Eivnia cautiously raised a question.
“Are you not going to let this one leave?”
“For the mistress of a great household, a knight is only proper.”
The question had been directed at Seven, but the answer came from Guillermo.
It seemed this knight, like Hanna, had also been recruited as part of the new mistress’s attendants.
He had been forcibly confined here for three years in a place he never wished to be.
It was unfortunate, but this was not something she—someone who was only a passing guest who would leave after a short stay—could casually interfere in.
He had been caught after infiltrating the castle, so it was also difficult to take his side outright.
Seeing Eivnia’s conflicted expression, Guillermo added as if to help her reach a quick decision.
“If you wish, you may take that knight with you. However, it would be best for you to know in advance that he had infiltrated this castle for the purpose of theft.”
“Oh…”
“I-I didn’t! Miss, that’s… not exactly wrong, but I absolutely didn’t mean it in a bad way! Miss, are you listening?”
As Eivnia let out a low sigh, Max desperately flailed to change her mind.
Yet the fact that he was also making excuses that his intentions weren’t bad suggested he wasn’t entirely innocent either.
She had no intention of adding new hardships to her already difficult second chance at life.
Eivnia avoided Max’s gaze and muttered,
“I’ll think about it…”
“Miss! Please reconsider just once more!”
“Stop making a scene, Sir Max.”
Guillermo cut him off irritably.
But his warning went beyond mere reprimand.
The moment Guillermo flicked his fingers lightly, Sir Max vanished from in front of them. He had apparently been transported elsewhere entirely.
Eivnia had never seen movement like that from him before, and had assumed only Lamm could do such a thing—but perhaps that wasn’t the case.
Guillermo, having effortlessly removed the nuisance from sight, rested his cheek on the hand he had used and sighed with concern.
“Making such a commotion in front of the mistress… did I perhaps hire a knight who lacks even the basics of etiquette?”
“After making him chop firewood for three years, what did you expect? That he’d behave like a proper knight?”
Seven shot back in disbelief, then let out a long sigh.
Shaking his head, he said,
“Now that the introductions are done, I’m leaving. Hey, kid—if you ever feel like you can’t understand that fish-headed guy, come find me. Just don’t come often. Only when necessary.”
The crow called Levi also seized the opportunity to say goodbye.
“I’m leaving too. Tell my owner that if he doesn’t give me a bath today as well, I’m running away. Caw!”
Seven left through the door as before, while Levi flew out through the window.
The only problem was that the window had been closed—and the crow, larger than a child, was strong enough to break through glass.
The moment Levi took off with a swift motion, the glass shattered with a crash, along with the window frame.
Eivnia’s bedroom was instantly turned into a wreck.
Hanna, startled, shouted, “I’ll go get a broom!” and hurried out.
After the chaos that exceeded even Sir Max’s earlier commotion, silence finally settled in the room.
“Well, setting aside unimportant matters…”
After a brief pause, Guillermo shrugged off the situation. Then, folding his arms, he slowly approached Eivnia.
His mysterious silver hair swayed gently above his black mask.
Although his mask covered nearly his entire face, his expression could still be vaguely inferred from the exposed eyes and lips.
He looked down at Eivnia with a gaze mixed with curiosity and suspicion.
“By the way, why is our bride trying to leave here?”
“….”
“Is there some reason you must go?”
Eivnia considered it.
If this man learned the hidden truth, would he punish the one who deceived her—or would he show mercy, taking pity on the tragic circumstances?
She didn’t take long to decide. The answer was obvious.
“Is it strange that I want to leave here?”
“It is. Didn’t Sir Max say so as well? That it’s a dangerous world for a woman traveling alone.”
“Litberg is no different to me than a foreign land. It’s not a place I can confidently call safe.”
Guillermo’s eyebrows rose slightly, as if evaluating the truth of her words.
Someone like him would likely feel no danger anywhere in the world—but precisely because of that, it would be difficult for him to understand the perspective of an ordinary person.
As expected, he remained silent, uncertain, and did not hastily judge her.
Eivnia pressed further.
“And there’s also a crow who yells at people for looking at him the wrong way, and a knight who looks like he’d give you tetanus if you touched him wrong.”
To escape the situation, she conveniently used the two people who had been relatively unfriendly to her as examples.
Fortunately, it worked—Guillermo stepped back slightly.
“Is that so?”
Muttering to himself, he seemed to feel the momentum shift toward her side.
Now was the time to change the subject naturally.
“If it’s not rude, may I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why do you dislike the idea of me leaving, Lord Guillermo?”
Although she had seized the opportunity, this was a question she had genuinely been curious about for some time.
Why had this man tried to place a fake bride before his master?
Even knowing that she was not the daughter of House Hesen, but rather the reincarnation of the former wife.
Her question seemed to interest Guillermo as well.
With a faintly amused smile, he walked past her toward the window.
As she had thought before, he did not look like someone meant to serve under anyone.
He could appear polite when necessary, but he made no effort to hide that such courtesy depended entirely on his own mood.
Guillermo tapped lightly on the shattered window frame where a bird-shaped hole had been blown open.
“Do you remember what that crow said earlier?”
Eivnia recalled Levi’s words.
It wasn’t difficult. The crow hadn’t said much before leaving.
“…That he’d run away if he wasn’t given a bath today?”
“He called me a slave.”
“Ah.”
Now that she thought about it, he had said that too. Twice, in fact, for emphasis.
She had assumed it was just insults, but perhaps there was something more serious behind it.
Guillermo sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead as though in deep thought.
“Unfortunately… that part is true.”
“…Weren’t you a butler or something like that?”
“At one time, I was a great being. Until that arrogant blessed one—born human yet having seized immortality—came looking for me.”
As he spoke, he slowly ran his remaining hand across the window.
The shattered glass restored itself, color blooming within it like rising smoke.
Only after the window was fully repaired did Eivnia realize he had been reconstructing a scene from the past.
Within the delicate, doll-like stage, two tiny figures were engaged in fierce combat.
Though, due to the style of depiction, it hardly felt like a real battle.
“We fought for three days and nights. A deeply unjust affair. I had done nothing wrong, yet he came to me unilaterally and picked a fight. He knew me, but I knew nothing of him.”
“…Ah.”
“There were moments when victory was leaning my way, but in the end, he shamelessly used my weakness to bring me down. A humiliating defeat. He even took me prisoner and dragged me to his home. Said I’d have to scrub the floors here if I wanted to live. Hah, ridiculous!”
“I see…”
Eivnia responded awkwardly.
Even hearing a story so one-sided, she couldn’t help but feel there was likely more to it.
From what she had observed, Agram did not seem like someone who would attack the innocent without reason.
On the other hand, this man had already deceived people from House Hesen quite significantly before.
Eivnia asked with a calm expression,
“But what does that have to do with why you’re keeping me here?”
