Chapter 52: Roswaal's Confession (Patreon)

Priscilla gave a soft hum.

"Finished consoling your attendant?"

"No—wait, isn't Miss Ciel your attendant?"

Subaru faltered at the question.

"She's yours now," Priscilla said, waving a hand with feigned distaste. "An attendant who badmouths her own mistress—I can't keep one like that."

"Your Highness, that's a bit hurtful to say." Ciel blinked, a playful smile crossing her face.

"Enough, get going! Don't stay here polluting my sight!"

"This woman really isn't honest with herself."

Subaru shrugged helplessly.

At that moment, Reinhard, sensing the matter here had concluded, finally found his chance to approach. A gentle smile still lingered on his face, though he looked more serious than usual.

"Lord Subaru, I think it's time we headed back."

Subaru looked out at the ravine, wrecked by the battle.

Cooling obsidian still smoked; shattered cliff walls, ground that had melted and resolidified, and scattered mounds of gigantic flesh and gore reminded everyone what had just happened.

Deathwing's consciousness had been forced back into the depths, but that power still lay sunk within his body—the moment he let his guard down, the monster would seize its chance.

Subaru clenched his fist.

"Yeah. Time to head back."

He turned to look at Reinhard.

"Reinhard, you're heading back to the royal capital?"

"Yes, that's right. The Council of Wise Men and the Royal Guard both need to know what happened here."

"Those old men are probably going to be too scared to sleep."

"I'll do my best to help them understand the situation calmly."

"Sounds rough."

Reinhard gave a faint, helpless look.

"It's part of my duty."

"Well, I guess being Sword Saint isn't easy either—you've got to help sort out everything."

Having said that, Subaru seemed to remember something and leaned in a bit.

"By the way, about me entering the Royal Selection—you'll help me, right?"

Reinhard blinked.

"I'll report truthfully to the Council of Wise Men that you made the Dragon Insignia shine."

"Just that?"

"Please understand, my friend—my position doesn't allow me to make the final decision on the Council's behalf."

"Got it—due process." Subaru clapped him on the shoulder.

"No problem, leave the rest to me. Persuading people is what I'm best at."

Reinhard looked at him, feeling far from reassured.

"I hope you really do mean persuasion."

"Of course I mean persuasion."

"Nothing else implied?"

"I always win people over with reason... but if something unexpected comes up, well, it depends on the situation. Overall, I'll try to keep things civil."

Hearing that answer, Reinhard finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for your understanding, my friend."

"Why does that sound like you're bracing yourself in advance?"

"Because I really am a little uneasy."

Subaru burst out laughing.

Priscilla stood off to the side, hiding a smile behind her folding fan.

"All right, Reinhard, how much longer are you going to keep chattering with my attendant?"

"My apologies, Lady Priscilla. We were discussing matters concerning the kingdom's fate—please forgive us."

With that, Reinhard turned to Priscilla and gave a slight bow.

"Your injuries aren't minor. Please wait here a moment—I'll contact the House Astrea right away to send an escort for you."

"No need," Priscilla said, raising a hand.

"I'm not so weak that I need someone else's escort."

"What about Ciel, then?"

Subaru smiled with mischievous intent.

"Want me to have her see you off?"

Naturally, that earned him an eye-roll from Priscilla.

"She's your attendant now. Wherever she wants to go is her own business—it has nothing to do with me." As she spoke, Priscilla looked at Subaru, her tone softening considerably.

"Well then, I'm tired. I'm going back to rest."

Watching Priscilla's retreating figure, Subaru said nothing more. Between the two of them, it seemed some things no longer needed saying—they already understood each other.

After all, wasn't sending Ciel to his side just her way of giving him a bit of standing? It would let him hold his own with more confidence when dealing with the other Royal Selection candidates.

"Come to think of it, Brother Sword Saint," Subaru suddenly thought of something, "by rights, shouldn't every Royal Selection candidate have a knight of their own in attendance?"

Reinhard nodded, his expression complicated. Please, no more heart-stopping stunts tonight, he thought. I've endured quite enough already.

"I see. Then I'm guessing you'll be standing with Felt, as her knight, right?"

"Yes."

"With you there, I can relax." Subaru smiled. "But watch yourself—that little rascal is quite mischievous. She was supposed to be my responsibility to look after, and I've troubled you with her for quite a while now."

"No need to thank me, my friend. Serving the last of Lugnica's royal bloodline is my calling. Before long, once the Royal Selection formally begins, I promise you'll see a brand-new Felt."

"Ha, now that I'm looking forward to!"

Subaru held out his hand, and shook Reinhard's.

The two heroes exchanged a smile.

"We'll meet again in the royal capital, then. Until then!"

"Take care as well, Lord Subaru!"

After parting from Reinhard, Subaru swept the pale-faced Ciel up around the waist, holding her soft frame tightly against him.

"This might feel a little strange—bear with it!"

Before Ciel could say anything, Subaru pulled her with him into the shadows. Her vision went dark in an instant, and when she could see again, they had already arrived in the wreckage-strewn courtyard of Roswaal Manor.

"That was certainly a novel experience."

Once Ciel gathered her bearings, she glanced around, then suddenly flushed and murmured:

"Um... Lord Subaru, someone's watching us..."

"Huh?!"

Subaru startled at that. Even though Priscilla had already handed Ciel over to him, hardly anyone knew about it yet—if someone saw him getting too familiar with another house's attendant, it might not reflect well on the House Barielle's reputation.

Then again, thinking it over, did Priscilla's reputation among Lugnica's high society even have room left to fall?

Subaru had serious doubts about that.

Regardless, he set Ciel down at once.

Then he heard that familiar, drawn-out clownish voice.

"Oh myyyy—"

That alone was enough to raise goosebumps all over Subaru.

"Welcome back, Lord Natsuki Subaru! I was searching everywhere for you—I feared something terrible had befallen you, and that thought made me so very, very sorrowful! Seeing you return safely is such a relief!"

"Stop, stop, keep your distance!"

Watching Roswaal spread his arms wide, beaming with joy, Subaru felt a pressure even greater than being possessed by Deathwing, and backed away two steps.

"If it were Emilia welcoming me this warmly, fine, but the moment I remember it's you, you damn creep—never mind."

"Ow! That really hurts—"

Roswaal covered his face with a hand, performing an exaggerated show of being wounded, then cleared his throat and turned a serious gaze toward Ciel standing beside Subaru, saying meaningfully:

"And might I ask who this young lady is?"

His eyes met Ciel's briefly, and the two recognized each other at first sight. For Roswaal especially, that face was the one thing he had failed to forget in four hundred years.

Yet four hundred years of scheming had long since tempered him into unshakable composure. In his eyes, no matter how similar the resemblance, his teacher—the Witch of Greed, Echidna—had already been laid to eternal rest in the sanctuary.

Which meant the girl before him was merely a vessel—just as Emilia was to the Witch of Envy, Satella: identical in appearance, utterly different in essence.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Margrave Roswaal L Mathers. My name is Ciel, attendant to Lord Natsuki Subaru."

Ciel bowed, her etiquette flawless and impeccable, every bit the image of a well-bred noble young lady.

"I see. Miss Ciel, then."

Roswaal wore an unusually serious expression.

"I must say, your face reminds me of someone from my past... it stirs a certain nostalgia. Forgive my rudeness."

"All right, Ros old buddy," Subaru stepped in to cut him off. "Let's get to business—has Miss Rem come back?"

"Thanks to your concern, it seems dear Rem fell victim to some villain, but fortunately the injuries weren't severe. Dear Ram just brought her back a short while ago. I wonder—"

"It's fine, no need to worry—that villain's already dead, courtesy of me."

Subaru waved a hand casually, as though eliminating a Sin Archbishop were nothing more than the flick of a wrist to him.

This left Roswaal thoroughly stunned. That foremost of the Beloved Children, who had battled the kingdom's "Six Tongues" for over a decade, the Sin Archbishop of Lust—dead, just like that?

Frankly, he was struck by a sudden sense of unreality.

"Er... Lord Subaru, are you truly certain? From what I know, the Sin Archbishop of Lust is quite a cunning creature—there's no risk she faked her death and slipped away?"

"You're kidding me! Who do you take me for? You can doubt my comedic talent compared to yours, but you can absolutely not doubt my thoroughness in finishing the job."

Seeing someone dare question his professional competence, Subaru instantly fired up. Ignoring the fact that the man in front of him was a probably-gay pervert clown, he stepped forward and jabbed a finger at his chest, lowering his voice:

"I tossed that woman into the lava and burned her to ash—not a scrap left. Consider it a little compensation for wrecking your courtyard. Yeah, no need to thank me."

An expression of disbelief crossed that pale clownish face once more. Roswaal suddenly felt that discarding his now-useless Gospel had been the wise choice after all.

The young man before him could no longer even be described as a "master"—he was practically a "divine being," wielding power enough to raze heaven and earth, and even accompanied by a vessel of Echidna.

With power like that, why was he still bothering with plans to back Emilia's dragon-slaying scheme? Wouldn't it be far better to just latch onto this man's leg and hold on tight?

"Just as I thought—my eye for people has always been accurate. Master Natsuki Subaru, you truly are a being beyond imagination."

"Fine, I'll take that as a compliment."

Subaru stared at him.

"So what exactly are you after?"

"The answer is simple."

Roswaal pressed a hand to his chest and lowered his body slowly.

"I want to support you."

"Support me?"

"Support you in ascending to the throne."

"Hm?!"

Subaru immediately sensed something off, glaring at Roswaal's mismatched eyes with suspicion, a sharp, threatening glint flashing in his own.

"I think I only discussed that privately with my buddy the Sword Saint. Talk! How do you know? Did you—you pervert—secretly have someone tailing me?"

"A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" Roswaal waved his hands in surrender, his tone comically theatrical. "I merely heard that the royal capital's Dragon Insignia responded to you, and saw you transform into that magnificent dragon form—I simply thought you might have some interest in the throne, that's all."

"Hmph..." Subaru circled halfway around Roswaal, the suspicion in his eyes not yet fading.

"For Emilia's sake, I'll believe you for now."

"Much obliged~"

He said it lightly enough, but Roswaal's blood had genuinely run cold moments ago. After witnessing that terrifying black dragon soaring across the sky, avoiding Subaru's wrath had become his absolute top priority.

Though the young man seemed reasonable enough and even good-natured, Roswaal dared not stake his life and fortune on such an unpredictable variable—especially one wielding power that lay entirely beyond his ability to comprehend or calculate.

He knew men who wielded great power. But what dwelled within Subaru already surpassed anything he could understand or calculate.

"So why do you want to support me? I want to know the real reason. And you'd better not tell me you're just interested in me romantically!"

Subaru eyed Roswaal warily.

Roswaal could only laugh apologetically and deny it, his gaze drifting once more to Ciel beside Subaru. He let out a soft sigh and murmured:

"Perhaps it's for Teacher Echidna's sake..."

"I'm sorry to say this, but I am not Echidna." Ciel shook her head.

"I know," Roswaal said, closing his eyes.

"That's precisely what confirms my judgment."

Subaru frowned.

"What judgment?"

"Then let me be honest with you, Lord Subaru. For four hundred years I followed the plan laid out in Teacher Echidna's Gospel, believing that if I simply kept walking that path, I would someday reach wherever she was."

Roswaal spoke earnestly, without a trace of his usual flippancy.

"But once you appeared, everything unraveled. The words in the Gospel vanished. You saved someone who was meant to be sacrificed, disrupted what was supposed to happen, and even brought before me a being with the very same face as my beloved teacher."

"If that isn't fate's own answer, then I don't know what could be."

Subaru fell silent for a moment, then said with open scorn:

"Buddy, have you lived so long you've gone soft in the head? The most unreliable thing in this world is destiny and prophecy nonsense."

"You're right," Roswaal said, nodding with a smile.

"That's exactly why I intend to throw away the script that's already been written and walk with you toward whatever unknown ending awaits. Good or bad, at least I'll have tried."

Even after saying that, Roswaal remained uneasy inside, watching Subaru's expression carefully, afraid his words hadn't sounded sincere enough.

It could be said this was the most humbling moment of his four hundred years—he was one step short of dropping to his knees and begging to be brought along. If even this couldn't earn him a shred of trust as a "good man," then he truly had no other cards left to play.

"Not bad, Ros old buddy!" Subaru immediately stepped forward as though he'd found a kindred spirit, clapping him on the shoulder. "I thought you were just a bit of a pervert, but turns out you've got quite the backstory!"

"That doesn't change the fact that you're still a pervert, but at least I think you genuinely count as a good man."

"After all, what villain spends hundreds of years, day in and day out, guarding the border as a Margrave? I've got to give you credit for that—you've got guts, you're a real man!"

"Thank you for your trust."

Roswaal's anxious heart finally settled a little.

"I can promise you—when it comes to your bid for the throne, the Mathers domain will stand behind you."

"What about Emilia?"

At that name, Roswaal's expression finally faltered slightly.

"Lady Emilia has her own choice to make."

"She's a Royal Selection candidate too."

"Yes."

"You want her to give up?"

"No, actually, I believe your ideals and Lady Emilia's are quite similar. If you became king, that girl's aspirations could still be realized."

Roswaal's tone was calm.

"Besides, as you yourself said before, Lady Emilia is still too naive and unpolished. Don't you think pushing her onto that stage for the Royal Selection would be too cruel to her?"

"Hearing you say that only makes me more uneasy."

"A reasonable wariness."

Roswaal raised his head, a smile returning to his face.

"In any case, once your royal army arrives—or rather, once you formally announce your candidacy to the royal capital—Emilia's camp will cooperate fully."

"Funds, territory, knights, manpower, intelligence—whatever the Mathers family can offer, I'll give it all to you."

"Royal army?" Subaru raised an eyebrow, struggling not to laugh. "Isn't that a bit much, Ros? I haven't gotten to the point of raising an army to revolt."

"Of course you don't need to raise an army."

Roswaal said with a smile.

"It's just that the throne has never been something one simply waits on a chair to receive. If you're going to walk into the royal capital, you must let everyone see who stands behind you."

"And you're not afraid I might lose?"

"Impossible," Roswaal said, his tone utterly certain.

"Who in all Lugnica could possibly compare to you, a true dragon?"

He glanced at Ciel, then at Subaru.

"Not to mention, a man like you, who can turn the impossible into reality, shouldn't be measured by common sense at all. There's no need for us mere mortals to worry."

Subaru wanted to fire back a retort.

But Roswaal's expression was too earnest, so in the end he just pursed his lips.

"Fine. If you want to support me, I'll accept it."

"It's my honor."

"But there's one thing you need to agree to first."

"Please, go on."

"Take off that ridiculous clown makeup. Enough with the performance art. Comic relief characters are supposed to make people laugh, not make their skin crawl."

At that, the smile on Roswaal's face froze for an instant.

Of all things, he hadn't expected Subaru to make this particular demand.

"Very well... I'll try."