"Then I will leave the Baron in your hands. As you requested all those years ago, Milord. We shall not bother you during this stay, of course should you desire for anything, my services are always at your beck and call. All you need do is ask."
An older sister and her brother.
The younger of the two was an energetic boy, couldn't have been much older than 10 or so. He smiled and quickly ran over to one of my legs, gripping the fabric of my pants and pulling me towards the hovel.
Bewildered I looked up towards the entrance of the modest abode. A gust of hot air swirling in the Goblet conjured a veil of shadow across my retinas. My eyes were enamoured with a single figure... How?
She's here as well... That was my first thought.
Impossible.
How? No. Why?
I don't know which question I wanted answers to first.
Did I kill her and then myself that night, is that why we had been brought back to this place? Had I been dead all this time, did that mean this life was now real? Not just some extended illusion or nightmare that was being shown to me?
I had already discovered... No, I was made to realise that this place isn't some kind of illusion.
This girl, she looked the spitting image of her. Almost a 1:1 picture of the first time I had met her, all those years ago.
She had long raven black hair, dark enough to drown out the night. She was somewhat tall for a girl, probably around 5'10? I don't know, it was hard to judge in a body much larger than my previous. How old were we when we first met? 19? 20? She couldn't have been far off that mark. The only differences I could find; she had a look of absolute mirth in here eyes as soon as they wandered to me and her lips were stiff and stuck in place. Perhaps there weren't any differences at all... At least not from the first time we had met.
A cold air of hostility embraced me as I moved closer, urged on by the small child by my side.
Guess there was no helping that...
"C'mon, let me show you inside!" The little boy was pulling me, of course with such a disparity in stature, he had little say in whether I followed, but for some reason, I was magnetically attached to his path. A lighthouse for meandering ships, that's what I likened him to. I had never enjoyed the company of children; they were always annoying, crass, gross. Generally a pain. But this child's energy was infectious. I couldn't tell whether it was due to my constraints in this unfamiliar place or simply because this was the path of least resistance, I allowed myself to be dragged along quietly.
She didn't regard me at all, looking off in the distance at the servant, my butler, whom had swiftly disembarked across the bridge in the direction of the manor. I was glad for that... I think. I'm not quite sure myself. I had spent so much of my life targeting her, trying to answer the questions in my heart. But now that she was here, even if it wasn't really her...
Relief washed over me.
Oh, I really was home.
If that's really her... Even if it's her... I won't be alone in this dreadful place. Could I finally answer the questions that kept me up at night?
I wanted to talk to her.
How could I let her know it was me?
I was convinced this had been my actual body for a moment. That I had to live as the Baron. That I had always lived as the Baron. That everything I had experienced in that other world was the dream instead. This must've been proof. Was the God that transported me to this place giving me a chance, a sign that I could escape from this hellish nightmare?
My current appearance was too different from the past. Would she ever believe me?
...Do I even want her to?
...
It's not like we were particularly close, just as close as a marriage required. Soon as we peered beneath the surface, that was when everything changed. She became disillusioned with me, enamoured by the game we were playing.
That's all it was; a game of house that we played at. Playing our roles, our parts perfectly. But that's all it would ever be; a game.
Realising the true nature of the world, I didn't bother with it anymore. That title; marriage, was just something I wanted to acquire, the same with the woman who helped me attain it. She was something others sought, so I made her my own.
I was happy for a time.
A gnawing voice in my head interrupted that faux happiness. The same realisation struck me a second time.
This world was one of resources and transaction.
Everything else I knew about the world was true, why wouldn't this be the same? It was the only incongruency in my life. But she didn't comply with that logic. Every other facet of my life, I understood. It was close enough to be called a solved game.
I became furious.
Maddened by the nonsensical nature of it all. Life didn't make sense whilst this single piece of the puzzle was elusive.
I had begun to push others away, successfully at that I might add. Very few stuck around that didn't make their intentions crystal clear. I kept those around that did, for the same reason. Better the devil you know, than the one you don't. My life became a sequence of exchanges.
Finally, the world made sense again.
The time I spent in my own home stopped almost completely, I made my actions clear. They were unquestionable. It was obvious, all of it was. I gave her the opportunity. She could live the life of success, wealth and luxury easily. All on paper. We wouldn't need any contact, I didn't care for her. That was it. Our arrangement was transactional.
I thought everything was over with that. The world would make sense again.
She purposely came to see me. Showering me with love and affection, small acts of service. They were the type of actions that might be attributed to the perfect partner.
I hated that.
An act that was all too transparent. Every time I attempted one thing it was thrown back in my face. I avoided her when I was at home, she followed me around. I gave her the silent treatment, she spoke enough for the both of us. I didn't come home for months, she awaited patiently, writing in that little notebook. Eventually... I cheated, was unfaithful. Probably more times than we had ever laid together ourselves. She was completely monogamous.
I was convinced.
I was right all along.
That was her method of transaction, that's all it was. She was exchanging her servitude, her wifely duties for that lifestyle. No one could be that perfect. It was the role I played that she adored.
That's all it could be.
No one could really love scum like me.