There's a difference between being asexual and being sex averse, although it isn't one that many people understand. Jade's webtoon The Lady and Her Butler is not one of them. Protagonist Sooha Lim is sex averse, meaning that she finds sex repulsive while being capable of sexual attraction. She comes by her aversion honestly – after her father's suicide, Sooha's mother completely collapsed, unable to live or feel valid without a man and a relationship with him. She neglected and abused her daughter to pursue those relationships, and one scene of Sooha's childhood shows her leaving her aunt's house to go home, only to find her mother having sex with one of her boyfriends. For Sooha, sex and sexual relationships – and plain old romantic relationships, to a degree – represent danger and trauma, and that view has shaped her social interactions from childhood.

This sets The Lady and Her Butler's first three volumes apart from a lot of other stories. While it has elements of romance, I'd hesitate to call it a romance. The story is rooted in both Sooha's and Taesoo's traumas, both of which have to do with sexual and romantic relationships. On Taesoo's side, he lost everything when he was falsely accused of sexual harassment at his prior job – he was dating a coworker who panicked when someone walked in on them kissing and slapped him, causing Taesoo to be blackballed from the graphic design industry. He's certainly not looking for a relationship more than Sooha, but he desperately needs a place to stay while he attempts to go freelance. To that end, he lies and tells Sooha that he's gay, something that ultimately allows her to let him stay, since she considers him “safe.” In return, he functions as her housekeeper (which admittedly doesn't sound as suave as “butler”).

In most other similar stories I've read, the biggest driver of the story is the burgeoning relationship between roommates, and Jade does make use of that to a degree, particularly in volume three. But the real impetus behind the plot is Taesoo and Sooha's traumas and how they shape their lives and relationships with others. That means that this series is heavier than the title would suggest, and it comes with content warnings for on-page suicide and assault, both domestic and otherwise. These things are treated seriously, and as a result, Sooha particularly feels very grounded as a character. She's working through a lot, and her present experiences aren't necessarily helping.

That's because her direct superior at work, Mr. Hwang, hasn't been subtle in his crush on her. Early in volume one, he asks her out, and she summarily rejects him. His immediate response is to ask if she's a lesbian, a wholly inappropriate response. Although he tries to get over her, eventually beginning a relationship with Ms. Doh, a graphic designer their firm works with, it's clear throughout these volumes that he's still carrying a torch for Sooha and is both hurt and baffled by her rejection of him and subsequent statement that she doesn't want a man in her life. When he sees her with Taesoo at the end of volume three, the stage is set for a confrontation that makes me nervous.

Despite all these soapy developments, The Lady and Her Butler never actually feels melodramatic. Everything is handled with a matter-of-factness that acknowledges the difficulties the characters face, with the closest thing to a soap opera being the situation with Ms. Doh. We know the least about her, but based on the context clues presented, I would not be surprised if she turned out to be Taesoo's ex; it's particularly suspicious that shortly after he posted his portfolio anonymously and then removed it, Mr. Hwang saw it on Ms. Doh's computer. He assumed that she was the mysterious “Moon Crystal,” and she didn't deny it, but when he later sees her drafts, he notes a major discrepancy in the work. She passes it off as basically a terrible first draft, but between that and how closely she's playing her cards, there's something just off about the whole situation.

Jade's art is minimalistic, and that helps to allow the words to tell the story. That's not to say that the images don't contribute; they absolutely do. But there's a simplicity that works. Whether it's Ms. Doh's wide-eyed pseudo-innocence or the uniformly plain backgrounds, we have the space to make our own interpretations based on Jade's artistic choices. It's also worth noting that more than almost any other manhwa creator I've seen, Jade uses a variety of skin tones for the characters – none of this “men darker, women paler” nonsense, everyone has a unique shade for their design.

The Lady and Her Butler does a lot with its themes and characters. From Sooha's reaction to Taesoo bringing home a giant teddy bear and how that ties into her childhood to the way relationships do and don't work, this is a deceptively simple story. Volume three ends on a major cliffhanger (and volume four isn't due out until July; I'm writing this in May), but the series is also available as of this writing on Lezhin's site if you can't wait. Don't pick this up if you're looking for your next romance fix, but if you're in the mood for something darker and a bit more nuanced, this is a very good choice.