💔 Main Characters
Marco Venier
A Venetian aristocrat raised in privilege but haunted by emptiness. Trained as a historian of medicine, he seeks to understand the roots of the plague. His love for Apollonia is pure but repressed, while his pity for Serena becomes dangerous compassion. As his skin begins to show signs of infection, he must choose between love and redemption—or join the undead willingly.
Apollonia Corleone
A noblewoman educated in science, defiant against the patriarchy of her lineage. She and Marco were inseparable as children. Her heart is bound to him, yet she fears his pity will destroy them both. When she uncovers that the disease might stem from an ancient ritual performed by Marco’s ancestors, her love becomes both weapon and curse.
Serena Franco
A peasant girl from the outskirts of Venice, once a servant in the Venier household. Her beauty caught Marco’s youthful eyes, but class divided them. When the plague ravages her village, she turns to prostitution in the infected zones, selling her body to fund medicine for her dying family. But when the sores bloom on her skin, she becomes something else: the plague’s prophetess, a decaying saint who still whispers Marco’s name.
Dr. Eleanor Vale & Gabriel Orsini
Continue their parallel storyline as scientific and religious counterpoints. Eventually, their paths cross with Marco’s—revealing that Venice is where the plague began.
