Prologue Arthur

Mabel's potential earnings: 1000 gold crowns

Currently in her purse: 3 frenks and 84 trading shells

I t has been so long since I have feasted upon the beauty of Mabel. So long, yet it feels like just yesterday that I did the unthinkable and walked away from her.

She thought it was because I couldn't stand the fact that she was now a monster in the eyes of everyone else. But it was worse than that.

I had been lulled away on the promise of being able to stay with her forever.

Reeve told me that I could be just like her and live forever together, happy and free. However, Reeve is a liar. His magic made me what I am now, split into pieces and torn asunder so that Mabel will never be able to find me whole and perfect like I was.

And so, Reeve could try and wheedle his way into her heart.

I hid for so many years after that fateful night. Scared of showing myself to Mabel, of her seeing the fact that I was now much more hideous than she would ever be.

And how do you explain to the woman that you love that you have been split apart and there are now four of you, each one uglier than the other?

The only good thing to come out of all this is the fact my conscious true self is only trapped in my shadow monster form. I would have gone completely mad should my mind have also been trapped in the bodies of the orc, kraken, and satyr.

Yet, somehow, after all these years, Mabel has found us.

Found us and loved us.

Well, the other three, at least.

But once she finds out the truth of the matter, she'll probably hate us all. Me, in this form, most of all…

Still, I yearn for her. And now that I have seen her, I can't walk away like I did so long ago. I need to confront her and face the consequences of this damned curse. If she hates me for it, so be it. I will find some way to kill myself, to rid the world of the parts of me that have made her the most miserable.

But, first, I will kill Reeve so that Mabel can finally make her choices freely…