It was a beautiful day outside.
Birds were singing.
Flowers were blooming.
On days like these—
Wait, didn't I already make this joke?
Huh.
Moving on.
Sunlight poured in, illuminating the room. Sleeping soundly on his comfy bed was Xenophanes, snuggling with his blanket.
He was having a strange dream about stars. He didn't even know what he was dreaming about.
Nonetheless, after sleeping for another hour, he opened his eyes tiredly, contemplating going back to sleep.
Xeno: 'Ugh, I don't wanna work today. Damn, I should've asked for two days off.'
Despite not wanting to work, he still got up. Getting out of bed, he rubbed his tired eyes.
Looking out the window, he noticed it was already past sunrise.
Xeno: 'Huh? Damn, I'm late. Why didn't Rem or Ram wake me up?'
He hurriedly freshened himself up, then went to wear his butler uniform, only to be unable to find it anywhere.
Xeno: 'Where is it? Screw it, I'll grab the spares.'
Opening his wardrobe, he searched through it, yet once again was unable to find any.
He couldn't even find his normal clothes.
Xeno: 'What's happening here? Don't tell me Ram's pulling a prank on me because I'm late. That's low, even for her.'
Closing his empty wardrobe, he decided screw it. If she wanted to play this game, then he'd play along.
Being the lazy bum he was, he decided to take advantage of this and not work until they returned his clothes.
Xeno: 'Heh. Can't exactly be a butler in a nightgown now, can I?' He thought to himself smugly.
Putting a hand in his pocket, he walked out into the familiar spacious hallway. Breathing in the fresh air, he moved forward.
Xeno: 'First on the agenda: make myself and that loli some pancakes. Hope she doesn't mind me experimenting a bit.'
Casually walking toward the kitchen, he narrowed his eyes in confusion.
The mansion felt too... quiet.
After a moment, he figured out what was wrong. He cupped his chin thoughtfully.
Xeno: 'Why isn't my OST playing? It automatically starts at sunrise.'
He narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong.
He could feel it.
And this... itch at the back of his mind was telling him he already knew what it was.
Discomfort crawled into his heart.
Reaching the kitchen, he decided to shove those thoughts to the back of his mind for now.
His eyes turned purple. Snapping his fingers, he created a new micro-speaker.
[FNF monster of monster OST: System Failure]
Now that the music was settled, he started the magic stove, along with ingredients for the new pancakes.
After a few minutes the sweet smell of pancakes filled the kitchen. Today was Xeno's first attempt at making Japanese Soufflé pancakes along with some Savory pancakes for Beatrice to enjoy.
Setting them on two plates along with some cutlery, he prepared to bring them to the forbidden library.
But his actions came to a halt when he heard a familiar voice–
"Guest-sama are you in there?"
The speaker sounded awfully familiar, too familiar.
It can't be.
Xeno was in such shock that even the music playing stopped.
Walking into the kitchen was...
Rem.
In the flesh, walking amongst the living, confusion etched on her face.
"Guest-sama, are... you alright." There was a hint of suprise and caution in her voice. As she looked into Xeno's blank eyes.
Rem: 'How frightening.'
Xeno stared at her blankly, an odd tightness around his chest.
"R-Rem?"
His voice cracked with disbelief, it was like looking at something that shouldn't exist, an error in reality itself.
In Xeno's reality.
The maid went on guard sensing something off.
Rem: "Yes, Guest-sama? Do you need something."
...
His left 'pupils' gradually became visible, it was highly unstable, unable to maintain a consistent shape.
Sweat began dripping down Xeno's face. His breathing heaved. The Itch at the back of his mind grew stronger and stronger.
Her existence here meant something Xeno didn't want to confront.
Rem: "Sir! Are you alright? You dont look well." She stepped forward concerned.
His panicked state and unstable eye only made Rem more uneasy.
Before she could touch him, before he even realised he slapped her hand away. Covering his left eye with his hand, he hastly said–
"Take this food to Beatrice. I'll be in my room d-don't disturb me or enter my room.'
Before running off.
"Guest-sama!"
...
The moment he got inside, he slammed the door shut, creating dark purple bars to block it.
Xeno trembled in shock. He clutched his head as his eye continued to writhe wildly.
He hated this feeling.
He hated everything about this.
Memories of his new death came crawling back.
And he hated it.
It was all Rem's fault.
Why did she have to appear?
Why couldn't she have stayed away a little longer?
Why couldn't he enjoy his delusion just a bit longer?
Why did she have to ruin it?
Couldn't she have waited a little longer?
'You piece of shit, it's all your fault, why did you have to be so careless.'
He gritted his teeth.
'Damn it, damn it. I hate this feeling.'
'Why, Ram? Why did you do it?'
'Why did you betray me?'
...
...
...
Xeno: 'Fuck this! I'm going back to bed. I don't wanna think about this anymore.'
And Xeno did exactly that. He lay back on his bed. He checked his pocket for something.
When he found it, he pulled it out carelessly. It was his phone.
Yep, it had survived the loot house disaster. As of right now, it had over 53% power left.
Xeno proceeded to do what any self-respecting antisocial gamer would do in his position.
Procrastinate, and bury his problems to deal with later.
Turning on his phone, he selected one of the few offline games he had: PVZ 2.
Not that abomination that EA runs, but the superior one, aka modded Reflourished, to be exact.
Today, Xenophanes was going to speedrun the entire game up to Modern Day.
And since nobody else in this world has this game, it'll be a world record. He'll be the BEST PVZ player in the ENTIRE world.
Xeno: 'Hehe, I'm so fucking creative.'
This had successfully cheered him up.
He spent hours playing, all the way until sunset. During that time, almost all of the mansion residents had tried to enter his room or convince him to leave.
Emilia was saddened when he kindly refused, insisting he was busy and didn't want to be disturbed.
The maids tried as well, but they were the last people Xeno wanted to talk to.
When Rem tried, Xeno politely told her he was fine and just needed rest. But when Ram tried, he passive-aggressively told her to fuck off... indirectly, of course.
By the time dinner had arrived, Xeno came out of his room, he had done it. With a record of 9 hours, he had finally beaten Modern Day.
Though his phone was almost dead now.
But hey, on the bright side, Xeno was now fully cheered up. No longer would he mope around.
He had 9 hours to think, and think he did.
He had made a new game plan.
Save Rem.
And he was going to do it by becoming a butler again, but instead of hanging out with PINK, he would hang around Rem, build her trust, and go with them on their shopping trip on day four.
Marching toward the dining room, he opened the door.
Inside, everyone except Puck and Beatrice was there.
Everyone's attention turned toward Xenophanes.
Emilia: "Xeno!"
She was pleasantly surprised by his appearance.
Roswaal: "Oh! Dear guest, you decided to join us for dinner. You had us quite worried there."
There was a cheerful smile on Roswaal's face.
Sitting next to Emilia, Xeno looked at her apologetically.
Xeno: "Sorry, Emilia. Yesterday was a lot more mentally taxing than I thought, so sorry if I worried you."
He awkwardly scratched his head.
Emilia: "You don't have to apologise, Xeno. I understand."
She smiled, secretly relieved. She had thought she might have caused this.
Roswaal: "Wooooorry not, dear guest. Take as much time as you neeeeed. We'll ensure you stay as comfortable as possible."
Rem and Ram set Xeno's table with cutlery and food, then went to stand on either side of Roswaal.
The clown lightly clapped.
Roswaal: "Now, shall we continue with dinner?"
From there, the conversation went just like the last loop. Roswaal commented on how interesting he was, Xeno stated his dislike for politics, and Emilia's candidacy for the throne was revealed.
Xeno showed faint surprise, which everyone believed—not because he was a master actor, but due to the fact that Xeno had genuinely forgotten about Emilia being a princess.
From there, the topic of his reward came up again. Unlike last time, things were slightly different.
Xeno: "I want to work here as a butler, and I want Rem to teach me about butler work and, if it's no problem, more about the language as well. My studies were... unfortunately interrupted, so I need help with that."
Roswaal: "Hmmmmm, dear guest, if you don't mind me asking... why Rem?"
Xeno: "Is there a problem with that?"
Roswaal: "Not at all. I'm just curious why you want only one to help you. Why not the other as well?" He asked curiously.
Xeno: 'Right, that is suspicious. Welp, time to whip out my bullshitting skills.'
Xeno: "Oh, that's simple, really. As a slacker, I can recognise a fellow slacker at a glance. I want to take this job seriously, so I want someone diligent to train me—"
Xeno narrowed his eyes, subtly glancing at her.
Xeno: "Not someone who half-asses things... no offense to you, Pink." He apologised, but it lacked any sincerity.
The one in question remained stoic, seemingly unaffected, but her sister definitely was, though she hid it well.
Roswaal: "Very weeeell, I grant you your request. Rem, be sure to take good care of him."
The blue oni curtsied.
Rem: "As you wish, Lord Roswaal."
Xeno: "We can discuss the job details tomorrow. For now, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."
He got up from his seat and lazily walked toward the door.
Emilia: "Goodnight, Xeno."
Just before leaving, Xeno's hollow eyes lingered on Ram for a second. Then he turned and left.
...
The next day, he woke up early.
Things went nearly the same way they did before, except this time, Xeno stuck around Rem.
She taught him everything he already knew, but there were many things he did differently this time around.
First, he didn't use Envy, saving his supply and avoiding suspicion of being a Sin Archbishop again.
Second, he needed every advantage he could get. That meant using his favour with Puck to learn water magic.
Third, he needed to find out what an wolgarm was and how curses worked.
And finally, he planned to use Gluttony on the sisters and Roswaal. His trust in them had completely evaporated.
Xeno: 'I still can't believe Rem strangled me in my damn sleep.'
He thought to himself as he aired the futons.
Rem: "Xeno, concentrate on your task."
Speaking of her, the training was going rather well. Since Xeno had already done these things before, she really didn't need to supervise much.
Xeno: "Got it."
Rem: "Now that we've aired the futons, let's get started on polishing the silver. Do you have experience with that as well?"
Xeno: "Yeah."
He answered honestly while stretching his back.
Rem narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Rem: "I don't understand. Why did you request my help when you're already capable of doing it?"
Xeno lazily turned to her, replying—
Xeno: "I lived together with my older brother for six months, just the two of us. We split things up. I cleaned the house, and he did everything else."
His expression grew melancholic, his red pupils glowing brighter.
Xeno: "He was the best brother ever."
Rem: 'He has an older brother?'
Rem: "You respect him a lot, don't you? He sounds very reliable."
Xeno: "Yeah... he was–" His pupils dimmed.
Xeno: "I just wish I could've said goodbye to him... to my mother, my father, my younger brother... to everyone before they... disapeared completely."
The atmosphere grew heavy as his dim pupils were consumed by darkness, leaving them completely empty.
She gasped, her suspicious gaze softened.
Rem: "I'm sorry for your loss." She replied sympathetic and understanding.
Xeno: "..."
Xeno: "Let's just go." He walked off, cutting the conversation completely.
...
Now that it was his break, he decided to use it strategically.
He went straight to Beatrice. Sensing her Envy, he located her quickly.
Opening the door to the forbidden library, what greeted him was the familiar library with who knows how many books.
Inside was the loli, sitting on her stool, grumpy as usual.
Beatrice: "What an infuriating individual you are, staring at other people's bookshelves, I suppose."
Xeno: 'Right... she doesn't know me anymore.'
This stung him. All the time they had spent together was now null and void.
Shaking his head, he reminded himself that he had a job to do.
Xeno: "Nice to meet you too, Betty."
Beatrice: "How do you know Betty's name, I suppose?"
He gave her a look that said 'Really?'
Xeno: "Oh, geez golly, I wonder how? It's not like you speak in third person or anything."
His response only made her more annoyed.
Beatrice: "Betty doesn't like your attitude, in fact."
Despite saying that, there was something else going on in her mind.
Beatrice: 'This feeling...? Is he... that person?'
Xeno: "Sorry, sorry. It was just a joke. Anyway, Beatrice, I'm here to ask for a favour."
She narrowed her eyes.
Beatrice: "What kind of favour, in fact?"
Xeno: "It's nothing too major. It's just that I heard wolgarms live here, so I wanted to know more about them... to, you know, protect myself."
Beatrice: "Why would you need my help? Can't you go bother someone else with this, I suppose?"
Xeno had expected this response and had prepared accordingly.
Xeno: "Because you're the smartest, most knowledgeable person here. Sure, the others could answer, but they're not as good or as perspective as you."
He spoke with complete certainty, like he was stating the an obvious fact.
Xeno: 'She may claim not to be a child, but she's just as easy to convince. Just need to butter her up. Soon she'll be a chessy, wet sausage for me to play around with.'
...
No comment.
Beatrice was taken aback by his words. It didn't take long for her to beam at the praise, puffing her chest out proudly.
Beatrice: "You're correct, in fact—"
She rested her book on the small table next to her.
Beatrice: "Betty has decided to help you just this once, I suppose."
Xeno sat on the floor in front of her, paying close attention.
Beatrice: "Wolgarms are a kind of mabeast. They often hunt in packs. What makes them dangerous is their ability to inflict a curse on someone, I suppose."
Xeno: "And what's a curse? How does it work?"
Beatrice: "Curses are a sub-class of magic and spirit arts that originated in the northern region of Gusteko. Mabeasts aren't the only ones who can use curses. There are those who specialise in curses, referred to as curse-art users, I suppose."
She provided extra information on the subject.
Beatrice: "Curses always require the target to be in contact with the caster to work. The ones that wolgarms specialize in are mana-draining curses, in fact."
Xeno: "..."
Xeno: "Okay, one more thing. What do wolgarms look like? Can they disguise themselves?"
This was what confused Xeno the most about Rem's death.
Xeno: 'I'm going to take a guess and say a wolgarm is a wolf, but that begs the question: why the fuck would Rem let one bite her? There's no way Ram or anyone could have missed that.'
She was intrigued by the question.
Beatrice: "Hmmm. No, normal wolgarms typically can't do that, but a leader wolgarm perhaps might, I suppose."
Xeno: "..."
Xeno sighed and got up. He put on a grateful smile and applauded Beatrice.
Xeno: "See, that's why you're the best. I doubt anyone here could have given such a clean and informative answer. I'm speechless. You not only answered my questions, but went beyond and provided me with its origins and trivial details in such an enjoyable way."
He said it with awe and gratitude. He honestly appreciated her help.
And Beatrice predictably smiled proudly at her ego being stroked.
Beatrice: "That was to be expected. Betty is great after all."
Xeno: 'So cute. I'll reward her with pancakes later... speaking of pancakes.'
Xeno: "Before I go, I was wondering if you enjoyed the food I made?"
The question brought Beatrice out of her stupor.
She didn't answer immediately, instead looking thoughtful.
Beatrice: "You made those for Betty... but why?" She whispered.
Xeno: '...Because that's what I always did... in the last loop.' He thought depressively.
Xeno: "Heh, just call it a favour you did something for me that I'll never forget (even if you don't remember it), and now that I work here, I'll continue to make it for you every day."
With a smile, he gave her a thumbs up.
Beatrice: "Really? You would do that for Betty?"
Xeno nodded.
Beatrice: 'Can he really be that person?'
Xeno: "Well, as much as I would love to spend time with you, my break is unfortunately over. See you later, Betty."
He reluctantly opened the door, about to head out—
Beatrice: "Are you that person?"
He stopped in his tracks when Beatrice softly whispered that.
Xeno: "Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about." That question was still extremely vague.
Beatrice: "...Forget Betty said anything, I suppose."
Xeno nodded before shutting the door, leaving her.
...
The rest of the day went smoothly. The only exciting thing that happened was the tutoring.
Unlike Pink, Rem did her job properly.
She didn't hit him on the head if he lost focus.
And best of all, she didn't fall asleep halfway on his bed, eliminating the need for him to carry her all the way back to her room.
All in all, it was a much better experience despite the glares she gave him.
Before he knew it, it was already day dos.
Getting up at sunrise, he went to tackle the day with a smile.
First things first: making pancakes for Beatrice.
He quickly went to the kitchen while thinking about what kind he should make.
Upon reaching the kitchen, his mood immediately soured.
Because working in the kitchen was Ram.
Her sister was nowhere to be found.
Xeno: 'Great. Her.'
Ram had also noticed his arrival and became annoyed.
Ram: "Finally crawled out of your room, I see. Ram thought she would have to pour water on you to wake you up." She insulted him already.
Xeno coming up to the counter, he replied–
Xeno: "Goodmorning as well, miss inadequate."
Ram: "A disappointing insult. Ram expected little and still feel let down."
Xeno: "Yeah, I bet you know a lot about being a let down, don't you?"
The room turned cold. Ram narrowed her eyes.
Ram: "Was that supposed to be cleaver? You're comeback a worse then you knife skills."
Xeno: "At least i know how to, you ? Only go for the lowest blow. Then again I shouldn't be that suprise even thinking is hard for someone like you."
Ram paused, not because of the Xeno's words. She puzzled by his behaviour why is he being so hostile to her? He treated literally everyone else with kindness.
Even Rem and Roswaal, it easy to notice he's on guard and doesn't trust them but still act friendly with them. But why is she different?
Ram: "How strange. You smile so warmly for everyone else, yet glare at Ram as though personally wronged you. Should Ram be flattered by such selective misery?"
She needs to know what his motive is, what if Xeno's dangerous.
Covering his left eye with his hand, he visible eye hollow, chuckling continues–
Xeno: "Aww, did you come up with that yourself? Hehehehe, if only you maid work was good as your mouth."
He gives her a pitting smile.
Xeno: "But with how abysmally you work it's no wonder Ros, doesn't pay you."
Before Ram could counter–
Rem: "Sister, Rem has done the...?" Walking in the kitchen Rem words died out as she sensed the tense atmosphere.
Xeno and Rem seeing her immediately shut down their conflicts Ram smoothly turns to her.
Ram: "Rem, Rem, Xeno was being incompetent again. "
Xeno: "Rem, Rem your sister is trying to shove all the work onto me. Again" He played along.
He crossed his arms.
Xeno: "And no, standing to the side and commentating doesn't count." He added so she couldn't hid behind that excuse.
Ram: "Ram, wasn't commentating she was evaluating you work, and she's severely disappointed."
Xeno: "Oh! Is that right then I guess, i won't work then, since I'm sooooo disappointing why don't you take over, im going to go mop in the corner on my inadequacy."
The two kept going back and forth, but Rem didn't buy it, something happened and she's going to the bottom on this, but for now they had breakfast to prepare.
The rest of the day went smoothly, many interesting things happen today, he used his favour with Puck to learn water magic but he didn't know water magic, instead advising to learn from Rem or Beatrice.
Rem was out the question, leaving only Beatrice, which wasn't a problem after promising her a few sweets and Inflation her ego a bit she agreed without a hitch.
Xeno also hanged around with Emilia, he wanted to repay her for making her worry yesterday and helping him in the last loop, originally intending to help her study but abandoned the idea.
Not due to the fact he can't read..or write properly. No, his master plan was to use Gluttony on her books then make a engaging and entertaining summary of it.
The real reason was... because she was studying History, just THINKING of all the dates and places he have to memorise, made him instantly abandon the idea entirely.
So now he'll repay her by... going on a date with her in the future?
I'm confused too, but it makes sense in his perverted, yet sincere mind.
And the final interesting thing that happened today was long past midnight, when everyone should be sleeping.
A single soul was awake. They walked through the empty halls, marching forward with a clear goal in mind.
Their destination? Xenophanes' room.
Quietly opening the door, they entered the room, making little to no noise.
The figure stood in front of Xeno's bedside, watching him sleep soundly, snuggling with something.
They sneakily searched his entire room. Despite their efforts, they found nothing suspicious.
But she didn't give up. There had to be something strange here, some secret he was hiding.
That was what the blue oni thought to herself.
Despite her sister's warning, she came here once again. But this time she wouldn't lose control of her emotions.
The reason for her search was simple.
Xeno was just too suspicious.
There was his strange ability that Emilia mentioned he had, yet he seemed to be hiding it.
And then there was the incident she caused herself.
He was wary of her, her sister, and Roswaal specifically. The others? He treated them kindly.
And that wasn't even mentioning the most suspicious thing.
He looked at them with familiarity, yet no one had ever met him before.
Rem: 'Just who... or what... are you, Xenophanes?'
She came to the last place she hadn't checked— his bed.
It was risky, but she needed to be sure.
Carefully removing the blanket off him, she finally saw what he was cuddling with.
It was a small dark purple pillow.
Upon seeing it, Rem stopped in her tracks.
Her breath hitched. Her eyes widened.
Seeing this pillow put her in a trance, hyper-fixated. All kinds of emotions swelled up from her heart.
Hate.
Disgust.
Guilt.
Inferiority.
Her body began to shake. She recognised those feelings and she hated it.
Gritting her teeth, she ripped the pillow from Xeno's arms.
The VERY sight of it made her feel these emotions.
With rage, she tore it apart. All of it.
Tearing it into as little pieces as she could, then tearing those into even smaller pieces, wanting nothing but to remove any and all traces of its existence from existence.
With a trembling roar, she destroyed the pillow until it faded to smoke.
She destroyed the pillow made of her own Envy.
Xeno: "Ugh? Who's there?" Her outburst woke him.
With supernatural agility, she escaped the room before he could notice her.
Xeno, getting up and still very groggy, looked around for a minute. Seeing no one was there, he laid back down.
Xeno: "I'll deal with it tomorrow." He muttered before going back to sleep.