Hakushaku

The Hakushaku is variously translated as 'Count' or 'Earl.' He has no other given name. He is the keeper of the Castle of Candles, a great manor filled with candles whose flames represent every human life. He is invisible when he wants to be (as we see part of him in human form in book 9), using a mask and gloves so people can tell where he is when he's not wearing one of his costumes. His main duty is snuffing out the candles and recording the deceased, but he seems to spend much of his free time entertaining or looking at pictures of Tsuzuki, with whom he is obsessed with and cares deeply about. The Hakushaku has done favors of extending the lives of several people for Tsuzuki over the years, and this debt makes Tsuzuki very nervous, on account of the nature of the favors he may have to return. The Hakushaku features most prominently in the manga, in which readers learn he has a book that writes stories using characters based on the rest of the Yami no Matsuei cast. In the book, Tsuzuki's feminine form [whom Tsuzuki meets and calls "Ruka" after his sister] is to be wed to the Hakushaku's character (though in the end she falls in love with Butler, the book version of Tatsumi, representing the past relationship between Tsuzuki and Tatsumi). The Hakushaku also hosts many parties in the manga, ranging from a cherry blossom viewing party to more formal evening balls. Hakushaku's main servant is a zombie-like creature in a pink apron, named "Watson".