Morning in Rose Valley
The morning sun rises in the Rose Valley. Misty dew lingers on the rose petals, a gentle breeze blows, carrying the scent of roses... into the bedroom window and swaying the white curtains.
On the bed, a little girl with silver hair was still sound asleep. Her breathing was soft, her small face belying the fact that she was no ordinary girl.
"Caelan, honey. Wake up, it's morning," came the soft yet firm voice of a woman sitting on the edge of the bed.
A Mother, a silver-haired, blue-eyed woman, gently shook her little daughter's shoulders.
Her blue eyelids slowly fluttered open. The little girl rubbed her eyes, then smiled when she saw her mother's face.
"Good morning, Mommy…" she said while yawning.
"Hurry up and get dressed, then brush your teeth. Breakfast is ready."
"Mommy… help me get dressed," she whined, stretching her arms.
The woman took a deep breath, then smiled softly.
"I can't do anything if I have to help you with everything," she said, gently pinching her little daughter's soft, warm cheeks like mochi.
—
Cleaning the Little Daughter
A few moments later... Marry carried her daughter in her arms, carrying her little dress on her shoulders, and walked to the bathroom. She carefully lowered her daughter onto the wet floor.
She changed her little daughter into a plain pink dress. She placed her daughter's pyjamas in the laundry hamper.
She took a toothbrush and smeared toothpaste on the soft, fluffy bristles. She stroked her daughter's hair, smiled, and said:
"Honey, take this toothbrush! Brush your teeth properly," Marry said gently.
"Okay, Mom," Caelan said cheerfully, raising her toothbrush in the air.
Little Caelan brushed her teeth energetically. Her tiny hands moved back and forth, from side to side, brushing between her teeth. Marry watched her little daughter and occasionally gave instructions on how to brush properly.
As Caelan brushed her teeth, Marry patiently combed her daughter's silver hair with a silver comb. One strand… two strands… each strand carried love.
"Caelan's silver hair is so much like mine..." Marry thought, "But different. Caelan's eyes were purer, more innocent… no more past hurts."
A few moments later... Caelan's hair was neatly styled. Morning light enters through the vents, illuminating her silver hair. It sparkled like the glitter of stars in the night sky.
Marry smiled with satisfaction at the sight of her little daughter's hair.
Caelan rinsed her mouth… and spat into the toilet. Marry wiped her daughter's mouth dry with a white towel.
"My little daughter is so cute. Let's eat together, honey!"
"Okay, mom."
The mother and her little daughter left the bathroom hand in hand… heading to the dining room where a warm meal awaited them.
—
Breakfast with a Little Daughter
A simple dining table made of old-growth wood awaited them, with plates of vegetable porridge, toast, warm milk, and honey from the small forest behind the valley.
Caelan took a seat at the front. She sat on a wooden stool. Her eyes glistened as she gazed at the dish before her. She took a bite of the honey-slathered toast.
"Mommy's cooking is always the best!" Caelan exclaimed, taking a bite of the honey toast.
"Is it delicious?" asked Marry, sitting next to her little daughter with a faint smile.
"Hmmm! Caelan wants to eat Mommy's cooking forever!" Caelan's cheeks were smeared with honey.
"Be careful, honey. Eat slowly," Marry said, wiping her daughter's cheeks with a napkin.
A drop of honey fell from Caelan's cheek onto the floor. Marry's blue eyes widened...
She looked back at the past, not a honey drop, but blood drops that stained the floor of the ruined ancient palace seven years ago.
—
Flashback: Seven Years Ago ... The Ruins of the Ancient Palace — 'Memorial'
The sky was dark. Blood rained down on the ruins of the palace. The bodies of tyrants and knights lay scattered on the cracked floor. Red blood stained the floor and the pillars of the palace.
And between the pillars, a blue-eyed woman stood, wearing a blood rose dress, clad in a blood-stained rose robe. The sword in her hand glowed red, dripping with the scent of blood.
Her blue eyes stared coldly at the burly man clad in silver armour who stood trembling before her.
"Your life is over, Jose. Tyranny ends here!"
Jose, one of the elite tyrants who once sat at the top of the Rose Kingdom's Noble Council, gritted his teeth.
He knew the woman before him was a real threat to the tyrannical rule of the Rose Kingdom that had haunted them for years.
The Rose Kingdom had done everything possible to capture, hunt down, and eliminate Marry El Rose. But all their efforts had failed. Against the ideology of life that is transforming into a walking disaster, they lost.
But Jose refused to give up; he had prepared a secret military project that could change the world.
"Blood Rose Princess… don't judge us! We will erase our sins from the world's memory."
His hands trembled as he touched the ancient artefact: 'Memory' — a legendary artefact capable of brainwashing the world's inhabitants.
"Not as long as I live!" said Marry coldly.
Marry raised her sword to the back of her neck. Her blue eyes stared at Jose coldly, as cold as the ice of winter.
Sweat dripped from Jose's forehead. He knew if he didn't do something… something terrible would happen.
Jose gritted his teeth, fighting back his fear. He raised the Memory artefact in the air with his right hand.
Then... his left hand injected mana into the Memory artefact… forcing its activation... to erase the world's memories.
"MEMORY ARTIFACT! ILLUMINATE—," Jose shouted.
But before he could finish his sentence… a sword was already slashed forward… at Jose… at the Memory artefact. Jose's eyes widened and then…
Doom!
Shockwave: A sharp gust of wind sliced through stone… sent debris flying… destroyed everything in its path… and in an instant, the Memory artefact was struck by a deadly, sharp slash…
KRAAAK! PRAANGG!
The Memory artefact cracked… then shattered into pieces, transforming into crystalline light that flew like shooting stars.
The light was so dazzling… it illuminated the ancient ruins, revealing the corpses of the elite tyrants and their knights lying on the floor of the ruins.
Jose's eyes widened at the devastation before him. Blood flowed from his temples and lips, dripping onto the marble floor. Jose fell to his knees.
"How could… an ancient artefact be destroyed?!"
The light still illuminated the sky of the ruins… but then, it didn't disappear; it gathered, solidified, forming a solid ball of white light.
Then, it flew piercing Marry's stomach. Warm, yet painful. Her womb throbbed… as if the world were implanting something inside her.
"What is this?" Marry was pushed back, clutching her stomach.
"My stomach… why is it bigger?!" Marry clutched her lower abdomen.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" Marry screamed at Jose.
But Jose didn't answer; he remained on his knees. Then... he fell to the dusty floor. His eyelids closed, and he fell... into an eternal sleep.
—
A World Without Remembrance of Sins…
In an instant, evil tyrants fell into eternal sleep across the continent. And the world forgot its sins: struck by mass amnesia, forgot the wounds of history, and the victims walked without remembering their wounds.
And suddenly, Marry El Rose became pregnant. Without a husband. Without love. Only the legacy of the world's will and the memories gathered in her womb.
The world forgot her. But Marry remembered all the world's sins. All the crimes of the cruel tyrants. All the blood of the victims that was shed. She remembered it all… in a world of amnesia.
From that moment on, the world began a new chapter of life: the victims began anew, smiling and laughing without remembering with every breath they took… a woman in a red rose dress had raised a sword, dragged each evil tyrant to the public square to be judged, and left a warning message that is short, clear, and meaningful:
"Forgiveness belongs only to the victims!"
They forgot Blood Rose Princess – the goddess of bloody justice who was beloved by the victims. And Marry El Rose disappeared from the world. Without a word. Without a sound. Without anyone remembering her.
—
Back to the Present: Seven Years Later… in the Rose Valley… in the Warm House
Warm milk still steamed in a glass cup. A tiny hand held it. Little Caelan turned to her mother, her blue eyes as clear as the sky.
"Mom, why are you smiling to yourself?" asked Little Caelan, swinging her tiny legs under her chair.
"Ah… It's nothing," Marry replied, hiding her soft smile.
Her heart was being torn apart gently.
"I never wanted to be a mother..." she muttered to herself. "I just wanted a world free of oppressors… of evil… of the corruption of tyrants…"
But before her now, a little girl born of chaos and despair is drinking warm milk, smiling cheerfully, unaware that her mother's blood had rewritten history.
"Killing tyrants and upholding the law of blood? Forget it!" she thought.
Now, only one hope remained in her heart.
"I just want my little daughter to grow up healthy… and happy."