12

[AI CENSORSHIP BLOCKED THIS CHUNK - RAW ENGLISH RETAINED]

Subaru had his hand on the door, peeking in as he spoke in a casual voice.

“Huh, do you actually sleep right, loli girl? If you stay up too late, you won’t grow as tall as you should and you’ll end up as an adult that short.”

Beatrice replied with resentment in her voice.

“…Do you breach the Passage as if it is a matter of course, I wonder?”

She sat on the wooden stool well within the archive as she glared at Subaru.

“Did you have a reason to come see me, I wonder?”

“Not really. I thought I’d say hi before I went to bed. I was gonna give up if I didn’t get it in three tries, but I got it in one, so…”

“Truly, what kind of intuition do you have…?”

Beatrice had a tired look as she pulled on one of her rolls. When her fingers released it, the stretchy, elastic roll bounced the other way. The sight struck Subaru profoundly.

“Can I try it, too?”

“Only Puckie may touch the likes ofme… Would you go away already, I wonder?”

“Not fair only you get to play. Oh well. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll forgive you.”

Still buoyant from the promised date, Subaru headed out as Beatrice glowered at him. But the moment before the door closed, he thought he heard a voice speak with a lonely echo.

“—That has nothing to do with me.”

The voice tugged at him.

“Huh, gotta open the door so I can give her a good comeback.”

The once-open door to the secret archive now led to a simple guest room once more.

He tried opening and closing the door in front of him to see if he could catch it connecting to the archive again.

Rem looked beside herself as she watched Subaru there, opening and closing the door.

“…What have you been doing? Checking the condition of the lock?”

“Oh yeah, I thought I heard a creak in the hall the last few nights… So that was you, Rem?”

Rem was carrying a silver tray with nothing on it in one hand as she watched Subaru feel up the door.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Nah, this led to the archive of forbidden books with the loli girl till just now; it’s gone, though.”

“Did you want something from Lady Beatrice? You could ask me if you prefer…?”

“Just saying hi before going to sleep. Nothing…big.”

The phrase he heard from Beatrice just before the door closed was on Subaru’s mind, but he shook his head—it wasn’t something he needed to press her about at the moment.

“What, you’re still working, Rem? Better turn in. Morning’s coming quickly.”

“I’ll sleep after I do the dishes. At the moment, Sister is serving tea to Master Roswaal, you see.”

“What the heck are those two doing at a time— Ah, well, that’s fine.”

It was almost past midnight; he didn’t much care for Roswaal and Ram having a private chat, discussing some lively topic between just the two of them.

Not my business to say, though, Subaru reflected. He suddenly realized that Rem was watching him. Her pale blue eyes were staring in the direction of his head.

“Don’t suppose chances like this come up much. Doesn’t look like it bothers you any, though.”

“…No, until now it has not bothered me that much, or somewhat, or even a little bit.”

“Geez, downplaying a bunch of times back-to-back makes it sound like itreallybothers you!”

The sharpness and intensity of Rem’s gaze increased to the point that his capacity for speech faltered.

Subaru wrapped up work rather late and Rem had been constantly busy, so few opportunities presented themselves.What the heck, thought Subaru with a grimace when Rem raised her hand a bit.

“If you like, how about I do it now?”

“What… Now? It’s pretty late, isn’t it?”

“A quick cut and wash will not take very long. If I do not, I cannot fulfill the cherished desire you confided in me from your own lips, Subaru.”

“Cherished desireis a little much!”

For such a neutral expression, Subaru saw Rem’s eyes brimming with fierce determination. Subaru scratched his face, realizing it must have annoyed her quite a bit over the last four days.

He wanted to do something about that annoyance if he could, but—

“Sorry, Rem. I’ve made a promise to go out with Emilia tomorrow. I’ve gotta get up early and take care of work quickly, so I really can’t do it tonight…”

“Is that so… No, I was being unreasonable. I’m sorry.”

Using the just-made promise as his reason for putting off the promise he’d made to Rem before, at his own suggestion, weighed on his conscience. But Rem was a practical girl and tried to take Subaru’s circumstances into account.

Feeling guilty about Rem’s position, Subaru felt his words left a bitter taste in his own mouth when suddenly, “How about tomorrow night?”

“…At night, you say?”

“My condition for the promise with Emilia is getting all my work wrapped up. There’s no special work scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so after that, since it’s still on your mind…”

As he spoke, he was truly shocked with himself for arranging dates with two girls on the same day. Not that his feelings toward Emilia and Rem were in the same vein to begin with…

With Rem, he felt fondness toward a fellow coworker. He still didn’t really know how he felt toward Emilia.

Faced with Subaru’s suggestion, Rem closed her eyes and made a small nod.

“Understood. Tomorrow night it is. This is a firm promise, you understand?”

“I don’t know why it bothers youthatmuch, but yeah, a promise it is. Tomorrow night, then.”

He thought about making it a pinkie promise, but he hesitated, not knowing if such a thing existed in that world’s customs. As he hesitated, Rem made a polite bow, turning around with a small flutter of her skirt.

She departed with quiet, gliding steps. Subaru watched her go before heading back to his room, biting down a yawn as he mentally went over his schedule for the coming day.

“I have to thank the kids for creating the reason for a date all the way to the village tomorrow. Oh, before I do that, got to find out where the best flower gardens are…”

As he entered his room, he held his nose high and puffed out his chest, full of hopes and dreams for the coming day. Subaru stripped off his butler uniform, giving himself a makeover with the tracksuit as he crawled into bed.

As his head hit the pillow, his eyes were open, thoughts racing about the next day, not conducive to sleep at all.

Faced with his mind betraying his body, Subaru immediately switched mental gears and resorted to his secret weapon. Namely…

“One Puck, two Pucks…”

In the back of his mind, little gray kitty cats were running around and frolicking as he counted them one by one. Subaru linked his fantasy Puck to the real one, letting his memory of the fluffy feline lead him to a happy place. His mind slowly sank, pulled into dreamland.

“One…hundred and four Pucks…”

Picturing a fluffy paradise, warmth enveloped his mind—and finally vanished.