After dancing for what felt like an eternity, Wirt leaned closer. His breath was warm against her ear, and his voice was low, almost a whisper. "There is something I want to show you."
Subaru blinked. The dance floor spun around them, couples moving in slow circles, the music swelling and fading. She had been focused on not stepping on his feet, on keeping her turban secure, on maintaining the smile that was starting to hurt her cheeks. The sudden shift in his tone caught her off guard.
"Show me?" she repeated.
He nodded and led her off the dance floor, his hand still holding hers. They walked through the crowd, past the tables and the servants and the nobles who watched them with curious eyes. Subaru's heart beat faster. Her mind raced through possibilities. A secret? A trap? A confession of some kind?
They reached a door at the far end of the hall, and Wirt pushed it open. Cool air rushed in, carrying the smell of stone and the distant sound of the city below. A staircase wound upward, narrow and steep, lit by torches set into the walls.
"The terrace," he said. "I want you to see the view."
Subaru followed him up the stairs. Her dress brushed against the stone steps, and her shoes clicked against the floor. The music faded behind them, replaced by the silence of the stairwell and the sound of their breathing.
The terrace was small, a square of stone surrounded by a low wall. Torches burned at each corner, casting orange light across the space. The sky above was dark, scattered with stars, and the moon hung low on the horizon, pale and round.
Wirt led her to the edge and pointed down. The city spread out below them, a patchwork of roofs and streets and lights. People moved through the squares like ants, tiny and distant. The walls that surrounded the city were visible even from here, gray lines that cut through the darkness.
"This city," Wirt said. "This place. The people here have put their trust in the Orden family for generations. My father. His father. Their father. And their father before that. The mantle of the city has been passed down through our bloodline for as long as anyone can remember."
Subaru listened. She did not interrupt.
"In the future," he continued, "either me or my younger brother will take the responsibility from our father. We will carry the weight that our ancestors carried. We will protect the people who depend on us." He paused, his eyes fixed on the lights below. "That is what it means to be an Orden."
Subaru turned to look at him. His profile was sharp against the night sky, his jaw set, his brow furrowed. He looked older than he was, weighed down by expectations that he had not asked for.
"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked.
Wirt was quiet for a moment. His hands rested on the stone wall, his knuckles white. "Everyone says that I am a strong warrior. That I am brave. That I am capable. And I am, in my own way. But I believe that there is something I lack. Something I cannot name. Something that keeps me from being the leader my father wants me to be."
Subaru placed her hand on his shoulder. The fabric of his coat was smooth beneath her fingers, warm from his body heat. "You are a very good person," she said. "And you will be a very good lord for this place. I believe that."
Wirt looked at her. His eyes were bright, reflecting the light of the torches. "I believe that there is much for me to grow. And I cannot do it alone."
Subaru nodded. "Mut will be there to support you. He is a good boy. He will grow up to be a fine man."
Wirt smiled. It was a small smile, almost sad. "He used to be very reserved. Quiet. He kept to himself and did not talk to anyone outside the family. But he has begun opening up after he talked with you."
Subaru rubbed her nose with her finger, a gesture of embarrassment and pride. "Hehe. All part of my charm."
The wind picked up, carrying the sound of music from the hall below. The stars seemed brighter now, as if the city lights had dimmed to let them shine.
Wirt turned to face her fully. His expression had changed, grown softer, more vulnerable. "What will you do," he asked, "once you pass the First Class Mage Exam?"
Subaru blinked. The question caught her off guard. She had been thinking about the exam, about the journey north, about the answers she needed to find. But she had not thought about what came after.
"Uh," she said. "I plan on going to the north."
Wirt's brow furrowed. "Why there?"
"There are some answers I am looking for." She did not elaborate. She could not. The truth was too strange, too complicated, too dangerous to share.
Wirt nodded slowly. "May I ask what those questions are?"
Subaru shook her head. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you."
He did not push. He did not argue or demand or try to persuade her. He simply accepted her answer, the way he had accepted everything else about her. The mystery. The turban. The strange magic that she could not fully explain.
"I see," he said.
The silence stretched between them. The wind blew. The torches flickered. Subaru shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly aware of how close they were standing.
Wirt took a breath. "There is something I want to tell you."
Subaru's heart stopped. Her mouth went dry. Her mind raced through possibilities, each one worse than the last.
Did he find out? she thought. Does he know that I am a demon? Did he bring me up here to kill me?
She imagined soldiers hidden in the shadows, crossbows aimed at her heart. She imagined the turban being torn from her head, her horns exposed to the moonlight. She imagined the cheers of the crowd below as the demon who had saved them was put to death.
Wirt moved.
He got down on one knee.
The stone was cold beneath him, but he did not seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on her face, bright and earnest, and his hands rested on his thighs, trembling slightly.
"Miss Subaru," he said, his voice steady despite the tremor in his fingers. "I have become completely captivated by your personality. I have truly fallen for you. These feelings belong to me, and I can no longer keep them quiet." He paused, as if gathering his courage. "I want you to know the truth. I love you."
The words hung in the air, heavy and unexpected.
Subaru stared.
Her mouth opened. Her mouth closed. Her brain, which had been racing through scenarios of death and exposure and violent betrayal, came to a screeching halt.
"Eh?" she said.
The sound was small, weak, completely inadequate. It was the sound of someone who had been hit in the head with a frying pan and was still trying to figure out what had happened.
Wirt remained on one knee, looking up at her with an expression that was hopeful and terrified and vulnerable all at once. He looked nothing like the commander who had led soldiers into battle. He looked like a boy, young and scared, offering his heart to someone who might crush it.
Subaru's mind went blank. She had no speech prepared for this. No script. No plan. The loops had taught her how to fight and die and come back, but they had not taught her how to handle a nobleman confessing his love on a moonlit terrace.
What do I do? she thought. What do I say?
The torches flickered. The wind blew. Somewhere below, the musicians finished a song and the crowd applauded.
Wirt waited. His eyes did not leave her face.
Subaru opened her mouth. No sound came out.
She closed it. Opened it again. Closed it.
"Eh," she repeated.
It was not a good response. But it was the only one she had.
Subaru was feeling really uncomfortable now. The word echoed in her head, bouncing off the walls of her skull like a trapped bird. Uncomfortable did not even begin to cover it. Uncomfortable was stepping in a puddle with new shoes. Uncomfortable was eating food that was slightly too hot. This was something else entirely, a feeling that had no name and no exit.
"Uh," she said. "Uh."
Her voice came out small and weak, the voice of someone who had forgotten how to form words. Wirt remained on one knee, looking up at her with those earnest eyes, and she wanted to disappear into the stone floor.
Inside her mind, two chibi Subaru appeared. They were small and frantic, running in circles, smacking into things and yelling at each other.
"What do we do?" the first one shouted. She knocked over a stack of imaginary books. They scattered across the floor of Subaru's consciousness, pages fluttering.
"We used to be a boy," the second one said. She grabbed a lamp and swung it at nothing. "We cannot love a boy back."
"But we are not a girl either," the first one countered. She picked up a chair and threw it across the room. "So what does that make us?"
The second one paused. She tapped her chin with her finger. "Confused?"
"That is not helpful."
"We are a demon," the first one continued, ignoring the interruption. "We cannot love a human. That is a rule. Probably. Somewhere."
"Forget about love," the second one said. She picked up a clock and wound it backwards. "Forget about being a demon. Forget about being a human. Forget about being anything. We just do not want to be here."
The first one nodded vigorously. "We have to tell him no."
"Of course we are going to say no."
"Then why is it so hard to say no?"
The second one threw her hands in the air. "I have no idea. Because I am you. You are me. We are the same person." She grabbed the first one by the shoulders and shook her. "We have to do something."
"Let us just say we are gay and Übel is our lover."
The first one made a face. "Ew. Ew. We are not saying that in a million loops. Not a billion. Not a trillion."
"Are we repressed?"
The first one's eyes went wide. "That is even worse. Do not say that."
"Let's say we cannot have children." The second one held up a finger, as if presenting evidence in a court case. "That might be a solution."
The first one waved her hand. "What if he turns out to be the kind of person who says he has no problem with that? What if he is understanding and supportive and kind about it? That would be even harder to refuse."
"Then we say we have another lover."
"What if it turns into a non existing love triangle? With imaginary people we invented on the spot? That is how bad romance stories start. We do not want to be in a bad romance story. This is supposed to be a gothic fantas."
The second one slumped against an imaginary wall. "What do we do?"
In the real world, Subaru was still staring at the space where Wirt's face should have been. Her eyes were unfocused, her mouth slightly open. She made sounds, small and pathetic, sounds that were not quite words.
"Uh," she said. "Uh uh. I… I…."
Wirt waited. His expression did not change. He was patient, too patient, the kind of patient that made her feel even worse.
Subaru scratched the back of her head. The turban was still secure, at least. One problem solved. Only a thousand more to go.
"Are you joking?" she asked. Her voice cracked on the last word.
Wirt shook his head. "I am not joking. I am very serious."
He shifted his weight on the stone floor, adjusting his position. The knee of his trousers was probably getting dirty, but he did not seem to care.
"I know that you have a journey ahead of you," he said. "I know that you have things you need to do. Questions you need to answer. That is fine. You can finish your journey and come back. In fact, if you allow me, I would love to go with you."
Subaru's brain stopped working.
Inside her mind, the two chibi were hysterical. They ran in circles, pulling their hair, knocking over furniture that did not exist. One of them climbed onto a table and started jumping up and down. The other one set fire to an imaginary curtain.
Then the first one paused. She stopped mid step, her foot in the air, her arms frozen at her sides.
The second one, not paying attention, bumped into her from behind. They both tumbled to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs and small bodies.
"Ow," the second one said. "What?"
The first one lay on her back, staring at the ceiling of their imaginary space. Her eyes were wide, her expression blank.
"Rest in peace, Subaru," she said.
The second one sat up and rubbed her head. "What do you mean?"
The first one did not answer. She just kept staring at the ceiling, her lips moving silently, as if reciting a prayer or a eulogy or perhaps just the words to a song she could not quite remember.
In the real world, Subaru stood frozen. Wirt was still on one knee. The stars were still in the sky. The torches were still burning. The city was still spread out below them, full of people who had no idea what was happening on this terrace.
She opened her mouth. She closed her mouth. She opened it again.
No words came out.
The wind blew, cold against her face, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.
Wirt waited.
Subaru waited.
The universe waited.
Nothing happened.
Subaru took a breath. The air was cold on her face, and the stars above seemed to watch her like a crowd waiting for a performance. She needed to say something, anything, to fill the silence that had stretched between them for far too long.
"Look," she said, her voice steadier than she felt. "I appreciate that you think so deeply about me. I really do. It is... flattering. In a strange way. But I am not ready for a relationship at the moment."
Wirt's expression did not change. He remained on one knee, his eyes fixed on her face.
"I will think about it," Subaru continued. "Of course I will think about it. You deserve that much. But not now. Not today. Right now, my priority is my mission. I need to seek the answers I am looking for. That is all I can focus on."
She began to walk away. Her shoes clicked against the stone, and her dress swished around her ankles. The door to the staircase was only a few steps away. She could almost feel the handle beneath her fingers.
Wirt stood up. "Miss Subaru, please hear me out."
His hand reached toward her. It was an involuntary movement, instinctive, the kind of motion that happened before the brain could stop it. He grabbed for her shoulder, but his aim was off, and his fingers caught the back of her turban instead.
Subaru was still in motion, walking away, pulling against the cloth. The force of her movement combined with the grip of his hand created a result that neither of them could have predicted.
The turban came loose.
The fabric unwound, sliding off her head in a spiral of dark blue cloth. Her horns were exposed, two curved points rising from her temples, catching the light of the torches. Her pink hair, short and messy, fell across her forehead.
Subaru's eyes widened. Her hands shot up, too late, far too late to put the cloth back in place. The turban lay on the ground between them, a pile of fabric that had once been her shield and was now just a piece of laundry.
She looked back at Wirt.
He was standing there, his hand still extended, his eyes wide. His mouth hung open. His face had gone pale, the color draining from his cheeks like water from a cracked cup. He stared at her horns, at her hair, at the demon features that she had hidden for so long.
Shock. Pure, naked shock.
Subaru jumped back. Her heels hit the stone, and she stumbled, catching herself before she fell. The dress was annoying, too long, too tight, restricting her movements. She wanted to tear it off, to run, to disappear into the night.
But she did not want to hurt Wirt. He had been kind to her. He had trusted her. He had offered her his heart, and she had tried to let him down gently. Knocking him unconscious and running away felt like a betrayal, even now.
He just stood there. Shocked. Frozen. His eyes did not leave her horns.
Then he spoke. His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. "Why... What is the meaning of this...?"
Subaru held up her hands, palms out, a gesture of peace. "It is very complicated. I mean no harm. I have never meant any harm. Not to you. Not to your people. Not to anyone in this city."
Wirt shook his head. The movement was slow, disbelieving. "Why are you a demon? I never imagined that. Never. You helped us. You killed Rivale. You saved my soldiers. But you are... you are a demon."
Subaru lowered her hands. "Like I said, I mean no harm."
"You helped us." His voice cracked on the words. "But you are a demon. Demons do not help humans. Demons kill humans. Demons deceive humans."
"I am a demon," Subaru said. "But I am not like the others."
Wirt stared at her. His eyes searched her face, looking for something, she did not know what. Lies, perhaps. Or truth. Or some sign that this was all a dream and he would wake up soon.
"I can see that," he said finally. "Demons do not deceive humans by disguising themselves as humans. They attack. They kill. They do not pretend." He paused. "But why? Why are you doing this?"
Subaru wanted to explain. She wanted to tell him everything, about the boy who had woken up in a demon's body, about the loops and the deaths and the endless struggle to survive. But the words would not come. They were too big, too strange, too impossible to believe.
"There is a lot going on," she said. "Things I cannot explain. Things you would not believe even if I tried."
Wirt's hands clenched at his sides. "Try me,"