The girl gently pressed the herbs she had lightly placed on the boy’s ankle and tore a piece of her skirt with her free hand. After firmly binding the boy’s wound together with the herbs using the long strip of torn cloth, she smiled proudly at her own handiwork. Standing up with a self-satisfied air and picking up her basket, the girl spoke in a deliberately stern tone as if scolding a child.

“Go home quickly. Next time, watch where you’re going. The villagers have set traps around the mountain to catch wild animals.”

Having said what she needed to say, the girl turned around without giving Carl a chance to respond.

The girl, whose steps were as resolute as her words, walked away making crunching sounds as she stepped on fallen leaves. The rustling sound made each time she moved her feet gradually grew fainter.

Carl stood blankly, staring at the diminishing back. The small back wearing a red hood was occasionally disappearing between the bushes. When he unconsciously lowered his gaze, Carl frowned. Red dots were falling to the ground along the path the girl had taken. Following the dotted line, Carl’s gaze gradually moved upward. Then he saw the girl’s hand dripping with blood.

The trap that had snapped shut forcefully earlier flashed through Carl’s mind. The girl must have injured her hand on that trap.

Once this realization hit him, Carl started running toward the girl.

Turning her head at the sound of running footsteps, the girl discovered the boy running toward her and looked surprised.

“Huh? You……”

Carl stopped in front of the girl and grabbed her bleeding hand before she could finish speaking.

“Haha. Did you come for this?”

The girl’s voice was tinged with laughter. Finding that somehow disagreeable, Carl frowned deeply and nodded with a blank face.

“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

The girl pulled her hand out of Carl’s grasp. An awkward silence settled briefly. The girl hastily opened her mouth as if wanting to fill the void.

“What’s your name?”

At these random words, the boy looked up at the girl. The girl continued her disjointed conversation.

“Oh! I’m Daphne. I live in that cottage over there……”

As she pointed to the bottom of the mountain with her fingertip, the girl suddenly turned her head to look at the boy.

“But why don’t you say anything? Don’t you have a name?”

The boy once again shook his head without answering.

“Really? You truly don’t have a name? Then shall I give you one?”

The boy silently stared at the girl’s face.

“Hmm…… What would be good?”

The girl, who had been pondering with her chin resting on her small fist, soon clapped her hands together and exclaimed.

“I know! Carl! Let’s call you Carl.”

That name consisted of short letters that the girl, who hadn’t yet fully mastered writing, could at least spell. However, the boy nodded his head vigorously with a grin, as if he didn’t care what name the girl gave him. They were both giggling at his reaction when it happened.

“Awoooo!”

A wolf’s howl, calling to its kind, resonated throughout the mountain.

“Gasp!”

Startled by the thunderous howl, the girl sucked in her breath. Though she couldn’t be certain of the sound’s origin, judging by its thunderous volume, the wolf was definitely close by.

“I-I think there’s a wolf nearby!”

The girl whispered in a terrified voice. Watching the girl’s face turn pale, Carl glanced briefly in the direction of the howl, then immediately ran vigorously toward it.

“Carl! It’s dangerous! Don’t go!”

The girl shouted in a small but clear voice. The boy, who had been running up the slope, hesitated and looked back at the girl.

“What are you trying to do! Come down quickly!”

The girl called to the boy, placing one hand beside her mouth and waving the other above her head.

At that moment, the boy’s heart sank with a thud.

The boy gazed at the girl with blank eyes.

The girl seemed to sparkle as if spirits of light surrounded her and sprinkled gold dust. It also seemed like sunlight was shining only on the girl.

However, that moment, which felt like time had stopped, did not last long. Because an even louder howl than before was heard.

Snapping back to his senses, Carl waved his hand as if to say he was fine, then turned around again and quickly ran up the mountain path. But the boy knew. This was not the end for them.

The next day, Daphne, who had left home as usual, encountered the boy waiting for her at the entrance to the forest.

Their relationship began like that.

⁕⁕⁕

“Daphne, are you going to gather herbs again? Don’t do that. You’re not a child anymore. Shouldn’t you stop playing alone in the forest, digging in the dirt?”

“It’s okay, Grandmother! I’m not alone. I’m going with a friend!”

Time passed quickly, and Daphne grew from a child into a young lady.

During those years, Daphne visited the forest every day without fail. Because of this, the cottage where the lovely young lady and the elderly woman lived bustled with busy noises every morning.

Through the cottage window, Daphne’s figure could be glimpsed as she packed her things.

Wearing a red hood and exuding fresh vitality, Daphne looked strangely excited, like a child going on a picnic.

How could she be so happy about going to the same mountain every day? Daphne’s grandmother shook her head as if she couldn’t understand.

“I’ll be back before sunset!”

Daphne greeted her grandmother, who had come to the door to see her off, and left the cottage.

Heading straight for the mountain behind the house, Daphne soon saw the entrance to the forest. Discovering Carl waiting for her there, Daphne ran to him with all her might.

“Carl!”

Carl, who had been crouching and hiding behind a shrub, immediately stood up when he heard Daphne’s call. Carl’s face, with eyes sparkling brightly, had shed its childish appearance like Daphne, but still retained the awkward air of an adolescent boy.

Daphne burst out laughing at the sight of Carl with his head covered in twigs and leaves.

“Silly. You’re covered in branches and grass.”

She gently removed a leaf stuck to Carl’s forehead.

They entered deeper into the forest, chatting pleasantly.

Daphne wasn’t afraid of the forest. Even the large wolf that had frightened her as a child could no longer make her tremble. After all, Carl was always by her side.

Whether she was gathering herbs and medicinal plants for her grandmother’s illness, or collecting wild berries and mushrooms when food ran low, strangely, when Carl was by her side, wild animals did not approach her.

But that day, the presence prowling the forest was not a wild animal.

As Daphne was crouching on the ground as usual, sorting through herbs among the grass, someone approached her with rustling sounds. The beings that appeared, parting the undergrowth, were three hunting dogs. The presence of hunting dogs meant their owner was nearby too.

Since the place where she was had usually been deserted, Daphne was extremely surprised.

When Daphne sprang to her feet, the hunting dogs barked loudly, “Woof! Woof!” as if alerting their master to the prey’s location.

At that sound, Carl, who had been dozing beside Daphne, also jerked his head up. Simultaneously, someone revealed themselves behind the hunting dogs.

“They said there was more to hunt on this mountain than just deer.”

The one who appeared before them upon hearing the hunting dogs’ barks was none other than the village chief’s son, notorious in the village as a lecher. The young man revealed his teeth in an unpleasant smile.

Sensing danger in that smile, Carl bared his teeth and blocked Daphne’s front.

Seeing Carl’s small stature, the man snickered. He underestimated Carl, who appeared to be merely an adolescent boy.

The man looked down at his hunting dogs and pointed at Carl with his finger. The dogs then began to bark fiercely at Carl.

But Carl didn’t even blink. Instead, he only glared at the man while hiding Daphne more tightly behind his back.

The numerically superior hunting dogs surrounded Carl and Daphne in a circle. Then they rushed in from all directions at once. At that moment, Carl jumped high from his spot.

“Carl!”

Daphne covered her head and sank to the ground. She closed her eyes tightly, unable to bear seeing what might happen to Carl.

However, the terrible scene Daphne had imagined did not unfold.

“Yelp! Yelp! Yelp!”

The situation was quickly resolved.

Carl, a born predator, tore apart the hunting dogs in the blink of an eye.

Daphne, who slightly opened her eyes at the sound of the dogs’ screams, couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her.

The small-framed boy was nowhere to be seen, and instead, a large wolf was slaughtering the hunting dogs.

The village chief’s son, completely frozen at the violent and cruel wolf’s appearance, backed away in terror.

However, Carl did not let the lecher who had approached with impure intentions go free.