Before they boarded the dragon carriage already awaited by Flam and Grassis, a cheerful voice stopped them in their tracks.
A young man dressed as a butler, with messy black hair and a wide smile that felt too casual for a formal palace atmosphere, stepped closer from another hallway.
“Hey, Reinhard, and Felt too!”
Merope, Felt, and Reinhard turned around simultaneously.
Upon seeing that figure—and another figure beside him, a long silver-haired girl Merope had just recognized from the hall earlier—Merope reflexively shifted, hiding half her body behind Reinhard’s back, with only her eyes peeking out curiously from the side of his body.
“Hello, Subaru, and Emilia-sama as well,” Reinhard replied, bowing politely toward Emilia.
“Yo, Subaru-nii-chan and Emilia-nee-chan!” Felt called out, much more casually, waving her hand without caring about the rigid formalities that had been so stiff inside the hall.
Subaru raised an eyebrow, looking at Felt with a playful smile.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Felt? I was in the knights’ line earlier, you know.”
“What were you doing there, idiot?” Felt retorted nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.
“Subaru, we’ll discuss later why you suddenly ended up there—this is a very, very serious matter,” Emilia replied, her tone gentle yet leaving no room for evasion.
Subaru could only offer an awkward smile, scratching the back of his head which wasn’t itchy at all.
Emilia’s eyes shifted, searching for the figure who had stood bravely defending her in the middle of the hall—and found Merope now half-hiding behind Reinhard, with only a pair of blue eyes peeking out shyly.
“Yes,” Merope replied, her voice small, vastly different from her loud, courageous tone inside the hall earlier.
“Now you’re acting all shy?” Felt snorted with amusement, crossing her arms.
“You’re so weird.”
Merope only shifted her body slightly further behind Reinhard, her cheeks blushing softly, unable to fully explain why standing in front of dozens of strangers in the hall earlier felt much easier than standing here, in front of two people smiling kindly at her.
Subaru, who had been watching the exchange with a curious gaze, finally stepped forward a bit, squatting down so he was level with Merope’s height as she remained half-hidden.
“Yo,” he greeted, his smile wide and relaxed, “your name is Merope, right? I’m Natsuki Subaru. You were so cool defending Emilia earlier—if you hadn’t defended her, I would have stepped up and cursed at them myself.”
“Cursed?” Merope tilted her head, the word sounding foreign to her ears.
“Subaru-nii-chan, her mental state right now is like a child’s, you shouldn’t use words like that!” Felt exclaimed, half-reprimanding, half-amused.
“Subaru, I strongly advise you not to yell at the wise council,” Reinhard added, his flat tone concealing a hint of genuine worry.
Merope peeked further from behind Reinhard’s shoulder, blinking as she looked at Subaru, who showed no signs of fear or suspicion toward her—only genuine admiration that slowly melted away her nervousness.
“…Thank you,” she finally muttered, her voice still small but a bit braver than before, taking half a step out from behind Reinhard’s back.
Emilia smiled seeing that, relieved to witness the girl who had been so brave now slowly revealing another side of herself—more fragile, more human, far from the flawless hero image formed in the hall.
Merope nodded quickly, a small smile beginning to reappear, though still wrapped in slight shyness.
“I-I’d like that too.”
Not far from them, Flam and Grassis were still standing quietly beside the dragon carriage, waiting patiently without a word since the conversation began—a perfectly trained professional demeanor, though occasionally one of them glanced at the small watch on their wrist, a subtle sign that time kept moving even if the chat in front of them wasn’t over yet.
“Ahem,” one of them finally cleared their throat softly, polite enough not to interrupt yet clear enough to draw attention, “sorry to interrupt, but the carriage is ready whenever you all wish to depart.”
Felt turned her head, only then fully remembering the two small attendants who had been waiting since earlier.
“Oh right, almost forgot! Well then, let’s continue chatting next time,” she said, turning back toward Emilia and Subaru.
“See you again, Merope,” Emilia said, smiling warmly before waving her hand gently.
Merope returned the wave with a spirit that was returning to normal, her nervousness slowly fading away, replaced by a familiar wide smile.
“See you again!”
…..
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