Chapter 33: That Smell, Without a Doubt! (Patreon)

"Hey, isn't it a little irresponsible to just leave a guest here like this?"

Watching Rem's retreating back, Natsuki Subaru gave a helpless laugh, but didn't call out to stop her.

Maybe she was just shy, being the younger sister and all — but showing him around the estate and then leaving him standing there, forgetting to take him to his room, was careless to say the least.

Good thing Natsuki Subaru was a Dark Templar with plenty of tracking experience. Finding the guest room he'd been shown earlier, just going by memory, was hardly a challenge.

Not long after he slipped away into the shadows, a belated Rem came jogging back down the hall. Finding it empty, the dimness in her eyes deepened a little further.

"Rem really is useless, isn't she..."

The blue-haired girl murmured to herself, pressing her lips together, and turned away with a touch of dejection.

Meanwhile, Subaru slipped through the shadows and arrived at the door to his own room. But the moment his hand closed on the handle, he felt that strange flow of mana again — as if something waited on the other side.

"Ha, no way it's that much of a coincidence. If I had that kind of luck, I'd have gone and bought Silver Wolf a few lottery tickets by now."

Part of him suspected he might have stumbled onto that 'Beatrice' girl's Door Crossing again, but Subaru had never had much faith in his own luck. Logically speaking, with this many doors in the estate, surely it couldn't connect to the exact door he meant to open every single time?

That made no sense. A probability that small was practically impossible.

So Subaru didn't hesitate — he pushed the door open and walked straight in. The moment it swung open, he found himself staring right into the startled eyes of the little golden-haired girl.

"Hm, I must've opened it wrong."

Subaru's expression didn't so much as flicker. He calmly pulled the door shut and opened it a second time. And guess what —

Hey, How old are you??

Why is it you again?!

"You really are infuriating, right down to my very core."

The golden-haired girl sitting on the stool closed the book in her hands, frowning slightly.

"Wasn't scaring off Brother enough? Now you've come to bother Betty too?"

"Oh, so that little cat ran off? I was just about to ask —"

"Get out, for Betty's sake!"

With a wave of Beatrice's little hand, Subaru felt a powerful force of repulsion slam into him, pushing him back half a step. Then his eyes lit up — wasn't this psionic propulsion? One of the most basic applications of psionic energy.

I know this move. Watch me!

A flash of green light crossed Subaru's eyes; with a wave of his hand, he propelled himself forward a good distance with psionic energy, blinking in an instant right in front of the golden-haired girl with a soft whoosh. Looking down at the tiny lolita who barely came up to half his height, a grin tugged at his mouth:

"Seriously, what is it with you little girls and your rotten tempers, each one worse than the last? I haven't even —"

"Out!"

Beatrice let out an indignant shriek and raised her hand again, but Subaru reacted far faster, nudging his body a little to the left with psionic energy and dodging the incoming blast.

On top of that, he casually snagged a steaming cup of black tea from the tea table beside her and took a small sip.

"Is this tea for me? Well then, don't mind if I do."

"You insolent man, that was Betty's tea."

Beatrice muttered under her breath, her slightly baby-fat cheeks puffing out. Realizing she couldn't seem to do anything about this strange man, she decided he wasn't worth another glance and turned back to the book on her lap — but a familiar scent made her cross-shaped pupils contract.

The scent of citrus...

"You..." She turned her head, somewhat stiffly. "Are you the 'someone' Betty's been waiting for?"

"What someone? Isn't this the first time we've met? Well... maybe not technically the first time, but it's at least the first time we've talked, right?"

"Answer Betty, now!"

The golden-haired girl's voice suddenly rose several notches. Four hundred years of pent-up longing surged up inside her, and she had to fight with everything she had just to keep her voice from cracking, refusing to let a discordant sob undermine her dignity.

"You might be able to fool everyone else, but you can't fool Betty."

She stared fixedly into Subaru's eyes and hopped down from the stool. Her pale little hands clenched the hem of her dress, knuckles whitening with the force of her grip. With every step closer, she instinctively drew back half a step — as if she wanted to be certain, yet feared getting too close.

"You smell like Mother. Betty could never mistake it!"

"Wait... what?!"

Half-doubting, Subaru tugged at his own collar and sniffed. Aside from a faintly unpleasant tang of sweat, he couldn't smell anything special — if anything, there was just the faintest trace of Miss Ciel's scent lingering on him.

He'd meant to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but the almost desperate hope in the girl's eyes made him swallow every flippant word back down.

"Look, I think you've got the wrong person. I really don't think I smell good at all. Hey, hey, what are you doing —"

"That's the scent... there's no mistaking it!"

Beatrice's eyes sharpened. Standing on tiptoe, she grabbed the hem of his collar and sniffed carefully again. A trace of distaste flickered across her face, but she nodded seriously all the same.

"...Is it you? Is it really you? Tell Betty — where did you come from?"

"Uh... another world?" Subaru answered, a little baffled himself.

"Yes! That's it exactly!"

"Mother said it herself — she told Betty to wait in the Forbidden Library for a visitor from another world. That's you, isn't it... Tell Betty, quickly!"

With that, the disdain and chill on the golden-haired girl's face slowly melted away, replaced by an indescribable joy — as if she'd finally been freed from some crushing burden. A thin mist of tears had already begun to gather in her blue eyes.

Part of her hoped he really was the one she'd been waiting for, while another part dreaded hearing him deny it. Her shoulders trembled uneasily as she waited for his answer.

"Great, so cats can't stand me, but apparently little girls love me instead, huh?"

Subaru rubbed his temples, a headache building, utterly lost on what was happening. Looking at her pitiful, pleading eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse outright — but agreeing blindly like this felt uncomfortably close to kidnapping a little girl.

Honestly, if simply claiming to be 'that person' would make her happy, Subaru wouldn't have minded doing it. But he wasn't even sure himself whether he really was the one she meant.

This was exactly why he hated all this 'destiny' business. Firefly, Blade, Silver Wolf — every one of them had been put through the wringer by so-called fate. He had no idea if they were still managing to get through each day with their usual cheer, now that he wasn't around.

Well, if he ever got the chance, Subaru decided he'd definitely track down this 'Mother' Beatrice kept mentioning and give her a piece of his mind.

But the real problem right now was how to handle this poor kid. If he flatly said 'no,' he was genuinely afraid she'd burst into tears on the spot.

What was he supposed to do here?

This was bad. Natsuki Subaru was great at pranks and mischief, but comforting little girls? Not exactly his strong suit. What was he supposed to do now?

Perhaps sensing his guest was in trouble, the good-natured Roswaal knocked on the door at just the right moment and stepped inside.

"Oh myyy~ You've certainly given me quite the runaround. Beako, I was wondering where our guest had wandered off to — turns out he's here in the Forbidden Library after all."

With his signature sing-song lilt, Roswaal strode in beaming. Seeing Beatrice and Subaru standing so close together, he offered a gentle warning:

"Now now, Beako, keep this up and our guest is going to end up flustered~ There's plenty of time left, after all — no rush in figuring things out, hmm~"

"Hmph! You irritating man, always getting in Betty's way."

At the sound of Roswaal's voice, Beatrice huffed and reluctantly let go of Subaru's collar, waving her hand to shoo him out:

"Fine then, off you go. Don't come bothering Betty again unless it's something important. Shoo, shoo!"