"Ah this…"
Natsuki Subaru froze at the doorway, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably. The scene before him almost made him laugh out loud.
Beatrice, who had been so haughty just moments before, was now burying her face in Puck's fluffy cat belly, rubbing back and forth, and even letting out a series of unintelligible, affectionate coos.
Who would have thought that the proud, over-four-hundred-year-old Great Spirit Beatrice would, in private, act like a little girl, cuddling Puck in his cat form and acting spoiled.
This was simply... the Great Spirit's most embarrassing scene of affection!
This was even more fatal than walking in on someone changing…
"H-How did you get in?"
At this moment, Beatrice, having noticed the intruder, abruptly lifted her head. Her pink pupils suddenly constricted the instant she recognized the newcomer.
Puck, in her arms, tilted his head. "Subaru, you really have bad timing, meow~"
"Ahem... I seem to have seen something rather extraordinary."
Natsuki Subaru mechanically turned his head, casting a pleading look at Ram in the hallway. She merely shook her head calmly.
"Y-You saw everything?"
Beatrice's fair cheeks flushed crimson at a visible rate.
"Yeah, little Betty!" Natsuki Subaru forced a smile, giving a thumbs-up with feigned composure. "I didn't expect you to have such an adorable side."
"Sh-Shut up!"
Hearing Natsuki Subaru's teasing words, Beatrice's fair cheeks instantly turned beet red, all the way to the tips of her ears. She hugged Puck even tighter, her defense completely lacking conviction.
"Betty was just... just engaging in an important spiritual arts exchange with brother."
Tsk tsk, what a textbook tsundere.
Although he was complaining inwardly, Natsuki Subaru maintained a serious expression as he said to Beatrice:
"No need to explain, I completely understand. This kind of spiritual arts exchange, where you need to bury your face in a fluffy belly and rub back and forth, must be a particularly powerful spiritual art, right?"
Then, Natsuki Subaru turned his gaze to Puck. "So, being doted on by such a cute little sister, you must be enjoying it, right?"
"Meow~" Puck contentedly narrowed his small amber eyes, his tail wagging happily. "After all, Betty is my cute little sister, so it can't be helped, meow~"
"Brother!"
Beatrice cried out in embarrassment, yet still clutched Puck tightly. She then turned to glare daggers at Natsuki Subaru. "You disrespectful person, get out of here, now!"
"So even a noble Great Spirit user acts spoiled like an ordinary little girl, huh?"
Seeing Beatrice's cute angry look, Natsuki Subaru couldn't resist teasing her further, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
"N-Nonsense! Betty wasn't acting spoiled!"
Beatrice stomped her little fists in frustration, even the ends of her hair curling up slightly due to her agitation.
"Alright, alright, I get it." Natsuki Subaru took a few steps back, but didn't forget to wink at Puck. "But seriously, Betty is super cute like this, a hundred times cuter than when she's scolding people with a straight face. What do you think, Puck?"
"She is indeed very cute, meow~" Puck wagged his tail, lifting his small head to look at Natsuki Subaru. "But Subaru, if you keep teasing her, Betty might really go berserk, meow~"
"Relax, I definitely won't tell anyone what happened just now~" Natsuki Subaru looked at Beatrice, whose face was red to her neck, and deliberately used a tone as if coaxing a child.
"After all, it's normal for little kids to act spoiled, I completely understand…"
"Stop spouting such grand nonsense!"
Beatrice, flushed with shame and anger, stretched out her palm, magic already beginning to gather there.
Natsuki Subaru, who was prepared, slammed the door shut with a "bang" and leaned his back against the door panel, letting out a long sigh of relief:
"I was almost blasted to smithereens by Betty's magic. Good thing I'm so quick-witted."
Although Beatrice was particularly close to Puck, she maintained a standoffish demeanor towards everyone else.
However, Natsuki Subaru knew that this cute Great Spirit, though seemingly sharp-tongued and indifferent on the surface, was actually kinder than anyone.
After all, in the original work, Beatrice helped Natsuki Subaru a great deal.
For example, on the day Natsuki Subaru arrived at the mansion, it was Beatrice who helped heal his wounds and put his internal organs back in place.
In Natsuki Subaru's fourth loop of the second arc, she formed a contract with him, protecting him from dying in the mansion.
Although it was a contract established through Natsuki Subaru's coaxing, deception, and threats, Beatrice protected Natsuki Subaru until the very end when things fell into chaos, even to the point of making the contract ambiguous.
In the fifth loop, Beatrice was pestered by Natsuki Subaru for a whole night, and she explained many things about curse masters and the Witch of Envy. After learning that Natsuki Subaru was cursed, she dispelled the curse for him and even hinted at how he could avoid death.
In short, Beatrice was a sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, cute Great Spirit.
Then, Natsuki Subaru cautiously pushed open the door again.
However, he found that the room had already returned to its normal guest room appearance, with no sign of Beatrice or Puck.
"Looks like they ran off, huh..."
Is this the legendary Door Crossing effect?
It's as magical as a version of the Anywhere Door.
You know, Beatrice could use Door Crossing to freely move between all locations connected by doors within the mansion, and could even seal the entrance to the Forbidden Library at will.
"As long as Lady Beatrice conceals her presence, no one will know where she is," Ram explained coolly from the side. "Unless you can open every single door in the mansion, you'll just have to wait for her to come out on her own."
"Is that really so..."
Hearing Ram's words, Natsuki Subaru's competitive spirit was suddenly ignited, a mischievous glint flashing in his eyes.
Before Ram could react, Natsuki Subaru had already shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, sprinting down the corridor at full speed.
"Wait! What are you doing, you idiot—"
Ram's eyes widened in surprise.
"In here!"
With a soft shout, Natsuki Subaru forcefully pushed open a door at the end of the corridor.
"—Kyaa!?"
"Amazing, Subaru~"
Beatrice's shriek and Puck's cheerful praise sounded at the same time.
The Door Crossing effect was broken again. Beatrice's fair face was filled with disbelief.
Puck, in her arms, was covering his mouth with his paw, snickering, clearly finding this development very amusing.
"Yo, we meet again, little Betty~!" Seeing the astonished Beatrice, Natsuki Subaru winked triumphantly. "It's not that easy to hide from me!"
Despite being completely ignorant of the principles behind Door Crossing, he had accurately found Beatrice's hiding place purely through beast-like intuition.
"Y-You, you..."
At this moment, Beatrice's cute face was flushed red with anger.
"I get it, I get it…" Natsuki Subaru spread his hands with a cheeky grin. "Disrespectful person, go die, something like that, right?"
_____
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