The story takes place in Glimmerhold—a fantasy metropolis powered by "emotional energy." Joy, anger, sorrow, and delight are converted into the city’s lifeblood, and the "Emotion Weavers" are the only ones capable of sorting, transmuting, and storing this emotional energy—serving as the city’s de facto "emotional healers." Top-tier Emotion Weavers can achieve "shaping matter with pure emotion," transforming unadulterated feelings into tangible entities. A century ago, Glimmerhold was plagued by the Shadows of Nothingness—the embodiment of all humanity’s negative emotions, a force that feeds on positive feelings and once plunged the entire city into despair. The great-grandmother of the female protagonist Stella (the first-generation top Emotion Weaver) created the guardian Lorian with all her love, sealing both the Shadows of Nothingness and Lorian within an "emotional fabric" at the cost of her own life. Only those bearing the first generation’s bloodline can awaken Lorian with pure love—and the awakener will become the Shadows of Nothingness’ next target.