Chapter 177: Emilia probably wouldn't want to keep her hair short, right? No way, right?

Emilia's Mana pool was frighteningly vast, so she could afford to spend it so freely.

But even she grew tired eventually, and at those times Betty — leaning against Subaru's right side — would take over, holding Petra's hand to continue the healing in her place.

Don't underestimate Betty, though — of course she knew healing magic too! Nobody understood that better than Subaru.

After all, back when the stress used to get to be too much for him, he'd developed a habit of unconsciously hurting himself, and it was always Betty who healed him afterward.

Though now that he thought about it... wasn't that habit of his a little too similar to Elsa's?!

During the viewing, Elsa had shown that same habit of digging at her own wounds whenever she was upset. Did they really have to match right down to the habits, like some kind of couple's set?

He would honestly rather do without that particular kind of harmony!

As for Emilia helping treat Petra here — her true motive lay elsewhere entirely.

As for what that motive was, Subaru's best guess was... guarding her food, maybe?

Didn't want him alone in the same room with Petra, who'd just confessed her feelings to him?

But did she really need to be wary of a girl who was unconscious? Honestly, Emilia, you handful!

It wasn't as if he could fall in love with a girl who was passed out cold, could he? Emilia-tan!

Subaru mused, half bemused and half amused.

And for some reason, he noticed Emilia seemed oddly fixated on Petra's hair, staring blankly at her short locks every so often, lost in thought.

Maybe it was because she'd seen adult-Petra's long hair before, and found it curious that it had gone short again?

Subaru tried to think the best of it.

But in the end he sighed helplessly, unable to keep lying to himself any longer—

It was probably, once again, some experience he knew nothing about that was behind her fixation.

After all, surely it couldn't be that Emilia liked short hair too, and wanted to cut hers short as well?

...Surely not!

After a whole cascade of wild speculation, Subaru let out a long breath and gazed blankly at Petra lying in the bed.

He still didn't know what state Petra was really in, so he decided he'd stay up tonight and keep watch by her side.

"Subaru?"

Having finished another round of healing, Emilia stared blankly at some spot near the corner of the bed for a moment, lost in thought.

Then she suddenly snapped back to herself, remembering that Subaru was right there beside her!

This wasn't her own bedroom — she couldn't just space out so leisurely here!

With that thought, Emilia slapped her own cheeks, hard enough to leave them flushed bright red. Her state of mind by now was well past what could simply be called tense.

It should have been... especially, especially tense!

After watching the viewing in that mysterious space and suddenly learning so much about Subaru all at once—

she was sure hardly anyone present that day would manage to sleep tonight; they'd probably all lie awake.

But perhaps, owing to her own particular circumstances—

unlike the others, Emilia hadn't just watched the viewing — during it, a flood of memories had also poured directly into her mind—

one was the memory of every loop of the manor arc, from her own perspective; the other was the entirety of the Greed line.

The memories from the manor-arc loops made her ache for Subaru all the more, knowing how much suffering he had gone through.

When she'd first learned of it, she'd been furious — truly, deeply furious — to the point of almost wishing Rem and Ram would simply vanish from the world!

But at the same time, those memories had also shown her something else: that she herself had once comforted Subaru right when his stress was about to overflow — that they shared such a precious memory together...

And the memories of the Greed line had only deepened her already-strong reliance on Subaru even further!

And yet, she couldn't let that reliance show in front of him!

Because in both the Wrath line and the Greed line, the Subaru there hadn't liked her being dependent on him.

So she had to hold it in, and find some way to speed up how quickly her bond with Subaru grew warmer!

Because everything that had unfolded in the viewing space made one thing clear — her Subaru already had plenty of wicked women setting their sights on him.

If she didn't learn to treasure him properly, he might well be snatched away from her!

And that was something she absolutely refused to allow!

It was with exactly this sense of urgency that Emilia had kept herself tense ever since she'd started the treatment in this room. Yet precisely because of how nervous she was, she hadn't managed to say more than a few words to Subaru.

A sudden tightness gripped her, and helplessly, she turned to try to speak with Subaru.

At the same time, a stream of negative feelings kept welling up inside her, her mind circling back again and again to whether Subaru... might end up blaming her for this, or even coming to dislike her.

"Subaru..."

Emilia turned to say something, but her heart pounded so hard, and her throat closed up so tight, that no words would come.

Then her glistening eyes drifted to Subaru's sleeping face, and for that moment, time itself seemed to stop.

"Subaru's sleeping face... is so cute!"

Emilia's soft lips parted slightly, and the heart that had been pounding so hard it nearly leapt out of her chest suddenly slowed by half a beat.

From where she sat, she could see clearly just how messy Subaru's hair had gotten — practically a bird's nest by now.

His usual slicked-back look was sharp enough normally, but the moment he let it go untended, it turned into an absolute mess.

Emilia's eyes softened, and she reached out with pale, slender fingers to gently smooth Subaru's hair, patiently coaxing it back, strand by strand, into its usual handsome shape.

In that moment, her anxious heart settled into a strange, quiet calm.

All her worries — about deepening things with Subaru, about him being taken away by someone else — cleared briefly from her mind.

Right now, all she cared about was whether sleeping like this would tire him out, whether he'd get a proper rest tonight.

Betty, who never stopped keeping an eye on Subaru, naturally noticed Emilia's little gesture right away.

But she said nothing, only gave Emilia a quick once-over to confirm her state.

Then she turned away with an almost imperceptible huff, and went back to focusing on healing Petra.

Emilia, absorbed as she was, noticed none of this.

She was far too nervous for that — carefully, carefully guiding Subaru's head onto her own shoulder with her hand, making absolutely sure not to wake him.

At last, guided by Emilia, Subaru settled against the softest part of her shoulder.

Seeing her goal finally achieved, Emilia smiled softly, then dropped her voice to a whisper only she herself could hear.

"Get some good rest, Subaru."

"Good night."

"...Hah!" Subaru jolted awake from his sleep, eyes snapping open as he gasped for breath, taking a long moment before he could calm down.

He seemed to have had a Nightmare — he couldn't recall what it had been about, but the aftershock lingered hard, almost on par with a Return by Death.

Oh, speaking of which.

Come to think of it, hadn't he gone this whole time since crossing over without a single proper Return by Death?

That, oddly, left him feeling a bit out of sorts.

So who was going to make up for the Return by Death quota he was missing, huh?

The thought nearly made him laugh out loud.

Okay, just kidding!

If at all possible, please just let him keep on living well!

Sunlight streamed in through the window, filtering past the curtains to fall warm across Subaru's face.

Outside, birds chirped in bright, rhythmic bursts, full of life.

"Morning already — a brand new day!"

Subaru moved to raise a hand to shield his face from the sun, only to realize his position was strange — he'd been sitting in a chair, yet somehow ended up lying flat.

He turned his head and found Betty on his right, fast asleep and leaning against him.

And on his left, Emilia's breathtakingly beautiful sleeping face.

She was already a stunning elf to begin with, her delicate features enough to set anyone's heart racing no matter how you looked at her.

Her clear, glistening red lips had parted slightly without her realizing it, utterly defenseless before him, as if inviting him to take whatever he liked.

"Gulp!"

Subaru's throat bobbed as he stared, transfixed, and before he knew it, Emilia's face was filling his vision, drawing closer...

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