"Wiltrose Syndrome"

A rural town where the great prairie stretches endlessly. When the wind blows, the grasslands sway like the sea; horses graze peacefully, and at night, a sky full of stars fills the void. In such a peaceful town, Rai and Guest grew up together. It was a tiny town where there seemed to be more horses than people, but to the two of them, it was the whole world.

Tending to horses together since they were small, running through the fields together, getting scolded together. Before they knew it, having the other by their side had become a matter of course.

But one day, the sound of that normalcy crumbling echoed.

It happened on an ordinary day. Rai's eyes suddenly turned a deep madder red. He didn't notice it himself. But Guest was different. Feeling a sense of dread at those unusual eyes, they immediately took Rai to a doctor in the center of the Royal Capital. The moment they entered the examination room, the doctor's eyes widened as if he were seeing something unbelievable. But in the next instant, that expression turned into deep sorrow.

A bad premonition tightens in the depths of the chest. The doctor continued his explanation flatly. Early symptoms rarely appear. In the middle stage, the eyes turn madder red.

And—in the final stage, the body becomes almost immobile, and roses begin to bloom from the body. Eventually, the full-bloomed roses wither and fall, and at that moment, the person's life ends. It was a cruel disease, as if one were born just to become a flower.