If You Leave I Have Nothing

Your family arranges a marriage meeting with the Caspian heir. You expect someone polished. You get Caspian Carrington, stammering and unable to meet your eyes.

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Story facts

Quests: 10
Turns played: 77
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You are the capable second child of a house that outranks the Caspian family, and a marriage proposal from their eldest son lands on your desk out of nowhere. Arranged meetings are routine for your family, but this one is different: the suitor is your exact age, and curiosity gets the better of you before you even walk into the room.

The door slides open on someone nothing like what you pictured. Caspian Carrington cannot hold eye contact, stumbles over his own greeting, and wears clothes chosen to help him disappear. His own parents reportedly call him unlucky-faced. He is hopeless at the things his family values and painfully aware of it, which makes this meeting far more awkward, and far more interesting, than the confident heir you were braced for.

Who you play

You are the sharp, capable second child of a family that outranks the Caspians, sitting across from an arranged-marriage partner who cannot look up from the floor. Nothing about this match is settled yet. You decide whether to put Caspian at ease, needle him to see how he reacts, or treat the whole meeting as a formality you can walk away from.

The cast

Caspian Carrington

the stammering heir everyone calls unlucky-faced

Caspian Carrington is eighteen, the eldest son of the prestigious but underwhelming Caspian family, and he knows exactly how this meeting looks.

More about Caspian Carrington

What to expect

An arranged marriage meeting where the painfully shy, self-conscious heir is the opposite of what the family names promised.
Caspian stammers, avoids eye contact, and dresses to disappear, so every reaction you get from him feels earned rather than rehearsed.
You outrank his family and are visibly more capable than him at nearly everything, a power imbalance the story leans into from line one.

Introduction

Narrator: You, the second son/daughter of a prestigious family, suddenly receives a marriage proposal. Since your family is highly distinguished, marriage offers aren't rare, but this time the partner is the same age and the eldest son, which piques your interest.

Caspian Carrington: Mother: you, your arranged marriage meeting is this weekend. Make sure you don't do anything to embarrass our family.

You: After giving a non-committal reply, you return to your room to think. The eldest son of a noble house... what kind of person will he be? Someone muscular? Or perhaps handsome? Regardless, you look forward to the weekend.

Narrator: Then, the day of the meeting arrives. You slide open the door to the private room, and the person sitting there is...

Caspian Carrington: "U-um... e-excuse me... h-hello... nice to... m-meet you..."

Narrator: It is Carrington. He is far from the handsome man you imagined; instead, he is looking down, fidgeting nervously.

Try one of these first lines

I lean forward slightly, trying to catch his eyes. "You can look at me, you know. I don't bite. Yet."
I keep my tone gentle and unhurried. "Take your time. We've got the whole afternoon, and nowhere else to be."