The forest burned, yet the flames did not touch her.
Aria ran barefoot over scorched earth, lungs burning, heart hammering so loudly she thought it might burst. Smoke curled into the night sky, thick and choking, yet it twisted around her, almost as if the forest itself recognized her presence. She didn't understand why she ran—only that a voice, soft and haunting, called her name.
Aria…
Her breath caught. Tiny fox-shaped wisps flickered among the flames, their glowing eyes fixed on her. One brushed her ankle, warm yet gentle, and she stumbled back. Fear and awe twisted together in her chest, making it impossible to move.
From the swirling smoke, a figure emerged. Tall, wrapped in silver light that shimmered even in the darkness. His hair, dark as midnight, spilled over his shoulders like liquid silk, framing a face too perfect to be human. But it was his eyes that rooted her to the spot—golden, molten, alive with a power that both terrified and enthralled her.
Behind him, nine tails fanned outward, shimmering like threads of moonlight, each moving independently, swaying as if alive.
"Who… who are you?" Aria whispered, voice trembling.
The man's lips curved into a faint, unreadable smile. "I am the one your soul has been waiting for. The one who will either save you… or destroy you."
The ground trembled beneath her feet. Smoke and fire swirled violently, forming a vortex that tugged at her balance. She reached for him—but the forest dissolved into darkness, and the echo of his words lingered in her mind.
Aria woke with a gasp, chest heaving, blankets tangled around her legs. Her small room was cool, silent except for the sound of her ragged breathing. Sweat clung to her skin as though the dream's heat had followed her into reality.
Slowly, she lowered her eyes to her wrist. Her birthmark—the tiny fox curled into nine tails, faint since childhood—glowed softly.
"No… it was just a dream," she whispered, though the pulsing warmth beneath her sleeve told her otherwise.
Her mind raced. Dreams didn't leave marks. Dreams didn't make fire bend around her. Dreams didn't have eyes that could see into her soul.
Her heartbeat thundered as a shiver ran down her spine. Something was coming for her. Something real.
Pressing her hand to the glowing mark, she felt warmth—and a strange connection she couldn't explain. "What does it mean?" she asked the silence. "Why me?"
A soft knock at her window made her flinch. Outside, the night was still, but the mark pulsed again, as if responding to an unseen presence. Aria wrapped her sleeve around her wrist, biting her lip. One thing was certain: nothing would ever be the same again.
The memory of his golden eyes burned in her mind. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen them before—though she knew it was impossible. They held promises she didn't understand, yet stirred something deep within her—a pull she could not resist.
A faint whisper drifted on the wind, brushing her ears. The bride… the fox… the awakening…
Her chest tightened, a mixture of dread, curiosity, and a spark of hope curling in her stomach. Aria drew in a shaky breath. Fate had begun its work, and her life had already shifted. She could no longer pretend she was ordinary. Something had awakened. Something powerful.
And the fox prince was waiting.