Kaoru sees her vacation at a hot-spring inn as a chance to get over her heartbreak after her fiance breaks off their engagement. But she soon finds herself caught in a position between her birth mother, the proprietor of the inn, and Kaoru's sister-in-law, whose position as the "next-in-line" at the inn was practically guaranteed. The loyalties of the employees are also tested, as the proprietor manipulates the younger women to her ends.

It is six months after the battle between Kaoru and Yuriko over who should be the mistress of the onsen inn Kurahara. Saeko returns for a visit, only to find that things have changed drastically. When she finally finds Kaoru, who is supposed to be the mistress, she is shocked to find her working as a maid trainee. Saeko enlists the help of Yuriko, who has left the inn to help her husband, in order to reinstate Kaoru to her rightful position, and to return Kurahara to its former glory.