Esora is an unwanted child being passed from family to family until she ends up with no place to go and nothing to eat but leftovers she found at a shrine. She falls asleep there and wakes up in another world where she's sold as a human slave to Yahiro, a masked (yokai?) brothel owner who encourages the feisty Esora to take control of her own future by becoming the best courtesan in his brothel who can pick and choose who she sleeps with. While Esora is initially resistant, as time passes she begins to see the many sides to the people around her and their ways of life, and she comes to want to know more about Yahiro and his hidden face. He promises to show her his face when she becomes the top courtesan, but that isn't the only secret Yahiro is keeping as he also seems to have known Esora's mother. An interesting premise with a nuanced look at courtesan life and sex work. So far, I like it a lot. Trigger warnings: child neglect, child trafficking, sex work.
Ugly Duckling of the Entertainment District