Afterword

Nice to meet you, I’m Yuta Hisame.

Thank you for purchasing the first volume of The National Young Lady Bought Worthless Me for 300 Million.

I wonder what drew you to this book? Was it the cover art? Or perhaps you’ve followed my work on the web? Regardless, for an author, there is no greater joy than knowing someone is reading the words you’ve put on paper.

My work is often described as a "palate cleanser"—something for those seeking a slightly different flavor. Even a quick glance at Kokka-re (a nickname I’ve stopped using since nobody else did) reveals it’s far from a traditional story. However, I’ve never lied about the genre. On the web, I serialized this as a rom-com. Whether the "com" exists is up to the reader’s sensibilities, but the "love" is definitely the core. That is why this work falls into the mysterious category of "Dark Love Fantasy." Currently, this is likely the only work in that bracket. While "originality" sounds like a nice compliment, being a pioneer is difficult.

How do you view Keiya’s current situation? Do you envy him? Or pity him? Since this is a story about love, you can certainly enjoy it as a pure harem rom-com. "Wow, everyone’s so cute!" or "I’m so jealous of Keiya!"—that is a perfectly valid way to have fun. But for those who can’t see it that way, a certain question likely lingers:

Why do the heroines love the protagonist so much?

In any work with multiple heroines, the question of why the protagonist is so popular persists. From an author's perspective, if the protagonist isn't charming, the heroines' affection starts to feel cheap. The desire for a character to be happy stems from liking both them and the heroine; if you don't like the lead, you start questioning the heroine's taste.

Because it’s so hard to handle multiple heroines well, some people simply dislike the harem trope. However, there are "loopholes" to this problem, and Kokka-re uses one: the fact that every heroine besides Eina is Eina’s property. The hierarchy is established from the start.

Currently, all the heroines—even the girls whose names haven't appeared—love Keiya. He is never bad-mouthed or bullied behind Eina’s back. If they do anything to him, it’s only erotic mischief or "service." Is this because of his personal virtue? Not exactly. While the "curse" binding him certainly plays a part, their greatest fear is upsetting Eina. Therefore, they cannot hate Keiya. To survive in an environment where you must spend your life with someone you aren't allowed to hate, the only option left is to fall in love. That is the distortion at the heart of this Dark Love Fantasy, and it links directly to Eina’s own transgressive affection.

Their words are not lies. If the great Ouhouin Eina is head-over-heels for a man, of course they would fall for him too. ...Has your perspective changed a bit? I used to write dark fantasy, but I switched to rom-coms when I realized I was good at handling structural dualities. Sorry, that was a lie. I realized my strengths much later, and I’ve actually forgotten why I switched. I just knew I couldn't write a "royal road" rom-com that purely makes your heart flutter, so this is the form my writing eventually took.

Whether you read the text exactly as written or look at it through a cynical lens, I hope you enjoy this "different flavor." I look forward to your continued support for Yuta Hisame. Finally, I’d like to thank everyone involved in the publication of this book. Once again, thank you for buying The National Young Lady Bought Worthless Me for 300 Million .

Whatever the reason, I am simply happy you read it.