By Shiki and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Tsuma no Kansatsu Kiroku” by Regina Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Ethan Holms.
(It’s a rare series where you can see where I bought it simply by what the title and cover art are. Hanashi has changed the main title of this series… everywhere but Kindle, which is what I read it on. Hence I keep the old title.)
This series makes no bones about the fact that it is “more of the same”. Cecil and Bertia may now be married, but seemingly nothing has changed between them except they now sleep in the same bed. Bertia is still hyperactive and goofy. Cecil is still one wife away from destroying the world. Together, they fight… well, not crime, but bad communication in relationships. Here we meet two couples from a country across the sea, and we find that it turns out that being a cool tsundere doesn’t really work well when you’re a princess, and also just because childhood friends are now engaged doesn’t mean they understand love.
Cecil and Bertia’s wedding went so well that she is now being asked for advice on how to make other noble weddings perfect. A magazine is a good idea, but it will have to wait, as her first big wedding prep event is for Princess Lysonna, who is marrying into the Kingdom of Seahealby. Unfortunately, on arriving, Bertia suddenly realizes that this city… no, it’s not from an otome game. But it is from a novel that she skimmed and half-remembered because one of the minor characters looked like Cecil. And what’s worse, she remembers that in this book, Lysonna was the villainess, due for a bad end! Clearly it’s time for Bertia to do the old villainess thing again, and bully everyone! This works about as well as it did in the previous books, but at least it amuses Cecil.
These books run on anti-suspense, and that’s fine. Honestly, the biggest threat of the series is Cecil, who is deeply in love with Bertia, and it’s shown over and over again that this is the only thing keeping him from being a sociopath who destroys the world because he’s bored. The issues of the two couples turn out to be 1) I don’t understand what my fiancee is thinking/showing love is super embarrassing, and 2) It’s not manly to do things like pay attention to your fiancee and be happy she has friends other than you. Bertia takes care of the women by just being really super nice (while thinking she’s being mean) and, of course, being gaga for Cecil. Cecil handles the male end by subterfuge, and, when he can’t do that, simply explaining it all till he gets annoyed and leaves. All this love drama is taking away from his Bertia time.
The book ends abruptly, and I suspect we’ll still be in this foreign land next time. If you liked Bakarina but wish it starred Jeord, this is the perfect book. For those who hate Jeord, it’s still pretty good anyway.
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