4
The moment she slipped through the Passage, Beatrice understood she was standing before the dining hall. Beatrice had start-point selection rights. It was she who chose this as her starting point. She was confident that this gave her the best chance of winning.
“Now then—I’ll just find her and end this quickly, I suppose.”
With her previous apathy long gone, Beatrice was taking things seriously now that the game was on. She immediately set out to find Emilia, her goal. But before she could start, she looked up, sensing another presence. And there stood a blue-haired girl at the side of the hallway. It was Rem, the younger and stronger of the twins.
“Lady Beatrice, I see you’ve agreed to play the game.”
“Indeed, I have. But you won’t be playing, I suppose. Betty is immune to that stupid boy’s schemes. I suppose he’s off sulking somewhere right now.”
“Yes, Lady Beatrice, you do have a keen eye. You saw right through Subaru’s plan to command me to do his bidding.”
A hint of disappointment mixed in with Rem’s usual expression as she hung her head. She hadn’t used to display her emotions like this. And it need not be said whose influence had changed her.
Displeased by this, Beatrice snorted daintily and said, “If you overcome this hurdle, stop helping that stupid boy. It’s a waste of time.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Rem replied. “I will consider your advice if you win, Lady Beatrice. But I still think that Subaru is amazing.”
With a smile, Rem vouched for the fool whose plan Beatrice had foiled. Beatrice frowned, sensing an oddness in Rem’s smile. Then, immediately after—
“Ta-daaah!”
“Ta-da-daaah!”
“Ta-da-da-daaah!”
Loud voices suddenly boomed through the mansion, and Beatrice heard doors open in succession behind her. With her shoulders jumping at the surprise attack, Beatrice spun around to see several unfamiliar children tumble from the open doors.
“Wh-who are they…?”
“Children from Earlham Village. They like Subaru, so they’ve agreed to help with the game today. What a natural-born friend Subaru is.”
“Now’s no time to swoon! And who said those village kids could be in here—”
“We got Master Roswaal’s permission before his departure,” Rem assured her. “We’ve locked the rooms they mustn’t go in, so please make sure you don’t go on the third floor of the main building, the dressing room, or the treasury.”
As Rem added more caution, Beatrice’s mind went blank in shock. Upon seeing the petrified Beatrice, the children pointed at her in unison and yelled.
“It’s the girl Subaru told us about!”
“It’s the homebody!”
“Her dress is so cute!”
Spotting their prey, they formed a pack and closed in on Beatrice. Beatrice jumped and ran the opposite way down the hall, overwhelmed by their intensity.
“Incidentally, those children are the people chasing you, Lady Beatrice. Good luck keeping away from them.”
As Rem ran beside her, murmuring the hint in her ear, Beatrice’s face turned bright red.
“The little…! He is far shrewder than Betty accounted for, I suppose!”
Subaru was able to sneak the children into the mansion by omitting the number of people who would be chasing Beatrice, feigning defeat over his plan to use Rem backfiring, and pretending to have his ace in the hole stolen.
Just how many moves ahead of her was he willing to think just to win this trivial game?
“Go!”
“Get her!”
“Take everything she’s got!”
As she ran from the clamoring children, Beatrice cursed the image of a puffed-up Subaru in her head all the harder.
“That mongrel… He’s not getting away with this!”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login