The screen had regained color after what had been the biggest break between chapters. The oni sisters had returned to the room, though one of them was unconscious. The group had rejected them due to their crime. No one was willing to let their crime go, at least not yet.
On the screen, right after waking up, the first thing he saw was Rem and Ram. They were the ones who had tortured him to death seconds ago. The mental stress was too much for him to handle. He covered his head and started screaming.
Emilia didn't remember the events unfolding on the screen again. This was yet another death loop. She didn't say a word; her hand tightened around that of Beatrice, who immediately understood what was happening.
After the two maids left the room, Emilia entered. Her voice was soft, as if she were trying to get Subaru to trust her and tell her what was going on.
"Subaru, are you sure you're all right?"
Subaru seemed to realize something. After hearing Emilia, his whole body tensed. He looked her in the eye and said,
"There's something I want you to know."
Emilia was a bit confused, but still happy that he would trust her. She responded with a soft "Yes?" and moved a bit closer to him.
"Emilia... Several times up until now. I've died and--"
The world stopped. Emilia froze in place. Subaru couldn't move a muscle.
Shadows started to take shape all around the room and began covering every inch.
In front of him, a hand made out of shadows appeared. He couldn't dodge it. He couldn't do anything to get out of the way.
The shadow hand slowly made its way toward Subaru's body. Ignoring the boundaries of his body, it went through muscles and bones. It reached his gate and...
...completely crushed it.
"I see... So this is why your gate is broken..." muttered Beatrice.
They couldn't pierce into Subaru's mind, yet his eyes said all there was to know. It hurt. It was scary. He was helpless—Subaru wanted help, but he was unable to ask for it.
The hand, once it had messed with his gate, slowly disappeared from sight. It left him with an extreme sense of fright.
Time began flowing again in the same moment it had stopped. Subaru was about to tell Emilia about his authority, but now—
"Subaru!?"
He was panting. His eyes were wide open, so much so that it looked like they could fall off at any given point. Cold sweat now covered all of his body.
Emilia immediately got up from her seat to help him. She couldn't understand what was happening. What was Subaru trying to tell her? Why was he in that state all of a sudden? Endless questions flooded Emilia's mind in a matter of seconds.
"What happened all of a sudden!?" she asked.
But Subaru would not respond. He wasn't able to alleviate her worry. He grabbed his robe around where the gate was. He hugged himself, trembling in fear.
"Wh-What's wrong? You've been acting really strange. Subaru, if something's going on--" Emilia had wanted to let Subaru go at his own pace, but now she was starting to get really concerned. As she tried asking Subaru again, she was cut off by him.
Subaru, without releasing his arms from his self-hug, said, "I have a favour to ask."
"What is it?" she responded.
But cruelly, Subaru voiced his favour, "Have nothing to do with me." As he said those words, he went back to bed.
Emilia raised both eyebrows. Her face went from confused to sad. She wasn't able to argue. It was clear he didn't want to share his problems with her. No words came from her mouth; she didn't complain. She simply left the room, completely heartbroken.
Watching the video, Emilia whispered, "I'm sorry for not being able to understand you."
After that, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Roswaal briefly passed by, but nothing worth mentioning occurred. That was until—
"That's quite the cowardly look on your face, I suppose."
Beatrice appeared in the room, which Subaru was not expecting. "Why are you here?" he asked her.
The reasoning for her visit was that Emilia and Puck had asked her to, and that she didn't want to come. They believed maybe Beatrice had done something to Subaru, and that was the reason why he was acting so strangely. But Subaru knew that wasn't the case. He simply apologized to her for the misunderstanding.
"Not only do you look gloomy, but the scent is much heavier now, too," added Beatrice as she got closer to him.
Subaru, confused, only responded with a "huh?" What was she even talking about?
"The scent of the witch. I feel like it's bending my nose, I suppose."
"Witch... You mean the Witch of Envy?"
His suspicions were corroborated by Beatrice. The conversation didn't get very far after that.
When Beatrice was about to leave, Subaru called out to her.
"Wait a minute! You feel sorry for what you did to me, right?" he asked.
"I do not," she immediately answered.
But Subaru wouldn't let her go that easily. The only way he knew to get her to reason with him was—
"I'm telling Puck."
"hk! Well, I might feel just a tiny bit sorry, I suppose."
Subaru had her where he wanted now.
"If you regret what you did and want my forgiveness, do me one favor I ask."
Beatrice frowned. What could this stranger want from her now? "Let's hear it." Clear distrust could be heard in her voice.
"The day after tomorrow... Would you keep me safe until then?"
The proposal confused Beatrice.
"I don't want you bringing dissension into this mansion, I suppose. This place is vitally important to me."
Beatrice could sense something was off about Subaru, but she couldn't exactly determine what it was.
"I have no intention of doing anything," Subaru pledged. "I just want to stop any sparks from flying."
"What an admirable motive for one who leaves even that in the hands of others."
After some back and forth between them, Beatrice finally agreed. She sighed and asked Subaru to extend his hand. Subaru, still a bit confused, didn't react, so she just grabbed it.
"I shall grant you your wish."
"I, Beatrice, on my honor, am henceforth bound by this contract. Temporary or not, a contract is still a contract. I'll grant you your nonsense favor."
"S-Seriously?" Subaru had to hold back his tears after hearing this. Could this finally be his way out? "I'm gonna cry because of a little girl..."
"Don't call me a little girl! And if you tell Bubby, you'll regret it, I suppose! Hmph!"
In the theater, Beatrice's facial expression softened a bit. Maybe it was selfish, she believed, but the fact that she had treated him kindly even without knowing him was very important to her.
She felt something on her head—a hand.
"You're a good girl."
Emilia, with a "smile," kindly patted her head, enough to make the little Betty flustered.
That night, the screen didn't turn off. It showed a weird scene.
Subaru was running through a forest. He looked terrified. Every second, the scene cut to blood—only blood.
The forest was dark, like a cliché enchanted one.
Suddenly, in the middle of the path, covered in blood, appeared no other than Rem. Next to her was her mace. The moment she saw him, she maneuvered her arms forward and sent it flying in his direction.
"Stop!" he yelled.
Ram grabbed on even tighter to her still unconscious sister.
But then, just when it was about to hit him, something grabbed both his hands. Warm, it gave him the feeling of safety. The forest disappeared, and it was quickly replaced by a void of light.
"A dream..." Otto sighed in relief. The screen had switched from that sequence of blood to Subaru sleeping in bed.
"You can't keep sleeping forever, I suppose." Woken by a kick to the face, Subaru opened his eyes to find himself in the forbidden library.
In that place, the only thing to entertain oneself was books. So hours and hours passed by reading the books the library had to offer.
"Calling..."
In the middle of the reading session, Beatrice raised her gaze from the book.
"I've been summoned, I suppose."
She pointed her hand at the door and performed a bit of magic that startled Subaru. The noise made Beatrice remember he was present in the library too.
"Oh, right, you're here. I forgot, I suppose."
Subaru tried to stop her from going out.
"H-Hey, hold on! If you go out there now--"
"I don't care if you want to stay here. You'll be safe here, I suppose," she added.
Beatrice opened the door, and from it came the light of a new day. Subaru saw it. He quickly got up and hurried to the door too. His hands trembled as he held the handle.
"Damn it! What the hell is this!" he screamed. Before he could think much more, he opened the door of the forbidden library.
Light. A new day. He had finally made it through the night.
Subaru instinctively laughed. "And I thought it was so far away." He fell to his knees. "It was that easy."
"Subaru?"
While he laughed, someone called him—a bell-like voice that belonged to Emilia.
"Subaru, where have you been?" she asked.
"Oh, I was just..." What could he say? That he had asked for protection from a little girl? No guy would say something that would make them appear that low.
Emilia looked worried about something. Could it be that she was still worried about him? Before Subaru could further elaborate on his fantasies—
"You know..." Emilia was going to tell him something, but she stopped herself mid-sentence. "No, never mind. Come with me."
Emilia grabbed his wrist and started pulling him through the mansion's halls.
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"Emilia-tan?"
"Why are you making that face?"
"Everything will be fine now."
"Right? I'm alive, and you're..."
"Oh, I know! Let's go to the village!"
"There's so much I want to do and tell you!"
"So much has happened!"
Emilia finally turned around. "Subaru."
Subaru, confused, simply looked back at her. "Emilia? What's wrong--"
Before he could finish, a blood-curdling scream was heard from the room ahead. The fact that it was so loud didn't even allow Subaru to identify who it belonged to.
But once he got closer, he recognized who the cries belonged to. He looked through the doorway. Ram was crying, and in bed—
"Why is... my sister dead...?"
From the third row, Ram had her eyes wide open as she watched herself cry next to her sister's corpse.