Subaru had braced himself for the confrontation, but the moment he saw the emotional waves in Emilia’s glistening eyes, he realized he was hit with terrible regret.

That single word he had just uttered was undoubtedly an act that peeled back Emilia’s heart’s wounds—like ripping the scab off an unhealed injury.

The painful sensation she felt, Subaru couldn’t help but feel as phantom pain himself.

“I know that the ‘Trial’ of the Graveyard shows the past… I heard that from everyone.”

“――――”

Even so, Subaru sought what lay beyond the pain and ventured deeper.

Emilia bit her lip as a violent tremor coursed through her expression, and her trembling eyes wouldn’t let go of Subaru.

Subaru withheld telling Emilia that he had faced the ‘Trial’ directly. He couldn’t casually say, “If I could do it, so can you,” especially now since Subaru had lost the qualifications to do so. He wouldn’t be surprised if she thought he lied just to comfort her.

Instead, he simply wanted to convey his genuine feelings for Emilia.

“So, I think the reason you ended up having to turn back is that same thing. You’ve been troubled and suffering, surely bearing it all alone… and now you’re still trying to face the ‘Trial’ tonight, right?”

“――――”

Throughout the four repeated worlds, Emilia had never relied on Subaru about the content of the ‘Trial.’ This was partly because he believed she didn’t need to undergo it and also because the chance for her to confide in him never presented itself.

But now, this problem was resolved since Emilia was the only one who could challenge the ‘Trial,’ and the latter issue was about to settle in this very moment.

As Subaru’s voice reached her, Emilia stiffened her cheeks and lowered her face.

Before her long eyelashes could completely evade him, Subaru continued speaking.

“Still, though…”

“――――”

“Could you share some of that burden that seems ready to crush you with me? If there’s a terrifying past you’re afraid to look back on, let me stand beside you as you face it?”

The slight incline of her bowed head stopped, and hesitantly, she looked back at Subaru.

Emilia couldn’t reflect an anxious or feeble appearance in her eyes. Subaru met her gaze confidently, puffing out his chest.

He was a pro at putting on baseless confidence and bravado.

“Looking back, I realize I don’t know anything about you, Emilia. I like you. It’s partly because your appearance is totally my type, but it’s also because of the personality I’ve come to know while spending time with you that draws me in.”

“――――”

“So I can proudly say I like the you that you are now. However, I don’t know what experiences you’ve had to become who you are today, what you felt, and what you’ve thought about… I never felt the need or had the opportunity to know. What’s more important than the past is the present and the future. …But—”

“…But?”

“Now, the moment has come where you have to look back at your past, and if you’re saying it’s terrifying to stand there alone… then could you grant me the right to stand beside you as you face the reasons that brought you to who you are today?”

Since the right to take on her hardships for her was taken from Subaru,

what he wanted was the right to support her when Emilia was tired and about to collapse, to let her lean on him.

It might be just a comfort, but there would surely be moments where those comforts could save hearts.

“――――”

Subaru patiently waited for Emilia’s response.

The flickering in Emilia’s eyes conveyed fierce internal conflict. Doubt, confusion, guilt, and self-loathing—various emotions raged within her slender body, trying to break free.

Eventually, Emilia spoke in a tiny voice,

“S-Subaru’s presence… just having you here, it helps me… so I don’t want to put any more burden on you…”

“I don’t see helping you as a burden at all. Having something I can do for you is my fortune. When you’re troubled and wishing for someone to reach out to, I want to be the first to extend my hand.”

“――っ”

Subaru reiterated to the hesitant Emilia who was trying to push him away with her timid voice.

As long as Emilia didn’t take a firm stance against it, Subaru had no intention of backing down here. He was well aware that he was treading into sensitive territory she didn’t want to discuss. Even if she began to express hesitance now, Subaru’s determination wouldn’t waver.

He hadn’t pushed Roswaal for a contract with such casual resolve.

Emilia, still wrestling with her thoughts, tightly shut her eyes and looked downward.

“Subaru…”

“――――”

“Subaru believes in me…”

The words that should have followed were not spun from Emilia’s lips. Just before she could say it, the words were denied by her own nobility.

To doubt the trust of someone sincerely reaching out was the most shameful act one could commit.

It was precisely what Subaru had once lashed out at Emilia in his own selfishness.

Emilia’s spirit, still noble even when cornered, did not reinforce or dig up their conversation. Instead, Emilia lowered her shoulders as if regretting her words and said,

“…Say what you want to know, Subaru.”

“…………”

“It’ll probably just be a disjointed mess from my mouth. …So, please draw it out of me, Subaru.”

“…Is that okay?”

“――Yeah. I think that’s probably another ‘Trial’ for me.”

With a voice that sounded like she had given up, Emilia smiled faintly, causing Subaru to momentarily lose his words.

Then, shaking his head to regain composure, Subaru pointed to the bed to change the subject.

“For now, it might end up being a long story, so let’s sit down.”

“…Yeah, okay.”

Emilia corrected her posture and sat on the bed. Subaru dragged a chair, sitting directly in front of her.

While smoothing out the wrinkles in her slightly disheveled clothes, Emilia waited for Subaru’s words.

As she waited, Subaru hesitated for just a few seconds on where to start and then formed his words.

“In the Graveyard’s ‘Trial,’ what kind of past did you see? I heard from someone who experienced it that it’s like… memories of regret for oneself.”

Choosing his words carefully so that his real experiences wouldn’t be noticed, Subaru asked his question.

The first ‘Trial’ was about facing one’s past. However, the past Subaru saw wasn’t exactly his “actual” past. It became a stage for the regrets of his original world’s family and the guilt of his past, reshaped anew.

Then what form did the ‘Trial’ take for Emilia?

After Subaru’s calling out, Emilia licked her dry lips once, as if to moisten them.

“The past I… I think I saw is probably… memories before I slept.”

“――? Before you slept…?”

“Yeah, before I slept. It’s vague and not very clear, but… the person I saw back then was still small, so it must be so.”

With her eyes closed, she seemed to be searching for memories, and Subaru was bewildered by Emilia’s confessional posture.

He understood what it meant to express “little self.” If the ‘Trial’ reflected the past, she might confront her younger self through traversing back in time.

However, he couldn’t grasp her expression of “before sleeping.”

“Wait. What do you mean by before sleeping? Is it not the same as a normal night’s sleep?”

“No, it’s different. Before I slept means… when I was embedded in ice within the Great Tree of the Forest. So it’s a story from very, very long ago.”

“Embedded in ice… what do you mean, Emilia?”

It was so difficult to comprehend that it felt like she was intentionally obscuring her words. Yet, the imagination alone ran chills down Subaru’s spine.

Feeling a sense of urgency swell in his chest, Subaru desperately tried to maintain composure.

“Please answer me, Emilia. What does it mean to be embedded in the Great Tree, in the ice?”

“It means just that.”

“――――”

After a beat, Emilia lifted her gaze to told Subaru.

“I was… encased in ice along with the Great Tree of the Forest. Until Pack found me and pulled me out, I was there for a really… really long time.”

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“――Finally, found you.”

—Who are you?

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I left you all alone and truly, I’m so sorry. I’ve been searching for you. Always, always kept searching, seeking you out.”

—Where is this? It’s really cold.

“I’ll get you out right away. Alone in such a lonely place… why did this child have to go through such a thing… why have I kept you for so long…”

—Hey, who are you? Why are you crying?

“――Because you are the most precious to me. Just having found you again makes me so happy.”

—Really happy, huh?

“Yes. I was reborn to meet you.”

—Who are you?

“I… I am your strongest ally. The one who will always stand by your side.”

—So, you are…

“――Yes, that’s right. From this day forward, I am your family. From this very moment, you will never be alone again. —I vow that.”

—Is that true? Then that means…

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“――I’m so, so happy.”

With her hand on her chest, Emilia reminisced about that moment of happiness.

Listening to her words, Subaru felt his mouth rapidly drying.

Emilia, who had slept within the ice.

The Great Tree of Prayer that once stood in her homeland. Encased alongside its trunk, Emilia spent her time there until Pack rescued her.

Just how long did that last—?

“Emilia, the place you lived is Erior Forest, right? The forest that’s been encased in ice since ancient times, gradually widening in scope…?”

“Yeah, that’s it. After I woke up, they started calling that forest the Ice Forest. —Before I went to sleep, where I lived wasn’t snowy, it was a brightly lit place surrounded by greenery.”

“Green… no, more importantly, who’s everyone you mentioned?”

It was a land Subaru had only heard about. He had no idea about the before-and-after of Erior Forest, so he pressed on another detail.

“Everyone are the elves. We lived together in the forest. Everyone was kind and smiled at me.”

“The elves… So that means your family was there too? Your father and mother… and maybe siblings?”

“――――”

Seeing Emilia’s eyes fill with sorrow from Subaru’s words made him realize he had blurted out another offending comment.

At some point, Emilia had said that only Pack remained, who stood in as her guardian and her only family.

Realizing that, he knew her family must have been lost in some shape or form.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it like that…”

“It’s okay. Subaru was just worried about me. …However, there was no family in that forest. Everyone in the village was kind to me and smiled, but… there were no relationships I could call a blood family in that forest.”

“…There wasn’t? What about your parents…?”

To that question, Emilia quietly shook her head.

Then, trying to distract herself by fiddling with the ends of her braided hair, she said,

“By the time I became aware, neither of them were there. At that time, I didn’t think it was strange… there was someone like a mother. She was very kind, strong, and cool… there was a person like that.”

“――――”

“But that person, and everyone… when I fell asleep, they all fell asleep too. Even now, many people remain in the forest of Erior sleeping without waking up.”

“――What!?”

Emilia’s calm voice, merely stating the facts, choked Subaru’s throat, but ignoring his reaction, Emilia continued.

“Since I woke up, I’ve been keeping watch over everyone who remains sleeping alongside Pack. When, someday, someone else wakes up from slumber just like me, I want to keep them from being lost and clueless… So I’ve always been there.”

“…Hold on a second.”

The density of the information in what she was saying made it difficult for Subaru’s brain to keep up.

What happened on that day Emilia first saw snow in Erior Forest?

“As far as I know, the freezing of Erior Forest began… about a little over a hundred years ago, if I recall correctly. I think I heard that at some event for the Royal Selection or something.”

“Yeah. I was really surprised when I heard about it after I started studying at the mansion.”

“So you were there when Erior Forest began freezing over, right? That means you know the cause of it?”

“――No, I don’t know.”

Shaking her head, Emilia denied Subaru’s words.

Seeing Subaru frowning, she cast a sorrowful glance downward.

“I really don’t know. I can’t remember clearly what happened that time. I only remember things being very frightening and that I was small. But I just kept sleeping after that, so those memories are hazy…”

“You keep saying you were small, but how old were you at that time?”

“…I think I was about seven.”

“Seven… So are we counting ages the same way as humans for elves?”

Emilia nodded at Subaru’s question.

Normally, you age by one year with each passing year. Elves are known to be a long-lived race, and Emilia, as a half-elf, is no exception. That said, there is still an existence of being born as a young elf, so no one could blame the seven-year-old Emilia.

By simple calculation, Emilia would now be one hundred and seven years old, counting the years she slept.

“That age gap isn’t something to be worried about now anyway. Once you’re a person from another world, there’s no meaning in worrying about that.”

“…Subaru, is something wrong? Did I say something strange…?”

“I didn’t say anything, just reflecting that there’s a bit of an age gap between me and you,” Subaru replied lightly, trying to shift the atmosphere while he organized his thoughts and let out some air. Emilia, however, relaxed her tense cheeks a little and sighed, “That’s true.”

“But, I feel like I haven’t grown as much as my actual age because I’ve spent such a long time asleep without consciousness…”

“Is that so? I can’t really grasp the growth rate of elves, but if you apply human standards, it’s more than enough.”

Casualness enveloped him as he watched Emilia sitting on the bed, a hint of worry in her concern revealed something almost laughable.

Her limbs had fully grown, and her body had taken on a feminine curve. Her anxiety-laden deep violet eyes and ethereal beauty accentuated the mystery of a girl hovering between childhood and womanhood.

Clearly, Emilia had matured into a woman.

However, Subaru’s impression of her differed slightly from Emilia’s worries.

Emilia shook her head, saying, “That’s not it.”

“The ice that was keeping me asleep didn’t stop time, but only deepened my consciousness. So even while frozen, my body continued to grow. For a while after waking up, I had a hard time adjusting to my body since it had changed so much from when I was seven. I had a lot of mishaps.”

“Such an ice… so that’s the trouble it brings.”

If her youthful seven-year-old self had become an adult body upon waking, that would certainly lead to confusion.

There are often representations in manga or anime where a child quickly adapts to suddenly becoming an adult. In reality, it would be impossible to adjust so easily. Naturally, like Emilia, confusion and struggle would prevail.

“After being led away from the forest by Roswaal, I was out in the world studying… learning I had slept for nearly a hundred years took me completely by surprise.”

“If they continue aging normally, then anyone not an elf or a long-lived race trapped in that ice would end up… well, this is bad.”

He was about to say something profound when Subaru suddenly felt he might have heard something quite shocking.

Closing his eyes, Subaru quietly combined the numbers in his mind. Calculating, crossing addition and subtraction, he verified it several times, telescoping his doubts into solid suspicions.

“Emilia, you just said you’ve been asleep for nearly a hundred years, right?”

“Yes, that’s right…”

“So you were about seven when you fell asleep, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Subaru, what are you…?”

“Emilia. How many years has it been since you were awakened by Pack?”

At the very least, according to stories, it was only about six months ago that she had left the forest with Roswaal. Until that time, Emilia would have been living with Pack in Erior Forest. The question revolved around the period she had slept, awakened, and met Roswaal.

Emilia wore a troubled expression and touched her lips with her fingers.

“…Probably about six or seven years…”

“――――”

Upon hearing Emilia’s answer, the doubts blossoming within Subaru evolved into certainty.

That realization sent tremors coursing through his entire body.

Born at the age of seven, then sleeping for about a century, and finally awakening seven years ago.

This meant…

—Emilia is actually around a hundred and seven years old. Her physical appearance is eighteen. However, her mental age is still fourteen.

“Real age, appearance age, and mental age… they’re all mismatched…”

Confounding age discrepancies that could only happen because she was an elf.

Suddenly, many of the puzzling questions that had arisen concerning Emilia’s behavior made sense to Subaru.

She appeared quite naive for an elf who had lived over a century. Beyond her looks, she had a noticeable lack of experience dealing with others, often expressing adorable childishness in her actions.

All of it was the consequence of her having spent the majority of her life encased in ice.

“Fourteen years old… That’s not much older than Felt…”

Why must such a girl bear such heavy responsibilities? Subaru’s frustration with the system of the Royal Selection and Roswaal deepened.

And while reflecting on how he inadvertently veered off onto an unexpected track with his comments meant to lighten the mood, he pivoted to a subject that, while related, seemed somewhat different.

“You said you don’t know why the forest became frozen, right? Then, what do you see in the ‘Trial’? Is it not those vague memories before you froze?”

“…I think so. Those views I see must be… memories of the time before I slept — truly existed moments.”

“And you’ve been terrified of those memories, suggesting you encountered something unimaginable that froze you and the other elves, and you’re rejecting that out of instinct…”

“――No.”

“But, there’s likely no reason to fear anything else. The ‘Trial’ should show the participant’s greatest regrets. Then what you see should be… ”

“I’m saying it’s not like that――!?”

Subaru’s rising heat in his voice was extinguished by Emilia’s shout.

Emilia immediately blinked, regretting her outburst before resolutely closing her eyes and looked at Subaru with a teary expression.

“What I… saw in the ‘Trial’ was nothing like that. I didn’t see such things… What I saw was…”

“E-Emilia…”

“――The child of a demon.”

A chilling sensation pierced through Subaru’s back like icicles, sharp and deadly.

Covering her face with both hands, Emilia hid her expression, and from beneath her concealed face, a quiet voice continued with an emotionless tone.

“The seed of disaster. A cursed child in silver. A life that should never have been born. The source of hatred. An unforgivable soul. A demon. —The daughter of the witch.”

“――――”

“To everyone who had been kind to me, smiling at me, in the freezing snow, I was called such names, and… ”

Emilia’s hands and legs began to tremble in tiny shakes.

The past she faced in the ‘Trial,’ which she had thought she left behind in her slumber, now plagued her with overwhelming sorrow that was impossible to contain.

“I don’t remember everything that happened after that while I was frozen. But everyone mustn’t have forgotten that they were once cursing me as I slept. So I want to bring everyone out of the ice and… apologize to them.”

With a face about to cry, Emilia looked as if she were seeing those who were not there, raising her face and quietly bowing her head. Then she said,

“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused. —I love you all.”