Laya Lin sat upright in a chair in the reception hall.
Her expression was calm, her gaze fixed straight ahead, both hands resting on her knees.
Yet a closer look would reveal that her eyes had taken on a gray hue, as though they had lost their function as organs of sight.
She was a lord—and also blind.
Ordinarily, people with disabilities would not have been selected as part of the first batch of lords.
But Laya Lin was an exception.
She was a full-blooded Romani, living in a rural community in Transylvania.
Since childhood, she had spoken the purest Romani dialect.
As everyone knew, the Gypsies, or Romani people, were an ethnic group scattered across national borders.
They embodied all the characteristics one would expect of a wandering people.
Such as exaggerated reverence for nature, exceptional musical talent, and a fatalistic worldview centered on prophecy and divination.
Even the names of newborns were decided through divination.
Before the age of fourteen, Laya Lin had not been blind.
But after her fourteenth birthday, she never saw light again.
In its place came a unique perspective born of special perception and mental observation.
This perspective barely allowed her to care for herself in daily life, though it lacked all color and detail.
According to ancient Romani legends, the elders called this kind of vision the "Fate Rift."
And when one traced the literal meaning of Laya Lin's name in Romani—Shattered Mirror—
it was as if some sort of echo had already been formed in the unseen currents of fate.
Unfortunately, this gift of sight had not brought any substantial change.
At least, that had been the case before the Lord Game descended.
Back on Earth, she could only earn a little money by appearing on talk shows and entertainment-focused reality programs,