Through her fading consciousness, Rem heard Ram's anguished cries.
With all the strength she could muster, she tried to move the hand Ram was gripping and pull it free.
Unfortunately, the curse had already spread throughout Rem's entire body.
Forget speaking—Even when she desperately tried to move her hand, all she could manage was the faint twitch of a finger.
Yet even that tiny motion was enough for Ram, who understood her sister better than anyone, to grasp exactly what Rem was trying to tell her.
"Don't worry, Rem."
"Your sister will definitely find the curse caster."
"All you need to do now is sleep."
"When you wake up, the curse will already be gone."
Feeling the warmth in her palm gradually fading, Ram's heart tightened.
She softened her voice as much as possible, hoping to put Rem at ease.
With the tenderness one might show a newborn wrapped in swaddling clothes, Ram carefully placed Rem's hand back beneath the blanket and tucked it in.
Then she stood.
The moment she turned around, all the tenderness in her eyes vanished.
In its place—
Was killing intent.
"Lord Roswaal, Ram will take her leave for now."
"Are you suuure?"
"You very likely won't make it back in tiiime."
"Ram will find that bastard within half an hour."
Her voice contained a determination ordinary people could never match.
For her sister—
No matter how slim the chance of finding the culprit was, Ram had to try.
Roswaal, however, maintained his usual clownish tone.
"Now, now. Don't be in such a huuurry."
"Why not ask our guest whether he has a solution?"
"He's looked rather seriously troubled ever since he arrived, you knooow."
At a moment where every second mattered, Roswaal suddenly shifted everyone's attention toward Shiro.
Not only Ram—
Even Betty looked at Roswaal in surprise.
Why would Roswaal think this man could remove a curse even Betty could not?
She did not say it aloud, but the question was plainly written in her gaze.
Before this, aside from Emilia, none of them had ever seen Shiro fight.
They only knew from Emilia's description that he was extremely strong.
But Ram was too desperate to care about any of that now.
What if—
What if he really did have some way to save Rem?
Like a drowning person grasping desperately at a single straw floating on the surface—
Ram looked toward Shiro with the last fragment of hope she possessed.
"If you really have a way..."
"Please... save that child."
"Please save Rem..."
The girl, already on the verge of breaking down from the thought of losing her sister, stepped toward Shiro and tightly clutched his sleeve.
What Ram failed to notice was that the instant she turned toward Shiro—
A sharp glint flashed through Roswaal's eyes.
"If our guest can save my adorable servaaant..."
"You may name whatever reward you liiike."
Roswaal made the offer.
In truth—For certain reasons, he knew better than anyone that Shiro should have no way to save Rem.
The only reason he made such a promise despite knowing that was because the "script" required him to say it.
'Next, he should break down and run away...'
In a corner no one noticed, the edge of Roswaal's mouth quietly curved upward.
However—
"Sure."
"Wha—"
The unexpected answer caused a crack to appear in Roswaal's mask.
"I said it's fine."
"As for the reward... let me think."
"Oh, right!"
"I noticed earlier that Rem and Ram are both pretty capable when it comes to housework."
"How about giving the two of them to me?"
Faced with Roswaal's offer, Shiro pretended to think for a moment before speaking as though he had suddenly come up with a brilliant idea.
He had already noticed the contradictions in Roswaal's behavior.
The man acted as though he were deliberately imitating another person's habits.
If Roswaal truly cared about his maids as much as he appeared to, there was no way he could perfectly maintain that artificial personality while Rem was on the verge of death.
That could only mean one thing.
The solemn expression Roswaal wore right now—Was entirely an act.
In Roswaal's eyes, perhaps everyone here was nothing more than a piece on a chessboard.
And Roswaal himself was like an actor on a stage, dutifully playing the role of a grieving master whose servant had been cursed.
Just like the clown painted across his face.
At this point, who exactly Roswaal considered the real clown was anyone's guess.
But even that alone would not have been enough for Shiro to make this demand.
Besides wanting an opportunity to study Rem's horn—The biggest reason was that Roswaal had deliberately gone out of his way to screw with him.
At a time like this, Roswaal had specifically pointed out that Shiro seemed deeply troubled by something.
What else could Shiro possibly be worrying about right now besides how to save Rem?
He certainly could not say—
'I was thinking about how to convince Rem to let me study her horn for a while.'
So once Roswaal deliberately drew attention to his thoughts, if Shiro failed to offer any meaningful explanation—
Then Ram would inevitably place him, the person who had interacted with Rem that afternoon, onto the list of possible curse casters.
Sure, if Ram calmly thought it through, she would probably eliminate him from suspicion quickly.
But that depended on Ram being capable of remaining calm.
Rem had less than half an hour left.
There was no time for Ram to play detective.
Shiro had no interest in testing just how much trust he had earned from her.
He still did not understand why Roswaal had chosen this moment to cause trouble for him.
But after being schemed against this openly—There was no way Shiro would simply let it go.
Since Roswaal wanted so badly to play the role of a kind master who treasured his servants—Then Shiro would make him choose right now.
Would Roswaal preserve that mask by giving up both maids?
Or would he abandon the persona he had maintained for the sake of his own interests?
He had to choose one.
"So?"
"Made up your mind yet?"
Seeing that Roswaal still had not answered, Shiro pressed him again.
Roswaal narrowed his eyes.
"Doesn't our guest think he's being a little too greeedy?"
"You're only saving one person, yet you want two people as your rewaaard?"
"Giving away something you were already going to lose hardly counts as a reward."
"Besides, Ram and Rem are sisters."
"They obviously won't want to be separated."
"So why not be generous and see your good deed through to the end?"
"Is thaaat so?"
"What a shame."
"Ram is also very important to meee."
Just when Shiro thought Roswaal was about to refuse—
Roswaal abruptly changed direction.
"In that caaase..."
"I'll leave my adorable servaaants in your care from now on."
…