Subaru opened her eyes groggily, and the first thing she saw was Tsukasa floating in mid-air, leisurely swinging his legs. She rubbed her eyes as two voices reached her ears.
"Oh my, Subaru-sama has finally woken up, Ram."
"Indeed, Subaru-sama's sleeping face is quite cute, Rem."
The bed beneath her was as soft as lying on a cloud, and the sunlight filtering through the gauze curtains spilled over her eyelids, feeling warm and cozy.
"It should be morning by now..."
Still a bit dazed, she didn't hear the voices of the two maids, but instead muttered softly to herself.
At this moment, Subaru recalled the days she was forced to wake up early for school and couldn't help but yawn.
"Mm... Tsukasa, I really feel like my whole body is soft and limp."
She propped herself up, her neck making a slight "cracking" sound, and continued to ask the person in the air while stretching, "Tsukasa, what time is it now?"
Tsukasa was enjoying the "sunbath" provided by the room. Upon being called, he responded with a lazy wave of his hand, "A certain loli was treating you like a mana drink and sucking you dry, while I conveniently helped you condition your body. As for now... it's around seven o'clock."
"Ah! I remember now."
Subaru immediately puffed out her cheeks and said, "Tsukasa, you obviously noticed it long ago, didn't you? You actually didn't tell me, I'm putting this in my grudge book."
Hearing this, Tsukasa curled his lips into a smirk, looking leisurely as if saying, "What can you do about it?"
After this small interlude, Subaru finally noticed two girls in maid outfits standing in the middle of the room.
Seeing the somewhat puzzled expressions on their faces, she then asked them with a blush, "Um... excuse me, but who are you?"
"Subaru-sama, who has been talking to yourself over there for quite a while, I am Ram."
"Subaru-sama, who has been talking to yourself over there for quite a while, I am Rem."
"..."
Subaru felt a bit embarrassed at this moment. She realized that the two girls were not only similar in height but even their appearances were identical, the only difference was probably their hair color.
Wearing meticulously tailored maid outfits, their hemlines swayed lightly. This made Subaru unconsciously take a few more glances, and she quietly cast an inquiring look toward Tsukasa.
"Not bad." Tsukasa commented with a light laugh, looking at Rem and Ram in the room.
Subaru immediately looked down at herself. "It seems a maid outfit might also be quite suitable?"
"Ram... Subaru-sama wouldn't want to do something strange to Rem, would she?"
"Rem... you must be careful of Subaru-sama's burning gaze."
"I do not!" Subaru's face instantly turned red.
"I just... forget it."
Just as she was flustered and trying to explain, the door was pushed open and a figure with flowing silver hair pounced over.
"Subaru! You're finally awake!"
Thud!
The two fell into the soft bedding together.
The person before Subaru was none other than Emilia. She was currently wearing white pajamas, her silver hair scattered across the pillow, as she worriedly clutched her chest.
"Suddenly fainting really gave me a big scare. If you encounter danger next time, remember to protect yourself first, okay?"
Hearing Emilia's concern, Subaru gave a wink and then responded with a playful smile, "But if Lia needs help, I'll still be the first one to rush in."
Emilia was amused by this and let out a light laugh. Then, she suddenly seemed to remember something, and her expression became somewhat serious as she looked at Subaru.
"Also... about what happened then, you have to tell me properly."
Hearing Emilia's words, Tsukasa rested his chin on his hand in the air and spoke teasingly, "Now, how are you going to explain my existence?"
Subaru quietly made a victory sign. 'I have my own clever plan.'
Subaru gently tugged on Emilia's sleeve and asked with wide, curious eyes, "Do you know a girl with curly hair who's as exquisite as a doll? I think her name was Betty."
Emilia covered her lips in surprise. "You have already met Beatrice?"
At this moment, the twin maids standing quietly to the side bowed elegantly.
"Emilia-sama, Subaru-sama was sent back unconscious precisely because she was teased by Beatrice-sama's prank, right, Rem?"
"Emilia-sama, Subaru-sama was sent back unconscious precisely because she was teased by Beatrice-sama's prank, that's right, Ram."
After hearing the two maids' explanation, Emilia nervously grasped Subaru's hand.
"Eh?! Then how do you feel now? Do you feel unwell anywhere?"
"It's fine."
Subaru showed a high-spirited smile and even lively turned in a circle on the bed.
"Right now, I feel like I could knock out ten of my former selves with one punch."
This wasn't an exaggeration. After being nourished by Tsukasa's mana and going through combat experience, she indeed felt her whole body filled with power.
"That's good."
Emilia breathed a sigh of relief while asking Subaru, "Since your body is fine, do you want to go for a walk together? I happen to be going to the courtyard for my daily routine."
"A walk?" Subaru tilted her head and asked Emilia, "Are you going to water the flowers?"
While they were talking, Ram and Rem had already quietly withdrawn.
Emilia shook her head with a light laugh and responded to Subaru, "No, I'm going to talk to the Spirits. Communicating with the Spirit children I've contracted with every morning is a promise between them and me."
"Spirits?!"
Subaru immediately thought of Puck, who nestled on Emilia's shoulder, and that small figure of the blue-eyed loli in the Forbidden Library.
Hearing Emilia's words, Tsukasa, who had been yawning in the air, suddenly perked up. "Spirit communication? That's interesting. Agree to her quickly and let me see it too."
Subaru, whose interest was piqued by Emilia, immediately nodded like a woodpecker. "Then I won't be bothering Lia, will I?"
"Not at all."
"Then it's a deal. I happen to have something I want to practice, and..."
Subaru winked playfully. "I'll tell you about that matter on the way."
At this moment, Emilia couldn't help but recall the Subaru from that night who seemed like a completely different person—that powerful and arrogant figure was worlds apart from the lively and cute girl before her. Even more surprising was that that 'person' could actually fight on equal terms with Reinhard.
"Then shall we set off, Subaru?"
Only then did Subaru notice she was wearing the same style of pajamas as Emilia, and she couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Where are my original clothes?"
Those were not only a memento from her hometown but also one of her last connections to her original world.
"They're being washed. Because they were stained with too much blood, it will take a bit more time. For today, just make do with these, okay?"
Only then did Subaru feel at ease. It wasn't that she disliked her current clothes, but that school uniform held extraordinary meaning for her. Besides...
"A certain pretentious monk has actually been secretly watching for a long time, hasn't he?" She suddenly teased with a laugh.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Tsukasa turned his face away.
"Hmph. If you have the guts, just admit it openly."
Tsukasa cast a "you've learned bad habits" look, but Subaru triumphantly made a victory sign in Emilia's blind spot.
"Let's go, Lia."
"Mm-hmm."