Chapter 39: The First to Reveal Their Identity Is Not Someone Else! (Patreon)

"Where did this crackpot come from? No, wait, even a crackpot couldn't be this outrageous. Is a lie this fake, told to a little kid, really okay?"

"Eek! Will I get pregnant? No, no! I don't dislike babies, but if I had one now, I couldn't take part in the Royal Selection properly. And Puck told me a baby should only come with someone you like! No, no, no!"

"What are you, a three-year-old?!"

Utterly drained.

Subaru Natsuki slumped in his chair and laughed bitterly. How was Emilia even easier to fool than a three-year-old? And so lacking in common sense?

Hey, all of you who backed off ten meters, come take a good look! This is the so-called Witch of Envy and half-demon you're so afraid of. She's just a little kid who thinks making eye contact with a boy can get her pregnant!

"Hmph, hmph~"

Puck floated in midair with his arms crossed, proud of having stopped his daughter from being tricked yet again. He even arched an eyebrow at Subaru in challenge. "Changing her affection progress with a single sentence. Could anyone else pull that off? Only me, Puck!"

Subaru had no intention of provoking him back. He was simply awestruck at how out-there this cat was.

"You've lost it, you old cat. You overthink everything, you love worrying over nothing, and you lie to her under the banner of what you think is good for your kid. It's just too... ugh. If you're Emilia's only guardian, I really do feel sorry for her."

"Say what you like. As long as Lia is safe, stays by my side, and is happy, that's all that matters!" Puck shrugged and casually dropped a bombshell of a declaration.

Sigh. Family of origin. Sigh. Old-generation parents.

Complaint granted. Emilia is hereby permitted to break away from her family of origin!

Subaru shook his head. "Still, I'm really curious. How does a cat this tiny give birth to a person?"

"Puck's real form is very, very big, you know?" Emilia began eagerly, gesturing to show just how big. Then her head drooped, uneasy at her own ignorance. "And I wasn't born from Puck, so I don't know how Puck would do it either. Sorry to let you down, Shopkeeper. I don't know anything."

Someone had finally asked her a question, and she couldn't answer it. What a failure of a half-elf.

Seeing the conversation about to go deeper, Puck hurriedly jumped in.

"All right, all right, that's enough of the off-topic stuff. Come on, weren't you going to read her fortune? Shopkeeper, take a look at our Lia's face. She's a super good girl, isn't she? Handling a mere Royal Selection should be a sure thing, right?"

"Hmm, well."

Subaru put on his charlatan act. He frowned and pondered gravely for a moment, studied Emilia's face, had her hold out her hand and read her palm, then went back and forth again. Emilia, Ram and Puck all figured he must have real skill, and their hearts hung in suspense.

After a moment, he declared flatly:

"There's a chance!"

"Huh?", "Seriously?" and "Wow!" rang out at the same time.

Puck was indignant. He kicked and punched the air and threatened Subaru. With him around, his Lia only had a chance? Hmph! Clearly this guy had no real skill and only knew how to lie, just like him!

Ram was stunned, her eyes practically popping out. Even with Lord Roswaal L. Mathers and the Beast of the End backing her, and pardon her bluntness, she didn't think Emilia stood the slightest chance. And now the shopkeeper said this? Sure enough, he was a fraud with no real skill who only faked it to swindle people out of their money!

And Emilia?

She felt only delight and joy. "Shopkeeper, is it true?" she pressed eagerly.

"It's true. I don't lie."

Subaru waved a big hand. He really wasn't lying. In a Royal Selection, nobody knows who'll take the throne until the last moment. Judging by the little royal tales he'd read these past few days, in succession struggles no one can predict how many accidents and twists will occur, and someone nobody favored always has a chance of coming out on top.

So Emilia truly had a chance. If she got extremely lucky and all the other Royal Selection candidates died in accidents, she'd win by default. However reluctant the people were, there'd be nothing they could do but hold their noses and accept the last and only candidate.

"But to survive to the end, considering how naturally you make enemies with your looks, you'll definitely need to ally with someone in the early and middle stages. You have to stay alive first before we can talk about anything else."

Ram: "What a shameless liar."

Puck: "I'm on a hot streak, and I feel like loving someone. Too bad my daughter clearly won't allow it."

Completely bamboozled, Emilia now believed Subaru wholeheartedly and treated him as her life's compass. Her eyes sparkled as she sank all the way in. "Shopkeeper, who is my ally? Can you tell me? Please!"

Here it came. She'd taken the bait.

Subaru was already humming to himself.

He needed time to grow. But among the four known Royal Selection candidates, Anastasia and Crusch were both fully developed, powerful and famous. If he didn't give them a hard pull backward, the Royal Selection would probably wrap up quickly and become a contest between those two alone.

And if it ended too fast, he'd run out of time.

Of course, he could wait until one of them had been on the throne for a while, then overthrow them once he was fully grown and seize the Kingdom of Lugunica. But by then, the new ruler would have legitimacy and the people would feel a sense of belonging. They'd resist him fiercely, and bloodshed would probably be unavoidable.

That would go against his intentions. He wanted to be king to make the world better, not to kill people for his own authority. And yet without killing anyone, he could never take the kingdom.

But if he rose to power before the Royal Selection ended, things would be different. At bottom, the candidates were only reserves, and most of the people had no sense of belonging to them. Their resistance to an outsider like him taking the throne would naturally be nothing like that.

That way, he might be able to resolve everything without bloodshed or killing. Perfect.

To reach that goal, he had to viciously drag down Anastasia and Crusch. So he needed to guide and lure Emilia and Priscilla Barielle, whose chances of winning were nearly zero, into an alliance and extend how long the two of them survived in the Royal Selection.

And though he had his own agenda, the suggestion was genuine. It would absolutely benefit both Emilia and Priscilla Barielle.

After all, the former was despised by everyone but backed by Roswaal L. Mathers, while the latter had no backers but was said to be so beautiful that everyone loved her. They complemented each other perfectly!