2

A week had come and gone in the Astrea household.

Everyday like clockwork Subaru would wake up and have to re-adjust himself as the overload of stimuli assaulted his senses, but with the time and effort he had put into controlling these new powers of his, it was becoming far more manageable to tune out.

After waking up his schedule usually consisted of going down to the dining area and chatting with Emilia, Felt, Reinhard and the twin maids Flam, and Grassis. They would eat and talk about mundane things such as how they had slept, plans for the day and whatnot. Eventually Reinhard would end up pissing off Felt as per usual and Emilia and Subaru would laugh at his expense.

Shortly after breakfast Reinhard would take Subaru out to the courtyard which had been reinforced with protective magic to prevent damage. Reinhard would help Subaru discover his mana, and channel it throughout his body. On the first day Subaru had quickly picked up the basics because of Reinhard's Divine Protection of Training Mastery, and the days that followed had him improving at a stellar rate when it came to mana control. He could control the output and flow of the mana in his body which finally allowed him to test out using a spell without possibly blowing himself up.

Puck had accompanied the two of them on one of the early morning training sessions and taught Subaru a basic-level shadow spell called Shamac. Shamac would allow Subaru to use his mana and create a cloud of black fog that would disconnect a target from their senses completely if caught in the blast radius. It was a bit of a scary experience as he did not have enough mana control to keep it from affecting himself, it reminded him of the void he would see just as he died, which initially sent him into a panic attack until the spell wore off. He was a bit hesitant to try again but after encouragement from both Puck and Reinhard he relented. After a few more tries he managed to get a decent grasp on it.

While magic wasn't his main focus at the moment, having an ability like that might come useful if a time came where he would need something like that in his arsenal. They had mainly focused on mana control and reinforcing his body with mana, which softened the impact of high jumps or crash landings quite significantly. He also realized that reinforcing his body with mana could empower him, although thanks to his new physiology as a cursed doll, or as he liked to call himself a pseudo-vampire. He was already capable of generating enough force and speed as it was, so wasting mana on reinforcement when he didn't need to would be a drain on his already small gate and mana capacity.

Reinhard had told him it might be an advantage because his opponents would have to keep mana reinforcement up constantly when facing him because of how much force he could generate, which would be a drain on his opponents the more the fight went on.

After their training session during the mornings, they would usually head down to lunch, where Carol would prepare some light food for all of them such as sandwiches. Subaru was pretty fond of Carol for how kind she was, albeit she could be a bit scary as both him and Felt quickly found out when she had found Felt trying to escape the manor.

Subaru had ended up meeting Carol's husband, Grimm Fauzen, throughout the time he stayed at the mansion. Grimm was an old man who appeared to have aged gracefully, he had a scar on his throat which he apparently had gotten during something called the 'Demi-Human War' back in the day, and he didn't speak much because of it, but when he did his voice was raspy. Grimm had short white hair, a sharp jaw, a white beard and sharp eyes. He wore a rather chic and well-designed butler outfit.

Subaru had taken a liking to Grimm, and would always greet him with a smile and a wave every time he ended up running into him. Grimm seemed to appreciate the gesture and would return the courtesy.

After lunch ended Subaru would join Felt in her studies. Felt was constantly complaining as Reinhard tried to teach her how to act like a noble and be well-mannered because it would be necessary as a royal candidate, but Felt vehemently disagreed saying that she planned on resigning as soon as she could, and that she would not give up who she was for some old noble dickwads who never gave her the time of day prior.

Subaru usually laughed it off, but he understood where she was coming from fundamentally. She had lived in poverty almost all her life, and now she's suddenly being thrown into a world where she is one of the most important people in the kingdom. Where she no longer has to try and survive but also manage other people and problems when she has her own. Subaru understood from his own experiences of not feeling like he earned something, after all he had been a good for nothing these past few years, and yet for some reason he was chosen to come to this new world.

Even if Felt didn't admit it, because of his own experiences he could tell that she felt like this was cheating, everyone she knew such as Rom was being left behind because she got a lucky draw?

Moving on from Felt, Subaru had ended up learning how to read and write at an accelerated pace thanks again to Reinhard's Divine Protection of Training Mastery, and while he wasn't perfect… He could read and understand the language as well as write it, albeit a bit slowly.

After study time Subaru had a few hours to himself, which he would usually spend talking and hanging out with residents of the mansion, such as Flam, Grassis, Felt, Reinhard, and if he was blessed enough, Emilia.

Sure enough dinner would come and pass and Reinhard would take him back out to the courtyard to train him in combat. Typically, some residents would come and watch them train, and as of the more recent days Grimm and Carol would also come and watch if they had free-time.

Subaru had grown a lot in terms of his fighting capabilities thanks once again to Reinhard's divine protections. Subaru was able to coordinate attacks while also keeping track of his own movements and tunnel vision as he leapt around at high speeds and generated enough force to leave craters in the ground with his blows. When he first started out training with Reinhard a week prior, he had been more of a brawler. While he had some tact and quick-thinking which were definitely a strength, he had lacked awareness and combat sense. He would focus entirely on landing an attack on his opponent but would get blindsided for not paying more attention to the opponent.

Reinhard had beaten it into him to think and constantly observe his opponent even when he was attacking. All of Subaru's senses were constantly dialed to eleven and he realized that Reinhard was right, he should be taking advantage of those senses that most people had to train to obtain.

But once again, just because he had an advantage in strength and information processing, did not mean that he would win. Technique typically wins out. Unless you're someone like Reinhard who was basically a demi-god and it didn't matter who went against him, they would lose.

On Reinhard's suggestion Subaru had picked up the sword arts, and while he didn't have much natural talent for it, with training he became at the very least decent with it. Technique might not be driving factor for him in a sword fight, as long as he could fight at an acceptable level with it, he could use his superior strength and speed to overwhelm an opponent and make up for his shortcomings. He found that by channeling his mana into the sword it would work similar to the reinforcement techniques he used in his body, reinforcing the structure of the sword and preventing it from breaking from the amount of stress he would put on it with his strikes.

Reinhard noticed that when Subaru used his mana on the sword, there would be a small build up of a crystal on it which was pink and purple depending on how the light reflected on it, shimmering and enhancing the swords durability and cutting power.

Puck had piped up and told them that it reminded him of Minya, which was an offensive form of shadow magic, and while it was incomplete on the sword, the premise was still there.

That's how the days went by, the schedule remained the same everyday for the remainder of the week.

"Honestly… I don't think I'll ever get used to this."

Subaru's voice drawled out as he stared at himself in the mirror, his mouth was open as he stared at his teeth with a dull expression. His new fangs which he had discovered on his second day gave him a bit of anxiety. He light prodded them with his fingers and winced slightly as he had accidentally pressed a bit too hard and punctured his finger, he watched as his finger bled for a moment before the puncture wound on his finger closed and healed before his eyes.

He hadn't felt the need to drink any blood, and he assumed it was just something that came with being a cursed doll, but he also wondered why it would form then.

"Surely there is a reason these grew in, there's no way they would appear without reason… would they?"

Subaru mumbled out as he closed his mouth finally, washing off the blood that was on his finger in the sink, revealing a perfectly untouched finger. This regeneration factor was definitely useful.

"You should stop worrying so much about it, you know. All that worrying will make your hair go grey just like old man Grimm you know."

Subaru's eye twitched hearing that teasing voice, he slowly turned around robotically with narrowed eyes as he saw Felt standing by the entrance of the bathroom, a teasing smile on her face. She was no longer in the yellow dress that she had been in previously and was back in her usual outfit.

Subaru suddenly pointed a finger at her. "Oi! What if I was taking a bath or something! You just walked in here without warning! Are you a pervert or something?! Sorry Felt but my heart belongs to another, nor am I comfortable accepting the advances from someone who calls me 'big bro'!"

Felt suddenly ran up to him and smacked him on the back of his head causing him to wince and crouch down and hold his head in pain.

"Are you stupid or something? Don't joke around like that!" Felt looked embarrassed with a flustered look on her face, before eventually calming down and smiling her usual smile at him.

"Besides you took a bath earlier so I knew you wouldn't be taking another one!"

Subaru deadpanned at her, Felt took this as a victory and her already annoying smirk widened into a triumphant smirk.

Subaru sighed and then smiled back at her.

"So, lil sis what did you come here for?"

Felt suddenly looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Lil sis?"

"I mean yeah you're always calling me big bro… so wouldn't that make you lil sis?"

Felt looked up for a moment, with a hand on her chin as if she was debating the idea in her head. She looked back at him.

"I guess that makes sense but don't call me little! I'm still a growing girl, my height has nothing to do with this!"

"I didn't call you short though?!" Subaru exclaimed back at her; Felt had responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

Subaru got back up from his crouch as Felt ignored him and continued to speak.

"Today is your last day here before you and big sis head out to where she stays isn't it?"

Subaru paused and remembered that they indeed were supposed to leave today, he grabbed his head and made an exasperated sound.

"Agh! I completely forgot about that. I was so used to this daily routine it slipped my mind that we were staying here temporarily."

Felt just looked at him with a nervous smile.

"You really are a bit slow, aren't you?"

"I don't want to hear that from you of all people you shitty loli!"

"The hells a 'loli? Just hearing that word pisses me off for some reason."

Subaru and Felt looked annoyed at each other before they both burst out laughing, Felt motioned for him to follow her.

"I guess you want to say goodbye to everyone before you leave?"

Subaru's laughter died down as he nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, everyone here has been a real help to me. I want to show my appreciation before leaving."

Subaru and Felt had gone and walked around the mansion finding everyone, and Subaru would put on a dramatic goodbye filled with tears to everyone he came across. Grimm and Carol had been the first ones who they had found. The two of them both smiled amusedly at him and wished him luck going forward as they bid him farewell.

Subaru and Felt barged into the kitchen where Flam and Grassis were residing in, the two maids turned towards them with a startle, and before they could react Subaru had grabbed onto both of them and began spinning them around.

"Come here you little brats! I'm going to miss the both of you!"

Flam and Grassis were both getting dizzy as they began to hit him.

"Let us go!" Flam insisted with a dizzy and annoyed expression on her face.

"Aaaaaaaa….." Grassis has just let out a low drawl as she felt herself getting more and more dizzy.

After a few moments Subaru put them down and looked at the both of them with a smirk, that was payback for making fun of his introduction on the first day. They had done plenty of teasing and sarcastic remarks throughout his stay and this was adequate and well-deserved karma.

After a few moments and glares from Flam, the two maids had regain their bearings.

"You're leaving already?" Grassis had stated, a small frown on her face. She had grown fond of Subaru with the way he always barged in and messed around with them every day.

"Finally, I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to deal with your shenanigans, Subaru-sama. Respectfully." Flam had responded, pausing for a moment before adding in the last part as if it pained her to say it.

Subaru just ruffled Flam's hair in response which made her squirm.

"Hey! I didn't say you could just mess up my hair."

Subaru ignored Flam much to her distraught and looked at Grassis.

"Yeah, as much as I loved spending time here. Emilia has her duties and needs to return back home, and after having a chat with Reinhard I want to try and become her knight."

Flam and Grassis both looked up at him with an incredulous look.

"A knight?" Flam slowly says.

"I don't think you have the qualities of a Knight, you sure you don't want to become a jester?" Grassis quickly adds on with a smirk.

Subaru just shakes his fists at them.

"Well, if being a knight doesn't work out, maybe I'll come back and work as a butler here, then I can annoy the both of you all I want."

Flam and Grassis instantly both just bowed and wished him luck suddenly.

"I wish you the utmost amount of luck possible, please become a knight, Subaru-sama."

"Yes, it would be in our best interests if you succeed."

"Do you guys really dislike me that much?!" Subaru yelled out, hiding his face in shock as he looked at the both of them with concern in his eyes, although he was clearly just playing it out.

Both Flam and Grassis just giggled at him, which caused Subaru to slowly smile at the both of them.

"I'll miss you two, you little brats."

Flam and Grassis cracked a smile at him.

"We look forward to seeing you again, Subaru-sama." Grassis spoke up first, with Flam quickly following up.

"Who else will we bully in the meantime I wonder?" Flam said. While a bit reserved, she clearly did enjoy the time Subaru had spent with them.

Felt quickly began sweating at the question of who they would bully in the meantime. She saw both Flam and Grassis slowly turn towards her with a robotic smile which caused her to suddenly try and pull Subaru out of the room trying to get away from those demons.

"AH! THAT'S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE LEFT, COME ON BIG BRO!"

Subaru chuckled as he waved goodbye at the twins as Felt pulled him out of the room, muttering something about demon maids.

Subaru and Felt had finally made it to the main hall of the manor, where they saw Reinhard and Emilia standing there talking with another person. Subaru quickly recognized them as the pink-haired woman who he saw before he passed out at the loot house.

The woman in question has medium length light pink hair that covers her left eye, large darkish red eyes, and young features. She also has hair clips towards right side of her hair, flower-shaped ribbon on the same side of her hair, and a maid hairband. She was wearing a stereotypical maid outfit which he had seen several of the house staff wear, although hers appeared to be a bit stylized.

She noticed him approaching and looked at him with a questioning gaze.

Emilia and Reinhard quickly noticed Subaru's arrival and went to greet him.

"Ah, Subaru! There you are!"

"Subaru, I'd like you to meet Ram, she is a maid that works for-…"

Subaru ignored both of them as he walked right by them and walked up to the pink-haired maid, who was just still staring at him.

Subaru quickly stuck his hip out to the side, raising his opposite arm and once again pointing up to the heavens. He had successfully completed yet another 'Subaru Pose'

"My name is Natsuki Subaru! Not only am I still a bit clueless, but I am still broke beyond compare!"

Silence filled the main room, as the now identified Ram just stared at him for a moment, before her eye narrowed in disgust as her mouth opened into an expression of scorn.

"Hah!" was the only thing he got as a response from Ram.

Subaru just stayed in his pose, his mouth wide open from his declaration as slowly but surely a bit of pink dusted his cheeks in embarrassment.

He could hear Emilia giggling behind him, with Reinhard giving him an awkward smile. Felt had merely just facepalmed at his antics as she spoke up.

"Never change, big bro."

Subaru quickly dropped his pose and with embarrassment just lowered his head.

"A-Anyways… Nice to meet you, Ram was it?"

Ram kept looking at him with scorn but her lips quirked upwards into a smirk.

"Yes, I am the lovely Ram. Maid under the Mathers domain. You may now bow before me."

"Bow before you?!"

Ram followed up with a smile as she raised a finger up.

"But of course, it is only natural to bow before a being so superior to yourself, stop talking and hurry up and pay me my respects, Barusu."

"Did you just turn my name into a blinding curse?!" Subaru yelled out in exasperation.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Barusu."

Emilia giggled again catching both of their attention as she walked up beside Subaru.

"I'm glad the two of you are getting along so well already!"

"Emilia-tan…" Subaru said her name dreamily.

"Emilia-sama please do not make such an assumption, I am not getting along with this man at all." Ram said in a serious voice which caused Subaru to react.

"Huh?!"

Ram smiled with a smug smirk in response saying nothing more, enjoying getting under his skin.

Reinhard suddenly stepped up towards Subaru and Emilia with a smile, which caught his attention as he turned to face him.

"Emilia-sama, Subaru. I'd like to wish you safe travels. The two of you had livened up the atmosphere of this place quite considerably, it was… fun." Reinhard began speaking.

Subaru smiled and patted Reinhard on the back.

"Thank you for everything, Rein. You seriously helped me out and I don't know how to repay you." Subaru began.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay for a while, Reinhard." Emilia's soft voice came out as she smiled at Reinhard.

Reinhard nodded and smiled at the both of them.

"It was my pleasure. Subaru you mentioned you had an interest in becoming Emilia-sama's knight correct?"

Subaru nodded vigorously as he gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeah! If it means I get to spend my time by Emilia-tan's side then I'll definitely try my best!"

Emilia looked up at the two of them in surprise, she had not heard Subaru mention that being his wish.

"Subaru, are you sure that's what you want? Being a knight is quite the responsibility… Plus I don't know if you would want to be my knight. I'm a silver haired half elf…"

Subaru just nodded dumbly and smiled.

"It makes sense, elves are always super cute. Of course I want to, I'm willing to work hard. I know there's a lot of responsibility but I still want to become your knight."

Emilia looked at him with concern but she pressed on.

"Why do you want to become my knight so badly?"

Subaru paused as he began to blush, well he definitely had affection for her but… was that the only reason? Subaru thought about the reason why he wanted it… he looked into Emilia's eyes and remembered everything that happened over the past few days and their interactions in his first loops. With a determined smile he opened up his mouth.

"Because you saved me, you were my first friend when I arrived here. You didn't know me but you stuck by my side even after I got cursed and made sure I was alright. I want to do the same for you, I want to protect you and stick by your side just like you had done for me. You're a kind girl who helps others and not expecting anything in return, I want to help you."

Emilia's eyes widened at his response, before she closed them for a moment in silence. She reopened them after a few seconds and looked at him with a small smile.

"I don't know what you mean when you said I saved you, you are the one who helped me get my insignia back… But if that's what you want then I won't stop you even if I'm a bit hesitant on it…" Emilia nervously replied, she was still concerned about how her status would reflect negatively on Subaru by being associated with her, but she could tell he really wanted this and was willing to face the rough road ahead to get it.

Subaru excitedly jumped into the air and pumped his fist.

"Really? You'll let me?"

Emilia looked at him with a serious expression and nodded.

"It won't be easy, you can't become a knight over night you know. You'll have to talk to my sponsor about it, but if he allows it then I'll let you become my knight in training."

Subaru pumped his fist into the air. "Alright! Thank you Emilia-tan I won't let you down."

Emilia smiled softly and nodded in response. "I know you won't."

Reinhard had cleared his throat to gather their attention once more, Subaru turned to Reinhard to see him holding a familiar sword. It was the one he had been using to train with during the evenings with Reinhard. It was in a black scabbard and Reinhard was handing it out to him.

"You have grown and improved greatly in your abilities in the past week, Subaru. I look forward to seeing you join our ranks as a knight. I want to give you this as a parting gift, you grew quite attached to it as we trained and I figured you should have it."

Subaru looked at Reinhard in shock as he hesitantly reached out to the sword.

"Are you sure about this, Rein? I don't know if I can accept something so valuable."

Reinhard smiled and motioned for him to take it. "It's quite alright, we have tons of weaponry in stock anyways. Consider this a blessing of good luck for your journey to knighthood."

Subaru looked down at the sword he had grown familiar with, grabbing onto the handle with one hand and the scabbard with his other, he noticed it had a belt for him. He quickly tied the belt around his waist, the sword hanging from his left hip.

"Thank you, Reinhard."

"Anytime, Subaru."

Ram coughed into her and spoke up.

"Emilia-sama we should get going soon if we intend to return back to Lord Roswaal in time for lunch."

Emilia nodded and turned towards everyone.

"Thank you for the hospitality again, I'll hopefully see you all again, goodbye Reinhard, Felt-chan."

Felt waved her with a toothy grin. "Live strong!"

"Take care, Emilia-sama, Subaru." Reinhard had replied.

And with that, Ram, Subaru, and Emilia had left the Astrea household behind.

The three of them were currently in a ground carriage. Ram was in the front outside currently driving them, her hands on the saddle and straps connected to the ground dragon that was pulling the carriage.

Subaru and Emilia were sitting inside the carriage, Subaru was staring outside the window of the carriage with a smile as he watched the trees zoom by, they were slowly approaching the Mathers domain. Ram had told them that soon they would be approaching the village of Arlam.

The carriage was being pulled at a good pace, although Subaru was thinking to himself.

'I could probably run way faster than this.' And it was true. Ever since becoming a cursed doll/pseudo-vampire his physical capabilities had improved greatly, and with the nonstop training Reinhard had put him through he had gotten better at controlling his newfound abilities. He could navigate rather fast without crashing into things anymore which allowed him to continue his accelerated movement without needing to stop or slow down.

His stamina was much better as well, and with the proper breathing techniques Reinhard had instructed him to learn, he wasn't wasting too much of the new stamina he had gained.

Emilia turned to look at Subaru with a smile on her face as she watched him look at the world in wonder.

"I'm reeeallly surprised at your reactions, it's like you've never been anywhere but the capital before."

Subaru turned to look at Emilia with a grin as he nodded.

"I'm not exactly from around here, so yeah! I'm from a nation in the east called Japan."

Emilia looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Subaru… Lugunica is the most eastern nation on this world, there is nothing more if you go east but the great waterfall."

Subaru paused before smiling sheepishly.

"Really? Huh."

Emilia recalled his introduction and giggled.

"You weren't lying when you said you were clueless huh?"

Subaru blushed as Emilia teased him.

"Emilia-tan… I didn't expect to be teased by you as well." Subaru lowered his head in defeat, first it was Flam and Grassis, then it was Felt and Ram… and now even Emilia-tan is teasing him! What a cruel world!

Subaru could see the scenery change as the carriage slowed down, he could see houses and children outside playing in the dirt streets. He figured they arrived in the village of Arlam. The children paused and looked at the carriage with curiosity and saw Subaru looking at them through the window. Subaru gave an awkward smile and waved at them. The children were a bit hesitant but they ended up smiling back at him and waving.

He looked back towards Emilia and noticed her staying away from the windows. He looked at her with a puzzled expression as he saw her frowning. Was it because of her appearance that she didn't want to be seen? He recalled in his studies learning about a witch who ended up destroying half the world, Satella. That's the name Emilia introduced herself as in his first loop in this world. Thinking back on it he wondered why she did that, was it to make him keep his distance? But why?

Subaru's sharp mean eyes narrowed as he continued to ponder this question, he shook his head. He'd ask her about it later. She seemed to be a bit hesitant right now and didn't want to bother her asking why she was hiding from being seen.

Subaru watched as the scenery of the village was replaced by a path, he stuck his head out the window and saw a big mansion up in the distance which caused him to shout out in wonder.

"Holy shit! That's even bigger than Reinhard's place!"

Ram who heard him scoffed with her usual "Hah!"

"But of course, Roswaal-sama's family has been important for a long time, of course the manor would be extravagant. Nothing but the best for him." Ram had exclaimed with pride in her voice as she spoke about Roswaal.

Subaru deadpanned wondering if she had a crush on Roswaal or something.

Emilia suddenly spoke up as well, the chimes of silver bells tickling his ears as she spoke.

"Subaru, Roswaal is the court mage for the kingdom, he is very important. And as Ram said his family has been important to the kingdom for generations. It's only natural someone of his status would have a big place."

Subaru nodded.

"Thank you for blessing me with your explanation, Emilia-tan is seriously a goddess!"

Emilia just looked at him with a puzzled smile.

Not soon after they finished their conversation, they had arrived at the entrance of the mansion, Subaru and Emilia had stepped out of the carriage and Subaru admired the grand scale of the mansion. Subaru looked behind and stared at the paved road that was leading up to the mansion, there were several branching off sections that led to a garden, a gazebo, and large open space. It spanned on for ages.

He turned back towards the mansion which had large and well-kept bushes alongside the entrance. His eyes caught sight of someone standing waiting for them at the entrance.

His eyes widened at the sight, she looked like Ram but with blue hair?!

She looked identical to Ram, although she had light blue hair that covered the opposite eye instead, the clip in her hair being mirrored to Ram's. She had the same maid outfit on that Ram had, but her breasts were bigger than Ram's.

Emilia and Ram began to walk towards the entrance so Subaru followed suit, as they approached the mystery clone of Ram, she spoke up.

"Welcome back Emilia-sama, Nee-sama."

She turned towards Subaru and bowed slightly.

"Greeting, I am Rem. I am the head maid in service of Lord Roswaal, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Subaru paused and looked towards Ram and then back to Rem with an incredulous expression on his face. They both looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Are twin maids like a common thing in this world?!"

Rem looked at him confused, while Emilia and Ram looked at him with amusement.

"I'm sorry I don't quite get what you mean by that." Rem had spoken out.

"Ah it's nothing, the previous manor we were staying at also had maids who were twin sisters, I guess it's just a coincidence." Subaru drawled out.

Rem just nodded slowly not sure what to say and motioned for them to follow her inside, as she did she looked towards Subaru.

"I will prepare a room for you, please wait here."

Subaru nodded and made idle conversation with both Ram and Emilia.

"So, Barusu wants to become a knight? You would be more useful as a scarecrow to scare off visitors instead with those eyes."

Subaru pouted at her as he closed his eyes and yelled out.

"I can't control the way my eyes look, thank you very much Nee-sama!"

Ram simply scoffed and crossed her arms. "I feel sorry for the parents who had to raise a child with such a scary face."

"I'll have you know I get these eyes from my mother, don't go insulting them!"

Emilia just smiled at their banter, they really did get along well.

Soon after Rem had returned and escorted Subaru to the room he'd be staying in for the meantime while they waited for Roswaal's schedule to clear up. She bid him farewell as Subaru looked around the room he had been provided. It was definitely less extravagant than the room he had while staying at Reinhard's. It had a desk by the window, his room seemed to have a balcony as well. He had a nice bed in the corner. He really couldn't complain considering that without the hospitality he would be on the streets.

Subaru decided to go exploring in the meantime, he exited the room he was in and began to walk around the halls.

"This place looks rather incredible compared to Reinhard's place. It's like the stuff you'd see in movies." Subaru mumbles out in admiration to himself. As he continued to walk down the corridor he paused suddenly.

Subaru's eye slowly trailed over to a door. It was an average looking door, but for some reason he felt a strange pull to it. His game master senses never failed him before, and with his new status as a cursed doll he could definitely perceive things around him much better than he could before.

He suddenly approached the door and opened it, revealing a library. He walked into the room and saw a young girl sitting in front of him, gazing at him with an uncaring expression, although a bit of curiosity to see what had disturbed her.

The young girl in question looked to be around the age of Flam and Grassis which looked about 12. She had large sky-blue eyes which held pink butterfly patterns as their irises. She had pale cream blonde hair which looked long and was tied into frilly vertical drill-shaped twin tails that looked like springs. The tips of her twin tails are dyed pink.

She had a pink frilly ornate dress with white trimmings and an exposed front that leave her legs visible, and are completely covered by pink and purple vertically-striped tights. A petite crown is also sported on the right side of her head, serving as a nice accessory which complements her appearance rather perfectly. She was also wearing pink shoes with butterfly straps on her feet, and has a large pink ribbon adorned upon the left side of her waist and a pair of similar ribbons tied at the top of her twin tails.

The two of them just looked at each other for a moment, before the young girl closed her book.

"Who are you supposed to be, I suppose?"

Subaru smiled as he was once more presented with an opportunity, the smile made the young girl raise an eyebrow at him.

Subaru summoned energy from the very depths of his soul as he exploded into his signature pose he always made when introducing himself, which startled the young girl.

"My name is Natsuki Subaru! Not only am I clueless! But I am also broke beyond compare! Nice to meet you, young lady!"

The young lady looked at him with a look that seemed to be silently asking him if he had brain damage.

"Don't go calling Betty a young lady, I am much older than you are."

Subaru smiled down at her as he walked towards her.

"Betty was it? Sorry but when you look like a loli it makes it kind of hard to believe that."

"What is that term? 'loli'. Honestly it makes me aggravated just hearing it, I suppose." She grumbles out in response.

The young lady paused before continuing.

"Do not call me Betty, you may refer to me as Beatrice." She frowns at him, just who was this stranger barging into her library like this?

Subaru smiled at her and joked out.

"Don't go frowning like that, you'll ruin your face like that you know. Kids like you should be smiling, go on smile!" Subaru brought two fingers up to the sides of his lips and pushed them upwards, motioning for her to smile.

Beatrice got up suddenly and began walking towards him.

"It appears your indignation really knows no bounds. Allow Betty to teach you a lesson."

Subaru backed up nervously as she approached him.

"What are you going to do to me?" his voice came out hesitantly.

Beatrice only smirked at him as she raised her hand at him and rested it on his chest, for a moment he stared at her in silence before it hit him.

Intense electrifying pain coursed throughout his body as he let out a scream of agony, he fell down to his knees and tried to catch his breath as he gazed up at her with half open eyes, his body suddenly on full alert.

"What the hell did you do to me you, shitty little loli?!" He gasped out in heavy breaths; he felt his gate had significantly less mana than it did before.

"I drained your mana, I suppose. With this I confirmed that you are not a threat to this mansion." She had an evil smile on her face as she said this. Was she taking joy out of seeing him on the ground?

Beatrice walked back to her stool and sat back down on it, looking at him idly.

"You're… not human, are you?" Subaru managed to bite out.

Beatrice smiled at him with a demeaning smile.

"Took you long enough. I think it's about time you go to sleep."

But to her surprise, Subaru had managed to get back up on his feet, albeit stumbling. His vampiric nature as a cursed doll was already fixing him up, his mana would return slowly but his regeneration managed to keep him from passing out from shock.

"You… just what are you, I wonder? You are no ordinary human either."

Beatrice's smirk faded away as one grew on Subaru's face, a toothy grin appearing on his face as Beatrice caught sight of his fangs lightly poking beneath his lips.

"You could say I've been cursed, something like that definitely hurt like hell, but it won't keep me down…" Subaru paused before smiling at her.

"Beako."

Beatrice let out a surprised noise that resembled a irked grunt, a vein appearing on her forehead.

"Who said you could call me that, I suppose?!"

Subaru laughed at her with a smile before raising a thumb at her, giving her a thumbs up.

"It's the Natsuki family way to march over someone's heart without taking their shoes off. I look forward to bugging you a lot, Beako!"

Beatrice gave him an annoyed look as she grits her teeth cutely at him.

"Will you just get out already?!"

"Buenos Aires?!"

Beatrice waved her hands at Subaru who suddenly yelled out in surprise as he was thrown by a gust of wind towards the doors, which had opened up for him. He flew right out the window landing in a bush outside the manor as he yelled out.

Emilia who had been walking outside at the time with Puck watched with a puzzled look as Subaru came screaming out something in a language she didn't recognize, flying out the window and falling into the shrubbery.

"Oh Subaru! Looks like you met my little sister, Betty!" Puck exclaimed with a cheerful smile.

Subaru looked up at him while being upside down hanging in the shrubbery, and just smiled awkwardly.

Subaru had returned to his room after being thrown out a window, Emilia seemed concerned for him but he didn't get injured. He felt drained and tired after Beatrice had drained his mana but besides that he was alright.

After freshening up and getting the twigs out of his hair, he received a knock on his door. He went to open it and was greeted with the sight of Rem standing in front of him.

"Guest-sama, lunch is being prepared. Lord Roswaal will see you now."

Subaru nodded and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Rem. Lead the way."

Subaru and Rem eventually made it to the dining hall, he could see Emilia already there with Ram standing nearby the front of the table. On the other side of the table, he could see Beatrice sitting there, happily playing with Puck letting out cute sounds which was a drastic difference from the attitude she had shown an hour prior when they had met.

Beatrice saw him and suddenly gave him a look full of scorn as she grumbled to herself, Subaru smiled at her and waved.

"Yo, Beako!"

"Why are you greeting me like we are friends, I wonder?!"

"It's because we are friends right Beako? I suppose." Subaru shot back at her, mocking her verbal tick with a teasing smile which caused her to make sounds of frustration at him.

Puck let out a laugh at their interactions, as he floated towards Subaru despite Beatrice's whines.

"I see you cleaned yourself up after being sent out a window!" Puck exclaimed teasingly at him.

Subaru gave him an awkward smile, noticing Beatrice smirking at that memory.

"Haha, yeah…"

"Oh my… you must be Natsuki Suuuuuubaru-kun I assume?"

Subaru turned around at the new voice, in front of him was a rather tall man, at least half a head taller than Subaru. The first thing Subaru saw was heterochromatic eyes, blue in the right and yellow in the left. Subaru looked at the man before him who looked more like a jester than anything. His straight indigo hair is long enough to cover his whole back and is tucked behind his ear on the left side of his head. His face was decorated with a light-lavender powder, purple lipstick, and purple eye shadow that is adorned on his right eyelid. His yellow left eye is also bedecked with eye shadow that is more elaborate than the right's eye shadow and covers the whole area around the eye rather than just the eyelid and accompanies his unusual outfit comparable to those similar to a clown or jester, consisting of a black hat, a top and bottom with different shades of purple, along with red and black boots and a cape. He also has a chain surrounding his right ankle.

Subaru smiled at him and in a friendly manner patted the man on the back, before smiling towards Emilia.

"This lord Roswaal must have great taste if he invited a clown over as entertainment for lunch!"

Emilia just stared at him with an awkward smile.

"Subaru… that is Roswaal."

Subaru froze up suddenly as he slowly turned to Roswaal who was staring at him with an amused expression.

He could see Ram glaring daggers at him in the distance.

"S-Sorry!" Subaru meekly managed to get out.

Roswaal just laughed and clapped Subaru on the back in response.

"You're quite the eccentric young man, no offense has been taken."

Roswaal notices Beatrice sitting at the table and his smiles in her direction.

"Beatrice, it's quite rare for you to join us for a meal. It's a pleasure to see you again. Did someone catch your eye?"

Beatrice just scoffs at him in response.

"I'm only here because I heard the half-elf returned with nii-chan, don't make assumptions, I suppose." Beatrice gave Roswaal a cute 'hmph' and went back to playing with Puck who had floated back over to her.

Subaru chuckles in response, at their interaction before processing Roswaal's prior comment.

"You're quite the eccentric person yourself, Lord Roswaal."

Roswaal smiles at him and motions for him to take a seat.

"You can just call me Roswaal, no need for formalities. I heard you saved Emilia-sama from danger; you have my thanks."

Subaru nods awkwardly as he takes a seat beside Emilia.

"Alright then, Ros-chi. Do you mind if I call you that? I helped her out but Reinhard was the one who managed to defeat Elsa, not me."

Roswaal nodded and maintained the amused smile he had on his face.

"From what I heard, Reinhard only appeared there because of you, so once again you have my thanks. I'd like to offer you a reward on behalf of Emilia-sama. You may ask for anything you desire."

Subaru watched as Rem and Ram went around placing the food around the table, he took a small bite of the food and his eyes widened at the flavor, this was insanely good!

Subaru looked over to compliment the cooking but noticed Roswaal waiting for an answer, he blushed lightly and coughed into his hand.

"Ahem. I'd like to become Emilia-tan's knight."