3.3

Rem returned to the empty room, touching the table as she murmured offhandedly, "…I am slightly disappointed that he did not say, 'Come with me.'"

He'd left behind a note on the table with "Sorry, and thanks" written in crude I-script.

"Subaru, you truly are incorrigible…"

As Rem gazed at the note, her expression betrayed the true meaning of her words.

Rem picked up the note, pressing it against her chest and closing her eyes as she treated it as a precious gift from Subaru.

"—But I wonder what Master Roswaal is thinking?"

She inclined her head slightly as she voiced her doubts about the instructions her master had left that morning.

"He said, 'Do not stand in Subaru's way no matter what Lady Emilia may say to you.'"

It was as if he'd anticipated Subaru's actions and had instructed her accordingly. She also wondered why he was valuing Subaru's opinion above Emilia's. But at any rate…

"—Please come back to me safely, Subaru."

She did not think he had run off without any plan, but she knew he was a boy who would do such a thing for the sake of another, putting the safety of others before his own. All Rem could do was fulfill his request and pray he would be unharmed.

For a time, Rem closed her eyes, picturing Subaru in her mind as she offered up a prayer. She then finished the tidying up of the half-completed study materials Subaru had abandoned before she retreated to the kitchen.

And so, Subaru Natsuki was let loose in the capital a second time, perhaps dancing in the palm of someone's hand—though none could tell.