4

"So to keep it brief, the kingdom lost its royal family and is now finding candidates to choose a new ruler from? And Emilia happens to be one of the candidates?" Leo asked as he was done receiving the explication, the two waiting for what his reaction to the news was going to be. "And not only that, the thing that Felt gave back was the very insignia that presented you as such?"

"Y-yes, that would be the summary…" Emilia said with a lowered gaze with a sense of shame and embarrassment now that the full weight of her previous situation had come to light. "I would have thought that Reinhard would have already told you about all of this already, however."

"Well, he didn't…" Leo replied. "I didn't think you were someone ordinary, but I wouldn't have thought you a princess when I first met you. Wondering around by yourself, and having something stolen from you…"

"Well that's…" She stuttered in response, "I had to go to the capital due to business considering the royal election, and there aren't many people in my camp yet either…"

"I'm not trying to shame you here, although I understand why you might think that way." Leo quickly jumped in before Emilia could travel any further into a depressed state. "You were a bit unlucky, and I'm certain that not everyone is going to come from noble backgrounds either, for all those that don't I'm sure they will have a harder time gaining followers."

"But the other three candidates all suit the image of nobility, the last candidate would be the only one who could possibly come from a non-noble background." Emilia pointed out, but Leo wasn't phased in the slightest by her questioning.

"I'm not taking back my words then." He simply said with an easygoing smile. 'After all… if the insignia is the thing that points out who the candidates are, then I'm pretty sure I know who the last one is…'

"Do you?" Emilia started to ask before she was abruptly hushed by Leo's finger on her lips, an action that quickly had Subaru recoil with shock.

"Who knows?" Was all Leo said as he took back his hand, an easy, sly smirk resting on his features as Emilia gently smiled back, somehow finding a sense of comfort in his words. "Should they be found soon then it shouldn't be that long before you get summoned back to the capital and we can meet again then."

"Then I'll make sure to pay a visit when that time comes!"

"Just make sure to not lose your insignia again, it really wouldn't be great to have to go through round two of that ordeal," Leo said making Emilia's cheeks begin to puff up into a pout but couldn't manage to make her retort before she went interrupted.

"Of course, that won't happen when I'll be at Mili's side!" Subaru quickly burst out, putting a fist to his chest. "It's my duty to make sure that Mili wins the royal election and protect her from everything, Felt was a nice girl but nothing like that will be happening again under my watch!"

"Subaru…" Emilia mumbled in response, her voice as troubled as her conflicted expression, clearly torn over something. Leo on the other hand didn't say anything as he blandly stared at the sharp-eyed boy whilst only a single thought ran through his mind.

"Subaru…" He tiredly said. "Just… how much of a simp are you?"

"Simp?!" Subaru explained, taking a step back.

"Simp?" Emilia repeated, "I haven't heard that word before, what does it mean?"

"Yeah! Is it another word for a funny man, like a clown?" Cecily joined in, having been stroking Puck's fur during the conversation.

"Ah, you don't need to know Mili, I don't want Leo influencing your image of me! And did you call me a clown?!" Subaru snapped back in response to the girls.

"Well, I don't think they're that far off the mark Subaru, you certainly do entertain Lia and me." Puck chimed in.

"You too?! How do you guys see me?!"

"Mmm, you're really~ excitable, and your really~ friendly as well, you're a handful but a good boy." Emilia nonchalantly answered his question yet with a warm smile on her face, leaving the two boys present to have starkly different reactions.

"A good boy?! You make it sound like I'm a child, I'm seventeen and becoming an adult this year you know!" Subaru said aghast whilst Leo turned away, trying to hold back a smile from Subaru's misfortune.

"Before you make her fall for you, you've first gotta get on her radar first… but saying it like that makes me feel a little sorry for how hard you've got it…" Leo said as his smile quickly turned to more pitying in nature.

"Fall for him? What does it mean to fall for someone? Falling is about dropping from heights right?" Cecily chimed as she pondered over the play on words.

"It's an expression used from where we're from, I'll point out its meaning a little later," Leo replied, taking the chance to pet the girl on the head to her temporary satisfaction. "But… there is something that popped into my mind, Subaru, do you want some advice?"

"Advice?" he repeated in confusion.

"Sorry guys, this shouldn't be long," Leo said whilst giving Subaru a quick nudge away from the group, making it clear that he wanted the butler to follow him out of earshot from the group.

"Are you about to give me advice on how to win Mili's heart? Have you been with girls before?!" The butler asked the moment that they had stopped, confident that they were out of earshot.

"Huh? Not really, sorry but she's certainly a unique girl and since I've never dated before either, I couldn't really help you with her. But I would advise that she seems to like you only get places by throwing straight shots." Leo said before his expression hardened slightly, already managing to shift the atmosphere between the two. "To be clear, it's obvious that we both came from Earth right? And with all the Japanese you're keeping up with, you yourself came from Japan?" he asked, cutting straight to the point and getting Subaru to already understand what the general conversation was going to be about.

"Yeah, that's right but I've been trying to hide that fact from people so far," Subaru replied. "My start here was rough but I found Mili so that's all that matters! How long have you been here anyway?"

"Just under a week right now, you?"

"Same, but so much has already happened that I might as well have been here for four weeks longer!" Subaru said with a wide grind whilst his statement began to arouse Leo's confusion at the specificness of his statement, but he wasn't given the chance to ask however before Subaru continued on. "So how did you end up in this world? For me, it was just a blink and then I was here!"

"Well that's…" Leo started as he remembered his own summoning. "Not quite what happened to me."

"Huh? What kind of experience did you have? No way! Did you already have your fateful encounter with the super cute girl that summoned you, asking you to save her whilst receiving your destined power?!" Subaru suddenly burst out as he stepped back, maintaining his usual dramatics'.

"Close, but not quite," Leo said with a shake of his head, the image of the platinum-haired girl entering his mind. "For me, the world slowly went white and in that void was this one girl, and I suppose that giving me power is what she did, something about her didn't strike me as the 'needs saving' type…" he answered. "But she did say that we would meet up again."

'Not that I think it's exactly a good thing yet, if anything Beatrice and Puck have me thinking overwise…' he thought to himself, doing his best to prevent a grim look from leaking across his features. Right now, he knew he was finding himself in a situation that telling people about recklessly was unlikely to yield any kind of positive turnout.

Subaru however, remained aghast for a few moments as he process what he had been told before completely falling apart. "You lucky bastard! You really are living the life of any destined protagonist and yet I'm yet to find whoever summoned me like that!"

"You didn't experience anything like that? What was it like for you then? And also what happened to Emilia being the cutest girl in the world? You were making it sound like you were pretty happy with your situation until now." Leo asked as he looked down at the butler, wondering what the next possible action from him would be.

"Well, things just started to get a bit dark and then when I blinked, I was here." Subaru calmly stated giving Leo a bit of shock for once.

"Huh? You mean, nothing? Just, you were here?" Leo asked in disbelief at the simplicity of the events.

"That's right." Subaru nodded, "But you're perfectly right that Mili is the cutest in the world, I'm sure that whoever summoned you must be a beauty but I doubt she can compare her!" he then tagged on, immediately returning the mood to what it had previously been. "In fact, I'm sure that I was summoned to help look over Mili even if she doesn't know it!"

"Well, good for you…" Leo said, not sure how to deal with Subaru's overwhelming enthusiasm for Emilia anymore, whilst wondering all the more how the half-elf was yet to catch onto his feelings.

"Subaru." Another voice suddenly cut between the two men, getting them to turn around to whoever had approached them, with it being none other than Rem. "Apologies for the interruption, Sir Leo, if there is anything that we can assist with please don't hesitate to ask, but if Subaru is bothering you I apology on his behalf."

"Oh, it's fine. Subaru simply answered my curiosities, that's all. You don't need to worry about him." Leo said.

"Rem, what are you doing sneaking up on a conversation between men? Like you girls, there are some things that we want to keep between ourselves too!" Subaru said in an overly friendly manner yet whilst Leo remained silently conflicted over Subaru's wording, Rem was hardly phased at all.

"I don't desire to know whatever it was that you would be talking about, I merely came over to inform you that there is need for you to perform your duties once again." Rem calmly stated

"Huh, why? It's my break, isn't it? Was there something that I missed out on?"

"Not quite, merely that dinner is being pushed forwards slightly so that Sir Leo will be able to dine before returning to the Astrea Estate without it getting to late for him. Not to mention that the increased number of mouths to feed increases the workload."

"Arg, but I only just managed to catch up with Mili but Leo managed to get in the way!" Subaru grunted with a sense of defeat, not that Rem or Leo showed much emotion towards his behaviour. "But, alright! Work's work and I've still gotta make-up for everything from before! Let's go Rem!" He said, now getting to his feet with renewed energy.

"It is good to hear your diligence towards your job, Sir Leo, if you would please excuse us." Rem said, giving him a curt bow before promptly walking off in perfect form for a maid whilst Subaru went with her completely casually, in complete contrast to Rem's own demeanour.

"I wonder how the margrave views him with him always acting just like himself? I guess he would certainly stave off feelings of boredom and the like…" Leo commented as he watched the two members of staff leave until his ponders went interrupted.

"Hey, hey! What were you talking about?" Cecily energetically asked as she came bounding over with a beaming smile, gaining Leo's attention whilst also allowing him to notice Emilia, Puck, Flam and Grassis all walking over as well.

"As I mentioned before, I just gave him a few words of advice and encouragement," Leo said as he smiled back at the spirit.

"Really? I don't know what you suddenly wanted to give him advice about, or why only he could hear it but you seem like good friends despite not knowing one another." Emilia chimed in.

"Well, he's a friendly guy, the gap manages to close surprisingly quickly." He nonchalantly replied.

"He really is, he is… but…" Emilia said as she started looking disheartened to Leo's confusion. "He seems comfortable talking about some things with you but I feel that he's been keeping plenty of secrets from me however, I don't think he sees me as a person he can talk to."

"Well, it wasn't like we were talking about anything personal… what did you try talking about?"

"Well, I know that Subaru has been finding things really hard. Coming toward the end of his first day working here he completely broke down crying when I lent him my lap," Emilia answered, completely shocking Leo that Subaru had been reduced to such a state despite only such a short amount of time has passed by. "He kept talking about so many different things, but there was never any context to any of it so I didn't understand but it was clear there was a lot on his mind."

"I never knew he was anything like that… hell, he hasn't hinted to having been like that at all since I've known him…" Leo said, his voice grave as he felt forced to re-evaluate his every interaction with Subaru. "But, at the start of the week? That's literally only a few days since we all met him for the first time, and then he's been in the manor with you. Either he has one hell of a history or he's had the fastest decline of mental health I've ever heard of."

"So even you don't know anything? I was kind of hoping that you would be able to tell me if there was anything I could do…" Emilia said, her voice completely sombre at the news.

"Sorry but the only thing that I can say is that this is serious… it's already a hard case but it's even harder because it's Subaru. Remember when we first met him? He knew things that he couldn't possibly have known and yet he did. He was going to tell me how but changed his mind." Leo said whilst a worried Emilia listened to his every word as if they were sacred before thinking them over. "In short, he has tons of huge mysteries surrounding him aside from his health."

"I wish that he would be willing to talk about them though, doesn't he feel comfortable with us doing so?" Emilia asked no one in particular.

"The biggest issue is that unless he's affected by some kind of magic I'm not aware of, the only thing that really affects your mental health is experiences," Leo added on whilst they continued to think about the situation. "Cecily, Puck, is there anything about magic that you know that could affect the mind like that? Is it possible that he's a victim of something?"

"Well, the only thing I've heard of influencing people's minds is if a skilled practitioner of magic were to feed their own mana into the other person whilst deliberately aiming to affect their mind, effectively brainwashing." Puck explained as he popped out of Emilia's hair again, "It's typically something that you would expect from water magic as well."

"The only people we know with water magic would be Rosswal, Rem and Beatrice… But none of them would do anything like that." Emilia said.

"Yeah, I agree with that. Rosswal is pretty poor with water magic and I doubt the maid has that level of skill with it yet. The worst that Betty would ever do to a person would be to check their mana or kick them out of the library, otherwise, she would refuse to have anything to do with anyone." Puck added on, furthering the innocence of the three.

"So there's no one working magic on him, meaning it's genuine… which honestly, I think is worse," Leo concluded whilst Emilia nodded along with his deductions.

"I really~ worry for Subaru, I wish that he would be willing to talk or that there was something that I could do for him but I can't think of anything." She said, "Am I a good friend like this? I mean I've only ever worried about him but you've already begun to work things out more than I have despite only having learned about it…"

"I think you're already forgetting a few things," Leo said with a hardened voice, managing to get Emilia to look up with his sudden change of tone. "You said you gave him a lap pillow, didn't you? You said he doesn't trust you but he came to you for comfort. He allowed you to see his weak side. Take it from me, either out of pride or being conditioned, plenty of men do not reveal their weaker emotions easily."

"You comforted him, and care. You're an important friend to him." He finished leaving Emilia in complete shock for a few moments before a small smile appeared, getting Leo to smile back in response, happy that she was beginning to realize it herself.

"Right!" She said with a beaming smile, overjoyed at the idea. "But, we still need to help him! We can't leave things as they are, right?"

"That's true, well there is the chance that it blows over like the weather…" Leo replied. "But, nothing is possible if Subaru isn't cooperative about it. Either he's willing to tell us things so we can help but he's going to be suborned to try and do it all by himself then supporting as you have already done is all that we can do."

"Is the funny man actually really troubled? Is he just being funny to hide everything?" Cecily then asked as she looked up in concern, her suggestion bringing a newfound concern to the group as they awaited Leo's answer to the possibility.

"Well… I can't say it's not possible… it's not like I know him that well…" Leo said, struggling to complete the sentence whilst he thought about the possibilities.

"That dummy… he really can't just ask for some help despite everything you do for others…" Emilia mumbled.

"We don't know that as a fact, but just… if anything appears forced to you, question that ok?" Leo said.

"I know, but it doesn't change the fact he is still hiding some things, and he's saved me and helped you," Emilia replied. "You probably don't know this but after Subaru and I mentioned what happened at the loot house, Roswall, Puck and Beatrice all immediately knew that you had an authority and thought poorly of you."

"I'm really sorry for spilling your secret and putting you in a hard situation, but Subaru never stopped arguing in your case. He kept doing his best to persuade everyone to give you a chance at least. I did help as well though!"

"Sounds like I owe him quite the favour then…" Leo sighed in response with a weak smile.

"Huh? Even though he was just fixing the problems that he cause you?" Cecily asked with a tilt of her head.

"They could have just left their suspicions alone to save face. Besides, even I didn't know what my ability was." Leo childed the spirit as he rubbed her head.

"But Cecily does have a point, we revealed a rather dangerous secret of yours…" Emilia then added on with a guilty expression.

"Are you going to tell the world?" Leo immediately asked.

"What? No! I would never, I know you're a good person and I don't want people judging you wrong as well!" Emilia frantically replied in a panic.

"And are you going to make sure that the rest of your camp doesn't say a word either?"

"Naturally! I mean it that your secret is safe with us!"

"Then there's nothing more to say. I can't wipe memories so all I could want is that you keep your lips sealed." Leo replied with a smile whilst Emilia turned into a mix between confusion and concern.

"Our lips are sealed? Do you mean curse us so we can't talk?" Emilia worriedly asked whilst the temperature began to rapidly drop.

"If you're intending to do something like that to my daughter…" Puck practically growled out with a shockingly intimidating scowl for his appearance, his magic beginning to rise whilst Cecily was quick to stand between him and Leo, likewise seemingly ready for a fight.

"Ok, ok, calm down both of you! It's just another saying! It's an expression of the fact that you're keeping a secret!" Leo immediately shouted out, hurriedly acting before the situation could escalate any further, grabbing hold of Cecily and pulling her close to him.

"Oh, really?" Emilia said, "Well, I guess they are sealed then!"

"Sheesh, you should explain these customs of yours sooner you know. You going to cause more problems if you aren't clear like that you know." Puck said as he shook his head with a shrug of his shoulder, already having calmed down with his magic having gone back to normal.

"Boo, why does everyone keep thinking he's bad…" Cecily moped to herself whilst fully leaning into Leo.

"Sorry, sorry, but it doesn't help that he has an authority. It's been hundreds of years since the last time there was a kind person with an authority." Puck replied whilst scratching the back of his head but Cecily kept on pouting to Leo's exhaustion. "But you really are something, jumping between two spirits that were about to fight like that. Most people would have begun to cower."

"It was that or have the pair of you destroy the place in a battle to the death over nothing…" Leo replied awkward expression. 'And perhaps the fact that it still hasn't quite registered that spirits are things to be feared and respected as the locals do…' he thought to himself.

"You make it sound like it was nothing however, even I would find it at least a little hard to intervene with Puck when he's like that…" Emilia noted, likewise not quite understanding the complete nonchalance before her.

"Subculture!" Leo cheerily replied, only driving everyone present ever further into confusion feeling hopeless in keeping up with whatever was running through Leo's mind at that moment, much to his desire…

"So~ my dear guest, how~ have you been enjoying~ your visit? How about that lesson~ in magic with the great spirit?" Roswall's voice rang out across the dining hall as the lord, Emilia, Beatrice, Leo and Cecily sat down at the table whilst all of the staff remained to wait dutifully at the side.

"Swimmingly, I already managed to cast two different spells and I'm glad to gain yet another skill. And it's been fun catching up with Emilia even though it's only been less than a week." Leo said whilst doing his best to remain respectful towards the lord despite his appearance and attempting to keep up with fine dining.

It was something that had never been of great importance back at the Astrea house however despite that there were some things that he was naturally able to pick up by merely watching the way that Reinhard ate his meals. Something that stood in stark contrast to the reckless way that Felt ate most of her meals, often opting to outright pick up most of her food instead of using her utensils.

"But it's felt like so much more with everything that's managed to happen since then for us, and even then we didn't get to know each other that well when we met, especially with everything that was happening back then." Emilia chimed in with a smile.

"I'm very glad~ to hear it," Roswall replied. "But~ with you getting along so well with Miss Emilia there has been~ something that has risen in my~ mind~."

"And I'm assuming it's concerning me, otherwise I wouldn't be hearing this at all?" Leo replied.

"Precisely," Roswall said. "Sir Leo, as the sword saint's apprentice you must be aware of Miss Emilia's current position in the kingdom, no?"

"Ah… Yeah, she's a candidate for the throne." Leo answered as he quickly realised the likely new direction of the conversation.

"Roswall, what has that got to do with anything right now?" Emilia spoke up in concern, not understanding what her sponsor was up to.

"Well it's quite simple Miss Emilia, as a candidate to the throne it's quite~ imperative that you begin to gain support when the Royal Selection officially begins, but~ that isn't all~ now is it? You also should be taking the time to build your camp when possible, no?"

"In short, your wishing to get me to join the ride through it all with you guys." Leo summarised as he settled into thought about the abrupt serious situation he found himself in the middle of.

"In short, yes indeed~!" Roswall chimed back.

"Umm, but…" Emilia mumbled to herself as she thought over the situation before looking at Leo, "Well, would you be willing to join me?"

"Well, don't you think that's a lot to ask without even telling me what your standing for? Not that I'm doubting your intentions for kingship." Leo replied.

"Ah! Right! Well, I'm entering to bring equality for all." Emilia stated with a rare showing of a completely serious expression. "As a half-elf, I've already received a lot of bad treatment for it, but also so do many other demi-humans as well. I wish to build a kingdom where no one is treated wrongly for something so unchangeable like that."

"So, you're attempting to rid the world of racism." Leo said, "There's certainly nothing wrong with that, and something only the ruler would be capable of doing but I still would have thought that there would have been at least a little more to your wants than that."

"Well… there is one other personal thing but I really want to help the lives of others!"

"I'm not doubting you, sorry, sorry," Leo said whilst raising his hands slightly in defence as she began to get childishly pushy against him. "I have nothing against your cause, in fact, I do think it's something I would support but…"

"But?" Emilia repeated, growing disheartened as she already could hear the rejection coming.

"Sorry but, there's this feisty girl back at the Astrea house that I've already promised I'd stick with until she's finally back into freedom. Maybe when that's settled down I might join?" He answered with an awkward smile.

At his answer, Emilia's frown quickly turned into an almost amused smile at the situation. "Oh, I see how it is." She said having come to understand the situation that Leo was already in. "Well, I guess that I'll have to try asking you again sometime later then?"

"I suppose so, maybe you'll hear something more preferable then?" Leo smiled back. "Not that I know how long that's gonna take though…"

"Mm, I'm glad that Felt at least has you taking care of her. I was worried about what Reinhard was taking her away for."

"Eh, she's a handful, but nothing's bad happening to her at least so there's no need to worry about her."

"You sound like you getting along rather well with her, however?" Emilia pointed out.

"I suppose so."

"Well, that's truly a shame to have to hear. Having the sword saints pupil on our side would have been quite the benefit to the camp. I hope~ that you will remember our offer when the time comes." Roswal said as he re-entered the conversation. "Although had you joined, I wonder what would have become of those two?" he then said, not even needing to point as it was obvious what he was referencing.

Beatrice and Cecily were almost glaring at one another across the table, neither pleased with the other, something which had been since Cecily had noticed Beatrice's presence, and Beatrice had noticed Puck in Cecily's hands.

"You two… really don't get along huh?" Leo noted whilst Puck sighed from Emilia's shoulder.

"I don't quite think that's it." Puck said.

"But she's a meanie!" Cecily said whilst pointing an accusing finger at Beatrice.

"Wha?!" Beatrice gasped. "Betty was only doing her duty in protecting the library due to her contract, in fact! But Betty should be asking why you are getting to play with Bubby, I suppose!" she exclaimed back.

The sight of the two quarrelling spirits had struck everyone in the room differently. For the likes of Roswall, it was an unusual and amusing sight, whilst Emilia found herself briefly shocked at the current states of the two spirits. Leo, however, could only view the pair as children that were fighting over something small.

"Why can't I play with the kitty? He's not yours, you really are a meanie!" Cecily continued to accuse Beatrice.

"Bubby is Betty's brother, meanwhile your nothing but a child, I don't see how you're a great spirit!" Beatrice shot back.

"So it's you they're fighting over?" Leo then guessed, throwing his attention back to Puck. "My, must be great being a cat, all the popularity to you huh?"

"Maybe one day you might learn the pains of popularity Leo." Puck chimed back, "But I really think that we ought to stop them. Can you handle Cecily?" He asked, with Leo only giving an amused sigh in response, already giving his attention to the other energetic spirit at his side.

"Come on, there's no need to fight whilst we're eating," Leo said, patting Cecily on the head to her brief enjoyment until she remembered her brief reasoning.

"But, she hurt you before unnecessarily! And she's still being really mean, she could at least apologise!" Cecily replied with a troubled expression, seemingly wanting Leo to understand her perspective. "You nice, really nice, but it makes me not want to see you being treated in such ways!" she said, pouting all whilst clinging onto him.

"But I'm beginning to get worried that you just going to start a fight with everyone at this rate," Leo said. "Look, could you please be willing to give it a small break for me? I'm sure that she's not going to get involved with me anymore so everything can end here.

"Mm," Cecily said with puffed cheeks, clearly not completely happy about the request. "Ok." That was all she said but it was enough for Leo to smile, glad that the spirit was calming down.

"Thank you very much," Leo replied, now taking the chance to poke the air out of her cheeks with a grin, briefly surprising Cecily before she attempted to return the favour with pointed fingers aimed at Leo's cheeks instead.

"My~ I must say it is quite~ refreshing to witness the two of you." Roswall's loud voice broke through the room, breaking the moment and reminding the two that they were currently sitting at the dining table.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked as he turned back to the head of the table.

"Well, for someone to get along so well with a spirit that they aren't even contracted with, you must have a really great affinity for spirits." Emilia happy chimed in with a beaming smile.

"Well, I don't think I'm particularly charismatic…" Leo dully replied, not quite grasping the terms that were being thrown at him but Emilia just shook her head.

"That's not quite what I mean… but when did you two first meet one another?"

"The day after I met you."

"What?" Emilia replied in shock at the instant reply whilst both Leo and Cecily were looking at her at if it were only natural.

"That's quite shocking." Puck said joining in. "You two look like you've known one another for quite some time, does that mean that ever since your first encounter?"

"Yup, I stayed hidden for most of it, but I never left!" Cecily happily replied.

"You know, you could have just come inside and explained yourself," Leo mentioned as he looked at the spirit who in turn didn't seem particularly bothered.

"Wait, were you like this from your first encounter?" Emilia asked only for the two to nod back at her simultaneously. "I don't think I've heard of someone getting along with a spirit so quickly before, it's really unusual. Your affinity must be amazing!" Emilia then said with stars in her eyes in complete admiration of the two.

"Mm, but it's because he's really interesting. I've never met anyone like him before!" Cecily happy said.

"But his affinity is noteworthy, I suppose." Beatrice then cut in with everyone's attention darting to the small girl that had otherwise remained silent, almost if she had been reducing her presence as much as possible. "It's the second highest that Betty has ever encountered, in fact."

"I'll have to second that, it's kind of amazing to have met someone like him." Puck added on, giving the last of the opinions of the spirits in the room.

"Wait, then who is the one with an even better affinity than Leo?" Emilia questioned in confusion, finding it hard to believe that there could be a person who could better befriend spirits than what Leo had achieved.

"Subaru." The answer came instantly as all the spirits spoke in unison, needing no time to think about their answer.

"Even cases like his have happened before, even if they are still quite rare," Beatrice explained whilst pointing a finger towards Leo to get across just who she was referencing. "But as far as Betty is aware, no one has ever had an affinity for spirits anywhere near that boy."

"Wow, Subaru is pretty amazing! I wonder if he's aware of it?" Emilia cheerily said, once again thinking about the childish butler boy.

"Well, he is just a walking enigma…" Leo muttered to himself with an almost tired expression whilst he also thought about him. There was practically nothing that lined up when it came to him, but it was because of that there was clearly some kind of massive secret, perhaps some kind of power that he had that would answer everything, and yet he couldn't imagine just what ability that he would have picked up.

Meanwhile, everyone at the table had stopped their conversations and had begun looking at Leo with either confused or interested expressions. "Um… is something the matter? Did I say something?" Leo asked when he looked up, finally noting everyone's expressions towards him.

"You did, I suppose." Beatrice quipped with a hard glare. "You just started speaking something strange."

"Something strange?" Leo questioned before a sudden idea dawned on him. "Do you perhaps mean like this?" he then asked, no longer speaking the usual language whilst everyone proceed to nod at him, none of them actually understanding him yet guessing at what he had just said. "Have you never heard of other languages other than your own?"

"Each nation has its own unique way of writing however the spoken language is kept rather similar across the world. Such~ a wildly different way of speaking is quite unheard of." Roswall answered the confused boy who could only silently mouth "Oh." In response.

"Where do you come from Leo?" Emilia asked with a sense of excitement at the prospect, "And what do those words mean?"

It wasn't only Emilia that held a sense of excitement in her eyes as she asked, as whilst everyone else was certainly intrigued, it was Roswall and Beatrice that was eyeing him the most out of everyone else, a burning curiosity resting in both their eyes.

"From the impossible, only a lie detector would believe me, and even then they would be amazed," Leo answered as he lowered his head back to the rest of his meal, not completely pleased about having let slip such information to them.

"Well~ I think that is quite to be expected considering your other language." Roswall chimed, not so willing to let Leo off the hook. "Right now you are in knowledge of a whole civilisation that has gone unknown to the world, and a member of it, it seems."

"Since when was it fitting for one person to oust their whole society?" Leo asked, doing his best to hide his discomfort whilst thinking of just about anything that would make the clown drop the subject.

"Aw, but it all sounds so exciting now!" Emilia said bubbling with excitement despite the disappointment mixed in.

"But I suppose I could explain what I said before." Leo then said, instantly getting Emilia to perk up, eagerly listening alongside everyone else that was at the table. "The very first thing I said was 'Well he is a walking enigma.' And the second thing that I said was, 'Do you perhaps mean something like this.'"

"Wow, really? It sounded nothing like it!" Emilia replied, "Wait, can you introduce yourself in your language?"

"My name is Leo, it's nice to meet you." Leo nonchalantly replied to Emilia's happiness despite only being able to assume that he had indeed done what she had requested, only having understood him mentioning his own name.

"My, it is such a shame that you would even choose to sleep on our offer to join Miss Emilia. I am quite~ sure that we all would have something to gain. Is there truly no way that we could change your mind?" Roswall said, leaning in.

"Sorry but no, but it isn't like I turned you down, I just said that it would have to wait a bit at least," Leo replied with an expression that voiced his apologies at the margrave. "Besides, I don't know how Beatrice and Cecily would get along, officially being under the same roof."

"I do suppose you bring up quite the point," Roswall replied with a bit of amusement at the thought of the brought-up point.

"We can't rush him Roswall, he made a promise and he mustn't break that. You shouldn't be trying to persuade him otherwise," Emilia then cut in, scolding the clown in a childish way that contrasted the somewhat mother-like behaviour she had in telling him off.

"But is an admirable trait that you would so quickly reject such an open offer like that, however, but sicking by your promises like that is important for any spiritual arts user." Puck said whilst clapping his hands in the air all whilst floating in front of Leo.

"I think it's far from a good thing if you're a person who would break your others to others so easily, but just how important is it to spirits arts users then? Cecily mentioned that their contracts is as important as a reason to live so…"

"It's just that, promises are everything to spirits and spirit arts users so it's good that you aren't breaking any, and it's even better that when it came to making a contact with Cecily that you are taking it so seriously!" Emilia happily answered whilst Cecily for some reason took the chance to hug Leo as well.

"You would be like someone else if you became a spirit arts user actually," Emilia then mentioned to the interest of Leo and Cecily as the pair looked at her, silently requesting that she continued. "He's a knight by the name of Julius Juukulius, and is called the finest knight alongside being a spirit knight."

"So does that mean he works with spirits alongside swordsmanship? Can he use his own magic as well?" Leo asked.

"I've never seen him use magic without his spirits so I think you have him beat there, but your completely right."

"Then would I be just that? I would also be what some people call a runeblader, as someone who can combine swordsmanship with magic…" Leo mentioned to himself.

"then how about a spiritblader?" Cecily then suggested, likewise pondering title idea's as well.

"I'm not sure that one quite works Cecily…"

"Both would be things unheard of by the public before, but so was the title of spirit knight before The Finest came along. Perhaps such a title would help make you more known to the public, as the sword saint's own pupil you should be most certainly capable of living up to it." Roswall chimed.

"But if anyone starts learning about your authority then there's only one thing that people will start calling you then." Puck butted in.

"A warlock?" Leo guessed for the two to nod in confirmation.

"You guys shouldn't think that way, no one here is to speak about it anymore and I'm sure that Leo will only use that power when he has to in order to protect people. I'm sure that people won't possibly think that way of him." Emilia heatedly said, completely upset at the comments of the two.

"It's sad but you need to do some really significant good deeds for people to be willing to overlook the slightest poor choices that you make." Leo said with a sigh, "They are right, I'm quite potentially walking on a fine road…"

"Leo, you shouldn't think that way, and I'm sure that you'll be able to prove yourself to the kingdom, I'm willing to back you up and I'm sure that Reinhard is too! And when I win the elections I'll make sure that people can't judge unfortunate people you so shallowly anymore!"

"Thanks, Emilia," Leo said with a weak smile, glad that the elven girl was such a kind optimist. It hadn't dispelled the mood that had now arisen from the discussion, but it had played a part in helping lift the mood enough so that the rest of the time spent wasn't so painful, but it never lifted a certain wight of his heart.

'But what happens if people do start to think of me that way? I mean I'm far from it but people don't look at that… and it sounds like my current position will make me rather well known as well…' Leo thought to himself, doing his best to mask his emotions with the relaxed expression on his face.

But it wasn't just himself that he had to be worried for. It was Reinhard that was taking him in and training him, surely he would receive some of the backlash. Even if it came to it and tried to make it seem that he had somehow tricked the sword saint to reduce the damage against him, would people really stop lashing out at Reinhard for just that?

'The more time goes on, the more of a red light my authority is… using it will really be a worst case scenario huh?' Leo thought. 'But the tough part is making sure that everyone in the Astrea Manor doesn't talk, as of now they just think it's a super ability, not a warlock's authority…'

"Are you alright?" A voice suddenly called out to him, cutting through his thoughts and dragging him back to reality to notice that Cecily was looking up at him worriedly, already having begun to climb onto his lap to better peer up at him.

"Just a few thoughts…" Leo replied.

"Do you want to talk about them?"

"Maybe later… you already know everything at least." And at that the spirit nodded in response, making sure to give him a brief hug before backing off of him, returning to a normal sense of distance.

A couple more hours had gone by since the group's early lunch, and whilst the sky was still a clear blue it the time it would take to get to the capital it wouldn't be long before it would change. Everyone was now standing in the courtyard looking on at Leo and his group standing just before an impressive dragon carriage whilst getting ready to go.

"It's been fun Emilia," Leo said with a smile, getting another radiant one back from the half-elf

"Yes, its been super fun having you here, I hope that you can come back again and that you'll consider our offer," Emilia replied. "And make sure to take care of Felt ok? I trust that she's being treated fine but I still think that she needs someone who can help her through whatever Reinhard has in mind for her."

"Of course I will, she likely won't let me go until everything's over. Oh, and if you happen to come to the capital sometime then come by Reinhard's place, I'm sure he wouldn't mind the visit, or you just send me a message as well."

"I will! And make sure to think about what Cecily said, I think that you would be great together!"

"Yeah!" Cecily cheered whilst leaping onto his chest, floating in the air to make up for the difference in high between them.

"If you could always float, why did I need to carry you those times before?" Leo asked as he returned the hug with the spirit, with Cecily taking it as her cue to allow her weight to return.

"Because you're nice!" Cecily replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"See, you really do get along," Emilia said.

"It's not like I refuted it." Leo chimed back with an awkward smile, "But where's Subaru at? He hasn't been around since we started to eat." He then asked, the noisy and dramatic man nowhere to be seen or heard.

"My apologies ~ but dear Subaru insisted on his duties and has gone off with Rem to the village for supplies. It seems~ that they have yet to return, I'm sure that Subaru wouldn't have wanted to miss your departure." Roswall answered the question, his face not looking sorry in the slightest despite his words but Leo didn't let it bother him. Subaru was a working man and it wasn't something to expect that he could already get a day off just for him after so soon beginning his job.

If anything, there was a problem with the fact that he was already receiving such treatment despite not doing much work instead. It was easier to accept if it thought of it as something akin to an apprenticeship but it didn't completely cover the fact that they had started from very similar situations and yet had already gone down such different paths.

'But he did say that he chose this life, if he's having issues down the line I guess I could just point him in the direction of riches, some rich person with buy up our knowledge.' He thought with a smile.

"Such a shame, but I'm sure that I'll meet him again soon enough." Leo replied, "Well, thank you all for your hospitality and help and I hope that we get to meet again sometime."

"Right, you're welcome to come back anytime Leo!" Emilia said with Leo giving another quick smile before turning around and climbing into the dragon carriage with Cecily where Flam and Grassis were already waiting for them inside.

The moment that the door shut behind them the driver immediately got to work in steering the dragon carriage away, the giant creatures beginning to walk off towards the direction of the Mather Manners gates.

"Goodbye!" Emilia cried out whilst waving at the carriage that was quickly getting smaller in size, barely managing to catch a glance of Leo and a frantic Cecily waving back at her. Only when the carriage was too far away to notice anyone inside it did Emilia finally turn back around, going back inside the manor.

Unbeknownst to everyone, however, there was a slight shuffle in some bushes as a figure slinked off into the distance…

Subaru and Rem were slowly making their way back, Rem gracefully and almost dutifully walking along with a faint smile on her face whilst in the corner of her eye she could just make out the shape of the struggling Subaru. The butler was the one to carry a large barrel that contained all the restock that the manor currently needed and had been their task the moment the lunch had been prepared.

While they were walking along, however, it wasn't long before a familiar object came into view immediately making the two alert as they looked further up the road, seeing exactly what they were expecting.

They didn't waste any time in hurrying to the side of the road allowing the fancy dragon carriage to drive by whilst they briefly threw glances towards it, quickly making out the view of Leo and his party.

"It seems that Sir Leo is already heading home." Rem noted, watching the dragon carriage already fading away. "I hope that he makes it home before it gets too late."

"Yeah," Subaru replied with a hard yet soft expression. "Now there's one less worry, but I'm sure that we'll get to properly talk with him another day."

"You make it sound a little like you didn't want him here." Rem noted as she looked back at the butler who quickly went from whipping away some sweat to panicking.

"Well, yeah! There's a lot on our plates at it means that we've managed to overcome some of so we can better focus on what remains! Come on Rem, I don't want to chase him off!"

"Mm? But I thought you were worried about him and Miss Emilia?" Rem them said with another tiny smile getting Subaru to lapse into dramatics all over again.

"Oh, of course! I can't be having any kind of competition with Mili already this early into the game! I need time to be able to rank up a little before competitor's come along!" He exclaimed again with his fist pumped to the sky.

"So you say, we still have to make it back to the manor." Rem replied, immediately brushing off Subaru without any hesitation as it nothing had just transpired, instead already walking the remaining distance home.

"Hey! You can't just get me worked up like that and then just leave!" Subaru shouted back, doing his best to pick up the barrel once more and chase the girl down.

'But it was good that Leo's already left.' He thought to himself. He couldn't help but remember what had happened last time, the time when Leo had died instead of everyone else. It had all happened so fast, he was completely helpless, but what was most shocking was what came to the loop after…

'At least it doesn't matter anymore…' Subaru thought. It was in a previous loop, Leo was safe, and there was no longer anything to worry about…