Subaru, in a jolly mood, was back.
"Subaru-kun," Rem was there to greet him. She looked around, confused. "Where is lady Emilia?"
"She isn't back yet?"
But the maids back then said Lia had left a while ago. Maybe she'd gone shopping? But she'd at least tell someone-
"No," Rem said. "Why are you not with her…" She wondered.
"I was with Reinhard and she left and…" Subaru paused. "I'll go find her."
"I'll come with you."
"No, stay here and inform Roswaal."
"Okay."
Subaru ran out.
She went straight for the market.
Even if Emilia was out here, there weren't many places she could be.
So, he searched. He searched amidst the crowds, through the shady alleyways- barely dodging the crooks, and even through the pubs and those obscene places… but Emilia and Puck were nowhere to be found.
Where could they have gone?
Frustrated, Subaru went a bit further down the road, towards the lake in the distance. Maybe Emilia had gone to the lake and-
A silhouette. She was there.
Sitting by a fence.
"Emilia!"
Subaru ran for her.
However… wind.
Blizzard. Strong cold winds pushed him away.
"Emilia!"
"You better stay away from her," Puck manifested, or at least his voice did. Just pure white.
"Why are you-" Subaru was flung away, and he almost fell into the lake. Almost. "Listen to me!"
"Before I turn you to shreds, scram," Puck said.
"Please, Emilia!"
"Puck, that's enough. Let him through," Emilia finally said. "I need to get this over with."
Puck manifested for real and sighed. "If you say so," shrugging, floating.
"What's going on," Subaru murmured.
"That's what I'd like to know," Emilia said. "What were you… no, you two doing, Subaru?"
"Huh…" Subaru froze.
She knows.
"You better say what you mean," Puck said. "Otherwise, who knows… I might actually get angry." The cat was no longer smiling.
Subaru gulped. "I might swing both ways," he said. "I didn't mean for you to find out this way but… I'm sorry."
"Huh…" Emilia looked away, her eyes wetting anew. "So, you like men."
"I love you, Emilia. I love you more than anything in the world. But… I couldn't help myself when I was with Reinhard. I'm sorry."
"Then if I asked you to do the same to me, would you be able to?"
Subaru yet again froze. This time… he couldn't even dare utter the word.
He could not.
"As I thought," Emilia said. "You cannot."
"I can!" Subaru said in desperation. But he regretted it the moment he said it.
After all, Emilia now had a smile. A very, very self-deprecating smile. "Is that all I'm to you; an afterthought."
"That's not fair… that's not fair Emilia."
"And seeing the man you love getting fucked by another man… is fair Subaru?"
Subaru fell to his knees and for once considered actually diving into the water. He wanted to hear it, he wanted to hear the word love from her mouth. But not… not like this!
But before long, Emilia was before him, she bent down, hugged him. "Hey… am I so unattractive that you have to be touched by a man?"
"I… can't explain it to you but, you really are… the most precious thing in the world to me."
"Then if I asked you to never touch him again, would you-"
"No, I can't keep that. I love you but I need to be true to myself. I'm being unfair to you, I know. But… I want to be true to myself."
"Self-serving," Puck said. "Just dump him in the lake and-"
Yet, Emilia hugged him. "You finally told me how you really feel," she dragged the young man into her chest, ruffling through his hair. "Thank you for being honest. I love you too."
At this point, Subaru didn't understand anything and was too afraid to utter a word. So all he could do was smile… and silently shed some tears.
[A/N]
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