The loop reached its end. Subaru jumped off the cliff, restarting all progress. However, this time it had been different. Instead of being killed, he had done it of his own will.
His decision, at least from the group's perspective, seemed to be one of forgiveness towards Rem and Ram.
If that was the case, it left everyone watching in a rather serious dilemma.
Whether they should forgive or not. If that was his decision, should they respect it or not? If Subaru, the one who was made to suffer, forgave them, then was that what they should do too?
They couldn't simply act as if nothing happened; that was out of the question. Even if they wanted to, it was out of reach. Little Petra would certainly never be able to look at Rem with the same innocent eyes. The same thing applied to the rest.
Emilia, who had previously tried to calm down Rem with reassuring words, was not sure herself. As a master and a servant, the latter must be trusted by the former. If that wasn't the case, then the relationship wasn't an adequate one.
Prior to this incident, the relationship the sisters and Emilia shared was viewed as healthy by everyone.
At first glance, one would have a hard time telling who was the master and who was the servant. Ram was usually the one scolding Emilia, which was unorthodox behavior for a maid, but Emilia didn't seem to dislike her personality. Emilia embraced all Ram had to offer. Rem, on the other hand, had quite the opposite personality, being more silent and less "whiny." She focused on her work and always delivered outstanding results.
Both sisters and Emilia shared a beautiful bond, preserved through time thanks to their mutual respect and appreciation for each other.
Over time, trust formed between them, making them feel safe when together.
That trust, nonetheless, was gone now.
Puck… Subaru… What should I do?
With a hand holding Puck's relic, she asked for help. Emilia was accustomed to dealing with situations like this one alone. She always had Puck's aid, and recently, Subaru had been there with her too.
Emilia needed someone to help her; she believed she couldn't accomplish anything on her own.
Emilia wasn't a leader.
In the background, the voices of the two sisters could be heard. Rem was sobbing and covering her face in shame. Ram tried calming her sister down, but nothing seemed to work.
Everyone looked at them.
In that dim, dark room, all eyes focused on the two sisters.
Rem tossed and turned on Ram's lap. Every time she tried to diminish her life, Ram would quickly cover her mouth and call out her selfishness—not out of hate, but love. The love she felt for her sister made her suffer while seeing her in such a poor state.
The older sister wasn't the only one suffering while seeing Rem like that. Emilia's heart also ached. She was too pure and kind for her own sake—or so Subaru often told her—yet she never quite understood it. How could being kind be something negative?
With the softest voice she could manage, Emilia made sure her and Rem's eyes met. Once it happened, comforting words left her lips.
"Rem, I'm sure Subaru doesn't hold a grudge against you."
Empty—that was how Emilia's words were. Her efforts amounted to nothing due to the shallowness they carried. Something as meaningless as what Emilia said was enough to calm nobody; Rem wasn't an exception.
Emilia herself noticed it, but she didn't possess the strength to correct her words.
"But he does. He wouldn't listen to me. When I was with him, h-he was definitely mad, and I don't blame him. I'm nothing but a monster, and I… I deserve to die, the same way he—"
"Shut up!" Ram covered her sister's mouth.
But something had been said—something that couldn't be ignored by the rest of the group.
"Do you even realize what you're saying!? And what's this on your forehead? Did you do it to yourself!?"
Ram slowly removed her hand from Rem's mouth, allowing her to talk again.
"I… I deserve it! I'm sorry, sister. You were kind enough to spare his suffering! I only made him suffer again and again! I shouldn't be allowed to liv—"
"Shut up, I say! Don't you realize how selfish you're being!?"
The argument was starting to get heated. It was odd to see two people fighting while one was lying on the other's lap, but there was no time to think about such nonsense.
Otto opened his mouth, but Beatrice was the one who raised her voice first, voicing the whole group's concern.
"Did you two… see Subaru?"
Their breaths halted.
That was all everyone else needed to see to know the answer.
Beatrice flinched first. In the blink of an eye, Garf had made his way from the first row to the last, jumping on the seats, nearly hitting Petra and Frederica, until he closed the distance with Rem.
With their faces barely centimeters apart, he started questioning her.
"Where did you see him!? Where is he!? Is he okay!?"
"You! Get away from my sister!"
With a push, Ram made Garf fall onto his back. He tripped over the headrests from the second row and landed in the booth Rem had previously occupied, next to Beatrice, who widened her eyes in shock after seeing Garf land so obstreperously beside her.
"'The hell was that for!?"
"If you want to know something, ask like a normal human being!" Ram angrily responded.
"Let's all calm down a bit." Otto raised his hand and, with a wry smile, tried to claim everyone's attention. "Rem and Ram appear to have been with Subaru, so… would you mind telling us what happened when you disappeared from this room?"
Garf grunted at Otto's pacifist solution.
"…as if those two—hk—!" Before he said something he would regret, Beatrice was quick to pinch him so he'd keep his mouth shut. Still with a furrowed brow, he looked at Beatrice, who, without words, conveyed her intent with her butterfly-patterned eyes.
Ram sighed and started telling what had happened to her after disappearing from the room.
First was that dark void. It didn't appear to have any function. Ram only mentioned she wandered around for a long period of time until she was about to lose her mind.
"Then a voice called out to me and told me that I had sinned."
"A voice, you say… could you describe it?" asked Roswaal.
"It's hard to describe it…" She placed her hand on her chin, trying to remember exactly how it sounded. "It was feminine and soft… also very calm and cold. There was nothing else remarkable about it. I didn't recognize it."
"Rem… the same happened with you…?" Otto asked, trying not to force Rem, who was in a vulnerable state, to talk too much.
She nodded.
"I see… so the same happened to both. Ram, what happened afterwards?"
The explanation continued. She told them about how she suddenly started to feel really dizzy, to the point that she passed out.
By the time she woke up—
"Subaru is in another room like this one, you say?" Emilia couldn't help but repeat her words.
"Yes, I'm not lying."
"I see…"
"But the thing is, when I went to talk with him, he wouldn't listen to me."
"What are you saying, I suppose? Did Subaru ignore you? That sounds hard to believe," added Beatrice.
"It's not that. It's as if he didn't feel my presence. My hand… when I went to touch him, it went through him."
As she said that, Ram looked at her hand. It was still hard to believe.
"Intangible… how interesting~" Roswaal crossed his arms. "I don't fully understand what's going on yet… but I think I'm starting to grasp the creator's goals…"
Emilia tightened her grip on Puck's relic. No matter what happened, she would save Subaru and leave this place.