Subaru felt as if he had just narrowly avoided a car crash.

“…What did you just say?” Subaru asked.

“Betty has chosen Subaru to kill her, in fact,” Beatrice explained, holding out a small dagger that blazed with some kind of magical energy.

Oh fuck. What the hell do I say to this? If I say the wrong thing she might just go and do it herself. No, no fucking around this time. I need Reason and Judgment.

Subaru froze time with Reason and Judgment and he felt his horror and fear slip away.

First impressions: Beatrice’s eyes are watery. Her fingers are trembling. She acts calm and composed; like she has carefully thought this through but it’s a lie. This is an emotional response. Beatrice is terrified of something. Something new that has turned her life upside down. It may be arrogant to say but the only new thing that Beatrice has been exposed to lately was you, Subaru thought to himself. It has to be something you said. You gave her some insight or some idea which she has decided that she believes to be true, and whatever that idea is, it is so terrifying that Beatrice has decided she would rather die than confront it.

Alright, what is the solution for that? The cure for fear is knowledge and that’s tricky when it’s an idea that you’re afraid of. You should keep her talking. Drag this out. The only way to talk Beatrice out of her suicidal impulses is to understand what made her have them in the first place.

Subaru restarted time. “Wow,” He said in a humble voice. “I’m… honored. You’ve met so many amazing people over the course of your long life and you chose me to kill you? I’m… I’m really very flattered, Beatrice.”

“Yes, yes, you are, I suppose,” Beatrice said, waving a tiny hand dismissively. “Now can we get on with it?”

“Well, hold on, Beatrice. You’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. I want to make sure I get it just right for you. You deserve that,” Subaru replied. “Damn, after all these years someone with as big a gift as you for patience and planning must have so many ideas about how you want this to be done. Which one did you settle on? You’re your mother’s legacy so it’s very important that no one gets the wrong idea about your motivations. I want to make sure that everyone in the whole world knows how such an important act in world history was carried out.”

Beatrice blinked and glanced away seeming to ponder this.

That’s it, Beatrice. Think about people talking about you after your death. Imagine those people deciding that the final moments of a four hundred year old Great Spirit were lame and underwhelming. Imagine them saying that Beatrice died due to weakness and fear.

Pride is always the perfect manipulator.

“So I guess this means that we’re not going to go out and find ‘that person?’” Subaru asked, sitting down on the futon.

Beatrice shot him an annoyed look. “We would never have found them, in fact.”

“Oh, really? Because I’m pretty good at finding stuff. Why do you think that we’ll never find them?” Subaru replied.

“’That person’ does not exist for Betty,” Beatrice snarled but her eyes were filled with tears. “If they existed they would have found Beatrice by now!”

OK, can’t really argue with that logic but the question is: why? What has changed? What does Beatrice see today that she didn’t see before that makes her believe this?

“Well, like I said, maybe you need to go look for them? Maybe there’s a reason they can’t come to the library? Maybe ‘that person’ needs Betty the same way that Betty needs ‘that person?’” Subaru replied.

“Betty belongs in her library!” The Great Spirit thundered, stomping her foot. “Betty has waited here in accordance with her mother’s wishes for four hundred years! Why should she leave it now?”

Beatrice stood there, gasping for breath.

“You just answered your own question,” Subaru said quietly. “You’ve been waiting in this library for four hundred years. You’re right. If ‘that person’ was going to come find you, they would have done so by now. But that doesn’t mean that ‘that person’ doesn’t exist, it just means that waiting here for them isn’t accomplishing much. You should leave the library because staying in it just isn’t working.”

Beatrice shook her fist at Subaru. “And I suppose that Subaru thinks he could be ‘that person,’ in fact? He thinks that Subaru could banish Betty’s loneliness? But Subaru has already given his heart to the elf!”

Subaru’s eyes widened.

Is that what this is about? Subaru’s fear of saying the wrong thing in this precarious moment rose up like smoke threatening to choke him.

Subaru stopped time. Reason and Judgment banished his fear, it drifted away like smoke on the breeze leaving him cool and detached.

So that’s the answer. Beatrice actually wants you to be ‘that person’ but she’s afraid of the competition from Emilia.

Come to think about it, Subaru continued, Beatrice has tried to ask you a question several times. Ever since you told her… that maybe her mother wanted her to select ‘that person!’ She kept trying to ask you something but each time she did Emilia showed up and Beatrice got annoyed and refused to talk.

OK, now that the problem is understood, what is the solution? Is Beatrice saying that you either have to give up Emilia or watch Beatrice die? Seems like a text book entry on abusive relationships. This is ridiculous. There is no justifiable reason why you should have to choose between them. And by what right does Beatrice even ask you to do so? You can be a better husband to Emilia and a better ‘partner’ to Beatrice, or whatever the term is for a spirit’s contractor, than anyone else in the world. Why would either of them object to sharing you; given the understanding that one else imaginable could meet both of their needs as well as you can? Regardless, first you need to attack the preconception that you must choose either her or Emilia. But in order to do that, you need to establish that you are in fact ‘that person.’

Subaru was about to leave the frozen moment when out of the depths of Subaru’s mind, a soft, quiet voice came as if speaking over a long distance.

I don’t know about this. Previously I refused to tell her that I was ‘that person.’ Telling her that I am ‘that person’ is a lie. I’d be lying to Beatrice in order to save her life but… it still feels wrong.

You can’t let emotions get in the way, another part of Subaru thought. This is a crisis. Beatrice is prepared to kill herself and a poorly chosen word will result in her doing just that. You need to think strategically. It’s a lie for a good cause after all. No one else could even conceivably be a better partner to Beatrice than you. Tell her that you are ‘that person.’ You can certainly convince her. You’ve been laying the groundwork for making this revelation without even realizing it. Emotions like guilt are irrelevant in situations like this. They’ll just lead you down unwise paths.

No, I disagree, Subaru argued back, Beako is hurting. Her emotions are extremely relevant. Ignoring her emotions is ignoring who she is. I can’t tell Beako that I’m ‘that person,’ she needs to tell me that I’m ‘that person!’

You’re being irrational. Beatrice told you that many people before you have come to Beatrice and told her they could become ‘that person.’ If that was all she needed to hear, she would have accepted one of them. Beatrice needs guidance and stability: two things that you can offer to her better than anyone else in the entire world. Even if your statement that you are ‘that person’ isn’t true at the time you make it, it will become true over time: once she believes that you are this mythical ‘that person’ then you have become ‘that person.’

I don’t kno… Wait a second! Why is this happening now?! Beako did tell me that lots of people came here trying to save her, trying to comfort her, and asking to be that person. She never had a breakdown like this before or she would have killed herself: Beako isn’t just playing around, she is serious about this. So what’s the difference? What did I say that none of the others thought of? That’s the key! Once I understand why Beako is reacting to me differently, I’ll know how to save her!

Fair enough, but where does that leave you? How can you figure out which one of a thousand different things you might have said or done to Beatrice that the others didn’t?

…I have absolutely no idea. I guess I’ll just to wing it.

Are you really willing to bet Beatrice’s life on your abilities to ‘wing it?’ Tell her that you are ‘that person’ and she’ll believe you. It’s actually what she wants to hear.

You’re right, but it’s not what she needs to hear.

Subaru restarted time. He pinched the bridge of his nose as his head throbbed.

Weird. I don’t think I’ve ever argued with myself like that before. Does it have something to do with Reason and Judgment? Or is it that I’ve never been in a situation where I need to talk someone out of killing themselves and the stress is overwhelming? Never mind. Can’t think about that right now.

“Oh, I see,” Subaru murmured. “You’re not upset because I think that I’m ‘that person.’ You’re upset because you think that I’m ‘that person.’”

Beatrice’s eyes widened and she began flailing her arms. “That is ridiculous, in fact! Someone like you could never be Betty’s person!”

“Of course I can!” Subaru snorted. “And you’re clever enough to figure out why!” He knelt down in front of Beatrice, “You’ve been listening to my plans and goals. You know what I’m doing here. I’m here to fix the world. Just like your mother wanted to.”

Beatrice blinked and grew still.

“Fixing the world is a big job,” Subaru mused. “It’s going to take serious time and effort but I wonder if you ever realized that Betty is part of the world. I mean, you’ve tried to stay out of it for the past few centuries by hiding in the library but Betty is an important part of the world. I can’t fix the world if Betty stays broken.”

Beatrice’s face was torn. Subaru knew that the same look had been on his own face too often back home: fearing to hope but desperately wanting to.

“Subaru loves Emilia, I suppose,” Beatrice mumbled.

“And Emilia loves Subaru. And Puck,” Subaru added. “And Puck loves Emilia and Betty. So why can’t Subaru love Betty and Emilia? If Puck can do it, why can’t I?”

Subaru held his breath as he saw Beatrice’s lip tremble as did the tip of the knife she held.

It was like Subaru could read Beatrice’s thoughts, as if she had said out loud to him: “Please help me! I can’t endure this hopeless existence any longer. Today is the end, one way or the other. Today I’ll either embrace you or this dagger.”

Beatrice took a ragged breath. “Tell Betty that you’re Betty’s person, in fact,” She whispered.

Subaru shook his head. “No. Everyone else said that and it never made you happy.”

Beatrice looked at him in confusion.

Subaru put a hand over his heart. “Tell Subaru that he is Betty’s person, in fact,” He replied. “Tell Subaru that Betty wants Subaru to be hers. That Betty wants Subaru to make her happy.”

Beatrice violently trembled. “You’re not being fair, I suppose!” Beatrice exclaimed. “You think that Subaru can wash away four hundred years of solitude just by holding Betty’s hand! Betty is tired. She wants to die! She wants Subaru to free her from this pain!”

Subaru hesitated and then he slowly nodded. “Very well then. If that is what you truly want, then we shall make a contract,” He said, holding up his hand.

“A contract?”

“For one year,” Subaru explained. “You will be my precious one. Subaru’s very own sweet little Betty. I will make Beatrice happy,” He said with such conviction that Beatrice’s mouth parted in wonder. “And one year from today, if Betty feels that I have not made her happy enough, I will release her from her pain. That is my contract.”

Beatrice just stared at Subaru.

“I can’t take away the pain of four hundred years, Betty. But I can make Betty decide that they were worth it. I can set Betty free of her bonds if Betty will bind me in hers,” Subaru said. “Because the truth is, even if he didn’t know it, the person Betty picks needs Betty just as much as Betty needs that person.”

Beatrice was breathing hard as she slowly lifted her hand and placed it against Subaru’s palm.

“I, Beatrice the Great Spirit, hereby form a contract with Subaru Natsuki. In one year he will kill me,” Beatrice intoned.

“In one year I will kill you if you ask me to kill you,” Subaru corrected her.

Beatrice hesitated then nodded. “Under the terms of this contract, Subaru may not form contracts with any other spirits.”

“And under the terms of this contract, Betty must always tell Subaru if she is feeling sad or lonely,” Subaru added.

“Beatrice must use her magic to protect and support Subaru,” Beatrice continued.

“And Subaru must play games with Beatrice and read her stories and always make her feel loved,” Subaru finished.

“The pact is sealed,” Beatrice whispered, her lip trembling.

Subaru wrapped his arms around Beatrice and drew her into a tight hug. “Thank you so much for choosing me, Betty,” He whispered. “I always wanted to have an adorable little sister to love and cherish, just like you.”

Beatrice buried her face in Subaru’s chest, weeping as Subaru rubbed her back. “It’s OK, Beatrice. I promise you, you’ll never be alone again.”

“But you’re mortal, I suppose,” She whispered. “What happens when you die?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure that eventually Emilia and I will start talking about starting a family,” Subaru whispered soothingly. “I’m going to take care of you for the rest of my life, and then you’ll be my children’s after that, and their children’s after that, forever and ever, until Betty forgets what being alone even means.”

Beatrice sobbed and Subaru held her tight.

This touching moment might have continued for some time except Subaru and Beatrice heard a sneeze.

They looked up to find Emilia hiding just outside the door, rubbing her nose. Puck floated next to her.

Subaru and Beatrice shared a look of embarrassed resignation.

“Emilia, exactly how long have you been standing there?” Subaru sighed.

“Well… for most of it actually. Puck and I came to investigate when we heard Beatrice yelling at you,” Emilia said apologetically.

“Can I assume that also includes me tipping my hand about wanting to start a family?” Subaru moaned.

Emilia turned bright red and looked away. “I didn’t… hear that part very well,” She muttered.

“Perfect,” Subaru sighed, shaking his head. “But on a happier note: Emilia! Look at my adorable new little sister!” Subaru yelled, swinging Beatrice into the air and catching her in his arms. He laughed as he twirled her around the library.

Subaru brought Beatrice over to Emilia and Puck, cradling her in the crook of his arm. After a moment, Beatrice leaned over and laid her head on Subaru’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“So now you’re a spirits arts user too!” Emilia congratulated him.

“Oh, who cares about that? I’m a big brother! That’s way more awesome!” Subaru cheered. “And now I have someone special to spend time with when you and Puck are doing your own spirit arts thingies.”

Beatrice actually began to smile as she lay against Subaru’s shoulder.

Puck sighed. “Subaru, we really need to have a long talk about your relationships with the women in my family,” He grumbled.

That evening, Reinhard and Felt returned to the manor with fresh missives from Roswaal for Ram.

“Ram, what is Roswaal even doing in the capitol right now, anyway?” Subaru asked.

“That is none of your business,” Ram replied, walking away.

“Silly me,” Subaru sighed as the entire group except for Ram and Rem took seats in the sitting room. Subaru sat with Beatrice on one side and Emilia on the other. Beatrice had proved somewhat reluctant to let go of his arm and Subaru had ultimately just wrapped his arm around her and let her burrow her head into his chest.

Subaru had wondered if his new relationship with Beatrice would cause problems for Emilia but so far she seemed to regard everything Beatrice did as adorable and appeared to approve of Subaru assuming a big brotherly role to her.

“So just to get the easy stuff out of the way first, is Rom OK?” Subaru asked.

“Yeah, Gramps is fine. He said he’d consider doing some jobs for you, provided you’re not just trying to give him charity,” Felt said with a smile.

“Called it,” Subaru muttered. “Did you learn anything in town?”

“I discovered that Miss Felt is a genius,” Reinhard said seriously.

Felt actually blushed and looked away for a moment.

“Hm. I bet there’s an interesting little story here,” Subaru said.

“Lady Crusch Karnstein was the first royal candidate discovered and the likely favorite among the nobility,” Reinhard explained. “She approached me in town and attempted to recruit me for a large project of some sort.”

Subaru frowned. “Um, this may be a dumb question, but wouldn’t she know that you’re already working with me?”

“Yeah but she expects you to drop out quickly,” Felt said.

Subaru glanced at Emilia. “Does she know something that we don’t?”

“Just the opposite, in fact,” Felt smirked. “Crusch apparently heard about how the Bowel Hunter nearly killed you.”

“Not my finest moment,” Subaru admitted.

“Anyway, she also heard the stories about you killing a giant troll with your bare hands. The whole town was talking about it. She put the two together and decided that you spread this rumor as a political ploy to drum up interest in your campaign. She called it the desperate move of a political neophyte,” Felt smiled.

“Wise fool,” Subaru commented. “She’s right about me being a rookie but for all the wrong reasons.”

“Miss Felt was amazing in this encounter,” Reinhard enthused. “I warned her that Lady Crusch has a Divine Blessing that will warn her whenever someone lies in her presence. I suggested she be scrupulously honest in her conversation. Instead, Miss Felt took advantage of Lady Crusch’s over-reliance on her Blessing to mislead her and feed her half truths.”

“Oh really?” Subaru smiled.

Felt was blushing under Reinhard’s praise. “It was no big deal. Everyone thinks that all the folks in Lowtown are idiots. I’ve used that to my advantage many times. There’s nobody easier to scam than someone who thinks that they’re smarter than you. Crusch assumed I was too simple to make up a coherent lie anyway.”

“But how did you deceive someone who can always tell if you’re lying?” Emilia asked.

“Easy,” Felt shrugged, looking exceptionally pleased with herself. “In situations like this, no one expects you to tell them the important information, they expect to have to dig it out. Like when Crusch said that she knew you were going to withdraw from the selection soon, I looked at Reinhard and asked him: ‘Do you think she has an informant in the camp?’”

“Implying that we had discussed my withdrawal and confirming her suspicions without saying any falsehoods,” Subaru nodded. “Felt, you are a genius!”

“So I’ve said many times,” Reinhard agreed.

“Quiet, you,” Felt lightly swatted at his chest but she was still beaming.

“So what did you manage to learn about Crusch?” Subaru asked.

“She has some kind of big plan that she wants Red’s help with. She claims that his grandfather is involved,” Felt said.

Subaru looked at Reinhard.

Reinhard flushed. “My grandfather and I are not… on the best of terms. I have no idea what he might be doing right now.”

“OK, no worries,” Subaru reassured him. He scratched his chin and thought it over. “Well, if she wants Red then it stands to reason that whatever she’s doing is dangerous and violent. Nothing personal buddy, I know you have more talents than that.”

Reinhard shrugged.

“She also said that she plans to end the pact with the dragon when she gets elected,” Felt added.

Subaru’s eyes widened.

He shared a worried look with Emilia.

“It sounds like Crusch is our primary concern for a variety of reasons. If she takes the throne we won’t get what Emilia needs. That means we can’t bargain with her. We’ll need to neutralize her,” Subaru said.

“Um, how are we going to do that, exactly?” Felt asked.

“No clue,” Subaru admitted. “It was a problem statement, not a solution.”

“Gramps says the next candidate is an arrogant noblewoman named Priscilla Barielle,” Felt said. “She’s supposed to be outrageously beautiful but she’s also some kind of black widow: her wealthy husbands keep dying.”

“Doesn’t sound that worrisome for us,” Subaru replied.

Reinhard shook his head. “I’ve heard of Lady Priscilla. She has a strange magic that grants her incredible luck. Situations miraculously turn out well for her against all odds. The nobility doesn’t like her very much due to her arrogance but she is extraordinarily popular among the people of her own domain.”

Subaru drummed his fingers on his leg. “OK, so that is a little worrisome. Then again luck can only take you so far. If we stack the odds against her high enough her luck will run out. From the way you describe her, she sounds like someone you have to wait in line to dislike. I remember there was a saying from a place near my homeland: ‘If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate them.’”

“That sounds wise at least,” Felt replied. “What the hell does it mean?”

Subaru snickered at her. “If your foe has a bad temper, make them lose it.”

“OK, now that’s a plan!” Felt said.

“The final candidate is Anastasia Hoshin. She’s an extremely successful business woman who rose out of poverty to establish the dominant trading company on the continent,” Reinhard said. “She’s a famously shrewd and resourceful negotiator.”

Subaru looked at the ceiling for a moment. “Anastasia is probably the least dangerous to us at the moment. She’s a business woman. If the selection starts to look more like a loss than a gain for her, I bet she’ll either back out or solicit offers from rivals to form alliances. If she starts to win, she’ll make us an offer to drop out.

“For the other two, we need more information,” Subaru continued. “I bet we can provoke Priscilla into doing something stupid, I doubt she has much tolerance for frustration, but to get a grip on Crusch we’re going to need to figure out what she’s planning so we can counter it.”

Subaru thought for a moment. “Emilia, did any of your reading in the library turn up what the opening ceremony will be like?”

“Assuming it’s like the selections for lesser titles, we’ll all be presented to the Sages’ council and be permitted to make a short statement. Then we all eat and stand around talking about the weather apparently,” Emilia replied.

Subaru laughed. “Interesting interpretation of politics. OK, so at least it will be short and sweet. Emilia, you and I need to really practice our speeches.”

“Practice them? What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well, for one thing we want to be the best presentation there if we can possibly help it. If someone else is better than us at the presentation we look bad. If everyone has spent tons of time polishing their speeches and platforms, then we want to be in the same boat. If we’re more polished and prepared than the others, then we coast to an early lead. Plus since there are two of us competing that means we essentially get to talk twice as long as any other candidate without seeming wordy.”

“That makes sense,” Emilia nodded.

“We’ve got eight days. We need to make sure our speeches are prepared and we can answer any question that we’re asked about our platforms at the party afterward. You ready to play hardball with some annoying nobles?”

Emilia smirked.

That evening, right before bed, Felt visited Emilia in her room. She could have let Subaru do this but doing it herself just seemed like more fun.

“Good evening, Felt,” Emilia said, sitting on the bed and reading a book.

“Good evening yourself,” Felt said, not bothering to conceal a vicious grin. She held something behind her back. “Subaru asked me to pick something up for you while I was in town. I figured you’d appreciate it if I gave it to you in private.”

“A present?”

“Sort of,” Felt handed her a bag full of small red balls.

Emilia inspected it for a moment in confusion. “Is it… candy?” She asked.

“Not exactly, although as a friend of mine who works the corners in the market district says: it does let us get the sugar,” Felt smirked.

Emilia looked baffled.

Felt coughed. This wasn’t going the way she had planned. “Um, Subaru asked me to pick this up for you… so that the two of you would be prepared in case you decided to… have some fun,” Felt said awkwardly.

“I don’t understand,” Emilia replied.

Felt’s face burned. This was proving to be much less fun than Felt had hoped. “Um, Emilia, you do know where babies come from, right?”

“Of course I do. Subaru explained it to me just the other day,” Emilia replied.

“…Right,” Felt muttered, wondering what the hell she’d gotten herself into here. “Anyway, women take these pills so that if they have sex they don’t risk getting pregnant.”

Emilia looked through the bag. “I need to eat all of these?” She asked dubiously.

“No,” Felt sighed. “You take one every morning. That way if you and Subaru decide to do… something, you’re ready.”

Emilia blushed but nodded. “That… seems like a good idea.”

“Great. Well, when you’re about to run out just let me know and I’ll get you a refill,” Felt muttered, heading for the door.

“Emilia,” Subaru said, stepping into the room. “I wanted to ask-oof,” Subaru staggered as Felt plowed into him.

Felt glowered up at Subaru. “I just want you to know that this was all your fault,” She proclaimed. She then stepped around the baffled Subaru and left the room, muttering to herself.

Subaru stared at the departing Felt.

“Did I miss something?” He asked Emilia.

Emilia shrugged. “It might have something to do with these,” Emilia said, indicting the bag with a sheepish look.

“Oh, what’s that? The loot from her latest score?” Subaru asked, coming over and sitting beside Emilia.

“She said it was something I could take… so I wouldn’t get pregnant,” Emilia blushed.

Subaru turned scarlet. “Oh,” He said. Subaru coughed. “Look, Emilia, this isn’t because I want to pressure you into doing something you’re not ready for it’s just… if the right time comes and we’re both ready, I wanted us to be prepared, you know?”

“I think that’s a good idea,” She replied with a slight smile.

A week flew by and Emilia and Subaru worked long days preparing for every possibility they could think of. They each rehearsed several speeches depending on what the other candidates said and they made sure they had dozens of prepared answers for every question they could think of.

Crop Rotations were still in the early stages in Arlem but so far the results were promising. Once the announcement at the royal selection was official, they would inform the rest of the villages in Roswaal’s domain about the idea and potentially the Astrea territory as well. With Arlem proving this season that the idea had merit, the other villages would fall in line quickly.

Subaru’s sewing machine was a huge success and the village women had already asked him if he could make a dozen more. Reinhard had brought to Arlem a trusted family friend named Sallis, who was a talented clockmaker. Sallis had spent years maintaining the large clocks in the Astrea manor and Reinhard brought him to Arlem in order for him to inspect the sewing machine and estimate the difficulty in reproducing it.

“I appreciate you coming all the way out here, Master Sallis,” Subaru said, entering Petra’s house with Sallis and Reinhard. Petra and her mother sat on the bed nearby. Subaru had asked them to be on hand to assist with the demonstration.

“Oh, it is my pleasure, Lord Subaru!” The clockmaker said. Sallis was a pasty man with a fussy demeanor. Nonetheless, Subaru liked him. He had a mad passion for his work and he shared Subaru’s interest in gears and machinery. “Sir Reinhard mentioned a new kind of clock you wanted me to inspect?”

“It’s not a clock, Master Sallis. It’s a device that uses gears to reduce labor,” Subaru clarified.

“Hm. I’m not familiar with such a device,” Sallis mused.

“Well, here it is,” Subaru said, pointing to the sewing machine.

Sallis inspected it with a frown. He turned the gears by hand and saw the needle move back and forth. “Forgive me, my lord, but I don’t understand how these gears do anything.”

“Petra? Would you please give us a demonstration?” Subaru asked with a smirk.

Petra bounded off the bed and ran to the machine with a bolt of cloth that she proceeded to stitch in seconds.

Petra cut the threads and showed Sallis the cloth with a flourish.

Sallis stared at it open mouthed. “This… this is fantastic! I never even imagined the possibility of such a device! Using gears to stitch thread? It’s brilliant!”

Sallis knelt down and grabbed a startled Petra’s hands. “Young lady, you are a genius! This machine is simply incredible!” He gushed.

“Oh. I didn’t make it,” Petra murmured, looking very off-put by Sallis’s adulation. “Lord Subaru did.”

“Just ‘Subaru’ is fine, Petra,” Subaru murmured with a sigh.

“Oh!” Sallis leapt to his feet and made a very low bow. “Forgive me, my lord! I misunderstood!”

“Don’t worry about it, Master Sallis,” Subaru replied. “Can you give us an estimate of how hard it would be to make more of these machines?”

“Of course, my lord!” Sallis inspected the gears carefully. “Most of these components appear similar to gears that I have in my workshop already. The strangely shaped gears below the needle and connected to the pedal would be a custom order. I work with a very talented blacksmith who supplies all my parts. I’m sure he could create molds for these gears in just a few weeks. The cost of materials after the molds are created should be nominal as would be the costs of assembly.”

“Sounds promising,” Subaru approved. “Would you be interested in working with us to create more of these machines? Also I have a few more devices I’m interested in testing. Would you be interested in helping us to bring the blueprints into reality?”

Sallis had a look of wonder on his face. “Absolutely, my lord! I can think of no more worthy pursuit for my art than to assist in making more works of genius such as this! Please consider me to be at your complete disposal!”

Sallis had headed home after that, almost too excited to sit still in the carriage.

Subaru and Reinhard walked back to the manor. “Well, he seems nice,” Subaru observed.

“A good friend of the family,” Reinhard agreed. “I’m glad to be able to provide him with additional work. Especially work that will have an enormous impact on the kingdom.”

Tomorrow they would leave the manor for the capitol and the royal selection would officially begin.

Emilia and Subaru sat together in the garden. It had been a long day, their final day of preparation and they were grateful to just be able to relax for an hour.

“So you feel ready?” Subaru asked.

Emilia smiled at him. “I think so, what about you?”

“We got this,” Subaru smirked.

They were silent for a moment.

“Subaru, do you really think we can win?” Emilia asked finally.

“I’m not sure yet,” He admitted. “But I am sure that we can get the blood for you.”

Emilia sighed. “Is that… is that the only reason we’re doing this?”

Subaru glanced at her.

“I know in the beginning all I wanted was to get the blood and cure my people but now…What about Felt and all the people in the slums? What about Petra who may not have enough food this winter? What about all the people who feel justified in abusing demi-humans just for fun?”

Subaru took Emilia’s hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll help them!” He promised.

“But what if we don’t win-”

“We’ll still help them,” Subaru emphasized. “We are going to change the world, Mili. Sure, being King would make that easier but it’s not essential. We could still help everyone get out of the slums by networking and connecting them with jobs. We could still spread knowledge of advanced agriculture and end hunger on the continent. We can push for the reform of the human-centric laws in Lagunica from down in the trenches with the demi-humans. So long as the two of us stay together, we will change this world.”

Emilia smiled at him and shook her head. “Why does everything sound so easy when you say it?”

Suabru shook his head. “It won’t be easy. It’ll be hard. We’ll have to fight against lots of entrenched interests for what we believe in. But a better world is something worth fighting for, isn’t it?”

Emilia rested her head against his shoulder. “We should probably get to bed,” She said. “Tomorrow is likely to be a long day.”

“We have a couple of long days coming up actually,” Subaru mused as the two of them left the garden and headed up the stairs.

“Good night, your Majesty,” Subaru said, giving Emilia the courtly bow that Reinhard had made Subaru practice for hours.

“Sweet dreams, you Majesty,” Emilia laughed while giving an answering curtsy.

Subaru returned to his own room where he found Reinhard already in bed reading a book.

“You kept me waiting, in fact,” Beatrice muttered from Subaru’s bed.

“I’m sorry,” Subaru apologized, kneeling down beside the bed to talk to Beatrice. “Sometimes I lose track of time when I’m with Mili.”

“Hm. Well we should start reading from our book if we want to get to sleep before midnight, I suppose,” Beatrice replied. The Great Spirit never bothered to change her clothes but she was clearly ready to go to sleep.

“Sounds like a plan,” Subaru said, stripping down to his shorts and climbing into bed beside Beatrice.

The two of them were reading a collection of fairy tales. They’d gotten into the habit of trading off chapters, each of them taking a turn reading one chapter to the other. Subaru was about halfway through his chapter when he heard Beatrice’s breathing become regular and saw that her eyes were closed.

“It seems I’ve lost my audience,” Subaru murmured, putting a book mark in the book and gently putting it down beside the bed.

Subaru gently kissed Beatrice’s forehead and settled down into bed beside her.

“You know, my friend, someday you are going to be a remarkable father,” Reinhard observed.

Subaru chuckled, trying not wake Beatrice. “I’d ask you to tell that to Emilia but I’m not sure if that would help or hurt. Also, I hope the kids sleeping with me won’t be a long term problem. It would make enjoying certain activities rather awkward.”

Reinhard laughed as he put down his own book and turned off the lights. “Do you feel ready for the ceremony, my friend?”

“Oh yeah!” Subaru assured him. “We are ready. We are motivated, we are prepared, and we are going to go in there and blindside every single one of them.”

“I greatly admire your optimism,” Reinhard mused.

“Optimism? Reinhard, that’s confidence. I have more advantages than I can count. When I reach the castle, I am walking in there with the ultimate knight. I’m going in there with Felt who can smell a con or an opportunity a mile away. I’m walking in the door with two Greater Spirits. And best of all, I’m going in there with the most wonderful woman in the world on my arm. With all of you by my side, how can I fail? Trust me buddy, we are going to make one hell of a splash.”

“I look forward to it, my friend,” Reinhard replied.

Late the next morning, Reinhard and Subaru had finished loading the carriage while Emilia, Puck, and Beatrice sat inside.

“We should leave shortly if we want to arrive in town before dark,” Reinhard commented.

Subaru shrugged. “I think we’re all set. We’re just waiting on Felt and the twins.”

At that moment, Rem and Ram exited the manor carrying Felt between them. Felt looked rather crestfallen.

The twins carried her down the steps and then put her down in front of Subaru.

Subaru nodded thoughtfully. “Should I ask or would I rather not?” He said to Ram.

“My sister and I decided to search Miss Felt thoroughly before our departure, just in case,” Ram explained calmly.

Subaru looked aghast. “Oh come on, Ram! Was that really-”

“We discovered a variety of small valuable items that must have wound up in Miss Felt’s pockets by accident,” Ram continued matter-of-fact.

Subaru glowered at Felt who refused to meet his eyes. “Get in the damn carriage,” He growled at her.

Felt quickly climbed in, followed by Reinhard and Ram.

Rem climbed onto the driver seat.

“Rem, are you sure you’re OK driving the whole distance by yourself?” Subaru asked.

“I’ll be fine, Lor- Subaru,” She amended.

Subaru shrugged. “Well, let me know if you get tired. I admit, I don’t really know how to drive a carriage but I can take a turn if you’d like.”

“Thank you, Subaru, but I think I’ll be fine. I’d much prefer not to end the journey by crashing into a tree,” Rem said calmly.

Subaru looked up at Rem who appeared to be struggling to repress her laughter.

“This is good training, Rem,” Subaru observed. “If I do wind up being King I’m going to spend the rest of my life being mocked, belittled, and burned in effigy so thank you for the practice,” Subaru said as he climbed into the carriage.

Rem laughed out loud as she drove the carriage down the road.

They reached the capitol just after dark. Subaru and Emilia were holding hands while Beatrice dozed against Subaru’s shoulder.

They were approaching the gate when the carriage came to a stop.

“Problem, Rem?” Subaru called.

“There’s an accident ahead. We’ll need to wait a few minutes,” She replied.

Subaru looked at Reinhard. “Why don’t we go see if there’s anyway we can help?” He said, trying not to wake Beatrice as he coaxed her to lay against Emilia’s shoulder.

Reinhard nodded and they slipped out of the carriage, leaving a very nervous Felt sitting next to a still annoyed Ram.

Two wagons had collided outside the city, probably when their earth dragons took a snap at each other. Fortunately the people and animals from the wagons all appeared to be fine, unfortunately the earth dragons were still struggling against each other.

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“I’ll calm the earth dragons,” Reinhard said, speeding off.

Subaru walked down to the wagon where a teamster was picking up crates of merchandise off the road.

“Here, let me give you a hand,” Subaru said, picking up a short spear that had been dislodged from a shattered crate.

These crates are all full of spears? Sounds like someone is preparing for a serious fight, Subaru worried.

Subaru brought the man the spear but noticed that the spear’s head was moving back and forth. This wasn’t because it was broken, it had clearly been designed with some care to ensure this was possible.

His curiosity peaked, Subaru triggered Reason and Judgment, examining the spear.

Interesting. It’s not a spear, it’s not even a weapon. It’s a harpoon designed to be used in fishing. The flexible head suggests it’s intended for use on large sea mammals like whales. Well, that’s reassuring. At least someone isn’t plotting a war.

“Thank you, my lord,” The teamster said, taking the harpoon with a bow.

“Don’t mention it,” Subaru said, walking away.

Reinhard had managed to calm the earth dragons and coaxed by their drivers the beasts were helping move the wagons off the road so that traffic could pass.

Subaru met Reinhard who wore a very moody look and the two walked back to their carriage.

“My friend, I think we may have a problem,” Reinhard murmured.

“Nothing new about that,” He sighed. “What is it this time?”

“Did you see those crates full of spears?” Reinhard asked in a low voice. Before Subaru could answer Reinhard continued, “Those crates are all stamped with the sigil of House Karnstein.”

“Karnstein?” Subaru asked in surprise. “As in Crusch Karnstein?”

Reinhard nodded.

Subaru frowned and shook his head. “Let’s talk about this back in the carriage where we won’t be overheard.”

So Crusch is ordering a ton of harpoons… why? Is she trying to revolutionize the fishing industry? That doesn’t sound like Crusch as she’s been described to me. So what is she after? I guess she would need some kind of economic plank in her platform but I don’t think Lagunica really has a large fishing industry. Maybe she means to invent one? It would be a good idea but it’s going to be a heavy lift in a world where most people can’t sail or swim.

Reinhard and Subaru climbed back into the carriage. A few moments later the carriage began to move down the road.

“Was anyone hurt?” Emilia asked.

“Some scratches and minor cuts on the earth dragons. The people were fine,” Reinhard replied. “However, I learned something concerning. The crates on the wagon were all bearing the sigil of House Karnstein.”

“Could you see what was inside them?” Felt asked intently.

Reinhard nodded. “Spears. A lot of spears.”

“So she’s planning to attack someone,” Felt mused. “It makes sense. If she plans to start a war she’d obviously want you on her team, Red.”

“They aren’t spears,” Subaru disagreed. “They’re harpoons. Or something similar anyway.”

“What’s a harpoon?” Emilia asked.

“It’s a tool used in fishing,” Subaru explained.

“So she’s… going after fish?” Felt asked.

“Apparently really big fish. Those harpoons are the kind you’d use if you were going after big game, like large seals, dolphins, and whales,” Subaru said.

“Whales?” Felt and Reinhard said in stereo.

They exchanged a long look full of trepidation.

Subaru glanced at Emilia but she seemed as confused as he was.

“I sense you guys have an idea,” Subaru prodded.

“Crusch is going after the White Whale,” Felt pronounced. “No other explanation.”

“The White Whale…” Subaru rummaged through his memory. “That was one of the three great mabeasts we talked about, wasn’t it? Why do you think that’s what Crusch is after?”

“The White Whale has been a plague on these lands for centuries. The beast is a terrible threat to travelers and often disrupts major trade routes. Slaying it would be an enormous credit to whichever candidate accomplished the act. It killed my grandmother years ago,” Reinhard explained.

“And Crusch mentioned his grandfather when she tried to recruit Red for her big mission,” Felt added.

“I see. Crusch tries to recruit you for something involving your grandfather and she’s stockpiling harpoons. Yup, I think we have a winner,” Subaru agreed.

“So what are we going to do about it?” Emilia asked.

Subaru glanced at her.

“You said we should have a counter for everything our rivals propose to do so don’t we need to do something that’s impressive enough to take attention away from Crusch trying to kill the whale?” Emilia said.

“Fair point,” Subaru mused.

“We could promise to kill the Great Rabbit or the Black Snake?” Reinhard suggested.

Emilia blinked and rubbed her head as if it pained her but Subaru didn’t notice.

“Can we do any of that?” Subaru asked dubiously. “I mean it’s not like we have an army.”

“I will see it done,” Reinhard said as if discussing working a double shift.

Emilia and Subaru shared a dubious look. “Red, I know you are like super powerful but are you really sure you could take on monsters like these? You’re a good friend, Red. I don’t want to put you at any risk.”

Felt burst out laughing and even Reinhard chuckled.

Subaru checked if Emilia knew what was going on but she just shook her head. “Care to let us in on the joke, guys?” Subaru asked.

“Sorry, Subaru,” Felt giggled. “But I’m just now realizing that you honestly have no idea how powerful Red actually is.”

“I’ve tried to keep it that way,” Reinhard added. “I must admit, I enjoy being valued for myself rather than my abilities.”

“You certainly are valued, buddy. You were my first friend here. For a while, you were my only friend!” Subaru said. “I’m grateful that you’re willing to help, I just don’t want to risk your life just so we can take a throne. It’s absolutely not worth it.”

Emilia nodded in agreement.

Reinhard’s eyes grew rather watery.

“Ugh, knock it off, you two. You’re going to make the poor dope cry!” Felt said.

Reinhard wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Have no fear, my friend. Choose the objective and I will see it carried out. The only potential concern is that we must find our prey in Lagunica before I can pursue it.”

“Oh right, you’re not allowed to leave the country,” Subaru remembered. “That’s got to be annoying!”

“It’s not ideal,” Reinhard admitted.

“We can deal with that later,” Felt interjected. “So who’s the better target: the rabbit or the snake?”

Subaru thought about it for a moment. “Let’s hold off on that call. I have a sneaking suspicion… if Crusch decides to be overly cautious we might be able to do even better…”

“Greetings to you aaaall,” Roswaal said when they met him at the hotel.

“Greetings, Lord Roswaal,” Subaru and Emilia bowed together.

“Soo tomorrow is the big day. You must both be sooo excited,” He continued.

“Very much so,” Subaru agreed, pausing long enough to discretely kick Felt who was struggling not to burst out laughing at Roswaal’s unique fashion sense and mode of speech.

“There is unfortunately one minor problem,” Roswaal said. “The hotel is completely full tonight and two of us will need to share a bed. I volunteered Lord Subaru and Lady Emilia as I assumed that would not be a problem.”

Subaru and Emilia both turned red and looked down at the floor.

“That should be fine,” Subaru said.

“I’m sure we can manage,” Emilia said at the same time.

They were blushing but they were also both smiling.

Felt wore a vicious grin. She started to make a comment but Reinhard grabbed her, covering her mouth.

Felt looked at him with annoyance as the hotel maids led everyone to their rooms.

Subaru had just finished reading to Beatrice in her room. Tonight, surprisingly enough, she was joined by Puck. Beatrice had fallen asleep cuddling Puck and Subaru kissed her forehead. He briefly considered giving Puck a kiss goodnight but reason quickly reasserted itself.

Subaru returned to his own room and found Emilia dressed for bed and brushing her hair.

“Hello, Subaru,” She said, looking away from him with red cheeks.

“Hello, Emilia,” Subaru said a little awkwardly as he began to strip down to his shorts. “So Puck is sleeping with Beatrice tonight? What did you have to offer Puck to get him to agree to that?”

“Nothing actually. I didn’t even think of asking him. He volunteered,” Emilia replied, coming over to the bed.

“Huh, well that was nice of him,” Subaru murmured as he and Emilia lay down on top of the covers, staring up at the ceiling together.

“We’ve been so busy this past week that we haven’t really had any time alone together except when we’re working,” Emilia commented.

“Yeah,” Subaru agreed, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her a little closer. “I’d ask what you’ve been doing with yourself lately but since we spent every minute of everyday preparing for tomorrow, I guess I already know the answer.”

Emilia poked his stomach in mock annoyance.

Subaru chuckled.

“And tomorrow is just the beginning,” Emilia murmured. “We’re going to be doing this for two years.”

“Win or lose, I think we’ll be doing this kind of stuff for a lot longer than that, Mili,” Subaru whispered into her hair. “But after tomorrow we don’t have an exact time table anymore. We can take a break. We can take some time for ourselves.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Emilia sighed.

They were both quiet for a moment.

“Subaru, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’ve been taking that medicine Felt got me,” Emilia whispered.

Subaru flushed, he wasn’t sure if it was from fear or excitement. “Really?”

“Mmmhmm,” Emilia sighed. “But I think we’ll need to be well rested for tomorrow.”

Subaru nodded. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

“But after tomorrow… we can relax a little… can’t we?” She asked.

Subaru could hear the smile in her voice.

Subaru laughed. “Are you trying to make me crazy?”

Emilia pushed Subaru down and half climbed on top of him, smirking down at Subaru. “And why not? Haven’t you been driving me crazy since the day we met?”

“What?! Hey, that’s not how I remember it! You’re the one who convinced me to go chasing down a stolen insignia and almost got me cut in half!” Subaru laughed.

Emilia slapped her hands down on his chest as if stomping on him but her grin widened. “Don’t joke about that! That was scary!”

He laughed again. “Yeah! I guess I didn’t have as much time to be scared as you did since I passed out from blood loss!”

“You are awful!” Emilia laughed.

“But you love me anyway! Don’t you?” Subaru asked suddenly smug. He reached up and brushed her hair back from her face

Emilia froze and then slowly nodded. “Yes. I do. I love you, Subaru Natsuki,” She whispered.

Subaru cupped her cheek.

“Subaru, do you-”

“I love you more than anyone. More than anything,” Subaru replied earnestly. “I have no doubt that you are why I came here. You are what I came here to find. And I will change this whole world to build you a place where you can be truly happy.”

Emilia looked down at him with watery eyes but even Subaru knew that these were tears of happiness. “I love you, Subaru. But I never expected you to make me happy.”

Subaru frowned up at Emilia with concern.

“We’ll make our own happiness, together,” She explained.

Subaru’s eyes got pretty misty themselves and he drew Emilia down to him for a kiss. The two wrapped around each other caressing and cuddling each other.

This continued for several minutes until Emilia drew back. “You do realize we should get to sleep, don’t you?” She asked him with heavy eyes.

Suabru groaned with mock annoyance. “Damn, Mili. Why do you always have to be so responsible?”

“Don’t pout, Subaru,” She murmured primly. “We have all the time in the world to enjoy ourselves after the presentation tomorrow.”

They slipped under the covers.

“If you keep talking like that, I’m liable to cut my speech short just so we can get back here faster!” Subaru snorted.

Emilia laughed and turned away from him.

Subaru slipped closer to Emilia and wrapped his arm around her; smelling her fragrant hair as they snuggled together. They’d never laid like this before much less been in bed together but it was so peaceful, so comfortable. It was like they’d been waiting to come here since they met and everything had finally snapped into place. This was by no means the last step on their journey together but it was enough for tonight.

They were both fast asleep in seconds.

The next morning everyone was up before the sun, preparing for the big day.

Reinhard and Roswaal had already departed to the castle. Everyone else was finishing getting ready.

Reinhard had worked with Petra and her mother to make special clothing for the occasions so that Subaru and Emilia would appear to be part of the same set during the presentation. Felt had pointed out that Petra and her mother were the perfect candidates to make the clothing under Reinhard’s supervision; not only were they both talented tailors but now Subaru and the others could easily brag in conversation about how quickly these high quality clothes were produced using Subaru’s new machine.

So Reinhard is also a talented fashion designer. Can that man do everything? Will he tell me one day that he could have healed the Elior forest with a snap of his fingers but he thought that doing it this way would be more fun?

Subaru’s outfit closely matched Reinhard’s own uniform, albeit with different colors, while Emilia’s was similar to her normal clothes. The color scheme was based off Emilia’s standard white and purple but for the presentation Reinhard had added a silver trim to Emilia’s usual outfit while Subaru’s had gold.

Emilia was beaming to be dressed as part of a matched set with Subaru.

“So how do I look?” Puck’s voice came out of the majestic mane-less white lion sitting next to Emilia.

“Very regal,” Subaru compliment. “It suits you.”

Felt had persuaded Puck to transform into something grander for the occasion.

I will never underestimate that girl again! Subaru thought to himself after seeing Puck’s new appearance.

Beatrice’s normal clothing sufficed for the presentation but Felt had managed to talk her into swapping out her normal colors for white, silver, and purple to be part of Subaru and Emilia’s set.

Felt was the last to get changed into the clothes Reinhard and the Leytes had prepared for her. The girl emerged from her room clearly feeling out of place. She was wearing a long yellow gown, white shoes and a small silver circlet in her hair that stopped just short of being a tiara.

“I feel ridiculous!” Felt moaned.

“I think you look beautiful!” Subaru said. “I suppose we all feel a little silly when we’re dressed up like this but you know why we’re doing it.”

Felt sighed. “Yeah, yeah, Red went over it with me a thousand times,” Felt’s voice took on the singsong tone of something that had been memorized. “This is a formal occasion at the royal palace and both etiquette and custom requires a certain standard of dress and behavior to be observed.”

Subaru frowned. “Well, yeah, that’s all true,” He agreed, hoisting Beatrice onto her favorite seat: his shoulder. “However, it has nothing to do with why you’re dressed up like that.”

“What do you mean?” Felt asked.

Subaru snorted. “Do I really have to spell it out for you? It’s part of the con!”

Emilia stared at Subaru but Subaru was focusing on Felt.

“This is just like when you pretended to be an idiot while you talked to Crusch the other day. You knew what she wanted and expected you to be, and you became that so you could manipulate her. This is the exact same thing. You have a whole crowd of rich idiots in that castle just waiting to be manipulated. We’re planning to empty the slums right? Well, that could take us decades. Think of every nobleman you convince that destroying the slums is a worthwhile venture as reducing that time by years.”

Subaru walked over to a suddenly thoughtful Felt with Beatrice riding his shoulder. “Those people know that you’re from the slums. They expect you to walk in there in rags, flip off the duchess, and drop the punchbowl on the floor. They have absolutely no expectations of you whatsoever. Can you think of anything more fun than proving them all wrong? You know, a very clever lady once told me: there’s nobody easier to scam than someone who thinks they’re smarter than you.”

Felt’s eyes hardened.

“Show them you can play their game. Show them you can play it better than they ever could! Give these nobles a heroic Felt who climbed out of the slums using nothing but her wits and her iron will and is now determined to go back and rescue everyone she left behind. They’ll lap it up! You’ll have them eating out of your hand in five minutes,” Subaru finished.

Felt’s thought about it and her eyes widened. “You’re right! This is just a con like any other con I’ve run. I’ve done weirder stuff than this! Bring it on, I’ll have those overdressed pansies for lunch!”

“That’s my girl,” Subaru approved.

Beatrice tugged on Subaru’s ear.

“Betty is your girl, in fact,” She reminded him petulantly.

“I’d also like to be included in there somewhere,” Emilia smirked.

“Alright!” Subaru threw up his hands. “Let’s just get out of here before I get in even more trouble!”

Crusch Karnstein and her knight Felix had been at the castle for some time. They had gotten to the presentation early to watch and to get the lay of the battlefield before the action started. Crusch had long green hair and, unlike other ladies of the court, she had arrived in her military uniform and a sword belted at her side. Felix was a brown haired man with demi-human blood, revealed by his cat ears and tail. Felix often preferred to wear women’s clothing but tonight he was in knightly uniform.

So far nothing worth reporting had happened. Anastasia hadn’t arrived yet and Priscilla was holding court, lecturing a group of supporters on how wonderful she was. Priscilla was staggeringly beautiful with long blond hair and blood red eyes. She wore an elaborate red dress. Her knight Al leaned against a wall nearby. Al wore a helmet that concealed his entire face. He also wore a thin vest that left his torso exposed and loose pants. He’d lost an arm in battle some years ago.

“Crusch, look nya,” Felix whispered.

Crusch turned to look at the door as the Natsuki party arrived.

Their entrance at least was impressive. Subaru and Emilia Natsuki entered the castle in immaculate white clothes that screamed both money and taste. They were also accompanied by some kind of tame white lion. This helped to solidify Crusch’s initial impression of the Natsuki camp: all flash, no heat.

Subaru Natsuki brought a little girl here… his daughter? Crush mused, No, Subaru isn’t old enough to have fathered a girl this age. His younger sister, perhaps? That seems more likely.

Emilia really is a silver haired half-elf. She’s not even trying to hide it! I had wondered if that rumor might have just been a smear campaign. It’s bizarre that she even bothered to show up here. She’ll be lucky not to be lynched by an angry mob during the presentation.

Who is that young noblewoman with Emilia? I don’t recognize her. That is unacceptable. I should know all of the nobility and other players in the kingdom. These lapses can have massive consequences and I have no patience for such things.

A group of nobles saw the Natsukis enter the castle and began to approach the party.

Crusch watched the Natsukis interact with the nobles. Their camp appeared to be polite and even charming, but there was no real substance in evidence yet.

This is all smalltalk. I hate smalltalk, Crush thought. The nobles aren’t asking the Natsukis anything of substance and the Natsukis aren’t volunteering anything. That either means that they are smart enough not to tip their hand before the presentation or they simply have nothing of substance to say. I’m inclined to suspect the latter.

Crusch noticed that Priscilla was glaring at the Natsukis. It was likely that she felt slighted because her own throng of well wishers had been reduced as they went to greet someone else.

“Hm. Incoming, nya,” Felix murmured.

Priscilla marched over to the Natsukis, forcing her way through the crowd.

“What’s this? A filthy little half-elf? I assumed that all these people would at least be looking at something interesting. Sadly, it’s just a disgusting bore,” Priscilla smirked as she turned away.

“Perhaps these fine people are here because you were boring them, Priscilla,” Subaru called, slipping the little girl off his shoulder. Priscilla froze in her tracks. “After all, there are only so many ways for you to say how amazing you think you are before it starts to get a bit repetitious.”

Crusch raised an eyebrow. This could get ugly quick.

Crusch noticed Al, Priscilla’s knight, coming over to intervene.

For a moment Priscilla was paralyzed by shock. Someone had dared to insult her? In public? Unacceptable. This could not be endured and in fact she would not endure it.

Priscilla spun around drawing out of thin air, the Yang Sword, her enchanted blade that could only be wielded by one of Vollachian royal blood. She thrust the sword at Subaru’s chest with all her strength.

Sabaru extended his palm to meet the blade and the sword… stopped as if it had struck a mountain.

Subaru grabbed the blade in his hand and wrenched it out of Priscilla’s grip. It flipped end over end overhead until Subaru caught the handle as it descended .

“This is a marvelous sword,” Subaru admired the flaming blade, as calmly as if they were discussing it over tea. “Lady Priscilla, this was a kingly gift. You truly shouldn’t have,” His voice descended into mockery.

Priscilla Barielle’s jaw was on the floor as she gaped at Subaru Natsuki. No one had ever survived Priscilla’s attack before. Nor had she ever thought it was even possible for the sword to be wrenched from her grip.

Crusch would have looked just as shocked as Priscilla if not for her iron will. Crusch was a duke and the daughter of a duke. She’d been in politics in one form or another since the day she was born. She would never let emotion show on her face in public without due consideration. However, this had been truly shocking. Subaru had blocked the unstoppable Yang Sword, said to be able to pierce anything, with his bare hand and then he had simply taken this legendary sword away from Priscilla.

How was this done? Could even the Sword Saint have endured Priscilla’s attack unflinching? He would certainly have had the victory over Priscilla without any effort but wouldn’t Priscilla’s attack have had some kind of effect on him? What kind of person is Subaru Natsuki and what magic does he command that allows him to shrug off a blow from one of the most powerful weapons in the world?!

“How… How are you doing this?!” Priscilla demanded.

“Oh, I have my ways,” Subaru mused, still studying the sword.

Subaru abruptly plunged the sword into the castle floor stones. He hoisted the little girl back on his shoulder, gave Emilia his hand, and his party calmly walked away. Subaru lightly bumped into Priscilla’s shoulder as he passed her.

That was no accident, Crush thought.

“You know, Priscilla,” Subaru commented, “You really need to bring something more than just luck to the table if you want to get ahead in this contest. We’re talking about the fate of nations here, not a game of dice,” Subaru called over his shoulder as his party calmly walked away.

Priscilla stood there stupefied for long seconds as the entire room began to murmur around her. She quickly recovered and grabbed her sword, banishing it back to the ether. Priscilla whirled on the departing Natsuki party, glaring at them with eyes of flame.

“Nya. Well, you don’t see that everyday,” Felix observed as Al tried to soothe Priscilla’s raging fury.

Don’t panic! Just think it through, Crusch attempted to discipline her racing mind. On the one hand, Subaru has just done me a large favor. He dealt a serious blow to Priscilla’s candidacy before the game even properly began. I’ve always considered Priscilla to be my most serious rival. Her luck is a potent offering to the people of Lagunica, and one that I wasn’t sure I could easily match. Once the Lagunican citizens become her citizens her luck would benefit them as well. Priscilla’s luck works like magic and she had already convinced a large chunk of the nobility that her luck could see her, and the kingdom, through any problem no matter what choices she made.

Now in one move, Subaru Natsuki has publicly called that claim into question. He has embarrassed her in public, laughed off her strongest attack, and then stolen her greatest weapon without any apparent effort. All of this was done while Priscilla stood by helplessly, too shocked to even try and retake control. Priscilla has lost more from this interaction than might first be guessed: A myth of infallibility, once questioned, will not quickly rebound.

All of this is clearly to my good. However, the problem is that if this entire gambit wasn’t produced by chance and dumb luck, then the Natsuki camp, which I’ve always dismissed as not even taking the selection seriously, not only commands powerful magic of an unknown type, but they just performed a political coup worthy of a master strategist. Beyond that, the idea that anyone has the power to block the Yang sword barehanded, much less rip it out of Priscilla’s grip, is nearly terrifying.

Crusch watched the Natsuki camp depart and when the young noblewoman turned around for a moment, Crusch’s heart almost stopped. She recognized the girl’s strange red eyes. This was no noblewoman, this was the same ignorant street waif she had met with Reinhard van Astrea a few weeks ago.

The girl met Crusch’s eyes for a moment and smirked before hurrying to catch up with her camp.

What is happening here?! When did I lose control of this situation?!

Shortly thereafter the candidates were all called to assemble.

The Natsukis are attracting most of the attention right now, Crush observed. They have two candidates who are publicly in love, which is already quite the PR coup, they also possess two different sponsors from two powerful families. Beyond that the rumors of Subaru Natsuki killing a troll with his bare hands were running wild in the city and I fear that the nobility is starting to believe them. Actually, after watching him disarm Priscilla, I think that I am starting to believe them as well. How did I misinterpret this situation so drastically?!

Never mind that now. Focus. Emilia’s appearance and race are major strikes against her candidacy and that is exploitable. She will limit her fiance’s appeal.

Crusch glanced at the crowd and saw with concern that while her race and appearance appeared to be common topics of conversation, as fascination with her camp built up, more and more people seemed prepared to at least consider overlooking them.

McMahon announced the beginning of the selection and made a lot of formal points that Crusch barely heard. She was watching her competition like a hawk for any sign of weakness or any source of advantage.

McMahon finally finished and gestured for Priscilla to make her statement.

“Presenting Baroness Priscilla Barielle, the Sun Princess, accompanied by her knight Aldebaran,” The herald proclaimed.

Al stepped forward. “Lady Priscilla’s luck is famous for a reason. Her decisions always turn out to be the correct ones in the long run. She’s taken over impoverished regions and made them prosperous again. She’s dealt with powerful attacks and caused them to backfire on her foes. She’s the perfect person to take command of this entire country. I’ve watched her miraculously pull victory from certain defeat time and time again. Trust me, she’ll do no less in this election.”

Al stepped back.

Not a terribly good speech but it was a good introduction for Priscilla. She might be able to use it to recover some of her lost stature and mystique if she capitalizes on it.

Priscilla stepped forward with her pale cheeks visibly flushed and her mouth a grim slash.

Subaru’s play was more impressive than I realized. Priscilla still hasn’t recovered her lost temper. That’s going to be mistake number one. She looks visibly angry and spiteful and that will cost her support. I also know without question that Priscilla hasn’t bothered to prepare a statement. She’ll have trusted her luck to carry her through this without any effort on her part. She’s also been recently mocked for her self-centered arrogance. If she comes across as arrogant in her speech she’ll add fuel to that fire and risk proving her accuser right. Priscilla needs to make a quick recovery now and she seems ill-equipped to do so.

“You all know me,” Priscilla declared. “My actions right or wrong always turn out to the good. You should all wish to be mine and trust in me to make these decisions for you as they will always turn out for the best. I will restore Lagunica to prosperity and prominence.”

Priscilla stepped back fuming. There was some scattered applause that stopped quickly.

Crusch shook her head. It wasn’t necessarily a bad speech but it was a weak speech and it doesn’t give Priscilla the lift she needed after her recent public drubbing. She’s going to start the contest behind the other candidates and she’ll need to catch up. All of this is to my benefit.

“Presenting Duchess Crusch Karnstein, the Goddess of War, accompanied by her knight Felix Argyle,” The herald announced.

Felix stepped forward. “Nya, the noble house of Karnstein has been a pillar of the kingdom since the days of the old Lion Kings. My mistress has been on the front lines in countless battles, leading Lagunican troops to victory and protecting Lagunican lives from foreign aggression. Many of you owe my lady your lives whether you know it or not. She has spent a lifetime protecting Lagunica and she is the most appropriate person to guide the nation forward.”

Felix bowed as Crusch stepped forward. “I am Duchess Crusch Karnstein a proud Lagunican patriot. I wish to be King for all Lagunicans to restore our lost pride and dignity and to protect us from the other nations who threaten us. Under my leadership I will force the Dragon to abandon its pact with our people and return the sovereignty of our nation to the people where it belongs.”

Crusch stepped back. Hm. I got much more effusive applause than Priscilla had but it’s not nearly as loud as I hoped. Felix warned me repeatedly not to make any reference to ending the pact with the dragon in my speech. He said that this type of sweeping reform was best worked up to after earning people’s trust. My personal instinct was to always be forthright with your intentions and I acted accordingly. Perhaps this was not the best move.

Crusch glanced down the line and saw Subaru Natsuki watching her closely. He quickly turned away.

Crusch fought not to bite her lip. What is he thinking? He was looking at me like a predator about to pounce. He thinks I made a mistake and one that he can exploit. Was it the comment about ending the dragon pact? How would he exploit that?

“Presenting Miss Anastasia Hoshin, the Greedy Princess, accompanied by her knight Julius Juukulius,” The herald said.

Julius was a handsome purple haired man in a knight’s uniform. He stepped forward with his hand over his heart. “I am proud to stand here today and offer my strength to Lady Anastasia. She began her life with nothing, not even her own name but through cunning and sheer will power she fought her way out of poverty. She worked as a humble clerk until she obtained sufficient capital and influence to open her own shop and now she has built her company into the largest trading firm in the entire world. My lady’s efforts have lifted thousands out of poverty and into good lives. She has campaigned tirelessly to outlaw slavery in the Karangi provinces. The Lady Anastasia is precisely whom Lagunica needs to rebuild our faltering economy and secure our future.”

Julius bowed as Anastasia stepped forward. Anastasia was a short woman with purple hair. She wore a fur turban and a fur shawl around a white dress.

“Well, who would have thought I’d ever be standing here? My name is Anastasia and I’ve worked my way out of poverty and built the biggest trading company in the world. Now I’ve decided that I want my own country. I take the best of care of everything I own. If I’m chosen I will revitalize the economy, end slavery, and lead to a resurgent revitalized working class.”

It was a solid speech, short and sweet. Not many people in Lagunica know much about Anastasia or her accomplishments, which will be one of her major stumbling blocks in the campaign. Her speech introduced herself and her platform as well as giving everyone something to think about and a reason to remember her. Her speech also had good synergy with Julius’s introduction. It’s a solid sales pitch from a master merchant.

Now came the party that everyone was waiting to hear from.

“Presenting Lord Subaru Natsuki and Lady Emilia Natsuki. Accompanied by their contracted partners the Great Spirit of Fire and the Great Spirit of Yin. With them are their sponsors: Lord Roswaal M. Mathers and Sir Reinhard van Astrea. Also accompanying them is their adviser Miss Felt.”

Crusch’s mouth went dry. They made contracts with not one but two Great Spirits?! I can hear the room buzzing around me from that revelation. I can’t even blame the people. Was that how Subaru had survived the Yang sword? The blond waif is an adviser to the camp?! She must be supremely important to their faction to be standing with them during the announcement. What could she have offered them to ingratiate herself so throughly? Money? An intelligence network? However she joined the camp, the woman is dangerous. She was clearly intelligent and clever enough to fool me into thinking that she was nothing more than an ignorant slum girl when she wanted to. I never sensed a single false word from her even with my Divine Blessing. Could she have blocked it with some kind of strange magic, could that have been her offering to the candidates? Could she be a mage of frightening power?

Crusch cursed herself for being so blind during her conversation with Reinhard. She had blundered into a trap with her eyes wide open.

Reinhard stepped forward with his head held high. “I met Lord Subaru by a strange chance, if chance it was. I found him fighting against a vastly superior foe risking his own life to save people he had known for less than a day. This act of heroism, committed in a dark room where likely no one would ever even know of it, nearly cost him his life. I am proud to stand here today and pledge my enduring loyalty to Lord Subaru, the man I myself revere as King.”

A murmur went around the room.

That was a solid endorsement, Crush admitted. Reinhard van Astrea’s passion is striking and it impressed damn near everyone in this room. He might be less eloquent than some but no one in this room was more fervent in their conviction.

Roswaal was now espousing on Lady Emilia’s virtues but Crusch focused on Reinhard and Subaru.

Is Subaru actually wiping a tear from his eye? No one is that good an actor! Regardless, Reinhard van Astrea clearly holds his lord in vast admiration and believes that he truly deserves the throne.

I’ll have to cross him off my list of potential recruits to my faction.

Finally Subaru stepped forward to an utterly silent room. “I am Subaru Natsuki and I come from beyond the Great Waterfall,” A gasp went around the room and even the sages became more attentive. “The hand of fate has brought me to this land and it is fate that brings me here today. I have been offered the chance to return in kind the beneficence that has been showered on me by my adopted home and I wish to seize this opportunity with both hands. The Natsuki camp has committed over the course of the royal selection to eliminate hunger within the domains loyal to us,” The crowd murmured but Subaru kept talking. “I am bringing advanced techniques of agriculture and machinery from my homeland to create a revolution in food production and labor. The other challenge that the Natsuki camp has set for itself is to end the long ravages of a plague on this land that has stolen too many lives for far too long. Today the Natsuki camp declares war on the White Whale.”

The crowd gasped.

“Before the selection is complete I promise that the White Whale will be slain and its long depredations shall be avenged. This is my offering to the people of Lagunica. What happens in the future, is for you to decide.”

Subaru gave a slight bow and stepped back.

Crusch angrily closed her mouth. She realized she had been gaping at Subaru as much as Priscilla and Anastasia.

Stop! Focus, think, and recover! Wait, there’s no applause after his speech? That’s good news. No wait, look at those faces! That silence isn’t born of disdain it’s awe. Subaru has stolen a march on all of us and worse his strategy was transparently simple. We all spoke in broad generalities. We avoided committing to anything because if something went wrong it would damage our campaigns. Subaru has outlined specific promises that he will try to fulfill to establish his capabilities and his ability to carry his designs through to completion. It’s an aggressive and risky strategy. If he fails to carry out either of these extraordinarily ambitious promises his ability will be called into question and his support will plummet. If he succeeds on the other hands…

Blast it! Why didn’t I make a bold move like that? This is no coincidence. Somehow Subaru discovered that my plan was to hunt down and kill the White Whale. If I’d accomplished that task, a feat dreamed about for centuries, my ascension to the throne would have been assured. That was the mistake that Subaru saw in my speech. I had the chance to declare my intentions first and I let it slip away! I knew that publicly calling out my plan was a gamble and that’s why my instincts held me back and kept me to the slow and steady path. If I attempted to hunt down the beast and failed with the eyes of the entire kingdom watching me, the backlash might well have been fatal to my candidacy. Worse, candor compels me to admit that I might well have failed in my attempt. Unless I could have acquired the services of the Sword Saint. Then victory would have been assured.

Somehow Reinhard and the girl Felt had divined my intentions during our conversation. How? I made no slips that could have led them to that conclusion. What had given it away? Could they have a spy in my camp? Felt had at one point implied that she thought I had a spy in their camp, why would she think that? She must have assumed that I had a spy because they had a spy as well! It’s a common fallacy to assume that others in a situation would behave exactly as you would and perhaps Felt fell into that fallacy. Perhaps Felt works as their spy master?

No wait, if Felt thought I had a spy in her camp, she wouldn’t have believed me when I suggested that I believed Subaru would withdraw. She would have assumed it was bait and refused to bite. Or did she bite deliberately just to lure me into a false sense of security? Damn it, there are too many questions!

What can I do to recover from this? Attacking the whale is now a fool’s errand. It will make me looking grasping and spiteful. Worse if the attack is a disaster I’ll be blamed for all the deaths when the Sword Saint would have guaranteed victory without loss of life if I had only waited. If Subaru does kill the whale then what can I do to compete with him? Kill the black snake? No, it wouldn’t be equivalent. The snake rarely appears so it doesn’t affect people’s lives the same way. Kill a sin archbishop? End the fighting and warfare along the southern border?

Subaru has made two promises. If I can’t prevent him from killing the whale what if I sabotaged his agricultural reforms, assuming I can? That would at least cast doubt on him, people would start to wonder if his confidence exceeds his ability.

Emilia had stepped forward and placed her hand over her heart. Crusch’s attention snapped back to focus on her.

“If I say less than my husband it is only because we agree on so many things. If he, or by some chance I, are chosen to lead this nation then I dream of creating a Kingdom where everyone regardless of race and class is equal in the eyes of the law. Since coming to this city I have spent a great deal of time in the slums, learning about the deprivation and misery under which its people live. In the great Dragon Kingdom of Lagunica, no one should be going to bed hungry, dressed in rags, or be forced to sleep out in the rain. As such the Natsuki camp is committing to expanding the manufacture of textile and clothing in the kingdom to ensure that no one in our kingdom struggles to cloth themselves. More importantly, the Natsuki camp is committing to a bold plan to empty the slums completely, to find its occupants real jobs and homes to live in. Our camp is promising to end the constant surge of people flowing into the slums and to begin these people’s exodus to new lives in the country where they can be shown the dignity and respect that all people deserve. Thank you,” Emilia bowed and stepped back.

The crowd wasn’t silent after this speech. They were murmuring among themselves but it sounded cautiously approving.

McMahon ended the ceremony and it was apparent to everyone that public opinion had crowned a new front runner.

Crusch had shaken hands and answered questions but her mind was elsewhere. Her campaign plan was in shambles and she either needed to adapt or give up.

Crusch was not a person who gave up.

Mostly Crusch watched her new competition. Subaru was clearly the most popular candidate tonight. He was smart, personable, and able to answer questions about his policies quickly and easily. His ideas were bold and many people who approached him confessed that they had serious doubts about their feasibility but they were all impressed by the easy way he addressed all their concerns and by his unflinching confidence.

There is something odd about his charisma, his confidence seems almost supernatural.

Ultimately, nearly all of his critics decided to withhold judgment and see what happened.

Emilia appeared only slightly less popular than Subaru, itself a remarkable achievement for a demi-human. Emilia was passionate, self-assured, and calm enough to ignore a variety of digs at her race and appearance. She outshone her detractors by ignoring them and staying on message. Eventually the crowd turned on her hecklers.

The most surprising of all would have to be Felt. She had gathered up a large group of admirers and was holding court to them; regaling them with funny and exciting stories about her childhood in the slums. For the nobles this was rare entertainment and the gruesome and shocking images, which Felt slipped in here and there about how short and miserable life in the slums could be, were merely a byproduct, but in time those images would stay with the audience even after the story had faded.

Felt never actually asked anyone for help emptying the slums, she simply stood there and let her poise and obvious intelligence demonstrate that the people who grew up on these streets could be as talented as anyone else. The nobles didn’t notice it consciously but none of them missed her point either.

After a while Crusch decided she had accomplished all she could hope to at the presentation and left the party with Felix to go home and strategize. She was back at square one.

Subaru and company had left the party just after lunch time. They could have stuck around a while longer and Priscilla and Anastasia appeared poised to do just that but Felt suggested leaving a little early to preserve their mystique. Subaru and Emilia were not hard to convince. Although the past few hours had flown by quickly they had also been extremely mentally taxing.

Subaru and Emilia were in their room getting changed into their normal clothes.

Roswaal had offered to put them in separate rooms tonight but they had both politely declined.

“You were amazing,” Subaru said getting out of his formal attire with relief.

“What do you mean?” Emilia asked getting changed behind him.

“You were amazing,” Subaru repeated. “Almost half of the people who came to talk to you were ready to drop ethnic slurs. Honestly, I wanted to intercept most of them and tell them to leave you the hell alone.”

“That’s sweet, Subaru but slurs are nothing I haven’t heard before. I can take care of myself,” Emilia replied.

“You sure can. I need to remember that more often. You won a ton of people over. I looked at a big portion of that crowd and I thought there was no way they would even listen to you but you got them to look past your race and convinced them to hear you out. That’s amazing. You not only did something huge for the selection, convincing all those nobles to see you as person was a huge step forward for the rights of demi-humans across the entire kingdom. You should be proud,” Subaru paused. “I know that I’m proud of you.”

Emilia didn’t answer.

“What do you think we should do for the rest of the day?” Subaru asked.

“Truthfully, I want to go and check on Felt. I think she might be having some… identity issues right now,” Emilia replied.

Subaru sighed. “What have we done to that poor girl?”

By now Felt had switched back into her standard outfit. She was lying in a chair looking almost sick, tended to by a puzzled Reinhard.

“Ugh. I feel like I need to bathe!” Felt complained.

“Well you certainly did very well. Everyone loved you! You have the ear of the entire kingdom,” Subaru said with a smile.

“Man. Now I know how the whores in the slums feel,” Felt said covering her face.

“Candidly, you probably don’t need a bath quite as badly as they do,” Subaru replied. He leaned over to Emilia. “I think Felt needs a break,” Subaru whispered to Emilia.

She nodded.

“Hey Felt, we got a few hours to kill. What do you say we go and see Rom? Maybe he can fix us something to drink to perk us up again,” Subaru suggested.

“Subaru, I don’t know if even you are brave enough to drink with Gramps,” Felt warned him.

“I’m not brave enough,” He assured her. “Luckily, I am dumb enough.”

Subaru gasped for breath. His head was spinning and the only reason that he hadn’t already fallen over backwards was Emilia’s grip on his arm. He didn’t want to risk dislodging Beatrice who perched on his shoulder.

Everyone was laughing at him except for Emilia who had thought this was a terrible idea from the beginning. She struggled to keep her lover vertical.

“Thanks, Mili,” Subaru wheezed.

Emilia looked at him in frustration as she pulled him in for a hug. “Alright, you drank ‘Rom’s special brew.’ Do you feel like your manhood is proven yet?” She whispered in resignation.

“This wasn’t about proving anything,” Subaru whispered back. “Our friends just deserved a laugh after all they’ve been through this week.”

Emilia furrowed her brow.

“Well you didn’t pass out,” Rom rumbled. “That alone puts you one up on most people.”

“You did turn some funny colors though in fact,” Beatrice smirked.

“Want another?” Felt said with a wolf grin.

“Felt, I know I said that I’m dumb but there is a limit,” Subaru refused.

“You’re welcome down here any time, Subaru,” Rom said refilling the glass. “We’ll have a drinking contest.”

“Directly before my funeral I assume?” Subaru murmured.

Subaru and company left Rom’s once Subaru was steady enough to walk without dropping Beatrice. At least Rom had remembered to feed them. The old man was actually a pretty good cook. They left the slums just as the sun was setting.

“Anyone need to do anything while we’re in town?” Subaru asked.

“Actually,” Reinhard said. “I do need to return to the Astrea manor for a time.”

Subaru looked at him. “Are you sure?”

Reinhard nodded. “My oath to my lord has now been formally sworn. Father can no longer interfere with me. However I do need to go tidy up a few things with the family to ensure my attention is not divided in the future.”

Subaru scratched his chin. “Well, if really you need to go there I’m not going to let you go alo-”

“Excuse me!” Felt interrupted.

Everyone started and looked at Felt.

“How many times did I give you a place to sleep?” She demanded of Reinhard.

“Quite a few,” Reinhard allowed.

“And now you’re going back to a home full of terrible people that you can’t stand and you’re not even offering to put me up for the night?” Felt asked.

Reinhard looked confused. “Well… as you say it is full of terrible people that I can’t stand.”

“Don’t worry,” Felt shrugged. “I’m good at dealing with terrible people. I’m probably better at it than you.”

Reinhard face slowly brightened until he was beaming.

“Knock it off with the grin, Red. Let’s just go,” She said rolling her eyes.

“Yes, Miss Felt,” Reinhard said leading the way.

“Felt?” Subaru called.

“What?”

“Remember to leave a few survivors to tell the tale!”

Subaru, Emilia and the spirits raced back to the hotel having been caught in a surprise down pour. By the time they got inside they were drowned.

After drying off, Subaru took Beatrice aside for their customary reading before bed.

“Aren’t we reading early tonight, in fact?” Beatrice asked.

“Yes we are but the truth is after I bathe I think I’m going to be ready for bed. It’s been a long day and I think it’s going to be an early night all around,” Subaru replied settling into bed with the book and wrapping an arm around Beatrice.

“Hm,” Beatrice mused. “And Betty is going to be sleeping with her Bubby tonight, I suppose.”

Subaru glanced at Beatrice and put the book down. “That’s right. Tonight you will,” He said calmly.

Beatrice appeared to be struggling with something. “Subaru, are you-”

“You know,” Subaru interrupted, “Mili and I had a conversation about sleeping arrangements today.”

“When did you do that, I suppose?”

“Oh, it was while Rom was proving that he could juggle you and Felt,” Subaru replied.

“That man was rude in fact! And he smelled like vinegar!” Beatrice complained.

“Anyway,” Subaru chuckled, “Emilia and I decided that we’re fine having you and Puck sleep with us. Most nights anyway. Emilia and I are a couple now and we need our time alone just like Subaru and Betty or Betty and Puck need their own special time. So you and Puck are going to start sleeping with us regularly and every few nights we’ll ask you two to sleep together instead. Sound fair?” Subaru asked gently.

Beatrice looked at Subaru for a long moment and then crossed her arms with a faint smile. “Betty can live with it, I suppose,”

Subaru smiled and hugged Beatrice. “I’m glad. So are we going to read this? I think it’s your turn.”

When Emilia emerged from her bath in her robe, Subaru was already sitting on the bed in his own robe.

Emilia took out a brush and began to fight through the wild tangles in her hair.

“The rain really messed up your hair, huh?” Subaru asked.

“Yes,” Emilia said wincing as she tried to pull the brush through the matted tangles. “It’s really snarly. Puck usually uses magic to fix my hair so I’m not very good at this. It actually kind of hurts to brush it tonight.”

“Emilia, before we go to bed, do you think I could try something?” Subaru asked hesitantly.

“What?”

“Could I… Could I brush your hair?” Subaru asked.

Emilia looked at him in confusion. “You want to brush my hair?”

Subaru nodded. “It looks like it’s hurting you. I’d just… I’d like to help.”

Emilia hesitated then walked over to the bed and sat down in front of Subaru. She handed him the brush.

Emilia murmured, “You might have some trouble with it tonight because of all the snarls. I mean, I know you know about that we just discussed it but it’s in pretty bad shape tonight and usually Puck uses magic to-”

“I’ll be very very careful,” Subaru promised.

She tilted her head back and Subaru began to brush out her hair with short careful strokes. Every time he found tangle or a snarl he worked at it patiently until it was gone. Emilia barely felt anything as he untangled the snarls.

Emilia laid further back until she was resting against Subaru’s chest.

“Subaru, have you ever done this before?” She asked.

“No. Why? Does it hurt?”

Emilia shook her head. “No, it feels good.”

Emilia swallowed hard and closed her eyes, giving up everything but the sensation of those strong hands working in her hair.

“Do you think that’s good?” Subaru murmured.

Emilia opened her eyes and realized that Subaru was brushing her hair with long free strokes, having worked all the snarls out.

Emilia nodded and Subaru put the brush down in favor of wrapping his arms around her.

The two nestled together for a moment and Emilia raised her face for a deep slow kiss.

Subaru stroked her cheek. “Emilia are you… nervous?”

Emilia smiled at him. “No. Not at all actually. Are you?”

Subaru hesitated. “Yeah. I’m like really nervous!” He chuckled.

Emilia leaned in for another kiss. “Don’t worry,” Emilia whispered. “I’ll catch you if you stumble,” She promised.

Emilia smiled mischievously and waved a hand, magically making the lights go out. She kissed Subaru gently and guided him back to the pillows. They lay next to each other sharing soft, gentle kisses and teasing one another.

Subaru kissed her along her jaw and then drifted to kissing her neck. Emilia turned her head away to give him more room. She idly reached up to open Subaru’s robe and then ran her fingers down his chest.

Subaru slipped Emilia’s robe off her shoulders and began to kiss lower. Emilia gently took his face in her hands and drew him to her breast, cradling him against her as Subaru kissed and nuzzled.

Emilia raised Subaru’s head to look at her. “Subaru,” She urged in a whisper.

“Emilia…” Subaru asked nervously. “Are you-” Emilia met his lips in a gentle kiss that silenced his words. Gently she coaxed him closer. She was actually a bit nervous now. She could feel him pressing against her skin and Subaru was as big and strong as she’d thought he’d be. She worried it might be too big but right now Emilia felt warm and relaxed.

She was ready.

She urged him on with kisses and gentle words as she felt him pressing against her, into her.

Emilia let out a gasp as he slipped inside. Subaru kissed her and held her as she caught her breath. He waited until Emilia again urged him onward. She slipped her arms around him as he slipped deeper until Subaru slid into place deep inside her body and inside her heart.

Emilia sighed, wrapping herself around him. Subaru turned his head finding her neck and beginning to gently nibble.

They clung to each other unmoving; savoring this moment anticipated for so long.

They began slowly and gently; rocking against each other, cradling and stroking one another.

Emilia moaned and whispered, soft sounds that tantalized his ears and Subaru met her lips as if to devour them.

The rest of the world fell away and then there was nothing else but the sheer bliss of the moment.