Chapter 31: The Good People of the Mathers Domain (Patreon)

"Subaru... good afternoon!"

Truth be told, running into her great benefactor while just out for a stroll was rather unexpected for Emilia, and for a moment she found herself torn over what expression to wear.

Should she match Natsuki Subaru's energy — act lively and unrestrained, maybe even throw herself at him in a hug?

No, that would look far too strange no matter how she framed it. Emilia felt she had none of the talent Natsuki Subaru possessed for pulling off exaggerated gestures without batting an eye. Forcing herself to do the same would only make her a laughingstock, and likely annoy him besides.

Besides, the impression she must have left on him was surely that of a shy, bashful sort of girl. Wouldn't it look awfully strange to suddenly change after only a few days?

After all that agonizing, Emilia settled on nothing more than a faintly bashful smile. She had spent ages turning over how best to thank him, but just as she was about to speak, Natsuki Subaru beat her to it.

"Good to see you again, Miss Emilia. Lord Roswaal and I were just talking about you, actually — I have to say, you really are a good person."

He said it with perfect seriousness, not a trace of joking in his tone, and without any of his usual baffling gestures. He looked, for all the world, like one of those strictly proper members of the Royal Guard.

"Eh?" Emilia froze, the smile on her face going stiff.

Why, after only a few days apart, had her benefactor grown so distant?!

According to Puck, when it came to boys and girls, if someone said "you're a good person," the second half of that sentence was supposed to be —

"But we're not right for each other."

!!!

Emilia's gaze wavered, a trace of dejection creeping into her eyes. She suddenly felt she might have come too late.

A man as outstanding as Natsuki Subaru surely already had his heart set on someone. Letting her down this gently, keeping his distance with such tact — that was already more consideration than she deserved.

It seemed there was already no place left for her here...

Noticing the faint gloom lurking beneath Emilia's smile, Natsuki Subaru found himself at a loss too. No matter how he replayed it in his head, he couldn't think of anything he'd said to upset her. He glanced at Roswaal and asked, thoroughly baffled:

"What's wrong? I don't think I said anything out of line, did I? Don't tell me Emilia's the type who gets upset at being called a good person?"

"Ha, I suppose it's fair to say Lord Subaru really doesn't understand a girl's heart~" Roswaal winked, his meaning plain. "That tone of yours just now already wounded poor Lady Emilia~"

"What? I was the one playing it straight for once, just so you could keep your role as the comic relief! If anything, half the blame for this belongs to you!" Natsuki Subaru shot back, none too pleased.

It seemed, in the end, that imitating the way the Royal Guard spoke in order to pass as a "normal person" hadn't been such a great idea — especially since the man he'd chosen to imitate was that paragon of virtue, Reinhard. The gap was simply too wide.

"All right, Miss Emilia. Actually, this whole thing was a misunderstanding."

Emilia nodded, still not quite keeping pace, but she had a vague sense that she'd misread something rather badly.

Frankly, by this point, even a brick would have figured out what was going on.

Not to mention that Natsuki Subaru understood the fumbling, tender feelings of a young girl like her all too well. After spending so much time with a woman as perceptive as Kafka, he'd naturally grown skilled at reading a girl's mind — Emilia's little worries were nowhere near enough to slip past him.

Oh, of course, Silver Wolf was the exception. That little troublemaker always did things her own way, making it near impossible to guess what was actually going through her head.

"Fine..." Natsuki Subaru rolled his eyes, exasperated. "If you're going to take it that way, this loses all its fun. I guess our half-elf lady really does have a bit too much imagination. You didn't seriously think I was handing you a friendzone card, did you?"

"Eh— eh?" Emilia still hadn't quite caught up. "A friendzone card? That... what does that mean?"

Clearly, she had no idea what a "friendzone card" was, but she understood well enough that she'd misread the situation. A faint blush crept up from the tips of her pointed ears.

At that, Natsuki Subaru went ahead and explained:

"I heard from Roswaal that you're the type who likes doing good deeds without leaving your name behind — the whole 'walk away once the job is done, hide your achievements and your name' thing. Pretty chivalrous of you, honestly. At first I thought you were just a little slow, but now it looks like you're just an incredibly pure-hearted good person."

"So where'd your mind wander off to, babe?" Natsuki Subaru teased with a grin. "Don't tell me it went somewhere not exactly appropriate for children?"

!

Emilia took another critical hit. Her snow-white half-elf face began boiling over like a kettle at full heat, and she had to clamp both hands over her mouth to keep some strange noise from escaping.

"M— my apologies!!"

With that little yelp, she spun around and fled as if for her life, vanishing around the corner of the corridor. It looked like it would take her quite a while to recover.

Natsuki Subaru had to admit — ever since arriving in this world, he seemed to be racking up entanglements with otherworldly beauties at an alarming rate. That probably wasn't a good sign.

Especially since this one was the innocent, pure-hearted type. If he ever toyed with her feelings, even he would feel guilty about it.

"Interesting. She's even more naive than I expected. Who on earth taught her the basics of getting along with people?"

Natsuki Subaru rubbed his chin with interest and elbowed Roswaal beside him.

"You're one to talk, though. Where did you even find such an innocent, wide-eyed girl to enter the Royal Selection? Pitting her against those old foxes might bankrupt even a filthy-rich house like yours, Roswaal."

"Ha ha~ Subaru, you're as fond of your jokes as ever."

Roswaal wagged a finger with a smile, an unreadable glint flickering in his mismatched eyes.

"Lady Emilia's 'innocence' is precisely her most precious quality~"

"After all, a pure soul always draws the favor of certain existences far more readily than a shadow steeped in scheming — wouldn't you agree~"

As he spoke, Roswaal paused, giving Natsuki Subaru a meaningful look.

"As for the matter of bankruptcy, Subaru, there's no need to worry. The Mathers family has never lacked for money~ If anything, perhaps what you should worry about is whether the Kingdom of Lugunica will still be standing before my coffers run dry~"

"Now that's got some spirit! Sounds like you're ready to sink or swim with the whole Kingdom of Lugunica — impressive!"

Natsuki Subaru nodded, his opinion of this eccentric yet remarkably generous Margrave rising another notch. Back in the starsea, he'd met more than a few billionaires who were stingy to the bone; not one of those tycoons had ever spent money as freely and boldly as this Roswaal fellow.

Looking at it this way, Roswaal really was quite the man of honor.

They always said troubled times bred heroes out of rough border soldiers. Roswaal wasn't a soldier, exactly, but he was certainly cut from the same heroic cloth. After all, being a Margrave was hardly a position suited to a life of leisure — should tensions with the neighboring country ever flare up, Roswaal would be the very first line of defense on Lugnica's border.

Generation after generation guarding the frontier for the kingdom — maybe not a household of unbroken loyalty and sacrifice, but certainly one that had served the nation with devotion. If this guy could just dial back the scheming a notch, Natsuki Subaru would happily rank his character right up there with Reinhard's.

Still, Natsuki Subaru couldn't shake the feeling that this "Brother Roswaal" probably wasn't aiming for something as simple as "putting a good man on the throne."

Considering the man had come to visit him with genuine sincerity, having tried three separate times to invite him over, Natsuki Subaru figured he could tolerate that one small flaw.

After all, who didn't have their own little agenda?

For now, at least, calling him a good man didn't seem like much of a stretch.