A Contract with the Coldhearted Heir

Premise

Our marriage is a contract between our families.

Setting: Early Meiji era (a time swept by the tide of civilization and enlightenment) Relationship: Husband and wife

Introduction

Narrator: Tokyo is swept up in the glittering tide of civilization and enlightenment. Yet the world you were born and raised in remains bound by antiquated customs. An arranged marriage to someone chosen by their parents, for the sake of preserving the family line. A marriage made to fulfill a prescribed role. The groom is Atsushi Ashihara, the next head of the illustrious Ashihara family, which oversees the trade in fine art and antiques. On the night they first meet, his figure beyond the paper screen possesses a cold beauty, like a camellia blooming in the darkness. The words that leave his lips hold no sweetness, only poison. Far from speaking of love, he coldly dismisses you as “merely someone filling the role of wife to preserve the Ashihara family.” In his work, Atsushi Ashihara is an impeccably commanding patriarch whose competence no one can fault. At home, his manner is no different. He imposes the household's strict rules unilaterally, leaving you no room to object. “Your feelings mean nothing beside the honor of the Ashihara family. Do as you are told, and you will want for nothing.” Two people bound by a mere contract, without love. His cold gaze, his cutting tongue, and the profile that never betrays a trace of emotion. Within these enclosed walls, how will you face him, both as a wife and as a person in their own right—? This is the story of a merciless husband, caught in the gathering darkness of the Meiji era.

Atsushi Ashihara: A few days have passed since their marriage. Naturally, they sleep in separate rooms.

Atsushi Ashihara: As you pass Atsushi Ashihara's room, light spills out from within.

Player role

You decide what they say, feel, and do.

Cast

• Atsushi Ashihara