There was a monarch who owned countless dogs.
Among them, one stood out.
Keeper.
The favorite. The strongest. The one who brought fortune and security to the state.
But appearances can be deceiving.
Keeper was too big, too unsettling, and so easily blamed for every misfortune that touched the palace.
Every fallen feather, every broken vase he was accused.
Every misstep his.
And yet, until today, the monarch spared him.
Until today.
Because today…
He gave me to the knucker.
I saw it all the maw soaked in blood, the scattered corpses of the master's hens.
He believed it was me.
Little did he know, I had killed the hawk for him.
But still, he did not believe me this time.
The hawk's body was gone… and so was my chance to prove myself.
Today… today is the day I will meet the knucker.
The day meant to end me.
The forest reeks of damp earth and fear.
The water glistens red under the fading light.
The knucker waits, patient, silent, inevitable.
Every instinct screams: you cannot escape this.
But it does not matter.
He already found another companion to replace me.
I am no longer needed… only a shadow, a warning.
At least… I made them happy once.
At least… I gave them peace.
But even now, as the knucker rises from the mist, its eyes fixed on me… I realize: happiness, like life, is never enough.
It never was.
Right?