"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Eternity said as she left her room.
She wore a puffy long-sleeved sweater and a beige gingham skirt with suspenders. The skirt accentuated her long, fair legs, covered with white thigh-high socks.
Both males in the living room gasped aloud at her beauty.
The only difference between them was that the other had been living with her for the past few days and should've been immune to her charms now, but obviously, Evan hadn't.
"She's... alive," Freiheit muttered.
"Will you finally believe me now–"
Before Evan could even finish his sentence, Freiheit walked towards Eternity and grabbed her hands.
"I think the biggest mistake that I have made in my entire life is to give you to my brother instead of having you for myself," Freiheit whispered, leaning closer to her face, almost enough for their lips to touch.
But Evan effectively intervened, shoving Freiheit's face away from Eternity.
"I beg to disagree." Evan gritted his teeth, fighting off Freiheit's flailing arms away from his doll. "The biggest mistake you've made is to renounce your position as Royal Blue's heir."
Freiheit moved away on his own, placing his hand on his chest with a hurt expression.
"Must you hit me where it hurts, Evan?"
"Oh!" Eternity exclaimed, surprising the two. "So you're the heir to the company where Evan works?"
"Supposed heir, but not anymore," Freiheit corrected, attempting to walk towards her to kiss Eternity's hand, but Evan blocked him off completely. "Evan! Can you leave me alone?!"
"Get your own Eternity Woman!" Evan shouted.
"If you're no longer the heir, who is?"
Freiheit blinked at her, then at Evan, then darted his eyes back at Eternity.
"Oh, Evan didn't tell you?"
"She doesn't need to know." Evan waved his hand in dismissal. "Anyway, now that you're here, Freiheit, do you want clarification? Freiheit?" he repeated, only to notice that his brother was nearly salivating at Eternity.
Evan walked to his brother and gave him a swift blow in the face. Eternity gasped in horror as Freiheit fell to the floor with a loud thud, but Evan immediately helped Freiheit back on his feet.
"Oh, sorry." Freiheit apologized even if he was the one who got sucker-punched. "Wow, you weren't joking when you said she has this captivating effect."
Eternity frowned at them, not quite sure what was happening right now.
"Oh, yeah!" Freiheit exclaimed cheerfully, massaging the sore side of his face. "My question! So here's my question: Now that we established that Eternity really is alive, why did you decide to make a scene in the mall?"
"I didn't decide to do it," Evan replied defensively. "The situation required me to do it! Don't you think it would be weird if they saw me carrying an unconscious woman to a taxi? Someone might even call the police on me!"
Evan paused, looking away.
"But in hindsight," he whispered. "I had this weird feeling back then that nothing else matters but to bring Eternity back to life. I knew that people would gather around us and cause a scandal, but for some reason, rationality left me at that moment."
Freiheit hummed, trying to rationalize Evan's words.
Evan realized belatedly that he said that aloud, realizing how embarrassing his words might've sounded. He tried to tell his brother to disregard what he said, but Freiheit spoke before he could.
"How odd," Freiheit said. "I wonder if what happened was simply because of your strong feelings toward Eternity or there was something else entirely…"
"What do you mean 'something else entirely'?" Evan asked curiously.
Freiheit looked at Evan with his ocean-blue eyes. For some reason, his eyes, often filled with glee and unseriousness, were tinted with something else. Freiheit blinked, and the weird look in his eyes disappeared. Freiheit shook his head, and laughter filled the room.
"It's nothing, Evan," he reassured. "It's absolutely nothing."
***
"Freiheit, would you like for me to order fast food?" Evan asked as he fished out his phone from his pockets, not even waiting for Freiheit's response.
"I don't mind," Freiheit said. "All I've been eating as of late is exotic food. Experiencing the greasy, unhealthy flavor of fast food is something I miss dearly."
"That can't be helped," Evan said, ordering their food on his phone. "You decided to be a traveling artist, so you have to adapt to the cuisines of the places you visit."
Freiheit turned to Eternity, who was amicably watching their brotherly interaction. She looked quite amused at their antics.
"Why aren't you asking Eternity what she wants to eat?" Freiheit queried.
Eternity looked down, a deep red blush painted on her cheeks. She tightly gripped the hem of her gingham skirt and pursed her lips.
"She doesn't eat," Evan explained. "Her energy is derived from skin contact and…"
He hesitated to continue his sentence.
"And?"
"Semen." Eternity answered for Evan, saving him from the awkwardness of saying she consumes semen for fuel.
Freiheit choked at nothing in particular while Evan patted him on the back.
"My!" Freiheit chuckled as soon as he gathered his bearings. "It is a bit bizarre for an innocent-looking woman like you to say such vulgar words."
"Well, she wasn't made for innocent purposes, anyway." Evan shrugged.
"Oh, right!" Freiheit had his lightbulb moment. "I've been meaning to ask, why did Eternity shut down in the middle of the mall in the first place?"
"She ran out of energy."
"Didn't you mention earlier, while we were in the office, that sex can give her a week's worth of energy?"
"We haven't had sex yet," Evan explained, feeling a bit awkward that he was sharing his sex life with his brother.
"What?!" Freiheit looked mortified. "So you were just making out with her the whole time?!"
Evan nodded.
"Then what's the point of having a sex doll if—"
"She's not just a sex doll, Freiheit," Evan said in irritation. "She's my Eternity. I don't want her to be treated like a mere whore, even if that's her mere purpose; that's why she was created in the first place. I want to treat her like a man should treat a lady with respect."
"You've never treated a woman with respect, Evan," Freiheit pointed out. "Don't bullshit me."