Alright! I hope everyone's rested and ready to go."
A few moments after their stand-off, Priscilla got out of her room with the boy in her hands, naturally walking to the front row to put him in his place when she noticed each of every seat around him to already be occupied…
"What is the meaning of this?" Priscilla demanded with a raised eyebrow, looking at the 3 maids forming a circle around the boy's seat.
Petra was sitting to the boy's left, Rem to his right, and Ram right behind, all staring at the fiery-haired princes with either resent or a clearly angered look.
"Perhaps those who usually took these seats were inappropriate as you said yourself," Ram explained, her arms crossed, "this is why us maids decided to take the matters into our own hands."
"You won't seat anywhere near Subaru-kun this time!" Rem exclaimed, her eyes glaring to the lady, "we are his camp members. We will take care of him!"
"She's right! You had enough fun taking him away and pestering all of us!" pointing her with her finger as if she was denouncing someone guilty.
"Put Betty's contractor down, now." Beatrice threatened, glaring at the lady.
Looking at the three maids and spirit forming a blockade in front of her, Priscilla glanced quickly to the mistress of the said camp, situated near Ram, glaring at her with all the hatred one could muster.
She looked at Priscilla like she stole something from her, like she attacked her, insulted her, humiliated her…And she looked like she was ready to take it all back.
However, while most of the theatre prepared themselves for another eventful situation, the only thing that Priscilla did was to laugh out loud.
She laughed with a clear and bright voice, not really that of a condescending person, more the laugh of something that was so fun to think about to her she couldn't help but laugh.
Setting off most of those looking at her, especially the three maids wondering what they could have possibly said to create such a reaction, Priscilla took the boy off her shoulder and sat him down in his chair with her usual smile.
She then took a look at all three maids.
"You are right," she off-handily said as she walked up to take her seat at the last row, "I had him for an entire night, after all, I shall allow you thisfor now."
"Allow us?!" Rem growled in fury to the laddy's taunting words, before her sister calmed her down.
"For now…!" Emilia growled in fury.
Ram of course understood that it was a clear bait to upset them…But she had to give credit to the fiery princess for doing it so well, naturally.
"In what kind of trouble did you put me in this time, Barusu?" She whispered to herself.
Ram quickly noticed the lack of reaction from the silver-haired lady on her side, which was strange since Emilia didn't hide her resentment at all up until now, and saw how…Empty she was.
Emilia's expression was a mix of sorrow and pain. Her face didn't hold much of an expression.
She simply felt empty because of how distant she thought to be of her knight. Even if he was right there in front of her, he just seemed to be so, so far away.
And this feeling was slowly crushing her from the inside.
"Emilia-sama…" Her eyes reflecting her worry, Ram uttered the name of her mistress in pity.
But she also knew that this was something that the elven princess inflicted upon herself because of her own doubts.
Emilia was responsible. And Emilia was the only one capable of fixing this.
"Alright, you're all seated comfortably…The next viewing will start."
"So here goes the battle…" Julius whispered as he began to clench his coat.
"I really hope he won't do anything too reckless…I doubt my heart can take much of it…" Otto whispered his hand on his chest.
"Hell ya're talkin' about! This is capn'! Of course he'll be reckless!"
"I certainly dislike it, but Garfiel is right, Otto-sama," Frederica shook her head with a smile, "it is impossible to see him in action without his original schemes and plans."
"Original is a cute way to put it." Laughing along with the maid and her little brother, Otto pointed, "well…At least I hope he doesn't get too much on his shoulders."
Upon hearing that the viewing was about to start, Emilia raised her eyes towards it, her heart aching at the idea of seeing more of this Subaru, at the idea of stepping even further away from her knight.
Why would such torture be inflicted upon her?
The half-elven princess began to curse the world around her…She began to hate this theatre, this warden…
It didn't help her see more about her knight…It only drifted her away from him. It stripped her away from the only good thing that ever happened in her life, all of her happiness ripped off of her, mercilessly, cruelly, heartlessly…
All she ever wanted was to live. Live happy with her knight, be by his side and have him by hers. She wanted to eventually learn what love was so she could finally give him an answer to his feelings, she wanted to give him as much as he gave her.
But no matter what, this place, this curse…Did everything it could to destroy her hopes, to crush her dreams, and to leave nothing but despair within her mind.
Why? This was the question she wondered.
Why was so much relentlessness directed towards her? What did she ever do to be hated so much? To be despised so much? To receive such torture and pain when finally she was able to look at her future and smile?
The memories she wanted to build, of her and her knight.
Of her and her friends.
Of this camp she was able to build against all the odds of this world resenting her to the bone.
She loved it, she cherished it, she wanted it to last as much as it could…
And yet she was feeling everything slip off her hands at this very instant…All because of this theatre. All because of this damned theatre.
When she finally was able to smile no matter how much the world hated her for a sin she never committed… She had to see everything getting taken away.
And this is how…Bit by bit, a thought emerged from her mind.
"I wish I would have never known about Subaru's secret."
In the front row, she took her seat back next to her knight, the blonde candidate readjusted herself in her seat as she began to think about what kind of unique and unseen things she would witness in these viewings.
"This really looks promising if I'm honest," she thought out loud, "I really want to see what kind of tricks big bro will pull to win."
"You seem persuaded that Subaru will prevail here, Felt-sama…" Reinhard replied, his voice showing more worries than assurance.
"I mean, what would be the point of these viewings if he dies?" Felt explained, "I don't think big bro will fail here, you know?"
"…I understand." Reinhard simply replied, closing his eyes.
"We'll certainly see a bunch of new weaponry…" Ricardo whispered, a dread thought traveling in his mind as he remembered what he saw until now. The images of the first viewings never really left him.
"I have to say that I am quite interested in this as well," Anastasia hummed from her seat.
While she certainly feared and hated most of the weapons used in these viewings, Anastasie firmly believed that she needed to see at least what they looked like, and what they were about.
So she could be sure to always prevent such a thing from coming into her world.
"It seems most of us are ready…Do you feel alright, Crusch-sama?" The old sword demon demanded to his mistress, who stayed silent up until now.
"I just have a bad feeling about this, Wilhelm-dono," Crusch whispered as she massaged her temple with her fingers, "something does not feel right."
"D-do you mean inside the theatre, or in the viewings Crusch-sama…?" Felix stuttered.
"Both…" Glancing to her right where Emilia stood just after the pink-haired maid, Crusch uttered.
"We shall remain on guard." Wilhelm solemnly answered, turning towards the screen.
"So princess, enjoyed the night with bro?" Al laughed with a teasing tone to his mistress.
Priscilla only turned to her jester with neutral, uncaring eyes, opening her fan as she leaned in her seat to prepare for the next viewing.
"Ah, not in a joking mood this morning? At least I tried." Al waved off.
"Your jokes rarely manage to amuse me, to begin with," she told him, uninterested.
"Well, that hurts." Al sighed in defeat.
"Here it is."
The screen slowly lit up, showing small habitations in something that could be described as a village. Or rather, what was left of it.
"So this is what a classic habitation looks like here…?" Frederica held a hand to her heart in pain.
"The slums seem like a palace next to that." Fuming from her seat to the unfair conditions these people lived in, Felt couldn't help but growl," War is really a bitch…"
"Such is the cost…" Wilhelm closed his eyes in respect.
Several fighters were situated outside, preparing weapons and moving equipment under the directives of Hadir, working on a white, bird-shaped object.
"5 gold coins that it's a weapon." Ricardo huffed immediately.
"Make it 10!" Mimi shot back right at him.
"Speaking about something unique…I have never seen, nor would have ever thought, of a weapon with such a shape." Julius mused with wide eyes, trying to pierce the utility of it.
"Any ideas?" Otto looked back to the helmeted man in the last row.
"Frankly? These viewings make me feel old as hell." Al shook his head, "I have no idea what that is pal."
"Well, we will surely come to discover it anyways." Crusch sighed, waiting to see what was next.
Just near him, children were playing and running, under the eyes of the villages' elders…And the rebel soldiers.
"This is no proper environment for children." Feeling more and more hurt, Frederica turned her eyes to the side where Petra was seated, happy to at least know how she didn't have to grow up this way, in a warzone, and around soldiers.
"Yet…They seem happy." The little maid in question answered, "They seem to enjoy life…"
"They are. In a way, they grew up thinking this was enough for them," Ram voiced her thoughts.
The camera came closer to two people entering the village, Subaru, and Farah, coming closer to the main building of the village.
Before entering it, Subaru quickly glanced to his side where the children were playing.
"We will attack in few hours," Farah said, taking her veil off.
"You should rest for the time being. You were already a great help, CIA. I wish to have this same kind of effectiveness in our coming battle." She said with a small smile.
"I can still help you." Subaru waved off. "Just tell me what to-"
"No." Farah cut him; her tone much sterner.
Both of them looked right to each other, Subaru tilting his head a bit to show his confusion to the lady.
"I have been on these battlefields for a long time, CIA," Farah explained. "I can recognize the eyes of someone who needs a break."
"…"
"She seems to be wiser than she looks." Agreeing to Farah's words, Wilhelm nodded his head, feeling the same concern for the boy, "Subaru-dono can't go on with battles after battles this way."
"Eventually his mental will deteriorate, staying on the battlefield for too long is never good for a soldier." Ricardo sighed, remembering his own early days as a mercenary, "but the lil' boss seems to not give himself a break."
"You guys keep forgetting he's used to it." Al voiced loud for all to hear, "Bro has been trained to tank all that."
"This is not a reason for him to do it anyways…" Rem sighed in frustration, "Subaru-kun needs to take care of himself more…"
"You are hopeless…" Ram shook her head to the black-haired boy on screen.
Subaru just kept silent, as the Arabian woman went to pick up a pillow resting on a chair, dropping it on a couch nearby.
"Just sleep. I will wake you up in 3 hours and we will attack in 4." She nearly ordered, tapping his shoulder before leaving the room.
Now alone, Subaru let his eyes wander all around, from the cracked, damaged walls to the weapons and bullets on the table, to the stockpile of explosives and Molotov.
"Are those…Bottles with tissues inside?" Otto squinted his eyes to be sure of what he was seeing.
"Alcohol? They managed to make a weapon out of this?" Crusch said in a surprised tone.
"Well, I guess they are resourceful?" Anastasia mused out loud.
Nothing but weapons. Nothing but objects of destruction and war.
In a village where civilians and children were living and playing.
They had a playground on one side, just near enough explosives to blow out an entire city in another.
"Fuck me." He grunted between his teeth, taking the pillow in his hand.
"Ooook…He's angry." Al cleared his throat.
"I think he can't help but be frustrated about how wrong this situation is…Children living in a war-torn country…Playing with weapons laying all around…" Otto winced in sadness to the words he spoke, disliking them as much as Subaru would.
"…Indeed," Priscilla whispered behind her fan, closing her eyes as if these words reminded her of something familiar.
"This shouldn't be a thing, to begin with…" Felt grunted, "I'll make sure this never happens when I get the damn throne."
"I believe most of us wouldn't want something akin to this to exist, Felt-sama," Crusch corrected her, wanting to affirm her own beliefs.
"I really doubt it. Up until now, you didn't do anything for people like me and you're a Duchess." Without even turning towards her, Felt spoke her mind, "you guys from high nobility never cared about us."
"This is nothing but a lie!" Crusch retorqued immediately in outrage, "do not believe that our lack of actions means that we do not care about the lower classes!"
"Oh, you can be sure as hell I'll believe it!" Felt turned around a bit, "actions speak louder than words, thoughts and prayers don't do shit!"
While she wanted to reply, Crusch was aware that she had nothing much to say about the little blonde's words. It was true that the high nobility never did anything for the capital's lower classes.
As a Duchess, she had her own domain to take care of. She believed that other matters had to be taken care of by those responsible for it, but she still thought about how something had to be done for the people in general.
This went along with the wish of the Lion king she cherished. To create a rightful and just kingdom of Lugunica.
For now, she had to accept defeat on the fact that nothing was done. But when she shall have the chance…She would certainly do what has to be done and perhaps face the little blonde once more.
Ram could only glance at the blonde candidate arguing with the Duchess, she thought about this specific subject, the nobles helping the people.
This was something that her lord was especially known to do...And with that in mind, Ram couldn't help but feel proud to know that even the Duchess of the Karsten house couldn't reach him.
When he noticed Ram glancing at him from the front row, Roswaal only sighed in frustration, looking away from her.
"Do not look at me like that…" He grunted as he clenched his fist, "I am not what you believe me to be."
But Ram kept smiling.
Lying down on the couch, he put the pillow under his head, sighing heavily as he slowly closed his eyes.
And the screen gradually faded to black, as a voice, a whisper, was heard through the theatre.
"…The duty of a soldier…"
Everyone in the theatre began to look at each other in confusion, some even afraid of what's to come.
"What is happening…?" Otto wondered in a hushed tone.
"Did capn' fall asleep?" Garfiel raised an eyebrow in confusion," and who was that voice…?"
"It seemed familiar of some sort nya…" Felix noticed, moving his ears in curiosity, "Ferri is sure to have heard it once…"
"So it was a voice of someone we saw." Confident in the catboy's earring, Wilhelm narrowed his eyes, "but still, what is the meaning of this?"
"Are we going to wait a few hours before the screen lights up again because big boss bro fell asleep? Well, you talk about an irony…" Mimi yawned as she spoke in a disappointed tone.
"No. I think there is more to come." Julius mused out loud, sure of his words, "this is nothing but a foreshadowing."
Everyone focused their eyes on the screen once more as the greatest knight's thoughts made them focus a bit more on the screen.
"It is obvious that something else will happen," Priscilla narrowed her eyes, "what are you going to show me this time?"