more like a sound to fill the empty silence she received.

"... Let's get going. I'm sure Beatrice and Rem are both very eager to see you." Emilia spoke to herself more than to the boy that was showering her with silence. Anything to fill the void left behind because of his state.

She took one final time to admire his features. Standing above the bed this time.

"I wish I was there… I wish I had not listened to you… I wish I didn't trust you… It would've done us both a lot of good, Subaru."

Even if she knew he would argue back, that was something she wished to happen at this moment as well. No matter how many nightmares she suffers about him, or the painful feeling in her chest when she remembers what happened to him so far while she played and whined about being a half-elf in her room, she wished for a moment that she would've left the comfortable feeling of being protected so she can save him from his own selfishness. She should've ignored him and came to the forest. She should've stayed with him that night to make sure he was alright. She should've expected he would break his promise to her and would come to the castle anyways. She should've intervened between him and Julius instead of leaving him in a hallway.

She shouldn't have left him with Crusch and Felix while she went off on her own.

Funny enough it's only now that she thought about these things. She thought of different solutions to the problems that made her choose all of these poor choices and it was only after the boy had already received crushing and haunting pains.

"Some ruler yer 'boutta be."

Anastasia's words rang deep within Emilia's consciousness.

"Come on Subaru, the others must reeally miss you." Emilia shook off the thought, as she had gotten used to do for the past few viewings and abuses from the other camp leaders like Anastasia and Priscilla, and started to lean down so she can pick the knight up.

She would honestly laugh at the way he looked in her arms. It was so normal for her to see him as anything but cute when he's so peaceful like this, but he always paid too much attention to how she's carrying him and would demand she put him down. She never figured out why he hated being carryed so much. Maybe he didn't want to have her strain herself? He should know that her strength is not to be scoffed at.

She shook her head and started walking to the door of her room, Subaru comfortably snuggled in her arms, just as she carried him inside, she's now carrying him out of her room in order to end her private time with the boy.

Emilia still wished to understand why he never seemed to like being carried in a bridal style manner though.

It was one more question that Subaru wouldn't be answering her in this state.

:

-x-X-x-

"Goddamn it Big Bro…" Felt kicked the carpet as she walked across the hall. She saw Subaru's squeaky friend with the gray-hair walking with the blonde maid that had sharp teeth. "Can't one of you just help save him from this mess… Jeez…"

The blonde sighed and walked on her own. "That look on Big bro's face… The way he met his end is just…" Felt's eyes closed as she stopped walking for a moment, grasping a breath so she could huff it out again.

"I cannot believe that he's been through all of this alone… I should've done more to get 'em my help…" Felt's eyes opened with a glint of guilt and frustration clear to anyone who could see her right now. Perhaps that's why she was alone at the moment.

Before she could think alone on the matter of Subaru, she heard footsteps inching toward her from behind.

"Huh? What're ya doin' tryina get close, little guy?" Felt looked behind her to find one of the demihuman twins that had been occupying Anastasia's side the whole time. "Ya need somethin'?"

"Um… I apologize for intruding on your moment, My name is Tivey." The boy introduced himself elegantly, earning a nod from Felt as she put a hand on her hip with impatience. "I was told to accompany you for a while? If you don't mind the company of myself of course. My boss was okay with it."

Felt blinked at this. "Why would I wanna have someone accompany me? Who told ya to do so?"

The boy toyed with his monocle nervously, glancing toward the far end of the hallway. "Um… The Sword Saint himself told me to do so, ma'am. In case you haven't heard yet since you're the only one who wasn't there…"

Her eyes narrowed at the boy, feeling cautious and nervous immediately, "Knowing what? Speak."

"The father of the Sword Saint… An unpleasant man… Has been summoned alongside a butler for Priscilla Bareille-sama's camp… So they can join us in watching the next viewing…" Tivey gave the news with a straight face, showing seriousness for the candidate to understand the news properly.

"Reinhard's dad's 'ere now?! What the fuck?!" Felt gave the appropriate response as she glared at the boy. "Why wasn't I told immediately? Where's Rein now?"

Tivey received her anger with no change to his stoney face, knowing how to be professional. "The Sword Saint had to urgently go and meet with his father after the commander-san went into hiding in his room…"

"Yeah, that's true, that nasty man is also some kind of commander for the damned knights ain't he…" Felt clicked her tongue and scowled down the hallway. "Damn it, Rein… Tell me where they are right now!"

Tivey shrugged his shoulder and started taking her toward the room where the Astreas were having an important discussion.

:

Reinhard wanted few things in his life right now.

He wanted to make Felt king, which he truly believed was an attainable destiny, especially with how much faith his lady inspired from others.

After sitting in the theater for what amounted to a few days now, he wanted nothing more than to punch himself until his teeth fell out alongside buckets worth of blood. Sadly, he knew the world would heal him and probably strengthen his teeth to ensure that it never happens again.

"Nine deaths so far…"

He was counting under his breath every time.

The knight stood alone in the hallway, though it was stretched very far, one couldn't see across the corners of the structure past the theater room.

"Nine lifetimes I have to make up for, all because I couldn't just… Take you with me on that night…" Reinhard held in a sigh, not willing to dwell on this again, especially with his lady not present. "I'm sorry for what may befall you Subaru… I know you saved them all in the end… but what you lost… Your rage… I won't ever forget such a sight."

The scream from Subaru replayed again inside of his head to the point of making him wince unconsciously.

"I'm sorry…"

"Oi… Who's the fucker outside my door?" An unpleasant voice shouted from beyond the closed door Reinhard faced.

"It's me… Father…" Reinhard tried to keep himself from sighing once again.

The third he wished for in this life… was to never have his father here.

"The fuck're you doing out there, you little monster…"

Reinhard truly wished for very few things in this world.

Yet none of them seem possible as of this moment.

"May I please enter? I'd like to have a word with you…" Reinhard waited for any sign of disagreement from the other person on the other side. He only heard a grunt.

"Sure, come'ere and answer a few questions."

He opened the door and found a familiar sight.

"I see it didn't take you long to use the prison's lavish liquor collection…" Reinhard commented as he witnessed the amount of empty bottles on the floor. "You've not been here a couple of hours and you drank this much?"

The man Reinhard was trying to admonish was one lying on the floor by his table, surrounded by the smell of liquor and flush from the alcohol he was consuming.

"Ya think that all of this would get me to forget where I am and what's happening… But it seems my drinking senses have been enhanced to the point I can't get fucked up anymore…" The drunkard hiccuped and threw a bottle alongside the others.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Reinhard raised a brow but his father met him with a glare of contempt.

"Hey… Tell me somethin' smartass… How come you haven't been able to get us outta this place yet, huh? I know that you and the other lot with Juukilius and the Blue have been here longer than most of us…" Heinkel asked his son with an effort to stand.

"I'm surprised you still remember my friends' names in your state… Julius and Felix have been hard at work helping their respective masters… Like me." Reinhard seemed surprised by his own words when he looked at his father.

"I didn't ask how ya were nor do I give a dragon's ass about the current service ya're in," Heinkel growled while wobbling to his feet after another attempt.

"You should be… As the Deputy Commander of the Royal Guards…" Reinhard mumbled under his breath.

Heinkel stopped struggling against his own weight for a moment and glanced back toward the young man before him.

"Something about ya has changed…" The drunk man seemed a lot sharper than he previously let on his eyes and scanned his son.

Reinhard found himself staring back at those eyes his father stared at him with. Staring to meet his father's hate with something new.

"Are ya determined to piss me off all my life, you monster?" Heinkel growled at his son. "What's with your self-righteous glance… Do you think that you can afford to have any will to fight for something you want? After everything you've done…"

Heinkel stepped forward and slammed a fist into his son's chest.

"I won't allow you to do such a thing… You need to be reminded of the bullshit you've caused others… So stop acting so cocky…"

The fist didn't hurt Reinhard in any way, just allowed the young man to keep watching his father's eyes from a closer perspective.

"That's charming of you to say, father." Reinhard gave an unexpected reply that made Heinkel narrow his eyes, but he continued to speak before his father could comment on his sarcasm. "To answer your question, I have been stripped of my powers… And my sword."

At this, Heinkel's face fell into one of shock.

"The fuck ya mean…"

Reinhard gave his father a small nod. "It appears the entity… No… The person who's stuck us into this situation has enough power to negate any of my abilities… Along with all of the others."

"Fucking hell… What the fuck…" Heinkel brought a hand to rub his face. "I need a drink…"

"I think you've had plenty already, father." Reinhard tried to sound teasing.

"Ya can fuck off… What a useless fucking knight… Just exists to terrorize and put my life into the shit instead of finally doing something useful…" The drunkard glared at his son with pure rage, Reinhard only met him with a neutral expression.

"I came to check on you, father… To see if you are alright and adjusting…" Reinhard's emotionless voice didn't sound inappropriate to his own father as the man scoffed and moved to open a new bottle.

"Well, I'm just peachy, fucker… Just fucking great since I got kidnapped and my useless monster of a son can't get us out of it even though it was supposed to be the entire fucking reason why the Od choose you over mo—..." Heinkel growled and held a hand to his forehead. "Just get outta 'ere… alright? Fuck off."

"That would be for the best, father." Reinhard nodded his head and exited the room swiftly, not sparing his parent another glance.

Once he was outside, all he could do was sigh to himself.

"I knew that ya would be at the dude's fuckin' room." An angry voice sounded from behind him.

"Felt-sama… What are you doing—" the surprised knight could only block the boot aiming for his face.

"Fuckin' jackass!" Felt lands on the ground and glares at the knight. "Who told ya to deal with the guy alone? Huh?"

"I wanted to see him…" Reinhard gave his lady a small smile. "Even if he remains… himself."

Felt is taken aback by this. "And what about all those things he always says to ya? Ain't ya gonna go on a moping spree like usual?"

The knight managed to look a little bit offended. "I don't think I mope at this age, my lady…"

Felt's eyes told him that she saw a different story.

"I do not— ahem…" Reinhard stuttered but shook his head to stop himself. "Anyways, it seems the Deputy Commander is doing just fine. I won't let his words affect me, I promise."

"Are ya sure, Rein?" Felt's eyes stared up at him with rounded seriousness.

"With these fists crushing themselves… I'd say even the Sword Saint doesn't know the answer, Felt-sama." Tivey commented from the side, making the two look at Reinhard's hands.

"Ah… I apologize." Reinhard sighed.

"Stop apologizing," Felt kicked at his calf without any power to it. "It's annoying… But I'm proud of ya…"

Reinhard gave her a small smile, bringing himself to forget what just happened with his father for a moment.

Felt gave him a grin that told him she saw something different within. Something she encouraged steadfastly.

"Ya don't have to apologize for being yerself… Not to me… Not to anyone… especially for someone like that guy…" Felt sounded the most serious she ever had been since he met her.

"I live by your words, Felt-sama." Reinhard's voice made it clear that it wasn't just her order he followed… But his heart commanded the same thing as his lady.

"Hey guys…" Tivey interrupted the moment to make the two look back toward him. His cat ears twitched in a faraway direction.