Chapter 1
Chapter 1 — The Red Mark
The garden was silent. Too silent. Rose stood alone beneath the dying moonlight, staring at the black rose growing from the cracked earth. She had seen it before, but never like this. Its petals were darker than midnight, yet something red pulsed beneath them—as if the flower had a heartbeat.
Rose slowly reached toward it.
“Don’t.”
Yin Si’s voice came from behind her. She froze. He stood at the garden entrance, his expression unusually serious.
“Rose,” he said quietly, “step away from it.”
But it was already too late.
Her fingers touched the petal.
A sharp pain tore through her palm.
Rose gasped. A red mark appeared across her skin, spreading like thin veins around her wrist.
The black rose suddenly opened.
One petal. Then another.
And somewhere beyond the garden walls, a woman laughed.
Yin Si's face changed.
“No…”
Rose turned toward him. “What is it?”
He stared at the mark on her hand. His voice dropped to a whisper.
“The rose has awakened.”
Rose looked back at the flower. For a moment, she saw something inside its petals—a palace, a shadow, a man in white, and a woman wearing a mask.
Then everything disappeared.
Rose stumbled backward. “Who was that?”
Yin Si didn't answer.
Because behind them, hidden among the trees, the masked woman was watching. Her eyes remained fixed on Rose's red-marked hand. A slow smile appeared beneath her mask.
“Finally…”
She touched the black rose-shaped pendant around her neck.
“The final chapter has begun.”
