Uploading date: 7/5/2018 [M/D/Y]

Re: Life in a fantasy world ~ Arc 2: An Everlasting Week

Chapter 4: Start of the inevitable

"Hwaaah…" A huge yawn escaped my mouth as the next morning dawned on me, luckily this time, I hadn't woken up too early. "Haircut day… I guess…" I hopped of the bed and did the my usual morning stretches. I headed for the closet and grabbed my butler's uniform out, heading for the bathing room immediately.

"Ah, morning Rem!"

I passed by Rem in the hallway and greeted her wholeheartedly, though, she only replied with a cold stare. She really doesn't want to hide her suspicion now does she? "I'm watching you… Subaru-kun…" Yeah, she's not gonna trust me anytime soon, probably shouldn't have played along with her paranoia yesterday. "Of course… well, I'm gonna take a quick dip now!"

I sped through the remainder of the hallway and entered the bathing room, checking around to see if Rem was peeking around the corner, which she, fortunately, wasn't doing. That would have been way too obvious. I walked inside and I could already feel the steam from the bath hitting my face, warm and cozy, that's what it felt like.

"Why~ hello there, Subaru-kun…"

"Ros-chi?"

After hearing that voice, I forced my way through the steam and I was met with the clowny owner of the house, Roswaal, "Come in, there's room for more~" He invited me, and I gladly accepted. I entered the bath foot first, not before I hung my clothes in the dryer of course.

"So, Subaru-kun, I hope you're having a swell time working for me here"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice here… though, I think I've made an enemy…"

"Ah yes… Rem is~ not really fond of any new faces, especially ones that aren't from nobility, she really dislikes them as she has no reason to trust them, I think she might have taken it from Beatrice… with her rejecting any and everyone that had come for her. Apparently she has a surprisingly low self-esteem… me and Ram had tried but we couldn't get her to get over it… It's most likely an inferiority complex dragged on from when she was still little…"

Inferiority complex would make sense, I really want to know, but I'll be entering deep waters if I do, "Hey Ros-chi… I know it's none of my business but mind if you tell me about what happened to her village ten years ago?" Asking about it directly from her would make her even more suspicious of me and she most likely wouldn't even tell me about it. "I suppose a little bit wouldn't hurt… besides, you might find it intriguing…"

Okay, now I really want to know about her, "In essence, she's an oni, but to be more exact, both her and her older twin sister, are 'hornless' oni, or one-horned, as such, they were shunned by the whole village at birth, but when Ram showed incredible power, they had thought she was the reincarnation of the oni god in the myths, so she was allowed to stay, Rem was only allowed to live because they expected the same sort of power from her…"

"They were wrong… weren't they?"

"Sadly, yes…"

The conversation took a turn into something a little more serious, I feel almost guilty for knowing this, "Ram was better than Rem in everything, the difference between them was as clear as night and day, she was even appointed as the villages next chief… but just the day after, their village was assaulted… by the witch cult…"

Just hearing that last part, made my heart ache, they were the same as me, made homeless by the same people, I clench my fist, hard enough that blood may very well be leaking out, "During the assault, all of the oni were slaughtered, burnt to death, all that was left was Ram, protecting Rem behind her, but even with her incredible power, she was still defeated and during the process, she lost her one and only horn… I happened to be near the area so I lended them a hand and saved them. The assailants had fled so I brought them back with me and they've been working ever since…"

"So… it was the smell that made her wary of me huh?" I say while loosening my body, Roswaal just nodded along with my sentiment, "Now that Ram had lost her horn, Rem is now more capable then her… am I right?"

"It is so… though it may just be my guess, she might feel guilty about what had happened to her sisters horn on that night, so she decides to take on much of the workload herself, possibly so that Ram wouldn't have a hard time, she even wakes up early and sleeps late to finish of chores before hand…"

"The red ogre's curse huh…"

"Pardon…?"

"Just a story I read, two ogres were all on their own, siblings… they found a village one day and wanted to make friends, but the blue ogre was shunned off, the red ogre wanted his brother to get along with everyone so he started to rampage around the village, he had his brother come and stop him and got him away from the others. The blue ogre gained the village's trust but at the cost of the his brother's dignity, and as such, he feels guilt for being unable to get along with the village the first time…"

"Hmm… that story does describe the two very well…"

We stayed like that for a moment, letting the silence kick in, that was before Roswaal got up and out of the bath, "Well~ nothing we can do about it now… Subaru-kun, I trust you wouldn't sell this information to some third-party mercenary group, now would you?" Roswaal said jokingly.

"Of course not… right now, I feel like I'd betray my own village if I give this away…"

"Then~ I expect you to give it your all for today as well"

We then parted off, him going to directly to his office while I head for the employees lounge, now, with a different opinion on Ram and Rem, "This feeling… is empathy right? I wouldn't want to pity them, that's just rude…" As I mumbled on to myself, I heard a foot tapping on the ground.

"If you have time to mumble out nonsense, then you could've gotten here quicker, Barusu…"

Ram was standing by the door to the employee's lounge, looking quite impatient, was I late? "Ah, Sorry, Nee-san… Guess Roswaal kept me in the bath for a little too long..." Ram went on inside and I followed, Rem was there as well looking normal and all. We did a quick brief on today's schedule and we were supposed to visit the village for restocking supplies.

"So, since we need to restock, we'll prepare breakfast early" Ram explained to us, both me and Rem nodded along and after quickly going through the rest, we were off with our first duty, which was to prepare breakfast immediately. The three of us headed over to the kitchen and started off with our cooking.

I peeled off the vegetables one by one, being careful not to cut my finger in the process. It was a task I never got used to as when I was traveling on my own, I'd eat any and all fruits or vegetables raw, eating the peel away with it. You never know when you're gonna eat next, so better make yourself full while you can, is the thought I had back then.

Ram seemed to be steaming some fresh yams which I heard were her specialty, either it's the best thing she can make or the only thing she can make, since I've never really tasted anything Ram makes, it's Rem who always makes the food, we just prepare the ingredients and ready the cooking utensils for her.

While we were busy preparing the main and the side dishes, Rem was making the drinks, and by the amount of fruit she has, it seems she's making a mixed fruit juice of sorts, something I'd love to try, good thing I got Emilia to let us dine in with her, I feel like giving myself a pat in the back for that.

"We'll let the steamed yams cool down for a while, Rem, Barusu, you two inform everyone of breakfast, I'll bring over the tray myself once everything's done"

"Roger, Nee-san!"

"Yes, Nee-sama!"

We both left the food to Ram as we rushed outside the, I could hear Ram letting out a satisfied sigh as I closed the door, is she really that proud of her steamed yams, I thought, or maybe it was the fact that we were doing things more efficiently?

"Rem, you go get Emilia and Roswaal, I'll bring Beatrice along," I say to her as we headed our way. The moment we left the kitchen, her gaze turned cold once again, she doesn't stop, doesn't she, "What makes you think she'll follow along?" she asks me in return.

"Why you say? Cause she's my friend now!" I proclaimed rather triumphantly, her gaze narrowed at me, "How can you be so sure about that? Don't tell me Beatrice-sama said that herself…" I doubt that would ever happen, a person with that personality would never admit it openly like that.

"Well she told me I could come to visit anytime, if that doesn't count me at least an acquaintance, I don't think anything will"

"Interesting, how did you do it, I wonder? Did you threaten her, blackmail her perhaps?"

She said such harsh words with such seriousness, I feel like i'm the thing she resents the most, "I gave her a doll that looks like Puck, and she seemed to like it, I said I was going to make another so she said I could come back anytime I want, if I remember correctly, that's what happened last night…"

"Heh, so Subaru-kun ended up bribing Beatrice-sama, unforgivable…"

"H-Hey, I didn't bribe her, she that through her own free will, don't point the blame at innocent little me!"

"What's with all the racket, I suppose! And don't go talking about Betty behind my back, it's irritating, you know!"

Speak of the devil, Beatrice made her appearance as a door beside us was slammed open, the great spirit showing us a displeased and frustrated face, it seemed like she was trying to eavesdrop but couldn't get the gist of our conversation, "Ah, Beatrice, I was looking for you, breakfast is a little early today, hope you don't mind?"

"Early, I suppose? Fine then, Betty shall go ahead and wait in the dining room…"

She leaves the library and closes the door behind her, heading towards the direction of the dining room. Rem just looked on dumbfounded, seeing Beatrice act like that isn't a normal sight her isn't it. I then took a glance at her sleeves, and I could make out a gray tail popping out of it, "Yo, Beatrice, you're bringing the plush with you...?"

Hearing me say that, she froze in place, it seems I hit another weakspot, "S-So… so what if I'm bringing it, I suppose?" She blurted out in a stuttered voice, looking back in a quite flustered manner. "I am the one that made it you know… also, you're not gonna show that to everyone are you? Ram was one thing, but if Roswaal and Emilia find it it's a whole other!"

"Calm your bottoms, I suppose, Betty only wishes to compare the doll to Bubby to see how accurate it is"

Ah, so she was just doing that, I was getting worried she'd betray me the day after we became friends, "Also, how long do you think the next one would be done, I suppose?" She asked me out of curiosity, or maybe she was just that eager to get her hands on another one, "I was planning on making the next one tonight, I have to get some wool first, though, It might be a bit late at night, you sure you'll be up by then?"

"Hmph, sleep isn't something a great spirit such as Betty needs to worry about, I suppose?"

"Then I'll promise to make it in time"

"So you've even gone as far as to plan a lover's rendezvous? Subaru-kun is a sly womanizer, Rem must warn Nee-sama, Emilia-sama has most likely fallen for his clutches already…" she said in a despairing voice. Beatrice then heated up, her face turning scarlet, "L-Lover's rend- Watch your tongue younger twin maid! Betty only finds this doll of Bubby interesting, it has nothing to do with him at all!"

I came and sided with her as well, "Yeah, Rem Nee, don't make light of this, I'm serious about improving my skills in sewing you know? Also, don't tease Beatrice too much would you?" I say while I did a single pat on Beatrice's head, her shivering at the touch.

"Hmm… Rem apologizes, Beatrice-sama, Rem was just a little overwhelmed by the sudden events so Rem couldn't help it…" she said with a slight smirk on her face, hidden by her bowing posture, "I know you're smiling under there, I suppose!"

.

Beatrice went on her way and we continued on with our search. Rem went to fetch Emilia while I went over to Roswaal's office, which was pretty far from where I was. After walking the whole way, I finally made it in front of his door and I knocked, "Yo, Ros-chi, mind if I come in?"

"Come~ in, Subaru-kun…"

I opened the door slowly and peeked inside, the room was dimly lit, with only the morning sun rays entering through the large window lighting up the room. Most of it was blocked up by a large chair, that was faced away from it, someone sat on it, in a rather comfortable way, Roswaal. Looks like something you'd see in an evil organisation.

"So breakfast is~ early today, I heard?"

"Yeah, we need to head over to the village soon…"

"Then, show the way, Subaru-kun"

I, along with Roswaal went out of the room, and down the stairs, I've already memorized the mansion's layout by now, every single room, every single facility, it's all in a mental map in my head. "Subaru-kun… I've heard you helped Emilia-sama voice~ out her thoughts, no?"

"If you're talking about dining together being mandatory, it's all my doing, using my charisma, I've inspired her to speak her mind freely! She gains her self confidence, I gain luxury dining for the rest of my life, quite a good trade if I do say so myself…"

I grinned over to Roswaal, he looked back mockingly, "Technically~ we are still under your debt so you could have just asked to dine with us, could you have not?" "Now where's the fun in that? I've had an infamous reputation for randomly spouting life lessons back in Kararagi, and I find that enjoyable you know?"

"My, my, we~ sure struck gold once we met you, the place has been the rowdiest it's ever been, even Beatrice is coming out of hiding to joining, I do hope you stay longer, Subaru-kun"

+"You can count me on that, Ros-chi"

Fast forward a few minutes and we were all in the dining table, since the servants were now supposed to dine in with the rest, they did. Roswaal was sitting in his usual seat, at the head of the table, Emilia sat to his right, Rem and Ram were to the right of her. I on the other hand, was opposite of the three, so was Beatrice and Puck, who sat directly beside me.

Breakfast went on without a hitch, and as I thought, the mayonnaise went great with Ram's steamed yams, Rem's mixed fruit juice also tasted exquisite, I have no regrets in using Emilia to my own benefits, though I do feel bad for her, and for Puck who has to look over her.

After we were done with all the dishes and discarding the leftovers, we geared up for our trip to the village and was just about to leave that's when I caught a glimpse of Beatrice walking down the hallway, "Hey, Beatrice!" I called over to her. She turned back and gave me an annoyed look, she walked over to us and replied, "What is it, I suppose?"

"We're headed over to the village, want me to get you something?"

"Huh? Why would Betty need something from such a place...

"Ah, come on don't be like that…"

"Fine, bring back some sweets, I suppose…"

She left almost immediately, I didn't even have time to reply, I sigh as I turn back to my two colleagues, "Nee-sama, Nee-sama… Subaru-kun is getting special treatment from Beatrice-sama, could this be the work of some dark force?" "Rem, Rem, I'm sure there is some sort of witchery at play here…" The two joked on me, which just got me on my nerves.

We went on to the path, the walk should've taken about a few minutes, not a long walk, but it still felt boring, "So, how exactly did you manage to tame, Beatrice-sama, Barusu?" Ram asked, seemingly out of nowhere, "Well that's simple, I empathized her, after that, I guess you can saw we came to an understanding…"

"What do you mean when you say 'Empathize'..."

"It means what it means, she's had a bunch of people coming in with requests to take her and or the library, but she saw that they're requests we're as shallow as their resolve and rejected them, they were like false hope to her and each time another comes, it gets worse, something I understood well, so you can say we are similar in a way…"

"So, you're planning on taking her? That's what seems to be the case here, Barusu…"

"It's too late for that now… last night, she's already asked if I was the one she's been waiting for, and I told her I wasn't… so even if I wanted to take her or the library now, it would be a futile attempt…"

"She even asked you? Don't you think you should have accepted her?!" Rem questioned me, in a quite serious manner, she had a face of seriousness too, contrast to her usual cold gaze, "Accept her offer you say? Then… wouldn't that be the same as giving her false hope? Wouldn't I be the same as the other people she's rejected?" I replied with equal seriousness.

"But…"

"I can't give her what she wants, no one can, only the person she's waiting for can give her that… accepting her then would only provide a temporary escape from her problem, but there's a cost to that, once she realises, she's going to be struck with grief beyond compare, there's no point in accepting her in the first place if that's the outcome…"

"..."

The mood was severely ruined by that argument, Ram nudged Rem on the shoulder and she immediately bowed, "Subaru-kun, please fo-" "Don't even think about it…" I said nonchalantly, which made both Rem and Ram flinch, that single reply made them feel even worse, until "An argument's purpose is for opposing opinions to understand each other. Since you've understood my actions, then you have nothing to apologize for…"

I looked back to her, with a friendly, "You guys overreact to the most trivial of things, heh…" I went on forward, while the two behind me was a little surprised with my reaction, but nevertheless, the went on and followed behind.

"But if you still want to apologize, say it to Beatrice, not me…"

Once we reached the village, we went our different directions, they went to the local store while I went ahead to the barber. I opened the wooden door and was greeted by a silver bell ringing, "Yo, anyone here?" I walked in and a man came to see me, he was pretty big in the stomach region, and has a great mustache on him, "Ah, a customer, you're the new servant in Roswaal-sama's mansion, Subaru-san yes?"

This man was pretty informed about the mansion, must have been when Roswaal visited yesterday, "Yep, that's me!" he showed me over to the seats, and I was surprised, for a local village barber, this was a pretty darn good looking store, though, there was only one chair there.

"Ehe, we don't get too many customers around here, so we couldn't afford more…"

Well, even though it's one chair, there's a heck of a lot of things he put to it, I almost feel like this could be a barber fit for a lower noble, "Right then, I need a haircut that'll make the women scream, ya know what I mean?" The barber replied with a hearty laugh, all the while patting me in the back, "Of course, we men need to show our dominance!"

Not really what I was getting at but hey, love the enthusiasm. The haircut itself didn't really take much, my hair wasn't that long to begin with, all he did was stylize it and trim a few bit, what did take long was our conversation after. Once we were done I left with a smile and a killer haircut, "Baldrick-san is such a nice guy, if only the rest of the world were like him…"

I couldn't spot Ram and Rem anywhere, seems they were still busy with the shopping, either that or they went on without me, which I doubt they would. "Then, I guess I should go and get those sweets for Beatrice…" I walked around the village in search for a sweet store and met many people on the way, "It seems i've found one…"

I walked over to the not-too-shabby sweet store and opened the door, another silver bell rang, alerting everyone of my appearance, "Ah, you must be Subaru, the person Mathers-sama talked about yesterday, yeah?" A lady greeted me, she seemed to be in her forties. "Natsuki Subaru, nice to meet you!"

"Ah, you can call me Lisa. So, what will it be, Subaru?"

"Give me all of your best sweets! There's a hungry princess back in the mansion"

"Oh dear…" Hearing that peaked her interest a little, "I didn't know Emilia-sama had a taste for sweets… "

"Oh, it's not for Emilia-sama, in fact, I think Emilia-sama's more of a prince than a princess… that's how it was when we first met anyway…" I remember back at the Capital, I was being mugged by three thugs, Emilia came out of nowhere and helped me out, like a knight in shining armor. No, no, no, don't think about it like that, it'd make me the princess in distress!

"There's another 'princess' in the mansion, she's a really hard and stubborn one, even though she claims to be matured, you can tell she's still just a child… I'm not sure how long Emilia-sama has been with her but they aren't really the closes bunch, you can say…"

"Oh dear…" I heard her mutter, her face was slowly turning into a face of shock, "How horrible, Emilia-sama… had to resort to adoption… and she doesn't even get well with the child, this world, such a cruel… cruel world…" She said with a genuinely sad tone. It took me a while but I realised there was a huge misunderstanding here.

"W-Wait! That's not what I meant, there was no adoption!"

After clearing out the big misunderstanding, we went on to a blame pulling spree, each of us refusing to blame the other for the cause of the misunderstanding, but in the end, it was resolved. She gave me the best of the best, and I gave her an extra copper for the great service. I left out, now with a large basket of sweets hung onto my arm.

To my surprise, Rem and Ram still weren't done with their shopping yet, "Seriously, and they call me slow?" I walk over to some shade and lay down there, the breeze cooled down my forehead, which was now free of that messy hair, the peace was pretty good, until it was broken by the sound of kids chattering, and the worrisome kind of chattering.

I followed their voices and I reached a fence, where they have grouped around, "Something wrong over here?" Voicing out my concern, the children looked over to me with eyes of despair. They looked to be around fourteen or fifteen, so kids may not be the best thing to describe them.

"Nii-san! Please help, this puppy got hurt!" One of the girls pleaded, she had chestnut hair with a ribbon attached to the top, I sighed and accepted. Walking over, I was shown to a cyan haired girl, in her arms was a small puppy, it had a bald spot on its head and it's legs seemed to be badly cut.

"Here, let me see…" I looked over to the puppy, it was pretty bad but not at all life threatening. I took out some bandages and wrapped up the wound after wiping it clean with some water. The blood soaked right through it though, this puppy bleeds a lot for its size. "Okay, you should keep this on for a while, if you guys know anyone that could use healing magic, have him treat the puppy, but if you can't, it'll just heal in a few days anyway…"

The kids all circled around the puppy, it seemed to be struggling a little bit less, the cyan haired girl who was holding the puppy, asked "Um, Onii-san, do you want to pet it?" Why wouldn't I want to pet that darn thing. I nodded to her request and stretched out my hands, the puppy stared at it with a weird expression on its face, like it was resisting an urge.

"Come on, it's okay…" The more my hands reached for him, the more it started to shake, somethings wrong with this puppy. Just as I was about to reach its head, it snapped at me viciously. I was able to pull my hand back fast enough, I anticipated something like it. It barked loudly as it tried to pry itself from the cyan girl's grip.

"Goodness! You're an ungrateful one aren't you…"

I gave the puppy a sharp stare, to which it replied with a slow but aggressive growl, something is definitely not right about this puppy. The children around me started to get scared, probably of me complaining about this to Roswaal or something like that, I do give the impression of a delinquent after all.

I sighed, "Well, I was never the kind to be liked by animals, hehe" I stood up and brushed off all the dust on my butler's uniform. The children seemed to calm down seeing that I didn't say anything harsh to them or the puppy, I wouldn't blame them for getting scared in the first place though, "Pups like you need to be pestered on, I'll be back tomorrow and mark my words, puppy, I will pet you! Even if I have to bring Ram Nee-san's steamed yams to do it!"

I said while pointing at the puppy in a manner that induced competition, the other kids then chuckled at my act and it seems like they were no longer scared of me, "Right then, see you, kids, later!" I waved the group goodbye and made my way back. The little act I pulled there caught a tiny bit of attention which was dismissed as the kids playing around.

But Lisa and Baldrick still came over to ask. Before they can say anything though, I whispered into their ears, "The puppy with the kids, please keep a watch on it, I don't know why, but something isn't right about it…" My guess would be it's actually a familiar, spying for someone far off, or it could have been exposed to extreme amounts of Miasma, which would turn it rouge in due time, or something else.

"I see… we will take your warning, Subaru-san…" The two of them nodded and I went off, it seems like Rem and Ram were finally done. "You two sure took your time didn't you?" I ask as I picked up my basket which I had dropped down to check on the kids.

"While we were here, I thought I'd be a good time to restock on firewood since we were running low, you didn't get bored did you Barusu? And also let me add, looking fancy there" she said while giving me a grin, pointing at my hair.

"Heh, Baldrick-san is such a great barber, you know, you guys should get your hair stylized too, trust me it's worth the money," I say while pointing back at them. Ram went and touched her hair, probably seeing if it's started to grow a little, "Yes, I might do that actually…"

"Rem is sure Nee-sama would look magnificent…"

"Wouldn't that apply for you too?"

"Rem wouldn't look good with a stylized haircut…"

Ram looked over at her sister in a quite depressed way, but sighed, "Barusu, we've put everything in this barrel, you're not going to a girl carry it now are you?" She said with a mocking smile, I stared down at her, challenge accepted, "A man is not a man if he doesn't prove it himself!" I roll up my sleeves and handed Rem the basket of sweets.

"Let's go…" I lifted up the barrel with my back, it feeling like it could shatter at any moment, but I braved through the pain and went onwards like a man would.

.

"Wouldn't it be better to use a spell to transport that, Barusu?" Ram asked me while she watched from the front, mocking me, "A man doesn't do shortcuts, Ram, not when he's in a challenge… I 'll bring it the whole way through, barehanded…" I say while lagging a little behind.

"You're holding to your pride really tight there, Barusu…"

"Subaru-kun and Nee-sama, are getting along very well…"

"Hah, that's only because I'm always helping you out on her chores, and most of the time it's me doing the work and you watching from the sidelines!" I complained while shifting the weight of the barrel, "How else am I supposed to give you remarks on your skills Barusu?"

"Eh? Really, you were assessing my skills?"

"That's what I said"

"Ah, then…"

"You amount to almost nothing skill wise, the only thing you've given is mayonnaise…"

At that moment I felt my heart break, the hurdle was too high for me to jump, but, I did my best, if that's all I'm able to do, then so be it, "Then… maybe I should have asked Roswaal for some spare cash and get the heck out of here…" I say while dropping my shoulders down, Rem just shook her head.

"You overreact to the most trivial things, Barusu, I was only joking, your skills are satisfactory and are actually pretty good for your first try, so stop getting all depressed about it"

"Nee-san, who said you could steal my catchphrase!"

"It was yours? Well finders keepers then"

After all our bickering, we had finally made it to the gate of the mansion, where I dropped the heavy barrel and all of its contents, just how much firewood did they get?! "Good job Subaru-kun, Rem shall take it from here…" Rem gives the basket over to Ram and takes the barrel with her inside, single-handedly mind you.

"Gaah, she really is an oni…"

"You know?"

Ram questioned me, looking a little worried, "Ah, yeah… kinda asked about it from Roswaal, I also kinda know abit about what happened to you… horn and stuff… should I not have asked?" she shook her head.

"Whether you know or not doesn't matter, just promise not to ever tell Rem about it…"

"Alright… Nee-san, can you send over the basket over to Beatrice? I need to take a bath, I'm soaked in sweat right now…"

"As you wish, we'll go ahead and prepare lunch, also, we haven't made you any spare butler clothes yet, so you're going to have to use your own clothes for today, okay?

"I'm okay with that…"

We both entered the mansion and went our separate ways, I went directly into the bathing room while Ram went to find Beatrice. I soaked inside for a pretty long time, letting my sore muscles relax in the steaming water. "Work hard, relax hard… that's not how the saying goes but no one really cares…"

After taking my long dip in the bath, I went back to my room and wore my usual Kararagi Lugnica hybrid attire, "That names too long, so i'll call it the KaraLug outfit… yeah, it has a nice ring to it" I wore everything, except my oversized belt, and went on to the kitchen. Apparently, they were already finished with preparing everything so we just went to eat already.

The seating plan was the usual, only this time, "Beatrice isn't here?" I asked Ram, who was supposed to send over the sweets to her, "She said she wouldn't be coming for lunch right after looking at the contents of the basket, Barusu…" God, did I give her too many sweets? She's not gonna hole up in there and finish it all by herself, is she?

"And I bought it for all of us to share too…"

Since Beatrice was absent, we went on with our lunch, without any problem. Much less of the mayonnaise was gone, and much less bickering, it was a silent and calm eating session. Puck still finished most of the leftovers, Emilia ate till she was full, and I consumed the most mayonnaise out of anyone.

We all cleaned everything up and had our one hour break. Before I left the kitchen, I saw the tea set that was in Beatrice's library. "Guess it was empty, guess I'll brew some and have tea with her…" I went back inside the kitchen and brewed some tea really quick and grabbed two tea cups, one for each of us, and abruptly left.

Outside, I was met with Puck, him looking at the tea set, "Going to see Betty, Subaru?" I nodded in reply, "You can't have sweets without tea, it's like a universal rule, right?" The gray cat agreed with me and wanted to tag along, which I happily accepted.

I walked down the hallway until I reached a particular door, a special feeling drew, an ability that I had to sense Beatrice's gate crossing, "This one seems to be it, Subaru…" "Shall we then?" I knocked on the door and called out to Beatrice, "Yo, Beatrice, I've got some tea, Puck's here as well, wanna have some?"

There was no reply from the inside, did I somehow get the wrong door? "Beatrice? We're coming in okay…?" I looked over at Puck and he looked back to me with a worried expression. We slowly opened the door and to our surprise, we were greeted with an empty stool, no one sitting on it.

"Beatrice?!"

"Betty!?"

We both called out in worry as we burst into the library, the tea set nearly falling. I hurriedly placed the tea set on the table and looked around the room, she was nowhere to be found. I started to panic, she rarely leaves the library so why is she not here, something must have happened. "Subaru! I've found her…"

Puck called from across the library, I ran over to him and he showed me to a bed. On that bed was the little spirit, sleeping comfily, without a care in the world, "So we worried over nothing, huh…" I looked over beside her bed, the basket of sweets were there, only, there were no sweets left. She must have eaten too much and gotten tired.

"Who knew such a sight existed…" What we saw could be said to be the complete embodiment of cuteness, truly, you'd never think a person with her attitude to be cute, but then you see this, a peaceful scene that enraptures one's heart, "Ah well, there goes our tea time, guess i'll have to try again later…"

After Puck tucked her in properly, we both left the library, leaving the spirit to her dream. I wonder if she'll be able to make it to tonight's rendezvous, well, I'll make the Puck plush anway.

.

The rest of the day was uneventful. We did the rest of our chores and had dinner, I checked on Beatrice once more and she was still sleeping so she skipped on it too. After nine, everyone was left to themselves, Roswaal was in his study with Ram, not sure what they're doing, probably reporting on my efficiency and stuff. Rem's probably doing laundry, Emilia's probably already in bed, well, Ram bought me some wool so I can get started on that Puck doll.

"Then, let the sewing start!"

I brought out a sewing kit Rem gave me to aid in my practice, how nice of her to give it to me when clearly she doesn't like me. I spent quite a while on it but ultimately finished. I took her critics on the fluffiness of his fur in certain areas and I do see an improvement, I'm not sure if perfecting a plush is something to get excited about but right now, I don't care.

I got off my seat and walked out of my room, checking out the push on my hand, "I'm sure everyone's gonna think I'm pathetic for being proud at myself for doing this…" I glanced over at the clock and saw that it was eleven, I spent a total of two hours on this thing, a little less than last time.

Rem should be sleeping by now and I'm getting drowsy myself, but I did promise I'd make it to the library regardless of whether she's awake or not, and spirits take promises very seriously, can't let her down now.

As I walked down the hallway, I felt a present watch me, and it was obvious who it was, I could practically smell her. "Rem… I know you're out there, don't you think this has gotten out of hand?" I say while looking back. Rem has faint witch miasma stuck on her, most probably due to pursuing witch cultists, her sister has even fainter, it's almost unnoticeable unless I get really close to her.

"If you want, you can come to see Bea-" I suddenly felt a tightness in my chest, it stopped my from uttering any more words and I collapsed.

"..."

Rem didn't move from where she was, did she does this to me? Did she plan this all along? Was I playing into her hands! "R-Rem… he… lp…" She didn't respond to me, so she really did do this. My whole body felt numb, my mind felt nauseous, just what did she do to me?!

"You poisoned me… didn't you..."

"A…"

She hesitated in her reply, then she really must have done it, and the fact that she's not helping makes it even more plausible. It must have been during lunch when I wasn't looking, she must have put slow acting poison in my cup somehow. But enough of this, I can't be bothered to do this right now, I have a promise to fulfill and I'm not going to fail. I'll deal with her next time.

"Screw… this…" I felt my body get weaker by the second, but I forced myself up and made a run for it, "Wai…" she tried to say, but nothing left more left her mouth, you're feeling guilty now? Of all times to grief why now, why did you realize too late, that I was on your side!

"Gah!" I stumped my foot and fell head first to the ground all my senses going numb now, all I could do was see, and what the hell kind of sight I got.

"W-Who…"

In front of me was a the little spirit I was supposed to meet with, the look on her face, it was the exact same as the one I saw when I told her I wasn't the person she was waiting for, only this time, it was shown on her face, the urge to scream, the urge to cry, it was well defined on her face, how happy I was to see her.

"Why-"

"Here…"

I grabbed her hand and put the Puck plush I had been working on for the night on it, and then I let go, coughing out blood onto the floor, she just looked at it in astonishment, "But!" "A promise is a promise, I don't break mine…" I smile as I say this to her, but my smile faded, "Enough of this now…"

I closed my eyes, never to be opened again in this world. The last thing I saw was the look on Beatrice's face, a face that was just about to cry, but I know Beatrice wouldn't cry, she's strong enough for this, she's strong, she's great, but she's a lonely spirit, that single fact won't change, at least in this world, a world where I no longer exist.

'I wonder how Emilia and the rest would react…' that was the last thought I had before I lost my life.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Back in my shadowy escape, I was alive, well and alive. I was in deep thought as the girl in front of me stared, "So… the problem is because I provoked Rem yesterday right?" I asked the shadowy girl, Satella, and she nodded to me.

"Then it's all my fault this happened…"

I felt Satella grab my shoulders and move her mouth onto my ears, a weird feeling, like a cold flame was being brushed over my skin, calming but eerie. "Cu-" She tried to utter out something but she shook and phased through me, she still can't talk yet.

I looked back, "Cu… is that the type of poison she used?" I ask Satella who was trying to recover from that sudden shock to her whole being, she did a hesitant nod which I interpreted at, "Kinda, huh… alright then, guess I'll be going in for round two… wish me luck" My consciousness started to disappear from the shadowy world, escaping back into reality.

Satella clasped her hands and tilted her head downwards, as if praying for my safety, though my safety is almost always compromised. Another loop starts, now, a sneaky murderer in a mansion.

.

A/N

I've reflected on death scenes from Perpetual Promise, I made the reactions of characters less exaggerated and more in-depth, more complex, or something like that. Betty is now mad, next chapter is going to be fun, I suppose…

The next biggest chapter I've made at 7,600 words! Woot! Shall we celebrate by praising the alcutey Betty?

Tales of Puck

At least we know that Beatrice is going to be safe. Beatrice is going to be safe, right?... ReviewR524.

Beatrice is the embodiment of cuteness and is for all to share but... I don't want her to end up everywhere. cough cough arc 4 cough.

A message from Betty of the future, "Your concern is appreciated, I suppose… but mind your own business!" Psst, that's something from next chapter. Anyway… I'm sure she's going to be fine… she's probably going to be fine… I mean, what's to worry about, it's not like anyone's targeting her right? Seriously though, she's a great loli spirit, have some faith in her will ya?