“Being gently patted on the head while sleeping on a girl’s lap… that alone was the ultimate event if viewed in isolation.”

Scratching his head, Natsuki Subaru muttered with a face full of embarrassment.

With his eyes downcast and swallowing down sighs repeatedly, his face turning as red as his ears while scratching his messy hair…

“To cry and wail to the girl I like, making my face a complete mess with tears and snot before drooling all over her lap for hours—what a shameless act of humiliation!”

Remembering the feeling of Emilia’s lap and the sorry state it must have been in after Subaru had dozed off for several hours, he couldn’t help but cringe.

Tears, drool, snot, and more—it was a disaster that was simply unacceptable from both a hygienic standpoint and from a boyish pride perspective.

Yet, despite that, she didn’t wake him up until he stirred, nor did she scold him when he woke up and apologized profusely for staining her clothes.

“If you could take a little rest, then that’s fine. Besides, you don’t seem to realize.”

“Huh?”

“Rather than being told ‘I’m sorry’ multiple times, in times like these, one ‘thank you’ makes the other party satisfied. I didn’t do it to hear that apology, I did it willingly.”

With a finger placed over his lips as he opened his mouth to apologize, was there any boy who could resist her gaze? No, there wasn’t.

In fact, Subaru was totally taken in by her. He was smitten after all, and that was just the final blow.

After saying he would change his clothes, he left Emilia and wandered around the mansion in a dreamy daze, only to suddenly come back to his senses in this messy state.

Looking back at his actions of the day made him want to cry. He had already shed all those tears, so he couldn’t just easily cry again.

“I can’t believe it—I’m seriously useless. What’s this about not wanting to show my weak side to Emilia-chan? I just showed her an embarrassing part of me that I never wanted her to see. I mean, how can I even face her at this point?”

“….Coming into someone’s room late at night to say that kind of thing?”

Sitting casually on a step ladder, Beatrice lazily shot a glare at Subaru, who was squirming at the entrance.

He had been wandering the mansion, feeling it was impossible to meet anyone while sober, and the destination he arrived at was this forbidden little room, probably not a place to annoy its owner.

However, that wasn’t the only reason he came here.

“Don’t say that, Bea. We have that kind of relationship.”

“What kind of relationship could there be between you and Betty… Wait, how did you just call me?”

With one eyebrow raised and her cheek twitching, Beatrice questioned Subaru. He clapped his hands in response to her attitude.

“Oh, I mean Bea. I feel that using nicknames for those I have a certain level of intimacy with is necessary. Until now, I never felt that way about anyone in the mansion… except for you, of course.”

Thinking back to the previous time, to when he was deep in despair.

Even if she hadn’t been tricked into anything and it wasn’t completely a situation where she was manipulated, there was definitely a contract formed between the two.

Beatrice had kept her promise and even obscured the details of the contract just to help Subaru.

Even if she forgotten it, he could never forget the feeling of being saved back then.

So,

“No matter what you think of me, I’m going to call you Bea. That’s my way of showing you my greatest affection—!”

“That doesn’t make me happy at all! What kind of pushy kindness is that?! It feels more nauseating than anything!”

“What’s with that tone! I’m being completely sincere in my gratitude here! This isn’t a situation where you can just make fun of me!”

“If you can genuinely say that the things you just said were not a joke, then what’s going on between you and Betty isn’t a conversation; it’s something that feels like a conversation but isn’t!”

While Subaru thought he was trying to play catch with their conversation, he felt he was being pulled into a Kabaddi match he didn’t sign up for.

What he thought was an expression of friendship seemed to fall flat, and unfortunately, it didn’t resonate with her at all. He felt disheartened and hung his head.

“Well, despite all that, I’m still going to keep calling you Bea.”

“I don’t want your stubbornness! And you’re not getting me to respond to that name, so we’re not on the same page here!”

“Come on, don’t be cold, Bea.”

“…..”

At Subaru’s call, Beatrice didn’t respond but instead kept her gaze glued to her book, seemingly following through with what she had just said.

Approaching her with determination, Subaru circled around the step ladder.

“Bea, Bea, Bea, Bea, Bea, Bea, Bea, Bea…”

“——You’re the most annoying person around! What even are you!?!”

Reiterating her name like a chant, he reached his goal as Beatrice’s emotions boiled over from hearing her name whispered so close to her ear.

Turning back to face her, he smirked at the girl who was still fuming with anger.

“It’s become desperate and deadlocked. To put it plainly, I really need your help.”

——In a pathetic state, crying and wailing, he confessed this conclusion to the girl with the ringlets.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Having spilled his heart out while resting on Emilia’s knee, and shedding all the dirty feelings and uncontrollable tears he had been holding inside, what remained in Subaru was an overwhelming greed for himself.

He loved Emilia. He adored the life in the mansion with her. He cherished the environment that allowed him to learn so much. He liked Ram, who, despite her bluntness, took great care of him. He totally loved Emilia. He appreciated Rem, who guides him while casually throwing around polite insults. Emilia-chan was a real goddess. He felt grateful to Roswaal for providing such a paradise-like situation. He owed an unrepayable debt to Beatrice as well. He couldn’t let go of the fondness he harbored for everyone living in this mansion. He couldn’t abandon the happiness of being where he was.

Emotions surged within him like a torrent, creating a wave of nostalgia that choked him.

Memories of unshakeable happiness served as the source of Subaru’s drive.

However, while thinking that way—

He loved Emilia. He felt it was weak of him to lack the power to protect her. Life in the mansion was anything but easy. He didn’t know when he might be abandoned. Ram, who had cut off his foot and pierced his neck with wind blades, scared him. Rem, who tortures by treating wounds and crushing skulls with iron balls, sent chills down his spine. And above all, Roswaal, who likely commanded Subaru’s complete obliteration without the slightest hint of mercy, sent a wave of disgust through him. Each time he woke up, he had to check whether he was still alive, fearful of despair creeping in, and this agony made him feel hopelessly sad.

This was yet another honest opinion that remained unshakable inside Subaru.

Conflicting emotions couldn’t coexist, and Subaru was stuck living with them, both on the surface and deep within.

It felt like walking on thin ice barefoot, hiding the intense pain in the soles of his feet while needing to keep smiling.

But Emilia never overlooked Subaru’s sufferings, that miserable torment against despair, and picked him up.

Perhaps it was Pack who realized this. If that spirit could read emotions, he would have easily seen through Subaru’s flimsy facade.

Yet it was Emilia who soothed Subaru’s heart, one that was reaching its breaking point.

Even if this was dependence, it didn’t matter.

There was not a shred of doubt that the driving force behind Subaru’s heart, now, came from his feelings for her.

So, in a sense—

“Emilia-chan is a true archangel.”

“Did you just say something unbelievably ridiculous?”

“Not at all. I just reaffirmed what’s most important to me.”

With pride, he held his head high and answered confidently.

And as if to affirm his statement, Beatrice let out a sigh that seemed more of an exhaustion than incredulity.

“Let’s get back to the point… So, about you wanting Betty’s assistance.”

“Yeah, it’s a serious desperation situation. I can think of no one else to rely on.”

In the current circumstances, the only person Subaru could fully trust in this mansion was, of course, Emilia. But at the same time, her presence made her the most essential factor for him.

In short, Subaru absolutely didn’t want her to be in danger. For him, who prioritized his survival above all, having her in jeopardy felt like weighing life and death.

Thus, in this loop, where he had to face off against a sorcerer, he really didn’t want to resort to asking for her help.

Naturally, this made it difficult to consider relying on Pack, which left only one option—

“In the end, it’s actually a sweet, naive Bea, huh?”

“I can sense the tone of insult, even if I can’t grasp the full context!”

“I really didn’t intend it that way. In the current situation, you’re the only one I can rely on in this mansion.”

Of course, he couldn’t confide in Ram, Rem, or Roswaal. Among everyone in the mansion, it was only her he could count on.

“I’m begging you. —Please, I need your help.”

Thus, Subaru knelt before her, bowing deeply, making his plea.

He wanted her cooperation. He wanted her to be the guiding light to end the cycle of despair that kept repeating.

“I need your power. I want to protect the place where I can be happy.”

“———”

Staying bowed down, a silent moment passed between them.

As he waited for a response, Subaru’s heart thumped anxiously in his chest. But as the silence stretched, the noise gradually faded, making Subaru suspicious and glance up, only to find—

“…Beatrice?”

He called out her name without thinking, forgetting the earlier conversation.

Only because Beatrice’s expression looking at him was filled with a wave of poignancy.

Her brows knitted slightly, her lips bitten, Beatrice glared at Subaru. But to Subaru, it looked uncomfortably like she was about to burst into tears.

He held his breath, silently waiting for her next reaction.

Beatrice took a moment to calm the emotions surging within her and quietly kept her eyes shut, then—

“…Betty has no reason to comply with your request.”

She responded weakly.

“Bea… I—”

“Be quiet, human. Betty won’t always be this kind. If you think you can take advantage of that, you should reconsider.”

Interrupting Subaru, Beatrice’s words came out in a rush.

Seeing her unusually sensitive reaction, Subaru was bewildered, realizing how his earlier words must have struck a chord.

It was likely that this unexpected toughness made her even more obstinate, deteriorating the situation even further.

He had thought he was showing sincerity, but it had backfired.

With a result he regretted, Subaru didn’t have the mindset to dwell overly deeply on it.

Doing something that had the opposite effect was something he had become accustomed to in this dire reality. How many times could he reminisce about a time in this repeated world when the dice rolled in his favor?

Once he thought that, he could crush the weak heart smoldering inside him. After all, a weak self that couldn’t stand still had already been cried out in snot and drool on Emilia’s lap.

He refused to allow himself to cry. A man shouldn’t be the kind to shed tears, especially while starring down at the girl he liked.

There was pride, after all; he was a boy.

“Listen, Beatrice. I can understand why you want to shut me out. To you, I’m just some rude kid who got carried in just a day ago.”

“If you understand that much, you should also comprehend Betty’s response.”

“You’re the one who patched up my wounds, and for that, I thank you. Even if you don’t know it, I have a ton of reasons to be grateful to you, and besides, I’m still in a position where I have to rely on you. I feel pathetic; it’s utterly miserable. But you’re the only one I have.”

He poured out everything that had surfaced in his mind without holding back.

He recognized that this was a pushy, selfish assertion that didn’t truly consider her feelings, yet he still bowed his head.

Looking down on Subaru, who remained bowed, Beatrice snorted lightly as she always did.

“Completely groveling on the ground and beseeching while lamenting your lack of ability. Do you have any sense of pride?”

“I can clearly see what’s important. I’ll smash my head against the ground a hundred times if it helps.”

He possessed no pride attached to superficial concerns about his small stature.

With his head still bowed, Subaru maintained his posture of pleading.

He knew it was a cowardly tactic. In the five times he had gone through this world, he had met Beatrice many times and they had exchanged their bickering each time.

He understood this girl; even if she put up a front of rejection—

“Lift your head.”

A voice that sounded almost resigned and gentle reached his ears, and Subaru thought his pitiful pleas had resonated with her.

Recognizing his own pettiness again, he felt a sense of fraudulence in disguising his feelings as sincerity. However, he acknowledged it was a necessary step. He needed to make the hard choice.

More than anything, he had resolved to use every means available to secure the future he desired—

“Bea…”

“Will you take this?”

“Whap!”

But before he could finish that solemn resolution, something suddenly hard crashed against his face.

Maintaining his bowing position, his neck snapped back, creating an indescribable sound that echoed in the Forbidden Library, as a silent scream resounded.

Subaru writhed on the floor, the impact on his cervical spine too sudden for him to comprehend, roaming his gaze while struggling.

He locked eyes with Beatrice, who raised one leg in an arm-crossed stance.

Understanding. She had just delivered an unforgiving yakuza kick right to Subaru’s face while he was bowing.

“You… what the hell…!?”

“Even if a hundred of your heads rolly-polled, I can’t see how that’d be worth Betty’s effort. No matter how many copper coins you collect, they could never equal a single holy gold coin. Do you even realize that?”

“Even if it’s copper, gathering thousands would still match a holy gold coin in value! If you’re going to compare value, that’s just common sense! Can’t you do basic math?”

“Stop looking at me with those pitiful eyes! You were just trying to rely on Betty, weren’t you!?”

And thus, the banter commenced, loud and clambering, between Beatrice and Subaru.

In a world where they had repeated countless times, they engaged in verbal sparring that never started for the same reason.

As they continued arguing with her, the solemn resolve that once filled Subaru now felt utterly ridiculous.

After working through such an exchange, the conclusion of their verbal duel finally came—

“Alright, I guess it’s time to play my trump card. If you help me, I’ll let you drain my mana a few times—”

“Your mana isn’t that valuable, you know? Although it might taste a bit better than average mana, for whatever reason…”

“My mana has been absorbed even by Pack before. In other words, it’s an indirect mana drain… Do you get it?”

Beatrice’s expression shifted as she chewed her lips, and Subaru, reveling in the thrill of steering the negotiation in his favor, saw her reluctantly nod in response.

Subaru thought back on how hilariously pointless the outcome had been.

Of course, through this exchange, he had successfully secured her reluctant cooperation, though he understood that a small witch had orchestrated it in such a way.