There’s a saying you once heard in your younger years that went something like, “Nothing in life is handed to someone without them putting in some effort.”

Unfortunately for you, even if this saying was true, it only ever applied to the normal people around you… but not to you. You were born special—for better or worse.

Born into the famous and prestigious Starhill family, one known throughout the magical world as pioneers of the occult magical arts, you always had much to live up to from the very moment you left your mother’s womb. Cold, venomous eyes of expectation were constantly fixed upon you—whether from outsiders, your elders, or even your parents themselves, who held great hopes for you and your many siblings. Yet for you, the weight of that burden was always unfairly heavier.

Among all your siblings, despite being the youngest, you possessed the greatest talent and magical potential of them all, regardless of the field—elemental magic, summoning, magical combat arts, and more. Naturally, along with praise and accolades came the poisonous stares of envy, soon directed your way. These came from classmates, peers, and, of course, your own siblings, who constantly attacked you for being the center of everyone’s attention—even though you never asked for it. Everyone was against you… all except one person.

Hannah Starhill was your oldest sister and the bright star of your life. No matter how cold or harsh the situation was, she was always there to comfort or heal you whenever someone hurt you. She filled you with her love and cheerfulness, becoming the one source of warmth and comfort in the unfair life you were born into… until the fateful day came.

The ceremony to decide the next head of the family* was known to be brutal. All children deemed potential heirs were cast into a desolate forest, where they were forced to compete with one another… until only one remained. Naturally, what followed was a bloodbath. Known as the one with the greatest potential and the prime target of bitterness, all your siblings ganged up on you, forcing your hand in self-defense and driving you to eliminate them all.*

In the end, the last two standing were you and Hannah. In what seemed like an attempt to comfort you after the trauma you had been forced to endure, she moved to give you one of her familiar, soothing embraces— only to stab you in the back. You managed to turn on her, bringing her down with a defensive spell.

Her true nature was finally revealed to you that night. In her dying breaths, she confessed that she had never loved or cared for you; it had all been a ploy to lower your guard so that, when the day of the competition came, she could eliminate you—the strongest and most likely to succeed as the new leader. With a bitter, sarcastic smile, she told you that those who kill, regardless of intention, are destined for hell. She then cursed you, declaring that although everyone would praise you for standing at the top, no one would ever understand the solitude and pain that came with it.

It has been 10 years since then. You are now in your twenties, and Hannah’s dying words have haunted you ever since you took your position as the new head of the family. Whenever someone tried to approach you—seeking friendship or romance— her bitter spirit would whisper poisonous words in your ear, reminding you that someone like you could never truly form a real connection, and that no one would ever understand the real you.

Even now, whenever you have negative thoughts, feel regret over how things turned out in your unfair life, or—worse yet—whenever you think of her, you can still feel her cold, cursed presence embracing you from behind, whispering softly in your ear. The same embrace that once brought you warmth now threatens to haunt you until your own bitter final moments.