Yoo Seongwoon stepped out of the frame.
“To think I’ve returned to this land alive.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Oh, I had more fun than words can express.”
When he had finally found himself face-to-face with a mermaid princess, he had been too stunned even to speak.
“Please tell the princess that I’m sorry I upset her….”
“You did nothing wrong, Mr. Yoo Seongwoon. That was simply one of Aria’s usual tantrums. You need not concern yourself with it.”
“I don’t think I did anything wrong either, but I don’t want to earn the merfolk’s ill will. There’s no need to make a humanoid Monster hold a grudge against me, is there?”
“Thank you for understanding her childish petulance. You truly are an adult. I wish my students would learn from that quality of yours, Mr. Yoo Seongwoon.”
“Monsters emulating a human? That’s frightening in its own way.”
With a quiet laugh, Yoo Seongwoon checked the clock in the gallery.
“The time is… 4:41 a.m.”
Then he checked his phone as well.
“…….”
“Did I take up too much of your time?”
“No, not especially.”
Only about twenty minutes had passed.
“Time inside the frame certainly flows differently from time on Earth.”
“Time inside the painting passes quickly or slowly depending on my mood.”
“Oh… When does it pass quickly, and when does it pass slowly?”
“It passes quickly when I am enjoying myself, and slowly when I am resting.”
“Hmm.”
Then perhaps he could take this to mean Gio had been in a good mood this…