Chapter 2

Half-conscious, I ate the piece of bread Sheila held out to me. The moment I accepted it, I became bound by a debt I could never escape.

The elders of my clan had always told me that the Ageless did not truly become adults until we turned 100. Before then, we were forbidden from forming any ties with the outside world.

Otherwise, we would never be able to find our way home again.

The instant I took that piece of bread, my connection to my people was severed forever. The only way home was to fulfill 100 wishes for Sheila.

Hence, I asked her, "Would you make one hundred wishes? I want to repay your kindness."

That day, she looked into my eyes. A loneliness she could not hide lingered there as she softly made her very first wish.

"I want you to be my boyfriend."

I did not understand love. However, to repay what I owed her, I sought advice from the housekeeper who had raised her. I stayed by Sheila's side as she grew up, keeping her company every step of the way and teaching her what true love was.

As the years passed, the awkwardness of youth faded away. She blossomed into an elegant, captivating young woman. Every night, she curled up in my arms. She treated me with endless tenderness, as if no one in the world mattered more than I did.

For the next three years, every wish she made was simply for me to smile at her a little more.

Everyone said the same thing—Sheila was hopelessly in love with me.

Then, during the annual Winter Festival, she released hundreds of glowing lights into the night sky. They drifted ever higher, shimmering across the heavens like a river of fallen stars. As she watched the breathtaking display, she whispered her 96th wish.

I promised her that we would never part.

However, deep down... I knew that wish had never come from her heart.

I did not understand human love. However, I knew one thing—she had never truly loved me.

Before long, reality proved it.

Just a few days later, she ordered every trace of me to be erased from Johnson Manor and insisted that I leave for good.

At that moment, I met her icy gaze without looking away.

"If you're willing to admit it, then let this count as your 97th wish. Once I've fulfilled your last three wishes, I'll disappear from your world forever."

Sheila seemed surprised that I refused to let it go. A flash of impatience crossed her face.

"Fine. Then this is my 97th wish. Now will you let go? Keith is waiting for me."

Her words were as cold as winter itself, but her feelings for Keith were a warmth she could not hide.

The women standing beside her let out quiet sighs. They thought I would break down in tears. After all, they had watched me spend the last three years indulging Sheila's every whim. They were convinced I loved her so deeply that I could never let her go.

However, I simply loosened my grip on her sleeve. Then I carefully smoothed out the wrinkles I had left behind.

"I'll grant you this wish. Go see the person you truly want to be with. I'll wait for you at the gates of the manor. When you come back, we'll finish the last three wishes."

Seeing me smile and say something so innocent, everyone present could only shake their heads. Sheila never looked back at me again. She hurried into the carriage, eager to reunite with the man who had just returned to the royal capital.

I stood there until the carriage disappeared into the swirling snow. Then, without warning, the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

Three days ago... Sheila had wished for me to stay by her side forever.

Now... she was telling me to leave her forever.

The two wishes directly contradicted each other. I was the one who had to pay the price. The backlash hit me like a raging fire burning through my chest.

The pain was so intense that I could barely breathe.

As a member of the royal family, Sheila never made wishes lightly. I had spent three full years beside her and had still completed only 96 wishes.

Now, I had finally fulfilled another one. I should be happy, but when I forced myself to smile, all I tasted was bitterness.

One of the guards at the entrance to the manor noticed me standing alone in the snow for what felt like forever and finally walked over.

"Mr. Smith, you've been away from home for three years. Your family must still be waiting for you. You should go home. You and Lady Sheila were never meant to belong to the same world."

He was telling me to stop waiting.

At the end of the street, a mother walked by holding her young child's hand. Both of them wore bright, happy smiles.

Snowflakes settled across my eyelashes. I slowly shook my head. My voice caught in my throat, so faint it was almost impossible to hear.

"I can't leave. I have to wait for Sheila to come back."

If I could not complete the last three wishes... I would never find my way home.

Seeing that nothing he said could change my mind, the guard sighed and returned to his post outside Johnson Manor.

I pulled my thin coat tighter around myself and curled up alone in a corner.

Not long afterward, Tiffany came back. Once again, she tried to drape her wool cloak over my shoulders. Once again, I gently refused.

The maid beside her could not help muttering under her breath that I did not appreciate kindness when it was offered.

However, Tiffany only looked at me earnestly. "Elliot, Sheila isn't someone you should spend your life with. You can trust me."

She paused for a moment before continuing softly, "My mother is sending me to the Southern Territory to take care of some family business. I won't be back for quite a while. So... keep this cloak. It's freezing out here. At the very least, don't let yourself freeze."