Rose, the goddess of spring and life, beloved by all living things, was also known by her other name, Persephone, which means ‘virgin’. 

Once a young and innocent girl, Rose grew into a fine lady. Together with her mother, Demeter, the goddess of the earth, she vowed to live forever as a virgin goddess. But one day, while picking flowers, Rose was kidnapped by Pluto, the King of the Underworld, and forcibly made his wife. 

Carrying a torch, Demeter wandered the earth day and night in search of her daughter. Moved by her grief, the creator god ordered Pluto to bring Rose back. But Rose had already eaten the pomegranate seeds Pluto had given her, and she was bound to the underworld.

Thus the Goddess of Spring never again saw the light of the earth, and an eternal winter descended upon the land. 

At dawn, Rose awoke alone in bed. Clean morning light streamed in through the wide window. Her husband was nowhere to be seen, having clearly left the bedroom before she awoke. 

As she stepped out of bed, her foot brushed against a tattered, ragged piece of clothing lying on the floor. She shook it off with a quick movement and stood in front of the vanity mirror. Beneath her withered short hair, pink as the colour of dried roses, was a dark handprint on her neck. 

She had woken like this for hundreds of years. 

Her husband, the demon king Pluto, had an unusual habit of choking his wife during their nights together. At first he claimed that her pale, frightened face was beautiful and drove her to the brink of fainting. In time, however, he began to take her life for real. 

At the hands of her husband, the God of Death, Rose died each night like a mere toy, only to be resurrected each morning. The days of begging and pleading for her life were now a distant memory. 

Rose took a quick look at her horn, which her foot had accidentally kicked, before quickly washing up and leaving the bedroom. 

She walked slowly through the corridors of the castle. As she passed, the servants all bowed their heads in respect, but not one greeted her with words or sounds. 

Through the stares that lingered on her tattered clothes, Rose slowly made her way to the rose-filled garden. 

Psst! 

Sitting on a bench by the fountain, Rose closed her eyes. Listening to the sound of clean, flowing water amidst the maze of rose vines was her only solace on an otherwise tedious day. 

Three thousand years ago, Rose, once the goddess of spring and life, was kidnapped by her husband and brought to this place. 

When she was young, she wished desperately for someone to come and rescue her, but even the hand of her mother, the goddess of the earth, could not reach this hellish place. 

After being taken to a strange land where she began to wither, Pluto comforted her each night with sweet words. He would hold her close, embrace her as she cried, drowning in her grief. Again and again, when she was too weak and exhausted to resist, Pluto held her again and again, without stopping. 

Through his touch, she gradually forgot her pain and suffering – and her sense of self. 

Unable to remember her original name, which had melted away in the suffocating embrace of love, Pluto gave her a new one. 

She became Rose, the Queen of the Underworld. 

“There you are, my love.” 

Hearing a noise ahead of her, Rose opened her eyes. Pluto was approaching, pushing aside the rose vines draped under the archway. 

“I’ve been looking for you for a while.” 

He stroked her hair gently as he approached. His hand trailed down the back of her head, brushing past her neck and resting on her shoulder. Rose flinched, her shoulder trembling at the touch of her neck. 

“Have you eaten, my wife?” 

“No, not yet.” 

“Good. I rushed to finish my meeting so we could eat together.” 

He smiled as his thumb traced her neck, almost as if to confirm his mark on her. As his face moved closer, as if to kiss her, Rose closed her eyes gently. 

“Just for a moment before.” 

The hand that had touched her waist without permission carefully parted the collar of her clothing. As if by habit, Rose wrapped her arms around Pluto’s neck and clung to him. Physical contact with Pluto was the only time she felt warm. 

Because of her husband’s overwhelming jealousy – he would gouge out the eyes of any demon who so much as looked at her – Rose lived in constant isolation, with no one to greet her or speak to her. 

In this harsh and desolate world, Pluto was the only presence that felt alive to Rose. So no matter what he did to her, she accepted it. The rougher he treated her, the more she felt loved. 

It certainly used to be. 

With a hand on her thigh, Rose slowly opened her eyes. Somewhere along the line, her body had stopped responding to Pluto’s touch, and their kisses no longer brought her the pleasure they once did. 

Noticing the change, Pluto persistently asked if she was angry with him, but she wasn’t. How could she be angry with him now? He had always been her whole world. 

But this life had simply lost its meaning. 

Rose had long forgotten what pain or suffering felt like – those emotions had long since faded away. All that remained was a sense of boredom. Even the once intense warmth of her husband, who had once pursued her so passionately, now felt tiresome to her. 

Rose stared at Pluto’s exuberant face with dry eyes. Although the servants were still in the garden, Pluto paid no attention to them as he reached for the hem of her skirt. The servants’ glances felt like intrusive touches to her, no different from her husband’s hands roaming over her body. 

Under the blinding sunlight that stung her eyes, the sound of clean, flowing water mixed with chaotic noise. Lying on the bench with her husband’s hands around her neck, Rose made a fleeting, foolish wish. 

Ah. It would be nice if this all just went away. 

One day, under the fountain, that broken wish suddenly came true. 

It was a night with a red moon high in the sky. 

“Ahhhhhh!” 

Hearing a scream from somewhere, Rose stepped outside, only to find the corridor eerily silent. Looking around the castle, now as quiet as a haunted ruin, she let out a small sigh. 

Ah, the Holy Knights have returned. 

The warriors once called Heroes were now known as Holy Knights, apostles of the gods. Periodically, they would invade the Demon King’s castle to kill her husband. 

Once, Rose had foolishly hoped that they would rescue her, but even after thousands of years, humanity had failed to save her. 

The demons who served Pluto, the god of death, were immortal beings, but they were no match for the servants of the gods. Struck by blades imbued with divine power, the demons lost their physical forms and were completely destroyed. 

The reason Pluto kidnapped Rose and brought her to his side was to prepare for this.

As long as Rose remained at Pluto’s side, he was an immortal being. Possessing the power to rule life, Rose could even revive extinguished souls. Since she had been brought to his side, the underworld ruled by Pluto had become an impenetrable fortress. 

But when was the last time so many of his subordinates had been killed? 

As Rose walked slowly down the silent corridor, she muttered to herself, What does it matter? The souls that had gone to the underworld could simply be brought back later by her husband. After all, it was not her job to waste her time resurrecting lowly beings. 

While the humans, who had given their all to defeat the Demon King, basked in their victory and let their guard down, Rose retrieved her husband’s soul from his fading body. She kissed his dying spirit and brought him back to life. 

Her husband, who normally never experienced death, never missed an opportunity when the Holy Knights arrived. 

Pluto would always deliberately exhaust a human’s strength to the brink of collapse before deliberately exposing a weakness and waiting for Rose’s kiss to revive him. He took great pleasure in appearing before humans who thought they had narrowly escaped death, and mercilessly crushing what little hope they had left until it was gone. 

Caring for Pluto after his cruel games had long been Rose’s responsibility. 

Through the darkened corridors, Rose made her way to the banquet hall.