Howl goes quiet for a moment, pressing his lips together in a frustrated frown. As he'd feared... his curse is just as strong as it's always been. And Emet-Selch's ability to deduce parts of the curse had made it easier to "talk" about it, albeit through implication and innuendo. That isn't going to work here, with Ciel. He knows not to fight the curse too hard, lest he make a fool of himself with contorted faces and clamped-shut teeth, but the frustration is clear on his face.

"No, no," Howl says with a wave of his hand. "Me — I could never share 'equally', as you put it." And despite having said something so odd, Howl moves on without missing a beat.

"Oh, how to put it...? Imagine if you were once a sailor, but you were forced into early retirement after a band of wicked mermaids sank your ship and killed your crew. And then, those same mermaids have been hunting you ever since, trying to finish the job. Now, imagine making a new friend, years later, and telling them your story... only for them to conspicuously fail to inform you afterwards that they are actually a mermaid in disguise. Maybe not one of your mermaids — as far as you know — but a mermaid all the same."

That is, of course, just an analogy, but it's closer to why Howl is mad with Emet-Selch than one might think. He brings his free hand to his face to rub the bridge of his nose. The longer this goes on, the more apparent it is that a full explanation for Ciel is not really possible.

"...If you want to know so badly, Miss Nose, why don't you ask him to explain it to you?" The idea of passing this conversation on to the subject of his ire is appealing, and not just because Howl has such difficulty talking about this particular topic. After another moment of thought, he scoffs and lowers his hand.

"If he refuses, thinking I spoke to him in confidence before, just tell him the deserter sent you there himself to ask."