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Chapter 11
Only then did Guillermo suddenly straighten up, as if remembering the original topic. His next answer was just as confusing as before.
“Since I was captured, that man has always been depressed.”
Evania gave him a questioning look, asking for an explanation, and Guillermo added impatiently:
“I’m saying he wasn’t in a mood to release a slave just because he felt good.”
So it wasn’t only Sir Max who wanted to leave.
No wonder he treated the master so disrespectfully; he must have been hiding a deep resentment. Now Evania understood why Guillermo had so easily removed Sir Max from the room when he became noisy.
He had endured 200 years in this place, while a newcomer who had only lived three years was now begging to be released. It must have looked unbearable to him.
“I know a bit about humans. I’ve seen many plays that compress a person’s life into a few hours. I’ve read more books than most people. So I understand that love is an emotion that can shake a person to the core. Look at my master—he’s been suffering for hundreds of years because he can’t forget his first love.”
“So you want to find my master a new love?” Evania asked.
Guillermo snapped his fingers like he finally understood her question.
But Evania found it increasingly difficult to understand him.
Guillermo seemed to have the opposite opinion of Agram compared to her.
Evania replied calmly:
“But my master has no intention of meeting any woman other than his former wife.”
“How do you know that?”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been stuck in this old castle for over 400 years. I only see people from 300 meters above the ground. I’ve been alone all this time. How could he possibly find a lover? He never meets anyone.”
Guillermo retorted as if speaking a foreign language, without taking a breath.
Evania fell silent.
His argument was surprisingly logical.
To find new love, one must first meet someone. Agram seemed to have completely adapted to a closed life—he had spent ten years confined to a bed.
In such a place, no one would come unless they had a reason like theft—especially not a woman.
But still…
“Guillermo, if you’ve seen many plays, you know the typical story. The lovers reunite and live happily ever after.”
“I know that too. But plays and reality are different.”
He knew that too?
To think of romance as a solution and then draw a line between fantasy and reality like it was obvious… Evania didn’t know whether he was realistic or not.
Guillermo spoke in an unusually pessimistic tone:
“Isn’t it ridiculous? There are so many women in this world, yet he insists on looking at only one. Why would anyone do such a foolish thing? Even if he meets her again, he won’t live a hundred years. She won’t even know who he met while he was gone.”
He seemed disgusted by his master’s endless devotion.
And objectively, his argument made sense.
Enduring centuries for a single moment is not rational.
Evania slowly approached the window.
Standing a step away from Guillermo, she carefully placed her hand on the afterimage he had created.
In the small theater of memories, the little Agram returned home, clutching a mop, leaving Guillermo crying while he crawled back into bed.
Evania touched the bulging lump of the blanket and said:
“Maybe it’s because it’s real. Because precious things don’t change so easily. If a feeling can be replaced quickly, it was never precious to begin with.”
A low sigh escaped Guillermo’s mouth.
No rebuttal came.
He may have brought her here as a desperate attempt to save his master, but he didn’t seem to expect much from a fake bride.
Asking a fake like her to make Agram forget his real wife was impossible.
Evania apologized politely.
“Guillermo. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can help with your plan. My master will never love anyone other than my sister.”
“Try harder!”
“Love cannot be forced.”
Guillermo muttered a small curse.
Evania watched as he slid down the wall and sat, as if defeated.
Until now she had only looked up at him, but she now realized his head was also beautiful.
She didn’t know why he wore a mask, but even through it she could tell he was handsome.
Was he always this beautiful before becoming a human?
Soon, the day would come when her master would feel good enough to “release his slave.”
If she revealed the truth, both Agram and Guillermo could finally achieve the dream they had longed for.
The problem was whether he would accept the extra work for the next few months.
He might think I deceived him.
After a moment of thought, Evania knelt beside Guillermo and looked him in the eye.
Then she spoke softly:
“Instead, while I’m here, I’ll teach you proper noble etiquette. So when the real bride arrives, you can treat her properly. And so your master will be moved enough to declare your pardon.”
“Is there something wrong with my etiquette?” he asked.
“It’s fine. You’ve only learned human behavior by observation. You’re not even human, so you’re doing quite well.”
They say you can’t spit on a smiling face.
If she helped him sincerely, he wouldn’t stab her in the back.
Thinking that, she suddenly remembered a similar experience, but she smiled without showing it.
“So if you learn properly, you’ll definitely do better.”
Guillermo didn’t immediately accept her offer. Instead, he stared at her face for a moment.
Then he suddenly said:
“My master is really strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“He would rather live with a rotten bone than with someone like you. I can’t understand it.”
“…”
“Anyone can see the former would be much more fun. At least you can talk.”
This man’s way of thinking was truly unique.
He couldn’t even distinguish the value between the fake and the real.
It was nonsense, and yet somehow it felt comforting.
Evania blinked slowly a few times, then jokingly replied:
“Yeah, it would’ve been better if he chose me.”
It was a joke that could never come true, so it was easy to say.
