In the span of a few days, William Carter gave the girl a simple name. Because she was innocent and pure, her heart as spotless as a blank sheet of paper, he called her Little Grace. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would hold the girl in his arms, point at her and say, “Little Grace.” Then point at himself and say, “Will.” Before long, Little Grace understood that this name referred to herself, and that “Will” meant William Carter.

During this time, Little Grace also tried to imitate William Carter’s pronunciation, but in such a short period, her attempts were always quite off. It was probably because she rarely made such complex sounds, William Carter thought, but after a while, she should get the hang of it.

After naming Little Grace, William Carter also gave names to the two giant wolves living with them. He originally wanted to call one of them “Storm,” but since he wanted the names to match as a pair, he changed it to “Tempest,” and the other he named “Fury.” Both were, in William Carter’s mind, rather fierce figures. However, the two wolves looked almost identical to William Carter, and he often mixed up their names. He tried teaching Little Grace the two names a few times, but after pointing to the wrong one several times, he left Little Grace quite confused.

Once he became familiar with the two wolves, they no longer showed obvious hostility toward him. Occasionally, when Little Grace left and he entered the forest alone, they would follow along like bodyguards. But if he went too far, they would naturally call him back. The forest was vast—William Carter had seen it from the cliff before, stretching almost endlessly. Although Little Grace was here, he still couldn’t help but want to see the outside world. Maybe, once they got to know each other better and could communicate, he could ask Little Grace to accompany him out of the forest. Thinking this, he remembered the backpack and tent he’d left on the cliff, which contained a few things, especially a lighter. With that, at least he could help Little Grace eat some cooked food.

But where exactly was that cliff? Standing on the grassy field outside the cave and looking out, it was hard to judge its location. The only landmark was the big waterfall, but these cliffs were almost vertical—where was there a path up? He’d observed several times in frustration, but always came up empty. For now, though, Little Grace and the two wolves wouldn’t allow him to leave, so it was pointless even if he found a way.

Then, after about ten days, one morning, Little Grace went out and didn’t return that night.

Volume One

Chapter Four: Mood

After the girl who liked to take walks late at night passed away, he had been in a low mood for quite some time.

A faint, inescapable sadness shrouded him like mist. Yet he understood that this sadness wasn’t the right attitude—or rather, it wasn’t the right way to face death. You should cry, you should grieve, you should remember, you should feel a kind of disbelief and regret every time you think of her. But none of that happened. In his heart, there was only that sudden realization: Oh, she’s dead. That was all.

Afterward, the faint mist lingered, silently draping a thin veil over his heart, clinging to him like a shadow, impossible to shake off.

She was dead. That was it. The reason he and she became friends was that they shared similar feelings, or perhaps similar circumstances and disappointments—though he never really understood her past. But they were also different. He longed for every bit of warmth and light he could find in the darkness and loneliness, while she gradually let herself sink into the abyss, refusing any form of salvation. It was as if they were opposite poles of the same magnet. He only realized this after the girl died. Of course, saying she refused salvation just because she died might be a bit unfair, but the truth wasn’t far off. He had tried to reach out to her—even though, as an immature teenager, his efforts were never enough—but he had indeed reached out, and she had casually brushed him off. That was a fact.

So after she died, he simply felt, faintly, that she had sunk beneath the boundary of life and death, gone to the abyss she had always wanted, and then his memories faded with her passing. It was as if everything that belonged to her went with her to where it was meant to go, but that wasn’t the direction a normal person should take. He remembered the efforts he’d made, remembered that he might have even romantically thought of loving her, but for someone like her, after she died, he found that he never really missed her, never truly needed her, never hoped, “Oh, maybe this is all fake, maybe she’ll appear before me again in the next moment.” Realizing this, he was overcome with a sorrow he couldn’t contain.

Maybe there was no one in the world he truly depended on anymore, he thought.

But that was just the kind of pretense a sixteen-year-old boy would put on to sound poetic, and at this moment, he realized it. Night gradually fell, a half-moon cast a faint silver glow in the sky, unknown constellations filled the heavens, the grass swayed, and the woods were deep. All of this made him unbearably restless.

Little Grace still hadn’t come back. In the past ten days, she hadn’t gone out much—mostly just to get food or pick fruit for William Carter. When she went to the creek, she would always pull William Carter along, letting his eyes feast on her without a care, which in turn made his desire flare up. But no matter when she went out, she always returned by dusk, and at night would seek warmth and intimacy from William Carter.