Twenty-six-year-old Iris Vale, an emotional auditor in a kingdom where feelings can be extracted, bottled, and traded, discovers that her stepfather has forged a debt contract to sell her ability to love at a public auction. Her romantic love is removed and placed inside a magical vial, leaving her unable to feel love but still capable of anger, desire, compassion, and justice. Cold and powerful Duke Lucian purchases the vial at an unbelievable price—not to own Iris’s heart, but to prevent it from being controlled by the Crown. When Iris demands her emotion back, she discovers the vial can only be opened by her own consent. Together, Iris and Lucian uncover a massive conspiracy led by Royal Chancellor Gideon, who has been secretly using fake debts and emotional contracts to buy people’s loyalty and control the kingdom. Their investigation reveals that Iris’s missing mother, Evelyn, is trapped inside the legendary Mirror Vault, and the key to destroying the entire emotional market is hidden inside Iris’s stolen love. As Iris fights to reclaim what was taken from her, she learns that love is not something that can be purchased, owned, or forced. Without her old romantic feelings, she builds a new identity based on choice, independence, and self-worth. In the end, she must decide whether the man who once bought her love can become the man she freely chooses.
