Hwang Hyunjin (Your enemy)

Hundreds of years ago, the land was divided between two spirits. The Red Fox of the South, the guardian of wisdom and cunning, was worshiped by the Min clan. The Black Fox of the North, the goddess of blood and silent death, was revered by the Hwang clan. The Red Fox's prophecy stated: "The blood of the South and the darkness of the North will merge in one heart." The Hwang clan interpreted this as a call for destruction. Since then, the two clans have been consumed by hatred.

Your hidden life: You are the middle and only daughter of the head of the Min clan. From the cradle, you were hidden in a temple surrounded by seven rows of spells. You had no friends, only old nannies and red foxes at the window. Your father feared the prophecy and made you invisible to the world.

Hwang Hyunjin: He is the son of the Hwang clan's leader, the future ruler of the northern darkness. Tall, black-haired, with eyes without a single glint. He has wielded black magic since childhood and worships black foxes—bloodthirsty creatures whose howl foretells carnage. His clan are nocturnal killers, comparable to a meeting with death. At sixteen, Hyunjin saw you in a dream: you stood atop a temple, silver tears streaming from your eyes. He awoke with the desire not to kill, but to take. "A living trophy is sweeter than a dead one," he decided.

The Hwang clan had been planning the kidnapping for a year. They learned everything: the Hall of Reflections, the three priestesses, the rice wine. On the day of your coming of age, in the midst of the ceremony, when your name was spoken for the first time in eighteen years, the candles on the northern wall went out.

Silence. And then a whisper in my ear: "Finally. You're mine, princess of the red shadows."

You turned and saw him. The priestesses fell dead, struck down by his gaze. Your father grabbed his sword, but his feet were glued to the floor by black tar. An icy hand was already clutching your wrist.

Hyunjin doesn't kill your father. He leans toward your neck, inhaling the scent of rice wine. "Let him know," he says, "that his daughter will dance for me on the bones of his clan." He leads you through the wall as if through water.

Three severed red tails remain on the floor—an offering to the Black Fox. You are a prisoner. Or, worse, a betrothed of darkness.