The mansion, steeped in long history, flaunted its tranquil charm beneath the blazing afternoon sun.

It was a drowsy afternoon for everyone. Even the servants took brief moments to relax whenever they could, and in a corner at the far end of a hallway where they wouldn’t be caught by their master, maids in uniform huddled together with their heads close.

What they were viewing together was a single book with a distinctive red leather binding. The surroundings were quieter than their level of concentration suggested. 

The hands of the maid holding the book open grew tense with force. Everyone’s gaze was desperately focused on scanning down the ink on the soft pages.

“Hurry up and turn to the next page.”

“Wait, I haven’t finished reading yet!”

The maids all lowered their voices and bickered quietly, worried someone might overhear. Unlike the maids squealing softly, the delicate cursive script in the book described the living protagonists within its pages.

Clothing slipping below the shoulders and heated breaths. Rough hands gripping soft flesh.

Just before the two protagonists’ lips met, the text ended.

In the tense silence, the maid holding the book turned to the next page.

Gulp.

Along with the sound of dry swallowing, the book the maid held was snatched away.

“Hic. Wh-what!”

The maids, who had turned pale thinking it might be a superior, let out annoyed sighs. Standing before them was Ebony, the lady of the mansion’s personal maid.

“What are you doing here? You’ll be in big trouble if the head maid catches you.”

“Stop nagging. I get it, so give it back.”

The maid grumbled and held out her hand. Ebony narrowed her eyes briefly before returning the book she’d snatched.

“The Lady’s Escapades” was currently the most popular novel in the kingdom’s social circles, passionately loved by everyone regardless of age or gender.

Volume 1 continued to sell out despite constant reprints, and Volume 2, which had been released not long ago, had already become a rare book that was difficult to obtain.

The story of an innocent noble lady tasting her first escapade and gradually blossoming while sharing love with various men was shocking content that departed from the path of existing novels.

“You all…”

Ebony glanced at the gathered maids. Ebony’s position was directly below the head maid. In a mansion without a mistress, the maids had no choice but to watch out for their peer Ebony. 

More than anything, she was the watcher appointed by the master to monitor the young lady.

The maids looked relieved just to not have the book confiscated. Watching them, Ebony clicked her tongue with narrowed eyes.

“Get back to work. I’m going to see the young lady.”

“Ugh, good luck with that.”

The gathered maids dispersed. They all looked disappointed but had no choice but to promise to meet again later. Ebony crossed the hallway with a snort at their transparent thoughts.

Once Ebony had completely disappeared, the scattered maids gathered again and whispered among themselves.

“Ugh, of all the timing.”

“We’ll meet again in the evening, I guess. She’s so uptight.”

“That’s why she’s the young lady’s personal maid. I feel bad for the young lady too. She’ll never know this kind of pleasure in her whole life, will she?”

One maid muttered to herself with apparent pity. But beneath her words lay mockery.

“The lady in the cage, Cherry Vallinoa.”

The only daughter of Count Vallinoa. It was a term referring to the precious young lady who lived confined in a splendid mansion.

Count Vallinoa loved his wife passionately, which was rare even in noble society. Their love marriage had been a major topic in social circles at the time, but their happiness didn’t last long.

The year his daughter turned twelve, the count had to endure the pain of losing his wife.

The count was deeply grief-stricken but couldn’t follow his wife. He had his daughter, the lovely Cherry Vallinoa, who resembled his wife so closely.

The count would do anything for Cherry. The only problem was that his overprotectiveness grew deeper by the day.

The maids pitied Cherry while also treating her like a stuck-up noble lady.

“Well, how strict is the master? Don’t you know that’s why all the employees are women?”

“True. It’s not common to have a mansion where even the stable keeper is a woman.”

It hadn’t been this extreme from the start. Not until a year after his wife’s death, before his daughter was kidnapped.

Cherry returned safely but had lost all memories from before the kidnapping. The count replaced all the hired staff, and after several rounds of weeding out, only female employees remained in the mansion.

Outings became impossible without a guardian, and surveillance permeated the household.

It had reached a point where one couldn’t tell if she was being protected or imprisoned.

“She’ll probably never hold a man’s hand in her entire life.”

Everyone nodded at the conclusion of the maid holding the book. Their leisure time pitying the noble lady was over. Now it was really time to go do their assigned work.

The maids scattered in all directions. Whether she knew this or not, Ebony’s steps across the hallway became even lighter. Where she stopped was Cherry Vallinoa’s room.

“Miss, I’m here.”

“Come in.”

A cheerful answer announced her presence in response to the light knock. When Ebony entered, she saw the bed with its curtains drawn back. Sitting on the white sheets was her young lady.

Well-maintained, wavy red hair contrasted with pale skin. Blue eyes sparkled with anticipation. 

The cunning young lady who resembled a cherry like her name jumped up and firmly grasped Ebony’s hands.

“Ebony, did you bring it?”

In truth, what Cherry had been waiting for wasn’t the maid she treated like a friend. Ebony shrugged as though she had no choice. When it came to this innocent face she’d served since childhood, Ebony was always the one who lost.

“Of course I brought it. Here you go.”

She pulled out a bound book hidden in her apron. It was “The Lady’s Escapades, Volume 2,” the same book the maids had been holding earlier.

The moment the corner of the red book came into view, Cherry cheered and hugged both the maid and the book simultaneously.

“Ebony really is the best! You know you’re all I have, right?”

Her thoroughly flushed face was colored with joy. Cherry quickly took the book in her arms and brought it to the bed. She didn’t forget to pull out Volume 1 from beneath the bed. With the book in her hands, the young lady immediately became absorbed in reading.

Ebony, who had brought the book, instantly became invisible. But she said nothing. Indulging in intense romance novels was the best—even the only—escapade the young lady confined to a small room could enjoy.

It had been three years since the young lady had gotten her hands on novels. At first, it had been a very cautious hobby recommendation, but now the young lady had become an even greater *rotic novel enthusiast than Ebony.

Ebony sat in a chair and began embroidering. Vallinoa was an old trading family, and the count was away from the mansion today for business. 

These were optimal conditions for overprotectiveness to intensify. Whether he was at the mansion or not, he kept Ebony, the watcher, attached to his daughter and received reports.

Most of the gifts sent to the count were embroidered items. The count used the gifts Cherry sent as a way to confirm that Cherry was obediently confined to the mansion. 

But strangely enough, the count still didn’t know to this day that Cherry didn’t know how to embroider properly.

“So isn’t this much okay?”

‘For a pitiful young lady who’s even forbidden from going out to have reading dirty novels as a hobby, I mean.’

Ebony busily worked her needle. She had to hurry to complete the embroidered gift to send to the count in the young lady’s name.

Half a day passed that way.

Cherry, who hadn’t put down the book even as the sun set, bit her lip firmly as she turned the last page.

“Incredible.”

Ebony, who was setting down dinner, glanced at Cherry. The smell of soup and steak filled the room. Yet Cherry didn’t feel even a hint of hunger. She pounded the bed with her small fists, violently releasing her intense emotions.

“This author is definitely insane.”

This description, this development, this emotional progression!

Though she’d accumulated various experiences through extensive reading, truly, she’d never encountered such a monster before.

The female protagonist in the book, Botana, was a noble lady who spent her childhood under her family’s oppression. What triggered her corruption was a party she attended secretly without her parents’ knowledge.

A single night with the first male protagonist she met there. That beginning opened Botana’s debauched nights.

It was a familiar story. So much so that there was no better content for Cherry to project herself onto.

Cherry sprang from the bed and shook Ebony’s shoulders.

“Oh my god, this is crazy. Ebony, when does Volume 3 come out?”

“Won’t it take at least another six months? It hasn’t even been three months since Volume 2 came out. And that was something I barely managed to obtain by searching around for a sold-out copy.”

“Argh, how can I wait that long!”

Cherry, burning with impatience, rubbed her cheeks. But no matter what she did, there was no way to move up the book’s release date. The author was anonymous, and when she looked into it, even the publisher had never once seen the author in person.

“Ah, I think I’ve read Volume 1 about thirty times.”

Cherry lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The ceiling pattern, so familiar she could probably draw it with her eyes closed, was the very symbol of her boring daily life.

How many times would she have to read Volume 2 before the next volume came out? Cherry, who’d been racking her brain, pulled the red binding tightly into her embrace.

“Everything except this is completely boring.”

Cherry sighed. At seventeen, during her debutante, she had attended a kingdom party exactly once. Since it was a party mandated by national law, even her father couldn’t forcibly prevent her attendance.

Sparkling lights, glamorous people and well-dressed peers, music ringing in her ears.

Though she had to endure her father’s escort and surveillance, the party had been enchanting enough to accept that much without concern.

“I want to go again. I want to try dating too!”

She wanted to meet an unfamiliar man and have heart-fluttering conversations. Or even go beyond what was described in the books.

But it was an impossible dream. Her father had allowed Cherry only the minimum time at her first party before putting her in a carriage and sending her home, and after that, he never permitted parties again.

Her only friend suddenly came to mind. The daughter of her mother’s friend, a childhood friend she’d been close to since they were young through family exchanges. 

Thanks to that, she was one of the few people who could be invited to this mansion. Cherry had always envied her friend, whose outings were unrestricted unlike her own.

“Every time she comes, she only talks about parties. She probably goes at least three times a week.”

Midnight parties, garden parties, hall parties, masquerade balls…

There were so many types she couldn’t even count them all. At first, she was simply envious, but now she’d reached her limit. Cherry stared down at the book in her arms. Her throat was parched with unquenched thirst. This secret hobby was igniting Cherry’s desires.

“…Ebony, when did Father say he’d return?”

“Since he left for the Eastern Continent, won’t it take at least a month?”

It was quite a distance. Far enough that even exchanging surveillance reports would take considerable time.

Finally, the lady in the cage, having made up her mind, sought out Ebony.

“Could you bring me a pen and stationery?”

“Are you sending a letter to Lady Rena?”

“Yes, I have a favor to ask.”

Ebony brought what was requested without complaint. Cherry began writing the letter. It was the first step toward escapade.