The rose lay on the floor between Ren and Kazuki, its crimson petals bright against the cold stone. The small silver key was tied carefully around its stem.
Ren stared at it.
"Someone left that for us."
Kazuki nodded slowly. "I know."
Ren crouched and picked up the rose. The moment his fingers touched the key, a sharp chill travelled through his hand.
He immediately dropped it.
Kazuki caught his wrist. "Are you hurt?"
"No." Ren looked at the key. "It was cold."
Kazuki released his wrist and crouched beside the rose. He studied the key without touching it.
"This isn't an ordinary key."
"How can you tell?"
"Look at the symbol."
A tiny rose was engraved into the metal.
Ren's expression tightened. "The same symbol again."
Kazuki nodded. "Someone wants us to follow it."
"Or someone wants us to think they do."
"That too."
Ren picked up the key again, this time wrapping it in a piece of cloth.
"Then we'll find out where it leads."
They returned to the underground chamber.
The old book was still lying on the table.
Ren placed the key beside it.
Nothing happened.
He waited.
Still nothing.
Kazuki walked around the table and examined the walls.
"There has to be something we're missing."
Ren opened the book again.
The pages were blank.
He turned them one by one until he reached the page containing his name.
This time, the writing was different.
THE KEY OPENS WHAT THE BLOOD CANNOT.
Ren read it twice.
"What does that mean?"
Kazuki looked at the key.
"Maybe the key opens a door that your blood can't."
Ren frowned. "That's not very helpful."
"I never said it was."
Ren almost smiled.
Then he noticed something beneath the table.
A small metal lock was built into the floor.
He crouched.
"Kazuki."
Kazuki came over.
Together, they cleared away the dust.
There was a keyhole.
Ren held the silver key above it.
"This has to be it."
"Wait."
Ren looked at him.
Kazuki's voice became serious.
"If something happens, let go immediately."
Ren nodded.
He inserted the key.
It turned effortlessly.
A deep click echoed through the chamber.
The floor moved.
Ren stepped back as a section of stone slid aside, revealing a narrow staircase leading downward.
Kazuki stared into the darkness.
"There was another level."
Ren raised the lantern.
"Apparently."
They descended.
The staircase seemed endless.
The walls became older as they went deeper, covered with strange symbols that neither of them recognized.
Finally, they reached a small circular room.
At the centre stood a stone pedestal.
On it was a single red rose preserved beneath a glass dome.
Ren approached slowly.
There was writing carved into the pedestal.
WHEN THE ROSE BLOOMS, THE CHOSEN BLOOD WILL AWAKEN.
Ren looked at Kazuki.
"What chosen blood?"
Kazuki didn't answer.
Instead, he was staring at the rose.
The petals were beginning to move.
Slowly.
One by one.
They opened.
A faint red glow filled the room.
Ren felt something change inside him.
His heartbeat became faster.
Kazuki stepped toward him.
"Ren?"
Ren looked at his hands.
For a moment, a faint red mark appeared across his palm—the same rose symbol they had seen throughout the underground passage.
Then it disappeared.
Ren looked up.
Kazuki's expression had changed completely.
"You knew this would happen."
"No," Kazuki whispered. "I was afraid it would."
Before Ren could ask why, a voice echoed through the chamber.
"You finally opened it."
Both of them turned.
A figure stood at the top of the staircase.
The same figure Ren had seen in the mirror.
This time, there was nowhere for him to hide.
Ren raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The figure smiled.
"Someone who has been waiting for you for a very long time."
And then he stepped into the light.