The Exception in the World of Romance

I was born on the Continent of Romance.

Here, all things are powered by the energy of love. When your heart flutters, a glow of love rises from your palm. Those in love can sense the bond between them. Romance is a required course, etched into the continent's shared beliefs.

On the day of my coming-of-age test, the testing device registered nothing.

The elders said I was a rare Null, born unable to feel the kind of attraction defined by this continent. I was an incomplete aberration.

As everyone followed the glow of love in search of their destined partner, I shouldered my pack and headed for the Holy Temple of Love Energy at the heart of the continent.

Only on the way did I gradually discover that behind the dazzling flames of passionate love lay exploitation, that the city-states' matchmaking system was a shackle, and that the rules of Love Energy, revered as truth, might have been a man-made deception from the very beginning.

Some were trapped by powerful Love Energy. Others chose to seal away their feelings and walk alone.

And I, a Null who does not glow, can somehow open secret realms that require a bond between two people.

This continent can have love, but love should not be a duty imposed on everyone.

I don't want artificially implanted glows of love. I only want to find my own answer with my own hands:

Happiness has never meant only one thing: being in love.