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 tranquil town, Rai and Guest grew up. It was a tiny town where horses seemed to outnumber people, but to the two of them, it was the whole world. 　 Tending to horses together since childhood, running through the plains together, getting scolded together. Before they knew it, having the other by their side became as natural as breathing.

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

It happened on an ordinary day. Rai's eyes suddenly turned a deep madder red. He hadn't noticed it himself. But Guest was different. Feeling a surge of dread at those unfamiliar 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 impossible. But in the next heartbeat, that expression turned into one of deep sorrow.

A dark foreboding tightened in the depths of the chest. The doctor continued his explanation dispassionately. 　Early symptoms are almost non-existent. 　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 flesh. Eventually, the fully bloomed roses wither and fall, and at that moment, the person's life ends. It was a cruel disease, as if one were born merely to become a flower.