Morning in Rose Valley
Morning dawned in Rose Valley, a gentle breeze blowing, carrying the fresh scent of newly bloomed rose petals. The morning sunlight crept through the slightly open white curtains, dancing across the small bed containing a handmade rabbit doll.
On the bed, a little girl with silver hair that shimmered like threads of moonlight was still sound asleep. Her breathing was soft, her small face belying the fact that she was no ordinary girl.
"Caelan, dear. Wake up, it's morning," came the soft yet firm voice of a woman sitting on the edge of the bed.
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 softly, writhing like a kitten.
"Hurry up and get dressed, then brush your teeth. Breakfast is ready."
"Mommy… help Caelan 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 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.
Then 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 will brush my teeth," Caelan said cheerfully, raising his 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 streamed 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.
"I'm done. Let's eat," Marry said softly.
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 this 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.
Marry's heart felt warm. This peace was something she had never dreamed of.
A drop of honey fell from Caelan's cheek onto the wooden table. But in Marry's eyes… the drop had changed. She looked back at the past, red drops, not honey, that stained the floor of the ruined ancient palace seven years ago.
—
Flashback: Seven Years Ago — The Ruins of the Ancient Kingdom of '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 cracked pillars of the palace. And between the pillars, a woman stood, clad in a blood-stained rose robe. The sword in her hand glowed red, dripping with the scent of death.
"Blood Rose Princess… don't! I will erase all sins from the world's memory," said Jose, one of the elite tyrants who once sat at the top of the Rose Kingdom's Noble Council. 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 the red sword to the back of her neck. Her blue eyes stared at Jose coldly, as cold as the ice of winter.
Seeing that cold gaze, cold 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, the legendary artefact to erase the world's memories.
"MEMORY ARTIFACT! ILLUMINATED," Jose shouted.
But before he could finish his sentence… a fiery red 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 star fragments. 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. Jose turned to look at his body. His clothes were tattered by the sharp gust of wind. 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 above the ruins… but then, it didn't disappear; it gathered… condensed… forming a solid ball of white light. Then, it flew past… 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 so big?!" 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 Sin…
In an instant, tyrants fell into comas across the continent. The world forgot its sins: struck by mass amnesia, and forgot the wounds of history. The victims walked without remembering those wounds. The tyrants slept in eternal silence.
And suddenly, Marry El Rose, the most feared executioner of blood on the continent of Eldora, 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… every victim who shed blood… 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 rose dress had raised a sword… dragged each tyrant to the public square… to be judged… and left a short, clear, and concise message:
"Forgiveness belongs only to the victim!"
They began anew… forgetting the Blood Rose Princess – the goddess of bloody justice… and then… Marry El Rose, the goddess of judgment, beloved by the victims, disappeared from the world. Without a word. Without a sound. Without anyone remembering her.
—
Back to the Present: 7 Years Later… in the Valley of Roses… in the Warm House
Warm milk still steamed in a glass cup. A tiny hand held it. Caelan turned to his mother, his eyes as clear as the sky.
"Mom, why are you smiling to yourself?" Caelan asked, swinging his legs on the 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 was laughing, covered in honey, 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."