he heavy wooden gates creaked open, and Ayumi and Lucian stepped into the kingdom of Everwood. As the gates closed behind them, the bustling noise of the city washed over her. The narrow, cobblestone streets were alive with people—vendors calling out from their stalls, children chasing one another through the crowd, and weary travelers making their way through the twisting alleys. But something about the energy in the air felt wrong, like a faint hum of tension that ran beneath the surface. It was as if the kingdom was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
Lucian walked ahead with purpose, cutting through the crowd as though he had done it a thousand times before. Ayumi hurried after him, trying to keep up, her mind still spinning from everything that had happened. She was in Everwood. Not just reading about it—but here, walking through its streets, side by side with Lucian, the cursed knight she had read about.
"Where are we going?" Ayumi asked, her voice tight with confusion. She was still processing the enormity of it all—being inside the story, inside a world she only knew from the pages of the book. "What's going on? Why am I here?"
Lucian didn't answer right away. His face was hard, his jaw set in that same grim expression he had worn since they first met in the forest. Ayumi could sense the weight he carried, the burden of centuries pressing down on him. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, but there was a sharp edge to it.
"Everwood is not a kingdom like others," he said, his gaze fixed ahead. "It is cursed. The people live their lives, but the curse… it touches everything. And I—" He paused, as if the next words were too heavy to speak. "I am its prisoner."
Ayumi's steps faltered. She had read the first few chapters of The Tale of Everwood, but this—this was different. It wasn't just a story anymore. The reality of it—the rawness of Lucian's voice—made her realize that whatever curse haunted this place was more than just a plot device. It was real, and it had trapped Lucian in ways she was only beginning to understand.
"A prisoner?" she echoed, breathless. "But you're the knight. You're supposed to defeat the evil, right? That's what the book said—"
Lucian stopped abruptly, turning to face her. His eyes were sharp, piercing, but underneath that, there was something darker, something tired. "Do you think I haven't tried?" His voice was harsh, bitter. "I've been on this quest for centuries. Every time, I get close to breaking the curse, and every time, something stops me. And then it starts over again. The same cycle. The same failures. The same damn curse."
Ayumi's heart sank as she watched him, her mind struggling to grasp the full weight of his words. Centuries. Lucian had been fighting the same battle, over and over again, for centuries. She couldn't imagine it—the endless repetition, the constant failure, the hopelessness. No wonder he was so cold, so distant. He had been trapped in this nightmare for longer than she could comprehend.
"But…" Ayumi hesitated, her voice softening. "Why does it keep happening? What stops you?"
Lucian's gaze flicked away from her, as if he couldn't bear to look at her while he answered. "I don't know. Every time I think I've found the answer, it slips away. The curse… it bends reality. It twists fate. I defeat one evil, and another rises. I save one person, and another falls. It never ends."
They stood there in the middle of the street, the crowd moving around them, oblivious to the conversation. Ayumi's mind raced, trying to find a way to respond, to make sense of what Lucian had told her. She felt a deep ache in her chest for him—for the endless cycle he had been forced to endure.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, the words feeling hollow in the face of his suffering.
Lucian shook his head, his face hardening again. "Sorry won't change anything. This curse—it's bigger than you, or me. It's woven into the fabric of this kingdom. And until it's broken, no one will ever be free."
The weight of his words hung between them, heavy and suffocating. Ayumi didn't know what to say. She wasn't a warrior, or a mage, or anyone who could help break an ancient curse. She was just a college student who had stumbled into this world by accident. But the longer she stood beside Lucian, the more she realized that she couldn't walk away from this. Somehow, she was part of this story now—whether she wanted to be or not.
"Lucian," she began carefully, choosing her words. "You said it starts over, every time. But what if…" She paused, hesitant, then continued, "What if it's because the story's unfinished? The book—it was incomplete when I found it. Maybe that's why you're stuck in this loop."
Lucian turned to her, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. "Unfinished?"
Ayumi nodded, her grip tightening on the book still clutched in her hand. "Yes. It's like the story never ended, so you're trapped in it, living it over and over. What if that's the reason the curse keeps resetting?"
Lucian's expression shifted, his cold demeanor faltering for a moment. "You think the story itself is the curse?" he asked, his voice low, thoughtful.
"I don't know," Ayumi admitted. "But I think… maybe I was brought here to finish it. To help you break the cycle."
For the first time, Lucian didn't immediately dismiss her words. He studied her, his eyes narrowing in thought. The silence stretched between them, and Ayumi held her breath, wondering if she had said too much—if her theory was just a wild guess.
Finally, Lucian spoke, his voice quieter now. "If that's true… then your being here changes everything."
The gravity of his words hit her like a punch to the gut. She had been right—the story wasn't just unfinished. It was broken. And somehow, she had been pulled into it to fix it.
But before she could respond, a deep, echoing bell rang out from the castle, its toll reverberating through the city like a warning. Lucian's posture stiffened, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his sword.
"The king's summons," he said grimly. "We're out of time. Whatever your role in this story is, you'd better be ready. The final chapter may be closer than we think."
With that, he turned and began walking toward the castle, his steps quick and determined. Ayumi followed, her heart pounding as they made their way through the twisting streets. She had come to Everwood looking for adventure—but now, standing at the edge of something far greater than herself, she wondered if she was truly ready for the story she was about to help write.
As they approached the towering gates of the castle, the sense of impending doom grew heavier. Whatever awaited them inside, Ayumi knew that Lucian's quest—and perhaps her own—was about to reach a dangerous new chapter.