The Masterpiece That Must Not Live

When Fren asked that question, Bernessa felt as though something was pressing down on her body again.

“You already know how I’ll answer.”

“Still, I want to hear it from your own mouth.”

Today was truly strange.

Bernessa brushed Fren’s hair aside and gazed steadily into his eyes.

‘Why was I sad back then.’

On the surface, she looked like the same blindly devoted s*ave as always.

But her mind was filled with completely different thoughts.

She was recalling a past she never used to think about, sinking into sadness, and even feeling bitter at the thought that she could never return to that time.

‘Even if I went back, what would I do.

It’s really strange.

And what’s even stranger is.’

Strange days were increasing.

Useless emotions were increasing too, and there were more moments when she couldn’t focus on Fren.

That didn’t mean her feelings for Fren had changed.

Bernessa still loved Fren.

So she spoke.

“My answer is always the same.

Fren-nim’s will is my will, and what is displayed here—”

Bernessa kissed the back of his hand.

“—will be the greatest honor I could ever enjoy.”

“…Right?”

Bernessa nodded.

They brushed their lips together once more and then sat side by side in front of the sculpture stand.

Leaning against each other’s shoulders, they savored each other’s warmth and felt the softness of each other’s skin.

Fren’s eyes were already half-closed, as if he were getting sleepy again.

“If you sleep here, you’ll catch a cold.

Let’s go up to the room.”

“…No.

I want to enjoy this drowsiness.”

Still, it was too cold here.

If only there had been a blanket, it might have been fine.

Just as Bernessa was about to hurriedly take off her clothes to cover him—

“Hey.

I once had a really strange dream.”

“When was that?”

“The day I found out that my mother loved Niobe.”

It was the first time she’d heard this.

Bernessa stopped removing the pin that held her clothes in place and listened intently.

“There was a sculptor in the dream, and I still remember it vividly.

The sculptor was old enough, but he never married.

He was a promising artist, so he had countless suitors, but he didn’t even look at them.

None of them satisfied him.”

“His standards must have been really high.”

“Yeah.

He wanted a woman so beautiful she might as well not exist in reality.

But someone like that wouldn’t appear so easily, right?

Tormented by a reality so different from his ideal, the sculptor finally picked up a hammer.

And he began sculpting the woman in his mind.”

Fren’s voice grew slightly excited.

“He created his ideal with his own hands.

A being he could love freely.

The sculptor truly loved the statue.

Every day, he spoke to it and expressed his affection.”

Just like me.

Fren ran his palm slowly along Bernessa’s thigh and continued the story of the dream.

“After gaining someone he could love, the sculptor was genuinely happy.

Then one day, a beautiful goddess appeared before him and whispered.”

‘Because you are loving with such sincerity that even I am moved, if you wish, I will grant life to the statue.’

Fren stopped speaking there.

When the silence stretched on, Bernessa sensed his intention and asked.

“What did the sculptor answer?”

Fren smiled faintly and flopped down onto Bernessa’s legs.

“Who knows.”

“Please tell me.”

Bernessa truly wanted to know what choice the sculptor had made, but an unexpected answer came from Fren.

“I don’t know either.”

“Did you wake up from the dream at that point?”

“Unfortunately, yes.

Bernessa, what do you think the sculptor answered?”

Once again, Bernessa answered from Fren’s perspective.

“I think he refused the goddess’s offer.”

“I think so too.

Having life means having a will.”

Fren sat up and gently stroked Bernessa’s cheek.

“Isn’t it horrifying?

A masterpiece born from pouring all of my thoughts, strength, and time into it suddenly moving of its own accord.

That’s practically a disaster for an artist.

So, Bernessa.”

The fingers stroking her cheek slid downward and grasped her chin.

With a cold face devoid of any smile, Fren said—

“You must not be alive.”

Her mouth went dry on its own.

She thought she had hidden it well because Fren was acting as usual, but that wasn’t the case.

Fren’s eyes were impossible to escape.

They were always sharp and precise.

Fren knew that better than anyone, and he always acted with certainty.

‘So this time too…

Was the increase in physical contact lately because of this?’

Making clumsy excuses now would only irritate Fren.

What Fren wanted at this moment was absolute obedience.

So Bernessa knelt on the cold floor and pressed herself flat against it.

Fren stood up, looked down at her, and commanded—

“Remain my masterpiece for your entire life.”

“Yes, Fren-nim.”

Fren passed by Bernessa and walked outside.

“As punishment, spend tonight here.”

“…Yes.”

“And this doesn’t need to be said, right?”

Fren dropped several pills onto the floor.

Bernessa picked them all up and put them into her mouth.

After confirming that, Fren left the storage room.

—Thud.

As the door closed, darkness fell in all directions.

Bernessa felt the strength slowly drain from her body and collapsed onto the floor.

Just before her eyes fully closed, a certain illusion appeared before her.

Bernessa clenched her teeth and forced her eyes open.

Little by little, the illusion became clearer.

The illusion was very small and so thin that bones were visible.

Its waist was hunched.

Heavy handcuffs were fastened to both hands.

Yet its eyes were unmistakably alive.

The illusion was young Bernessa.

Young Bernessa looked down at her silently, then turned her back and walked somewhere.

Even in that moment, Bernessa laughed.

‘See.

I told you, you can’t go back.’

With that thought, Bernessa went completely limp.

Collapsed in front of the sculpture stand, she was terribly beautiful.

And pale.

Just like a statue.

The next day, Fren personally carried Bernessa out of the storage room.

Bernessa, laid neatly on the bed, opened her eyes briefly before losing consciousness again.

Fren, who processed his schedule all at once without sleeping, watched the sleeping Bernessa without missing a single moment.

Nepher, who came by midway, was startled by the bizarre sight.

“What are you two doing right now?”

Even at Nepher’s question, Fren didn’t respond, keeping his gaze fixed on Bernessa.

Left with no choice, Nepher stepped closer.

He recoiled in shock at Bernessa’s unnaturally bloodless complexion.

“What’s wrong with her?”

A human who had been perfectly fine not long ago was lying there like a corpse.

Nepher asked.

“Is she sick?

Did something happen?

Did she eat something wrong?

Humans have weaker digestion than us—”

Fren cut him off before he could finish.

“That doesn’t seem like something you need to worry about.”

Nepher had watched Fren far longer than Fren realized.

So from that single sentence, he could guess what had happened.

Rubbing at his throbbing neck, Nepher bent his attitude as usual.

“I’m sorry.

Consider it repayment for connecting you with Polia.”

After placing a flat box on the table, Nepher headed for the door.

But before opening it, he spoke with his back to Fren.

“But still.

I have to say this much.”

“What is it?”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t treat her like that.”

Fren answered without the slightest agitation.

“That’s a truly pointless assumption.”

“…I’m leaving.”

The door opened and closed.

After staring at Bernessa for a long time, Fren finally straightened up.

He knelt on the bed and looked down at her.

“Bernessa.

Isn’t it funny?”

Both hands wrapped around her slender neck.

“Back then, no one knew your worth.”

Like a statue that was nothing more than a large piece of ivory before the sculptor’s hands touched it, the Bernessa he first encountered was too pitiful to look at.

For someone who hadn’t lived many years, her body was in such terrible shape that it was painful to see.

“No one even glanced at you.

No one cared about you.”

Fren’s hands slowly tightened around her neck.

“If you had stayed the way you were back then, do you think anyone would have paid attention to you?”

“……”

“No.

They definitely wouldn’t have.

They’re fools who can’t recognize true value.

But after I finally polished you up…”

Fren’s eyes filled with contempt.

Wearing the same expression as the self-portrait in the storage room, he let out an irritated sigh.

“Ah, what should I do.

This is so annoying.

I want to kill them all.”

He couldn’t forget the look in Nepher’s eyes as he worried about Bernessa.

Displayed works were meant to be looked at, so why did everyone keep trying to touch them?

“I wish only the two of us existed in this world.

Isn’t it strange?

If only we were left, there would be no one to look at my work, and no one to evaluate me.”

An artist needs response in order to grow.

Fren knew that better than anyone.

But he was too angry to endure it.

Fren buried his face in Bernessa’s chest.

He could feel her heart beating beneath her skin.

The heart, moving so diligently despite knowing it had an end, felt wondrous.

“You have to be beautiful until the very end.”

Endings matter.

No matter how carefully a piece is made, if the ending is sloppy, its value plummets astronomically.

That was why Fren had to tie off Bernessa’s end with his own hands.

After stroking Bernessa’s head, still marked with fingerprints, Fren lay down beside her.

The moment he lay next to her, drowsiness washed over him.

With a dazed, drugged expression, Fren spoke.

“I want to keep loving you.

You, who can’t help but be loved.”

Fren kissed Bernessa’s cheek.

“You’ll do that for me, right?”

But no answer came.

Perhaps it was only natural.

Smiling emptily, Fren fell into a deep sleep.