The girl, whose arms had been wrapped around someone, pulled them back. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Looking around, her surroundings were still the same ones she had cursed and prayed would disappear. For a brief moment, she had hoped everything was a dream—no, if anything a nightmare. One that would make her jolt awake in the middle of the night, heart pounding. Maybe she wasn't much of a kid anymore, but she would still crawl into her big sister's bed. There, conquering sleep wouldn't be a hassle anymore.
However, her wishes were quickly shattered by reality.
Oh... to be in the mansion again.
She hadn't been there long enough to call it a home yet, but it still had a special place in her heart. Though the work was sometimes hard, she enjoyed it.
Before arriving there, life in the Arlam Village next to the old mansion was one she remembered with a smile. She spent her days playing with the other kids, helping the elders, and being with her parents.
Around the time she was 12, Subaru arrived at the mansion. He would occasionally go to the village to do some shopping. In no time, he became very popular with the kids.
What the girl loved the most was spending time with her best friend...
Or so she had believed her to be. Her name was Meili Portroute.
The blue-haired girl would be the one behind the kidnapping of the village kids, including, of course, her. Under Meili's orders were a horde of witchbeasts.
Her plan, however, was successfully stopped by Natsuki Subaru and his allies.
After visiting Subaru and seeing him in a terrible state, she went to apologize to her parents.
With all her courage, she made a decision.
The girl gave up her dream of becoming a tailor.
The boy's kindness made her fall for him, a crush that would slowly develop. It was two months after the incident that she got the job as a maid in the mansion. Leaving behind her friends and parents was a difficult decision to make, especially for someone as young as she was, but she still believed it to be the best choice possible. She would stay close to Subaru.
Life in the Roswaal Manor wasn't simple.
The duties of a maid had been underestimated by her, but to her surprise, she found someone who treated her as her own sister. A person that would take care of her regardless of the situation.
Frederica Baumann.
The two other maids in the mansion weren't at all bad with her, but they were certainly rougher. Especially the red-haired one, Ram. Frederica always told her that was Ram's way of being nice. It was somewhat hard to believe, but either way, she did.
They had all been through so much together, it was hard to believe all of them were still alive. Subaru, Garfiel, Otto... they all worked really hard to deal with all the evils that haunted the mansion. Going as far as defeating Elsa. At the cost of the mansion, but who cared about that. Their lives were far more valuable.
She had loved them.
Petra Leyte had loved everyone in the mansion. From Subaru to the now imprisoned Meili.
For that very reason...
How could Rem and Ram have murdered Subaru?
The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the helpless scream of a tortured boy. Subaru Natsuki, the boy she had a crush on and the most reliable person in the mansion, being murdered by two of the maids with whom she had shared so many moments.
Why?
"I don't understand."
They... loved Subaru too. They were loved by Subaru. When everyone forgot Rem, Subaru didn't leave her alone ever. Whenever he was free, he would go to Rem's room and tell her about how his day had gone.
"How could they...?"
Petra believed their relationship to be mutual. The trust Subaru placed in them was meaningless. Those two were fake.
Rem and Ram were nothing but scum. That mask they were wearing would not fool her anymore.
With the room silent, awaiting for a new loop to start, Petra turned her head around.
Her eyes met Rem's, but she averted them.
Coward.
Seeing Rem not being even able to look at her, she turned her eyes to the one with her, Ram. Who, unlike her sister, didn't look away.
Her eyes showed no emotion, no sympathy, or regret.
How disgusting. How could someone be so worthless? Unforgivable.
The words came out of Petra's mouth unwittingly.
"I hate you."
◇
Otto Suwen, who was seated on the row before Petra's, heard her words.
Saved from inevitable bankruptcy, Otto owed Subaru a lot. They hadn't known each other for very long, but he already considered Subaru a very precious friend. It was to his understanding that Subaru too thought of him that way.
During the time spent seeing the loops, Otto had managed to stay calm and be there for Garf when he had one of his outbursts. He wouldn't go as far as to call himself emotionless, but as the internal affairs officer, he couldn't afford to fall into despair.
His role was crucial for the Emilia faction. If he were to start making rash decisions, the group would get into problems sooner or later. For that reason, he tried his best not to heavily reprimand the two sisters, although he wanted to.
Otto wanted to stand up, face those two, and scream until his lungs exploded.
He couldn't help but hate the sisters.
The two of them were very important members of the Emilia faction, and Roswaal himself had said he wouldn't get rid of them. But the time to make a decision was coming, Otto's trader instincts said so. At the moment, he believed his role to be one of support to Emilia, but not long ago, she had had an emotional moment with Beatrice.
His social awareness lacked from time to time, but even he could tell this wasn't the moment for important decisions.
But if that was the case, then what could Otto do in this situation? He believed himself to not have been useful until this moment.
Should he reprimand Petra for her comment? Or was that Frederica's role?
Was it the time to ask Rem and Ram for more info? They had shut him down not long ago... but maybe now...
No.
They wouldn't answer him. Otto knew that already.
Otto scratched the back of his head. He couldn't simply stay like that, doing nothing. He needed to start being helpful.
"Otto, you good?"
Seeing the anxious Otto move his eyes around nervously, Garf decided to step in and ask. He usually used Otto-bro to refer to him, but the playful words didn't come out anymore.
"Ah—oh. Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just thinking."
With a wry smile, Otto tried to dissipate Garf's worries.
"I can't read minds, but whatever it is ya're beating yourself up over, knock it off."
"Ugh... you're right. This is getting me nowhere."
Otto sighed. He placed both palms on his forehead and asked Garf, "What do you think I should do right now?"
Garf crossed his arms. "I think ya're doing good for now."
"Huh? What do you mean? I'm not doing anything."
Seeing his friend say something which, for him, was utterly false, he shook his head.
"No. If it weren't for ya stopping me, I probably would have ended up fighting them."
"Anyone would have done the same."
"But no one did. It was you."
"—"
"If it weren't for you being able to maintain calm, Ram probably wouldn't have said a thing."
Otto's chin was grabbed by Garf. "Keep your head up, Otto-bro. Ya're crucial for all of us. If you go down, we all do."
Garf placed his fist in the air.
"Thank you."
The two friends fist bumped.
A rare moment of warmth.
As their fists parted, the screen above them flickered—and another loop began to play.
This time, the scenery shown was not the mansion, but all of them recognized it. As Emilia's eyes widened, a new wave of possible deaths flooded her mind.
Her lips trembled.
"...The Royal Capital..."
START OF ARC 3