As time passed, during the night, Ram and Rem came to the room.

"Takeru-sama, let us take over watching now." Looking at Takeru sitting by the bed, holding Emilia's hand, Ram and Rem spoke with concern.

"It's fine. I'm not that weak, you know." Hearing them, Takeru replied helplessly.

"I understand." Hearing Takeru, they answered almost in unison.

After this small interlude, several more hours passed. As the sun rose, Emilia slowly opened her eyes with the incoming sunlight.

Opening her eyes, she noticed Takeru beside her and realized her hand seemed to be holding something. Looking down, she saw her hand tightly clasping Takeru's.

"Feeling better?" As Emilia woke, Takeru opened his eyes and looked at her. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Takeru... have you been with me all this time?" Hearing Takeru, Emilia asked, biting her lip.

"I can't help you with the trial itself. This is all I can do." Hearing her, Takeru said seriously.

"Takeru, thank you." Hearing Takeru, tears slowly welled in Emilia's eyes.

Hearing her, Takeru nodded gently. "Feeling a bit better now?"

"Yes, much better." Hearing Takeru's question, Emilia slowly sat up, assessed her condition, and replied.

"Lia, what did you see in the trial? Can you tell me? I'm not sure I can help, but at the very least, I can share your troubles." Sitting beside Emilia, Takeru gently smoothed her hair and spoke softly.

"I... I... The past I saw... is probably my memories before I fell asleep. I was once sealed in ice. I never told you about that, did I?" After hesitating for a long time, Emilia slowly began.

"If you don't mind, tell me properly. I believe in you, Lia." Hearing her, Takeru encouraged her to continue.

"I was once sealed in ice in a forest. Before Puck found and saved me, I slept in the ice for a very, very long time. Before the forest was frozen, I should have been living with everyone." Emilia spoke while thinking.

"Is that so? Then, Lia, do you remember your family?" Hearing her, Takeru gently guided.

"There was no family in the forest, but there was someone like a mother. Huh? Why... Mother?" As if remembering something, Emilia covered her mouth lightly, her eyes filled with pain.

"Calm down, Lia. What happened to everyone?" Gently pulling her into his embrace, Takeru patted her back with a hand glowing with blue light.

Purification couldn't cure psychological wounds, but it could make one feel slightly more at ease. Using purification in this situation could somewhat alleviate her psychological burden.

"Everyone was like me, inside the ice. I lived in the forest... always waiting for everyone to wake up, waiting with Puck. But I didn't wait for that day. So, I left the forest and joined the Royal Selection." Under Takeru's comfort, Emilia's emotions calmed slightly.

"Do you remember why you left the forest to join the Royal Selection?" Hearing her, Takeru continued guiding.

"Because Roswaal promised me that if I could become king, I should be able to melt the ice in the forest. Will you look down on me? The other candidates participate with great goals and resolve, but my reason is very, very selfish." After saying this, Emilia looked at Takeru worriedly.

"Lia, I'm not sure about the others' goals. But for me, if it's to save someone important, not just becoming king, I would carry out even more extreme actions without hesitation. So, Lia, you don't need to have any psychological burden. No matter what, I'm willing to believe in you because you, Lia, are also someone important to me."

Hearing her words, Takeru spoke softly.

"Really... thank you so much." Speaking softly, Lia fell asleep again.

Looking at Lia, Takeru knew it was time for Puck to appear. Because a contract existed between Puck and Emilia, as long as Puck adhered to it, Lia's memories could never fully recover, especially the painful memories.

So, after settling Lia, Takeru used his mana to forcibly awaken Puck.

"Puck, you already know about Lia's situation, right? Without letting go of the past, one can never grow." Looking at the glowing pendant, Takeru spoke calmly to Puck.

"I know. But you can actually forcibly awaken me... truly unfathomable, Takeru." Hearing Takeru, Puck's voice slowly emerged.

"So, what's your decision?" Hearing him, Takeru asked with a calm expression.

"Can I trust you, Takeru?" Hearing Takeru, Puck directly asked.

"What do you think? When you weren't appearing, I was the one accompanying Lia all along." Hearing him, Takeru rolled his eyes.

"Ehehe, I've been accompanying her inside too." Hearing Takeru say this, Puck said sheepishly.

"Then I'll leave the next part to you. Also, regarding the forest, I might have a way. But since I haven't seen the specific situation, to avoid getting Lia's hopes up for nothing, we'll talk about it later." Hearing him, Takeru spoke seriously.

"I understand, Takeru. I truly entrust Lia to you from now on." Hearing Takeru, Puck spoke earnestly.

"Mhm." Hearing him, Takeru transmitted a bit of mana to Puck, then left the spot.

"Takeru-nii, is Lia okay?" Seeing Takeru emerge, those waiting anxiously in the living room gathered around.

"Hard to say. But as long as Lia can resolve her inner conflicts, there shouldn't be a problem. And that requires care from all of us." Hearing Felt's question, Takeru spoke softly.

"Mhm." Hearing Takeru, everyone nodded.

…

As time passed, Emilia, who had fallen asleep under Takeru's comfort, didn't wake until noon. Due to her recovering memories, she saw scenes from her childhood and couldn't stop her tears.

"Did you have a nightmare again?" Seeing Emilia awake, Puck spoke softly.

"Puck!" Hearing the familiar voice, Lia called out excitedly.

"Hey!"

"It's great! Where have you been? I've been so worried. Don't just disappear like that! Puck?" As she spoke, Lia suddenly noticed something was off because Puck's body was about two sizes smaller than before.

"My body's quite a bit smaller than usual, huh? Ehehe, the limit came faster than I imagined. After all, consciously trying to violate the contract, having my value as a spirit stripped away is unavoidable." Noticing Emilia's gaze, Puck acted cute.

"Violate the contract? What are you saying?" Hearing Puck, Emilia had a foreboding feeling.

"Until now, I've always been by your side, Lia. Not being able to talk was due to my personal reasons and your own issues. But from now on..." Saying this, Puck looked at Emilia with loving eyes.

"What? No... wait!" Seeing Puck's gaze, Emilia panicked. Then, the crystal pendant she wore began to crack.

"No... it's bad, Puck. The medium... is breaking!" Emilia's voice carried a sob.

"Sorry, Lia. I wanted to explain properly, but there's no time. Although I'm extremely reluctant, I plan to entrust you to that person. Because he can definitely take good care of you and values you very much." Puck spoke softly.

"What are you saying? Who is that person..." Hearing Puck, Emilia could no longer hold back, tears streaming down.

"Lia, I'm going to break the contract between us, terminating it unilaterally. I'm really sorry. As long as I'm gone, the lid on your memories can open. Then, Lia will surely remember many sad things. You might want to cry even more than now. Emilia, I love you very, very much."

"Don't!" Tears continuously fell, and Emilia's heart was filled with endless fear.

"This is fine, Emilia. You are the person I love most in this world." As Puck spoke, he completely dispersed.

As for Takeru, leaning against the door outside, perceiving everything inside, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

However, Takeru knew that although the previous contract had its issues, Puck's care for Emilia had never diminished.

Moreover, his selfless and wholehearted love for Emilia was something neither Takeru nor the original Subaru could ever match.