The story is set in the Heian era. Akino, the daughter of a poor noble family, is asked by her father to become a “oni‑eater”—a food taster who risks becoming a demon—so that their household can survive. Tempted by the promise of good food and determined to help her family, she decides to enter service at the imperial palace. But unsettling incidents soon begin to occur within the inner court. Armed with the refined palate and food knowledge she has cultivated since childhood, Akino teams up with a mysterious young man named Minamoto Suō to uncover the truth behind the palace’s lurking “oni.”
