The Taishou era, extended beyond its historical end to forty years. A young woman agrees to an arranged marriage to protect her family's position—she does not even know the man's name. Before the ceremony can take place, her younger brother is found having attempted self-immolation, an old book clutched in his hands. The Imperial Library Intelligence Asset Management Bureau—known as Fukurou—appears with an explanation: certain books called Maremono carry an intense emotional residue that affects their readers dangerously. The incident has done something to the young woman as well. She can now see the Auras the Maremono emit, invisible to everyone else. She steps out of the arranged life that was waiting for her and into a capital city already infested with darkness.