Finally, after many cycles, Subaru reached the light of day. Under Beatrice's protection, no one had attacked him, nor had he been killed in his sleep like the first time.
Did that mean he was safe? Who knew. Hell, he didn't even care. He had finally made it. Dealing with Rem and Ram was a problem for later.
Unconsciously, he was laughing. On his knees, right next to the Forbidden Library's doors, embracing the sunlight provided by the rising sun.
"He made it... but I don't remember any of this. What does this mean?" Beatrice, who was a bit confused, scratched her chin with her hand. The pillar of Subaru's survival had been her, yet she couldn't allow herself to enjoy it or be proud of herself.
"I don't know. Something is bound to happe—" Emilia, who was responding to Beatrice, was surprised to hear something from the video. She herself was calling Subaru. Once Emilia appeared on screen it was clear something was off. She had a somewhat gloomy appearance to her.
"Guess we'll find out soon..." added Otto.
Emilia dragged Subaru through the mansion's corridors, not taking a look back no matter how much Subaru pleaded. Her hair covered her eyes, not allowing Subaru to see her expression.
They stopped right before the door of a room. It belonged to someone in the mansion, but Subaru couldn't quite remember who it was.
Before he could try and think about who the owner of the room was, a blood-curdling scream interrupted his train of thought.
The pitch of the scream was so high it didn't allow Subaru to identify who it was coming from. Instinctively, he covered both his ears. However, following the scream, cries were heard. Cries Subaru was now able to recognize.
Subaru reached the doorway and looked inside. His suspicions were correct. It was Ram. She was next to a bed, sobbing helplessly. In the bed—
"R-Rem...?" Emilia stuttered. Why was Rem dead? What had happened? Why had Rem suddenly died in this loop?
"Why is... my sister dead?" From the last row, Ram couldn't believe her eyes. Her sister had been... killed? She couldn't tell what exactly had happened, but the sight of her lifeless sister was something she was hoping to never have to see.
In the same fashion as Otto and Garf, Subaru was unbelieving of the situation. After all he had done, what could have triggered this? Was Rem the price to pay for his survival?
"How... why is Rem dead?" The words struggled to come out.
Subaru took a few steps ahead to take a closer look. He extended his hand in order to touch her—
"Don't touch her! Don't touch Rem! Don't you dare touch my little sister!"
His hand was disrupted by that of Ram. She kicked it away, with tears in her eyes and a look that screamed hate.
Subaru could do nothing about it. He accepted her stance, so he simply lowered his gaze and stepped back.
"She died of weakness," Roswaal said to Subaru, but his tone hid something. "It was as if she just fell asleep. The method was more of a curse than a spell."
Subaru turned his head back to Rem as if he had just realized something, but he remained quiet.
"We can now confirm that the first death was a curse then, I suppose," Beatrice raised her voice from her seat. "Because of Subaru staying in the library with me, Rem was the one who got cursed."
"That appears~ to be the case."
With the two most knowledgeable people in the room, Beatrice and Roswaal, agreeing on something, the rest had little to argue.
"My dear guest, have you any idea what might have happened?" Roswaal suspected Subaru. "After this happened to a dear member of my staff, I seem to be a tiny bit angry."
"Subaru... if you know anything, please tell us." Emilia also wanted Subaru to talk. Anything that would help them understand how and why Rem ended up like that would be good information.
Subaru bit his lip. That scary hand would come back to haunt him again if he were to talk about it. The mere thought of it gave him goosebumps. He shook his head. There was no way he could speak about the curse.
"Hk!"
Something passed right by his face, leaving a clean cut on his cheek. An attack, a magic attack, carried out by none other than Ram.
"If you know something... SPILL IT ALL!"
She extended her palm right in front of Subaru and carried out another wind attack.
"Wait! Ram, that's—" Subaru closed his eyes. He had nothing to block it with. However, Subaru was forgetting something.
"I keep my promises." Beatrice blocked the attack. "As long as he remains in this mansion, I am contracted to protect him, I suppose."
"Beatrice-sama?" Ram didn't expect Beatrice to protect Subaru.
The contract Subaru had made with Beatrice forced her to protect him.
The girl spirit turned her head to Roswaal. "Roswaal, he spent last night in the Forbidden Library, I suppose. So he surely had nothing to do with—"
"There is no further need to emphasize the situation at hand," Roswaal interrupted her, and with both his hands started to create magic. Orbs of different colors materialized in his palms. "However, to guard him with your life, you must have taken quite a liking to him."
Seeing himself on the screen showcasing his magic, Roswaal unironically said, "I believe I can see where this is all~ going."
Beatrice answered that comment with a cold glance.
In the video, the situation escalated. The pressure of both Roswaal's and Beatrice's magic made the whole room shake.
Ram screamed. To her, the showdown between the two had no purpose. That was nothing but mockery in the face of her sister.
"Get out of the way!" She grabbed onto her skirt, enraged. "I must avenge Rem. If you know anything, tell me!" Her tears didn't appear to have an end. "Help Ram! Help Rem!"
But Subaru... couldn't do anything. He looked at her, his eyelids trembling. If he could help in any way, he would, but he simply—
Ram pointed her palm at him again. If he wouldn't respond to her questions, he was better off dead.
However, Emilia placed herself in the trajectory. "I'm sorry, Ram. Despite all of this, I choose to trust Subaru." Emilia moved her eyes to meet his. "Subaru, please. If you can save Ram... if you can save Rem... please do."
"Natsuki-san can't say anything, right?" Otto asked.
"That's what we can assume, or else she will come back, I suppose," answered Beatrice.
Subaru looked away, gritted his teeth, and said the only thing he could. "I'm sorry."
Emilia didn't know what to say. Sadness flooded her eyes as she saw Subaru turn around to leave the room. Did this mean he was the one behind Rem's death? Had all of her faith in Subaru amounted to nothing? Subaru was a... murderer?
The second he stepped a foot outside the room, everything exploded. Ram and Roswaal clashed, and Ram directed all of her magic at Subaru, who ran for his life. Emilia tried to follow him, but she was soon left behind.
As he left the mansion, Ram's last words stayed with him like a lingering curse.
"I'm going to kill you!"