Confession under the crown of thorns

St. Mary's College Old Rose Garden 6:13 AM

The morning mist covered the rose garden like a soft shroud. As Emily's fingertips touched the gate, the iron bars were instantly covered with a layer of frost. This wasn't right—there shouldn't be frost in the early morning of August, let alone frost flowers forming Celtic knot patterns at a visible speed.

"Grandmother?" she whispered, and a wisp of lavender scent drifted through the white mist in response.The two-hundred-year-old "Montague Glory" rose at the center of the garden suddenly shook violently, despite there being not a single breeze. Bright red petals fell like rain, rotting into black mud upon hitting the ground. When Emily rushed to the rose bush, she discovered a gruesome wound on the main stem, oozing dark red sap—the scent was unmistakably a mixture of blood and seawater.

The Secret Beneath the Tree Roots 6:27 AM

On the third swing of the shovel, it struck a metal object. Emily knelt in the damp soil and pulled out a bronze mirror frame entangled in tree roots. Despite severe corrosion, the engraved markings on the metal surface were still discernible:

William Arthur Montague

1999.12.24-2035.02.15

"Is this his... future date of death?" Emily's fingertips brushed over the year, six years older than her own, and the frame suddenly grew scorching hot. Where the mirror should have been, an irregular piece of obsidian was embedded, its surface reflecting William's image in some mirrored chamber—he was speaking to the air, and two shadows lay on the ground.The tree roots suddenly wrapped around her wrists like snakes. As Emily struggled, the birthmark behind her ear began to burn, and the surface of the obsidian cracked with a "crack," and William's image turned into that of old Rockefeller cutting the rose roots with a silver knife.William stood at the top of the bell tower, covered in blood, with a pocket watch chain wrapped around an old-fashioned key—the same one that was in his mother's jewelry box.

The Price and the Revelation

When the first rays of sunlight pierced through the fog, Emily discovered:

1. The birthmark behind her ear had faded to a pale pink.

2. The death date on the frame of the glasses was missing the last digit (2035→203_).

3. There was an extra piece of amethyst petal in her pocket, engraved with coordinates.

When the clock struck seven, her phone received an encrypted message from William: "Don't leave after school today; I'll take you to meet someone. He knows your grandmother."

The attachment was a yellowed photo of two people—a young Uncle William and Margaret on a ship's deck, with the date in the corner reading: February 14, 2003.