The moment they emerged from the Hollow, Alice had already gotten in touch with the head butler. A private car arrived quickly, collected Geno and the others, and made a first stop at the House of the Grotesque — where Yuzuha, who had spent the entire night worrying, finally let out a long breath of relief.
Geno filled everyone in on the arrangement he'd made with the old patriarch, then announced he and Alice would be heading back to the Timefield estate — which earned him exactly the kind of teasing from Yuzuha he'd been hoping to avoid.
"My, my~ Who would have thought that a little business negotiation would end up taking you all the way to the young lady's home?~ Mister Geno truly is a born businessman — managed to sell himself at quite a fine price~"
Yuzuha's mischievous needling sent the color rushing straight to Alice's cheeks.
As for Geno — he had thick skin.
"Either way, this is a promise between me and Alice's grandfather. Don't go spreading it around."
"Relax, I'm no blabbermouth. I am absolutely the most tight-lipped little tanuki around~ Right, Kama?"
Yuzuha poked at the small tanuki dozing on her shoulder. This was her companion — Kamanosuke. He'd spent a good part of the night helping search for Lucia, and was currently dead asleep on Yuzuha's shoulder, not the least bit interested in being disturbed.
"Mrrph~"
Kamanosuke batted Yuzuha's hand away with one tiny paw. He was far too tired to engage with her nonsense.
"See? He agrees — says I'm great at keeping secrets."
Pretty sure he's just too tired to deal with you...
Geno didn't call her out on it, though. After all, it wasn't just Kamanosuke — Yuzuha herself hadn't slept a wink all night either. There was a faint puffiness around her eyes and the shadow of dark circles beneath them. One look was all it took to tell she hadn't exactly been worry-free.
"Alright, you should get some rest too. Lucia — I'm leaving Yuzuha in your hands. Once things settle down in a few days, we'll all head back to New Eridu together."
"No problem, leave it to me! Come on, Yuzuha! Let me tell you all about the new friends we made in the Hollow!"
Lucia hooked her arm through Yuzuha's and practically bounced her way inside.
Geno watched the two of them disappear through the door, then turned and set off with Alice toward the Timefield estate.
"Um — Geno... did I actually... make real friends? Just now?"
Sitting in the back of the car, Alice cradled her phone in both hands, staring at the three new profile pictures that had appeared in her contacts over the course of a single night. She still couldn't quite bring herself to believe it.
"Of course. You're not dreaming — it's all real."
Geno sat beside her, watching Alice teeter between elation and anxiety, and found himself quietly marveling at just how fragile this little rabbit's sense of security truly was.
"If it's real, then that's good... that's really good..."
Alice's grip on her phone tightened, and her eyes began to fill — bright, glistening tears gathering at the edges.
She had lost her mother the day she was born. She had lost her father when she was still young. Raised by her grandfather alone, Alice had grown up carrying a quiet, deep-seated sense of inadequacy that never quite left her — a wound that never fully closed, no matter how many years passed.
And yet, as the eldest daughter of the Timefield family, she could never let that show. Not in front of outsiders. Not ever. So Alice had never once truly opened her heart to another person.
"It's alright. Even if you close your eyes tonight, the sun will still rise tomorrow morning. The birds will still sing. And we'll still be right here beside you. So you don't have to be afraid anymore, Alice."
Sensing the weight of Alice's emotions, Geno found himself thinking of a version of himself from long ago.
He had passed through something like this once. A time when he felt discarded — by society, by family, by the world itself. Back then, there had been people around him, friends who had stretched out their hands and helped pull him out of that silent, hollow place.
Now it was his turn. What he needed to do was give Alice permission to let that weight go.
"Thank you, Geno. I feel a lot better. It's just... I'm suddenly really tired. I..."
Alice tucked her phone away. Under Geno's quiet reassurance, the anxiety that had been coiled tight inside her had finally begun to loosen.
"Can I... lean on you? Don't misunderstand — it's just... you feel very safe. That's all."
Alice's cheeks had gone so red they looked ready to bleed. Paired with that shy, flustered expression, she was the very picture of someone utterly precious and pitiable.
"Of course. My shoulder is always here for you to lean on, Alice."
Geno said it gently, warmly — and shifted his body just slightly in her direction, making the invitation clear.
Alice pressed her lips together. Then, slowly, she rested her head against his shoulder.
This was the first time she had ever leaned on a man's shoulder.
It was broad. Solid. Reassuring in a way that went straight to her bones. And there was something else too — a faint quality in the warmth that radiated from Geno, something she couldn't quite name, that made her thoughts grow hazy and slow.
"Hh... hh..."
Feeling the soft, rhythmic rise and fall of the head resting against his shoulder, Geno kept himself perfectly still — a statue of a man, devoted to giving Alice the most comfortable sleep he possibly could.
For an Ethereal, holding his own body motionless was child's play.
Up front, the Timefield maid behind the wheel caught the whole scene in her rearview mirror — and her heart promptly melted into a warm, helpless puddle.
The young lady... has finally found somewhere she belongs.
The maid — a few years older than Alice — sighed fondly at the thought of Alice finally finding her own happiness. Then, almost immediately, reality reasserted itself: the young lady already had a fiancé. Meanwhile, she herself was very much still single.
One moment she had been floating on pure secondhand sweetness. The next, the aftertaste turned to something distinctly bitter.
Life was like a cup of coffee. Some people liked it sweet; some liked it milky. But some people only ever drank it black.
Not because they wanted to. But because only black coffee could keep them clear-eyed enough to face the world.
One day, when I have money, I'm absolutely finding myself a handsome man! Someone at least as good-looking as Mister Geno!
Driving along, her mind drifting cheerfully into visions of her glorious future, the maid failed to notice what had appeared directly in front of her.
"Waaaah!!"
SCREEEEEE——
Tires shrieked against asphalt, leaving two long black streaks scorched into the road before the wheel was wrenched hard and the car slammed into the rock face along the roadside.
This road was the only route back to the Timefield estate.
Which made it, naturally, the perfect place for an ambush.
"Ha! Got them! Move in!"
A pack of black-clad figures closed in from every concealed position around them, converging on the car. They moved to tear the door open and drag Alice out.
But when they wrenched the car door free, they found it empty. Not a soul inside.
"What?! What the hell?!"
"No hell — just one Ethereal. Want a closer look?"
CRACK. CRACK.
Two solid punches sent the nearest thug seeing stars before he hit the ground.
But he hadn't come alone. Not by a long shot. Dozens of figures were swarming out of every crack and shadow around them — a full-scale gopher parade bursting out of the earth.
To Geno, though, these black-clad thugs looked less like a threatening army and more like a colony of overconfident moles who had just tunneled straight into the wrong situation.
If anything, it saved him some effort.
"Keep Alice safe — I'll get you both out of here!"
He handed Alice off to the maid — who he had already pulled free from the wreck — and then turned and walked straight toward the mob.
The maid's expression, for her part, was... complicated.
"Hey, kid! A word of advice — mind your own business. The girl is our only target!"
The gang leader — now sporting a very impressive pair of black eyes courtesy of Geno's earlier greeting — addressed him with all the authority he could muster. These were hired muscle, contracted by the Ravenlock family. Their objective was simple: abduct Alice and use her as leverage against the old patriarch of the Timefield family.
Unfortunately for him, he appeared to have severely underestimated what he was dealing with — a man who, even while deliberately restraining his power, was every inch a genuine Rank Four Lord-class Ethereal.
"You're small fry, the lot of you," Geno said, scanning the dozens of black-clad men arrayed before him. There was not a trace of fear in his eyes. Only enthusiasm.
"A fight! Now this is what I'm talking about!!"
____
👻🔥+40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Re:Zero: Wrath Route Yandere Emilia Watches the Projection
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