Prologue

An arrow shot so fast that it only appeared to be a flash of shadow. The arrow stuck into the ground only a few centimeters from a rabbit busy scavenging a bush. The rabbit jumped, realizing that it had escaped death, the animal squeaked with delight and ridicule and then walked away.

A tall young man in a simple hunting suit in a combination of light and dark brown approached the arrow, then pulled it from the ground. He took off his hat, ruffled his reddish hair desperately with a sigh.

"My hunting skills are getting worse."

The young man glanced at the arrow, it still looked good so he took it for reuse. Not far from there, he saw a deer eating mulberry fruit. A lopsided smile immediately etched on his lips.

Maybe the rabbit is too small, I have to start from a bigger target.

The young man concentrated on aiming at the deer. Trying not to make the slightest sound when pulling the bowstring. Venison is not as tender as rabbits, it's also much more complicated to cook, but at least better than eating only fruit and mushrooms.

The pointed ears of the deer move quickly, indicating the hunter must act immediately before the prey escapes. Having not had time to release an arrow, a cry for help first distracted him. The young man did not do anything to sharpen his ears, his ears caught a woman's voice.

He immediately traced the sound, letting his dinner escape into the forest. The sound of a scream led the young man to a thick thorn bush that was even taller than his head. Immediately he opened the thicket with both hands and was shocked to find a girl trying to get out of the lake.

The panicked scream was suppressed by the water that continued to enter her mouth. Without thinking, the young man took off his footwear and hunting gear, then jumped into the lake. However, after that, the young man was even confused. This lake was not very deep, not even chest level, he was not a young man who was too tall, but why was this girl so panicked?

The young man immediately embraced the girl to drag her to the surface, and just realized that this girl's body was very heavy. He had to struggle to climb the water until he finally managed to reach the edge of the lake.

The young man's breath was gasping, and his whole body was soaked. He looked at the girl he had just saved in panic, her eyes tightly closed, her lips pale, and not breathing. The young man also just realized that it was not the girl's body that made him heavy, but an iron ball that was tied to her legs.

The young man rubbed his face, trying to remember what first aid for drowning people was, and only managed to remember one way — artificial respiration.

"I should have read more than one page!" The young man complained, he glanced at the girl doubtfully, then shook his head quickly. "I'm not doing this with mixed intentions, I'm doing this to save her life!" Exclaimed the young man to himself.

He covered the girl's short nose, then lifted his chin like a manual sketch, with all his courage brought his face closer to her. Before they had the chance to touch their mouths, the girl opened her eyes wide, then screamed with all her might.

"What are you doing?" The girl tried to hit the foreign youth in front of her.

"W — wait a minute, you misunderstood, I didn't mean that!"

"Nonsense! You were obviously trying to harass me! You pervert!"

"You almost drowned, I was just trying to do first aid, please believe me!"

The girl stopped the attack, then examined herself. Surprisingly, she was surprised to see her whole body was soaked, her eyes wandering as if she was remembering an incident. Her panicked face gradually calmed down, although the breath was still roaring. The girl looked at the youth in front of her hesitantly.

"I almost drowned?"

"Right ... don't you remember?"

"And you saved me?"

"I think so ..." The young man scratched his reddish hair awkwardly. This girl's jet-black bead suddenly made him nervous. "Why did you get in the middle of the lake, and ... who did that to you?" He continued, glancing at the iron ball that tied the girl's feet.

Instead of answering, tears fell from the girl's gloomy lids, and she hugged the strange youth in front of her as tightly as possible. "I'm so scared!"

The young man was very startled because no woman has ever hugged him this tight except for his mother. However, he also did not have the heart to refuse the girl's drenched body who was trembling with cold, it seemed she had indeed experienced something bad. So awkwardly the young man hugged back, stroking her wet black hair.

"It's okay, you're safe now. Where do you come from? Why are you crying? Who did this to you?"

The girl was still sobbing over her broad chest for a few seconds, then let go with an embarrassed flushed face. Seeing the expressionless face as well as the blank gaze she continued to brush on the ground, clearly showed that the girl would not answer any questions. So the red-haired young man spoke again.

"Looks like I asked too many questions, we don't even know each other yet."

This time, the girl lifted her head to look back at the emerald green bead belonging to the strange youth in front of her, who was smiling warmly as he held out his hand.

“My name is Harold. Harold Grace, and you? "

Seeing his sweet and sincere treatment, the girl took a deep breath, then wiped her eyes, parted her wet black hair, and put on a smile, the most beautiful smile the world has ever seen.

"My name, Ellinor ...."

***