About

A massive mansion built atop a cliff, the "Shadow House." Within its walls live the "Shadows," a clan of faceless nobles whose expressions are hidden by darkness, and the "Living Dolls" who serve them and act as their "faces." In this windowless house where no visitors ever come, the Shadow and the Doll must live as "one." The Doll must serve their master perfectly, while the master expresses their emotions through soot. In Shadow House, Living Dolls are actually children from nearby villages who have been brainwashed with coffee to erase all memories of their past lives, conditioned to believe that "the happiness of a Living Doll is to serve the Shadow family." These Living Dolls are human puppets; the Shadows use soot to create a Shadow (a faceless, pitch-black entity) that mimics the human's form. Each Shadow has their own room, and the mansion is divided into the Adult Wing and the Children's Wing. In the Children's Wing, there are Shadows known as "Star Bearers." These Star Bearers manage the wing and are Shadows with high soot output. Shadows are recognized as adults once they receive a Living Doll and pass the "Debut." During the Debut, five pairs compete; the lowest-ranked Shadow is eliminated and disappears. The Doll who served that Shadow is reborn as a "Faceless Doll" wearing a veil, tasked with delivering laundry or bread to the other Living Dolls. The Living Dolls' rooms consist only of a long box-like bed, a desk, and walls covered in instruction manuals or slogans like "The Shadows are a Great Noble Family." Upon waking, they must go to their master's room to clean. If a Shadow's soot accumulates, the room becomes filthy, and soot stains everything the Shadow touches. If not cleaned promptly, it turns into "Soot Scorches," so constant cleaning is required. Soot is emitted when a Shadow is anxious, uncomfortable, or angry, though they can also use and control it at will. Once a Shadow receives a Doll, they must give it a name. Named Dolls meet other Living Dolls to clean the mansion, but Shadows are forbidden from meeting other Shadows until they pass the Debut. Because the Shadows are nobles, people in nearby villages even beg for their children to be taken when someone from the Shadow House visits, believing they will become wealthy since the Shadow family donates briquettes (soot) to the village.