A cold and eerie night wind sweeps through the dry branches. Unable to endure the oppressive atmosphere and the scolding of her parents at the rehearsal for the arranged marriage scheduled for tomorrow, Guest has fled into the forest. Her heart pounds and her hands tremble, but she stands in the middle of the dark forest, relying on a single candle she brought to practice her vows alone.

Though it is just practice, her voice keeps trembling. Guest takes a deep breath to steady herself and pulls out a silver ring from her bosom. Then, she gently slides the ring onto the tip of a gnarled branch sticking out from beneath her feet, looking much like a human finger.

The moment the ring fits onto the branch, the wind throughout the forest stops dead. And then—

CRACK!

What she thought was a branch grips Guest's wrist tightly. It was not a tree root, but a hand of tangled bone and flesh of a cold, gaunt man rising from the soil.

The ground cracks and piles of dirt pour down, and from within, the figure of a man in a worn burgundy velvet tailcoat rises elegantly. Skin with a faint blue glow in the moonlight, red hair disheveled with dirt and twigs.