Chapter 1

Chapter One: "When Ink Dissolves into Blood"

Scene One: The Real World

Rain tapped rhythmically against the windowpane of the small café as Yuki sat in her usual corner, turning the pages of the battered book for the seventh time. Her fingers eagerly traced the words as if touching a piece of another world.

"Emperor of the Crimson Beasts"—the words printed on the cover looked faded from so much touching, but the pain in her heart was as sharp as ever.

"Why can't anyone see the truth?" she whispered to herself, her fingers brushing the margins filled with her notes in shaky handwriting.

"Theodore didn't kill them in cold blood!"

"There's something missing in this scene..."

"Why was he crying when he thought he was alone?"

From the next table, she heard mocking laughter: "Look at the crazy Yuki who fell in love with a fictional character!"

She pressed the book even tighter, her eyes brimming with suppressed tears. "If you knew how oppressed he is..."

Scene Two: The Magic Moment

On the way back in the pouring rain, she clutched the book to her chest as a shield against the chill of the night. The yellow street lights reflected off the pooling puddles, creating a magical little world.

Suddenly, lightning struck the old street fountain. Golden sparks shot through the air, and strange rainbow colors reflected off the book's cover.

"You're the only one who saw the truth... Help him!"

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She felt strangely dizzy, as if the world was melting around her...

Scene Three: Waking Up in Another World

"Lady Vericia, it's time for the party!"

She woke to the sound of a maid's voice, but it wasn't her own. Looking into the huge mirror in front of her, she saw a face she'd never seen before—the face of a sixteen-year-old teenager with hair as black as night and eyes as green as emeralds.

"Vericia... Vericia Van Drake!"

This was the minor villain in the novel—the one who was supposed to turn Lucien against his father and later be killed by Theodore himself!

Her hands trembled as she looked at her reflection. The blood-red dress, the beautiful but cold face, everything was exactly as the novel had described.

Scene Four: The Painful Truth

The maid leaned closer and whispered in a low voice, "Don't forget the plan to ensnare Prince Lucien with you tonight, my lady. The Emperor must pay for the murder of your family."

New Vericia was shocked. "The murder of my family?"

Memories suddenly flooded back—memories that weren't hers, but had become part of her. She saw Theodore standing in front of the Van Drake mansion, flames consuming everything, blood on the dagger in his hand...

"No... this can't be real. Theodore can't be a cold-blooded murderer!"

Scene Five: The Fateful Encounter

She drifted through the crowd in the great banquet hall, her heart pounding. She looked for him with her eyes, for the man she loved through the printed letters. And there, on the balcony overlooking the palace gardens, she saw him.

Theodore—the emperor described in the novel as the Crimson Beast—stood alone, clutching the same dagger with which he had killed the people of Vericia, but his eyes...

His eyes were not those of a cold-blooded killer. They held a deep sadness, a pain incommensurate with the executioner described in the novel.

When her eyes met his for the first time, time stood still. The distance between them was great, but something passed between them—something she could not describe.

"Now I understand..." she whispered to herself, her heart racing. "Fate gave me Vericia's body for a reason. Because she is the only person who can reveal the wound that dagger left in his heart before mine."

This would be an impossible love... How could someone love someone who killed their family? How could a murderer love someone who came to avenge him?

But maybe... perhaps the truth is deeper than the bloodshed.

Continued in Chapter Two...