"Hey, wait! I don't have the strength right now! Give me time to recharge!"
I panicked when I was surrounded by Rem and Ram. While my veiny friend was eager to get going, I knew I wouldn't last long before passing out.
I needed to eat; I needed vitamins.
"Nobody said anything about doing it right now, idiot."
Ram gave me a swat on the head.
"The plan is to wait until you recover a bit. Maybe in a few days?" Rem suggested with an understanding smile.
"That's too long. Tonight is better." I joked, though I genuinely believed that if I had to wait too long, I'd go crazy.
"Impatient pervert…" Ram pulled my hair, and I let out a groan as if it turned me on. In fact, it kind of did.
"Maybe, but I also want to hurry up and see if Echidna's theory is correct."
"That Witch is a pervert too."
Spot on. If Ram knew that her perversion was likely influenced by my own personality, she'd tease me for the rest of her life.
Then Rem squeezed my arm with a stern look. "First, you need to exercise and eat properly."
"My legs are going to hurt so much…" I grumbled out of an old habit of physical laziness. Truth be told, I had gotten used to running around all day, but a part of me felt nostalgic for my sedentary lifestyle: sitting all day with my computer or phone, doing absolutely nothing, and without a care in the world. At least, not the kind of worries I had now.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a… massage, if you work hard."
"Like the one in the bath?" I asked brazenly. Rem blushed slightly.
"Yes…"
"Deal." I accepted the terms immediately.
"Hey."
I felt something sharp poking my side.
It was Ram's wand.
"Did you just sexually blackmail my little sister?"
I swallowed hard. For a moment, I had forgotten she was standing right there and left myself completely exposed.
"A little bit."
Ram clicked her tongue, though she wasn't truly angry. "I can't believe how cynical you are, taking advantage of her generous heart to overwhelm her with your dark desires."
"Sorry."
"An apology isn't enough. I'll have to take matters into my own hands and protect Rem from your insatiable lust."
I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And how do you plan to do that?"
Ram huffed and puffed out her chest with pride. "I will join her to keep you under control."
I closed my eyes and folded my hands together. God, it's me again. I'm calling to say thank you and to let you know I haven't forgotten the promise about the nuns.
Shortly after, it was time for lunch.
In the dining hall, the table was set, and the diners were seated. At the head sat Annerose, with Clind standing behind her.
"Welcome back." The little girl greeted me politely, so I bowed to show my respects.
"Thank you."
"..."
I glanced at Clind for a second. He gave a subtle nod.
Emilia pointed to the empty seat beside her, so I sat down next to her.
"Oh, there's cake." I muttered, noticing that this lunch looked more like a banquet. I assumed they made it in my honor.
Suddenly, I heard a chuckle and saw Echidna giving me a mocking look.
"If the cake is there, then where did you sit? XD."
I stared at Echidna in disbelief. "...What did you just say?"
She said "XD." I heard it clearly, but I refused to believe it actually happened.
Emilia looked at us curiously. "I think she asked where you sat."
Echidna looked at her with annoyance. "Who?"
"Well, you—"
"Asked."
I felt a nervous twitch starting in my eye. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm just ragebaiting. Why the cringe face? You need a little six-seven in your life."
"Please stop. You're not even using the damn terms right."
Beside me, Emilia made a confused noise. "I don't understand what you two are talking about…"
Echidna stuck her tongue out at her and made an "L" shape with her fingers. "That's because your IQ is lower than a tiktoker's. -1000 aura. You're only good for Rule 34."
I covered my face with my hands. "If this keeps up, I'm going to unsubscribe from life."
Echidna let out a soft laugh. "Chill, bro. If you do that now, you'll definitely get permabanned, so you won't respawn and you'll end up being the troll of the match."
I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.
To make matters worse, Echidna started mewing while running a finger along her jawline.
"Are you torturing me on purpose? What terrible thing did I ever do to you?"
"If I told you, it would be a spoiler." The Witch smirked playfully. Beside me, Betty sighed.
"Mother, you are being very childish."
Echidna looked at her dramatically, like a scene straight out of a Mexican soap opera. "Beatrice, this is between your father and me!"
"He is not my father! Although… I suppose I wouldn't mind if he were."
I didn't even have the energy to react to that. I knew Echidna was joking, but I was certain Rem and Ram wouldn't see it that way.
Before I could turn around to check the sisters' reactions, Emilia gave me a gentle nudge with her elbow, pulling my attention back to her.
"By the way, the woman you brought along is a bit grumpy, but she knows a lot about magic! She placed protective spells all over the place and enchanted a few suits of armor to patrol around the manor. She can even craft magical clothes with special powers, like my cloak."
"I see. Recruiting that woman was the right move after all," I said with satisfaction. "And where is she now?"
It was Echidna who answered me. "Working on a project I assigned to her."
"What?"
"I made her my assistant in your absence."
"Well, as long as she's useful…" I shrugged and started eating, determined to ignore any strange behavior around me.
However, before I even made it to dessert, Emilia placed her hand over mine.
"I'm so happy to have you back. I felt so lonely…"
That angelic voice and face filled my chest with a strange warmth—as uncomfortable as it was intense. Even an innocent touch like this managed to make my pulse race.
"You won't be anymore. I promise." I managed a smile, though my hand was sweating a little.
In a move so subtle I barely noticed, Emilia leaned closer to me, closing the distance between us until we were almost pressed together.
Her hand gripped mine tightly. It hurt a little, which could mean one of two things: Emilia was using too much strength, or I was just ridiculously weak.
"Could you stay with me tonight? We don't have to sleep."
"Ah… Uh…"
The half-elf's unexpected request left me speechless. Once again, my mind blew things out of proportion. Emilia was just being her usual innocent, sweet self. She probably just wanted to play a game or talk.
I instinctively started moving my mouth to say yes, but Echidna interrupted me.
"Emilia, do you not care about Leandro's health? Can't you see he still needs rest and proper care?"
I was surprised that Echidna wasn't being harsh toward Emilia.
Hearing those words, Emilia seemed to come to her senses and lowered her head remorsefully. "It's true. I'm sorry, I got too carried away. I'll leave you alone."
"Don't apologize! As soon as I feel better, I promise we'll do whatever you want."
I hated seeing her sad, so I tried to comfort her. Between Puck's disappearance, the deaths, the betrayals, the revelations, and the burden of being a royal candidate with a campaign on the verge of collapsing due to the lack of a sponsor, Emilia must have been dealing with pure chaos in her heart.
My desire to make her happy hadn't faded, even if I had recently been willing to give up everything to run away with Rem. Now that I was sure I was staying, I had to get to work for Emilia's sake.
Roswaal is alive. What if he decides to accuse us before the kingdom? No… even if he did, Reinhard and Crusch could help us prove our innocence.
After the meal, I went to work on my body a bit.
"The rule of intense sensations should apply to normal exercise too, right?"
I started with some stretches to warm up, and while I was at it, I felt someone approaching.
"Hey, Captain."
"What's up, Garfiel?"
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, curious about the lack of energy in his voice. Even his movements were unusually calm, as if that enthusiastic spirit of his had been drained away.
"Everything alright? You look worried or sad about something."
"Ah, really? Damn, I thought I was hiding it well…"
I smiled as he huffed.
"Come on, talk to me. Whatever the problem is, I'll try to help you solve it."
After all, it couldn't be that complicated.
"I want to make Ram fall in love with me."
I spoke too soon.
"..."
"Captain?"
I blinked and turned my gaze away, scratching the back of my neck nervously.
"Sorry, you just caught me off guard saying that so suddenly."
With everything that happened, I had forgotten that Garfiel had an unrequited crush on Ram. She had never returned his feelings because she loved Roswaal, but even taking Roswaal out of the equation, it didn't seem feasible to me.
Much less now.
"I… I tried everything I could in the past. I guess it didn't work because back then she was obsessed with that damn Roswaal. Then, when the whole thing with Rem happened, it obviously wasn't a good time."
I nodded slowly, still not daring to make eye contact. I didn't want my facial expression to give me away.
"But now… we're finally okay, right? There's no crazy clown trying to kill us anymore."
Probably not a good time to tell him the crazy clown is still alive and we'll likely hear from him again.
I decided to keep those thoughts to myself and kept nodding.
"So I've been thinking about trying again! But I wanted to talk to you first, Captain. If there's anyone who can help me, it's you."
"Me? I'm flattered, but I don't have much to offer on the matter."
Garfiel grinned and chuckled to himself. To my surprise, he stepped closer and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I tensed up a bit, imagining that he actually already knew about Ram and was about to snap my neck or something.
Pure paranoia, of course.
"No need to play dumb with me, Captain. I know you've already got Rem completely head over heels for you."
"What? How do you know?"
"Your scent was practically painted all over her skin. Man, Captain, you really don't waste any time. You haven't been back a single day and you're already doing those things… You're my idol, you bastard!"
"Ugh…"
Not only was I embarrassed to talk so openly about my intimate life, but I also felt totally exposed. But the most uncomfortable part of all was that Garfiel was about to suffer a terrible heartbreak.
I hated having to hurt his feelings; I felt like I was doing something terrible, but I couldn't play dumb in a situation like this.
"But don't worry, my lips are sealed so you can get away with it without Lady Emilia finding out! That's what friends are for!"
"I mean, yeah, but that doesn't make it right… In any case, Garfiel, I can't help you."
I felt the disappointment manifest physically in Garfiel, starting with the arching of his eyebrows, the sudden hitch in his breath, and the loosening of his grip on my shoulders.
"Huh? Why do you say that?"
"There's no easy way to say this… Ram is a lesbian."
"WHAT?!"
"Just kidding. Ram is with me."
"WHAT?!"
Garfiel backed away as if I had struck him, staring at me with an expression that perfectly blended shock with the sting of what he interpreted as a betrayal.
"You and Ram?!"
"And Rem." I corrected him with my best poker face.
"Don't joke around like that, Captain! You can't be serious!"
"I am serious, Garfiel. I'm sorry you had to find out like this."
Realizing that I was dead serious, Garfiel backed away, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.
"Damn it… Damn it, shit!"
I watched his expression grow increasingly anguished; tears filled his eyes, and he turned around and ran off.
A completely normal reaction to a completely abnormal situation.
"I'm sorry," I muttered to no one in particular. I had tried to soften the blow as much as possible, but I ended up hurting his feelings anyway.
Despite everything, I continued my routine, but I couldn't focus on the training. Even though I pushed my body to its limits, the physical exhaustion wasn't enough to overpower the concern that slowly began to take hold of me.
I was thinking about what the impulsive Garfiel might do after that revelation. I wouldn't mind if he told the others about my relationship with Rem and Ram, but he could also do something stupid that put him in danger.
For instance, running away from the manor.
"Shit."
When that possibility crossed my mind, panic set in. I should have thought of it earlier instead of letting it slide. This was a critical moment, as Garfiel's heart was still in turmoil.
He was a boy barely older than Petra. Though powerful, he had zero experience with the world outside the Sanctuary. If he left now, he would undoubtedly run into trouble, and no one would be there to protect him.
I ran as fast as my weak legs could carry me toward the stables, and luckily, Otto was there, cleaning dragon scales.
"Hey! Have you seen Garfiel?!" I gasped out, out of breath. Otto turned to me with a calm that contrasted sharply with my panic. His expression shifted from curiosity to concern in an instant.
"No, I haven't seen him. Did something happen?"
"Yes, but there's no time to explain now…! Where is Patrasche?" I asked, finding it odd that my land dragon was nowhere to be seen. Normally, she would be happily licking my face.
Otto sighed. "She always hides when I try to clean her scales… She says only you are allowed to do that."
"Which stall is hers?!"
"That one over there." He pointed out the spot, and I rushed over. When I arrived, I found only an empty stall.
There was no trace of Patrasche, nor her saddle.
"Did she… leave with Garfiel?"