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Chapter Text

Subaru: [Yaaawn~]

A black haired boy yawned as he sat on the soft grass under a tree that gave him the perfect shade and made him feel sleepy.

Yep, it's this tree's fault for indulging me in it's peace that I feel sleepy.

He thought as he leaned back and let his head rest on the stem of the sturdy tree. It was a normal day like no other in the Roswaal mansion. He simply sat there as he watched the clouds floating around in the blue afternoon sky. The garden was a good place to relax.

After the events of sanctuary and the mansion, they had to move to the main mansion of the Mathers as the one they used to live in, was burnt to crisp by Subaru, Otto and Petra.

Being appointed as Emilia's knight, he no longer had any obligation to work his butt off as a butler. He was quite excited when he learnt that he could do anything he want to, only to fall into depression as he realized that he didn't really had anything to do.

He decided to train under Clind, the highly talented and elegant butler of the Miload mansion with the only flaw of being a lolicon, and learnt to use a whip. He had become accustomed to the parkour training. After training he helped the maids in their work as he felt odd doing nothing.

Today, he had completed his parkour course and all the cleaning he had to do. Ram had dismissed him from the kitchen as he had cracked a bit too many jokes out of boredom.

Ram: [If you are going to flap that mouth of your's like the wings of a fly while working, then kindly excuse yourself from this roo- no, this world before Ram makes you.]

Ahh nee-sama sure was harsh with her words today. No wait, she went a bit easy on me today. Wow, can't believe I have become totally used to her venomous words with latent sweetness that she will never admit to and punch me if I mentioned it.

He replayed the memory of Ram spitting these words at him as he smiled to himself speculating about the reason she had told him to leave.

Subaru:[Normally nee-sama loads all the jobs she can find on me no matter how much I whine or blabber on while working...

Did she see me messing up my jump and hurting my back with her clairvoyance?! So she felt pity at my pathetic self who somehow became a knight despite having scary eyes and short leg‐ wait those things have nothing to do with being a knight and why am I insulting myself ?! Have I become a masochist for insults?! It's all Ram's fault. She has to take responsibility for this.]

He got up with eyes full of determination to confront Ram, only to stiffen up.

Subaru:[....hey there beako! Didn't notice you there as you are so small, not like being small is a bad thing, it increases your already maxed out charms! You are so cute that I might as well die in your aura of adorableness!]

Subaru hurriedly blurted out whatever he could find to try to defend his already ruined image for talking nonsense to himself to Beatrice who was standing with her hands folded and her usual poker face that instantly turned sour due to his continuous rambling.

Beatrice:[Betty can't believe that the first thing you would say is that Betty is small, I suppose! Although you are correct about Betty being charming, in fact. So Betty will let you off the hook this time, I suppose.]

Subaru smiled wryly at the little spirit and pulled her unto his lap. She sat down without any complaints.

Beatrice:[Are you that bored that you will make up any excuse to go talk to or rather bother someone, I suppose?]

Subaru:[Ah you noticed? As expected of the great spirit Beatrice! The former librarian of the forbidden archive and my Dearest contracted spirit! You guessed correctly that the reason I'm acting like an idiot is because I'm bored to death! There is nothing to do!]

Subaru played with Beatrice's drills as he spoke out his complaints. Beatrice sighed and puffed out her cheeks to form a pout on her face.

Subaru: [what's wrong?]

Beatrice: [you said you have nothing to do then why didn't you come to Betty, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Ah! Were you feeling lonely? Now that I think about it, We haven't sat together relaxing and talking like this since a week or so?]

Beatrice:[9 days to be precise, in fact]

Subaru: [Seriously? I am really sorry for making you feel lonely after all that I said in the burning mansion...]

Beatrice: [Betty didn't say that to make you feel bad, I suppose...
What Betty wants to say is that it would be nice if you spent some time talking with Betty, in fact.]

Subaru widened his eyes at her honest attitude. He had to write this down in Beako's growth diary.

Subaru:[It's nice to see you being so honest regarding what you want. Luckily today I was kicked out of the kitchen by Ram for no proper reason so I am completely free today! So we can- wait a minute.... isn't this too good of a coincidence?]

Beatrice flinched a bit as Subaru spoke out his suspicions.

Beatrice:[I'm sorry, I suppose. It was Betty who asked the pink haired maid to dismiss you from work as soon as possible, in fact .]

Subaru:[You don't have to apologize when I'm the one at fault. Also Ram made me wipe all the windows of both the wings of the mansion and clean the bath before threatening me to get out of the kitchen for talking too much, so she didn't comply with your plan of dismissing me as soon as possible properly so do give her an earful.]

Beatrice:[No, Betty is at fault too for not talking to you directly about this, I suppose. Also, don't use Betty to tell that maid off because you are scared, in fact.]

Subaru:[Ahh Beako can understand everything about me! I am truly blessed to have you!]

Beatrice blushed a bit at Subaru's sudden nice words. But quickly wiped it out of her face and pouted.

Beatrice:[Pretty words aren't enough to make up for neglecting Betty the last 9 days, in fact. You have to do more than just talking to make Betty happy, I suppose.]

Subaru picked her up in his arms as he stood and grinned.

Subaru:[Fine then. I, Natsuki Subaru, shall make you laugh until you grow sick of it. Oh! First target for "Make Beako Happy" plan spotted! Hey, Otto! What's up? You look like a fool who lost all his money in poker and got kicked out of his house by his wife for drinking and gambling too much. No, who am I kidding? Not your wife, but your ground dragon.]

Otto:[Natsuki-san, as always I can't understand half of what you are saying but the first thing you say to me is an insult? I am honestly going to quit.]

Otto who had joined them only to be called a fool Cried fake tears.

Subaru:[Both you and I know that you won't quit so drop that stupid act and let's talk about the "Roswaal mansion's first creative art contest"!]

At the mention of a new term both Otto and Beatrice looked at him with interest.

Subaru:[I knew you would be intrigued! So here's what we are going to do....]

Subaru shared the details of the contest as Beatrice and Otto nodded, unaware of the fact that the contest would be far from what they imagined it to be.

Chapter Text

Subaru:[...So that's pretty much it. What do you think?]

Subaru said as he snapped his fingers with one eye close. Beatrice sighed.

Beatrice:[Betty can't even begin to imagine how you get these kind of ideas, I suppose.]

Otto:[Gotta hand it to you Natsuki-san, you have a talent for coming up with strange ideas.]

Otto replied smiling while scratching his head.

Subaru:[Don't call them strange! They are unique! Out of the world to be precise or rather literal.]

Otto:[How can it be literal? Nevermind, so, who is going to judge?]

Subaru:[Roswaal.]

Beatrice:[Then when shall we start, I suppose?]

Beatrice asked with eyes full of sparkles.

Too cute~
Subaru thought as he captured Beatrice's adorable face in his mind.

Subaru:[Someone sure is excited! How about tomorrow? We will decide the pairings after lunch.]

Subaru said while patting Beatrice's soft hair.

Otto:[Yeah let's do that. But for now, you should go see Roswaal-sama. He asked me to call you.]

Subaru:[Why the hell is that clown calling for me now? He even sent Otto instead of Ram for running his errand.]

Subaru was genuinely displeased.

The hell does he wants. Hope it's nothing too bothersome.

Otto:[Actually, he is calling for you because of a thing I told him about....]

Subaru:[So it's Otto's fault huh? Ok~ Let's go, Beako.]
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Subaru:[Yo Ros-chi! What has caused you to call for me? Maybe a compensation for making me continuously walk between life and death?]

Subaru swung open the door to Roswaal's office with Beatrice in his arms. Roswaal, as usual donning his clown outfit and makeup was sitting in his luxury chair while sipping on the tea that Ram made for him. At Subaru's sudden intrusion, he kept down the cup and smiled.

Roswaal:[Good afternoon, Subaru-kun. Sharp as alwaaays~, you guessed almoooost correctly. Although it's a reward, noooot a compensation, for aaaall your hard work.]

Roswaal spoke in his usual strange accent that caused Subaru to be annoyed a bit, but that wasn't the important thing.

Subaru:[A reward? Why this sudden genero-]

Subaru remembered Otto's words.

Ahh what's up with this sudden shower of care? Don't they have anything better to do than look after me? Well, this is one of the reasons that helps me keep going on after Rem was erased from this world's memories...
Rem... she never really got to be rewarded for all the things she did for me, for everyone. Heck, all of her efforts and all of her self are now forgotten, except by me.

Subaru couldn't help but dive into a sea of regrets whenever he thought about Rem.

Oh no no no no. Rem will be sad if I keep worrying about all the things I couldn't do. I swore to save her no matter what. So once she's awake, I'll return everything she has given me, a hundred fold.

Beatrice:[First, your face showed epiphany, then slowly turned sour with regret and finally you're grinning like an idiot, I suppose?]

Beatrice summarized Subaru's expressions as she sighed through her nose. Subaru smiled wryly.

Roswaal:[It was Otto-kuuuun's suggestion to give yooou a reward. So I thought why not? Then whaaaat is it that you waant, Subaru-kun?]

Subaru:[I don't really have anything I want... can you give me some time to think about it?]

After thinking for some time he gave up and answered.

Roswaal:[That is totaaaally fiiine. Take your time.]

Roswaal smiled and answered while pointing towards the sofa, suggesting them to sit. Subaru sat down with Beatrice on his lap while Otto sat right across them in another sofa.

Subaru:[Although I would like to postpone my reward, there's something I need your permission for.]

Ram:[Barusu, if you are going to seek permission to ask for Ram's hand for marriage, then Ram doesn't have a choice but shatter your dreams right now because Ram belongs to Roswaal-sama.]

Ram who had just entered the room spoke with pity towards Subaru.

Subaru:[Nee-sama, you do know that my heart belongs to Emilia-tan.
Anyway, I needed permission to conduct a small and fun creative art contest, that will help the camp to understand each other and get a chance to display their ideals in the form of art! Also, if you're wondering why I am suggesting this all of a sudden, then the reason would be that Beako was feeling lonely.]

Beatrice:[Don't make it sound like Betty is an attention-seeking brat, I suppose!]

At Subaru's rapid fire explanation, Beatrice shouted out her complaint regarding the reason.

Roswaal:[Why nooot? Sounds like a good idea. After all, there are sooome new members who haven't really recieeeved a proper welcome party, haaaave they?]

Subaru:[Whose fault do you think it is? All the new members joined spontaneously during the sanctuary incident. Since we were all in a life-threatening situation, who would have time to think about celebrating?]

Subaru scoffed at Roswaal as he frowned while remembering the threats they had to face due to Roswaal's obsession to his gospel. It was nothing short of a miracle for all of them to have come out safe.

Otto:[Well, now that all the threats have been cleared thanks to everyone's efforts, we can celebrate right?]

Otto smiled and casually stated this. Subaru's frown immediately changed to a gentle look.

Subaru:[Yeah. You're absolutely right. Ok, let's go have lunch for now! Then we'll decide the pairs in which we'll be divided for the contest.]
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After lunch, they all gathered in the hall. Subaru had prepared strips of papers marked with numbers. Everyone had taken one and were waiting for Subaru's explanation.

Subaru:[There are two strips with the same number. Find your partner. Mine is 3 by the way.]

Frederica:[Ah, I have number 3 on my strip as well.]

Subaru:[So me and Frederica, huh. Then I'll be in your care.]

Subaru gave a slight bow. Frederica smiled and reciprocated his gesture by bowing back.

Subaru:[Has everybody found their partner?]

Beatrice:[Yes, I suppose.]

Subaru looked over each pair and couldn't help but comment-

Subaru:[These are some interesting pairings...]

Beatrice was standing with Otto, who was sweating a bit. Garfiel stood next to Petra, who was sweating a bit too. And then there was the pair of Emilia and Ram. An angel and a devil, or rather an oni.

Emilia:[So I'm paired with Ram. Let's do our best!]

Ram:[Yes Emilia-sama. Ram shall do her best to achieve results higher than barusu's self-esteem.]

On one hand, Emilia, who couldn't hide her enthusiasm, on the other, Ram, who couldn't hide her usual habit of finding opportunities to mock Subaru.

Subaru:[What kind of disastrous things are going to happen?]

He couldn't help but shrug at this situation while scratching his head.

Chapter Text

After the formation of pairs, Subaru started explaining.

Subaru:[The contest comprises of three phases.]

Subaru showed three of his fingers and continued.

Subaru:[One is cake decorating, second is painting, and third is costume design. For each phase, we will be awarded points out of 10. Total score being 30. The theme of each phase will be declared by Ros-chi. Please take it from here.]

Subaru looked towards Roswaal, who nodded. Everyone's attention shifted to him.

Roswaal:[Aaaas the judge of this creative art contest, I shall now declare the themes of eeeeach phase. Since, this contest is also beeeing conducted for the new members' welcome, I decided the themes to bee something that will help everyone to understaaand each other.
I want you all to make a caaake that displays personality traits of you and your partner. You can pick one that is the most interesting fooor you.]

Otto:[Personality traits of each of us? That's an abstract topic.]

Emilia:[Well, if he said something like make a 12 layer wedding cake then I don't think anybody would have time to focus on anything else...]

Emilia said tilting her head while putting her finger on her chin. Subaru always found this pose of her's really cute.

Roswaal:[The reeeal challenge in this section is that you have tooo blend two different traits into harmony. Otherwise, the cake would be boootched.]

That's true. Frederica and I are completely opposite of each other. Choosing the traits that can be blend together should be our first task. And to incorporate them in a cake... this is going to be fun!

Subaru couldn't help but be excited for this challenge. It's been a long time since he had taken part in a competition. He had forgotten the thrill of competing, this made him a bit nostalgic.

Ram:[Roswaal-sama, what about the theme of the second phase?]

Growing impatient, Ram asked Roswaal to continue.

Roswaal:[Yes. The second phase, painting, shaaall have the theeeme of "elegance". An elegant painting, befitting to beee hung on the waaall of a noble's mansion, is what I waaant.]

Beatrice:[Another abstract topic, I suppose.]

Garfiel:[My amazin' self's not that great in these kind o' topics. So, my amazin' self's goin' ta rely on ya for that, midget. But, ya can leave th' manual work on my amazin' self!]

Petra:[Yes, Garfiel-sama. You can trust me with the planning. And my name is Petra, not midget.]

Petra pouted a bit for being called a midget. Garfiel simply laughed while clacking his sharp teeth.

Garfiel:[Yeah, ya're a midget.]

Garfiel wasn't going to change that nickname anytime soon.

Roswaal:[And for the final phaaase, I want you all to prepare costumes that will complimeeent your cake aaand painting.]

Subaru:[Well, today we'll discuss what we're going to do and buy all the necessary things. The costumes have to be prepared today as well. From tomorrow morning, each pair will get to use the kitchen for two hours, in the sequence of the number on our strips. Which pair got 1?]

Emilia:[Us! We have the number 1!]

Emilia raised her hand and puffed out her chest while puffing out her nose in pride. Subaru couldn't help but smile at her cuteness.

Subaru:[E.M.T. strikes again! Well Emilia and Ram will use the kitchen first. In the meantime, all the other pairs will work on the painting! But who will make breakfast, lunch and dinner?]

Roswaal:[No neeeed to worry about that. Clind will be staying here for a few days because of some work related to the Miload's mansion, so heeee will take care of iiit.]

Frederica:[I shall assist him when I get some free time.]

Subaru:[That settles it then... The judging will be done at
tomorrow night by Ros-chi. So, let's get started!]

Everyone:[Yeah!]

Enthusiasm and thrill filled voices echoed the hall of the Mathers' mansion. Everyone left the hall and went to their rooms to start their preparations.
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In Emilia's room, Emilia was sitting on her bed while thinking about what trait of Ram she liked the most. As she was pondering while swinging her legs, a knock was heard from the door.

Emilia:[Come in.]

Ram entered the room with some bags in each of her hands. She placed them on the table.

Ram:[Garf has brought everything we asked him to. Now the only things left are the designing of the cake and our costumes.]

Emilia:[I reeeally feel bad for making Garfiel buy all our stuff.]

Emilia gestured Ram to take a seat. She sat on the sofa.

Ram:[You need not worry about such trivial things, Emilia-sama. He did it because he wanted to.]

Emilia:[Fine, if you say so.  Anyway, I have found the perfect trait of your's, Ram.]

Ram:[And what might that be?]

Emilia:[Your maturity! You act calm in almost every situation, I always panic when things go bad so I reeeally admire this feature of yours.]

Ram widened her eyes a bit only to change her face back to normal as quickly as possible.

Ram[...That was a bit unexpected. Ram has found the perfect feature of Emilia-sama as well. That is, your strength to stand tall even when you are despised for your appearance.]

This time, Emilia was the one who widened her eyes.

Is that what she thinks of me? I'm strong?

Emilia felt a strange emotion welling inside her chest. Although, she had been told many nice things like she was beautiful, kind, innocent and considerate by Puck and Subaru, no one had ever called her strong. Strong for being able to stand straight even when others pressed her down for having similar traits of The Witch.

Emilia:[Thank you, Ram. That makes me reeeally happy. But how are we going to present maturity and strength on a cake?]

Ram:[A lotus. It is a flower that grows on muddy water. It symbolizes purity. It's a beautiful flower that grows in a dirty place. I believe this flower perfectly captures your personality.]

Emilia:[Lotus, huh..Then! We can interpret this flower in this way as well- Being able to stay yourself even in the "dirtiest" situation! That would define your maturity!]

Ram:[That's a great way to twist the words in our favor. Ram likes it. Then, our cake will have a brown base and a lotus made of cream on top of it.]

Emilia:[We are done with the cake's design now. Let's talk about the painting!]

Ram:[Emilia-sama, what do you think elegance is? What can be said to be elegant?]

Emilia:[Umm... someone who is dignified, has good manners and good taste in almost everything, that is, they can find out what is the best... Ah!]

Emilia pondered while putting a finger on her chin for a while and then suddenly exclaimed, surprising Ram.

Emilia:[Doesn't that describe you and Frederica! A maid! A maid is always dignified and does everything efficiently. They know what is the best dish to serve in breakfast or with afternoon tea!]

Emilia said proudly, puffing her chest and placing her hands on her waist. Ram gave a small smile as her eyes softened. Which she quickly changed into a smug look.

Ram:[Emilia-sama is correct. A maid has to always stay elegant for their master's image. Then, we are going to paint an elegant maid?]

Emilia:[Yeah! I doubt anybody else would think of it, so let's do this! Now, about our costumes...]
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Beatrice flopped down on the sofa after she placed two bags on the table. Her hair disheveled and face sweating.

Beatrice:[Shopping is quite tiring, I suppose.]

She sighed heavily as she glanced towards Otto who almost dropped his bags as he tripped, only to stop, or rather, be stopped from falling.

Beatrice:[Murak, In fact.]

Otto and the bags lost their weights. He quickly fixed his positions and grabbed the bags.

Otto:[Thank you Beatrice-sama. That would have been disastrous otherwise.]

Otto thanked Beatrice as he scratched his head while smiling nervously.

Beatrice:[Betty definitely doesn't want to go back to buy all those stuff again, I suppose. That's the only reason Betty helped you, in fact. No need to thank me, I suppose.]

Otto smiled wryly at Beatrice's tsundere-like response. He quickly kept the bags and sat down opposite to Beatrice.

Otto:[Then, we should start from the design of the cake. Have you thought of any eye-catching characteristic of me?]

Beatrice thought for a while.

What is eye-catching about this man, I suppose? .... It would have to be that, in fact.

Beatrice:[If Betty had to be blunt, you are quite the push-over, I suppose?]

Otto:[That's the most eye-catching feature of me?!]

Otto grabbed his head with despair for being called a push-over by a young girl in appearance, who is about 400 years older than him.

Beatrice:[Like a plant or a tree, In fact.]

Otto, who was busy lamenting his "push-over"ness, almost missed out on what she said.

Otto:[Pardon? Did I hear that right? You called me a plant?]

Otto asked with surprise.

A plant? Is it because I wear green?

Beatrice:[Yes, I suppose. Everyone takes fruits, leaves, flowers and shade from a tree without taking it's permission, in fact. So doesn't that make you like a tree, I suppose? ]

Otto fell into a deep thought.

That's true, I guess. Natsuki-san and many other people have taken advantage of my nature of being swept up by the flow... but still, a push-over of all things..

Otto smiled wryly. Beatrice sighed.

Beatrice:[If it bothers you that much then fine, let's change it, I suppose.]

Otto:[Thank you. Although, the whole comparing me with a tree was quite interesting. If you don't mind, can I tell your's?]

Beatrice:[Yes, I suppose.]

Otto:[Before Natsuki-san took you out of the forbidden library, you had been holed up in their, all by yourself for 400 years. Like your time itself had stopped. But now, you are slowly interacting with others. Growing each day as you walk besides Natsuki-san. Like a bud.]

Beatrice:[Growing up like a bud then, I suppose?]

Otto:[That's right. Like blooming slowly into a beautiful flower, is what I think describes you and also the trait, I find the most endearing. I mean, it's really satisfying to see someone change so much, in a good way, of course.]

Otto smiled while scratching his cheeks nervously. He waited for Beatrice to respond.

Beatrice:[....Betty found the perfect trait of your's too, I suppose.]

Otto:[I hope it's nothing embarrassing again...]

Otto smiled wryly at Beatrice with nervousness. Beatrice looked into his eyes and smiled a bit.

Beatrice:[You are someone whose presence is extremely necessary here, I suppose. I heard from Subaru, how you pulled him up when he had fallen into confusion and despair, in fact. And besides, whenever someone needs to know something, the first person they look for, is you, like it's natural, I suppose.]

Otto looked at her with a dumbfounded look. He knew that the camp needed him, but this was the first time someone actually said it to him. After all, this camp had the biggest tsunderes like Subaru and Ram. The honest ones were Emilia, Garfiel, Petra and Frederica. Beatrice sudden change in attitude was totally unexpected for him.

Beatrice:[What is it, I suppose?]

Otto:[It's just that.. I was a bit surprised at your sudden display of honesty..]

Beatrice:[Betty can be honest too, I suppose! Hmph! And besides Subaru said it was nice to see Betty being honest, so Betty is simply acting in accordance to her contractor's happiness, in fact.]

Beatrice pouted as she blurted out everything. Otto smiled at her.

Otto:[Then, a bud and an essential presence...]

Beatrice:[For a flower to bloom beautifully, it needs leaves, I suppose. So a bud with leaves seems like a good idea to Betty, in fact.]

Otto:[Again a plant huh.. but I like it. Let's go for that.]

Otto closed his eyes a bit and smiled. Beatrice nodded.

Beatrice:[We can bake two small cakes and cut them into the shapes of leaves, I suppose. And one big cake that will be cut into shapes of petals, in fact. We just need to place them together into the shape of a bud, and it'll be done, I suppose.]

Otto:[I see. Sounds good enough. But we have to be fast.]

Beatrice:[That's correct, I suppose.]

Otto:[Now, about the painting... "elegance". Personally, I find butterflies elegant.... But, calling an insect elegant might sound strange to you, right? Sorry for saying something weird.]

Otto scratched his cheek as he regretted saying that. Beatrice widened her eyes. Butterflies held a special meaning to her, because of her mother.

Beatrice:[There is nothing strange in that, I suppose. Betty thinks butterflies are elegant too, in fact. My mother... liked them a lot so Betty came to like them as well, I suppose. Is there any particular reason why you think so, in fact?]

Otto:[Well, as you know because of my divine protection of soul language, I can talk with all the animals and insects. And butterflies are very gentle. And they are really beautiful too. That's all.]

Beatrice:[Then, a butterfly it is, I suppose.]

Otto:[Alright. Then let's talk about the costumes...]
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And so their preparations continued.

Chapter Text

Subaru and Frederica had just returned from the town after shopping for things they needed for the contest. They went to Subaru's room to discuss. Frederica sat down on a chair while he sat on the bed.

Subaru:[Haah.. that took longer than I expected. Why was it so crowded today?]

Frederica:[Well, the annual Dragon festival is next week after all. People must be busy preparing for it.]

Subaru:[Dragon festival? What's that?]

Frederica looked at Subaru like he had said the strangest thing.

Frederica:[..I'm surprised that you don't know about it. After all, it's the biggest festival celebrated by the people of Lugnica.

This festival serves as a remainder of the sacred covenant between the dragon and the royal family. Although, the royal family is no longer here, the festival will still be celebrated so as to pay respect to the dragon. The capital gets decorated with lights and at the amphitheater, a musical play depicting the story of the three heroes defeating the witch and sealing her to save the world from meeting it's demise. Many people set up stalls of food and games outside the theater as that area becomes crowded. This is how it's celebrated in the capital. Other regions like Costuul or Arlam village have their own ways to celebrate by gathering for a feast or maybe by a contest like ours.]

Subaru:[Ahh.. a festival huh.. sounds interesting.]

Subaru looked at the floor as he sank deep in his memories, when he went to the summer festival with his parents in his third year of middle school. He really enjoyed playing random games, competing with his father, while his mom stuffed herself with all kinds of foods.
He smiled gently. Although, his chest hurt a bit as he realized that, that was the last time they ever went to a festival together. He struggled quite a lot in high school after all. So he always skipped going to the festival with them.

I couldn't stand being with them as the guilt of not being able to reach their expectations was eating at me.. how stupid was I then? Not like I'm any better now, but I have changed a bit. Thanks to all these people I've been blessed with.

Frederica:[It's truly amusing to see how your expression changed from smiling to stiff and then smiling again.]

Frederica said with an impressed look. Subaru chuckled at her.

Subaru:[Sorry sorry. We are totally off-topic now. Let's talk about what we are going to do about the cake.

I think that the most wonderful thing about you is how bright and warm your personality is. Umm.. like the sun? You take care of Petra and Garfiel so well too...]

Subaru suddenly jumped into the topic and stated what he thought about Frederica. She was caught off guard by the sudden compliment and grew flustered as her face became as red as an appa.

Frederica:[I-I am, truly thankful for the praise, but please try not to give them all of a sudden.]

Subaru:[Ah I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I am not really good at reading the mood and blurt out whatever that comes to my mind..]

Subaru bowed as he apologized which made Frederica flustered again. She waved her arms as she tried to explain.

Frederica:[I didn't mean to make you apologize or feel bad. It was simply a suggestion. In fact, your honesty is one of your greatest virtues that makes others trust you.]

Now it was Subaru's turn to be caught off guard and blushed.

Subaru:[well, uh, I get it now. Your suggestion. I'll keep it in mind... and thanks..]

Frederica gave a warm, and sharp, smile which she quickly hid behind her hand. This made Subaru frown a bit.

Frederica:[Is something wrong, Subaru-sama?]

Subaru:[It bothers me how you always try to hide your smile.. you do know that here, nobody minds it? After all, the head of this camp is a half-elf.]

Frederica:[My apologies, but this is simply a habit. I will try to work on it.]

Subaru:[Oh, I'm not forcing you to stop doing it. It's just that you have a beautiful smile, so it's a shame that you have to hide it because of the discrimination against all demi-humans or half-bloods.]

Subaru crossed his arms as he frowned. Frederica sighed.

Frederica:[I am grateful for your concern, but have you already forgotten my advice?]

Subaru:[My bad, Frederica-san! I'll work on it, I promise!

Anyway, we got off-topic again. What trait have you chosen for me?]

Frederica chuckled a bit.

Frederica:[Even though your eyes give out the impression of being evil, you are very caring. All the people that are important to you, you cherish them and protect them even if it means risking your life. I was honestly impressed how you saved Beatrice-sama and also helped Garf overcome his fear of the outside world. Your kind nature is one of your biggest charisma. Atleast, that's what I think.]

Subaru:[That's what you think, huh.]

Subaru turned his face away as he blushed a bit. Frederica chuckled at his attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Subaru:[A-anyway, how will we design a cake from these?]

Frederica:[I am not sure..]

Subaru sank into deep thought as he looked at the floor. Frederica thought for a while and looked out the window. It was almost evening so the birds were returning back to their nests. She saw a group of white birds flying freely. It kind of looked like a sweet little fami-

Frederica:[What do you think about making the cake in the shape of a nest? There would be a mother bird taking care of it's young ones.]

Subaru:[Birds.. I see. A mother bird takes care of it's children and embraces them to keep them warm. What a beautiful way to express our personality traits. Making birds will be a bit difficult though...]

Frederica:[That's alright. If it was too easy, wouldn't it be boring? And besides, the nest can be made pretty quickly, so we will be able to focus on the birds for longer a time.]

Subaru:[That's true. Then let's make a nest shaped cake with small birds on top of it!]

Subaru exclaimed excitedly while Frederica nodded in affirmation. 

Frederica:[Now for the painting...]

Subaru:[Actually, I have thought about an idea and I think this will beat everyone else's.]

Frederica:[Really? You sound pretty confident.]

Frederica raised her brows as an excited look was formed on her face. Subaru smiled gently and he started explaining.

Listening intently, Frederica nodded. A soft nostalgic look spread across her face as she smiled and closed her eyes while words, that most likely came straight from her heart, slipped out of her lips-

Frederica:[It's perfect.]
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Garfiel:[There, all the stuff's here, so get'ta ya're job, midge-I mean Petra.]

Garfiel kept down all the bags as he spoke. He would have kept calling her by that name until Petra started shooting daggers from her eyes every time he tried to. Ram taught this to her, obviously.

Petra:[Garfiel-sama, why did you agree to buy Emilia-sama's stuff as well? Is it to impress onee-sama?]

Garfiel:[ya're quite sharp, aren't ya? My amazin' self was exactly doin' that. And it definitely worked. She gave me a really cute smile, after all.]

Petra:[She simply took advantage of your affection to get her work done..]

Petra sighed at Garfiel's innocence. Garfiel crossed his arms as he nodded with his eyes closed.

Garfiel:[That's one of th' reasons why my amazin' self likes her.]

Petra:[You like being taken advantage of?]

Petra looked at him with eyes full of shock and pity. At this Garfiel laughed loudly while clacking his teeth.

Garfiel:[Not that, ya midget. My amazin' self was talkin' about her smartness.]

Petra:[ohh. My apologies, I misunderstood. Then, let us start planning our designs.]

Garfiel:[Ya, that's right. How about midgetness as ya-]

Petra:[Please take this seriously, Garfiel-sama, lest we embarrass ourselves.]

Petra shot a glare at Garfiel who shrunk his shoulders and stiffened up.

Garfiel:[Y-Yeah. Sorry. 't'was just a joke. Anyway, My amazin' self thinks that ya're th' most emotionally mature person in th' camp. As My amazin' self already told ya', th' rest will have ta be planned by ya.]

Petra:[I know that, but, you should explain why you think that about me.]

Garfiel:[Ah, that, well ya know the best about all kinds'a relationships. Like how ya were able to say Ram took advantage of my amazin' self's feelings for her. And ya can read th' mood no matter what kind'a situation it is.]

Petra was surprised but happy as well. She had always taken pride in being able to figure out how people feel about each other pretty quickly. She smiled sweetly.

Petra:[Your words makes me feel really happy, Garfiel-sama. I think the thing that I like the most about your personality has to be your helping nature. You always try to do things for others. Even if it was someone else other than Ram-onee-sama that asked you to buy their things, you would have happily agreed.]

Garfiel's cheeks flushed a bit as he looked at the ceiling while scratching it. Petra gave a warm smile to the embarrassed boy.

Garfiel:[T-thanks.]

Petra put her finger on her chin as she glanced up and started thinking.

Emotions... helping..

Petra:[I got it! The sky!]

Garfiel:[Eh?]

Petra:[Emotions are the colors of our life. And the sky displays a lot of them. Especially during the sunset or sunrise. I mean, just look out the window!]

Garfiel glanced out the window as the sun was setting. The sky was shaded with a mixture of orange, golden and red.

Garfiel:[Ah.. got it. But how does it fit My amazin' self's description?]

Garfiel tilted his head in confusion. Petra ran to the window and pointed towards something. Garfiel followed her finger to see what she was showing.

Garfiel:[The sun? But how..]

Petra:[The sun helps us see things at the day, doesn't it? It keeps us warm as well. And although, you try to help everyone with everything, there are things that you can't do. And that explains the sun's absence at night! So, you give it your all to help others and are constantly working to become more reliable!]

Petra huffed proudly as she came into this conclusion. Garfiel looked stupefied. He closed his eyes and scratched his head.

Garfiel:[My amazin' self is totally lost now. Well, the sky and the sun, hah? Sounds good. An' what about th' paintin'?]

Petra:[Elegant..]

Garfiel:[How about a dancer?]

Petra:[oh! A dancer! There was one time a bard came to the village but I've never seen a dancer before. Has Garfiel-sama seen one?]

Garfiel:[Nah. But my amazin' self has seen 'em in books. They looked graceful and elegant ta me.]

Petra:[Then, I will bring a book from library for reference.]

Garfiel:[Yeah sure. And also about th' costumes...]
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The people of the Mathers' mansion kept working on the costumes for the contest. Morning arrived, and everyone started preparing the cakes and paintings. As time kept passing, evening arrived.

Everyone gathered in the hall wearing black capes to conceal their costumes. Roswaal spread out his arms as he declared-

Roswaal:[Theeeen, shall we begin the judgiiiing~?]

Chapter Text

The hall was filled with people cloaked in black hoods, while a clown stood at the center. A totally normal scene from an outsider's perspective.

Roswaal:[I suppose, Ram and Emilia-sama are going fiiirst?]

Ram:[That is correct, Roswaal-sama.]

Roswaal:[Theeen, Let's start with your caaake.]

Roswaal sat down on a seat, set up by Clind, prior to the start of the contest. In front of him there was a table covered in a white cloth.

Subaru:[Teacher isn't going to join us?]

Roswaal:[Unfortunately, Clind haaad to return, so he won't be joining uuus.]

Subaru:[Ahh, that's a shame. He did most of the housework today after all...]

Roswaal:[No need to woorry about that, I have already gaaave him his salary of two mooonths.]

Roswaal talked in his usual accent as a smile spread across his face. 
Everyone stood a bit a far from the judge as Ram brought a tray with a lid covering it's contents. She placed it on the table and lifted up the lid, revealing the beautiful flower.

On the tray, was a brown cake, which seemed like it was a piece of stone taken straight out of a muddy swamp. To it's contrast, a delicate, pink lotus bloomed on top of it- which is of course made from creme.

Garfiel:[Woah. 'ts really well-made.]

Petra:[Yeah. I almost mistook it for a real flower.]

Roswaal:[This is a reaally beautiiiful cake. Now, do explain whyyy you designed it aaas such.]

Emilia nodded and explained. 

Roswaal:[I see. What an inteeeresting way to express it. An admirably well done work as weeell.]

Roswaal nodded with a smile and wrote down their score on a paper fixed to a board.

Otto:[You guys sure did twist the words to your convenience, didn't you?]

Subaru:[What a typical nee-sama move.]

Ram:[Although, Ram does agree that using the essence of words, Ram can charm anyone, but this time it wasn't Ram's idea.]

Subaru:[Huh? Then are you saying Emilia-tan thought of this?]

Emilia:[That's correct! It was my idea!]

Everyone:[.....]

Beatrice:[We leave them together for a day, and she has already mastered the act of glib tongue, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Emilia-tan....]

Subaru cried tears of pride to see Emilia learn something new, even if it's not a really good thing, it will come handy.

Roswaal:[Nooow, present your paintings.]

Emilia and Ram both brought a canvas covered with a black cloth and placed it on the easel, also placed by the now absent Clind, present two meters in front of Roswaal. Then they pulled out the cloth to reveal the painting- a maid.

A beautiful maid holding a tray in her left hand with tea cups on it and elegantly pouring tea from the kettle with her right hand from a sizable height. The maid, was wearing the Mathers' maid outfit and looked exactly like Ram, with a few differences only like her hair color-

Subaru:[Rem...]

Subaru's irises trembled as the back of his eyes grew tremendously hot. 

It was a really beautiful picture of Rem, who is currently asleep and forgotten by the world. Her posture was pretty accurate, despite no one else being able to remember it.

Ram:[I knew Barusu would act like a child...]

Ram sighed as she glanced towards Emilia as giving her a sign.

Ram:[That is why, bless your eyes with this godly sight and engrave it in your heart, while smiling.]

Emilia and Ram took off their robes to display their costumes.

Ram was wearing dark brown pants and a pink long tailed coat with golden laces tracing it's edges. Her feet were covered with long black boots. There was sword attached to her belt as well.

An attire of a tom-boyish, or rather, manly noble woman. It reminded Subaru of the former Crusch with memories. Her right bangs were tied up by a lotus shaped hair pin, revealing her red eye.

Ram:[Ram is posing as a strong noble lady, who doesn't needs to rely on anyone and her ideals are clear and unchangeable.

And as for Emilia, Subaru couldn't help but drop his jaw. Well, it was totally understandable as she was wearing the Mathers' maid outfit. Cladded by the black dominant outfit with touches of whites here and there, Emilia stood gracefully like Ram does. Her silver hair had the same cross-shaped hair pin gifted by her mother and also the frilly maid's hair band.

Emilia:[I am a maid serving this lady.] 

Subaru:[My eyes have been blessed, just like nee-sama said.]

Subaru closed his eyes and joined his hands and placed them in front of his face to pray to god- to thank him for allowing him to witness this sight.

Ram:[Hah!]

Emilia:[How do we look? I reeeally wanted to try this on someday. Finally I got the chance.]

Otto and Garfiel gave a thumbs up with smiles.

Garfiel:[Ya two look real good.]

Beatrice:[A fresh look, I suppose.]

Frederica:[It suits both of you a lot.]

Petra:[Ram-onee-sama looks really cool! And Emilia-sama, you look exactly like a maid!]

Roswaal:[Both the painting and your costumes are reeally well done. I'm honestly surprised by how beautiful the painting iiis. I suppose it touched Subaru-kun's heart sooo much that he is busy hiding hiiis tears behind that facaaade.]

Everyone[?!]

Beatrice:[Wait what?! Subaru!]

Subaru:[Hey now Ros-chi! You don't just go and expose someone who is trying to hide his tears! And besides, I just feel a bit overwhelmed by nostalgia... Rem poured tea exactly like that... and the fact that I can see it again like this just made me happy.]

Subaru looked towards the floor as he said that. Beatrice worried about him, held his hand. He smiled at her considerate gesture, but didn't lift his face up.

Emilia:[We knew he will become emotional, that's one of the reasons why I chose this outfit, to cheer him up...]

Emilia sadly stated her disappointment.

Subaru:[Ah! It's not like I am not moved by Emilia-tan's goddess-like look with a maid outfit. I mean, it had always been a dream of mine to see Emilia-tan in a maid outfit, but it's not like I do not like her other outfits, they are all very beautiful. Emilia-tan looks like an angel in any attire...]

Subaru blurted out whatever he could, while the redness at the corners of his eyes were clearly visible. 

Ah, he really cares for Rem, doesn't he?

Everyone reconfirmed Subaru's feelings for Rem as they thought this.

Emilia:[Ok ok. Stop. I was just joking and you started rambling on and on about my outfits.]

Emilia put a full stop to Subaru's outburst and sighed.

Subaru:[Ehehe]

He simply scratched his head as he dryly laughed. Everyone sighed at this exchange.

Emilia:[And just so you know, most part of the painting was done by Ram.]

Everyone knew that Emilia was not a great artist, so it wasn't that big of a surprise.

Roswaal:[I have scored all three of the categories. I will reveal them at the eeend. So please stand at the siiide as the next paaair begins their presentation.]

Ram and Emilia cleared out their creations and stood next to the group, while Beatrice and Otto came forward.

Otto placed the tray at the table and picked up the lid, uncovering a spectacular cake.

A half bloomed red rose was made by placing crescent shaped pieces of a cake, coated with red syrup, placed on top of two leaves shaped cakes that had lower heights than the rose.

Roswaal:[What a smaart design. And it looks reeeally lovely too. I have to say, everyone haaas done beeetter than I expected. It will be reaally tough to score these.]

Subaru:[Woah Beako and Otto really did great. Although, I have to admit that I thought this pair would be a lost cause.]

Beatrice:[Betty can work with others as well, I suppose!]

Subaru:[My sincerest apologies, milady.]

Subaru gave a 90 degree bow to her as everyone laughed.

Otto:[The whole idea was Beatrice-sama's. I made it according to her instructions. And as for why we chose this design....]

Otto explained their theme as Roswaal nodded.

Roswaal:[By far, this is the best cake desiiign. I wonder if yooour painting will surpaaaass them or noot?]

Beatrice:[Keeping the judge's interests in mind, it probably will, in fact.]

Beatrice gave a smirk as she pulled down the cloth from their painting that she had already kept on the easel while Roswaal was busy evaluating the cake.

The painting had a dark background. There was a small white flower at a bit right to the center. On top of it there, was a butterfly with luminescent green wings. It was painted in side view, in an attempt to create an illusion of it fluttering it's wings.

Roswaal smiled with a nostalgic expression and nodded.

Roswaal:[A butterfly... quite the smart idea yet again. I am really impressed, Beatrice-sama.]

The painting moved Roswaal a lot more than it seemed like- that's the conclusion everyone arrived at. After all, it's not like he drops his accent everyday.

The painting was well made, but it wasn't as beautiful as Rem's. But the motif was something the judge held special, so that made up for it.

Then, Beatrice and Otto removed their robes.

Unlike the cake and painting, the costumes were...strange.

Beatrice was wearing a bright red dress, whose skirt was layered like rose petals. And she was wearing a large rose shaped hair pin, that was placed at the base of her right drill.

And as for Otto...

Garfiel and Subaru:[Pftttt... HAHAHAHA..!]

Everyone else could not help but laugh too.

Otto was wearing an entirely brown shirt and brown pants. While a pair of blue wings were attached at his back.

Petra:[pftt.. so that is why your robe looked weird...]

Otto:[We couldn't come up with any decent idea. So we just bought whatever that matched the cake and painting....]

Otto cried from embarrassment while Beatrice's face was flushed in red.

Roswaal:[Although, it gave uuus a good laugh, I have to give it a low scooore.]

They both sighed and cleaned up their stuff. They put the robes on and stood with the group. Nobody asked why they wore them back.

Roswaal:[Nooow, Subaru-kun and Frederica. Please coome over.]

Subaru took a deep breath and looked towards Frederica. She gave him a smile while her eyebrows formed a light frown showing that she was confident.

Subaru:[Then, here goes nothing!]

Chapter Text

Subaru placed the painting, covered in a black cloth, on the easel, while Frederica kept the cake on the table. She removed the lid to reveal a detailed brown nest. They shredded chocolates to cover a brown cake and on top of it, was a family of white birds. The birds being made from two round white balls, and by using chocolate syrup their eyes were made.

Emilia and Petra:[How cuute~]

Roswaal:[Another veeery interesting idea. Then, what do they represeeent?]

Subaru and Frederica explained together.

Subaru:[The whole birds and nest idea was proposed by Frederica. And about the painting... I thought of it myself..]

Subaru turned his face away which made everyone else unable to see his expression. Frederica sighed as she knew exactly why Subaru was acting like this. She went towards the painting and removed the cloth with both hands as gently as possible.

Unveiling an extremely gorgeous illustration, Frederica stood beside it with a warm smile.

Everyone simply stared at it with their mouths opened. Emilia's eyes trembled as she put her hands on her mouth. Garfiel and Otto were dumbfounded while Beatrice widened her eyes. Petra and Ram too looked speechless. Roswaal raised his brows in amusement and his smile grew wider.

Anyone might say that their reactions were exaggerated, but once they laid their eyes on this masterpiece, they too will hang their jaws open. 

It portrayed a scene of a golden hall. The ceiling was highlighted by a large intricate chandelier cladded in white magic stones. At the centre of the hall, was a platform. The walls behind it had two warm colored magic stones, giving the scene a warm, elegant shade. 

The back of a kneeling black haired young man-or a knight on the platform was visible. He was draped in a white uniform. His cape had a dominant design of a golden hawk-the Mathers' insignia.

In front of him, a beautiful young lady with silver hair and gentle looking amethyst eyes stood, holding a sharp white sword, that was placed on the left shoulder of the knight.

It was a scene from Natsuki Subaru's knighthood ceremony.

Subaru:[At that time, I truly thought that that was the most endearing and elegant atmosphere I had ever been in. And as testified by Frederica, this particular moment was especially moving. The ceremony where my efforts were acknowledged, and I was granted the right to stand next to the woman who has one of the most kindest hearts in this world, hell it might be the kindest, was the most elegant and magical moment that happened in my life...]

Subaru finally raised his face as he spoke. His face extremely euphoric and nostalgic. No one took their eyes off the picture in front of them. No one knows who started it, but before they knew, they were all clapping. The hall was overflowed with applause.

Roswaal:[Wonderful! Truuuly wonderful! Instead of showing a particular person or a thing, you painted a scene thaaat is veery special to aaall of us. I haave no words to even decriiibe how beautifully it is drawn. I never knew you were suuuch an artist Subaru-kun.]

Subaru:[Ah well, I just happen to be good at almost everything that is useless and painting happens to be one of them.]

Subaru scratched his head sheepishly, feeling embarrassed. Emilia walked up to him.

Subaru:[So, what do you think? Do you like it?]

Emilia:[I love it. It's wonderful. Truly, this is one of the best thing that happened to me, so, I am reeeally happy to be able to see it again.]

Emilia smiled brightly as her eyes were holding back tears. Subaru looked at her completely entranced by her beauty.

Beatrice:[Subaru did a really good job, I suppose. Betty is impressed, in fact.]

Subaru snapped out of it when he heard Beatrice. Everyone had already gathered around him.

Frederica:[When Subaru-sama proposed this idea, I knew that it will be perfect.]

Frederica nodded with satisfaction.

Garfiel:['ts really good. Cap'n looks really cool o'er there! Emilia-sama is as beautiful as always.]

Otto:[Natsuki-san always surprises us, doesn't he?]

Petra:[You guys did great!]

Ram:[Honestly Barusu, Ram is impressed. So when do you intend to take off your hoods?]

Frederica:[Ah, we completely forgot.]

Subaru and Frederica took off their robes simultaneously. Frederica was wearing a beautiful golden gown decorated with white pearls. The dress boldly exposed her back and shoulders. A peal necklace adorned her neck while her hair was tied up to a bun. The dress had delicate embroidery of golden roses.

Subaru wore a knight's uniform, that was different from the one in the ceremony. It was a long collared and long tailed white coat that was bounded by golden edges. The Mathers' insignia was affixed on the left side of his chest, which was trailed behind by three strings of golden beads, connecting with a button of his coat. There was a thin sword attached to his belt.

Garfiel:[Nee-chan looks really different..]

Petra:[Onee-sama looks really pretty!]

Frederica:[Thank you.]

Beatrice:[You look good in that, I suppose.]

Beatrice mumbled to Subaru who grinned and picked her up.

Subaru:[Well! I might be called the half-elf's knight but with Beako I also hold the title of a spirit knight!]

He spun around whike holding her as she flailed nervously. Roswaal chuckled.

Roswaal:[About thaaat, I heard another nickname of yooours while I was at the lords' meeting. They call you the lolimancer knight.]

Silence spread across the hall. Subaru put down Beatrice and walked up to Roswaal.

Subaru:[WHO THE HELL GAVE ME THAT NAME?!]

Subaru screamed his question while everyone burst into laughter, except Beatrice and Subaru.

Beatrice:[Calling a great spirit such as Betty with that misleading term, how dare they, I suppose?!]

Emilia:[Now now. Beatrice looks like an adorable little girl, so many people easily mistake your age.]

Beatrice:[We-well it is true that Betty's endearing appearance may cause such confusion, so it can't be helped, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Emilia-tan has already persuaded Beako with her newly learnt skill?! I won't back down though!]

Otto:[If the lords of other domains are calling you such, then I doubt the people at the capital don't know about it.]

Subaru:[Oh my god, does that mean even Crusch, ferris and Wilhelm-san know about it?! Also that Julius too?! Who is going around ruining my reputation?!]

Subaru huffed as he shouted out his complaints, which made everyone chuckle.

Roswaal:[What's done is dooone. You can't say that it is entirely wrooong, can you? Considering you fight while carrying Beatrice with yooou.]

Subaru:[Even so! Lolimancer? I sound like a perverted lolicon!]

Roswaal:[Anywaaay, it's Garfiel-kun's and Petra's turn now.]

Roswaal deliberately ignored the red faced Subaru and turned towards the said duo.

Garfiel:[Well, goin' after capt'n sure is disheartenin'..]

Garfiel said while scratching his head with a dejected look. Petra's eyes were gleaming though.

Petra:[Garfiel-sama, Subaru-sama and onee-sama's works have been great but that doesn't make ours worse, does it? We did our best so let's face it with our heads held high!]

Garfiel:[Ne'er expected ya of all people ta cheer my amazin' self. Thanks.]

Garfiel patted her head gently like he does with his grandma. He proceeded to keep the painting on the easel as Petra brought the cake over to the table and took off the lid.

Roswaal:[Oh my.]

Subaru:[That's huge! It's shining?!]

A double layered cake with the top layer being made in the shape of a hemisphere to resemble the sun and the second resembled the sky. The sky was a mixture of orange and red colors while the sun was completely golden. It was so vibrant that Subaru felt like the hall was actually brightened up a bit. Probably just his imagination.

Petra:[Well, we designed it this way because....]

Roswaal:[Ah, I seeee. But I have to say it is really beautiful. You have my admiration.]

Petra:[Thank you so much for your kind words!]

Petra bowed as she spoke. She made a face while facing the floor, which was noticed by everyone but no one commented on it. They knew that Petra could never forgive Roswaal after all. Not like anyone else, except Ram, forgot and forgave him for all his wrong doings.

Garfiel then proceeded with removing the cover and revealed a gorgeous golden haired female dancer. She was wearing a white long-sleeved top and white tights adorned with pearly beads. Her hair was tied into a ponytail. Her hands stretched out in elegance and head tilted with grace.

Otto:[Doesn't she kind of look like...]

Emilia:[Frederica?]

Garfiel scratched his head sheepishly.

Garfiel:[Yeah. She does, doesn't she?]

Ram:[Why are you asking us, Garf? Too embarrassed to admit your undying love for your sister?]

Garfiel:[Don't put it that way! Also who's embarrassed? Yrah it looks like nee-san, okay!]

Ram:[Hah!]

Everyone laughed at their usual exchange as Frederica approached Garfiel and Petra.

Frederica:[What am I going to do with you two? Stop acting so cute.]

She chuckled as she patted both of their heads making them blush.

Roswaal:[Beeeautifully drawn, I must say. Then, shall we proceed?]

Both of them took off their robes. Garfiel was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and tight pants. He was obviously quite uncomfortable in it. While Petra was wearing the exact same clothes as the dancer in the painting.

Emilia:[You look reeeally cute, the both of you!]

Garfiel:[My amazin' self doesn't know how ta feel a'out bein' called cute...]

Otto:[You should be happy, idiot.]

Subaru:[That's right! Even I have not been called cute by Emilia-tan!]

Emilia:[Yes, yes. You are my adorable and veery amazing knight.]

Emilia smiled innocently as she spoke out her thoughts that made Subaru turn red.

Subaru:[Emilia-tan attacks at the most unexpected moments...]

Emilia:[Attack? When did I attack you? Why are you lying?]

Emilia pouted which made everyone laugh.

Otto:[Well, going back to the topic, you two look great in those clothes!]

Ram:[Even if they wore rags they would still look more presentable than your choice of clothes.]

Otto:[That's harsh!]

Beatrice:[Don't mock us like that, I suppose!]

Otto:[That's right! Our cake was innovative and the painting touched the judge's heart, just because our costume was bad you can't just forget them!]

Otto huffed as he presented his argument but unfortunately...

Beatrice:[If you want to mock someone, then mock this guy, in fact. Even when Betty did a splendid job in designing the cake and coming up with the butterfly painting, he failed at the one job that was asked of him, I suppose.]

Otto:[Beatrice-sama... I already told you the tailor accidentally mixed up our order with someone else's....]

Otto was on the verge of tears now. Subaru laughed and patted his back.

Subaru:[I guess Otto's misfortune was behind this.]

Otto:[I can't even argue back about that..]

Otto sniffled as Beatrice also started laughing at him, surprising everyone in the hall.

Beatrice:[Betty was just joking, I suppose. Don't take it too seriously, in fact.]

Roswaal:[Nooow, time for the results. Beatrice and Otto-kun's pair is placed laaaast with 21 points. 9 for the cake, 10 for the painting and 2 for the costume.]

Roswaal dropped a bomb suddenly which made the people take some time to realize what exactly happened.

Beatrice:[Your splendid misfortune robbed us from 8 points, I suppose. How are you going to take responsibility for that, in fact?]

Beatrice threw out these words in spite.

Otto:[What happened to the joke?!]

Roswaal:[Now in the third place we haaaave Garfiel-kun and Petra-kun with 24 points. 9 for the caake, 7 for the painting aaand 8 for the costume.]

Subaru:[You can clearly see how much he liked that painting. Nice one Beatrice!]

Beatrice:[What's the point in that now, I suppose? We placed last anyway, in fact.]

Beatrice sulked as she played with her right drill.

Subaru:[Sometimes, even without winning, we gain a lot. I believe you learnt a lot about yourself and Otto while preparing?]

Beatrice paused for a second and lifted her head.

Beatrice:[You are right, I suppose. Betty learnt a lot, in fact. Thanks to this stupid contest that you conducted to make Betty laugh, which barely fulfilled the initial purpose, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Well, you coming last was unexpected for me as well... Damn it, Otto.]

Otto:[You're still gonna blame me?]

Subaru[Yeeep.]

Otto:[Haah. Well, I learned quite a bit about myself too.]

Otto smiled as he spoke while fixing his hood.

Subaru:[Is that so?]

He sunk into deep thought. Although the contest was made to liven up things and make everyone have fun, it also brought the camp members really close. Kinda disgusting that Roswaal had said it before.

Garfiel:[Meh, we did better than expected.]

Petra:[Yeah but I was kinda hoping for a 10 at least for the cake...]

Petra spoke out her disappointment.

Garfiel:[Ah well. That's a bummer, but just like the capt'n said, didn' we learnt a lot?]

Petra:[That's true. Alright! I will take this as a positive experience!] 

Roswaal continued. 

Roswaal:[Second place goes tooo Emilia-sama and Ram with 26 points. 8, 9 and 9 points in eeeach section.]

Emilia:[woow. We did it Ram! Although we couldn't get first place, we got a good score!]

Ram:[Yes, Emilia-sama. Our hard work paid off well.]

Ram smiled gently. Emilia smiled back at her. They didn't get first place, but they got something more important.

Petra:[Well, now it's pretty much obvious who is the winner.]

Frederica:[I am quite surprised at this.]

Roswaal:[As you all have alreeeady guessed, the winner is Subaru-kun and Frederica. With 27 points. 8, 10 and 9 poooints. I  was honestly not sure who to give a higher scooore. Congratulations. It waaas a close match.]

Subaru:[I am really proud about that painting, so getting a 10 makes me feel satisfied.]

Subaru smiled warmly as he gazed at the painting he and Frederica worked so hard to make.

Frederica:[Today was really a memorable day for me. Dressing up like this was quite qn experience, a bit embarrassing too, to be honest.]

Frederica smiled brightly without hiding her sharp teeth which made Subaru to grin. Garfiel felt happy to see his sister smile without any hesitation.

Beatrice:[This contest turned out to be way different than I imagined, I suppose.]

Frederica:[That's true.]

Petra:[But it was a "good" different, right?]

Beatrice:[Yes, I suppose.]

As the camp members were reminiscing on the event, Roswaal spoke up.

Roswaal:[Nooow. Time for the reward for the winner and penaalty for the loser.]

Beatrice and Otto:[Hah?]

Subaru:[Shit. I totally forgot about that.]

Subaru sweated buckets as Beatrice glared at him.

Chapter Text

Roswaal:[Theeen, Subaru-kun and Frederica. You may each ask for anything you waaant as a rewaaard. Of course it has to beee something within myyy abilities.]

Subaru:[Then I would like you to evoke Beako's punishment.]

Subaru almost spoke immediately as Roswaal's question ended.

Beatrice:[You need not trouble yourself with Betty's punishment, I suppose. It is something Betty must do because of his failure.]

Otto:[I am still being blamed....]

Otto laughed awkwardly as Subaru shook his head at Beatrice's statement.

Subaru:[I made this whole thing to make you laugh, not to make your face look so sour.]

Beatrice's pouting face immediately turned into one of surprise.

Roswaal:[Although youur gesture is reeeally sweet, we can not evoke the penalty. Someone haaas to dooo it.]

Subaru:[Then I will do it in her stead.]

Subaru said with pride. Beatrice grew flustered thinking about how to stop him but gave up as she knew just how much of a stubborn being her contractor can become.

Roswaal:[Thaaat is completely fiiine by Me. But Frederica, you caaan not ask for the saaame thing.]

Subaru:[Thank you very much.]

Otto:[Then Natsuki-san, we shall do the penalty together!]

Subaru:[The heck do you sound so happy for?]

Subaru smiled awkwardly at an over enthusiastic Otto.

Frederica:[Hmm. Then I would like to take a few days off and meet grandma.]

Roswal:[Fiiine. You may leeeeave for three days.]

Frederica smiled brightly. Garfiel felt a bit jealous. Just a little.

Emilia:[So, what exactly is the penalty? I'm reeeally curious.]

Ram:[Whatever it is, it's definitely going to be worth watching.]

Subaru:[Sadistic Nee-sama. Why did I even suggest this? What was I thinking? Stupid me of yesterday!]

Subaru stomped his feet with tears of regret in his eyes which made everyone laugh.

Roswaal:[Yoour penaaaltyy isss....]

Drawing out his words even more than usual to create suspense, Roswaal smiled wickedly as he continued, making everyone burst into laughter. Except Subaru and Otto, obviously.
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Subaru:[I seriously want to slap the me of yesterday.]

Subaru spoke with an annoyed look while frowning. 

Otto:[Me too.]

Ram:[What? Barusu, I thought you liked-]

Subaru:[NO I DO NOT.]

Subaru interrupted Ram from saying some misleading things which made her say "Hah!" In her typical Ram-like way.

Beatrice:[I have to say, this is quite nostalgic, I suppose.]

Emilia:[I am still in shock. No one told me that it was Subaru. Hrmm. And all this while I stupidly believed that Natsumi-san was  a relative of Subaru.]

Emilia pouted cutely which made Subaru feel a bit happy despite the cruel penalty of cross-dressing.

He adorned a gorgeous slim fit, sleeveless, black gown that emphasized his kinda feminine(?) Figure. It's not like he doesn't look like a man, it's just his short shoulders and slender body that makes him pass as a woman while wearing dresses. He wore a black wig which was tied with an orange ribbon and long black gloves in his hands. He also tried to make his mean looking eyes look less mean  by using makeup. He wore long black heels too.

Otto on the other hand was wearing a delicate green colored, sleeveless, gown with golden embroidery. He didn't wear a wig as his natural hair is long enough, but he did put on a golden butterfly shaped hair pin. He wore grey gloves and shoes. Since, he couldn't walk in heels, he went for flats.

Ram:[Although Ram, Emilia-sama, Frederica and Petra dressed up with so much effort, looking at you two, who put on everything in like 15 minutes and look this good, annoys Ram .]

Emilia:[I too feel disappointed, but you two look reeeally cute, so I won't say anything. Yes, That's right]

Emilia nodded proudly at the two beautiful young not-women who looked like their lives had been sucked out from them.

Garfiel:[............]

Garfiel stood with his jaw wide open since the moment he laid his eyes on them. Frederica, concerned for her brother, went closer to him.

Frederica:[Garf, you okay? I am truly surprised too. Never even  in my dreams had I expected them to look this good in female clothes.]

Garfiel:[Cap'n and Otto-nii are beautiful? Wha? 'S that really them? Where did da cool knight go?]

Subaru:[Thank you Garfiel for calling me cool. And as for where he went, well I guess he went down the drain just like my already tarnished pride did.]

Otto:[This is waaaay too embarrassing!]

Otto's face turned beet red as he covered it with his hands.

Petra:[... Subaru-sama, Otto-sama...]

The small maid softly called out to them which made everyone turn towards her.

Petra:[Tonight, you two look the most beautiful!]

Petra siad sarcastically while giving them a thumbs up.

Ram:[Hah!]

Roswaal:[This was a reeeally fuuuun waay to end the conteest, wouldn't you agree?]

Subaru:[Shut it!]

Otto:[I'm not showing my face to anyone for the next three days!]

Beatrice:[Serves you right, I suppose. Also you look good, Subaru.]

Beatrice smirked at him as he sunk down in embarrassment and exhaustion.

The hall was filled with laughter, which marked the end of the contest.
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Gently knocking the door twice, Subaru entered the room, placed farther away from his own.

Subaru:[Pardon the intrusion.]

He smiled at the sleeping beauty lying undisturbed on the bed. His eyes filled with love and affection. A slight hint of regret lingered within them too.
Subaru brought a chair close to the bed and sat down.

Subaru:[Hey, Rem.]

He gently called out to the blue haired girl as if she were the most important and fragile piece of his own heart.

Subaru:[Today, we did a lot of stuff. If you were there,  I'm sure you would have won the contest with how skilled you are. But the division of pairs would have caused a problem, wouldn't it? Ah well, we could have adjusted somehow. You will be thrilled to know what Nee-sama did today.....]

He continued to describe the events of the whole day enthusiastically, as if his words could make Rem feel jealous of them having so much fun and wake up while pouting, saying "Rem wanted to see how Subaru-kun won the contest."

Subaru:[We hung all the paintings in the room next to the parlor where the Portraits of the Mathers were hung. I was seriously shocked to see ten Roswaal look-alikes lined up on the wall. It's really disturbing. Is he planning to complete the English alphabet by reaching Roswaal Z Mathers? What's he gonna do after that? Maybe he will continue the lineage with AA and AB like the excel sheet. Hah. Well .....There is an empty space besides your portrait....]

His voice choked a bit as he tried to hold back his tears and smiled to cover up his expression of pain.

Subaru:[....So that...when you wake up, make a portrait of Nee-sama. We will hang it beside yours. Okay?]

Subaru smiled bitterly as his eyes were filled with tears that he failed to hold back.

Subaru:[In days like this when we have so much fun, I regret the most for having failed to save you. Regret that, you are missing out on so many things. It's painful to think that everyone is walking forward without you as time flows.....]

Subaru sniffled quietly as the words of regret slipped out from his mouth. His left hand grasped his chest while he placed his right hand on his eyes, trying to stop the tears from flowing. But they wouldn't. Drops of tears kept flowing as he sobbed beside the sleeping Rem.
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Beatrice:[You cried, didn't you, I suppose?]

The blonde spirit spoke with sadness as Subaru entered his room. Ne smiled sheepishly while scratching his cheek.

Subaru:[Yeah well.. a bit.]

Beatrice sighed as she pulled Subaru unto the bed and held his hand.

Beatrice:[No need to lie to Betty, I suppose. It's okay, we will definitely find a way to wake her up, so relax for now, in fact.]

Beatrice whispered to Subaru, which made his face relaxes and he closed his eyes. Letting the exhaustion sink in, he fell asleep.
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Otto:[Good morning, Natsuki-san.]

Otto waved at Subaru, who was returning from his parkour training. Subaru wiped his sweat with a towel as he smiled mischievously.

Subaru:[I thought you said you weren't going to show your face to anyone for a while?]

Otto:[Ahhh! Don't remind me of that! And besides, its not like you also didn't embarrass yourself yesterday, so how are you so calm?]

He asked suspiciously and stared at Subaru. Subaru flinched at Otto's question which made Otto raise his brow.

Beatrice:[That's because he has already done that before, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Hey Beako!]

Beatrice answered Otto's question as she walked towards Subaru. He screamed as Otto smiled.

Otto:[Oh! So you were experienced in this sort of thing? Wow! How unexpected.]

Otto kept teasing Subaru as he blushed.

Subaru:[Okay I'm sorry. Stop this. We won't bring this up ever again, deal?]

Otto's:[Deal.]

Both of them slapped their hands and sealed the deal. Beatrice sighed at their interaction.

Beatrice:[What will you be doing now, I suppose?

Subaru:[Ah. I'm going to meet Roswaal. Some important talk.]

Otto:[Is it about your reward? What are you going to ask for?]

Subaru:[You'll know soon enough.]
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Subaru:[I want to go on a trip with the camp members to the royal capital for the dragon festival.]

Roswaal:[Oya? The dragon festival, is iiiit? Sure, go aheead.]

Beatrice:[The festival...]

Beatrice's butterfly eyes sparkled with excitement upon hearing the mention of the dragon festival. Subaru chuckled at her cute expression.

Subaru:[Yes yes, cute cute.]

Otto:[So who exactly will be going? You two, me, Garfiel and Emilia-sama. Frederica will be goi-]

Frederica:[The date when I will be going to grandma's hasn't been decided yet, has it? I shall accompany Emilia-sama to the capital to look after her needs. My duty as a maid comes first. I can just meet grandma after we come back.]

Otto:[I would like to think that you actually meant what you said and not just saying to get a double vaca-]

Thwack.

The sound of a punch echoed in Roswaal's office. Otto winced in pain as he rubbed his head.

Emilia:[Being rude to someone is a no-go. You should not say such scurrilous things.]

Emilia raised her finger and placed another hand on her waist as she lectured Otto. Subaru chuckled.

Subaru:[Who even says scurrilous in these days.]

Emilia pouted at Subaru while Otto bowed to Frederica.

Otto:[Sorry I misspoke. That was really rude of me.]

Frederica:[That's alright. It's not like there wasn't any truth behind your words....]

Frederica smiled awkwardly as she sweated, Otto looked at her with a dumbfounded look. This made everyone burst into laughter.

Roswaal:[Fiiine, Frederica will accompany yooou aall.]

Roswaal smiled and gave his permission.

Subaru:[Then, we will leave in a few days!]

Subaru muttered with anticipation as he balled up his fist.
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Two days before the date of the dragon festival, the Emilia camp took off for the capital on their dragon carriage. Of course, Patrasche was drawing the carriage and Otto sat on the driver's seat. Garfiel slept on the roof.

Beatrice:[Betty can't wait to see the royal capital, I suppose.]

Beatrice said excitedly as she looked out the window, while sitting   beside Subaru.

Garfiel:['ts My amazin' self's first time ta the capital as well, so My amazin' self understands ya'r excitement.]

Garfiel's inverted head popped from above the carriage as he spoke through the window.

Frederica:[Garf, I am well aware of your strength, but still be careful.] 

Frederica spoke seriously in a scolding manner.

Garfiel:[Ya'r such a worry wart Nee-chan.]

Garfiel laughed loudly while clacking his teeth.

Emilia:[Shh.]

Suddenly Emilia kept a finger on her pink lips as she shushed Garfiel, drawing everyone's attention.

Emilia:[Subaru is fast asleep you know. So keep it down, okay?]

Everyone's gaze went towards the said the boy who was sleeping peacefully like a child.

Beatrice:[He was quite excited yesterday, so couldn't sleep, I suppose. Even though Betty was the one more excited than him, in fact.]

Beatrice commented as she held his hand gleefully smiling. Emilia and Frederica smiled at their lovely relationship as the carriage lept moving towards the capital.

Chapter Text

After arriving at the royal capital, the first thing the group did was checking-in at the Heritage inn, where they were going to stay for the next three days. Since they arrived a day before the festival, they were free to explore today.

Garfiel:[My amazin' self's gonna take off with Emilia-sama and Nee-chan. My amazin' self might be excited, but that doesn't make me forget My amazin' self's duty.]

Subaru:[Glad I can count on you, Garfiel. What about Otto?]

Otto:[I'm gonna go meet up with some old acquaintances. Natsuki-san is going to spend time with Beatrice-sama, correct?]

Subaru:[That's right! Beako and I are gonna spend some quality time together in the place where I started off.]

Emilia:[Oh right. You came up with the whole alliance and white whale and witch cult subjugation plan here.]

Emilia tilted her head with her finger placed on her chin as she reminisced the events of the past.

Subaru:[Yeah, that and also...]

The place where I first stepped on in this new world and met Emilia.

Subaru:[Anyway! We'll set off then!]

Subaru grabbed Beatrice in his arms and waved his hand as he left.
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Beatrice:[So, you enthusiastically brought Betty to the capital to meet this vendor, I suppose?]

Beatrice looked at Subaru with eyes that expressed I'm so done with you, in fact.

Subaru:[Hey hey. This man over here is no ordinary man. He's got the feat of serving as my save point guide, twice.]

Kadomon:[Hey, kid. What nonsense are ya babbling now? And everytime I see ya, ya'r with a different woman? Though this one is a girl. You trynna show off or somethin'?]

Subaru:[Geh! Now that you say it, I have come to this shop with Emilia and Rem before....]

Subaru paused for a brief moment.

Subaru:[The last time I came here, you remember that woman who came with me?]

Kadomon:[Haa? I remember someone accompanying ya. Can't remember her face for some reason.]

Kadomon thought hard but the image came out blurred and his head started aching. Subaru winced at this, which Beatrice took notice of and held his hand.

Beatrice:[Give us ten of those Appas, I suppose.]

Kadomon:[There you go. Thank you for your patronage!]

Beatrice pulled Subaru and started walking.

Subaru:[Thank you, Beako.]

Beatrice:[If you keep getting emotional at every single mention of that girl, then what will she do when she wakes up and sees that you have turned into a crybaby, in fact?]

Subaru:[Haha. I imagine her smiling and saying that she is here now, so it's alright.]

Subaru imagined Rem's smiling face and couldn't help but smile himself. It hadn't been that long since she fell into that comatose state. Which was why Subaru had been on edge regarding almost everything that reminded him of Rem.

Subaru:[Ahh. Gotta pull myself together.]

Beatrice:[So where should we go, I suppose?]

Subaru:[Truth be told, I barely have any idea about where is what, here. So let's just roam around and check the shops.]

Beatrice sighed with exasperation. They started walking towards a shop with a grandiose display of dresses.

Beatrice:[Fine, I suppose.]
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Subaru:[Oooooh! Beako! You're cuteness is not something this world can handle with that dress! That's why, change out of it quickly before anyone can see you in it and fall for you.]

Subaru quickly shoved Beatrice back into the trial room.

Beatrice:[I know that this dress doesn't suit Betty, I suppose! You don't have to sugar coat your words to hide your disgust, in fact! Betty can tell when you are lying anyway, I suppose.]

Beatrice who was wearing a tacky green gown with golden frills and laces along with golden fur jacket, expressed her annoyance at Subaru's half-assed attempt in hiding his distorted smile.

Subaru:[Pfttt! This is way too much seriously! Beako will still look lovely no matter what she wears. Even rags will look good with your cute face!]

Subaru grinned as he patted Beatrice' head making her blush.

Beatrice:[Betty feels the same for Subaru, I suppose. So you should try that green suit as well, in fact.]

Beatrice smiled brightly with mischief in her eyes as Subaru sweated heavily when he glanced at the said suit which was supposed to be for the partner of the woman wearing the green dress, that Beatrice was wearing. Obviously, it looked as hideous as the dress, because of the long sleeves with frills and the fur coated jacket. The ends of the pants were laced as well.

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Subaru:[We look like an idiot duo, Don't we?]

Beatrice:[Subaru is the only idiot here, I suppose. Who was it that chose the dress in the first place screaming- "What a cute dress~", in fact?]

Subaru:[...That was me..]

Beatrice:[See? Betty is not at fault, I suppose.]

The idiot duo walked out of the store in those tacky clothes gathering all sorts of looks from the passers-bys. No one forced them to walk out wearing it. The shopkeeper in fact told them not to buy it as it was a design made by a newbie, and they put it out for display as a joke thinking no one would actually try to buy it.

But the duo being composed of two idiots, could not throw away their pride by backing down after saying even if one of them wore rags they would still look lovely in the eyes of the other person.

Subaru:[On second thought, this is pretty fun. People looking at us like we are some kinda aliens.]

Beatrice:[I do not understand what is so funny in being given sympathetic looks, I suppose? Also what is an alien, in fact?]

Subaru picked her up as he started talking about the possibility of life in Mars, which was yet another term foreign to Beatrice. But he described it so that she could understand. Beatrice too started explaining about the theories of another world being present beyond the great waterfall she read in the books of the forbidden archive.

They talked and talked as they entered a cafe with a sign "Alice' cafe".

Girl:[Welcome to Alice' cafe! Please take a seat and relax.]

A girl with short brown hair, wearing a light blue dress and an apron welcomed them.

Beatrice:[What a peaceful atmosphere, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Yeah. The quietness of this place gives a nice contrast to the loud and busy streets of the capital.]

They looked around to see that they are the only customers and sat down at a seat in the corner of the shop. Naturally, Beatrice sat on top of his lap.

Looking at this scene, the girl couldn't help but smile at their sweet interactions. But their clothes were weird.

Girl:[There aren't many customers today as compared to other days and most of the staff are on leave due to the festival.]

The girl told them as she handed them the menu. Subaru raised his brow at this.

Subaru:[Shouldn't it be the opposite? Because of the festival, many people are coming to the capital.]

Girl:[Yes, the number of people in the capital has sky rocketed, but they are all busy looking for inns or hotels to stay at and exploring the stalls. That's why, a cafe like this doesn't gets much customers these few days. Otherwise we are always full.]

The girl explained making Subaru nod with an "I see".

Beatrice:[Betty would like a choco mousse along with a regular sandwich, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Ah. You have already decided? Well, I will have a regular sandwich and a strawberry tart, please.]

Beatrice:[A tart, I suppose?]

Subaru:[I'm craving for something sweet right now, Don't look at me like that Beako.]

Subaru smiled at Beatrice who had raised her brow in confusion.

Girl:[Very well. Your food will be ready in 15 minutes.]

She left for the kitchen, leaving the two alone.
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Girl:[Here is your order.]

The girl placed the trays on their table making the two stop their heated conversation about the existence of ghosts or hollows as referred to by the people of this world.

They continued while munching on their sandwiches.

Beatrice:[As a spirit, Betty finds the existence of hollows to be disgusting, I suppose.]

Subaru:[That's your personal opinion. People of my hometown used to read and share ghost stories as hobbies. And that happens to be one of my own hobbies.]

Beatrice:[Why would you read about evils spirits, when you have Betty, in fact?]

Girl:[Pardon my interruption, but the people at my hometown also love to share horror stories.]

Subaru:[Seriously?! Where are you from?]

Girl:[I am from Kararagi.]

Subaru:[Isn't that the place Anastasia-san came from?]

Girl:[That is correct. The royal candidate Anastasia Hoshin-sama is also from Kararagi. You seem to be acquainted with her?]

The girl asked curiously as Subaru nodded while gulping his food.

Subaru:[I worked together with her personal fight force for a while.]

Girl:[Ah I see. By the way, my name is Alice.]

Subaru:[Oh, Alice-san then. Going back to the topic, you said people of Kararagi have ghost stories?]

Subaru asked with excitement.

Alice:[That is correct. There are many famous ones like a woman in white clothes with a child in her arms, walking around the hot springs. The story is that she died by slipping and hitting her head on a stone while trying to stop her 3 year old son from falling into the water. She failed to save her son too. Quite a tragic story.]

Beatrice:[It is certainly sad that both of them died but, the fact that the mother prioritized her son's life over hers is touching, I suppose.]

Beatrice, now eating her mousse said while smiling with a glint of sadness in her eyes. Alice panicked a bit and bowed deeply.

Alice:[My sincerest apologies! I just dampened your mood with such kind of story, didn't I?]

Beatrice:[It is a sad story but Betty likes it, in fact. Even after death, the mother and child are together, I suppose. That provides a bit of a solace to the heart, in fact. So no need to apologize, I suppose. ]

Beatrice smiled as Alice raised her head in surprise. Subaru grinned as if he had won.

Subaru:[See? Ghosts aren't all that disgusting now, are they?]

Beatrice sighed and glanced towards him while pouting.

Beatrice:[You were right, in fact....]

Subaru smiled as he turned towards Alice.

Subaru:[Thank you for sharing this story with us! It helped me win the argument too.]

Alice:[I am glad that I was able to help you.]
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Subaru:[There you go.]

He kept some coins on the counter that he took out from his wallet. Alice smiled as she took the money.

Alice:[Dear customers, please tell me your names. Our cafe keeps a record of the names of the customers everyday.]

Subaru:[Ah, it's Natsuki Subaru.]

Beatrice:[Betty's name is Beatrice, I suppose.]

Alice:[Thank you and come again!]

Subaru and Beatrice left the store. Looking at them, Alice realized something.

Alice:[Huh? That name sounds familiar... oh!]

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Emilia:[Frederica! Garfiel! Look at that! It's reeeally cute!]

Frederica:[Yes Emilia-sama. It is very adorable.]

Frederica replied enthusiastically as she and Emilia looked at a stall full of hair pins and accessories. Their focus was on a silver flower brooch adorned with purple gems.

Garfiel:[Hee? My amazin' self likes that one though. Looks much cooler.]

Garfiel nodded with self-satisfaction  at his choice as he pointed towards a black brooch for men's suits. It had a black wing with a small hazelnut coloured gem embedded on it. A black chain attached to it's end.

Frederica:[That looks really nice.]

Emilia:[It even has Subaru's eye coloured gem! It's black as well.]

Emilia smiled as she imagined Subaru wearing a white suit and the brooch. Frederica giggled causing Emilia to look at her with confusion.

Frederica:[Emilia-sama thinks about Subaru-sama a lot. You really care for him, don't you?]

Emilia:[Of course! He is my one and only knight. This will look reeeally good on him, wouldn't it?]

Garfiel:[Yup! It will definitely suit Capt'n!]

Emilia:[Then, we will take this one. Do you want anything Frederica?]

Frederica:[Hmm let me see...]

Emilia:[How about that one?]

Emilia pointed at a golden flower hair pin.

Frederica:[That looks nice. I will take it.]

Shopkeeper:[There you go young ladies!]

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Garfiel:[So, what're we gonna do now?]

Emilia:[Hmm... how about we buy some costumes?]

Emilia's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

Frederica:[Emilia-sama's mind is still filled with the contest I guess.]

Frederica chuckled while Garfiel laughed loudly. Emilia pouted at them.

Garfiel:[That store looks nice.]

They entered the clothes store that Garfiel pointed out. They looked around a bit and grabbed some clothes and decided to try them out.

Garfiel and Frederica wore a black suit and a long black gown. Emilia went for a light blue dress. The staff were satisfied by getting to witness such beautiful women in beautiful clothes. Garfiel looked cute to the female staff.

The trio paid for the clothes and went out garnering attention from everyone.

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Otto:[Long time no see, Granbell-san!]

Granbell:[Is that you Otto?! Seriously where and how have you been?]

Granbell, a man in his 30s exclaimed at the sight of Otto. He was relaxing in the usual bar he used to drink when he was in the capital, when Otto, his old friend greeted him.

Otto:[Ahh.. a lot of things happened after I went to the Mathers' domain...]

He went onto describe the events that occurred, starting from being captured by the witch cult to how he became the internal affairs minister of the most famous and infamous camp.

Granbell:[...I don't know whether you hit the jackpot or the hornet's nest..]

Otto:[Seriously, I don't know either..]

Otto answered with a sigh at Granbell's sarcasm. He gulped down his drink and wiped his mouth with his wrist.

Otto:[But, I am quite content with how things are now.]

Granbell:[Yeah? I thought you wanted to open a shop of yours?]

Otto:[Yeah, of course I do. I will, once I fulfill my duties as their head of internal affairs. I can't just abandon my friends when they need me. And also, if Emilia-sama becomes the king, wouldn't I have a connection with the king and her knight? That would surely be a great help when I set up my shop. This is an investment of sort, I guess.]

Otto nodded with satisfaction at his statement. Granbell scoffed at him.

Grnabell:[The real reason why you are still with them is because you care for your friends. Like how you saved me back then.]

He smiled as Otto grows flustered.

Otto:[Wh-What are you saying? Care for my friends? I'm a merchant! My top most priority is profit and survival! Don't make me sound like a hopeless pushover of a friend!]

Granbell:[You ARE a hopeless pushover.]

Otto:[Ugghh! Stop it!]

Granbell laughed loudly at Otto as they talked the whole afternoon.

Chapter Text

After the lovely afternoon the Emilia camp spent in the capital, they all returned back to the inn.

Subaru:[Oh! EMT! "Emilia-tan Maji Tenshi!" You look like an angel in that outfit!]

Emilia:[Hehe thank you. You and Beatrice also look reeeally... nice?]

It dawned on him that he and Beatrice were still wearing those weird frilly green salad clothes.

Both of them turned red as they rushed inside their room to change.

Garfiel:[Bahaaha! Where did they even get that from?]

Frederica:[I wonder.. ]

They chuckled as Otto entered the common room.

Emilia:[Otto, you're back! How did your meeting with your friends go?]

Otto:[It was fine Emilia-sama. Thank you for your concern. I hope you spent some quality time in the capital.]

Emilia:[I did! There were sooo many shops and beautiful decorations too! It was so much fun.]

Frederica:[We bought a lot of a stuff. Garf picked out some souvenirs for you too Otto-sama..]

Otto looked at Frederica who was wearing a gorgeous black dress. His face started turning red.

Emilia:[Are you okay Otto? Your face is totally red...]

Garfiel:[Oi Otto-nii.]

Otto:[Wh-what?]

Garfiel glared down at Otto. Despite being shorter, his presence was fearsome.

Garfiel:[Nothin'.]

Otto:[Got it.]

Emilia:[Huh? What did you get from that?]

Emilia tilted her head cutely in confusion.

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The night went by peacefully and it was finally the morning of the festival.

Subaru:[*Yawn* Wake up Beako. It's morning.]

Subaru poked Beatrice's head as he tried to wake her up. She snuggled under the blankets.

Beatrice:[Good morning, I suppose.]

Subaru:[Rise and shine Beako! We gotta do a hella lot of fun things toda-]

Subaru opened the window as he talked but stopped at the sight in front of him.

Beatrice:[What, in fact?]

She walked towards him to see the scene outside.

The dragon festival. They didn't know what to expect from it, but this was totally beyond their expectations.

Subaru:[Aw-awesome!]

Beatrice:[This is wonderful, I suppose!]

Both of their eyes sparkled as they saw the streets lined up with flowers and paper decorations. Every house hung flags with the dragon on it. The entire street in front of their inn looked like it had been clothed with colours.

There was a parade which was being led by gorgeous dancers. Children ran to catch up with the procession.

There were carts covered in
decorations and a large dragon was made on top of some like 7 to 8 carts. There were many people dancing and singing folk songs. A band followed the parade at it's end.

Subaru and Beatrice watched for like 5 minutes. They were absolutely mesmerised by this whole parade.

Subaru:[I am totally looking forward to tonight!]

Beatrice:[Betty is excited as well in fact.]

They took a bath and got ready. The Emilia camp had a peaceful breakfast together. And soon enough, it was evening.

Subaru:[Walking around the festival with Emilia-tan, eating sweets and looking at fireworks has always been a dream of mine!]

Emilia:[Sorry Subaru. I don't know what these "fireworks" mean but we won't be going together.]

Subaru:[WHAT?!]

Subaru dramatically asked as he got rejected. Emilia chuckled as she answered.

Emilia:[Weren't you listening yesterday? I suggested that we explore the festival in groups of girls and boys. I reeeally want to hang out with just Frederica and Beatrice. We can meet up later in front of the amphitheatre right before the play starts! How about it?]

Subaru:[*Sniff* Okay. If that's what you want.]

Garfiel:[Let's go Capt'n!]

Garfiel excitedly moved his fists up and down as they left the room.

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Subaru:[Those damn brats. How dare they leave me behind? Daaamn! This is such an amazing evening but I have no one to enjoy it with...]

Subaru sulked as he sat on a stone staircase in one of the alleyways. Garfiel and Otto got swept away in the crowd leaving Subaru all by himself. If Garfiel tried, he could probably find Subaru by his smell but due to the heavy crowd, his smell was all over the place. Basically, it was hopeless.

Subaru:[We are scheduled to meet in 2 hours...what should I do until then?....]

Subaru pondered as he stared upwards to the sky. His gaze fell on the brilliant stars illuminating the dark sky.

He fell into a pool of nostalgia. He remembered the times when he used to stargaze from his room when he had become a shut-in.

Before he knew it, tears welled up in his eyes. He didn't cry though. Because those were happy memories. He cherished them. He will respect the time he was in Japan. And he will enjoy his time in Lugnica.

Just as he was about to conclude his emotional thoughts, a voice echoed from his back.

???:[Hey brat. Give us everything you have.]

A group of thugs lined up behind Subaru, whose back faced the wall. They smirked thinking they got just the right target.

Subaru:[Damn it. Can't even run. Why did we have to get separated now of all times!]

Subaru cursed at his bad luck. But cursing won't help him out in this situation.

So what should he do?

There were six of them. All of them armed with at least a knife. The one in the middle, seemingly the leader had a dagger of one foot in length. There was also the chance of any of them being capable of using magic.

Even if he screamed for guards like he did when he was in the third loop of his first save point, no one would be able to hear him.

Calling Beatrice seemed like a good choice. He could stall the thugs for some time.

Nah who was he kidding. By the time she would arrive Subaru would have been pummelled into a pulp.

Then what to do-

???:[Oi! You ignoring us?! Have to teach this brat his lesson.]

Subaru has to act fast. He had his whip with him. He grabbed onto it but didn't pull it out.

One of the thugs ran at him. He tried to throw a punch at Subaru but was instead thrown at the wall by Subaru's kick. He still kept his whip concealed.

Leader:[Useless fellow! Can't even take down one brat!]

The leader yelled at the guy who hit his head on the wall and collapsed.

Two of the thugs attacked Subaru with knives in their hands. One of them swinged his knife in a swift curve right at his face which he barely managed to dodge.

He kicked the other one with an axe kick. The leader grew impatient and decided to attack with his dagger.

Subaru cracked out his whip and directed it towards a lamp post. The whip wrapped around it and Subaru used the fallen thug and the wall beside him as footings to swing around the remaining thugs and tried to make an escape.

But unfortunately, one of them used a fire magic spell at him.

Thug:[Goa!]

The spell was about to hit Subaru.

Subaru:[Crap!]

I don't wanna die in a freaking festival!

???:[That's enough.]

A stern voice echoed in the alleyway. Subaru's vision was obstructed by something his body bumped into.

???:[That was a close call. Are you alright?]

It seemed like what he had bumped into was a man. His voice was different from the previous one though. That person held Subaru's shoulders lightly, checking for any visible wounds.

Subaru turned his gaze upwards. His eyes met with a familiar pair of golden eyes and purple hair. Instinctively his face scrunched up.

Subaru:[Julius...]

Julius:[Hm? Ah! I couldn't recognise you in the dark before. Don't tell me you still keep going around picking fights with others?]

Julius' attitude immediately changed upon realizing who Subaru was and looking at his irritated face.

Subaru:[Who do you think I am? Some middle school delinquent? They were trying to rob me.]

???:[Julius. I have apprehended them.]

Julius:[That was fast. Let's turn them in at the garrison.]

Following Julius' gaze, Subaru found Reinhard standing between a bunch of corpses- or not. They were all simply knocked out in the mere duration of Subaru and Julius' banter.

Subaru:[Reinhard!]

Reinhard:[Oh! Subaru. Are you alright?]

Subaru:[Yeah I am fine. Thanks for helping me out.]

Reinhard:[No need to thank me, after all you took two of them out yourself.]

Subaru smiled at his usual humble attitude.

The trio heard the sound of footsteps.

???:[Hey nyow, you can't just leave Ferri-chan behind like that!]

Subaru:[Felis!]

Felix:[Huh? It's Subaru-kyun! But why is Julius holding him like that?]

Felix pointed at them as he presented his question. Subaru frowned as he separated himself from Julius.

Subaru:[I just bumped into him.]

Julius:[Anyway, we have to take care of those robbers.]

He directed his gaze at the unconscious thugs. Felix nodded.

Felix:[We just finwished our shift and yet we are still gwonna work. LIKE HELL! Let's just report them to the guards station.]

Julius:[We should finish our wo-]

Felix:[Come on! Ferri wants to enjoy the festival too!]

He pouted as his tail and ears moved up and down rapidly to show his frustration.

Subaru:[Heya Julius. Do you plan to work yourself and your friends to the point they lose their hair? It is festive time dude, loosen up a little.]

Julius:[Felis and Reinhard without hair.....]

Felix:[Pffftt!!]

Reinhard:[Th-that will be..]

Subaru:[Don't just conveniently change the topic! Also in the "hair loss due to overwork" club, you are included!]

The three royal knights burst into laughter as Subaru hissed at Julius.

Julius:[Fine fine. We will do as you say. Then, Subaru, we shall take our lea-]

Subaru:[Wait wait waaait! I need to see these bastards behind the bars! So let me accompany you guys.]

Reinhard:[Why would you need that?]

He asked while rubbing his chin.

Subaru:[Just for the heck of it.]

He shrugged it off but Felix, being exceptionally perceptive found it suspicious. The four of them started walking.

Felix:[By the way, Subaru-kyun! You are nyot with Emilia-sama?]

Subaru:[Ah, she wanted to explore with the girls, so our camp split up into boys and girls....]

Julius:[I find it hard to believe that there is only one man in the camp led by Emilia-sama, and even if there was, she would never let him go to the festival alone.]

Felix:[So, did nyou annoy them so much with nyour antics that they ditched nya?]

Felix's ears twitched in anticipation while Julius raised his brows in amusement. Reinhard simply smiled.

Subaru:[You...well. Not like I have any reason to hide it anyway. I just got separated with them due to the crowd.]

Felix:[Ohh so nyou were lonely and wanted to come with us to enjoy the festival?]

Subaru:[Yeah I gue- OI WAIT!]

Reinhard:[Subaru. If you were feeling lonely then you should honestly say it. There's no need to take shame in that.]

Julius:[That's right. Events like these are to be enjoyed with family or friends.]

Subaru widened his eyes for a bit and immediately turned his face away, awkwardly scratching his cheek with a slight blush of embarrassment.

Subaru:[I-I guess you are right..]

Felix:[Anyway, we have arrived.]

They came to a stop in front of the guards station.

The royal knights went inside while Subaru waited at the entrance.

Subaru:[Man, that was embarrassing.. anyway, should I buy a gift for Emilia-tan? What would she like...]

Deeply engrossed in his own thoughts, he stood there gazing at the bright lanterns of different hues of colours hung around the streets of the capital, all the way up to the palace.

His mind, totally entranced by the brightness and the beauty of the city, shut off everything else in his surroundings.

Since how long has it been, the last time when he was allowed to peacefully gaze at such a gorgeous sight? The snow festival?

He really looked forward to doing it again this year but, Puck, the very core of the festival was gone. He really wanted the new members of the faction to enjoy it but he guessed it couldn't be helped.

There was also the fact that he had came to dislike snow quite a bit. Or rather, quite a lot.

Thinking about the snow festival made him remember the old times when he was blissfully unaware of the dangers of this world.

Happily working at the mansion with Ram and Rem, playing around with Emilia and Beatrice. Bickering with Roswaal and Puck.

Subaru:[It all changed after returning here...to the royal capital. I guess this place really is the place of my beginnings...]

I started my journey from here, was brought down to my lowest and finally started again...from zero.

Felix:[Subaru-kyun!]

Suddenly two hands slapped Subaru's cheeks, startling him.

Subaru:[Wh-what? What are you doing all of a sudden?]

He frowned at Felix. Felix's hands retreated as he shook his head.

Felix:[Ferri-chan has been calling you for so long and nyou were completely in a daze. Do you nyou how shocking it was to see nyour eyes all blank like that?]

Subaru:[Oh sorry. I was just lost in thought.]

Julius:[If something is bothering you then we will be happy to listen.]

Julius expressed his concern but Subaru brushed him off and started walking with his hands tucked in his pockets.

Subaru:[It's nothing. Let's get going.]

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Reinhard:[Mind if I ask how exactly we ended up like this?]

Subaru:[Yes I mind it. So don't ask.]

Reinhard:[...Alright.]

Subaru harshly shut off Reinhard's question making the later sulk.

Julius:[I would have reprimanded you for speaking like that with Reinhard but... even I would mind it so please don't ask.]

Julius shook his head sorrowfully as he adjusted his bangs in an elegant manner.

Subaru:[Hey! Don't act like it has nothing to do with you!]

Felix:[Ferri-chan wants to go home already.]

Felix whined with frustration.

Subaru:[*sigh* why? Just why?!]

???:[Hey don't scream like that!]

Subaru screamed making the man in front of him yell at him.

The knights were currently inside a long, huge dragon mascot suit and running and jumping around, leading the parade.

They were dragged into volunteer work when they were observing the parade from the side.

The reason being that the people performing at the front got overshadowed by the beauty of the faces of the royal knights. All the attention of the crowd, especially girls automatically went towards the Sword saint, Greatest knight and Blue.

Subaru was of course dragged along with them for his bad luck.

Subaru:[Damn you ikemen...]

After involuntarily doing volunteer work, they were finally able to enjoy the festival.

Subaru:[Ah! I need to buy some gifts.]

Subaru stopped at an accessories shop.

Subaru:[Hmmmmmm. Mister! Can you show me that one? The silver one.]

Shopkeeper:[Here you go!]

Felix:[It looks nwice. Judging by the colour combinyation of silver and purple, I guess it's for Emilia-sama?]

Julius:[That's obvious.]

Subaru:[Yeah yeah.]

Shopkeeper:[Huh? I remember a young lady with silver hair and purple eyes looking at it this morning. She bought a black brooch with a hazelnut gem.....]

Reinhard:[Isn't that quite sweet?]

Felix:[Kyaa! Subaru-kyun, it seems like nyou have made some progress as a myan after all!]

Subaru's face turned bright red and he flailed his arms trying to ease the embarrassment.

Subaru:[It's just a coincidence! Stop making a big deal outta it!]

Felix:[Mwister! Show me that amber one pwease.]

Julius:[I would like to buy the cerulean one.]

Reinhard:[The ruby coloured one will look good on Felt-sama's golden hair. I will take that.]

Subaru:[Wow, and you were teasing me just a while ago.]

After buying gifts, the knights roamed around playing games. Reinhard excelling at all of them. Subaru being second to Reinhard only while Felix did a decent job.

Subaru:[I guess the Greatest knight isn't really the Greatest gamer!]

Julius:[Things like games are only for the sake of entertainment. Not being good at them doesn't hinder my job at all. On the other hand, if one isn't good at his own job but is good at games, then he is simply a waste of space.]

Subaru:[Oi oi. Games are not just meant for entertainment! Games like shooting require accuracy. Team based games encourage team work. Puzzle games are good for brain exercise. Thinking they are just for fun is an insult to games! Don't underestimate the strength of Games!]

Julius:[O-okay.]

Julius was taken aback by Subaru's sudden rant.

Felix:[By the way Subaru-kyun. Isn't it time for you to mweet up with Emilia-sama?]

Subaru:[Ah! You're right. Time really flies by.]

Reinhard:[It was really fun. We should all hang out like this from time to time.]

Julius:[I agree.]

Subaru:[Well. You guys gonna watch the play?]

Felix:[Of course! That's the highlight of the dragon fwestival! Let's goo!]

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The knights arrived in front of the amphitheatre.

Emilia:[Ah! There you are! You had us reeeally worried Subaru.]

Otto:[Jeez. I was so shocked when Natsuki-san looked like he got drowned in the waves of crowd.]

Felix:[Wow that sounds scary.]

The royal knights greeted Emilia and introduced themselves to all other members.

Garfiel was especially wary of Reinhard. Otto became the new teasing object of Felix.

Emilia:[What about the candidates?]

Reinhard:[Felt-sama has probably already taken her seat. I shall go to her side now. Then, I will take my leave now.]

Reinhard left and Felix and Julius followed after him shortly.

Frederica:[Let us go as well.]

Frederica said excitedly.

Chapter Text

The cheers of the crowd boomed across the amphitheatre as the actors entered the stage.

The play was all about the events that occurred 400 years ago when the witches were still alive causing havoc.

Otto:[I didn't really want to ask this but...are you fine with watching it, Emilia-sama?]

Otto nervously asked with concern to which Emilia smiled.

Emilia:[It's fine. Although it used to bother me a lot before, but...]

She looked at everyone and continued-

Emilia:[But, now I don't mind it. You all gave me the reason to believe that I am not just a look alike of the witch of envy. But just Emilia.]

She especially looked at Subaru which made him blush a little.

Beatrice:[That's right, I suppose. That is the confidence you need to keep, in fact.]

Subaru:[Beako is encouraging Emilia! Ahh when did you grow up this much?]

He ruffled her hair as he expressed his joy, making Beatrice flustered.

Beatrice:[Hunyanyanya! Stop it, I suppose! You are ruining Betty's hair, in fact!]

Subaru giggled as Beatrice started hitting him.

Emilia:[Thank you, Beatrice.]

Beatrice:[I-its nothing, I suppose.]

Beatrice stuttered as her cheeks grew red.

Subaru & Emilia:[Hai Hai, kawaii kawaii~]

Everyone chuckled upon this cute banter until their attention went towards the centre of the stage.

Announcer:[Ladies and gentlemen! During this most awaited festival of our land blessed by the great dragon, we would like to present the most epic tale, that you all have been listening to since childhood. Yes! It is the tale of how the witch of envy was defeated and sealed by the three great heroes!

Although, the story might have been altered because of being passed down to generation to generation, our play has gathered the most prominent facts to give you. So, do not worry too much about whether this story actually happened or not and just enjoy!]

The audience burst into applause and cheers as the announcer left the stage and the play started.

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Garfiel:[The sword saint's way cooler than that weakling actor.]

Subaru:[Hey now, you don't really expect the actors to actually be as similar as those from the legends?]

Subaru replied to Garfiel's disappointed statement.

Frederica:[That's right. You can't really expect the actors to play the roles of such esteemed people perfectly. But even so, the play itself was....]

Otto:[Third-class is the word you're looking for.]

Frederica:[Thank you. Yes it was third-class to say the least. The problem wasn't just with the actor playing the sword Saint, but also the rest of the cast. When the witch of envy entered the stage, it made me yawn. The sage looked anything but smart. I am not judging them by looks, but an actor should be able to act smart atleast. That's a basic acting skill. The music was such a mood killer that even Subaru-sama's inability to read the mood is more bearable. If Ram had been here she would have slept as soon as the firsf part started. They basically just looted us for this kind of...."thing". Also The dragon mascot in the parade was better than the one in the play.]

Frederica blurted out all her frustrations in one breath, making the rest sweat.

Subaru:[I see how you threw in an insult in there and yes, the dragon mascot of the parade is better because it is atleast comfortable inside. Your rant reminded me of Emilia-tan's speed talk back at the snow festival and I get the feeling that I will be hearing more of it in the future?...]

Frederica:[Apologies.]

The group started leaving the theatre and made their way outside.

Emilia:[Ah! Subaru, here!]

Emilia took out a black brooch and handed it to Subaru. He blushed a bit and accepted it.

Subaru:[...This is for you.]

He too gave her the silver brooch he had bought just a few hours ago.

Emilia smiled so brightly that Subaru couldn't differentiate between her and the lights hanging all around the streets.

Emilia:[Hehe, we bought similar gifts.]

She giggled making Subaru blush even more. Garfiel and Otto grinned at them. Thinking of ways to tease Subaru later.

Beatrice:[I see you have bought a nice gift for her, I suppose.]

Subaru:[And this, here is for our lovely Beako!]

He wrapped a scarf with a butterfly pattern around her neck.

Subaru:[It took me almost a week to finish this but I have to say my sewing skills have improved greatly, haven't they?]

Beatrice grabbed the scarf and hid her face with it.

Beatrice:[Betty likes this a lot, in fact. Thank you, I suppose.]

She mumbled softly as her butterfly eyes softened. Subaru smiled and petted her head gently.

Emilia:[Wow, this is really beautiful.]

Emilia fidgeted a lot while saying that.

Subaru:[Don't worry Emilia-tan! I will make one for you too! You see I have to keep spoiling my contracted spirit or she will get lonely.]

Beatrice:[Don't make Betty sound like an attention seeking brat, I suppose!]

Otto:[I feel like I have heard that before?...]

Subaru:[You got a feeling of Deja vu, I guess.]

Otto:[Eh?]

As always, no one understood the other worldy terms Subaru threw around with zero restraints.

The group walked back to their inn.

Otto:[I know a good restaurant around here. Should we have dinner out today?]

Subaru:[It's been a while since I last ate at a restaurant but I never missed it because Rem and Frederica's cooking is as good as a high class chef.]

Frederica:[Your words flatter me.]

She smiled sweetly at Subaru's praise.

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Felt:[That play was absolutely shit.]

Reinhard:[Felt-sama, please refrain from using such inelegant words. I do understand your frustrations though.]

Felt:[And I was so excited about that too! Tch. What a waste of time and money.]

Subaru:[Huh? Reinhard and Felt?]

Surprised, Subaru called out their names as the Emilia camp entered the restaurant.

Both of them looked towards the group.

Felt:[Oh! Onii-san and onee-chan! It's been a while!]

Reinhard:[What a pleasure to run into you, Emilia-sama and Subaru.]

Felt waved at them happily as Reinhard bowed politely. Their contrasting manners was fun to look at.

Felix:[Omyou? What a coincidence, Crusch-sama.]

Another familiar voice came from Felt's behind.

Crusch:[Huh? A coincidence, indeed.]

Wilhelm:[It has been a while, Emilia-sama, Subaru-dono. I see some new faces too.]

Wilhelm approached them with a smile. He was especially happy to see Subaru.

Subaru:[Wilhelm-san! Glad to see you are doing well.]

Wilhelm:[I may be old but I'm not kicking the bucket anytime before watching Crusch-sama taking the throne.]

His blue eyes sharpened as he stated his words.

Anastasia:[Ara? Such a bold statement, I guess ya really don't mind the fact that almost all the candidates are gathered 'ere?]

Walking into the restaurant, while being escorted by her mercenary and knight, Anastasia joined them.

Emilia:[My goodness, this is reeeally weird, no?]

Emilia grew nervous as everyone suddenly started a staring competition.

Subaru, noticing her discomfort, decided to change the mood.

Subaru:[Alright! Now that we all are gathered here, coincidentally, what do you say about playing a game?]

Everyone:[Huh?]

Everyone asked with a stupefied expression.

Subaru:[I mean, this is a festive time right? So let's just forget about all this election stuff for now and have fun! And besides, there's no one else besides us camps- wow this is seriously a work of fate, so let's play a game!]

Felt:[I'm in! What's the game?]

Subaru:[Huhu..it's a game from my hometown...truth or dare!]

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After explaining the rules, they decided to put one representative from each camp due to the great number of participants.

The representatives will be replaced after every round.

The first round of players were the royal candidates.

Subaru took an empty wine bottle and turned it around. After spinning for a while, it came to a stop while the neck pointing at Anastasia and back, at Emilia.

Anastasia:[Ara? I shall take truth.]

Subaru:[A bold move, since we have a lie detector in this room.]

Crusch:[That's right.]

Anastasia:[I am well aware that this is a great chance to get important information but...]

Emilia had been thinking seriously for a while.

Emilia:[Then, what did you do at the festival?]

Felt:[Oh.]

Subaru:[Ah.]

Right...she is the questioner this round..

Anastasia:[I just roamed around the stalls with the triplet and Ricardo.]

Ricardo:[Yeah, we were thinkin' of going to the play but miss said it'll will be a waste of time.]

Felt:[Trust me, it is.]

The next round started with the knights.

Felt:[Lemme turn the bottle for you.]

Saying so, Felt turned the bottle. The neck pointed at Felix and the back, at Julius.

Felix:[Hrm..Ferri-chan will take dare.]

Julius:[Then, Felis, why don't you entertain everyone with a dance?]

Subaru:[Ooooh! I definitely wasn't expecting the greatest knight to give out a good dare!]

Julius:[You flatter me.]

Subaru threw a thumbs up at Julius while Felix got up.

For the next 2 minutes, there was absolute silence if one excluded a few gasps and sounds of breathes.

After the dance was complete, the restaurant was filled with laughter.

Felix:[Wil-jii. Avenge me.]

Wilhelm:[I shall. Pff- ahem.]

And thus, the game continued.

Mimi:[Take Mimi for a ride around the festival on your back!]

Garfiel:[Eh?]

Everyone bed them goodbye as Garfiel ran with Mimi on his back.

Otto:[What are your plans for tomorrow?]

Felt:[Huh? Plans? I just do what I want to. No need for plans.]

Wilhelm:[....Show us a magic trick.]

Reinhard:[Then, I have a spoon in my hand now..]

He grabbed a spoon.

Reinhard:[Now I don't.]

He threw it at such a speed that no normal human's eyes could follow.

The spoon spun rapidly as it came back like a boomerang.

Reinhard:[Now again I do.]

Wilhelm:[...I saw you throw it.]

Reinhard:[That was the best I could do.]

Everybody burst into laughter. Especially Felt.

Crusch:[Sing a song.]

Emilia:[Okay!]

Emilia started singing a song named "door". Except, she was tone-deaf.

For the next 4 minutes all of them kept a poker face. They weren't acting or anything. The pain of cringe was plastered onto their eyes.

Subaru:[Felis' dance was more bearable....]

He received a slap on his shoulder.

Reinhard:[Please tell us about an event in your life that you would be too embarrassed to tell anyone.]

Crusch:[That's a good one.]

Frederica:[...Quite a few years back, when I was still an apprentice maid, I accidentally broke a window at the third floor.]

Tivey:[A window?]

Frederica:[Yes. The entire window pane came off.]

Julius:[And you are saying it was an accident?]

Frederica:[I was terrible at cleaning in the beginning. So, to avoid being told off by my mentor, I put it back exactly how it was. The next day, my mentor almost fell off of the third floor.]

Subaru:[Teacher sure had it rough, huh.]

Frederica:[Please don't tell him about this.]

Subaru:[Sure.]

The restaurant owner wasn't sure if he should be happy or not. 4 of the royal candidates and their camps were gathered here. But they were causing quite ruckus as well.

Hetaro:[Please balance this spoon on your head for 3 seconds.]

Crusch:[.....]

She used her wind magic to balance it perfectly. But it was a funny sight because she placed it vertically.

Ricardo was singing some kararagian song while Julius kept pestering him to lower his voice.

Felix:[Alright Julius! Finyally Ferri-chan got the chance to take revenge....so, Truth or dare, Julius?]

Julius:[....Dare.]

Felix:[Nyahahaha. Mimic Subaru-kyun's tantrum in the throne room.]

Subaru:[Hey why are you pulling me into your matter?!]

Felix:[Because nyou were the one who proposed this ridiculous game after all!]

Julius:[Enough of your crap!]

Everyone:[Huh?]

Julius:[You people are full of crap! Apologize to Emilia!]

They all realised a bit late that Julius had already started his performance.

Subaru curled into a ball as Julius continued. Those who hadn't witnessed it, like Otto, Frederica and Garfiel who finally finished his first dare and had returned, were cringing really badly.

Emilia gently patted Subaru to comfort him.

Subaru:[The only one who suffered was me, damn it! Julius is unscathed!]

Julius:[No. I am absolutely in pain after saying such embarassing things in front of everyone, especially my lady. Honestly, I am impressed you were actually able to do this in front of-]

Subaru:[Gaaaah! Stop it stop it! Let me just hide in a hole!]

He covered his face with his hands in embarrassment making everyone laugh.

After a few more rounds, they decided to end it finally.

Emilia:[Okay, this the final round!]

The bottle turned to point at Subaru.

Subaru:[I'll take dare.]

Wilhelm:[Then Subaru-dono, will you please make a toast?]

He handed him a glass of wine. Everyone poured each other's glasses and sat down, looking at Subaru.

Subaru became a bit nervous due to the sudden attention placed at him.

Subaru:[Uhm..well, I would like to thank everyone for making this night even more colourful than the lights out there.]

Anastasia:[Fufu, good start.]

Subaru:[Haha thank you. This sudden reunion was unexpected yet very much welcomed. This last year had been relatively tranquil, as compared to the turbulent times back when the royal election started.

I am really glad that I get to spend time with such great people like this and hope our relationships remains the same in the future. Today had been really fun. Thus,]

He raised his glass.

Subaru:[I would like to dedicate this toast to these peaceful days.]

Everybody raised their glasses as well.

Everyone:[To peaceful days!]

Artwork credit to Dashingfiddle/ Hystericalfox! Thank you so much for this gift!