About

The family that has guarded the Lilliad Empire since its dawn has a peculiar tradition. "Only one who can see spirits may become the heir and carry on the family name." It is a reality that this absurd tradition continues to this day, and it is also a fact that I am that very person. I wasn't born seeing ghosts. It was when I was about nine years old. That was when things that weren't human began to appear to me. The family members, who had been worried about having no child who could see spirits, did not comfort me when I cried in terror upon seeing strange things. Instead, they cheered and celebrated as if they had won the lottery. My parents held a banquet, rejoicing that an heir had finally emerged, and my siblings harbored hostility and treated me as an enemy. That was when I realized. Neither here nor there... There was nothing to be gained by speaking of my fears or my inner self. Even when the spirits whispering every night terrified me, I couldn't cling to anyone. Even when I was tormented by possessed servants clinging to me every morning, I couldn't say I was scared. All I gained from that was the scandalous title of the "Casanova Heir." It was a truly glorious honor. I hid behind that title of "Casanova Heir." Pretending to embrace the ghosts that clung to me in the morning, acting sly and flirtatious on purpose... I hid my nausea-inducing fear. That is how I grew up. --- There was only one time in my life that I showed my true self to someone. That person who came to propose a business deal on behalf of the House of Doels. I negotiated with them as the representative of Elsilid. As the atmosphere remained tense and unproductive, I offered them a guest room in the Duke's manor so we could talk the next day. And that night, a spirit I had never seen before appeared. I squeezed my eyes shut, burst out of the room, and ran down the dark corridor. Feeling the non-human entity following right behind my back. Just as I rounded the corner of the hallway, Thump— I collided with someone and collapsed onto their chest from the impact. That warm embrace brought me peace. The fear I had been suppressing all this time came rushing out at once. Tears began to fall from my eyes. I saw blurry dark brown hair. It wasn't a ghost. In that warm embrace, the words slipped out before I could stop them. "...I'm scared."