"Something's not right."
Carlisle stood by the window, deep in thought. Outside, the sun shone brightly, leaves rustled in the courtyard, and several birds chirped merrily on the branches. It should have been a pleasant morning, yet he felt a chill.
He reached out and pushed open the window, leaning half his body outside. Sunlight immediately spilled onto his face, warm and comforting.
"Strange..." Carlisle murmured to himself as he pulled back inside and closed the window. But the chill lingered like a constant companion.
Several days had passed since the Demonic Beast incident. Carlisle's life had returned to normal. He practiced swordsmanship in the courtyard every morning and tutored Subaru in magic in the afternoons.
The only change was that Rem would appear punctually during his breaks, always carrying delicate tea and snacks.
But Subaru always found various excuses to try and send Rem away.
Carlisle pushed open the door to his room, his knight's uniform swaying gently as he walked. The corridor outside was empty, filled only with the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor.
Halfway down the hallway, he suddenly stopped.
"Just as I thought... it wasn't my imagination."
The chill had grown stronger.
Even stranger, Subaru had not appeared.
Ever since that girl had learned his daily routine, she would always be sweeping outside his door at this exact time every morning, just to cheerfully call out, "Good morning!"
"First, let's consider the possible reasons..."
Carlisle quickly organized the possibilities in his mind.
First, an early winter at the Mansion? Unlikely. Even in Another World, he had never seen a seasonal change that occurred only inside a single building.
Second, Beatrice's diagnosis had been wrong, and he had lost the ability to sense temperature during the Demonic Beast incident. But the warmth of sunlight on his skin was still perfectly clear.
Third... a temperature anomaly caused by magic. Either powerful ice magic or fire magic capable of manipulating the surrounding temperature.
The answer was already obvious.
Carlisle suddenly broke into a run.
He finally stopped in front of a door and gently raised his hand to knock.
"Emilia-sama, are you inside?"
Silence answered him.
The moment Carlisle's hand touched the doorknob, a biting chill spread up from his fingertips.
"Emilia-sama!"
He pushed the door open.
A fierce wave of cold air rushed out from the room. Inside, Emilia turned around in panic, her silver hair flying wildly in the freezing wind.
"Ca-Carlisle? Now isn't a good time..."
"What exactly is going on?"
---
Inside the dining room, everyone in the Mansion had gathered around the long table.
In the center of the table floated a crimson fireball about the size of a large ball, radiating comfortable warmth. It was a sphere of fire attribute mana condensed by Carlisle's magic.
Emilia stood before everyone with her head lowered, her silver hair swaying slightly as she bowed.
"I'm truly sorry..."
Beside her, Puck looked unusually embarrassed, scratching his head with his paw.
The most noticeable figures were the two "blanket bundles" sitting near the table.
Subaru and Ram were tightly wrapped in thick blankets, with only their small heads sticking out. They huddled beside the floating fireball like two hibernating hamsters trying to absorb as much warmth as possible.
Subaru's face was filled with happiness, and tears of emotion even gathered at the corners of her eyes.
Heaven only knew what she had experienced that morning.
This is simply hell..
Subaru sighed inwardly.
She had been woken up by the cold earlier that morning. The biting chill had made her unwilling to even stick a finger out from beneath her blankets.
Even worse, when she finally gathered the courage to wrap herself in her blanket and open her door, the temperature in the corridor immediately made her vision go dark.
This cursed place was several times colder than her own room.
There was no heating, no hot water bottles, and not even a simple hand warmer.
Life in Another World was simply too harsh.
She could only tremble helplessly while wrapped in her blanket like a silkworm until Carlisle broke down her door and "rescued" her.
"Hey, I'm telling you..." Subaru muttered while wrapped in her blanket, inching closer to the fireball.
"Can't something be done about this 'mana release period' or whatever it is?"
She glared toward Puck.
"Since you're already a father, try not to cause trouble for your daughter and everyone else."
After Carlisle's explanation, Subaru had finally understood the situation.
Simply put, the more talented a person was in mana, the more likely they were to suffer negative effects similar to mana overload if they did not release the accumulated magic within them for a long time.
The only way to relieve it was to release the excess mana.
The problem was...
Subaru stared resentfully at Puck, who was pretending not to notice.
This great spirit who spent most of his time acting cute had apparently found no reason to use magic in the Mansion recently.
She tugged irritably at her blanket.
As a result, the spirit had secretly released magic last night, turning the entire Mansion into an ice cellar.
Puck floated guiltily behind Emilia's shoulder, only half his head visible.
"Well... I just couldn't control my strength for a moment, meow."
He scratched his face awkwardly.
"After all, it has been a long time since I stretched my muscles. I may have gotten a little too excited."
The fireball suddenly crackled at that moment, startling Subaru so badly that she quickly scooted even closer to it.
Carlisle sighed helplessly and reached out to adjust the mana flow, stabilizing the floating fireball.
Rem quietly moved around the dining table, pouring hot tea for everyone. Her movements were calm, graceful, and practiced.
When she placed a teacup in front of Carlisle, Subaru noticed something.
Rem paused for a moment.
Just one brief moment.
She gently rotated the handle of the teacup so that it faced the most convenient direction for him to pick it up.
"Thank you," Carlisle said as he lifted the cup.
Rem simply nodded softly, but Subaru still noticed the faint blush spreading across the tips of her ears.
Subaru thought back to the garden.
To the peaceful two person world she had carefully arranged.
And then remembered how Rem had suddenly begun appearing "coincidentally" with tea and snacks after that day.
No matter how Subaru tried to send her away, Rem always resolved the situation with a gentle calmness that made it impossible to argue.
Was she... facing a love rival?
Subaru had seen many cute girls around Carlisle before.
But Rem was the first one who made her feel a genuine sense of crisis.
Anyone with eyes could see that the little girl had a special affection for Carlisle. But Carlisle clearly treated Felt like a child.
And with her slightly tsundere personality, she posed no real threat.
Reinhard.
The most perfect woman Subaru had seen in this world.
But during their first meeting, Subaru had already realized that Carlisle and Reinhard shared a purely platonic friendship. At most, their relationship contained admiration for a powerful warrior and the care of a senior toward a junior.
It was completely reassuring.
Emilia-sama hardly needed mentioning.
She was innocent like a large, beautiful doll.
Carlisle certainly showed her exceptional care, but that was clearly the loyalty of a knight toward his lord.
Roswaal...
Subaru decided not to think about him.
Just as Subaru sank deeper into her thoughts, Carlisle's voice suddenly interrupted.
"Subaru, is the temperature comfortable?"
His gaze fell on her with familiar concern.
Subaru froze for a moment.
Then she remembered the expression on his face earlier that morning.
When he had been the first to rush into her freezing room to rescue her from that icy nightmare.
Wait a minute.
The advantage is clearly on my side.
Subaru's mind suddenly became clear as her eyes met Carlisle's.
That knight might treat everyone with kindness, but he only ever lost his composure for her.
Even when he burst into her room earlier, his breathing had been trembling.
Those small, fragmented moments had always belonged only to her.
Hidden deep within those calm eyes was a doting affection that even Carlisle himself had not yet noticed.
Seriously... why was I panicking?
Subaru buried her flushed face inside her blanket, though she could not hide the smile curling at her lips.
Since she had already decided to capture this man, even if one Rem appeared...
Even if ten more rivals appeared...
"Why is your face so red?"
Carlisle suddenly reached out and touched her forehead.
"Could it be frostbite and a fever?"
"N-No! You don't need to worry about me!"
Subaru suddenly leaned forward in panic, nearly tumbling straight into the floating fireball along with her blanket.
Fortunately, Carlisle caught her just in time.
...
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