People were a bit agitated, but I managed to calm everyone down simply by promising to resolve things and asking for their trust. After my recent exploits, I had enough credibility.
Minutes later, we arrived at the mansion and even though we thought the mansion would be empty (except for Betty, who wouldn't come to greet us in a million years), we still knocked on the door.
"Yes. One moment, please."
I smiled when a woman's voice answered us. Emilia and Rem looked surprised, having recognized the person who spoke.
Within seconds, the door opened, revealing a beautiful blonde with ample assets. I'd seen some great tits in this world before, but I couldn't get bored of it.
"Welcome back, Lady Emilia. I've been eagerly awaiting your return."
"Frederica?" She could only say her name in amazement."
"Yes, it's me, Frederica Baumann, returning to work after taking my leave." The blonde showed her sharp teeth when she smiled.
I was a little distracted, thinking about inappropriate things that made me drool a little.
"Wow, I shouldn't stick my penis in there. However..."
"Leandro?" Emilia interrupted the beginning of a strange fantasy. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing important." I quickly replied. "Nice to meet you, Frederica. I'm the new butler."
"Nice to meet you." Frederica bent down and lifted her dress slightly in a classic curtsy. The angle of her body further exposed her impressive bust.
"No, I can't keep thinking like this! I want to pair her with Otto, so I should think about other boobs. Hmm, that reminds me, Elsa should appear again in this arc."
We went inside, where Frederica explained the situation. Ram had called her to have someone look after the mansion; he'd left her a letter with information and instructions. Naturally, Roswaal's actions in recent days had aroused Emilia's suspicions.
A shrewd man like Roswaal must have been fully aware of the danger looming over his lands and the girl he was sponsoring. For him to have left at the most critical moment, leaving vague instructions, was highly suspicious.
Emilia insisted that Frederica tell us how to get to Kremaldy Sanctuary, and although she agreed, she asked for some time to "prepare." My mind scratched at some memory about the pendant that allowed passage through the barrier protecting the sanctuary, so I assumed Frederica had to configure some things during that time.
While they continued talking, I went to greet Beatrice. I had no trouble finding the right door and entered the forbidden library as if I hadn't seen it for more than a day.
"Hi, what are you doing?"
Seeing me, Betty closed the book she was holding and let out a 'hmph'.
"Right now, regretting the fact that you exist."
"I'll ignore that." I coughed. "I'm leaving for Sanctuary in two days, but I'll be back soon."
"You can stay there as long as I'm happy. I won't miss your irritating presence anyway."
"Are all children so difficult to deal with? And I thought becoming a school teacher was a good idea..."
"You, a teacher?" She snorted. "That's the worst joke I've heard in four hundred years."
"Yeah, I'm not good with people (much less children), and I don't have a lot of knowledge to teach." I leaned against one of the bookshelves. "Now that I think about it, I think I would have made a terrible teacher."
"Sure you would, I suppose."
I sighed and crossed my arms. Even if I had no talent, could I give up the future I set out to achieve just because of that?
"I still think I would have tried." I reflected. "Failing would be a thousand times better than just doing nothing."
She looked at me for a few seconds before turning her head, as if to say, "I don't care."
"You say that as if you want to teach me a lesson. I'm much older than you."
"But you don't act your age. A four-hundred-year-old lady should have better manners."
"That has nothing to do with it, and don't try to measure the behavior of a Great Spirit using your human standards, I suppose!"
"Great Spirit or not, you have the most childish and discourteous attitude I've ever seen. What kind of upbringing did you receive?"
I noticed that she slightly clenched her fists as she ignored my question.
"What a pain. I suppose you have nothing better to do and decided to come bother me."
"Don't say it like that. I missed you and I want to spend some time with you, does that upset you?"
I made puppy dog eyes, but I obviously couldn't use that technique well with my stone-like face, so the effect was very different from what I expected.
"Stop doing that! It's very disturbing!" Betty hid her face behind a book.
"Sorry." I chuckled. "To make up for that, I'll tell you another story from my homeland."
Since I couldn't think of any conversation topics, I resorted to telling children's stories, the same method I used to bond with the village children.
"Hmph." She refused to accept my apologies, but didn't reject my offer.
I'd already told her about Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. This time, I chose Rapunzel. Don't judge me: since she's a little girl, I thought it best to tell her stories about girls or princesses.
If it were up to me, I would have told her something by Stephen King or HP Lovecraft, but the idea was to encourage her to explore the world, not to be afraid of it. Besides, this story reminded me of her.
"Once upon a time..."
My words flowed smoothly, creating harmony in the library's normally tense atmosphere. Betty sat and listened attentively to the story.
The first few times I told her stories, she acted as if she had no choice in the matter, but over time, she began to openly enjoy it, acknowledging her interest in new stories. Betty often questioned me about where I came from, as it seemed like a different world due to the vast differences in technology and culture.
After a few minutes, the story came to an end. I watched Betty's expression with pleasure, pleased with how entertaining it was and dissatisfied that I was done with today's story. As I stood up and walked away, I saw her swaying her legs restlessly, as if she were nervous about something.
"Are you okay?" I paused before leaving.
"What a silly question! I'm perfectly fine, I guess!" Nah, it was obvious she was lying. Her voice came out shriller and higher than usual.
I was about to open the door, but I didn't. Instead, I retraced my steps.
"I know how you feel." I said as gently as I could. "I feel the same way."
Betty gave me an angry look. How could I, a human who'd barely lived two decades, understand her existential frustration?
"You're wrong, I suppose! You always walk out that door. You always leave, you never stay... in the same place, like me. You definitely don't know."
"Believe it or not, but I'm afraid of the world too. I don't know what it holds for me, and I don't know if I can face it on my own. That's why I came here, you know? Because I don't want to fight alone."
"Well, good for you! Betty's fine being alone, I suppose! Betty doesn't need anyone!"
"I don't think so. You look like someone who's desperate but too stubborn to admit it. If you're waiting for a Prince Charming to come and rescue you, I'm warning you, that's not going to happen. You have real people who care about you and want to help you, but you keep dreaming about an imaginary person who's supposedly going to live up to all your expectations."
"How do you know that I...?!"
"I've observed you quite a bit and I've come to understand how you think. You're not so different from a normal girl, Beatrice. You could even learn a few things from Petra."
"That's enough! I won't speak to you again!" She banished me from the library with her magic.
"AHHHHHHH!" I walked through the door and collided with someone, landing on top of them.
"UGH, MY BACK!" Otto exclaimed, trapped under my body.
Well, that didn't go well. It was too early for the self-improvement talk. On second thought, I shouldn't imitate Subaru here. Perhaps I could win Betty over another way, like I did with Rem. If it took less effort, all the better.
"Man, you took your time in the bathroom." I stepped away from the merchant and helped him up. "Were you thinking about Frederica's tits?"
"You shouldn't talk about such things so lightly!" Otto blushed furiously. "And how can you act casual right after flying out of that door?!"
"Sounds like I hit the nail on the head." I mocked. "To answer your previous question, flying away is second nature to me."
Unable to deal with my logic, Otto sighed and simply followed me into the room where Emilia, Rem, and Frederica were.
Emilia approached me as soon as I arrived.
"Frederica says she can't take us to the Sanctuary. What should we do, Leandro?"
"Otto will drive us there." I answered immediately, looking at Frederica. "Can you give this guy directions to the place in question?"
"Of course, Master Leandro." Frederica stated confidently.
"That's it, then. You two should get comfortable while Rem and I make the tea."
As Emilia breathed a sigh of relief, I stood next to her and started whispering, putting Operation Cupid into motion.
"Emi, can you tell Frederica you're going to study in your room? I'll explain later."
"Huh? Okay..."
When Emilia announced she was leaving, Otto became nervous, and Rem gave me a confused look. Without saying anything else, I gestured for her to follow me.
Already in the kitchen, I got some tea leaves and started boiling water.
"Hey, Rem..."
"What is it?" She interrupted me. "Have you finally worked up the courage to apologize?"
"Actually, I... I was going to ask you if you could cook a ravioli stew."
Rem interrupted me again, chopping vegetables for dinner while deliberately avoiding eye contact, as if she wanted to make it obvious.
"It's not as simple as that. You've ignored me for hours while hiding behind Lady Emilia. A verbal apology won't work this time."
"What are you talking about?" I scratched my cheek innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Rem approached with a menacing gleam in her eyes, causing me to back away in fear.
"I don't know, my memory is pretty bad..."
"I told you before: you're a bad liar."
At this point, I couldn't play dumb anymore. My face gave me away completely. So I knelt before Rem, bowing exaggeratedly.
"I'm so sorry. I was very rude to you, and I'll do whatever it takes to make up for it."
I had to bow my head and submit to her will in order to try to regain the affection points I lost with her earlier (this is the most virgin sentence I've ever written).
Rem said nothing, as she was apparently thinking about how to respond to my apology.
"If you want my forgiveness, then... Join me tonight."
Rem's condition sounded very promising, especially the way she said it.
"Okay! Don't get your hopes up, don't get your hopes up, don't get your hopes up... Shit, I already imagined the sex."
It was obvious this would be like last time, when she said she'd come to my room... but it was only to heal my wounds. I shook my head, as if that would clear the dirty thoughts from my mind.
Just as I expected, I met with Rem that night... to place maid recruitment ads in the village.
"Wait a second, why do we need more employees at the mansion? I don't mean to flatter you, but you're already pretty good at doing everything. Or do you want to reduce your workload?"
"It's not that. Master Roswaal told me that I shouldn't leave your side until further notice, and since he hasn't spoken about it yet, I'll go with you to the Sanctuary."
"I see... This is so Frederica doesn't have to carry everything alone. So Petra's going to end up involved in the main plot anyway?"
No matter how the story twisted its course, some things remained the same. In a way, that both delighted and terrified me. My version of Re:Zero would still have many similarities to canon, but these could be both positive and negative.