Subaru Natsuki, who returned from the new Three Kingdoms

Natsuki Subaru leaned against the headboard, lamenting that without alcohol, he could only drink water.

Just as I was about to reach for my water glass, I suddenly noticed a touch of blue outside the window.

A blue butterfly landed there.

The morning light pierced through its translucent wings, casting a small, pale blue shadow on the windowsill.

It seems to have been standing still for a long time.

When Subaru looked at it, the blue butterfly gently turned its body and faced him.

For some reason, Natsuki Subaru always felt that the butterfly was watching him.

"So beautiful..." Subaru exclaimed unconsciously.

The blue butterfly gently flapped its wings...

Chapter 42: 042. As long as you become my lord, I will give you everything!

Natsuki Subaru stared at the blue butterfly by the window for a while.

The butterfly's wings were beautiful, like a small piece of the morning sky cut out and pasted onto the windowsill.

Natsuki Subaru opened the window, but the blue butterfly didn't leave. Instead, it flew into the room and landed in front of Natsuki Subaru.

Are you here for a drink too?

He asked.

The blue butterfly flapped its wings.

Natsuki Subaru nodded thoughtfully.

"It seems you are not good with words."

He didn't press the matter further. After changing his clothes, he walked out of the room alone, his empty left sleeve dangling.

The blue butterfly followed and flew over.

It didn't fly far, but hovered around Subaru's shoulder and right hand, occasionally landing on the hem of his clothes.

As Natsuki Subaru walked down the stairs, butterflies circled around him, casting pale blue shadows.

In the garden in the early morning, the dew had not yet completely evaporated.

Emilia arrived here very early.

She didn't sleep well all night.

Every time she closed her eyes, she would think of Subaru Natsuki, covered in blood, when he was sent back to the mansion, his empty left side, and Rem's almost desperate cries as she held him.

After daybreak, she could no longer stay in the room, so she went to the garden she was most familiar with.

At this time in the past, she would always be here watching Puck teach Subaru Natsuki how to practice magic.

But Natsuki Subaru wasn't there today. She was just standing by the flowerbed, her fingers holding a flower that had been blown askew by the wind, and she didn't let go for a long time.

The flower stem had already been straightened, but she still kept her head down, her pale purple eyes filled with deep sorrow.

Parker sat on her shoulders, looking at her with concern.

"Leah."

Parker had already called her twice.

Emilia simply responded softly, her gaze still fixed on the petals.

Just then, familiar footsteps sounded behind them.

Emilia turned her head instinctively.

When she saw who it was, she froze on the spot.

Natsuki Subaru stood at the garden entrance, his empty left sleeve swaying gently in the morning breeze. Blue butterflies fluttered around him, occasionally drifting from his shoulder to his fingertips.

The sorrow in Emilia's eyes vanished in an instant.

Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and a genuine smile appeared on her face for the first time that day.

"Pleiades!"

She practically ran up to Subaru Natsuki.

"Great, you're finally awake!"

The joy in his voice was completely uncontrollable, and it even trembled slightly from being too excited.

Emilia wanted to reach out and touch him, but she was afraid of touching his wound, so she could only stop in mid-air, anxiously looking at his face and the bandaged arm.

"How are you feeling? Does your wound still hurt? Is there anything bothering you?"

Natsuki Subaru was still focused on the butterfly, marveling at its extraordinary intelligence. He wondered if it was a divine beast with a spirit, like Red Hare.

Therefore, there was no immediate response.

Emilia, who received no reply, looked at Subaru Natsuki's empty left side, and her eyes, which had just brightened, dimmed a little more.

Subaru, are you alright?

Natsuki Subaru snapped out of his daze, looked at Emilia's worried face, and laughed heartily:

"Before answering your question, I also have a question for you."

Emilia blinked.

"what?"

Subaru Natsuki looked at her intently.

"Just as you said! Are you alright?"

Parker nearly fell off Emilia's shoulder.

"What kind of answer is that!?"

Parker's lips twitched slightly, but thankfully he had lived for hundreds of years and managed to keep it in check!

Unlike Puck, Emilia was speechless. She carefully considered Subaru's rhetorical question and understood it to mean something else entirely:

Is Subaru concerned about me?

She felt a warmth in her heart and quickly nodded.

"I'm fine. I stayed at the mansion all day yesterday, and Parker stayed with me the whole time. I didn't encounter any danger."

She also raised her hands to indicate that she had no wounds.

Natsuki Subaru nodded in relief.

"That's good."

"As for me, I'm not seriously injured. I can still walk, drink alcohol, and wield a sword with my right hand. This battle can be considered a great victory."

This finally answered Emilia's initial question.

The lovely Miriam was not comforted at all.

"How could there be no serious injury?"

She looked at Subaru Natsuki's missing left arm, and her voice lowered again.

"Elsa came for my badge in the first place. You will become her enemy because you helped me retrieve the badge."

“If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have attacked you and Rem again. You wouldn’t have lost your arm.”

Emilia gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.

"This is all the trouble I caused. But you were still concerned about me after you woke up..."

"Elsa?"

Natsuki Subaru suddenly repeated the name in shock.

Emilia stopped talking, thinking that Subaru Natsuki had discovered something.

"Elsa...Elsa..."

Unexpectedly, after Natsuki Subaru read it twice, he finally showed an expression of sudden realization.

"I remember now!"

"That heroine's name was Elsa."

Parker's expression became more complicated.

"Subaru, are you really concerned about Ria's safety? But why does your attention wander as soon as you hear another woman's name?"

"Of course I'm concerned."

Natsuki Subaru waved his hand dismissively and readily admitted:

"Caring about Emilia and remembering the heroine's name are not mutually exclusive."

Emilia, however, did not relax.

"But your arm..."

"Just pretend I, Natsuki Subaru, never had these!" Natsuki Subaru laughed again, making it seem as if he had lost his fingernails instead of his arm.

Emilia's expression did not lighten despite her laughter; on the contrary, the more carefree Natsuki Subaru appeared, the more depressed Emilia's inferiority and guilt became.

Natsuki Subaru saw all this and patted Emilia's shoulder with his right hand, interrupting her self-blame.

“Elsa chose to attack, Rem chose to save the children, and I chose to fight. These were all decisions we made ourselves, and you can’t hold all the blame on yourself just because of a badge.”

"If you really feel you owe me, then don't take the blame for the whole world."

Emilia stared at him blankly, her purple eyes blinking rapidly.

"But I still don't know how to repay you."

“You saved me, helped me find my badge, and now you’ve lost an arm because of Elsa.”

"I owe Subaru more and more things."

"I..."

"No need to repay."

Natsuki Subaru forcefully interrupted Emilia's rambling.

Emilia was stunned.

"Need not?"

Natsuki Subaru straightened his back, his expression becoming more serious than ever before.

"If you can become my lord, I will gladly give my life for you!"

Emilia's breath caught in her throat for a moment.

Looking at Subaru Natsuki's empty left sleeve, she suddenly realized that these words were not just empty flattery for him.

This person is truly willing to charge into battle for the lord he believes in, and is truly willing to pay the price of his arm and his life.

"Subaru, you mean..."

Emilia unconsciously softened her voice.

"Would you choose me as your lord?"

Chapter 43: 043. Ram's Soup

"Note that it is 'as long as'."

Natsuki Subaru raised a finger, correcting her misunderstanding.

"We are still in the observation period."

“You are just one of several candidates for lord. I have neither chosen you nor joined Emilia’s camp.”

“Your kindness compels me to offer you a large toast.” Natsuki Subaru suddenly changed the subject:

“But benevolence can be considered a measure of magnanimity, but it is not enough to govern the world solely on benevolence. I will also consider your decisiveness, abilities, and other candidates before deciding who to assist.”

Emilia felt a pang of disappointment.

Even stronger than that sense of loss was a longing I had never felt before.