Roughly dragged to the entrance of the tomb and tossed aside to roll along the ground, Subaru felt a gritty substance—whether it was snow or frost, something sherbet-like—fill his mouth. He spat out the discomfort and turned his head to look behind him, even as his exposed skin stung with a cold so sharp it felt like burning.
"That's... some pretty rough treatment you've got there."
"Ain't got the brains to worry about bein' considerate. You're still gettin' off easy compared to how you've been treated. Or what—wanna see this woman here get handled even rougher?"
Looming over Subaru with his white breath pluming in the frigid air, Garfiel casually displayed
Whether Garfiel was thinking of her as a hostage or not, the effect was the same—it was ammunition, and it hit Subaru exactly where it was meant to.
"Don't... do anything weird to Rem."
"As long as you ain't got any intention of meetin' my demands, I won't."
Garfiel's voice was quiet and even. Subaru planted his hands on the snow-dusted ground and forced himself upright with numb, trembling fingers. Standing right beside him was a copy of Ryuzu—the one who had carried him here—staring blankly in his direction.
As always, she was dressed in nothing but rags. In this kind of cold, the outfit seemed almost criminally inadequate.
"Can't anything be done about how these girls are dressed? ...It looks miserable. I can barely stand to look at it."
"You know what they are, right? They ain't got the capacity to feel cold in the first place. If you're tryin' to stall for time, I ain't got a reason to play along."
"I'm not stalling. I'm not exactly under the illusion that stalling is going to turn the situation around."
Through the swirling, blinding snow, Subaru listened to Garfiel's warning with his back turned and faced the tomb.
Amid the white, mist-blanketed world, the stone ruins jutted out like a lone island.
"How long has Emilia been in there?"
"Since the evening before last, so... almost two days now. Honestly, long as she ain't dead, I don't care what's goin' on in there."
"From your perspective, yeah, that tracks. ...Was there no option for you to go in yourself and pull her out?"
"I ain't allowed into the tomb. That's the deal."
There was something almost smug in the way he said it, but that single line summed up everything about Garfiel's position.
How many of the
Why he was hiding all of this—and, more importantly, why he was trying to prevent the Sanctuary's liberation—was beyond Subaru's understanding.
"If I go inside and talk to Echidna... maybe I'll find out?"
"Quit mumblin' to yourself. I already told ya—get in there. Drag the half-elf out and put a stop to this snow, or else I'm gonna have to do somethin' I don't wanna do either."
Garfiel lifted Rem slightly in his arms, his cheeks pulling into a sharp, angular grin. It was an unflattering smile, but Subaru knew the man behind it was entirely capable of following through on the threat. Whatever his true feelings were, if it meant protecting the Sanctuary, he would sacrifice a girl or two who happened to wear the face of his beloved without a moment's hesitation.
"Don't do anything to Rem. ...That's my condition."
"...Go."
Cold and quiet, Subaru left that final, frigid command behind him and turned toward the tomb's interior. He could feel Garfiel's gaze fixed on his back the entire time.
He didn't know the man's true intentions. And then, with a start, he remembered something he'd failed to relay.
He had forgotten to tell Garfiel—his own brother—about Frederica's death.
Between the cold and the anger, his mind had simply short-circuited.
Was the version of himself right now even sane? And if it was—how could he possibly still be sane?
Petra was dead. Frederica, whom Subaru had suspected, was innocent. And the Sanctuary he'd returned to was a frozen wasteland. His relationship with Garfiel had hit rock bottom. He had no idea whether anyone else still inside the Sanctuary was alive.
With this much piling up, how could he possibly still be sane?
He couldn't stop thinking. He couldn't give up. He had to look forward, look up, and stack up whatever he could in order to seize the future he needed to grasp.
Because if he didn't—then what was Subaru Natsuki even for?
"————————"
Only Subaru's footsteps echoed through the dry floor of the tomb.
Unlike outside, the interior was almost entirely unaffected by the brutal cold. It wasn't some trick of perception—the tomb's influence genuinely warded it off.
Stepping inside had triggered the tomb's function to greet those who held the right of entry. A faint light kindled within the dark ruins, illuminating the way.
As the dim glow beckoned him deeper along the walls, Subaru navigated the tomb with the awkward stiffness of someone whose blood had begun to freeze, driving his limbs forward through sheer will.
And then, past a corridor that felt impossibly long, a wide-open space yawned before him.
The first trial—the room where one was forced to confront the past.
The place where he had finally arrived— "—Subaru?"
A long-awaited voice, like the delicate ring of a silver bell, welcomed him with a gentleness that cut through everything else.
* * * * * * * * * * In the dimness, Subaru strained his eyes toward the figure ahead of him.
As his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness of the ruins, the long silver hair and those captivating violet-blue eyes entered his field of vision—and Subaru couldn't hold back. He called her name.
"Emilia."
"That's right. It's me, Subaru. ...I'm here."
A short, four-syllable response—just her name, answered—and Subaru nearly collapsed right where he stood.
He knew it was melodramatic, but the emotion was beyond restraint.
Fatigue. Weariness. Loss.
There were countless sensations that had beaten Subaru down, but it was only now, standing before Emilia, that the full weight of everything he'd been holding at bay hit his knees.
Just as he pitched forward, arms shot out to catch him.
Soft. Warm. He looked up, and right there, just inches away, her beautiful white face was gazing at him—and Subaru, forgetting everything around him, choked on his own breath in sheer surprise.
Right now, Emilia was holding him gently in her arms.
"S-sorry... my legs just gave out..."
"It's okay. I'm not suspicious of you or anything—like, 'oh, he did that on purpose' or 'he aimed for this.' Even if you had done it on purpose, I'd just catch you like this, wouldn't I?"
Emilia cut him off before he could finish making excuses—and in doing so, blocked his only escape route. But her words were not accusatory. They were kind, a cushion against his fall. Subaru let out a deep breath of relief— And immediately noticed that something about Emilia was wrong.
Emilia's demeanor was exactly the same as always.
Gentle, calm, a little airheaded, overflowing with compassion, adorable, with a childlike quality that was just as endearing as ever—she was exactly, precisely, uncannily the same as always.
But this "always" was the "always" of a peaceful afternoon spent at Roswaal's mansion. It was not the "always" of an Emilia who had been wound tight with the weight of her mission, failing to overcome the trial.
"Emilia... while I was gone, did something... change? Something happen with your feelings?"
That was what he wanted to ask—Subaru searched for the right words.
But before he could voice them, a quiet murmur fell from her lips.
"—I was lonely."
"...Huh?"
He couldn't quite catch Emilia's whisper and furrowed his brow, leaning in to hear again.
Her silver-haired beauty was right there, close enough that he could feel her breath. Subaru focused every fiber of his consciousness on her eyes, determined not to miss a single word this time.
Meeting his gaze head-on, Emilia spoke.
"I was lonely, Subaru. Because... you went and left me behind."
"Ah—no, that's not... I didn't mean to abandon you or—"
"————————"
"I tried to tell you in the letter, but... there were things I had to do. That's all—I just couldn't stay with you for a little while. I truly regret making you feel lonely. Making you feel that way, and then not even being able to finish what I needed to do properly, and then..."
"Hehe."
Subaru rattled off his excuses in a rush, his eyes fixed on Emilia the whole time. But before he could finish, Emilia broke into laughter—she just couldn't hold it in.
Subaru could only stare in disbelief.
She cut him off mid-sentence? In the middle of a conversation this tense, Emilia burst out laughing?
Where exactly was the joke? More than that, Subaru had never known Emilia to be the type of person who would choose laughter as a response.
"You don't have to make excuses that hard. I'm not mad, okay? Subaru, you've gone all pale in the face... hehe."
"Emilia...?"
"I said it's okay, Subaru. You left me a letter, and you wrote so much for me in it. So, so, so much. I was lonely, and there were times I wanted to cry... but I read the letter over and over again."
She said something almost pitifully endearing, and Emilia's smile deepened.
That bewitchingly lovely smile—her voice dropping to a tender whisper that gripped his heart. Just the fact that she had treasured his letter, leaned on it as a lifeline for her heart, was enough to make Subaru's own heart surge with a boiling passion.
But even as that passion threatened to sweep him away, Subaru couldn't shake the bubbling unease rising inside him.
Something was wrong. Something was off. The dissonance he'd been sensing from the start hadn't been corrected—if anything, it had only deepened.
What was wrong? Where was the disconnect? Emilia was this precious to him. She was this achingly, unbearably precious—and yet she was responding to him like this.
"Emilia... what happened with the trial?"
"The trial..."
"That's right, the trial. That's why you went in there alone, wasn't it? I'm sorry for making you go by yourself—that was cruel. I want to apologize for that too, and I want to know how it went. Even if you failed, I don't think that matters at all, but the fact that you're here like this right now..."
"I failed. I failed the first trial—I couldn't get past the past. You and everyone were counting on me and worrying about me, and I'm sorry."
"Ah—"
From Subaru's throat escaped a hoarse, strangled sound—and he immediately regretted it.
His tone might have sounded like disappointment to Emilia. If so, he had just betrayed the words he'd spoken a heartbeat earlier—telling her he didn't care either way.
Even as that self-reproach gnawed at him, a smooth touch suddenly settled on his head.
Emilia had slipped her fingers into his short black hair and was gently stroking his head with her palm.
Not understanding what she was doing, Subaru's eyes went wide. Emilia smiled sweetly at his bewildered face, her cheeks flushing pink.
"Subaru, sometimes you like to touch my hair, right? So I've been thinking for a while now that I wanted to try doing the same thing to you. Hehe, Subaru—you leave yourself wide open."
"Emilia...?"
"I just kept thinking... what if Subaru left me behind and never came back? I thought about it so, so, so much. It was so, so scary. That's why—when you showed up just now, I was so happy."
She had just confessed, moments ago, that she had failed the trial—yet the only thing reflected in Emilia's eyes was Subaru. Those earnest eyes, those brimming, glistening eyes, were looking at him.
How long had Subaru waited for a day when he would be reflected there?
How desperately had he longed to have her call his name with warmth, to be seen by those passion-filled, tear-bright eyes?
Everything—all of it—was for this moment, this passion, and the right to finally savor it.
And so— "Subaru. Let's stay together from now on, okay? Together, always. If you're with me, I don't need anything else—"
The day would come when Emilia would profess a love so absolute it bordered on blind devotion—and Subaru had never imagined he would find it this terrifying.
* * * * * * * * * With Subaru cradled in her arms, Emilia continued pouring out her heart.
"When I first heard that Subaru had disappeared, it was so, so painful. I was terrified. Because I hadn't been good enough—I hadn't done anything properly. And I thought, Subaru must be fed up with me. Once I thought that, I couldn't stop shaking... the fear wouldn't go away..."
"————————"
"But then I noticed the letter, and once I realized it was Subaru's handwriting, the fear went away immediately. Subaru, you're really something, you know that? I was that scared, and you made it all vanish in an instant... yeah. I'm always being saved by Subaru."
"————————"
"The letter made me happy too. You wrote so much in it, all about how you didn't want me to worry. It must have taken you a long time, right? You spent all that time for me, and you kept thinking about me the whole time—I was really, really happy about that."
"————————"
"In the letter too, Subaru kept telling me he loved me. You told me when we were in the carriage too, and I was so happy I cried... but when I read the letter, I thought I was going to cry all over again. That was when I realized just how much you'd given me. That's when I truly understood."
"————————"
"So when I saw Subaru come back, I just... couldn't hold it in anymore. Deep in my chest, in the very deepest place, the little me inside was calling Subaru's name. And then I just wanted to reach out and touch you, like this—I couldn't help myself anymore..."
"————————"
"Hey, Subaru. I'm sorry for everything up until now. I've been terrible to you, haven't I? You felt this way about me, and I kept making you endure it in silence. I'm starting to understand now just how cruel that was."
"————————"
"Carrying all of these feelings while still forcing yourself to hold back must have been so painful. I was selfish in front of you, Subaru, even though you were hurting. I wanted to understand you—I thought I did—but I didn't understand anything at all."
"————————"
"But it's different now. I think about you all the time. I'm always thinking about you. Just like you... told me you loved me, just like you said you were thinking about me... I want to be that way too. I want to feel the same. About Subaru. ...I think."
"————————"
"No, wait—I'm sorry. That's cowardly, isn't it? Even when you were scared, even when you didn't know what I was feeling, you still told me honestly. You always do."
"————————"
"So I need to tell you honestly too. —I will."
"————————"
"Hey, Subaru. I like you. I love you. All I think about is you—I want to be with you forever. That's what I feel."
"————————"
"If Subaru feels the same way about me... I'd be so happy... I hope."
"————————"
"Hehe. Yeah... I love you, Subaru. I love you so much."