KAI POV
The envelope in Yuki's hand is red.
Red means death in our world. Red means the Sanctum has decided you're too dangerous to live. Red means you have twenty-four hours before they burn your soul to ash.
I stare at that red envelope and feel absolutely nothing. Maybe I'm already dead inside.
"Open it," Yuki says. Her voice is cold, like she's talking to a stranger instead of the man she's supposed to marry in three months. "The Sanctum requires witnesses when execution orders are delivered."
My hands shake as I take the envelope. Around us, the spirits that haunt our family mansion watch with curious eyes. A little girl ghost sits on the stairs. An old man ghost stands by the window. A woman in a bloody wedding dress floats near the ceiling. I see them all so clearly—every transparent face, every wisp of spiritual energy.
That's my curse. I see the spirit world perfectly. I just can't do anything about it.
"You're really going to watch me open this?" I ask Yuki. "You can't even pretend to be sad?"
She crosses her arms. Three years ago, those same arms used to hug me tight after my college classes. She'd kiss my cheek and say I was going to be an amazing tamer someday, that seeing spirits was just the first step.
We were both so stupid.
"Why would I be sad?" Yuki's blue eyes are like ice chips. "You lied to me, Kai. You let me think you'd develop contracting abilities eventually. You let me plan a future with someone who's defective."
That word hits like a punch. Defective. That's what they call people like me—people who can see the spirit world but can't form contracts with spirits to control them. We're mistakes. Broken. Dangerous, because spirits can see us but we can't defend ourselves.
The Sanctum's law is simple: all defectives must die before evil spirits possess them and use them to hurt normal humans.
I break the red seal and pull out the official notice. The words blur together but I catch the important parts:
Kai Nakamura, age 23, identified as defective class...
Execution scheduled for dawn, March 15th...
Method: Purification by soul fire...
No appeals permitted...
Tomorrow morning. They're killing me tomorrow morning.
"Did you know?" I look up at Yuki. "When you called the Sanctum investigator last week, did you know they'd execute me this fast?"
Her expression doesn't change. "I did what any responsible tamer would do. You've been seeing spirits for eight years without developing abilities. That's not normal. That's dangerous."
"I'm not dangerous!" My voice cracks. "I've never hurt anyone! I just... I just can't contract them. That's not a crime!"
"It is according to Sanctum law." Yuki adjusts her designer purse over her shoulder. "And honestly, Kai, I can't be engaged to someone who's going to be executed. It would destroy my reputation."
The ghost of the little girl on the stairs starts crying. She can sense my emotions somehow. Spirits are drawn to pain.
"So that's it?" I crumple the execution notice in my fist. "Three years together and you feel nothing?"
For just a second, something flickers across Yuki's face. Regret? Guilt? But then it's gone, replaced by that same cold mask.
"I feel relief," she says quietly. "I won't have to pretend anymore that I'm okay with marrying someone powerless. Takeshi Sato asked me to dinner last night. He's S-rank, Kai. The youngest S-rank tamer in fifty years. That's the kind of man I should be with."
Takeshi Sato. The golden boy of the Sanctum. Rich, powerful, handsome, and strong enough to contract a celestial dragon. Everything I'm not.
"You already went on a date?" The betrayal tastes worse than the execution order. "I'm not even dead yet and you're already replacing me?"
"You've been dead to me for months." Yuki turns toward the door. "Ever since I realized you'd never be anything more than a defective. I'm just making it official."
She leaves without looking back. The click of her expensive shoes echoes through the mansion until the front door slams.
I'm alone. Just me and the ghosts.
The little girl ghost floats down from the stairs. She points at the execution notice in my hand, then at my chest. She's trying to tell me something but I can't understand spirit language. That's another thing defectives can't do—we see them, but we can't communicate with them.
"I know," I tell her anyway. "I'm going to die tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder."
My phone buzzes. A text from my best friend Ryo: Hey man, can I come over? Need to talk.
At least someone still cares. Ryo's been my friend since we were five years old. He's only a C-rank tamer with a weak wolf spirit, but he's loyal. He's family when my actual family treats me like garbage.
I text back: Yeah. Come now. I need a friend.
The mansion feels too big suddenly. Too empty. My father is probably at Sanctum headquarters doing important clan leader business. My two older brothers are out training with their A-rank spirits, being the perfect sons my father always wanted.
And I'm here, holding my death sentence.
I walk to the family shrine where my mother's photo sits surrounded by incense. She died when I was eight—some kind of illness that killed her in three days. I barely remember her face except from this picture.
"Mom," I whisper to the photo. "I'm sorry I turned out defective. I'm sorry I couldn't be strong like you wanted."
The woman ghost in the bloody wedding dress floats closer. She stares at my mother's photo with an expression I can't read. Do ghosts remember being alive? Do they remember loving people?
Will I become a ghost tomorrow after they burn my soul? Will I haunt this mansion like these spirits, watching my family move on without me?
The doorbell rings.
That must be Ryo. Finally, someone who won't treat me like I'm already dead.
I rush to open the door, desperate for a friendly face.
Ryo stands on the porch. But he's not alone.
Behind him are five Sanctum guards in their black uniforms. Their contract spirits float above them—combat-class entities with glowing eyes and sharp claws.
Ryo won't meet my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kai," he says, and his voice actually shakes. "But they offered me fifty million yen if I testified that you've been trying illegal demon contracts. I... I need the money. My mom's hospital bills..."
The world stops spinning.
My best friend. My brother in everything but blood. He sold me out.
"Ryo?" I can barely breathe. "What did you do?"
The lead Sanctum guard steps forward. "Kai Nakamura, you're under arrest for attempting forbidden demon contracts. Your execution has been moved up to tonight. You have one hour."
Not tomorrow. Tonight.
They're killing me in one hour.
"No—" I start to run but the guards' spirits move faster. Ghost chains wrap around my arms and legs, burning cold against my skin. I crash to the floor.
Ryo finally looks at me. There are tears in his eyes but he doesn't stop them. He doesn't help me.
"I'm sorry," he whispers again. "I'm so sorry."
The guards drag me out of my family home. The last thing I see is Ryo standing in the doorway, counting money that someone just transferred to his phone.
Fifty million yen.
That's what my best friend's loyalty cost.
That's what my life is worth.
As they throw me into the back of a black van, one thought burns through my mind hotter than rage, hotter than fear:
If I somehow survive this, I'll make every single one of them pay.
The van door slams shut, trapping me in darkness.
And somewhere in that darkness, I swear I hear laughter.
Deep, ancient laughter that makes my bones vibrate.
A voice whispers in my ear, though no one else is in the van with me:
"Do you want revenge, little Sovereign? Do you want to make them scream? Then call my name when they light the purification fires. Call my name and I'll show you what real power feels like."
The voice fades.
The van starts moving.
I have fifty-nine minutes left to live.
Unless I'm brave enough—or desperate enough—to call out to whatever that voice was.
A demon.
It has to be a demon.
The very thing the Sanctum is executing me for supposedly trying to contract.
The irony almost makes me laugh.
Almost.