Chapter Text
Emilia was finishing dinner preparations for her family. Normally, her husband was the one who cooked their meals, but she wanted to make an old elven dish for them. It required ingredients that could only be found in Elior Forest, so her husband was not familiar with them.
It had already been years since Elior Forest was unfrozen. She was grateful to her friend, Queen Felt, for the dragon blood she had gifted them in recognition of their contributions to the kingdom.
Emilia had become something of a leader for the elves of Elior Forest after their thawing, both because she had the most knowledge of the outside world and because she was the daughter of the previous leader, Mother Fortuna.
The half-elf mostly spent her time settling disputes between residents and dealing with traders from outside the forest for supplies. While their village was no longer isolationist, most of the elves still feared leaving the safety of the forest, with only the younger, more daring ones visiting nearby towns.
Emilia assured them they were completely safe, as Queen Felt had been passing strong anti-discrimination laws in Lugunica and was also trying to strengthen the social standing of the demi-human population. But old habits die hard, and the older elves still felt scared of leaving, not that Emilia could judge them too much.
The dish was done, and Emilia quickly turned off the oven. Her husband had left the house to talk with some of the villagers, taking their daughter with him. Even though she was so small, he just loved to show her off to the village any chance he got.
He had a loud personality and always loved to make people laugh. He spent his time talking with the people of the village and always managed to find problems that Emilia never would have thought of.
Emilia always knew how smart he was, but she had never expected him to be so socially gifted. For as long as she knew him, he had always seemed very reserved with people he didn’t consider friends. So it was curious how social he became after they came to Elior Forest.
Emilia, having finished her task, decided to quickly check on Chocorina’s room. As she expected, Beatrice was sleeping on the bed that belonged to Chocorina. Ever since her daughter was born, Beatrice had spent almost all of her time looking after her.
She would always say, “That child is Betty’s future. So it’s only natural that Betty would make sure she is safe at all times, in fact.” It was really adorable how attached she had gotten to Chocorina so quickly.
Emilia quietly left the room so she wouldn’t risk awakening Beatrice. The spirit needed a good rest.
She decided to leave the house to go search for her husband, since the food was ready and she didn’t want to have to reheat it later.
As Emilia reached the front door, she suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the ground, managing to break her fall before she hit her face. Then, a flood of memories came back to her.
It was as if a torrent of memories was shoved into her head all at once. A host of her memories were changed to include people who were forgotten, showing her just how hollow her fabricated memories looked in comparison.
But above all, she remembered what was most important to her: her Knight, Natsuki Subaru.
Even now, years later, the memory of many moments that made her grip the edge of her dress. The memory of the determined, foolish look in his eyes. The warmth of his hand, so much bigger than hers, holding on as if his life depended on it. His voice, shouting her name, cheering for her, telling her over and over again those three words she never felt she deserved.
“I love you.”
The love she felt for him was the foundation of her world, as solid and real as the forest outside. Only now could she understand the feeling of that foundation being gone. The freezing, soul-crushing shame of how she had forgotten. How she had looked at the boy who crossed worlds for her, who would die for her, who saved her from her loneliness, and felt… nothing.
Every cherished memory that had returned was a fresh wound back then. Now, it was a scar, a reminder of the happiness she had almost lost forever. The love that now screamed his name was forever tied to the memory of her failure. She had forgotten her knight. She had forgotten her Subaru.
Suddenly the front door creaked open.
"E.M.T! We're back! And our daughter has successfully negotiated for a bigger slice of dessert!" his cheerful voice boomed through the room.
He walked into the house, their little girl perched on his shoulders, giggling. He had that familiar, easy grin on his face, the one that always made her heart feel light.
The love she felt for her husband, the steady and warm flame she had nurtured for these past years, suddenly erupted into a supernova. It was the same love, she realized with a heart-wrenching sob. It had always been the same love, but she had only been allowed to feel its gentle warmth, while he had been silently burning in its core. The shame was a physical weight, crushing her chest, stealing her breath. How could she? How could she have forgotten the person who was her entire world?
He saw her expression, and his smile faltered, concern instantly flooding his face. He lifted their daughter down and rushed to her side.
He gently lifted her face with his hands so they could look each other in the eyes.
"Emilia-tan? What's wrong? Did you burn yourself?"
Subaru looked at her: his light, who, tied with their daughter, was the most important person in the world to him.
But she didn't see her husband anymore. Not just him. She saw the boy who declared war on the world for her sake. She saw the fool who never gave up. She saw the Knight who had kept his vow in the most painful way imaginable: by letting her be happy, even at the expense of his own memory.
She looked into his dark, worried eyes, and for the first time in years, she truly saw him. All of him. All the pain he hid, all the love he never stopped giving. Her voice was a choked whisper, thick with a year of forgotten love and a universe of rediscovered pain. She hugged him tightly, fearing that if she ever let go, she would forget again.
“Subaru, Subaru, Subaru, Subaru…” she repeated, her voice muffled against his chest.
Subaru, now as red as a tomato from this unexpected affection, blurted out, “Yeah, that’s my name, Emilia-tan. What’s gotten into you?”
But Emilia wasn’t listening to what he said.
“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,” she chanted.
Subaru, realizing that Emilia needed this release, just hugged her and waited for her to calm down, while Chocorina just looked at them with a confused expression.
After a few minutes, Emilia calmed down enough for them to have a conversation.
“Are you okay, Emilia? What happened?”
“It’s nothing urgent. We can talk about it later, Subaru.”
“Then why did you hug me and act so affectionately all of a sudden?”
“Well, let’s just say that I wanted you to know how much I love you.”
As Emilia finished her sentence, she kissed him, making his head go all fuzzy.
“Now, let’s eat. This recipe is really toothsome.”
“Who even says ‘toothsome’ in this day and age?”
As they settled back into their usual routine, Emilia relaxed again. She was so happy in this moment. She loved her husband, her knight, so much.
She thought she understood the depths of her love yesterday. Only now did she grasp its true, breathtaking scale, and she wondered with a thrill what new heights it could reach by tomorrow.
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This World’s Lore
After Subaru's name was "eaten" in Priestella, everyone forgot him. However, Emilia vouched for Subaru, insisting they take him back with them to the mansion because she believed his claim of being a part of their camp.
Subaru eventually found his way back to the position of strategist for the camp but decided to stay out of the spotlight due to his lingering trauma from the situation.
Emilia eventually fell in love with Subaru again, as they connected so easily.
Not knowing the state of his Contract with Beatrice, Subaru convinced Emilia and Beatrice to amend their contract to include all members of Emilia’s bloodline. This way, Beatrice could be contracted to their future children, even if she and Subaru couldn't be contracted directly.
Subaru eventually came to accept the loss of his name, as he had spent more time with his friends now than he had before his existence was erased.
Everyone’s memories returned when Roy Alphard, the Archbishop of Gluttony, was killed during an attempted attack on the royal palace to "eat" Queen Felt.