The loop was one deemed to fail. Or so Rem had declared.
One could see the anguish quickly gaining control over her entire body. Her lips trembled, and her chest inflated and deflated at alarming speeds.
"This is not... it's not supposed to be like this."
Subaru had concluded that leaving that place was the best course of action.
His destination: the Roswaal estate.
But to understand how he arrived at such a conclusion, time must be rewound.
The screen showed the black-haired boy practicing swordsmanship with what looked to be a simple old man. But that was no ordinary old man. He was the honorable Wilhelm van Astrea.
That was until their training was interrupted. A few meters to the side, Subaru found himself met with someone's fierce gaze as she called his name.
"Subaru-kun! We must discuss something important."
Before he knew it, both he and Rem had arranged an emergency meeting with Crusch. But to Subaru's surprise, she was already aware of what was going on.
"What I felt was... something like a presence, through the sense I share with my sister. My sister could have used clairvoyance to get a clearer picture, but I..." Rem looked down, and just as she started to lament something, her voice was overshadowed by that of Felix.
"So I guess you picked up a nyasty sort of synesthesia from her, huh?"
"We don't know the details, either," added Crusch. "But it came from the Mathers domain, which you know as Margrave Roswaal's territory. Evidently, some troubling movement was seen in the vicinity of the mansion."
Subaru's eyes widened in shock.
"Parts of the domain are already on high alert," continued Crusch.
"Troubling movement?" Subaru asked, unable to make sense of it.
"We did foresee this situation. From the moment the margrave declared his intention to back Emilia, a half-elf."
"You mean there's trouble happening because of that prejudice?"
"That is likely a correct summation."
Subaru gritted his teeth. A wave of anger flooded his body.
"Wha...? That face Subaru is making..." Beatrice froze in place. "That isn't the Subaru we know. That face he's making—"
In the video, Rem also looked at Subaru with a worried expression. That face he had wasn't one belonging to someone capable of thinking straight.
The muscles in his face lost the stiffness they had, but what followed was even worse than before.
His mouth curved into a smile.
"Well, then." Almost looking amused by the situation, Subaru rose from his seat. "We have to go and help, right?"
"Oh no..." whispered Emilia.
Rem also tried to make Subaru rethink his choice. "Y-You mustn't, Subaru-kun. You have to obey Emilia's orders. She told you to focus on healing!" She grabbed his sleeve from behind, trying desperately to stop him. "And I agree! Healing must take priority now."
Her glittering eyes and beautiful face, however, were no match for Subaru's... determination? Or was it foolishness? No one in the theater room could decide which it was, except Roswaal, who qualified Subaru's actions as moronic.
"Rem, we're the only ones who can take Emilia's side!"
At his words, Rem had no choice but to back down. She lowered her head and chose not to further answer.
"You heard that, Crusch-san. We're going back to the mansion, back to where Emilia is. Until it's taken care of, my healing will—"
"Natsuki Subaru."
Crusch's authoritative voice caught him off guard.
"If you leave here, that will make you my enemy."
"—" Her words left him speechless.
"Allow me to correct one idea you have. I have only allowed you to stay here as a guest, receiving treatment, because I am contracted to do so."
"Contracted...?"
"Emilia and I formed a contract regarding your treatment. However, if you abandon that contract yourself, I am not obligated to continue protecting you. The moment you leave this household, Emilia and I will not hesitate to become enemies."
The black-haired boy's face darkened as the duchess's words kept flowing. A new understanding of everything that had happened at the mansion settled in.
"I was wrong about you. I thought you and I maybe could get along. Yeah, of course... That was a little joke over drinks, right?"
Both Crusch and her knight stood unfazed by his words.
"I was stupid to take you seriously when you told me, an enemy, to do what I could. You don't want me to leave because getting Emilia out of trouble will be bad for you, right?"
Felix, tilting his head in confusion, tried to answer Subaru. "Nyow, I think you have it all wrong—"
"Felix, enough."
"No, I will say it. The mistake he's making is a bit too grave." The look in the cat-boy's eyes had changed; what they showed was nothing like it had been up until now. "Even if you leave, nothing will change. You'd be wasting your time. After making a fool of yourself at the castle and being obliterated by Julius, nyou still don't realize that? Stay here and get treated. It's about time you accept just how powerless you really are."
His words struck Subaru hard, or so it looked like. Without answering him, he turned his back on the people that had treated him the past days.
"I've made up my mind. I'm going back to Emilia. Though it wasn't for long, thanks for taking care of me."
As he said those words, Subaru started walking toward the exit.
"Is it nyot true that a good man knows how to take advice?"
"It's your advice that gave me the last push I needed."
The doors closed behind him as his last words, which only he heard, left his mouth.
"Thanks for that."
◇
Accompanied by Wilhelm, Subaru arrived at the entrance gate, where Rem waited next to the carriage.
"Rem, how long until we reach the mansion?"
"About two and a half days, I think."
"Over two days? It took less than half a day to get here!"
"We cannot go back that way. There is fog on the road, so we need to take a detour."
"Who cares about the fog?"
"The fog is created by the White Whale. Should we encounter it, we would not survive."
As Rem grabbed their belongings being carried by Wilhelm, she thanked him for lending them his dragon carriage.
"It's nothing. Please take care."
And with that, Rem and Subaru officially parted ways with Crusch's faction.
From the back of the room, a voice was faintly heard.
"What?" asked Otto.
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
"Rem? What's wrong?" her sister worriedly asked.
"The events unfolding... they are not like the ones I remember."
"So that's how it is..." Beatrice sighed.
"This is not... it's not supposed to be like this. We can't go to the mansion without reinforcements! If we do, we will—!"
"You and Subaru will die." The clown next to her took the words right out of her mouth.
"The way ya say it pisses me off!" Garf called out to Roswaal. "At least have som' decency, you clown!"
"Myyyyy, your outbursts never cease to entertain, little Garf. Buuuut I believe I haven't said anything worthy of your anger. I ooooonly stated the obvious facts."
"Ugh...! This man—!"
With Roswaal and Garf's now usual confrontation happening, the chance for anyone to articulate what they thought would happen in the current loop quickly vanished.
◇
While Rem carried the reins of the dragon carriage, Subaru sat inside, with a helpless look on his face.
"Are you getting anything from Ram?" asked Subaru.
"No. Our shared sense is consciously controlled, to an extent. This morning, I think that what I sensed was something that exceeded my sister's control."
"So Ram didn't even mean to let us know about it... Is she trying to keep us from getting involved? But why? She needs me by her side. I'm the only one that can save her. Once I do, I'm sure she will understand. She has to," declared Subaru, not responding to Rem, but talking to himself.
As the dragon carriage traveled throughout the Lugunican roads, the scenery changed dramatically. It wasn't related to the beauty of the scenery.
Night had arrived.
"Why are we stopping? We need to hurry!"
"I'm sorry, Subaru-kun. The earth dragon cannot go any further."
With no basis to complain, Subaru accepted defeat and entered the inn Rem had stopped at.
◇
Alone in his room, Subaru found himself struggling more than usual to fall asleep.
"I can't slee—"
Someone knocked.
"Subaru, are you awake?" a feminine voice asked.
"Yeah!"
In her pajamas, Rem entered the room. Her situation was the same as his.
"I can't sleep," she said, "so I hoped we could talk."
"Oh really? You too? Can't blame you, I guess."
Subaru, who had been lying in bed up until this point, left some room for Rem to sit next to him.
Seeing her worried expression, Subaru was a bit anxious about Rem's mental state. "I bet you're really worried about the mansion after what you felt through your shared senses, right?" He smiled. "Don't worry about it. We're not the sort of lovable little kids to get our feelings hurt so easily. We'll get right back, and I'll fix things."
He blindly proclaimed.
However, as blind as Subaru was, Rem was too. Seeing the overflowing confidence Subaru seemed to have, she couldn't help but smile at his words. "Yes, I have put all my faith in you, Subaru."
He blushed. To cover it, he turned around so she wouldn't notice. But as he did—
"...huh...?"
Rem hugged his back from behind.
"R-Rem...? Um... Why are you holding on to me?"
"Because I want to."
Seeing her actions, the Rem in the theater room covered her face, embarrassed. The moment was deeply personal—so much so that it felt wrong for everyone watching to witness it.
From Rem's hands, a light appeared.
"H-Huh? I know this feeling..."
"I am healing your gate, just as Sir Felix did, Subaru-kun."
Understanding the reason for the situation, Subaru felt a weird sense of relief.
"You're healing me... Of course you are." He laughed awkwardly, but that laughter went away in no time. "Because you want to, huh?"
Subaru's muscles started to relax. The words that came out of his mouth slowly started to become less and less understandable.
"She'll probably be angry with me at first, won't she?"
"If you take the time to properly face her and put how you feel into words, I'm sure she will understand. You're a wonderful person, after all."
"I... am? Yeah... I am, right? Emilia is hopeless without me." He couldn't bear the weight of his own head anymore. "Because I care about her... so much..."
The screen's colors faded away, and so did Rem's last words.
Natsuki Subaru fell asleep.
◇
By the time his eyes opened again—
"Rem! Wake up! We oversle—"
As he opened the door to Rem's room in a panic, he noticed—
No one was there.
The sun bathed the room. It was far past the hour they should have parted. Where was Rem? Why hadn't she woken him up?
Subaru ran to the counter, where a man reading a book greeted him with a smile.
"Well, now! Good mornin—"
Subaru slammed his hands on the counter.
"Where's the blue-haired girl who was here with me!?"
"Th-The lady you were with, u-uh—"
In a burst of anger, he grabbed him by the collar and screamed even louder. "Speak up, will you!?"
"I was saying that she left during the night. Here are your things." The man said as he handed him a bag. Hanging from it was a handwritten letter.
His fist hit the counter again. Leaving the poor man scared.
"What the hell? What are you thinking, Rem? I thought that you would understand me..."
Seeing Subaru's reaction to the letter and the words from the man at the counter, no one in the theater room doubted what had happened.
Rem had left Subaru behind.