In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country's men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun's Inner Chamber... Aonuma and his disciples in Holland studies are closer than ever to finding a way to prevent the spread of the Redface Pox. But even as they work ceaselessly for salvation for their country, shadowy political machinations threaten their endeavors....and their lives!