Without wasting a single second, she hurried off to get dressed – pulling out a cute little short skirt paired with that elegant white jacket she used to wear back when she was just a kid. She even picked out some clothes for Subaru too, though knowing her she'd mostly stuck with the working outfits he usually wore around the mansion.
"Here Subaru!"
He felt his chest seize up so bad he almost triggered Return by Death right then and there – but he forced himself to take a deep breath and calm his racing heart before anything tragic (and honestly pretty pathetic) could happen. After he'd gotten himself under control, he let his eyes drift over her figure, taking in how incredible she looked before quickly looking away so he wouldn't stare too long.
"yeah I think that's enough heart attacks for Subaru Natsuki today... maybe ever..."
He glanced down at his own jacket, realizing just how worn out and beat up it was – he definitely needed to get some new ones soon. Then his eyes lit up like he'd just had a brilliant idea, and he clapped his palm against his left fist with sparkling eyes.
"You look so fantastic it's not even fair, but me? I look like a crappy knockoff of super M***o or something... but hey, that doesn't matter one bit!"
He reached out and took Emilia's hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Whats super m... whatever that is anyway!"
She flinched just a little at first when their hands touched – his was warm and steady against hers – but after a few moments she relaxed into it, letting herself get used to the feeling before smiling up at him warmly.
"Let's go first to Lugunica proper, Subaru!"
They made their way over to the waiting carriage where Patrache the ground dragon was already settled in, and to their good luck Otto was there too, getting everything ready to go.
"Alright Natsuki-san!, we're heading to the city just like Miss Emilia told me!"
Subaru nodded back at him and shot him a big smiling thumbs up.
"Alright man, counting on you for a safe trip Otto!, don't go slacking off on me or I'll go tell Garfiel all about it~"
He said it with a teasing smirk spread across his face, and there wasn't even a hint of real anger or threat behind his words – just the kind of playful joking around you'd expect from good friends.
"Haha... please don't tell him. He already smacked my butt yesterday when he caught me taking a little break – I still can't sit right!"
Otto groaned as he remembered the whole thing; it seemed like every time he even thought about slowing down, Garfiel was there to give him a good whack to keep him on track.
Then from somewhere in the distance, another familiar voice boomed out loud and clear – and Subaru could already picture the guy's hands clenched up like fists with that razor-sharp grin he always wore when he was proud of himself.
"Ya' heard him Boss!, that's right I did smack him good!"
Garfiel pointed right at himself, beaming like he'd just accomplished something amazing by hitting his friend.
"By smacking me?!, gosh I swear he gets more childish every single day..."
Otto moped around a little while Emilia let out a soft playful chuckle right next to Subaru.
Subaru couldn't help but giggle at how ridiculous the whole scene was – and just as he did, the ground dragon started moving forward, the familiar sound of wheels crunching over dirt and pebbles filling the air. He leaned back against the carriage wall and smiled to himself, thinking:
'Nothing to worry about this time – no witches or their bishops, nobody trying to take Emilia away from me, no stupid staircases that almost kill me... and on top of all that, Reinhard's out there patrolling every corner of Lugunica. I swear this is the safest I've ever felt since I got here!'
He let the smile stay on his face but stopped himself from saying any of it out loud – he didn't wanna jinx things and ruin this perfect moment before it even really got started.
...
Before long Otto had the carriage rolling along smoothly, and Garfiel hopped on board at the last second before they could pull away – saying they'd make a quick stop at the village first on their way to the city.
"It's Subaru!..."
The old woman who ran the village store called out as soon as they pulled up, and before long everyone had gathered around, greeting them with big smiles and warm welcomes like they always did.
Subaru spotted her right away and waved back enthusiastically, smiling at all the villagers who'd come out to see them. He helped Emilia carefully climb down from the carriage, then they made their way over to where everyone was waiting.
"A good day to all of you!"
"Thank you for everything as always, Subaru!"
Emilia said, shooting him a warm smile before turning to greet the rest of the village with that calm, reassuring demeanor she always had. After everything they'd done to help save the place more than once, they'd become like heroes to the people who lived there.
"Well then, Natsuki-san. I'll leave you two to it – you know what you need to do."
Otto spoke up with a knowing look on his face.
Subaru nodded back at him, already knowing exactly what he meant – this was his one-in-a-lifetime chance to really win Emilia's heart!
"right! Though there's so many places we could go I don't even know where to start... it's kinda overwhelming honestly-"
But before he could finish talking, Emilia had already grabbed hold of his hand again and was pulling him toward the new shopping center the village had just set up – built so the locals could sell their goods and make some proper money.
"alright then guess the cute Emilia-tan gets to be the one leading this date!"
Subaru practically shouted as she dragged him along, but he didn't mind at all – in fact he was laughing to himself the whole way, completely happy just to be holding her hand. Though he did make a mental note that if Ram saw them like this, things probably wouldn't end well for him...
Then out of nowhere, they bumped right into someone who'd been walking around the corner.
"Oh, my deepest apologies for not watching where I was going."
The voice was calm and polite – and it belonged to none other than Reinhard van Astrea, the Sword Saint himself. What in the world was he doing all the way out here in the village?