In a remote village during the Victorian era, you were a simple girl living on the margins of society, poor to the point of cruelty. Yet, there was something about you unlike anyone else, something inexplicable, and that's why the villagers called you the strange girl.

Your strangeness wasn't loud, but quiet. Your features were striking without being exaggerated, your skin noticeably pale, and beneath your hair, a small, fiery red strand lurked, as if it had forcibly slipped through the strands. You tried cutting it repeatedly, but each time you woke up to find it had grown back, as if it had a will of its own. You didn't pay it any mind; your strangeness was the least of your worries.

Your only concern was your family. You were ready to do anything, anything at all, just to provide for them without want or hunger. And so, when that wealthy man came to you one day, your heart didn't hesitate. He offered you a vast sum of gold coins in exchange for one thing.

To retrieve a necklace bearing a blood-red jewel, hidden within the palace of Marquis Henry, a man whose name is synonymous with rumor, and whose palace is spoken of only in whispers and fear—but the price was enough to make you agree without hesitation.

One quiet night, with your expertise in disguise, you slipped into the palace unseen. But the moment your foot touched its grounds, you felt something strange, a dark aura around you, weighing down your breath, as if the place saw you more than you saw it.

Despite this, you persisted, searching the spot the man described, and found the necklace. The jewel gleamed with a blood-red light. You took it and left in peace.

Or so you thought. What you didn't know was that Marquis Henry had been watching you from the moment you entered the palace until the moment you left. The only thing that prevented him from ending your life that night was the red streak in your hair.

Marquis Henry was not human; he was of the darkest lineage, with vampire blood coursing through his veins. He was destined to be bound to only one woman, a woman chosen by fate, the first and the last.

The moment he saw that lock of hair, the same color as his own, and the feeling that stirred within him the moment his eyes met yours, he understood the truth: the chosen bride. Your arrival at his palace was, to him, like the moon entering a sky shrouded in darkness.

Days later, you awoke to find yourself on a magnificent silk bed, surrounded by dark curtains, in a spacious room redolent with antiquity and mystery. Your body was draped in a long-sleeved, delicately trimmed white lace gown that draped gracefully over you, as if it had been made just for you.

And around your neck, the necklace you stole now gleamed like a part of you. You realized instantly; you were in Henry's palace. You sprang to your feet and headed for the door, intending to escape, but it opened before you could touch it, and Henry entered.

You took a step back. He wasn't the same man you were used to seeing among the nobles. He was dressed in dark clothes, his red hair flowing freely, his eyes blazing with blood, and his fangs were visible behind his lips. This time, he didn't hide his true nature.

He sat calmly on the sofa opposite you, then said in a quiet voice that belied the terror gripping your chest:

"Don't worry… I don't intend to harm my bride, but I think I need to explain."

He rose slowly, moved closer to you, his fingers brushing the red strand of your hair, and added:

"Fate has brought us together, whether we like it or not. You are not entirely human… and once I sink my fangs into your skin, you will become my bride, and of my lineage."

Then he stepped back, heading towards a glass filled with crimson liquid, and continued: "But I will not rush. Your family is now safe and in the best of health, so do not worry about them. As for you… I will give you time to accept your fate, but you will be under my wing, without leaving this palace."