"Hand over everything you've got."
A young boy threatened a noble girl in a gloomy alley.
He thought she would be frightened if he held a dagger to her throat, but the girl merely murmured as if it were nothing.
"A robber in a little town like this? How unusual."
The moment the boy swung the dagger threateningly, the girl grabbed his arm and twisted it.
"Let go of me!"
No matter how desperately he struggled, he could not shake off her hand.
Their builds were similar, and she looked weak, but her strength was incredible.
"You're not from our village, are you?"
"So what if I'm not?!"
Just then, an old man who appeared to be the girl's butler entered the alley.
"My lady, what has happened?"
"This child tried to rob me."
"It seems he is an orphan who drifted in from outside."
The butler pressed a sword to the boy's neck.
"Shall I kill him?"
The boy squeezed his eyes shut in resignation.
'So this is how I die.'
He was not particularly afraid.
He did not have a life worth clinging to anyway.
But the girl suddenly said something completely unexpected.
"You said the village was short on hands, didn't you?"
The girl found him a job and arranged lodgings for him.
Then she handed him one of the fairy-tale books she had.
"Study your letters with this."
"I can read."
"Read it anyway. I'm sure it'll help."
The boy glared at her, still wary, and asked,
"What are you after?"
The girl gave a gentle smile and answered,
"Because, at the very least, I don't want anyone around me to be unhappy."
-For a moment, his breath caught.
The scenery that had always been ash gray began to change.
The color of the girl's long, black hair as it softly swayed.
The color of her dazzlingly bright smile.
The color of the first warm kindness he had ever felt.
It was dizzying, the way every brilliant color swirled around him for the first time.
"From now on, don't do things like robbery. Live honestly."
The boy called after her as she left.
"Hey! I'm Trine. What about you?"
The girl turned back and answered,
"I'm Yuril, the lord of this village."
***
That night.
Trine read the fairy-tale book Yuril had given him at the inn.
It was an ordinary story about a knight and a princess.
A knight who had been born poorer and unhappier than anyone else.
He overcame all kinds of trials and hardships and saved the princess.
After that, they got married and lived happily together for a long, long time.
Trine closed the book and frowned.
"What a clueless fool."
He was unhappy himself, yet he thought about saving someone else.
For Trine, who had always been too busy struggling to survive, that was something he could not even dream of.
That was why he was about to throw the book away in irritation, but...
Yuril's words suddenly came to mind.
"She doesn't want anyone around her to be unhappy, huh..."
In the end, Trine opened the book again and read it over and over.
Each time he read it, the knight began to look a little more admirable.
Before long, Trine began to admire him without even realizing it.
At last, feeling an inexplicable thrill, Trine muttered to himself.
"Could I become someone's knight too?"
***
One month later.
Trine went to Yuril's manor of his own accord.
He had come to repay the lodging money Yuril had covered for him, but the guards only stopped him.
"Get out of here! A commoner like you has no business entering!"
Of course, Trine had no intention of giving up.
So he succeeded in secretly climbing over the wall.
"I wonder where Yuril is."
At that moment, by sheer luck, he saw her through a second-floor window.
He quietly climbed up a drainpipe, then hid himself on the balcony for a while.
From inside the window, he could hear the voices of the butler and Yuril.
"Why am I not allowed to love anyone?"
"Because of the curse passed down through your family for generations, my lady."
As Trine listened, a rather absurd story passed between them.
Yuril had to duel anyone who proposed to her.
If the challenger won, they could safely share their love.
But if Yuril won, the challenger would die.
In other words, Yuril was destined to kill the person she loved with her own hands.
"Who in the world placed such a terrible curse?"
"I have heard that, long ago, your ancestor placed it himself in order to bear only strong descendants."
"Is the curse why Mother and Father died too?"
"Because both of them were gravely wounded during the duel, they could not hold on long after you were born."
It felt as though he had heard something he never should have.
But Trine could not bring himself to stop listening.
"They'd just have to be stronger than me, right?"
"My lady, you are already so strong that even I can no longer do anything against you."
"Then what if I lose the duel on purpose?"
"When that moment comes, the curse will prevent you from controlling yourself."
"...I understand. So I just have to never fall in love for the rest of my life, right?"
"That is correct."
"Leave me."
After the butler left the room, Trine quietly peered inside.
Yuril was sitting collapsed on the floor.
Her expression was hidden behind her hands, and her faintly trembling shoulders were hidden by her black hair.
The vivid colors he had seen before faded back into ash gray.
Yuril sobbed and murmured,
"In the end, they're telling me to live alone for the rest of my life."
...His chest hurt.
The girl whose heart had been warmer than anyone's.
The girl who had wanted no one to be unhappy.
And yet now she looked unhappier than anyone else...
This is wrong.
She, at least, should never be unhappy!
"Don't cry!"
Trine threw the window open with all his might, and Yuril raised her head in surprise.
Standing before her, Trine shouted with everything he had.
"I'll become the knight who saves you!"
***
For a moment, Yuril even mistook him for an angel who had come to save her.
But that fleeting illusion shattered within seconds.
She did not even have time to answer.
After all, Trine was immediately caught by the butler and thrown out of the manor.
After that, the butler apparently banned Trine from approaching Yuril.
For that cold-blooded butler, it was an extremely lenient measure.
In any case, thanks to that, Yuril had no choice but to hear news of Trine through rumors for the next several months.
'I hear he's praised everywhere as a brave and diligent errand boy.'
'These days, whenever something happens in the village, people look for Trine first.'
'Although, for some reason, he apparently shuts himself away in the forest after noon.'
What in the world was that child doing alone in the forest?
Trine was not the only suspicious one.
Her butler had also been making excuses and leaving his post more often lately.
"I shall take a brief stroll in the forest."
So one day, Yuril finally made up her mind to follow him.
After walking along the forest path behind him for some time, she found that, just as expected, a familiar face was waiting for the butler.
"Master."
"Then let us begin."
Trine and the butler drew wooden swords.
Then, out of nowhere, they charged at each other and began to spar.
Hiding some distance away, Yuril narrowed her eyes and muttered,
"Is he training him in swordsmanship to break my curse...?"
But she soon realized that was not the case.
"Ugh!"
The butler's blow knocked Trine's sword flying.
Even so, the butler did not stop and continued to beat Trine.
Rather than sword training, it was closer to a one-sided assault.
When Trine finally collapsed to the ground, the butler looked down at him and said,
"Give up. If you cannot even defeat me, defeating Lady Yuril is impossible."
It seemed the butler's goal was to make Trine give up.
But Trine sprang back to his feet and shouted,
"I refuse!"
He stood up, charged, fell, and stood up again...
But without landing a single proper attack on the butler, Trine was beaten for a couple of hours and eventually could no longer rise.
"...Do you still have no intention of quitting?"
Trine, lying on the ground, gritted his teeth and barely managed to answer.
"I will never give up."
"As promised, I will continue to indulge you until you give up of your own accord..."
The butler pointed the tip of his sword at Trine and spoke firmly.
"But you have no talent."
Even after hearing the insult, Trine forced a smile and answered,
"That's fine."
In the end, after the butler lowered his sword and left, Yuril quietly followed him.
Before long, the butler stopped and bowed to Yuril.
"What brings you to this forest?"
"It seems you've been doing something amusing behind my back."
"I merely indulged a stubborn, immature boy for a little while."
"By the way, is Trine really that lacking in talent with the sword?"
The butler smiled gently and answered,
"His talent, passion, and perseverance are all the finest among anyone I have ever met."
"Do you think that boy might be able to break my curse?"
"If he does not lose his original resolve for about twenty years, it may be possible."
"Then why are you trying so hard to make him give up?"
"My lady, can you tell that boy to devote his entire life to you?"
Yuril bit her lip without being able to answer.
For decades, he would have to train solely for Yuril's sake.
It would be one thing if those efforts were certain to be rewarded.
But in the worst case, he might reach an ending where Yuril killed him.
If that happened, what would all of Trine's efforts even amount to?
"To speak honestly, killing that boy now would be best-"
"Shut your mouth."
Without meaning to, Yuril punched the tree beside her.
The enormous tree cracked and toppled all at once.
"Ah..."
Yuril looked at her own hand resentfully, and the butler said calmly,
"Now you understand what would be best for Trine, do you not?"
"...I understand. I'll try persuading Trine myself."
"Thank you for understanding."
Yuril returned to the place where Trine had been.
He had clearly collapsed earlier after exhausting all his strength.
But he had gotten up again and was swinging his sword through the air.
"I fell 130 times today, so I have to swing thirteen thousand times!"
Yuril was dumbfounded by the sight.
Is he really suffering like this every day solely for me?
Still, she felt somewhat hesitant to interrupt when he was concentrating so hard, so she decided to wait only until his training was finished.
"Hup! Hup! Haaah! Hup!"
One hour passed.
Then two more hours passed.
Only after the sun had fully set did Trine finally stop.
Yuril muttered in horror,
"He really swung it thirteen thousand times?"
She thought Trine would finally go home, but then he suddenly lit a lamp and opened a book.
"All right, now it's time for magic practice!"
"Know when to stop!"
Yuril finally could not bear it anymore and shouted.
She realized too late that she had made a mistake, but she had already been caught.
"Yuril?!"
In the end, Yuril reluctantly approached Trine.
"Stop. Even if you do this for the rest of your life, you won't be able to beat me."
Trine looked surprised for a moment, but soon smiled awkwardly and replied,
"Yeah, I guess so. I can at least imitate swordsmanship, but I'm hopeless at magic."
"This isn't a matter of swordsmanship or magic!"
"I know. When I'm a little older, I'm going to study the theory of curses at the Academy too."
There was no getting through to him.
In the end, Yuril let her weary shoulders slump and asked him,
"Why do you want to save me so badly?"
Trine smiled bitterly and answered,
"Because I don't want anyone around me to be unhappy."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"You're the one who said that to me first."
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I decided to make those words my creed too."
Trine placed a hand over his chest and declared,
"So I swear. I'll never leave you unhappy."
Yuril's heart thumped hard.
It felt as though she might fall in love with the boy before her.
No, perhaps Yuril had already fallen for him long ago.
From the day he came in through her window and shouted that he would save her.
...She had to end this before that feeling grew any larger.
"Don't be ridiculous. Until you give up, I'm never going to speak to you again."
With her back turned to Trine, Yuril said,
"If you even want to be my friend, give up now."
Trine answered,
"That's fine. Even if you hate me, I'll never change."
Yuril ignored Trine's words and left.
***
For several years after that, nothing changed.
Trine still continued his grueling training alone.
The butler occasionally tormented Trine under the pretense of training him.
And Yuril never met Trine, not even once.
It was one winter five years later that Yuril decided to meet Trine again.
"My lady, Trine, has been accepted into the Academy."
At the butler's words, Yuril sprang to her feet without realizing it.
"Really?! I heard the competition there is fierce!"
"I told you there was no need to worry about him."
"That's such a relief."
Yuril smiled without realizing it, then soon cleared her throat and sat back down.
"Anyway, now he can finally leave this village."
Trine had meant to go to the Academy for Yuril's sake.
But Yuril did not oppose his decision either.
Once he left this place, he might forget about her.
Besides, from Trine's perspective, it would surely be better for him to be recognized for his abilities at the Academy and rise in the world.
"Then I shall deliver this letter to Trine."
"No, I'll deliver it myself, as a way to say goodbye."
Yuril headed to the forest for the first time in a long while.
Before long, she found Trine.
He was still swinging his sword alone.
"Hup! Hup! Hup! Haaah! Hup!"
Yuril hid behind a bush and watched Trine for a moment.
Compared to five years ago, he had grown much taller and looked sturdier.
But in Yuril's eyes, he was still the same boy with far too much useless passion.
'He really hasn't changed at all.'
Just as Yuril smiled faintly and was about to call out to Trine, she sensed an unpleasant presence in the distance.
'Monsters?'
Wolf monsters were approaching this way.
Come to think of it, she had been told that because Yuril's curse had grown even stronger than before, monsters would rush toward her if she came to remote places like this.
Of course, monsters like that were no match for Yuril, so there was no need to worry.
'Should I deal with them quietly...'
But she decided to watch the situation a little longer.
She wanted to see Trine defeat the monsters.
In the end, Trine soon came face-to-face with the pack of wolf monsters.
"W-What the hell!"
Trine was flustered for a moment, but he immediately calmed himself and aimed his sword at the wolves.
It was a tense moment as each side glared at the other.
Then he drove his sword swiftly and cleanly into the neck of one wolf.
The wolf instantly turned to ash and scattered.
To Yuril, that swift movement looked impossibly beautiful.
'So his five years of hard training did pay off.'
But because she lost herself in that thought...
Yuril missed the moment to save Trine.
"Damn it!"
The remaining four wolves rushed at Trine all at once.
Trine raised his sword to cut down the wolves.
But one leaped up and bit Trine's hand.
"Aaaagh!"
Trine screamed and fell.
The wolves lunged all at once.
They bared their hideous fangs, ready to tear him apart.
But Trine, who had even dropped his sword, could do nothing.
"Trine!"
Only then did Yuril charge out.
And a one-sided slaughter began.
She burst her face with her fist and kicked a hole through her stomach.
The last one, she grabbed by the head and smashed against the ground until it burst.
Yuril dealt with the wolves in an instant.
Then she asked Trine, who was bleeding as he clutched his hand,
"Are you all right?"
The battered Trine was making a rather funny expression.
The image of Trine that Yuril had briefly fallen for was already nowhere to be seen.
Fear? Frustration? Or despair?
There was no time to think about any of that.
Yuril carried Trine on her back and ran all the way to the manor.
Thanks to the swift treatment he received at the manor, Trine's life was never in danger.
However, they said the hand the monster had bitten could not be healed.
In the end, Trine became unable to ever hold a sword again.