A deafening crash echoed through the mansion.
Out in the courtyard, Subaru had been working his way through another conversation with Emilia when the noise made him look up toward the building.
"There he goes again."
Emilia followed his gaze, uncertainty creeping into her voice. "Is... is Gojo really okay doing that?"
"Probably fine." Subaru scratched his head. "Last time I went in there, Betty actually seemed kind of happy about it."
"Really?" Emilia didn't look convinced. "That doesn't sound like what happy looks like..."
Before she could press further, Subaru waved it off.
"Don't worry about it. Gojo's a good guy. He'd never hurt Betty. Anyway, Emilia, I heard from Rem that she's going to the village tomorrow to buy ingredients. We should tag along, make a day of it. Staying cooped up in the mansion all the time gets old."
While the two of them chatted in the courtyard, a one-sided cold war was unfolding inside the Forbidden Library.
"Get out! Get out! Who said you could come in here again? Get out!"
Betty's voice rang through the stacks, pitched sharp with anger.
Gojo paid her absolutely no attention. He strolled between the shelves at his own pace, scanning spines with idle curiosity.
The sight of him treating her like she didn't exist only made things worse. Fury boiled up from somewhere deep in her chest, but she had no real way to act on it.
The man had figured out some trick. Some special ability, maybe a Divine Protection of some kind. When she tried to use magic to eject him from the library, nothing happened. Stronger spells would've done the job, but she wasn't a lunatic. She wasn't going to kill someone over this.
That realization left her thoroughly miserable.
She couldn't drive him out. She couldn't hide, either.
Between Gojo and Subaru, the two of them had turned the Forbidden Library into their personal garden. They wandered in and out whenever they pleased, and she couldn't do a thing about it.
"You know, shouting isn't allowed in the Forbidden Library." Gojo rubbed his ear. "Even if you are a Spirit, Betty, you should be a well-mannered one."
The audacity of a trespasser lecturing her on etiquette only deepened the scowl on her face.
"You barged in uninvited. You have no right to say that."
"Yeah, yeah. But since you already said I barged in, I might as well do whatever I want, right? Besides, I'm only reading. It's not like I'm bothering you."
Betty's head throbbed. When Puck had first brought this man here, she'd never imagined it would spiral into this.
"When are you going to stop coming here to bother me?"
"Honestly, I think we could coexist peacefully. I'm only here to read. Why are you so dead set on kicking me out?"
He tugged at his collar, looking genuinely puzzled.
"Betty doesn't like outsiders in this place." She stared him down, enunciating every word.
"Relax. You'll get used to it."
"I will never get used to this. Never..."
Mid-argument, hurried footsteps pounded up from outside the door. It burst open, and Subaru's voice flooded the library.
"Yes! Yes! YES! Now that's the kind of development you'd see in a light novel! Ha ha ha ha!"
A vein surfaced on Betty's forehead.
She hadn't even dealt with Gojo, and now this one had showed up too.
"Oh, you guys are here." Subaru sauntered over with a wide grin. "Looks like you and Gojo are getting along great, Betty."
"Are your eyes broken? What part of this looks like getting along to you?"
She folded her arms, voice frigid.
"Aw, don't worry about it. I've got some good news that'll cheer you right up."
He was beaming, radiating a happiness so obvious it was almost visible.
"What happened? You're in a good mood." Gojo sounded curious. He steered Subaru toward the little tea corner where Betty usually sat, picked up the pot, poured a cup into Betty's teacup, then produced a second cup from somewhere and filled one for himself.
Betty watched this performance and rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She knew by now that objecting was pointless.
"Emilia agreed to go on a date with me!"
Subaru announced it to Gojo without caring that he hadn't been offered any tea, vibrating with excitement.
"A date?" Gojo took a sip, his tone odd.
"That's right! A date!"
Subaru was so wound up he'd started swaying in place, unable to keep still.
"Hold on. If I'm not mistaken, you two have known each other for, what, a few days total?"
In the modern world, one-night stands were nothing unusual. But this wasn't the modern world, and Emilia was clearly not that kind of person. The word "date" seemed like a stretch.
"True, but that doesn't change the sincerity of my feelings for her..."
"You've been entertaining yourself with your own delusions, is all." Betty's voice dripped with mockery. She sat in her chair, teacup raised, the faintest cold smile playing at her lips. "Knowing that girl as I do, she'd never open her heart so easily or agree to some strange request from you."
The words didn't anger Subaru in the slightest. His grin held steady.
"Well, it's basically a date. Rem's going to the village to shop for ingredients tomorrow, so I invited Emilia to come along and explore."
"Hmph."
Betty let out an ambiguous little laugh, wearing an expression that said she'd seen this coming.
"This so-called agreement is nothing more than that girl feeling obligated because you helped her before. That's the only reason she said yes."
A bucket of cold water, dumped without mercy.
It didn't make the slightest dent. Subaru was riding too high to hear a word of it.