“I don’t see anything cursed about you.”

Leonard tilted his head slightly, as if he hadn’t quite heard her. His expression twisted – confused, almost pained – as he asked.

“If surviving is a curse… then what sin have I committed to walk alone in it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What is this ‘face’ you speak of? To me you just look… happy.”

“You… you see me… as I was? My face, does it still look the same to you?”

At his words, Valetta let out a hollow laugh. She had no idea what he meant. And frankly, the way he always knew how to get under her skin – to say things that made her uncomfortable – was maddening.

“A curse? What are you talking about?”

Three months ago, on his last mission, Leonard had driven his sword through the heart of the last evil dragon on Earth. Its black blood had run down his blade, soaking his hand in thick, viscous darkness.

And in that darkness he had heard its voice, deep and echoing like the end of time:

“You will live… only to meet death.”

At the time, he hadn’t understood what those words meant. *If it was meant poetically, then perhaps it made sense – he had lived long enough to know what it felt like to be dead inside.

It wasn’t just Valetta who had suffered after Friedrich’s death. Leonard had also been condemned to a living hell.

As the dragon’s massive body finally collapsed, Leonard steadied himself and braced himself against the ground before turning to his comrades.

“We must quickly dissect the body and return.”

But the moment he saw their expressions – wide-eyed, frozen with fear – he knew something was wrong.

“L-Leonard… your… your face…”

He reached up, fingers trembling, to touch his face.

And in the horrified eyes of those he had fought beside, Leonard knew the truth: the dragon’s curse had taken hold.

It wasn’t a death of the body – it was a death of identity, of place, of recognition. A social death.

And so the hero of the Empire was no longer a man to be honoured, but a creature to be feared – twisted, grotesque and utterly unrecognisable.

***

Cursed, Leonard searched relentlessly – desperately – for a way to break it. He scoured the world for answers, begged every mage he could find, sought out scholars of dragon lore, even stooped to beg from those who dealt in curses.

But the mages only shook their heads, solemn and helpless, muttering that dragon magic was far beyond the grasp of any human.

The so-called dragon scholars laughed at his suffering as nothing more than a drunken myth.

And the curse practitioners? They swarmed like flies, eager to dissect the affliction, to study it – until his fury crushed them one by one beneath his own hands.

He had to break the curse. The ancient texts were clear: death awaited him at the end.

But even as the end neared, there was still something – someone – he had to reach.

Something he had to do.

While he was still alive.

So Leonard did not give up. He shut himself away in his estate, researching every possible method of lifting the curse.

And just when it seemed all his efforts had failed, the mage Tobias appeared with a tattered old book that held a glimmer of hope.

“Please, read this! Look – it describes a method to lift the curse!”

Leonard grabbed the book, his hands shaking as he turned the fragile pages, his eyes scanned the text in despair.

The evil dragon’s curse can only be broken by one thing: love.

His breath caught.

Depending on the strength of the curse, the one who must share that love will be different. In the most powerful form…

He paused, his heart pounding.

…only the one who hates him can set him free.

He wanted to check which stage of the curse he was in. But the book was so old that the paper had deteriorated and the letters were no longer visible.

Leonard turned to the next page.

“Ah…”

Just as love has the power to break a curse, hatred can makes it powerless.

That was the end. Leonard was upset. He wanted to read more. He needed to know more. But the rest of the book had been burned in the fire, so no more reading was possible.

The magician Tobias said this:

“You must find someone who can see Your Grace’s true self. Only that person can lift the curse!”

After that, Leonard met with everyone in his domain one by one, but not a single person was able to see through to his true self.

The people of the land, who had once praised him with respect and admiration, screamed and fled at the sight of him.

In the end, Leonard shut himself away in his castle.

Meanwhile, the Emperor continued to send out almost daily invitations to honour the man who had slain the last evil dragon on earth. But Leonard, unable to appear before others in his monstrous face, refused every invitation.

Finally, the Emperor, having lost his patience, issued an imperial order for Leonard to attend a royal ball in the capital. With no other choice, Leonard went wearing a mask.

However, wearing a mask in front of the Emperor and Crown Prince Joseph was a grave insult, and Leonard was forced to reveal his hideous appearance.

“Oh my goodness! What is that?!”

A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd at the sight of his transformed face. Some people screamed, others gasped, and from afar the sound of someone choking could be heard.

The Emperor, visibly shaken, quickly ordered him to put the mask back on. Seeing the Emperor’s panicked expression, Leonard fled from the ballroom.

And there he met Valetta-Valetta Irpman, the one person who could see his true form. The one who hated him.

– Hatred makes the curse powerless.

He understood the meaning of those words.

Only Valetta Irpman – who hated him – could break his curse.

Through an act of love.

***

“You… can you see me… as I really am? My face – do you see it as it really is?”

Valetta let out a hollow laugh. She replied in a caustic tone.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. And what exactly is your ‘true form’ supposed to be?”

Leonard trembled uncharacteristically. A rush of elation ran down his spine – the joy of finally breaking the curse. He strode towards Valetta and spoke, his voice full of emotion.

“Valetta. I’d like to ask for your help.”

He knew it was a shameless request.

But the curse had begun to seep into his heart and was already causing problems – he didn’t have much time.

Once the appearance changes, the mind begins to erode. The personality becomes violent, and then one loses all reason.

Finally, the final stage of the evil dragon’s curse is death by cardiac arrest.

And now Leonard could feel his temperament beginning to change.

‘I still have so much to do… so many debts to repay.’

Leonard was desperate to wash away this sudden misfortune before his mind was taken from him.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“To do what?”

“Help me break the curse. I’ll repay you, of course.”

Valetta tilted her head. She couldn’t quite understand what Duke Carnies and Irmina meant by this ‘curse’, especially when the curse didn’t seem to affect her – she could see his true face without any distortion.

“What curse are you talking about?”

“Valetta, listen carefully. Though I may appear unchanged to you, to others, I look like a grotesque monster.”

What on earth was he talking about? Valetta tried to piece together what Irmina had said earlier and what Leonard was telling her now. Leonard claimed to be cursed, and seemed to be in a rather troubling situation as a result. But Valetta couldn’t understand what exactly was cursed about him, and that frustrated her.

Perhaps the two of them were playing some kind of trick on her. After all, Leonard did not look like a monster to her – in fact, he was just as handsome as his reputation claimed. Her face turned bright red. Now it felt as if they were mocking her in a new way, and anger began to boil inside her.

Leonard, sensing her doubt, explained with some sort of excuse: “You must be immune to the curse. According to the book, only those who are unaffected can break the curse. That’s why…” “Leonard Carnies.”

Valetta’s cold voice cut him off. Though she spoke with force, her trembling voice betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

“If you are truly cursed, isn’t that a good thing for me?”

“What?”

“You say you look like a monster? Why a monster? I wish you were cursed to rot away, to die slowly.”

Leonard’s face stiffened at her words. But Valetta continued without hesitation.

“If you are truly cursed… why should I help you?”

“You have grown cruel in our time apart.”

“Thanks to you.”

Valetta sneered. It was a bitter, vitriolic smile.

“I have no obligation to help you. So stop torturing me with pointless requests. And don’t come to me again. I don’t want to see you again.”

Before Friedrich’s death, Valetta had been a kind and gentle girl who wouldn’t dream of speaking such harsh words. But after her brother’s death she had changed.

If she wished, she could curse the enchantment. But the light in her once sparkling eyes had long since gone dark, and now she sobbed in helplessness. Her world had collapsed, and Valetta could no longer radiate the same vitality she once had. Leonard was at a loss for words in the face of her transformation.

Valetta brushed past him and climbed into the carriage. She just wanted to go home and sleep.