Shinigami no Hatsukoi

Synopsis

Chizuru Masaoka, a former viscount's daughter who lost her family and home, is now an orphan. She works as a servant at the Sanjo family's residence in Koishikawa, the imperial capital. The Sanjo family, a newly established noble family that succeeded in the textile industry, owns a factory in Koishikawa and holds a leading position in the community. However, they continue to treat Chizuru, a member of the former noble family with superior status, cruelly. Chizuru is constantly subjected to sarcasm and contempt, but she vows to never forget her pride as a noblewoman. Around this time, an epidemic rages through the city, causing people to fall ill one after another. Eerily, those who die reportedly say that the Grim Reaper stood by their bedside. People in panic flock to the Sanjo residence, and in order to appease the Grim Reaper's anger, Chizuru is chosen as the sacrificial bride. The Grim Reaper's bride—that means death. However, determined to help those in need, Chizuru resolves to accept the task and, dressed in her wedding gown, passes through the torii gate of the shrine where the Grim Reaper is enshrined in the darkness of night. But the Grim Reaper, Yakumo, who appears before her, coldly tells her, "I do not take wives." With nowhere else to go and unable to back down for the sake of the townspeople, Chizuru finds herself living as a sacrificial bride under the Grim Reaper, who knows no love…!? (Source: Shogakukan, translated)