The story was that all the inhabitants of this village had mysteriously died in a single day.
According to John, this happened twelve years ago. There was one survivor, who told the people who found him that it had been a curse. Then he disappeared without a trace, and the village burned down with everything in it.
Since that day, everyone had avoided the place. Not only did they refuse to go there, but they wouldn't even pass along the road leading to it.
"This isn't a curse. Curses don't exist," she thought.
"He said that after news spread that the residents had died because of a curse, the village burned down a few days later. That's strange."
Stella wondered why the villagers had been killed.
"Curiosity will be the death of me. I want to take a look, but without anyone seeing me. I don't want to miss such an opportunity, especially since the place is nearby."
She decided to sneak out after the child and his mother had fallen asleep.
Once the two of them were asleep, Stella quietly slipped out of the carriage, carrying one of the oil lamps.
She stealthily passed behind the two men guarding the area. She had heard from John that the village was to the right, beyond the Willow Forest.
Stella tried to move quickly, but the dress she was wearing kept getting caught on the branches, and her leather shoes felt a little heavy.
"Ah, Helena, you insisted that I wear this. If I were wearing pants, none of this would be a problem."
The dress was blue with white patterns, simple and elegant. Any girl would have been happy to wear it, but Stella had a different opinion.
After some time, she passed through the forest and found the abandoned village in front of her.
The place was completely silent and still.
"This place looks like something straight out of a horror movie."
Stella wandered around the small village for a while. All the houses had been burned, and the rubble was overgrown with weeds.
"Oh, my imagination got the better of me. I thought I'd find something interesting. What a disappointment!"
Stella had already turned around to leave when something caught her eye.There was a well at the other end of the village, covered with a wooden slab that was still completely intact. It was the only well in the village.
"Helena's village has three wells. Here, even though it's in the same region, they only have one. I guess everyone here was on good terms."
She tried to remove the wooden board, but to no avail. It was too heavy.
"This would take someone strong to move. I could push it for a week and it still wouldn't budge."
Having given up, she decided to return to the caravan.
When she bent down to pick up the lamp, she noticed something shining on the ground. It was partially covered by dirt and weeds.
"What is this? It looks like gold."
She dug it out and picked it up.
It was a necklace made of a thin gold chain, with a golden ring decorated with a sun.
"Hmm... I think I've seen something similar to this before, but where?"
She thought for a long time but still couldn't remember.
"I have a really bad memory."
She cleaned it a little with the edge of her dress before hiding it inside her leather bag.
While making sure everything was safely inside the bag, she suddenly felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
"I've been caught."
She quickly closed the leather bag and turned around.
The person standing behind her was Albert.
Stella looked at him and asked, "Mr. Albert, what brought you here?"
"That question should be asked to you. How did you get here?"
His expression was different from usual. He wasn't smiling.
Stella realized that she needed to lighten the atmosphere, so she smiled and said, "Actually, I came because I'm a fan of places like this. I like the thrill and adventure, you know?"
After hearing this, his expression softened slightly. He patted her on the head and said, "But you shouldn't have come alone and sneaked out like that. Everyone was worried about you. They were looking for you everywhere after Mrs. Alma woke up and couldn't find you. She was afraid something had happened to you."
Stella lowered her head apologetically.
"I'm sorry for causing you trouble. I acted recklessly."
"No problem, but don't do it again. Getting separated from the group in a place like this is dangerous. You could get into trouble."
"Yes, you're right. I'll keep that in mind."
Albert smiled his usual smile.
"Then come on. We shouldn't be late, or Alma will lose her mind with worry."
"Well, let's go."
The two made their way back. Albert was unusually silent.
After some time, Stella noticed that they were taking a different path from the one she had followed earlier.
"He seems to know the area well. He's also quite brave to come to this cursed village, just as Alma described."
After a while, Stella decided to talk to him about the village.
"Mr. Albert, do you believe in curses?"
"No. Do you?"
"Me neither. If you believed in them, you wouldn't have followed me. Sorry, that was an unnecessary question."
"So you're like me. I knew that from the moment I met you. You dared to stay alone in a forest for several days. You also seem to like adventure."
There was a brief silence before he continued, "Courage is a good quality, Alina, but when you cross the line, it becomes stupidity."
"Yes, he's right," Stella thought, remembering the courage that had led her to accept Emma's offer.
The atmosphere fell silent again. Both of them were people who didn't talk much.
But after a while, Albert spoke again, breaking the silence.
"Do you know the story of this place?"
"I heard about it from some people in the caravan. They said that a curse killed all the inhabitants in a single day and burned the village as well."
"They don't know much either. But there's someone you can ask."
"Who?" Stella asked curiously.