Before the Red Lantern

Min Wolhee stood beneath the red lantern with blood on her hand and knew she had failed again. Three times, she returned to the first day of the palace’s Golden Week. Three times, she tried to stop a disaster in the women’s quarters. Fire came once. Locked rooms and missing women came next. The third time took Myeonghui from her. On her fourth return, Wolhee stopped chasing a perfect ending. She planned to guide the coming disaster toward a loss she could live with. Then Myeonghui appeared with a brass token hidden in her sleeve and a look that said she remembered nothing. Only the two of them could see red in a palace where every warning looked grey to everyone else. Wolhee had one secret, ...