...
Third Person POV
A few days passed by, and during that time, everything gradually began to settle down.
With the collapse of the Sanctuary's ancient barrier, the people who had once been trapped within its confines were finally set free. The liberation, however, was met with mixed feelings.
While the native inhabitants of the Sanctuary—the demi-humans and spirits who had called it home for generations—viewed the event with sorrow and quiet resentment, the freed villagers from the outside world were overwhelmingly joyous.
For them, it marked the end of a imprisonment that felt like forever, a chance to finally return to their lives beyond the dense fog and ancient trees.
In true fashion, Subaru Natsuki did not seek praise for the victory. He passed the credit to Emilia, highlighting her courage and unyielding resolve throughout the ordeal.
As for the feat of slaying the Great Rabbit, that terrifying Mabeast of legend, Subaru attempted to bestow the honor upon Reina. Yet, she flatly refused, insisting that she wouldn't claim false honor, especially if it is from he Liege.
Meanwhile, Echidna, the Witch of Greed, had taken up residence in Roswaal's grand but lonely mansion.
Her presence was both commanding and unsettling, as if the very air changed with her arrival.
A section of the forest near Arlam Village was cleared away, making room for newly planned homes.
These houses were intended for the former wives of Regulus Corneas—women who had endured unspeakable torment under the guise of love.
Subaru, taking responsibility for their welfare, ensured that they would have a safe place to live.
Until the construction was complete, he allowed them to remain at the mansion under his protection and guidance.
Subaru had, perhaps unknowingly, taken the burden of leadership upon his shoulders. By handling logistics, decisions, and ensuring peace, he gave the others time to heal.
Thanks to his efforts, the mansion, once a place shrouded in mystery and eccentricity, had temporarily become a sanctuary of its own.
Roswaal L. Mathers, however, was suffering a different fate altogether.
After Echidna's resurrection, he had expected joy, validation, and perhaps even a fragment of affection in return for his unwavering devotion.
He had gone so far as to make a contract with Subaru, hoping that through this new connection, he might once again stand by Echidna's side—not as a servant or tool, but as someone cherished.
But his hopes were quickly dashed. Echidna looked him in the eye and uttered words he would never forget:
"I love Zero, so throw that thought out of your mind. To me, you're not even worth a single copper compared to him."
Then, to add insult to injury, she leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Subaru's cheek—a gesture that should have been harmless, but instead felt like a spear through Roswaal's chest.
That moment became a dividing line.
Afterward, Echidna began to cling to Subaru with increasing possessiveness, sometimes gently and sometimes obsessively, refusing even to acknowledge Roswaal's presence.
Yet, this rejection didn't immediately extinguish his feelings.
If anything, his obsessive devotion burned even brighter, consumed now by the bitter fire of denial. But the more she ignored him, the deeper his wounds became.
The man who had orchestrated centuries of events to bring her back now stood at the edge of despair, broken and abandoned by the very person he had once worshipped as a goddess.
There were moments—quiet, fleeting, and dangerous—where Roswaal wished he had died back at the Sanctuary.
For four hundred years, he had lived for only one purpose: to bring Echidna back from the dead. His entire life, every choice and sacrifice, had been in service of that single goal.
And yet, when that wish was finally fulfilled, the happiness he had so long anticipated never came. Instead, what greeted him was a cold, cruel revelation: she had never loved him, not even a little.
He had always known she used him, manipulated him like a chess piece. He had convinced himself it was enough.
That being her tool gave his life meaning.
So why, of all times, did it hurt now? Why did the truth cut deeper than ever before?
Because now, she loved someone else.
That was the difference.
That was the pain.
If she had remained the same unfeeling witch, if her heart had stayed untouched and her emotions distant, he might have endured.
But now, seeing her fawn over another man, hearing her murmur sweet words to Subaru that no one had ever heard from her lips before—it shattered the illusion. She was no longer the mentor he had idealized.
She was no longer his Sensei.
She was someone entirely different.
A girl in love.
And that realization broke him.
For the first time in centuries, Roswaal was truly alone—abandoned, unwanted, and unloved. No one cared for him anymore. No one needed him.
One could only conclude, with a heavy heart, that a great many things had changed.
...
The Witch of Greed—Echidna—had once loved Flugel. She didn't know exactly when or how it had happened.
The feeling had crept in slowly, without announcement, until it filled her heart completely.
Over time, her boundless greed softened, giving way to a deep, sincere affection for the man known across the world as the Great Sage.
But death had robbed her of more than just life—it had stripped away her maturity.
When she died, she was unable to fully retain her soul, and what remained of her returned as a younger version of herself.
A fragment.
A shadow.
The same person, but not entirely whole.
She was again the Witch of Greed. Known only for her insatiable hunger—for knowledge, for power, for control.
The love she once held remained, but it was no longer pure.
It was tainted and twisted by the very sin that defined her.
It was not love anymore. It was Greed.
And now, her greed was fixated entirely on Natsuki Subaru.
She wanted him.
Desperately.
Irrevocably.
She decided long before they met that she would form a contract with him, binding him to her in the most intimate way possible.
To Echidna, this was her version of a perfect marriage proposal. She wasn't exaggerating when she said she would allow Subaru to do anything to her.
In her mind, he was her husband—or would be soon—and as long as her insatiable greed was satisfied by his presence, she would endure anything. If it meant being hurt, degraded, insulted, even violated, she would bear it—so long as it was by him.
And in return, whenever he broke down, when the world crushed him under its weight, she would be there. To soothe his wounded heart, to whisper comforting words in his ear, to press warm kisses onto his cheek.
She wanted to stay by his side—forever.
She even began wearing skirts simply because she knew Subaru preferred them to pants. She adjusted her appearance in subtle ways, always striving to make herself more attractive in his eyes. Her affection for him was immeasurable—vast, overwhelming, all-consuming.
So, when Subaru finally offered her a deal that satisfied her greed—despite it demanding the loss of her freedom—she agreed without hesitation.
If anyone else had made the same offer, she would have manipulated them, found a loophole, or declined entirely.
How could she trust someone asking her to become their slave for a sliver of knowledge?
But this was Subaru.
Her Subaru.
And so she let it happen. She formed a contract that made Beatrice's abandonment seem almost playful by comparison.
If, in the past, she had acted out of pure greed, now she believed she was being punished for all the sins she had committed.
For all the manipulation, for all the lies, for all the times she had used people like tools—this was her penance.
She had truly been the Witch of Greed. Hadn't she?
To be continued...
(A/N: India's education system is shit, unemployment rates are extremely high, and government seems to do nothing to fix our Education system.
Have you heard about JEE Mains, or NEET?, former is the second toughest exam in the entire world, with the only goal to reject students.
Yes it is not to select capable students but to reject as much as they can, so only those who passed whether by cheating, or simply by luck get the limited seats that government can offer.
It has 64 chapters, from Physics, Chemistry and Maths, combined syllabus of what is taught in Class 11 and 12, equal to Senior High School I think.
Yes, it is not to select students but to reject them for getting them into colleges.
Reason? There are not enough colleges and more so over not enough jobs.
So what government came up? Increase budget and create better infrastructure?
No!
Create exams that limit the criteria for selection of students, so when Students don't get colleges, they don't blame government, no they blame themselves.
Why didn't I work hard? I am failure, I am the worst, I ate up my parent's money.
It often leads to suicide, and parents of these children? They cry?
But others? They laugh that the student was stupid, he couldn't study and didn't wanted to work hard.
They believe as long as they work hard, they will get rewarded, if they failed?
It is not government's fault who created a faulty education system and does nothing to fix it.
Nope, it is the fault of the student who couldn't pass it.
They will be labelled as failure and instead he will be asked questions 'Aren't everyone human, they study the same thing, so why they can pass and not you? It is obvious you didn't work hard'
They don't understand every student isn't same, even if they can learn they have different methods of learning.
Some students who might not understand a single thing after studying five hours, may learn it in a hour by doing practical experiments, or auditory learning in his preferred language or by graphical demonstration.
Things are improving but not so much.
Yeah, if you ever plan to settle in India(I doubt it due to pollution here), you better think about your children's education.
Anyway, I hope you liked the chap.
I guess this begins our ninth chap of this fic.
If you get this fic under top 5 I will upload the chaps daily, heck even top 10 will suffice.
If you have any doubts you can ask me.
Here is the discord invitation code: Xb47VnFUpQ)