Ah, right. He can't, even if it's clearly something he wants to talk about. She made the remark on the premise that he may have felt slighted for being shortchanged, and that's her mistake. Her demeanor does turn more sober at his comment, though she doesn't press and moves on along with him. Curse, geass, contract... The terms are many, but it's probably something on those lines, isn't it? For someone who otherwise loves to talk, wants to live. And 'mermaids', huh? That seems a little specific, but the point of his analogy comes across well enough.

She falls silent at his question, and takes a few moments before lifting her gaze to meet his again.

"I want to know what you want, Howl. We've talked about this before." His ire is met with quiet calm. "Emet-Selch is not very emotionally inclined, as you may already be aware. Knowing that, how would you like for this to resolve?"

She'll talk to the Ascian too, of course. But as the more emotionally driven of them two (his very behaviour now is proof), Howl should be handled with more care. Hopefully Emet-Selch will understand...