Chapter 35: White Sheep

With a heavy thud, Subaru's head hit the floor. Seeing it drop like that, with nothing at all to soften the fall, Felix knew by instinct. —This was bad.

"—"

At the clinic, and on the battlefields his missions had taken him to, he had seen more wounds and more blood than he ever cared to. So he knew. A person who has taken a truly bad wound can't even manage to protect themselves. Like Subaru now, they can only fall to the floor without so much as shielding their head.

"—ngh."

Slowly, blood seeped from Subaru's right flank and spread across the landing. Whenever he saw blood, he always thought the same thing. —It looked like life itself pouring out.

"Say, isn't it strange? Red and white go together so beautifully, and I swoon every single time I see them... but never mind that right now, you! You! Why would you do such a thing? Could it be... jealousy? And that means... love!?"

It was hard to believe she was looking at the same scene. After remarking on the blood flowing from the fallen Subaru and the whiteness of the floor, Bellaris turned both hands toward her, toward "White Sheep." "White Sheep," who had stabbed Subaru from behind and now wore a chillingly detached expression. Wiping her bloodied fingers with a handkerchief, she quietly returned Bellaris's gaze and,

"—!"

"Yes, it's love. In the end, all our motives come down to that, don't they?"

"You agree!? Then I was right! Natsuki is head over heels for Felix, and you couldn't bear it, so you stabbed him! How awful, what a tragedy! You, mad with jealousy, and Felix, sobbing and screaming as he stares love in the face... Oh, who am I supposed to root for!"

The difference in temperature between "White Sheep" and Bellaris was staggering. But Felix, siding with neither, was inwardly furious at the absurdity of what Bellaris was saying. Felix, sobbing and screaming? There were limits to how warped a person's view of things could be. He wasn't sobbing or screaming. He was only—

"—Subaru-kun! No! Don't you die! Bring him... bring him over here!"

—He was only calling, the whole time, to someone who was dying, as a healer, however lowly.

"What a tragedy."

He twisted his body and strained his arms, fighting desperately to reach Subaru. But pinned to the wall, Felix's body wouldn't budge an inch. Meanwhile, Bellaris walked out to the center of the landing, her heels clicking. —Right between Felix and "White Sheep." There she held out a hand to each of them and,

"On one side, the one he chased after in agony, overcoming even 'Detour' to reach him. On the other, the one who could only cling to that desperate back from closer than anyone. And sinful Natsuki goes and dies, leaving the two of you behind... This is it!"

"—'This' meaning?"

"Love burns hotter the higher the obstacles, doesn't it? Age and gender are firewood that stoke it too. But then, what's the greatest obstacle of all? Why, it's d-e-a-t-h!"

"—"

"Parting by death! That's love's greatest obstacle! Because once you're dead, it's over! You can never touch the one who died again. So nothing could drive two people further apart than death, could it? Turn that around, and death is a drug that raises the love between two lovers to its absolute limit! Death is an aphrodisiac!"

She was out of her mind. Bellaris, going on with that ecstatic smile and those rapturous eyes, was insane. How far "White Sheep" agreed with that insane theory of love, there was no telling. But she neither laughed at Bellaris's ravings nor belittled them—

"—Mama, thank you always. I love you most in the world."

It was a remark with no context whatsoever, sudden, and on top of that, it made no sense.

To Felix, at least, it seemed that this too, like Subaru before he was stabbed, might be an imbalance in "White Sheep's" mind brought on by the "Poison" Bellaris was scattering. But—

"—"

To Bellaris, whose face drained of blood in an instant and went deathly pale, it had sounded like something else entirely. Seeing her like that, "White Sheep's" cold expression changed. A smile. She gave a thin, icy smile that didn't suit her face and,

"—I'm one of the 'Beloved Children.' Mama sent me into the 'Six Tongues.'"

"—Ah."

"I infiltrated them to learn everything about the 'Six Tongues' and strip our enemies bare. But at this rate, it looked like the Beloved Children were going to end up fighting each other, so I've revealed myself. —Please think of this as a gift. He was surprisingly tough, you know. Under normal circumstances."

"This," she said, kicking Subaru's body with the tip of her shoe where he lay face down in the pool of blood. At that careless treatment from "White Sheep," Bellaris, who had gone rigid, let out a long, slow breath. It was no longer the swooning sigh of a woman lost in her nightmarish daydreams, but one of deep, deep relief.

"Oh, oh, I see. You're a 'Beloved Child' too... You're not Mama herself, are you? Then that's all right. You know how Mama does that sometimes? Because she wants us to understand each other, true feelings and all, there was a day when every single person I met was Mama! Remembering that, I thought my heart would freeze... You're not Mama, are you?"

"No, I'm me. But I know how you feel. She's done things to me that left me unable to swallow a bite, too, more times than I can count."

"You too! We're the same, you and I... Is that why you told me? Does that mean it's fate? You don't want to lose me? Me neither!"

At the feet of the two "Beloved Children" chatting so pleasantly, the blood of the boy whom love had pitifully forsaken kept flowing, whittling his life away little by little, but surely. With every second, the chance of catching that spilling life slipped further away.

"And yet what are you two taking your sweet time for... and me, too..."

Hateful. Infuriating. Maddening. The "Beloved Children" who had set up this hourglass of blood, and himself, unable to do anything but watch it run—and, if it came to that, Subaru, who had come blundering in here only to be stabbed by a traitor as neatly as you please: he was furious at him, too. It had been this way for these two months. For two months, Subaru had made him angry beyond bearing.

—Why had Subaru left Emilia's side?

Why, once again, had he left the one person he should have been closest to, just to reach out a hand to Crusch in her hour of need? And so he'd been separated from his mistress and his companions, and now here he was in a pool of blood. He had it completely backwards.

Natsuki Subaru's actions, his very existence, were Felix Argyle's sin itself.

If weakness was why things had been taken, and there was nothing to do but ask those around him to make up for that fate, then making Subaru be the one to fill the gap was Felix's sin, every bit of it. —And Felix's sins were always paid for not by himself, but by someone else.

"Don't screw with me..."

Once, Felix's birth had broken the Argyle family—the beast ears that surfaced as a throwback to demi-human blood had made his father suspect his mother of infidelity.

Once, Felix's arrogance had let slip the chance to repay his mentor—the teacher to whom he owed so much, who had affirmed this power, had his judgment called into question and was killed by someone driven past reason.

Once, Felix's negligence had failed to save the friend he revered with all his heart—lauded as the "Blue," he had let his lord's beloved slip through his fingers with a skill unworthy of that fame.

Once, Felix's atonement had twice fallen short of the lord he held dearer than life—and even now, his own inadequacy was about to bring about a third betrayal of that lord.

"I won't have it... I won't have it...!"

He twisted his body. His arm wouldn't come free. He threw his strength into his shoulder. The arm wouldn't tear off. He kicked the wall as hard as he could. The arm stayed pinned. Nothing, not one thing, went the way he wanted. Just like Felix's life. "—Ngh."

Anger with no fixed target rampaged inside his chest, hatefully thin as it was. He could keep his body in perfect order, but not his heart. If anything, had his heart ever been in perfect order? Always unstable, always squalling away with that brittle heart of his: that was him. And because he was like that, just like every time before, not a single person—

"—Ah."

He would be punished again, by ruining the life of someone other than himself. —It happened just as he was cursing the fate that coiled around Felix's life, teeth clenched.

"—"

His eyes met Subaru's black ones, where he lay face down in the pool of blood, head turned to the side. Limbs sprawled limply, eyes unfocused, drawing thin breaths frothy with blood: it was unmistakably the face of a person on the brink of death, a face Felix had seen countless times.

Only one thing. There was only one thing that set him apart from those seized by death and called away. Those called away died with grief, with fear, with regret in their eyes. But Subaru was different. What dwelt in those weak, blurred black eyes was hope.

—The moment he realized what that hope was aimed at, Felix understood.

The terribly foolish bet on someone else's strength that weak, fragile, powerless Natsuki Subaru had made.

"Don't screw with me...!"

What spilled out next was different from the aimless anger of before. It was aimed straight at the one it belonged to: a sludgy crystal of the curse-like rage inside Felix.

Even now, at the very last, Natsuki Subaru believed in Felix Argyle. —This was an utterly idiotic bit of theater, staged on the strength of that hope alone.

△▼△▼△▼△

—This goes back to before Subaru and "White Sheep" went down into the underground.

"I'll choose, too. —So that I can look that person in the face."

Taking White Sheep's decision to heart, Subaru set their course for the underground. He meant to avoid the kind of caution that kept a foot flat on the brake, but he had no intention of letting that tip straight into recklessness. Relying on "Cor Leonis" to track Ferris's position and leaving it to White Sheep to correct for the actual layout of the passages, the two of them closed in on their destination without rushing, yet at the best speed they could manage. Still, reaching it with nothing in hand would be pointless.

"Isn't this weird, though? Why is the enemy keeping Ferris alive?"

As they went, his mind fixed on his Authority, Subaru also worked on adding cards to his hand. More often than not, the usable cards lay dormant among the junk. And even without any effort to collect them, junk cards piled up by the dozen in time spent without a second thought. That wasn't only true of the stretch since he'd arrived at this castle. It held for these two months of groping in the dark, too.

"They're following Capella's policy and trying to kill as few people as possible... I'm throwing that one out on behalf of my own poor, much-abused life. That leaves two patterns I can think of."

One: Ferris's healing ability far exceeded anything the enemy had imagined, and they believed they'd finished him off, leaving him barely alive and abandoned underground. And the other—

"—the enemy has a reason to want Ferris kept alive."

"You mean there's information they want from him, or they want him as a hostage?"

"That's the most likely story. But going by my own sorry track record, I can think of one really nasty reason—that Capella wants to adopt Ferris too."

When he'd been told the "Beloved Children" were a collection of talents each specialised in a single gift, Subaru had thought Ferris would fit right in. Of course, trying to analyse Capella's twisted love was a reckless undertaking, so this was only guesswork from the current situation.

"...That might be it. No, it might be the explanation that makes the most sense."

"If you think it's plausible too, White Sheep, that's reassuring. Honestly, I was thinking what a crap idea it was... and then I realised I'd done the same thing, taking someone I caught and making them one of my own kids, and I freaked myself out."

"Huh? What? Whaaat?"

White Sheep was stunned by Subaru's moment of self-reflection, but a detailed explanation would only be noise, so he skipped it. It went without saying he meant Meili, though he'd like to insist there was a decisive difference between his views on child-rearing and Capella's. There was something else he wanted to talk to Meili about on that front, too, but it would have to wait.

"Either way, if that's right, it's weird to say, but we might not have to worry about Ferris getting killed. Even so, I still say we go and regroup with him."

"...Will you tell me why?"

"Two reasons. One, same as before we started running: with Ferris around, our survival rate is on a whole other level. Two, the enemy's abilities. I want to do something about 'Lost,' the nastiest of the lot."

Nodding to White Sheep, who drew a small breath, Subaru kept moving, trailing a hand along the wall. So far, the "Beloved Children" known to have appeared at Kugelschreiber Castle were three: "Silent," "Breach," and "Lost," and Subaru considered the last the toughest opponent. Not that "Silent"'s skills as an assassin or the trouble "Breach" caused needed pointing out.

"If they're managing to hold their own right now, Crusch has a way to counter 'Silent.' And I've thought of a way to handle 'Breach' myself. But 'Lost' is different. As long as that's in play, we'll never be able to regroup with our allies."

The only reason Subaru could try to reach Ferris now was that two conditions had been met: the effect of "Cor Leonis," and Ferris not moving from where he was. The most frightening thing about "Lost" was that the moment the other party started moving, the difficulty of meeting up shot through the roof.

"So 'Lost,' at the very least, has to be undone. And for that, Ferris's..."

"W-wait, please, you're leaving me behind. That ability that throws everyone's emotions into a flurry, you can do something about it!?"

"Yeah, I can. I think. I can't say it's a hundred percent, and it pisses me off, like I'm borrowing that scumbag Regulus's power, but I've got proof the Authority outranks 'Lost.'"

Sensing White Sheep staring at him, speechless, Subaru opened his eyes. While he'd been working it through, Ferris's location had come up right ahead of them; it was time to talk. White Sheep's cooperation was absolutely essential to the plan he'd come up with.

"—White Sheep, there's a plan I want you to hear. Whether we can pull it off depends on you, so I'd like your opinion."

"A plan? And it depends on me..."

"As you know, if the enemy's up ahead, it's very doubtful the two of us can deal with them head-on. So I want to be cunning here and catch them with a trick."

"A sneak attack..." White Sheep murmured, falling in beside Subaru as he stopped, and prompted him to go on.

"Simple. You're a spy Capella planted inside the Six Tongues. You catch me while I'm sneaking around trying to strike back, and you bring me along to meet up with the Beloved Children... That kind of scenario."

"—! That's..."

"You said it yourself, right? The Beloved Children barely know each other's faces. But you really were one of them once, so you've got things in common to talk about. Throw me in as a gift on top of that, and don't you think our odds are better than a straight fight?"

It must have been the last thing she expected. White Sheep clapped both hands over her mouth, her eyes gone perfectly round. Of course it wouldn't be as easy as he made it sound, and the enemy wouldn't swallow it whole. But over these two months on the Beloved Children front, he had watched time and again as the enemy shared far less information than you'd think, each of them struggling to answer Capella's wishes within the limits of the role and authority they'd been handed. Capella's dictatorship at the top, the lack of coordination between allies that was meant as discipline, and a false loyalty bound tight with fear: Subaru figured there had to be an opening in all that. The catch was that White Sheep, the one who had lived it, would need the resolve to face that fear again.

"I think... we have a chance. Maybe, for a reason you don't know about, Gray Star, it could go even better than you're imagining."

"Seriously? Now I'm curious about this reason I don't know about, but if it works in our favour, I'll take it."

"But we might trip up right at the start. Even if I bring you in, Gray Star, whether they'll trust me..."

"—Then what if we set up a situation where they've got no choice but to believe it?"

Subaru had seen White Sheep's objection coming, and he agreed with it. Even if she marched him in with his hands tied behind his back, odds were they'd smell a desperate gamble. So he had prepared the proposal in two stages. The second, though, would put a heavy burden on White Sheep. Because—

"...White Sheep, are you carrying any weapons?"

"Weapons...? A collapsible staff for staff-fighting, and a short blade, just in case. Do you want to use them?"

"Yeah, I want you to use one. ...For impact, it's gotta be the knife..."

She showed him the two weapons tucked inside her clothes, a staff about the length of a baton and a short blade shaped like a survival knife, and Subaru decided the latter suited his purpose. Then he spoke to White Sheep, who was looking puzzled at his grimace.

"—When we run into the Beloved Children, stab me with that knife. Go that far and it's bound to add a whole lot of credibility, don't you think?"

△▼△▼△▼△

"If we're short on credibility, we add more. I thought about you beating me half to death and dragging me in, but that wouldn't fool a Todd. As in, the careful, suspicious type."

"—"

"If we lowball the enemy and do things halfway, we won't get results. If we're doing it, we bet everything on one shot and throw as hard as we can."

"W-wait..."

"I'll put on the performance of a lifetime and go down convincingly too. But the burden's definitely heavier on your end, so whether you can do it—"

"—Please wait!"

The cry shut his mouth mid-rush, halfway through rattling off the plan. White Sheep, her voice raised, moved her hand from her mouth to her chest, feeling her heartbeat against her palm, and turned tear-bright eyes on Subaru. —He'd gone too far after all. He had known from the start that she had a gentle heart that hated fighting. Plan or no plan, asking her of all people to stab him was just too cruel—

"...That isn't what you really feel, Subaru."

"...White Sheep?"

"Putting yourself in danger just to raise the chances that I'll pull it off... that isn't what you really feel. ...I made you say it."

Clutching the front of her clothes, White Sheep hunched her slender shoulders, her voice shaking. But Subaru couldn't follow her. She said she'd made him say it, yet he couldn't think what she meant. The plan had come from him, no question about it. Still, wanting to calm her as she shrank into herself, small and fragile, he reached for her shoulder.

"I don't really get what you're saying. Maybe the shock's got you mixed up—"

"—! You mustn't touch me!"

"—!" Subaru caught his breath as his reaching hand was knocked aside. For an instant White Sheep's cheeks went stiff at her own overreaction, but she quickly pressed her lips together.

"Please don't touch me. If you touch me, then you'll surely be even more..."

"More? More what? I don't get it, White Sheep. We don't have time to stand around right now. Please, just say it plainly!"

"You'll do even more of what I tell you! That's my power!"

Subaru had raised his voice; White Sheep raised hers louder still and held up both her hands. Two hands with slender, supple fingers, held out so Subaru could see them clearly—

"My power is 'Charmer'... Anyone I touch with these hands starts to feel fond of me. And anyone who's fond of me can't refuse what I ask of them..."

"What you ask of them..."

"Doesn't anything come to mind? Times when I held your hand while I talked, and what I said just seemed right, somehow, so you ended up agreeing with me?"

At that, Subaru lowered his eyes and thought back over the two months since he'd met White Sheep. There might have been a few moments like that. Times when he'd been stuck on a decision or unsure what to do, and White Sheep had touched him, and he'd gone along with whatever she suggested. A few times.

"But that was..."

"—I don't like this power. I hate it. Because it feels like I'm trampling on everyone around me and using them for my own sake."

"..."

"So normally I tried to stay away from you and Beatrice as much as I could. I was careful not to touch you by accident..."

That earnest effort had surely been real. As far as she could, she had avoided physical contact with other people. And the rare times she'd still ended up taking Subaru's hand—

"Russell's orders, huh. You're not just a former 'Beloved Child,' you've got that power too, so he found you ridiculously useful. Now that you mention it, that makes sense."

No wonder someone like Russell counted White Sheep, so obviously unsuited to it by temperament, among the main fighters in the war against the "Six Tongues." She was, in a manner of speaking, a honey trap with a near-perfect success rate who didn't even have to seduce anyone.

"So you're saying this plan is also the result of you charming me."

"... Yes."

White Sheep nodded solemnly, every bit the sinner who has repented and confessed.

In her own heart, that was probably the truth of it. Drawing out other people's goodwill with a power she'd been born with, and bringing about whatever outcome suited her. She was tormented by the sense that she had committed every wickedness there was. And now, with Subaru proposing a plan that would hurt him, the guilt she'd been carrying had burst out. The "Breach," which made emotions impossible to hold back, likely had no small part in it. And if so, Subaru must be feeling the "Breach" too. Otherwise he would never, ever have said something like this to White Sheep.

"White Sheep."

"I'm sorry, but please reconsider. That plan, that reckless plan, it's no good. A plan where I'm safe and you might die..."

"—There's a girl I'm crazy about, so I'm not dying for your sake, White Sheep."

"... ... ...Huh?"

At Subaru's confession, the sinner's look on White Sheep's face gave way to blank astonishment, and her eyes went wide. He felt bad, with her too stunned to argue, but time was short. He pressed on while he had the opening. He had to set White Sheep's misunderstanding straight.

"I mean, sure, you're a seriously pretty girl yourself, White Sheep, but to me, she's the brightest star... she just shines differently. So you haven't charmed me."

"..."

"And there's one more misunderstanding... or actually, that one's on me for explaining it badly. I said whether we could pull this off was up to you, right? But the one I'm counting on in this plan isn't you."

"Th-then who...?"

Subaru sincerely regretted putting White Sheep through needless worry. He'd done wrong by her. The two of them had been working from different assumptions about the risk from the start. White Sheep thought the plan carried the risk that Subaru might die. But Subaru didn't. The plan might hurt badly enough that he'd feel like he was dying, but it was a plan in which he didn't die. Because—

"—Ferris. I'm counting on him."

"Oh..."

"He told me himself. If it's right in front of him, he won't let anyone die, not even someone who wants to. So this plan only works right in front of him."

In return, as long as it happened in front of Ferris, he would keep that offhand promise out of sheer pride. This was someone who, in case anything ever happened to Beatrice, had rewritten the principles of healing magic in just two months so that he could save even a spirit. Subaru had respect for that gentle strength of his.

He was counting on Ferris the same way he counted on Reinhard or Julius, staking everything on someone else's strength. —That was the core of this "Natsuki Subaru Staged Murder Case."

"Also, I know I just said I'm not charmed, but I do think we've gotten close. That's not only because of your power, though. It's because you check on me when things are rough, and you're always the first to make tea on breaks, and also because I'm a pushover."

"Subaru..."

"I don't think you cheated and tricked me. We're comrades, so let's help each other out. It's a way better deal than Ferris is getting, having me stabbed in front of him out of nowhere, right?"

With that, Subaru deliberately held out his right hand, inviting "White Sheep" to shake. Looking down at the offered hand, "White Sheep" swallowed hard.

"...I can't believe in people's kindness. Even what you just said, I keep thinking maybe my power made you say it after all. That's why, even with that person..."

"—"

"But... but today, I'll try to believe. In you, and in what you told me: that there's someone who isn't me, someone you can truly trust more than you trust me."

Timidly, her hand reached out and touched Subaru's, then took hold of it firmly. The handshake they exchanged was proof that she, who feared bending the hearts of those she touched, had taken a step forward in courage. And what she would use that hard-won courage for was stabbing Subaru.

"Some conclusion, huh. Think you can do it, 'White Sheep'?"

"It's Melty."

"Huh?"

"—Melty Pristis. That's my name."

Subaru's eyes went round, and "White Sheep", no, Melty Pristis, let her lips soften. It was the face of a girl who still carried timidity in her heart but had decided to resist with every scrap of courage she could wring out. Having caught Subaru off guard with that smile and her name, she tightened her grip on his hand and said,

"This is the first time I've ever made a friend, and the first time I've ever stabbed one!"

It was a truly gallant declaration from a friend. And with that, "The Natsuki Subaru Staged Murder Case" was set in motion—

△▼△▼△▼△

"—Gh, ah, gk."

And so, having been stabbed for real for the sake of the ruse, Subaru now lay at death's door.

By asking for the right flank he had managed to lower the risk of bleeding out, but only by a hair. There was no strength left anywhere in his body, and he couldn't move. Face down in a pool of blood, he felt like he might drown in his own blood. But he couldn't die. If he died, it would be a betrayal he couldn't atone for even in death, toward "White Sheep", no, Melty, who had trusted him and gone through with the plan.

"So don't, die, damn it...!"

Putting everything he had into holding back the life that was trying to slip out of his body, drawing one shallow breath after another, his whole aching body seizing up and not just the flank where the knife had gone in, he carried out his other role. Along with the role of the gift who collapses when stabbed, there was this one—holding back the damage of the "Breach."

"Cor... Leo... nis..."

With that hoarse murmur, the Authority of Greed, "Cor Leonis," was pushed past its limits once more. He didn't need to say the name to use it, but right now he wanted to keep his head working however he could. If he let his guard slip, the next instant his consciousness would be blown away and he'd die. Even the agony of overuse was a change he was grateful for right now.

Within that change, Subaru sensed his companions scattered throughout Kugelschreiber Castle. Each and every one of them was part of what held Subaru together now, but the real aim in activating "Cor Leonis" wasn't pinpointing where they were. —It was the restoration of the "Little King." And once that was done, a "Breach" of emotions worth "two people" would come crashing down on Subaru.

"Ugh, gk, uh, aaah... it's not, faaair...!"

The tremendous tidal wave of emotion, the raging storm, and the "Breach" of his heart's levees that followed, set the dying Subaru whimpering, topping the pool of blood with tears and snot—a filthy three-minute cooking show. Assailed by that fierce, violent sensation, feeling it far, far more strongly than anywhere else he'd been in the castle, he could tell perfectly well that the source of the "Breach" was this shipper ghoul woman. He could tell.

"—I've chosen. Me too, so my own wish can come true."

Melty's performance as she said that and stabbed Subaru in the side had been uncanny. A shoo-in frontrunner for the Academy Award, no doubt about it. A woman with the guts to walk out on the "Beloved Children" really was a cut above. And just as he'd hoped, she walked right up to the shipper ghoul who ruled this place, as smooth as anything—

"I'm Melty. Could you tell me your name?"

"My name? My name's Bellaris. They call me 'Ring Finger.' But oh no! If we've exchanged names like this, that means our story has begun... wait, I might like you. I think I might like you, Melty!"

"Don't say something as lonely as 'might.' We're family, aren't we?"

She said it in a sulky tone, and Melty raised her hand and laid it gently on the cheek of the shipper, of Bellaris. At once Bellaris let out an "Ah," her cheeks flushing, her eyes growing moist with heat. If Melty's power was what she had claimed, then this, her going all in, was her true ability on full display: what she'd meant when she said she might pull it off better than Subaru thought.

"Bellaris, are you here on Mama's orders?"

"No, Dandon told me to come. Well, strictly speaking, Dandon told us to wait. But Reborn ignored him... I bet Reborn wants Dandon's attention!"

"Bellaris, how did you find out about this place?"

"Apparently the 'Executor' sent a report. I don't know the details of how he knew, but that's so mysterious and lovely too, isn't it? Who are those eyes of his looking at... me?"

"Bellaris, who else is here with you?"

"Reborn and Tornel. Actually, Reborn was only going to bring Tornel, but I couldn't let the two of them go off on a secret rendezvous, could I? So I forced my way along. My 'Ring Finger' goes well with anyone... Oh, don't think I'm easy! I just want to hand out lots of love, and watch everyone handing it to each other...!"

Bellaris took Melty's hand of her own accord and pleaded as if clinging to it, and out of her mouth poured an unending stream: the untold circumstances of the Beloved Children who had stormed this castle.

Of course, part of it was that Bellaris was careless to begin with.

But what loosened her tongue even more was the sheer force of "Charmer," wielded on someone who already believed Melty was on her side. Cheating on her would be flat-out impossible. You'd be caught right away. She'd make you confess. It was undeniable proof that Melty Pristis had once been one of the Beloved Children.

"..."

For a split second, Melty's glance met Subaru's where he lay on the floor. A nod, a thumbs-up, even a meaningful look were all but impossible for him, but he had seen for himself that her power was the real thing. That made taking on the burden of the "Breach" worth it for Subaru too. All that remained was—

"Bellaris, the truth is, there's another one of the Beloved Children here besides me. But we got lost in the castle and can't find each other, and I don't know what to do."

"What! You mean you can't meet the one you want to meet? What a tragedy... Though I do think love grows bigger when you keep missing each other like that..."

"—But then we'd be causing trouble for Mama."

"..."

However dramatic the effect, he could never in his life have brought himself to welcome the fright and dread that surfaced on Bellaris's face in that moment.

"Tornel! Undo the 'Detour' for them! Those two who can't find each other, it's too sad!"

Unable to hide the tremor in her voice, Bellaris shouted it loud enough to ring through the underground. —And at that, just once, with a click, blue light spread through the depths. It traced over Subaru, over Melty and Bellaris, over Ferris on the wall, then spread farther out, most likely over the entire castle. And as the light faded and its afterglow receded, he understood it on instinct.

"There! The 'Detour' is undone. You should be able to meet the one you want to meet now. But if you don't mind, I'd love for the reunion to happen right in front of me. It'll get me so fired up!"

As if to confirm that instinct, Bellaris declared it while rubbing her cheek against Melty's hand.

With that, one of the goals of "The Natsuki Subaru Staged Murder Case" had been achieved. If the "Detour" had been lifted, then now, everyone, who got, separated, would, be, safe, and—

"—Don't you die, you idiot!! What are you thinking?! Don't screw with me!!"

—In that instant, his dying consciousness was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged back to reality by force.

"—ah."

"Idiot! You were about to die just now! I can't believe it, I can't believe it, I can't believe it! Why would you do something so stupid?! Why...!"

He could hear a tearful voice. A voice lamenting, screaming why, how could you. He couldn't just leave it crying. That was why he'd held on to his life by a hair.

"..."

—In place of an answer, at the edge of his vision, countless slits raced across the ceiling, and from beyond the white vault carved open, a shadow came plunging down into the depths. —In silence.