(A/N: You say 'Oh Writer! Oh Writer! Bless thy people with chapters!' And I say "TAKE THIS! BONUS FUCKING CHAPTER")
…
(3rd POV)
Subaru took out his handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears trailing down Reina's cheeks.
"There you go," he said with a small smile. "You look way more beautiful with a smile than with tears staining your face."
Reina blushed fiercely. She felt butterflies fluttering wildly in her stomach. For some unknown reason, she didn't want this moment to end. She wanted to stay here with him… longer.
'Is this love?' she asked herself. The very concept of love had become something alien to her—distant and blurred. But now, standing here with him, she could remember it again. She could feel it.
The joy she used to feel when her father praised her. The happiness she knew when her grandfather looked at her with warmth. The way her mother lovingly tended to her scraped knees. The way her grandmother cherished her—showering her with affection, praise, and protection.
She remembered it all vividly.
But then… she lost it all.
Her mother. Her grandmother. Her father. Her grandfather. Every single one of them—gone. And the people who once looked at her with love and admiration… turned on her. They branded her a monster.
While Reina was lost in the swirl of her reawakening emotions and painful memories, Emilia stood silently in the background, watching.
At first, she had been baffled seeing Reina cry. After all, this was the same Reina Van Astrea—the strongest Sword Saint in the history of Lugunica since the First. A literal walking deity. Even Puck had once admitted that if he were to unleash his full power, he'd still die from a single slash of her blade.
'What could possibly make such a powerful girl cry?' Emilia wondered silently, biting her lip in uncertainty.
Then she saw Subaru take the initiative, reaching out to Reina—calming her, grounding her.
She had wanted to step in too. But she hesitated.
She wasn't good at dealing with people. She didn't know how to offer comfort properly. And she feared she'd only make things worse. So, she quietly stepped aside and let Zero handle it.
Suddenly, the tender atmosphere was shattered.
"Damn it! Stop flirting already and help me out!" a familiar voice rang out in frustration.
All eyes turned.
Felt was stuck in the wooden wall, half-embedded like a dart, only her legs and part of her waist visible.
"Uh! I'll help you!" Emilia said quickly, rushing over to assist. She grabbed Felt's waist and started pulling with earnest effort.
"Stop! Stop! Do you want to kill me?! My skin's getting shredded by the splinters, you idiot!" Felt yelled in pain, thrashing around.
Emilia immediately stopped and flinched, "I-I'm sorry!"
Reina, who had now recovered from her emotional episode, walked over. She sighed and placed a hand on the wall near Felt.
With one solid punch, the entire section shattered into wooden fragments. Felt dropped to the floor, finally free, though she was bleeding from multiple small cuts.
"You're injured," Emilia said with concern. "Let me help with some healing magic—"
"Forget me for now!" Felt interrupted, standing up and clutching her arm. "We need to check on Old Man Rom!"
Her tone carried urgency and worry.
Hearing that, Subaru's expression turned serious. He made his way to the collapsed table and the broken wall, where Rom was lying unconscious. Blood seeped from a wound on his forehead.
"It looks like he's bleeding. Emilia, I think he needs your healing magic," Subaru said, gesturing to Rom's limp body.
Before Emilia could respond, Reina stepped up beside him.
"No worries, Sir Zero," she said confidently. "I have the Divine Protection of Healing. I can handle it."
She raised her hand, and a warm golden light emanated from her palms. The light spread gently over Rom's body, closing his wounds and stabilizing his breathing.
Subaru blinked in surprise.
'Reinhardt… never had any Divine Protection like that…' he thought.
He didn't know that despite being a gender-swapped version of Reinhardt, Reina was actually even stronger.
Felt exhaled in relief upon seeing Rom stir slightly, his body visibly mending under the radiant light.
Reina then turned to her. "Would you like me to heal your injuries as well, Miss Felt?"
"Yes, I woul—wait a minute…" Felt narrowed her eyes, suddenly suspicious. "How do you know my name?"
Reina flinched internally.
Felt's brows furrowed. "You arrived while we were fighting. You shouldn't know my name unless you got here earlier… But if you were here early, then why didn't you jump in sooner?"
Her voice turned cold, suspicious.
"It's a Divine Protection," Reina blurted, lying on instinct. "It tells me people's names automatically."
She smiled innocently, trying to preserve her image in front of Subaru.
Subaru, meanwhile, felt a wave of unease wash over him.
'So she has a Divine Protection that can reveal names? That's… dangerous.' He looked at her, thoughtful. "Reina, can I ask you something?"
She turned toward him immediately, smiling. "Yes! You can ask anything!"
"Can you… not reveal my real name?" he asked. "It's a precaution against the Witch Cult."
Reina felt sweat roll down her back.
'Crap! How do I explain this now?! If he'd asked his name, I would've been exposed instantly!' she mentally panicked. 'I shouldn't have lied!'
Still, she held her smile and said, "I promise! I won't reveal your name to anyone!"
Subaru sighed in relief. That was one concern off his chest.
Meanwhile, Puck—who had been silently observing—let out a long yawn. "Yaaawn… I'm tired, Lia. You better get your insignia back and meet up with Ram."
Emilia's eyes widened in realization. "Yes! I almost forgot—I came here for the insignia! Thank you, Puck, for reminding me!"
Puck gave her a lazy nod before returning to his crystal with a flash.
Emilia turned to Felt, who was now being gently healed by Reina's magic.
"Miss Felt," Emilia said politely, "could you please return my insignia? I promise not to hold you accountable for taking it."
Felt looked at Emilia with guilt in her eyes. "You see… please forgive me for stealing your insignia. I know I took it from you, and yet you still helped me... you even saved my life."
Emilia gave her a gentle smile and replied, "No worries. In the end, you're returning it now, right? That's what matters."
Felt nodded slowly and reached into her clothes to pull out the insignia. The moment it left her pocket, the gem began to glow faintly, catching Reina's attention. Without hesitation, Reina grabbed Felt's wrist.
"Hey! Why are you grabbing my hand?" Felt asked, slightly alarmed.
Reina didn't respond right away. Her sharp eyes were fixated on the glowing insignia. Her mind raced. 'No doubt about it. She's the fifth candidate… the one I was ordered to find.'
After a few seconds, she looked up and said, "If you observe the insignia closely, it's glowing. That's an indication you're a Dragon Priestess."
Felt stared at her, eyes wide. "Me? A Dragon Priestess?! That's ridiculous!"
Subaru took the insignia from Felt's hand to examine it. As soon as it left Felt's grasp, the glow vanished.
"Indeed… it seems you're correct, Reina," Subaru said, nodding before handing the gem to Emilia.
The moment Emilia touched it, the insignia glowed once again—this time brighter than before.
"Wait a second!" Felt exclaimed, pointing at Emilia. "Doesn't that mean you are also a Dragon Priestess?!"
Emilia nodded with a smile, slightly embarrassed by the sudden attention.
"A-And I… I'm one too?" Felt stammered, pointing at herself, still in disbelief. "So what now? I mean, this is insane. I'm just a gutter rat from the slums… and now I'm being told I'm one of the candidates to rule this entire country?! That's... laughable."
Reina calmly stepped forward. "If you don't want to join the Royal Selection… then you don't need to."
Her words silenced the entire room. Even Subaru looked at her in shock.
'Wait… isn't Reinhardt—or well, Reina—supposed to be a die-hard supporter of Felt?' Subaru thought, baffled. 'I guess it makes sense. Her personality is different. She's not Reinhardt. He never cried… not like she did.'
Felt's expression turned from confusion to one of curiosity. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, trying to make sense of Reina's sudden leniency.
"I was given the task of finding the fifth candidate for the Royal Selection. That was my mission," Reina explained. "However, if Miss Felt doesn't wish to participate, then I won't force her."
Her words were honest. Reina had been a tool of the kingdom for as long as she could remember. But after everything that had happened—after all the pain and rejection—she didn't care about the kingdom's orders anymore.
For once, someone had treated her as more than just the Sword Saint. More than a weapon. More than a tool. Subaru had seen her, spoken to her like she mattered.
'I'd rather stay beside him than follow the will of people who discarded me like garbage,' she thought.
Felt seemed conflicted, standing still in thought. That's when Old Man Rom stirred, slowly sitting up. Both Emilia and Felt rushed toward him in surprise.
"Old Man!" Felt exclaimed, hugging him tightly.
Rom smiled softly and patted her back. Then his eyes turned toward Reina. "Felt… I think this is your chance to do something meaningful. Something bigger than this slum. Something real."
"But I'm just a gutter rat!" she argued, pulling back. "How can someone like me ever hope to run a kingdom, to be something important?"
Rom looked into her eyes, his tone serious. "Yes, you are. You've lived your life as one. But that doesn't mean you have to stay one. This is your chance. Not just to change your own fate, but the fate of others too. What you do from here on out… that's on you."
Felt went quiet. Her thoughts were spinning. She looked at Emilia. Then at Reina. Then at Subaru. After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"Fine… I'll do it. I'll become the Fifth Candidate for the Royal Selection! I'll turn this damn kingdom upside down!" she declared, grinning with defiance in her eyes.
She turned to Reina and said boldly, "My answer is clear. I'm in!"
Reina sighed. A small tsk escaped her lips.
'Great. My workload just tripled.'
'Should I just let her go rogue and pretend she never agreed? But then that would damage my image in front of Lord Zero… damn it.'
She grumbled internally, but made peace with the situation. She would take Felt under her wing for now—and once Felt was officially recognized as the fifth candidate, she'd let her do as she pleased.
Just then, Subaru clapped his hands lightly. "Now that I think about it… I'm currently homeless. I don't really have anywhere to stay, do I?"
Reina's eyes lit up like fireworks. She jumped forward excitedly. "How about—No! Lord Zero, how about you stay at my mansion? I promise to give you the best treatment possible! You can even become my permanent guest!"
Her voice was hopeful—desperate, even.
Subaru hesitated. 'Damn it. If I went with Reina, I'd be a hundred times safer than staying with Emilia. I'm pretty sure that blue-haired oni is going to murder me eventually… and the red one with Stockholm Syndrome? Definitely bad news.'
But he knew he couldn't abandon Emilia, or the timeline itself could spiral into disaster. Rem or Ram might die from the curse. Roswaal would start scheming more than usual. He absolutely couldn't let that bastard cook—because if he did…
'I'll be the one who gets cooked.'
He sighed deeply and said, "I appreciate the offer, Miss Reina, but I think I'll pass. Since I've helped Miss Emilia, it only makes sense for her to take responsibility and host me as her guest, right?"
Emilia smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I'm sure Roswaal will reward you properly too. After all, you did protect me."
Reina's expression darkened instantly. She didn't like that. Not one bit.
She wanted to be near him—all the time.
'Should I secretly follow him? Maybe set up surveillance or—No. No, that would be creepy. Or would it?' she wondered, her mind spiraling.
But Subaru's next words halted her dangerous thoughts.
"Also… Miss Reina," he said, turning to her, "thank you. For everything you've done. If not for you, all of us would've been dead by now. You're an important person, Miss Reina… so don't ever belittle yourself again."
Reina's eyes widened. Her face flushed with warmth and embarrassment. When Subaru reached up to gently pat her head, she completely melted, her heart thudding like a war drum.
Meanwhile, Subaru looked down at her with a conflicted expression.
'I always knew Reinhardt's backstory was tragic… but now that he's become a she, and I'm seeing it unfold this close… I can't even begin to imagine what she went through to call herself a monster.'
What Subaru didn't know… was that he had just created a yandere.
To be continued…