“Then you must answer my riddle: What is red but cannot bleed, hot but cannot burn, and is found only in a heart that has been broken? ”

He swallowed her whole into his thorny chest.

Cappuccetta didn’t hesitate. She returned to the merchant’s cart — he had collapsed in the square, exhausted — and asked to borrow the cloaks.

And the little girl who was once called Cappuccetta became known as — Little Riding Hood of the Five Colors .

“Green Hood,” he hissed. “You want to pass? Then lose yourself. The Green Trial is not about finding your way — it’s about becoming part of the forest.”

The wolf bowed his head. “Correct. The Red Trial is passed.” He vanished, leaving behind a single ruby seed. She planted the ruby seed. Immediately, a massive hedge grew, blocking the path. From the hedge emerged the Thorn King — a creature made of brambles, vines, and creeping ivy. His eyes were green as poison.

“I see a girl who became every color so she could remember that none of us are just one thing,” she said.