After losing her precious family, Hisa, a young girl, is sent to work as a maid by her relatives to get rid of her. With her only source of comfort, a novel by Ouyou Sensei, she arrives at her new home, the home of the cranky literary figure Hizaki Keisetsu. Hisa's parents died mysteriously, coughing up blood and dancing wildly before dying. Upon learning of Hisa's circumstances, Keisetsu seems to have a plan, telling her to "come and marry me with nothing but the clothes on your back." What is the truth behind this mysterious death that is brought about by this fateful encounter, and what is Keisetsu hiding? A story of truth and love connected by words, set in the Meiji era, when literature flourished.