A Peaceful Morning…
The morning in Rose Valley was bright as usual. The wind gently caressed the petals of wild roses blooming along the village road. The fragrant scent, mixed with the wet dew, created a serenity that can only be found in peaceful places.
In a simple house on the outskirts of the village… in a warm room, a little girl sat on the lap of a silver-haired woman.
Marry El Rose, the former executioner, was now just a mother, combing her little daughter's silver hair.
"Keep combing Caelan's hair, Mom. Caelan likes it. Hehe…"
Caelan El Rose laughed softly as she hugged her favourite stuffed rabbit.
Marry chuckled… and continued to comb each strand of her daughter's hair.
Caelan enjoyed her mother's attention. She began to hum softly.
"La… laa… laa…
Lala… la…
Laa… la… laa …
La… laa… la…"
Marry smiled as she listened to her daughter's singing. A little song that somehow made the world feel peaceful.
A few moments later… her daughter's hair was neat and shiny. Marry held her little daughter in her lap. Then she asked:
"Honey, today we're planting red rose seedlings. Caelan helps Mama, right?"
"Caelan helps Mommy!" Caelan exclaimed, raising her little hand enthusiastically.
However, beneath her little daughter's cheerfulness and gentle touch, Marry harboured anxiety today. This morning, she had had a nightmare… a dream that took her back to her past 10 years ago.
—
Flashback: The Past Calls…
The night before, as was her custom, Marry had put little Caelan to bed. She told her a bedtime story. Caelan closed her eyes and fell asleep peacefully. Marry covered her little daughter and herself with a white blanket. She lay down and hugged her little daughter… and as her eyelids closed…
Marry slept and dreamed…
Marry stood in the hallway of a magnificent mansion. She looked to her right… in her right hand was a red sword stained with blood.
Tess… tess…
Drops of blood dripped from the tip of her sword.
Marry's blue eyes widened… then she looked down at herself. She was wearing a blood-red dress —the aristocratic attire she had worn ten years earlier to execute cruel tyrants.
But Marry's face returned to its composure… she walked down the dark hallway. With every step… puddles of red liquid soaked her shoes.
A fishy, sweet smell lingered in the humid air. Marry frowned.
Marry continued walking… she entered a grand room. Inside, paper documents were piled on a marble table.
Marry picked up one of the papers. On it… was written a child slavery transaction, complete with shipping dates and golden signatures.
Marry's blue eyes grew cold as she read every line.
Irrefutable proof… the foul crimes the nobility hid behind their sweet words.
Marry stepped around the corner… there, an open iron safe revealed glittering gold and jewels…
But beside the safe… a handsome, gentle, blond-haired nobleman lay lifeless.
His eyes bulged… his aristocratic attire was stained red. And above his body… blood roses bloomed.
The blood roses covered the rotting corpse like a funeral. And above the blood roses… a brown paper lay.
Marry picked up the paper… it was written in blood-red ink.
"A sin paper?!" Marry muttered.
Marry read every line of the sin paper… and on the surface of the paper were clearly engraved the crimes of the blond-haired aristocrat…
All his crimes and those of his victims were written in red ink and could not be erased by history.
"Drug trafficking, money laundering, bribery, premeditated murder, trafficking of women and children…"
Her hands trembled as she read each heinous crime committed by that handsome and gentle man.
"This… is Alponse Gabriel's list of crimes?! Ten years ago… I remember it all. He was a cruel tyrant who wore the mask of an angel."
"I executed him on the full moon night of the ninth month of that year…"
"Wait a minute… if this is a dream from my past, then…"
Tap… tap… tap…
The sound of rapid footsteps echoed through the mansion hallway. The sound came closer… closer. Finally, the sound stopped in front of the room's door…
The door opened… and a sharp green gaze stared at Marry.
Marry remained frozen in place. Cold sweat dripped from her forehead…
"I FOUND YOU, BLOOD ROSE!" shouted the young, purple-haired detective girl.
Marry's blue eyes widened, but her vision quickly blurred…
Marry woke up in a soft bed. Her heart was pounding. Her breath was ragged.
"Hah… hah…"
Marry took a deep breath… and exhaled slowly. She quickly calmed herself.
Marry turned to her right… her little daughter, Caelan, was still fast asleep, hugging a stuffed rabbit. Her tiny face was so peaceful.
Marry sat down, holding her knees… and was silent for a moment.
"It was just a dream from the past…" Marry muttered to herself.
Marry lay back down, hugging her little daughter tightly.
"Caelan, dear, Mama won't let the world touch you. If the world demands blood again… let Mama bear the pain."
Marry closed her eyes again, but her anxiety continued to haunt her that night and into the next day.
—
Planting Red Rose Seeds…
Amidst her anxiety, Marry continued her day as usual. She took her little daughter to plant red rose seeds and water the garden behind her house.
The mother of one continued to smile at her little daughter.
Caelan was so enthusiastic about helping her mother garden. Cool water soaked the loose soil, hands covered in dirt, and the little girl's laughter colored the morning.
That morning felt so peaceful, at least for Caelan.
The little daughter laughed cheerfully and hugged her mother. Unbeknownst to her… Mama had been harbouring anxiety all day.
A few moments later… the sun rose overhead, and Marry and Caelan returned home. Marry cleaned up her little daughter and herself, then ate lunch together.
That afternoon… Marry took her daughter to the market. They walked hand in hand through the village streets. They stopped at a roadside fruit stall in the market, where a friendly grandmother usually sold fruit.
Thomas, Grandma Dora's grandson, sat leaning back in a chair, tending the stall with a sullen expression.
Little Caelan approached little Thomas. She stared at him with round blue eyes as clear as the midday sky.
"Thomas, don't you like tending the stall of fruits?"
"I have to practice…" Thomas grumbled. "…But Grandma made me tend the stall of fruits."
Caelan touched her tiny chin, "Why do you want to practice?"
"Of course, because… I want to be a shadow hero…" Thomas pouted. "A little girl like you wouldn't understand."
Thomas glared at Caelan, clutching the wooden staff he had carved himself.
"Oh… I don't understand. I just want to be a mommy's daughter," she said innocently.
Marry smiled faintly at their conversation. But the smile quickly faded. There was something odd about that afternoon. The market seemed bustling and ordinary—vegetable vendors shouting out their wares, a woman haggling over prices, children running through the village streets. But for Marry, the bustle was too… bland.
Her old instincts whispered. She felt unfamiliar gazes creeping into the crowd. Her blue eyes narrowed. She scanned the passing faces, the rows of stalls, and the shadows behind the wooden gate at the end of the street.
There she saw it, a black crow perched on the village sign. The bird didn't move, just staring at the market with unearthly grey eyes.
Marry froze for a moment. She recognised the sign. A watch crow. A tool often used by the royal investigative force.
Her hands clenched into fists. She quickly stepped toward Caelan, who was still joking with Thomas, and lifted her little daughter into her arms.
"We're going home, honey. Mom will prepare dinner for you," she said softly, hiding her anxiety.
Caelan tilted her head, "Dinner?! Hooray… Caelan wants to eat the mushroom soup, Mom."
Marry smiled… she turned to Thomas, who was still waving his staff in the air, calling out moves with bombastic names.
"Say, 'Goodbye to Thomas, honey.'"
"Goodbye, Thomas," Caelan said politely.
"Hmm. Go! I still have to practice," Thomas said reluctantly.
They left the market, Marry's steps quick but calm. Behind them, the boy continued to play with his wooden staff, unaware of the crow in the distance still watching intently, unmoving an inch.
—
Among Rose Petals and Shadows…
That night… after Caelan fell asleep in her arms, Marry walked and stood in front of the bedroom window.
Marry looked up at the star-studded sky. But her eyes didn't see the stars. She stared into the darkness of Rose Valley.
Marry knew… This valley would soon have a visitor. And that guest… was no ordinary person to be ignored.
Detective Clara.
The name appeared in her mind like a ghost's whisper. The conscientious detective who nearly uncovered everything.
A detective as sharp as a knife, yet just and unyielding, even when buffeted by the storms that rocked her.
If the incident that shattered the world's memories hadn't happened, Clara might have been the only one who could have uncovered the truth about Blood Rose and her ideological sister, Black Mist.
"Clara... have you come to capture those two fugitives?" Marry smiled faintly. "Or... has the old world begun searching for me again...?"
Marry stood still. She thought of the conscientious detective.
She whispered to the night sky... but the night sky never answered her.
Marry remained silent. The night breeze blew, rustling her silver hair.
Moonlight filtered through the window... and revealed the figure of a blue-eyed woman. Once, her blue eyes were cold and feared by a tyrannical world.
The woman turned her head to look at her little daughter sleeping in bed.
But her blue eyes were no longer cold; instead, their gaze was soft and soothing, like a mother's longing for her child.
Marry stepped closer to the bed. Her silver hair flowed as she lowered her head and kissed her little daughter's forehead.
"I won't let anyone ruin our lives…" Marry stroked her little daughter's silver hair, "… Mama will always protect you, honey."
Outside the house, the red roses that Marry and little Caelan had planted were beginning to bloom in the silent night. As if on guard. Preparing. For the inevitable. Behind the rose petals, the past was ready to emerge. Fate, like time, never truly sleeps.