Man, 'Ebony Castle' is a wild ride for character dynamics. I honestly think the real key isn't just the obvious leads, Elara and Lord Vane. The groundskeeper, Silas, ends up being the linchpin for half the mysteries in the castle walls, and nobody talks about him enough. He's got this quiet, eerie presence that makes you question every interaction.
Then you've got Lady Isolde, Vane's sister, who seems like a frivolous side character until her political maneuvering in the later chapters flips the whole power structure. A lot of readers dismiss the ghostly chambermaid, Cora, but her fragmented memories are vital to understanding the castle's curse. The protagonist's dog, of all things, has more plot significance than three of the human nobles combined.