"Do you know, Shade? Your question makes me feel as though I've returned to half a century ago. Someone once asked me the very same question. If it weren't you, I wouldn't tell anyone else about this."
Professor Manning set down his teacup and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. As he gazed at the fireplace with an expression that clearly said, "I have a story," Shade took it as a sign that their rapport had reached the required level and smiled as he asked:
"Was it a young lady?"
"Yes. I was a little older than you are now, and like Durut Giles today, I was trying to earn a meager income at the local university. That young lady was the daughter of our history department chair at the time. She was still studying at the school, but she often came to spend time with me.
"One spring, the school organized a picnic outside the city. She even specially brought lunch for me. Sitting on the grass beneath a tree, she watched me eat while hugging her knees and asking me that question. The weather was so lovely that spring~"
Professor Manning's eyes flickered, and a smile appeared on his face:
"I told her that I didn't know how to break a Love Curse, so she smiled and spoke a few sentences in Gutril Language to me. Only later did I learn that those words meant, 'Love binds us together.'"
Unlike Priest Augustus, Professor Manning had not remained unmarried his entire life. Shade knew that his wife had passed away, while his children worked throughout the Northern Kingdom:
"That was practically a confession. So what happened afterward? Did the story have a happy ending or a bad one?"
Shade asked. The professor removed his glasses and wiped