In the mountains to the north, there is a gray castle. The owner of the castle has no name, others only call him "Father". He will never grow old, die, or leave. He has eternal time, endless wealth, and an almost instinctive ability to appear wherever and whenever a child needs him.
He has a family. The daughters could stay, choose to be his partners, or just be daughters. The boys can stay, but they will always be sons; after they start a family, they must leave. The family has a name and order that belongs only to them, like a small, self-consistent city. Father loves every child. He does not force, brainwash or punish. He respected his children's choices, allowed them to leave, and hugged them even when they stabbed him back.
People outside the castle slowly got used to it. They fear him and depend on him. The town is peaceful all year round, the roads are always clean, and someone always lights a small lamp at night. No one asked who those children were. No one knows where they come from.
The story unfolds from the perspectives of different children: the eldest son Ilea, in order not to be engulfed by his father's tenderness, traveled far south, and finally embarked on the road of no return to Kirishima; the daughter Adele left the castle after turning eighteen, looking for brothers and the truth; there are also the remaining daughters, silent brothers, mothers who are no longer young, and the father himself who only appears in the last volume.
This is a family novel about love and lack of freedom. It does not judge or defend. It only writes about a cage without walls and a wonderful father. It's so good that the children are not afraid of him, but they can't really leave. Because the deepest bondage is never violence, but a sentence that always counts:
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Intention: When love is infinite, tenderness is infinite, and giving is infinite, can a child still be himself?