"Forget I mentioned anything about taste."<br/><br/>Cryos decided not the press the 'taste' issue. People always found the question weird or just too difficult to answer. If he was a human, this question wouldn't be so difficult for him to answer. But it also meant he wouldn't have survived some of the injuries he received. And it would have meant that he wouldn't have met Dulcinea.<br/><br/>Golems weren't born with all the sensibilities and thoughtfulness Cryos had. They could be competent in it, but a thing created as a servant that could possibly question its maker's decisions was logically unsound. Cryos was made with a single purpose: to protect Dulcinea. He was made fully from red crystal, unlike other golems, where a single rock of it sufficed. Red crystal held the 'mind' and 'soul' of a golem, and disgorging the rock from a golem's body permanently disabled it. But one could not do the same to Cryos without a sledgehammer and infinite patience. Cryos later learned that his body was valued for about 100000 gilda, more than some of the mansions in Sothara Sora.<br/><br/>Dulcinea was a young maiden, barely 12 when Cryos came into the world. He guarded her quietly for 2 years as a never-resting guardian, until she asked him a simple question.<br/><br/>"What do you think?"<br/><br/>He recalled Dulcinea, dancing about in a white lacy dress she had just put on, smiling at Cryos.<br/><br/>"I... don't know." That was what he replied. Nervous, unused to even speaking, his gaze even turned from Dulcinea, something he couldn't do as her guardian. She smiled even more, went up to him and placed her hand on his face. A strange feeling touched his feelings, even as his body felt nothing from her fingers.<br/><br/>"You need to learn how to answer that, Cryos."<br/><br/>The golem designated Red Crystal was then named Cryos by Dulcinea. 3 years later, she would disappear at the age of 17, and a ransom note demanding 400000 gilda appeared in front of Dulcinea's father. He would not spare the money, and Cryos disappeared from the mansion that very night.<br/><br/>It was 5 years from that day. And why did this girl remind him of Dulcinea?<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">â€œYou are a person even if you are not human. You can think. You can speak. You can feel. So that means you are a person."<br/><br/>"I donâ€™t care if you arenâ€™t human. It isnâ€™t my place to judge you just because you arenâ€™t.â€</span><br/><br/>A daughter of a merchant wouldn't be prone to discrimination, but the way she spoke sounded like she transcended the typical merchant attitude. But she could not be Dulcinea. Dulcinea had blonde hair, and was about 22 years old today. Myira certainly shared the same warm and kind face that Dulcinea exhibited, but 5 years in chains could not have been kind to Dulcinea. And no sane kidnapper would bring Dulcinea from Sothara Sora all the way to the SPQR without a padded cellar.<br/><br/>Should he ask Myira about Dulcinea? What could she know?<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Oh wait, she's asking me about the clothes. Am I ready? How long did I spend quietly, to my own thoughts?</span><br/><br/>"Anything classy, really," he said as cheerfully as possible, leaning forward on the table to give the best impression of a smile.<br/><br/>He rose from his seat and extended his hand towards Myira. "Yes, we shall go."<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 35%; line-height: 116%;">"Give me your tired, your poor, <br/>Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free!"</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Did I just hear that?</span><br/><br/>Cryos's focus, though not his face, went towards the door. Who could be saying that?