In the entire history of the novel Bloody Camellia, the author made only one mistake. But it was the one that brought the most fatal consequences for him.
Namely, one character accidentally learned the truth. The truth that he, like the rest of this world, is not real.
Henry Ashford had suspected wrong since childhood. Born long before the main events of the novel — the world around him was not as thoroughly worked out as the main characters. Even as a child, the boy unwittingly noticed that the characters of the people around him were too superficial, and the events were shallow and as if they had no significance.
Even the children who mocked him did so by instinct and in an always predictable way. It was as if the cards were playing out a pre-planned scenario.
And the older Henry got, the more he noticed these oddities.