The sharp crack of breaking porcelain sounded unusually abrupt in the quiet mansion.
Naturally, Emilia's attention was drawn toward it.
"Good morning, Grin and Subaru!"
Dressed in simple white home clothes, Emilia stood up and waved energetically toward them, like a white rose swaying in the breeze.
Subaru Natsuki seemed to take a direct hit to the heart.
Clutching his chest with both hands, he sighed in bliss,
"Ah… Emilia's smile is so dazzling. It warms my whole body and makes me want to kneel at her feet in worship."
Grin looked at him as if he were hopeless.
"You're a male servant, and you're already infatuated with the lady of the house? That's workplace embezzlement."
Subaru turned his head awkwardly.
"Ha… I forgot you were still here. Please erase what I just said from your memory right now."
Grin grinned and snapped his fingers.
At once, the purple-black magic circle unique to Transformation Magic lit up beneath his feet.
His face and body began to twist and reshape until he took on Subaru Natsuki's appearance.
Then, in Subaru's voice, he clasped his hands beneath his chin, twisted his waist coquettishly, and said in exaggerated delight,
"Ah, Emilia's smile is so wonderful, it makes me want to kneel down and lick her boots! Hahaha, you pervert!"
Subaru jumped in horror.
"Whoa, don't mess with me! That's not what I said!"
"Sigh… it all means the same thing. Ah, Emilia's smile really is just—"
"Hey! That's enough, you two!"
Emilia's voice sounded from behind them.
Her exquisitely beautiful face was already flushed bright red.
Subaru immediately began stammering like a boy whose mother had just discovered a hidden stash of indecent magazines.
He was so embarrassed it felt like his toes might dig a three-bedroom apartment straight into the floor.
"E-Emilia-tan! W-When did you come up here?"
Emilia tried to look stern.
"Just in time to hear someone talking about doing weird things to my shoes."
Seeing two Subaru Natsukis standing there, she immediately guessed it had to be some sort of transformation or mirror magic.
After watching for a moment, though, her eyes settled directly on Grin's real body.
Grin met her reproachful stare and felt genuinely wronged.
"Seriously, Emilia? How did you figure it out so fast?"
Emilia puffed out her cheeks in the cutest way imaginable.
"Because Grin is a bad boy."
Puck popped out from behind Emilia's long silver hair with a little poof and settled onto her head.
"Haha, as expected of my lovely daughter. Her observation skills are excellent."
"Grin-kun, when you said you wanted to kiss Lia's shoes, your smile looked way too wicked. Lia happened to see it clearly."
In both Puck's and Emilia's eyes, Grin already had a criminal record.
After all, he had previously been implicated in the theft of Emilia's stockings.
Sensing the situation turning dangerous, Grin quietly took two steps back toward the staircase as the transformation began fading from his body.
"Can I offer a defense, Emilia?"
Puck leapt lightly and landed on Grin's shoulder.
"Young man Grin, offending the lady of the house on your very first day of work is not a promising start."
"You little liar, you obviously heard the whole thing."
"Haha, who knows? Puck is just a harmless little kitten."
Subaru had always assumed Grin was merely a guest in the mansion.
So hearing that exchange, he immediately looked shocked.
"What kind of work? Grin has to stay in the mansion to work too?"
After taking a few breaths, Emilia finally calmed down.
"Yes, Subaru. So from now on, the two of you need to get along."
Subaru immediately felt a sense of crisis.
Could it be that Grin was also after Emilia-tan?
After all, Emilia-tan was so pure and kind that naturally she would attract all kinds of suspicious people.
"I see…"
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.
And as he kept talking, his eyes slowly moved over Grin from head to toe.
"Grin-kun, I won't lose to you."
Grin sighed.
"There's definitely something wrong with you, kid."
Subaru struck his signature pose with great enthusiasm—hips twisted, right finger pointing dramatically at the ceiling, grin full of reckless confidence.
"Hahaha! Grin, even if you're more handsome, taller, and stronger than me—damn it, now I'm making myself feel inferior—but even so, you'll never shake my position as the number one male servant in Roswaal's mansion!"
"Whoaaa!" Puck cheered as he flew above their heads. "Young people really are full of energy. In that case, I hereby declare the battle for Emilia's number one lackey officially open!"
Subaru grew even more fired up.
"Yosh! I absolutely have to win this match!"
Grin watched Subaru's ridiculous performance with complete exhaustion written all over his face.
"Relax, Subaru. I have no interest in your title of Number One Servant."
Now it was Subaru's turn to be confused.
He scratched his head helplessly, looking as though he had just run face-first into a cotton wall.
"If you're not a servant, then what exactly are you in this mansion, Grin?"
Grin looked at him as if he were being actively harassed by reality.
"If I had to be a plant, I'd want to be a cactus. So please let me quietly photosynthesize in peace and stop tormenting me."
"Pfft—ha ha."
Emilia could not hold back her laughter.
Then, realizing everyone had turned to look at her, she quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"It's just… it's so strange that Grin can say he wants to be a cactus with such a serious face. Hahaha…"
Puck looked delighted to see his beloved daughter laughing so openly, something that did not happen nearly often enough.
He gave Grin a furry little thumbs-up.
"Well done, Grin. That's one point."
"Damn it! Grin got there first! Emilia-tan even laughed at his joke!"
Subaru panicked slightly, then clasped his hands together, spun around dramatically, and hurried over to Emilia's side.
Just as Grin was wondering how to escape this increasingly ridiculous situation, he spotted a blue-haired figure approaching from the distance.
"Great. Reinforcements."
Grin let out a breath of relief.
He was truly reaching his limit with Subaru in full Emilia mode.
The blue-haired figure drew closer, sunlight scattering across the tips of her hair in tiny liquid sparkles.
It was Rem, the adorable little menace, carrying breakfast out from the kitchen.
She first gave Emilia a slight bow, then held the breakfast tray against her chest and spoke in her usual soft but cool tone.
"Lady Emilia, breakfast is ready. Would you like to move to the dining room?"
The moment Subaru heard Rem's voice, his whole body visibly shuddered.
Then he scrambled behind Emilia like a mouse spotting a cat.
"Rem, y-you… how do you keep appearing out of nowhere? Please don't suddenly show up next to me like that. It's terrifying."