Ram pinned Shiro against the wall and stared straight into his eyes.
"Rem has been acting strange ever since she came back from your room."
"Ram hasn't seen that child make an expression like that in a very long time."
"What exactly did you say to her?"
While Shiro was visiting the Forbidden Library, Ram had run into Rem after she delivered his afternoon tea.
Rem had looked visibly unsettled as she explained that the floor in Shiro's guest room had been damaged and asked Ram to move him to another room.
If that had been the only strange thing, Ram could have accepted it.
Her obedient little sister was allowed to have secrets of her own.
Ram might have disliked being kept in the dark, but she could tolerate it.
However—
While the sisters were preparing dinner, the normally capable Rem accidentally cut her own hand while chopping vegetables.
For an ordinary person, that would hardly be unusual.
For Rem—It was almost unbelievable.
Ever since Rem began serving as a maid at Roswaal Mansion, she had not made such a basic mistake in years.
Even the most demanding nobles usually described her as a "perfect maid."
Yet today, while preparing dinner, that same Rem repeatedly made elementary mistakes such as confusing sugar with salt.
After witnessing all of it, even Ram could no longer ignore her sister's mental state.
So while Rem went out to purchase ingredients, Ram immediately tracked down Shiro and demanded to know what he had said that left her sister so distracted.
Hearing Ram's question, Shiro awkwardly pulled at the corner of his mouth.
He had never expected Rem to react almost as though anything related to the Witch had given her PTSD.
Merely hearing the Witch of Envy mentioned had been enough to send her into a frenzy.
To untie a knot, one had to find the person who tied it.
Rem's hatred toward the Witch Cult was most likely related to Ram losing her horn.
So Shiro honestly recounted his earlier conversation with Rem.
"The Witch of Envy..."
"So that's what happened."
"That child still hasn't moved past it..."
After hearing the full story, Ram's expression became complicated.
"Keeping everything bottled up inside will eventually break someone."
"Sometimes, talking about it and hearing another person's perspective can make things easier."
"That is not something Guest needs to concern himself with."
"And before prying into Ram's private affairs, please learn what the phrase 'keep your mouth shut' means."
Now that she had calmed down, Ram finally noticed how close the two of them were.
She released Shiro's collar and stepped back twice before answering coldly.
She rejected his well-meaning suggestion without a moment's hesitation.
Even if part of Rem's reaction came from her own unresolved feelings, it was impossible for Ram not to resent Shiro somewhat for putting her sister into that state.
If not for his status as a guest, she probably would not even bother speaking to him right now.
Still, remembering Rem's request to arrange another room for him, Ram sighed helplessly.
"Ram will deal with Rem's problem."
"Guest does not need to worry about it."
"For now, please follow Ram."
"Ram will take Guest to a new room."
Now that she knew why Rem had become so absentminded, Ram's next task was to figure out how to comfort her.
But before that—She still had to complete the job Rem had entrusted to her.
Ram turned around, shot Shiro an irritated glare, then started walking deeper into the mansion.
"Alright."
"If you don't want to talk about it, forget I asked."
Misunderstandings often began exactly like this.
Something that seemed insignificant to one person could be overwhelmingly important to someone else.
Ram probably knew that she occupied an enormous place in Rem's heart.
But she clearly did not understand just how deeply the injury she herself had already moved past continued to scar Rem.
'Whatever.'
'I only wanted to understand how Oni horns work. I'm not some kind of therapist.'
Shiro shook his head and followed Ram.
...
"This is the room."
Ram stopped in front of a door almost identical to the one belonging to Shiro's previous guest room.
Roswaal Mansion was enormous.
There were dozens of rooms meant purely for receiving guests.
This one looked so similar to his previous room that if Shiro had not already memorized the route back, he might have thought Ram had simply led him in a circle.
"Ram hopes Guest will be gentler with this room."
"The poor thing is already miserable enough having to accommodate Guest."
"Please do not add any new scars to this innocent room."
"The previous room was damaged by your sister, though?"
"If Guest didn't speak like a barbarian who only knows how to hurt people, Rem would never have become so violent."
"In the end, everything happened because of Guest."
Now that Ram knew the reason behind Rem's strange behavior was not as disastrous as she had feared, her mood had visibly improved.
She even had enough energy to start insulting Shiro again.
Although because of what had happened, her attitude toward him had clearly become considerably more "strict."
"Yes, yes. Everything is my fault."
"More importantly, shouldn't you be with Rem right now?"
"Standing here isn't going to comfort her."
"Ram does not need Guest to remind her."
"Rest assured."
"Even if Ram forgot Guest in some forgotten corner of the world, Ram would never forget Rem."
Ram gave Shiro a flat glance and prepared to leave.
But at that moment—
"B-Bad news...!"
Subaru's voice suddenly came from farther down the corridor.
He appeared around the corner with a pale face and sweat covering his forehead, running toward them while gasping for breath.
"Hah... hah... F-Finally found you..."
"R-Roswaal told me to get you two to Betty's Forbidden Library right away..."
As though he had been running for a long time, Subaru stopped in front of Shiro and bent over with his hands on his knees, struggling to catch his breath.
Shiro and Ram frowned at the same time.
In the end, Shiro spoke first.
"What happened?"
"Why is Roswaal suddenly gathering everyone in such a hurry?"
Subaru wiped the sweat from his forehead.
But the panic in his eyes refused to disappear.
He glanced at Ram beside Shiro and spoke uneasily.
"R-Rem... Rem, she..."
"Calm down."
"What happened to Rem?"
"Rem... something happened to her..."
…