Chapter 56 - 056: Elior Forest

After Crusch and Anastasia visited the Alfheim and settled their own thing, Emilia is busy with the paperwork because of the new citizens that come with Crusch and Anastasia.

They need to register their name, current address, and many other things. So for the next several days she is nearly never leaving the castle and focus on the job with the help of homunculus, Charles and Cecilia.

Arthur didn't go anywhere and just sit leisurely on the balcony with tea and some cookies prepared by Tamarine.

Arthur wants Emilia to take a rest but she always refused and said she need a lot of experience dealing with this type of thing so Arthur let her do as she wishes.

But after several days Arthur decides to force her to take a break and bring her to any place she wants to visit.

"It's been a long time since when the last time I come here"

Emilia looks at the familiar forest where she lives here for seven years before she meets with Roswaal and participates in the royal election.

This is the Elior forest, the home of Elf.

Or also known as the freezing forest.

Arthur who following her to the forest didn't say anything and just look around.

Elior Forest is covered in snow and ice and is home to unnatural mana storms and many Demon Beasts.

So there is always demon beast that tried to ȧssault the two of them but they always shred by the floating sword petals that surround Emilia and Arthur.

When Arthur and Emilia arrived in some sort of garden, Arthur didn't follow her and just stood there watching Emilia from afar and his expressions turn to serious.

"Puck, you heard me, right?"

"What?"

Puck materializes in front of Arthur, this is maybe the first time they speak to each other after they agreed to bring Emilia to the capital for evaded from the members of the witch cult.

"Do you think... she needs to know her past?"

"What are you trying to say?"

This time is Puck turn to be serious, Emilia past is not something he wants to talk leisurely like usual.

"You know it, sooner or later she needs to accept it... the reason for the existence of the frozen Elior forest"

Arthur stop talking and looking at the distance place... sanctuary of kremaldy or the people in there called it as The Witch of Greed graveyard.

What Arthur told to Puck is not something he said carelessly but after pondering over it for several days, he thinks this is the right time to bring her there.

But he needs the agreement from Puck because he will be the one who at a disadvantage.

"I know, you have some idea about Emi past, but I didn't think it was the right thing to deceive her any longer, she needs to awake from her dream"

"You talk as if you know Lia past"

"I didn't know much, but I know she needs to accept her past and life with it so she can live without a burden at the end"

"....."

Puck didn't speak and drown in his own mind, and then he raised his head look at Emilia who is talking with Crusch and Anastasia happily inside.

"Why you need to talk about it to me?"

"There is a possibility you need to terminate your contract with her for giving her a push"

"Terminate contracts...huh. what makes you think like that?"

"Emilia heart and her personality is the one who leads me to said it"

"You're right, also, you're the only one in this world who think about Lia and can understand her this much"

"There is also you, honestly I didn't want it to happen"

Puck is a greatest mental support for Emilia, his existence itself is one who responsible for her personality becomes like this after awakening her.

Ther is no way for Arthur can replace Puck.

Arthur can protect Emilia because he has the strength to do it, but he can't replace puck.

"If it can make her life happily afterward... let's do it, even if I need to break the contract 'll just go back to being the small existence I was before I contracted Lia. Somewhere with a deep connection to me... probably, it'll be Elior Forest. I'll go to sleep inside something there as my anchor, waiting for the time I'm awoken by Lia again... This is where the contract between me and her ends. But if a time comes where she needs to make a new contract, and she's going to choose a spirit partner... I know she'll choose me again. That's what I believe"

Feeling that Puck spoke this in a cheery tone, Arthur just let out a sigh and didn't speak.

Silence descends between the two of them and in the end, Arthur is the one who talks first.

"I hope we won't need to make a sacrifice when the time come"

"Then I need to put my hope in you, Arthur"

Arthur can feel Puck said it earnestly, and he can understand it.

So, he hopes there is another way to make Emilia accept her past without make puck sacrifice himself.

"No... if there is no other way then all I need to do is make it with my own hands"

"What are you talking about?"

"I talking about the road to the large tree behind the castle"

"What a jumble conversation, let's end it here. I want to come to Lia side"

Arthur stood there and tried to remember something about the sanctuary and he realized this time Rem is fine and didn't become a victim of Ley Batenkaitos like in the anime so Arthur didn't know if Roswaal will hire Elsa or not.

The time is already different and they're also in the Alfheim, there is no way Elsa can make trouble there without getting noticed and in the mansion Arthur leave some of his spirits there.

"Well even if he tried something funny that's not a problem because I can have a reason to confront him"

Some of the events that happened in the past are because of Roswaal pulling a string from behind the scenes, and Arthur decides to not do anything to him because Emilia still needs his support in this royal election.

Even if Arthur didn't have a background like Reinhard but he has strength equal with him so some noble can't just brush off Emilia factions like before where there is only Roswaal as her supporter.

Because Roswaal is an eccentric person, not many people who want to have a connection with him.

"Emi, it's time to go back, say your goodbye properly"

"Yes, please wait a bit"

Honestly, Arthur didn't want to take a gamble where Emilia will break but he needs to do it.

It also pains him seeing Emilia behave this way, didn't know why all of this happened, she wants fairness and other people didn't deny her existence but she herself denied her past.

So no matter how much she tried to get fairness, she will never feel it was what she wanted.

"Arthur, I'm done-"

Emilia wants to say she was ready back to the Alfheim but she is stopped because Arthur looks at different directions, his eyes look very sharp as if his eyes can penetrate the dense forest and see something beyond it.

"Emi, it seems we need to visit another place first"

"Where to?" Emilia asks with confuses expression because she didn't know why Arthur change drastically like this, it was very rare for Arthur didn't look at her when she is speaking.

"Roswaal mansion"

"What happens in there?"

There must be something happening there that can make Arthur want to visit it so suddenly.

"Some pest appears in the mansion, we need to exterminate it"

"I didn't understand, but it seems serious so let's go, Arthur "

And they vanish from the Elior forest, leaving it covered by snow and the never-ending unnatural mana storms.