The next morning, everyone was up bright and early. The other wives helped Emilia get into a beautiful white wedding gown with a lacy veil. Emilia sat at a vanity, staring at her own reflection as the wives dressed her.
Emilia 's hands trembled as her own reflection brought to mind the Mirror Room, but she fought to control herself.
The wives ' hatred for Emilia clearly hadn't diminished even a little over the night. Their hands were rough, and many of them took the opportunity to pinch and prod her painfully. Emilia struggled to avoid crying out.
It got so bad that Sylvie had to restore order by violently slapping 42 's face.
The wives all looked at Sylvie in shock.
"Enough!" Sylvie seethed. "I won't see anyone else die here today! You're all acting like petulant children! If the bridal train isn't perfect, then we will be the ones punished for it! Do any of you feel like dying before you even…" Sylvie trailed off and gave Emilia an anguished look.
The wives all looked at one another guiltily, clearly more chagrined about upsetting Sylvie than about Emilia 's impending murder.
By mid-morning, everything was prepared, and the wives left to wait in Regulus 's study for Emilia's grand entrance. They gave Emilia many looks of hatred and contempt on their way out.
Emilia sat at the vanity, dressed for her wedding, and Sylvie stood beside her. Sylvie still looked tough, but her magic had nearly healed her face. She looked almost back to normal.
Sylvie stood behind Emilia, her face creasing in sympathy. She reached down and gently squeezed her shoulder. "We need to get moving as well. You need to go to the study, kneel down, and beg the monster to marry you now."
"Sylvie," Emilia asked, staring at herself in the mirror, her expression like ice. "How badly do you want to escape this nightmare?"
Sylvie 's eyes widened in alarm. "What are you saying?"
"Would you risk your life to escape?" Emilia persisted.
Sylvie stared at her for a long moment. Then, she abruptly nodded.
Emilia stood up, her expression fixed and resolved. "I have a plan. I'm going to get us all out of here."
"How?! If you fail-"
"I won't."
"The other wives-"
"Are going to kill me anyway," Emilia said in a voice like ice. "Either I'm right about this, and you all escape, or I'm wrong, and Regulus kills me, and then everything around here goes back to normal. And either way, I'll have a chance to find Subaru on the other side and tell him that I'm sorry."
"Please don't do this!" Sylvie begged. "I know how angry with the other wives you are-"
"I'm not angry," Emilia said simply. "The others may be broken and horrible people, but they still have a right to hate me."
Sylvie hesitated, thrown off step by this admission. "Please don't make the monster any more furious! Because we will be the ones to suffer for it! "
"I'm dying today regardless," Emilia said, trying to suppress the quiver in her voice. "So I'm willing to take some chances to try and rescue all of you. I am going to get that book away from Regulus. When I do, be ready to take it from me and then run far, far away from here with all of the wives."
Sylvie stared at Emilia in disbelief. "How could you possibly-"
"Just be ready to gather up the others and run," Emilia said intently.
"What about you?"
Emilia pursed her lips. "Don't worry about me. I don't have anything left to live for anyway. I just want to make that monster pay for what he's done."
Early that morning, Cecilus stood beside Vincent, doing his very best not to do anything to gain his Emperor 's ire.
The pair stood outside the apartment formerly belonging to Subaru Natsuki and his friends. Soldiers walked up and down the hallway, searching and inspecting everything in sight for clues. Vincent 's face was expressionless, but Cecilus, who knew Vincent better than anyone, understood that the Emperor was smoldering inside.
General Canae walked up to Vincent and saluted. "Sir. We've done a full sweep of the palace, but Subaru Natsuki and his friends have not been discovered."
Vincent took a slow breath. "Send search parties out into the country, General," Vincent said quietly.
Canae saluted and walked away.
"You think that Subaru Natsuki managed to escape?" Cecilus murmured. "Maybe he's just found a really good hiding spot."
"To what purpose?" Vincent grumbled. "I sincerely doubt that Subaru Natsuki would put all this time and effort into simply finding a means to annoy me."
"But how did they escape the palace?"
"I don't know. But I mean to find out," Vincent said.
Cecilus 's sharp hearing detected the steady patter of footsteps coming from down the hall. Angry footsteps.
Cecilus glanced in that direction and saw Priscilla marching toward them, her expression livid.
Vincent raised an eyebrow as his sister approached.
Priscilla marched up to Vincent and folded her arms across her chest. "Did you know about this?" She asked tartly.
Vincent made a face. "No. I seem to have been taken by surprise. Did you?"
"No! He just left me a blasted note!" Priscilla said, waving a scrap of paper around.
Vincent immediately snatched the paper out of the startled Priscilla 's hand. Her eyes flashed in rage.
Vincent read it quickly, and then he scowled. "This note is from your servant!" He snapped.
Priscilla cocked her head. "Of course it is!" She said, sounding confused. "What did you think we were talking about? Aldebaran left my employ last night! He didn't even bother to tell me! He just left a blasted note! "
Vincent took a deep breath. " I am talking about Subaru Natsuki, who managed to escape the palace last night. "
Priscilla blinked. "He did?" She sounded very impressed. "How did he manage to do that?"
"We don't know yet. But you must realize that Subaru escaping puts all of our plans in jeopardy. I assume that you didn't know anything about this," Vincent said suspiciously.
Priscilla 's eyes narrowed. "No. I didn't," She growled. "And I resent your implication that I would act in some way to sabotage your plans! "
"You seemed awfully unhappy about your wedding last night," Vincent reminded her darkly.
Priscilla just stared at him for a long moment. Then she imperiously lifted her chin. "I came back to Vollachia for you , Vincent, " she said in a whisper more raw than any scream. "I risked my life to come and help you because you said that you were in danger. I became engaged to Subaru Natsuki because you asked me to, which means I was prepared to give up my birthright, my crown, and even my body. I was willing to give it all up and hand it to a stranger for you ! I did all these things for you, and you didn 't even tell me that you were about to fake your death. Do you have any idea what that did to me? "
Vincent 's expression made it clear he had been expecting to hear these complaints sooner or later. "It was necessary," He said patiently. "The fewer people who knew about the plan, the more likely it was to succeed."
"Do you really trust Cecilus Segmunt more than me?!"
Cecilus looked very offended by her question, but he said nothing.
"Cecilus was necessary to the plan. I needed his protection. I was roaming the countryside alone and unprotected while Sphinx's forces were amassing in the jungle. Even our own forces could have been a threat to me. Cecilus was what saved me from the draugr and the whale."
"And what was the point of my public humiliation?" Priscilla demanded. "Why did I need to become engaged to Subaru Natsuki before your body was even cold? There was no point if you planned to take the throne back anyway!"
Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Of course, there was a point," He said in amazement. "Subaru Natsuki was the only reason that you were able to hold the throne at all."
Priscilla looked like Vincent had slapped her.
Vincent looked incredulous. "Did you really think that the Generals and Senators would have tolerated a female Emperor? They have deposed you at once. "
"Not during the war!" Priscilla shot back. "They wouldn't have deposed me during-"
"They all would have deposed you on the spot," Vincent said flatly. "And damn the consequences!"
"That's nonsense! They wouldn't be so stupid! Killing me just creates a power vacuum at the worst possible time. If they had started fighting amongst themselves to decide the next Emperor, Octavian would have won the war."
Vincent glared at her. "And they would have been fine with that outcome, " He growled. "They would have welcomed Octavian with open arms. When the Generals learned that I was dying and that you would be my heir, they wanted to surrender! They thought it far better to hand the throne to Octavian than to suffer the humiliation of an Empress, even for a single day! No Vollachian soldier would follow a woman ! It was only by means of your engagement that I persuaded them from defecting en masse! And now you 're acting like an ungrateful fool."
"Ungrateful?!"
"You ruled the Empire for a full day! An honor no woman has ever even held and an honor far beyond your reach."
Priscilla 's face went white. " Excuse me? " She whispered.
Vincent regarded her coldly. "You lack the strength to be Emperor," He said with finality. "By your very actions, you prove that you lack the stomach to rule. A true Emperor would have seized the throne by force, not simply handed it back to someone else! "
Priscilla looked livid. "You're saying that to prove myself worthy to be Empress, I would have had to kill you? " She demanded.
"Of course. You know how the royal selection works."
Priscilla 's eyes filled with tears, but her face twisted in rage. "And what about you ?! " She demanded. " I still live, Vincent! You didn 't kill me to seize the throne. You even smuggled me out of the country to save my life!"
Vincent hesitated. "I… was young and inexperienced," He admitted. "I was… unprepared for the rigors and responsibilities of my position."
Priscilla stared at him. "Are you saying that you regret saving me? " She whispered.
"No! Of course not," Vincent brushed it aside. "Simply that… The Emperor can afford to love nothing but the Empire itself. Power alone is worthy of reverence."
Priscilla 's face twisted in shock. "I've heard those words before," She whispered. "But I never imagined that I'd hear them from you… When… When did you turn into Father?"
Vincent looked angry. "Don't compare me to that monster!" He snapped. "He was a fool and an incompetent tyrant. I'm nothing like him."
Priscilla stared at Vincent. "Yes… Yes, you are a very competent tyrant, " she said in a sad, quiet voice that almost no one in the world had ever heard. "What happened to you, Vincent? All these years, I dreamed of seeing my brother again, of coming home, and then it would once again just be us against the world."
"It will still be like that," Vincent said impatiently. "We'll conquer the world together."
"No," Priscilla sadly shook her head. "You don't see me as a partner or a peer any longer. I'm not a player at this table. I'm just another pawn on your chessboard.
"You're right, Vincent. I really am a fool. The signs that you were no longer the man I remembered were everywhere. I don't know why I didn't see them before. I suppose… I suppose I just didn't want to."
Vincent opened his mouth to respond, but Priscilla cut him off. "It's clear to me now that I lost my brother many years ago. I just didn't realize it at the time. I suppose I should be grateful you arranged for me to attend the funeral."
Priscilla took a deep breath and turned on her heel. She marched back down the hall without a backward glance and with her head held high. Only her trembling shoulders suggested that she might be weeping.
Vincent made a face. "I'll need to watch her more closely from now on," He said regretfully. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
Cecilus said nothing. Over his long years with Vincent, he had learned that it was usually safer that way.
Emilia marched into Regulus 's study in her full wedding gown. The wives all stood in rows against the wall, staring at Emilia with looks of seething hatred.
Sylvie quickly entered the room and took her place beside them. The wives glanced at her in concern. Sylvie 's movements were unusually swift and tense. The wives saw that Sylvie's face was frightened, and their faces grew frightened as well.
They all knew from Sylvie 's expression that Emilia was scheming something and that, when it failed, they would be the ones made to suffer for it. Several of the wives silently cursed that they had not simply strangled her last night, regardless of how little it would have looked like an accident.
Regulus sat behind a desk in his study. He smirked at Emilia, but his smirk started to fade when he saw the iron in her expression. Regulus waited, but Emilia did not kneel before him.
"What are you doing, 64?" Regulus said threateningly.
Emilia trembled as she looked at Regulus. Her mind whirled with memories of Regulus breaking her arm and of all his cruelty in the Mirror Room. Of his attack on the defenseless forest and his sadistic murder of Subaru. Of the entire lifetime of misery that he had inflicted upon her.
A surge of terror welled up inside of her.
Emilia struggled to look Regulus in the eye without flinching when all she wanted to do was run away from this monster as fast as she could.
She summoned all of her courage and took a deep breath. "My name is Emilia ! " She said in a shattering roar that echoed off the rafters.
The wives ' faces all turned white.
Regulus looked shocked, and then his face twisted in fury. "…What did you just say?" he whispered in a voice that threatened imminent violence.
Emilia steadied herself. Her hands trembled, but she fought to hold them steady. "Regulus," Emilia said flatly. "Give me the Gospel."
Regulus stared at her in absolute disbelief. Then, his face twisted into a snarl. "You… You dare ?! You stupid, selfish little bitch! You have the audacity to come into my home and make demands of me?! Do you think- " Regulus marched around the desk.
Emilia reached up and grabbed the accursed collar wrapped around her neck. "This collar is a bomb , Regulus! " She cut him off, her heart hammering. "If you don't do exactly what I say, I'll break the collar, and it will blow up! "
Regulus just stared at her. And then he burst out laughing. It was a cold, cruel laughter. He laughed until his voice rang off the rafters. "Ha! You stupid bitch ! Do you think that a bomb could hurt me ? I am flawless! I am invincible! I am- "
"You are an idiot!" She cut him off, "The bomb isn't going to kill you," Emilia smiled viciously. "It's going to kill me. It's going to kill me and leave you to have to explain my death… to her."
The wives all stared at Emilia, wondering if she had truly lost her mind.
Sylvie looked at Regulus, and her eyes widened. Regulus 's expression was shocked and furious, but underneath that, Sylvie thought she could see fear.
Sylvie didn 't understand Emilia's plan but she recognized that for quite possibly the first time in his life, Regulus had been struck speechless. The mad tyrant wasn't sure what to say.
Regulus laughed uncertainly. "You're bluffing. You're bluffing! Nobody would voluntarily kill themselves just to spite someone else!"
"You wanted to break me, Regulus," Emilia hissed venomously. "Well, congratulations. I'm broken. I have nothing left to live for now. All I want to do is to make you pay for what you did to my Subaru."
Regulus blustered. "This is absurd! Do you think that I care what happens to you ? I have other wives- "
"Then kill me," Emilia said in a deadly tone as she lifted her chin defiantly. "If you're not afraid of her, prove it. Kill me right now."
Regulus froze. He stood there silently while Emilia glared at him.
Regulus scoffed. "I'm afraid of no one! You simply don't understand my surpassing benevolence and charity. I have shown you mercy simply out of the kindness of my-"
"You have never shown mercy," Emilia hissed. "And you know nothing about kindness. The only emotion you understand is fear, and it gnaws at you every minute of every day."
Regulus stared at her in disbelief, and then the mad Archbishop 's eyes filled with flames. He marched toward Emilia. "You vicious, stupid bitch ! I own you! I- "
Emilia fought to control her panic as Regulus bore down on her. Emilia tugged gently at her collar, and blue sparks flew. Emilia 's hands went numb as a current raced across her body.
Regulus froze in his tracks, staring at her in disbelief.
Regulus recovered his poise, and he simply scoffed. "You think that you can threaten me by threatening yourself?!" He mocked. "We're not even married yet! You 're by far the least-"
"Don't try to play smart with me, Regulus," Emilia said in a withering voice. "You're not qualified. We both know what's really going on here. You hate me. You've fantasized about killing me ever since you realized that I love Subaru. I see it in your eyes every time that you look at me. All of this time, I didn't understand why you didn't just kill me and be done with it. Why would you keep holding yourself back? You even went into a near panic when you almost killed me by accident. I couldn't figure it out. If you hated me so much, why were you so desperate to keep me alive? Then I realized you weren't the one who wanted me alive. It was your 'Goddess.'"
Regulus 's face went white, and his expression twisted in fury. "What did you just say?!" He seethed.
"Your Goddess," Emilia said with a mocking smile. "That woman who scares you so badly! The one from the vision of the forest and the one who came here that night! She made you promise to ensure I stayed safe, didn't she? And we could all see how terrified you were of her. That's why you kept holding back when you punished me. That's why you panicked when you almost killed me. Because killing me means you'd be forced to face your master's wrath. And from the way you're acting, I don't think that she's especially merciful…"
Regulus made strangling noises. "This is absurd! I have no Master! Now… get your hands off that collar this instant!" He thundered.
"No," Emilia said pertly.
Regulus 's expression went blank. "What did you just say to me?" He whispered incredulously.
Although her hands trembled and her heart fluttered in fear, Emilia managed to laugh at the shocked expression on his face. "I said 'no!' You really don't get it, do you, Regulus?" She asked. "You're not in control here anymore! "
Regulus 's face twisted in hatred. "I am always in control! Get your hands off that collar or … or I'll kill all of them ! " He said desperately, pointing at the wives.
The wives cringed and begged, wrapping their arms around one another and huddling together for protection.
Emilia fought to keep her face bemused. "Well, I can't stop you," She admitted, even though her heart thundered in her chest. "But if you hurt them , I 'll break this collar. I'll die, and then you 'll be the one made to pay for it. "
Regulus 's hands trembled. His face flickered with rage, hate, and disbelief… and fear. He seemed utterly lost as to what to do next.
Regulus took a deep breath. "Get your hands off that collar this instant!" He said in a somewhat calmer voice. "I'll… forgive you for your trespass. This time. "
Emilia laughed. "Regulus, you really don 't know how to handle any situation where you can't bully people into submission, do you? You have no idea how to behave when you're not in control."
"I am always in control!" Regulus shot back.
"Oh? Then how do you plan to keep me from blowing myself up?" Emilia asked pleasantly.
Regulus sputtered. "Take your hands off that collar, and… and… and you can sit me with this afternoon, " He added sullenly.
Emilia raised an eyebrow. "Is that really the best that you can come up with? "
Regulus seethed, seeming to grope for ideas. "Take your hands off that collar and… you can be the new head wife, 64! You'll be honored above all my other brides."
"Don't you mean 'Emilia?'" Emilia asked pointedly.
Regulus looked flustered.
Emilia 's face twisted in hatred. " Say it! " She shouted, her voice echoing off the rafters.
Regulus snarled, and his hands twisted into claws as if he could barely restrain himself from tearing Emilia limb from limb.
Regulus glared at the other wives. "Listen!" He snarled, turning his fury onto a more helpless target. The wives all cringed away from his rage, "All of you! From this moment on… 'Emilia' is my new head wife! She'll be in charge of all of you!" He turned back to Emilia. "Satisfied?" He grated.
Emilia grinned. "Oh. That's very sweet of you, Regulus," She said mockingly. "But, unfortunately, I've already given my heart to another."
Regulus looked confused. "So what?" He asked as if the comment made no sense in this context. "What would I want with your heart?"
Emilia was briefly struck speechless.
Regulus sputtered. "Look! Take your hands off the collar, and you can be my head wife! You can sit beside me all day! Alright?!"
Emilia let out a cold laugh. "Please! Even you must know that no one would ever voluntarily seek out your company! You wouldn 't be reduced to kidnapping women otherwise!"
Regulus gaped at her. "What did you just say?!"
All at once, five days of misery, suffering, and terror boiled up inside Emilia. "I said that I hate you! " She screamed. "We all do! Your vile, twisted games make all of us sick ! "
"I am the most important existence on this planet, you filthy bitch!" Regulus exploded. "I am the only thing that gives any of your worthless lives meaning!"
Emilia shook her head in disbelief. "It's amazing. You almost sound as if you truly believe that," She said with contempt. "We don't need you to give our lives meaning, Regulus. You need us. You need all of us to convince yourself that you 're not just a pathetic coward. I know who you really are. You need a chorus of women proclaiming your greatness just so that you can pretend that you 're not afraid of everything. You don't eat. You don't sleep. You don't experience pleasure of any kind. You're so afraid of the world around you that the only way that you can endure it is by creating this horrible doll house and filling it with puppets! You 're too afraid of the world to do anything else!"
"Is this the thanks that I get for rescuing all of you from your meaningless lives?" Regulus demanded.
"The only life that's meaningless here is yours, Regulus," Emilia seethed. "With all your power, you could have been a force for good. Even if you were determined to be a tyrant, you could have used your magic to conquer a nation. What did you do with it? You hid away in this tiny mansion. You steal women and terrorize them until they can't stand up to you so that you can act like some sort of king! But all that you're capable of ruling over is a tiny house in the middle of nowhere full of people who despise you! Even though you're invincible, you're still a pathetic coward."
Regulus sputtered.
Emilia shook her head. "Enough talking, Regulus. I want the talisman that lets you find your wives when they try to run away. Give me the Gospel, or I'll smash this collar right now. It'll probably burn down a good chunk of your precious mansion, and then you'll still have to answer for my death."
Regulus trembled. His hands made grasping claws, and he reached out toward Emilia hungrily as he wanted nothing more than to strangle her.
Emilia stood her ground, her hands wrapped tightly around her collar, refusing to blink.
Regulus hissed like a snake as he slowly took a small black book out of his pocket and held it out to Emilia.
Emilia snatched the book, making sure to keep one hand on her collar at all times.
"Sylvie!" She shouted, tossing the Gospel to the elven woman.
Sylvie caught the Gospel, looking at Emilia in disbelief.
The wives all shared the exact same incredulous look, as if something impossible was transpiring right before their eyes, and their minds couldn 't quite process it.
Sylvie looked down at the book and then at the other wives. "We all…" Sylvie whispered to the wives as if she couldn't quite believe her own words. "Need to… run away… right now…"
The wives stared at Sylvie and then back at Regulus, trying to understand what was happening.
"Sylvie!" Regulus snapped, pointing at Emilia. "Restrain her!"
Sylvie stared at Regulus in disbelief. She licked her lips and took a deep, shuddering breath.
"I…I hate you," Sylvie whispered to him in a voice more raw than any scream. Her face was wet with tears as she let the emotions pour out. "Gods… I hate you so much… You are the smallest, meanest, most pathetic person that I've ever known. You do nothing but spread misery in your wake. You killed my family. You killed my friends. In forty years, I have never seen you accomplish one single thing except to make everyone around you miserable. You are a coward who's afraid of everything and the only way you could find happiness was to make other people more afraid than you are. If there is any justice in this world, your master will make certain that you die in terror."
Regulus stared at Sylvie in shock and outrage. He raised his hand to obliterate her, but Emilia jumped in front of Sylvie, and Regulus stopped himself with a visible effort. He couldn 't kill Sylvie without also killing Emilia.
"Get out of here!" Emilia screamed at the wives.
The wives hesitated, looking back and forth between Emilia and the seething Archbishop.
Then 42 broke into a sprint and raced out of the study.
Emboldened by 42 's survival, the rest raced after her in a mass.
"Sylvie, go!" Emilia commanded.
"But what about you?" Sylvie whispered.
"Just go! Get as far away as you can! I'll be right behind you!" She lied.
Sylvie hesitated a moment, and then Emilia heard her race out of the house where she would lead the wives in flight out into the countryside and away from this hated mansion.
Emilia and Regulus were alone, staring at each other.
I suppose that 's that, Emilia thought with a fatalistic satisfaction. I managed to let all the others escape, but there 's no way out for me. Regulus will follow me wherever I go. He never sleeps, and he never gets tired. He'd certainly view 'losing' me as being almost as bad as 'killing' me.
So. This is where it ends. All I can do is hold on here until the wives get far enough away to be safe, and then I 'll break the collar and leave Regulus to face the wrath of his master.
That will be my revenge for Subaru and for the forest.
I outsmarted him. I actually beat this invincible monster. I even saved the others from him.
It was actually sort of a clever plan. I wonder if maybe Subaru would be proud of me …
Regulus spread his arms with a cold laugh. "And now what, bitch?" He sneered. "What will you do next?"
"Break my collar," Emilia shrugged.
Regulus stared at her. " What ?! If you break your collar, you 'll die!"
"Oh my, thank you for explaining that, Regulus!" Emilia said in a mocking, empty-headed tone. "I hadn't figured that part out. Of course, it will kill me. But that just means that I'll finally be free of you and that you'll be punished. That's my revenge. You hurt Subaru. You took Subaru away from me. Now, I am going to hurt you. My only regret is that I won't be able to see what that 'Goddess' of yours actually does to you. But if there's any justice in this world or the next, she'll treat you just as cruelly as you treated all of us."
Regulus stared at her in horror.
The trio, plus Aldebaran, hid in the undergrowth surrounding Regulus 's mansion.
"Are you sure that this is Regulus's home?" Subaru asked skeptically as they studied the beautifully sculpted mansion and grounds.
"Absolutely," Aldebaran said. "This is where the sexless freak plays his twisted games," For the first time since Subaru had met him, Aldebaran's normally sardonic voice had shifted into disgust and contempt.
"Alright," Garfiel whispered. "But now we've got to figure out about how to deal with Regulus!"
Subaru pursed his lips. "Al, you said that you had a plan for this?" He asked desperately.
Aldebaran nodded. "Yeah. I've got it covered. You guys just go in the front door."
"What?!" Subaru, Felt, and Garfiel all demanded simultaneously.
"Trust me," Aldebaran said easily. "After all, I've gotten you guys this far. If I just wanted to kill you, there are much easier ways that I could have gone about it."
"How encouraging," Felt grumbled.
Aldebaran climbed out of the underbrush and brushed himself off. He began to saunter toward the back of the mansion. "Go in the front door and ignore all the fleeing wives," He said without a backward glance. "You'll find Regulus and Emilia in the front parlor. When I give you the diversion, take the elf and run. Don't look back. And do remember that you owe me a favor. "
"What fleeing wives?" Garfiel asked incredulously.
"Wait. What about you?" Subaru called after him.
Aldebaran stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned around and stared at Subaru. "…Thank you," He whispered in a thick voice.
"Huh?"
"For asking. For caring. Nobody…Well, whatever," Aldebaran shrugged, his voice regaining his normal nonchalance. "But don't worry about me. I already have a way out. Get Emilia and run for the border. Don't come back for me."
The trio watched as Aldebaran walked toward the mansion and vanished around the back.
"That has got to be the weirdest guy I've ever met," Garfiel said seriously.
"Are we sure we trust this guy?" Felt demanded. "This plan…. Is this a plan?!"
Subaru took a deep breath. "I have to get Emilia out of there, one way or the other. I want you two to stand guard outside the mansion, " he said, handing Felt his satchel.
"What?" Garfiel protested.
"No heroics, Garf! I'm the only one who can hold off Regulus even for a few seconds," Subaru said grimly. "I'll get his attention and make Emilia run to you. You guys just get Emilia out of here as fast as you can. Knock her out and carry her off if you have to. I'll catch up."
"No, you won't!" Felt protested.
Subaru sighed. "It's our only chance, Felt," He said in a voice of iron. "If Al's… whatever-the-hell-he's-planning works, I'll catch up with you. If it doesn't…" He trailed off and shook his head. "Look. The three of you need to get to Priestella. Restore Emilia 's memories and rescue the spirits. Then… find a quiet corner of the world to disappear in. I doubt anyone will care much about tracking you down if I'm gone."
"Captain!" Garfiel shouted in protest.
"Enough! We don't have any other choices! This is the plan! Now, come on!"
Subaru, Garfiel, and Felt raced to the mansion door. Subaru 's heart was hammering, and he knew that Garfiel and Felt were just as terrified, but they pressed on.
I need to save Emilia. If nothing else, I need to make sure that Emilia gets out of here safely!
They reached the front door. Subaru set himself and was about to crash through it when the door burst open, and dozens of beautiful women came pouring out, running off into the fields in every direction without a word.
Subaru watched their flight with a baffled look on his face.
"What the hell?" Garfiel whispered.
"Stay together!" A woman screamed. An elven woman came running out of the door. To Subaru's shock, she held a Gospel in her hands. "We need to stay together!"
"Hang on!" Subaru jumped in front of her. "What's going on here?" He demanded.
The elven woman looked frantic. "We need to escape! We-"
"Where's Emilia?" Subaru snapped.
The elven woman looked at him with an expression of sudden understanding. "You're Subaru…" She whispered in disbelief. "She said that you'd come for her…"
Subaru had no patience for this. "Where is she? "
"In there!" The woman gestured desperately. "She's holding the monster off! We need to run!"
The elf woman pushed past him and vanished into the fields. Subaru raced into the mansion.
Felt and Garfiel stayed behind, their faces pale.
Emilia and Regulus stared each other down in a Mexican standoff. Emilia was just patiently waiting for the wives to get far enough that Regulus wouldn 't be able to find them, and then she would trigger the bomb. Regulus looked desperate and horrified. He had the expression of a man who knew that something unspeakably cruel was coming for him, but he had no idea how to avoid it.
Emilia heard running footsteps coming up behind her.
No! Sylvie needs to get them out of here! Regulus will kill them just to threaten me!
"Emilia!" Emilia's eyes widened as she heard a voice she knew better than her own heartbeat.
Subaru! He 's alive?! He's alive!
Emilia 's heart stopped. No! Subaru can 't be here! He's in danger!
She didn 't dare turn around. "Subaru! You have to get out of here!"
"Emilia!" He shouted again as he ran into the room and skidded to a halt beside her.
Subaru 's face paled as he saw Regulus standing there, but he quickly squared his shoulders. "Regulus," He whispered in a voice of pure hate.
Regulus looked back and forth between them, his expression contorting in fear and desperation.
"You…," Regulus hissed.
Subaru glanced at Emilia and saw her holding her collar, and his eyes widened in horror. "Emilia! Be careful!"
"Regulus can't let me die, Subaru!" She said desperately. "His master threatened to punish him if he did! But you need to get out of here!"
"I won't leave you!" Subaru shouted.
Regulus 's face suddenly lit up with a nasty smile. "Wow! And here I thought you couldn't get any more pathetic, 64! But you sure showed me. Now, let me show you: I'll kill him , you pathetic little cunt! " He promised with an expression of wild joy. "I know that I can kill him! You take your hands off that collar and be a good little bitch right this instant, or I 'll send your little friend to the afterlife, piece by piece!"
Emilia 's face grew pale, and she looked at Subaru helplessly.
Regulus smirked, confident that he had won. "You pathetic mewling quim!" He said with a wild grin. "I should have realized that was your weak spot from the beginning! I always knew that love turns men into disgusting simps, but you 're so pathetic that you 'd even die for your man ! "
Subaru 's face was iron. "Don't count on it, Regulus," He bluffed. "I'm stronger than the last time we met." He fought not to blink.
Emilia leaped in front of Subaru, much to his shock. "I'm still here too!" Emilia shouted. "If I break this collar, you 'll pay for it! "
Regulus laughed. "And so will he ! "
Emilia looked at Subaru. "Subaru! You have to get out of here!" She said desperately. "Please, just… let me save you this once. Let me protect you this time…"
Subaru stared at her, and he suddenly remembered every time he 'd tried to send her away, and she'd refused.
"Would you let me face him alone?" Subaru asked simply.
Emilia pursed her lips, her face pale. "Subaru, please! I already watched him kill you once! I couldn't bear to do it again! "
Subaru had no idea what she was talking about, but it didn 't matter right now. "We're stronger together," He said calmly, taking her free hand. "We always have been. I just… I wouldn't admit it…. Mili, if this is how it ends… then we'll go out together… side by side. That's how it should have always been."
Emilia swallowed hard, but she gave an abrupt nod.
"You two are completely disgusting," Regulus spat. "Both of you… Why do you keep feeling the need to ruin my perfect life?! All I want is peace! To just live happily without fools like you meddling in my affairs!"
"You brought this on yourself, Regulus," Emilia said coldly. "All you do is ruin lives. All of those women that you kidnapped? The ones that you dragged into this nightmare just to satisfy your deluded ego?!"
"And all of them betrayed me!" Regulus snarled. "I gave those women everything! They had nothing before I brought them here! Their lives had no meaning and no purpose! They were nothing! But I rescued them from their miserable little lives, and I gave them a place in my paradise! But were they grateful?! Did they appreciate my generosity? No! Ungrateful, bloodsucking parasites, every last one! All that I asked of them was simple obedience! A little loyalty and gratitude, and they couldn't even give me that!"
"Rescued?!" Subaru said in repugnance. "You didn't rescue them, you disgusting troll, you kidnapped them! They were your prisoners, not your wives! They would never have loved you because you never gave them a choice!"
Regulus scoffed. " Love ?! Don 't preach to me about love. Love is just giving without expecting anything in return. That's what true devotion looks like, and that 's what I demand from my wives! You think that I 'm a monster? I'm just honest. I want love on my own terms, just like everyone else does. The only difference is that I don't lie about it.
"Deep down, nobody really cares about anyone else. They just all pretend out of some pathetic need to feel wanted. It's disgusting. It's supplication based on fear. A groveling, needy entreaty where men beg for a beautiful woman to think about them because they swear that they just love her so much. Men like you are just too weak to take what they really want. You all beg and scrape for a morsel of attention from beautiful women. You grovel for a smile and a kind word. You're all just a bunch of disgusting simps! But me? I demand love on my own terms. I don't need to fawn and flatter some dumb bitch to make her pay attention to me. They give me respect and loyalty because I deserve it, not because I beg for it."
"You're a tyrant, Regulus," Emilia said flatly. "All that you care about is control and obedience. But that's not love. It's a prison. You're too much of a coward to let yourself feel anything real. And you're miserable, aren't you? All that your powers have done is turn you into a prisoner in your own skin. Invincible but numb. Safe but alone. You can't feel anything real, not the taste of food or the touch of a warm hand. You're so afraid of everything that you've let your power twist you into something inhuman."
Regulus 's face twisted in rage. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"You've trapped yourself," Subaru backed Emilia up. "Al told me all about it. Your power is nothing but a cage that you've built for yourself. You'd rather live numb than ever face the possibility of pain. And that makes you the biggest coward of all."
Regulus snarled at them. " Coward?! You think that I care what a pair of worthless simps like you think?! I 'm Regulus Corneas! I don't need anyone's approval, least of all from you two groveling, sentimental idiots! You stole my wives? Well, so what? I'll just find new wives. Better wives! Wives who will appreciate the honor that I 'm giving them!"
Regulus stared to pace around his study, his eyes wild. "This time, I'll make sure that they're perfect. They'll be everything that I deserve without a hint of disobedience or doubt. I 'll break them, strip them down until they 're completely empty inside. No thoughts, no doubts, only me . That 's the kind of loyalty that they should have shown me from the start!
"I made a mistake in trying to mold women into such an important role. No. This time, I'll find girls. The younger, the better. I'll break their wills before they even realize that they have a will, and by the time they grow up, they'll have forgotten that they ever had a will! I'll make sure they can't remember anything about the outside world. Not a single independent thought, not an ounce of defiance. Beautiful, obedient women, brides with no more will or identity than a doll. My mansion will be filled with wives who only live to please me: no more resistance or betrayal. They'll know that the proper sphere for a woman is nothing more than a doll to be picked up and admired! A puppet, incapable of independent action or thought! They'll know nothing but their duty to serve! It'll be a paradise of absolute devotion, and I'll finally be surrounded by the perfection I deserve! The perfect wives that a perfect man like me deserves!" He screamed in ecstasy.
Then everything exploded.
Felt and Garfiel stood just beyond the mansion doors. Felt paced around restlessly, and Garfiel 's muscles clenched as he stared into the silent mansion with a frantic expression.
"We should get in there!" Garfiel shouted desperately. "Maybe we can help!"
"Help do what?!" Felt snorted. "Help Regulus get more hostages to threaten Subaru with?!"
"I don't know!" Garfiel said, feeling more helpless than he'd felt since the Sanctuary attack. "Maybe we could distract him! Or maybe-"
A thunderous explosion threw Felt and Garfiel to the ground. Felt sat up in shock as she saw the mansion engulfed in flames, and half of it collapsed into some kind of sinkhole underneath the building.
"Subaru!" Felt screamed.
"Help!" Emilia screamed. The floor fell out from under her, and half the room dropped into an enormous black pit. The floor was now a steep ramp leading down into the pit, and Emilia slid toward it.
"Emilia!" She felt someone grab her hand.
Emilia looked up and found Subaru had grabbed her wrist with one hand and was holding onto the broken edge of the floor with the other.
The mansion was in flames. The support timbers moaned in protest, and the beams quivered all around them. It seemed like more of the house could fall into that enormous black pit at any second.
Regulus was nowhere to be seen.
"Subaru!" Felt screamed as she and Garfiel came tearing into the room. "What happened?!"
"Grab me!" He shouted as Garfiel did precisely that. Subaru focused on holding on to Emilia's wrist as the hulking demi-human easily pulled them both up.
Emilia saw Felt, and her face lit up. "Felt! Thank the Gods, you're alive!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around the startled girl.
Felt froze as Emilia squeezed her tight. "This is… different," She said uncertainly.
"Where did Regulus go?" Garfiel asked, struggling to see through the thick smoke.
"I don't know!" Subaru coughed.
From deep in the pit came a prolonged, bat-like screech of pure fury.
"Regulus! He's still alive!" Emilia cried out.
"Run!" Subaru shouted, and the foursome tore out of the burning mansion as it collapsed around them.
They sprinted across the field to where Patrasche waited and piled into the wagon. Subaru snapped the reins, and Patrasche took off like an arrow, flying toward the north.
"What do we do now?!" Felt squealed desperately.
"Regulus has lost his Gospel!" Emilia said, her voice trembling. "If we can just get far enough away from him, he won't be able to find us!"
Subaru nodded, pressing Patrasche for more speed as they zoomed down the country road. "That's our only hope. But unfortunately, it won't take long for Regulus to climb out of that pit and come find us!"
"What about Al?" Garfiel asked.
"Al?" Emilia asked in confusion.
Subaru shook his head. "I'm guessing that little bomb trick was Al's 'diversion,'" He said with a growl.
"At least it worked," Garfiel offered.
"By sheer luck!" Subaru shouted. "There's no way that Al could have known that his bomb would blow up half the mansion without killing me and Emilia! Much less that there just happened to be a sinkhole beneath the place and that Regulus would get trapped down there for a few minutes! If Emilia and I were an inch closer to Regulus, we would have gone down into the pit with him! Al risked all of our lives with this crazy stunt!"
"I'm fine with whatever gets us away from here in one piece," Felt said in a weak voice.
Patrasche sped toward an enormous suspension bridge fording a broad and deep gorge and then raced across it. The dragon-pulled wagon thundered away toward the north.
Regulus snarled and seethed in the depths of the pit. Literally tons of shredded wood and crumbling mortar pinned him against the sinkhole's wall. His power protected him from being crushed, but the sheer effrontery of burying Regulus Corneas, the perfect man, under a pile of garbage threatened to drive him insane.
Those pricks. Those bastards. How dare they? I 'll show them what it means to offend the most perfect existence in this world!
Regulus used his power to blast away the timbers and mortar that was him against the wall. Tons of debris vaporized into dust, freeing Regulus.
Then Regulus dropped like a stone.
Regulus 's actions had freed him, but he hadn't realized that he was only saved from falling deeper into the unknown cavern by the rubble pinning him to the side, rubble that had gotten stuck in the sinkhole like a clogged drain.
Regulus struck the cavern floor, and then tons of debris collapsed on top of him, burying him alive.
Regulus screamed in fury, thrashing his arms and legs like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. He flung his power in every direction, and the mountain of debris on top of him evaporated.
Unfortunately, Regulus 's power also tore a deep crack in the cavern wall, and the rock face gave a rumbling moan.
Regulus stared at the cavern wall incredulously as hundreds of tons of rock broke free from the cavern and collapsed on top of him.
An enormous cloud of dust rose up from Regulus 's impromptu tomb, and for a moment, everything in the cavern was peaceful.
Then, there was a sound like thunder as the rocks vaporized. Regulus howled in rage, tearing at his clothes and pulling at his hair. He looked up and saw the entrance to the pit was very far overhead. The sinkhole was enormous, round, deep, and its sides were perfectly smooth. The ground was well over a hundred feet above him. Too far for Regulus to jump.
Regulus fumed, and he began to throw handfuls of dirt at the cavern wall, using his power to tear apart the cavern and build himself a ramp leading up to the surface.
It took the better part of a half-hour. Regulus had no conception of 'structure' or the 'load-bearing properties' of the earth. The ground kept collapsing under his feet, dumping him onto the cavern floor and making him start again.
Finally, he managed to climb out onto the surface once again. By now, Regulus 's mood had shifted from hot rage to ice-cold hate.
Regulus stared at his beautiful mansion in shock and horror. The building had nearly burned to the ground. His wives were nowhere in sight, and all his treasures were gone.
As were Emilia and Subaru.
Regulus 's mind once again erupted in flames. He looked around, searching for any clue or hint to their whereabouts. He spotted some faint wheel tracks in the dirt road leading toward the bridge, and with a wild hope in his heart, he set off after them, leaping high into the air as he pursued.
Regulus landed halfway across the bridge, and he was about to leap over it when a man stepped out from behind a support pillar on the bridge. The man was close enough to kiss him as if he 'd been waiting for Regulus the whole time.
"Hi. I'm Al," Aldebaran said casually to a completely nonplussed Regulus. "And I need you to deliver a message for me."