By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Sokai” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jasmin Thairintr.
I’ve been mentoining for a while now that I thought this author was in a bit of a rut. They have a successful series and want to continue it, but they also clearly do not want to go down the baby route at all, they’ve pretty much been doing a series of weddings and engagements with a coating of political intrigue. And that certainly seems to be the case at the start of this one, as we nudge ever closer to (but still have not quite arrived at) the wedding of the Crown Prince. That said, I think the lightbulb has finally gone off, as the coating of political intrigue we’ve had for a while has become the point, and the author flat out says in the afterword that we are headed for War. That would certainly give the cast something to do that doesn’t involve Marielle popping out a kid. Assuming that she’s able to survive till it happens, as I joked that this volume could also be titled The Execution of Marielle Clarac.
As Marielle desperately tries to write before her deadlines pass, she gets a disturbing letter from her husband that says to ignore any rumors she might hear… and this is followed by an invitation from the prince to a royal ball they’re holding that evening for the Crown Princess of Vissel. A wary Marielle shows up, only to find that the princess is throwing herself at Simeon to an almost ridiculous degree. That said… something definitely seems off about it. Marielle’s people-reading skills come in handy, and she soon gets an apology from the princess… who does not actually explain why she’s cuddling up to Simeon, only apologizes for it. (The answer, as it turns out, involves possibly the most misogynistic ass we’ve met in this series to date.) Unfortunately, Marielle soon finds other things to worry about: someone keeps trying to kill her.
Given that the last book had everyone in the cast assume that wherever Marielle goes, trouble follows, I had wondered if a clever villain might try killing her off in order to stop her amateur sleuthing. That’s not what’s happening here, though it might be better for her if it was. As it is, she’s simply someone who is very beloved by most of the important people in her kingdom, and killing her off would be a very easy way to start a nasty war. Which other countries clearly want. There is a bit of hemming and hawing here about the fact that their kingdom has colonies, and that sometimes those colonies rebel and have to be put down. (We have in fact seen this sort of thing before in this series.) Marielle knows it’s bad, as does the prince, but magic wands are in short supply. The climax of this book, meanwhile, is very action packed, and shows Marielle having a crossover with one of Tearmoon Empire’s iconic characters, and not in a good way. Fortunately, she is saved, but it’s probably the closest she’s come to death in this series.
All this and we finally get the resolution of a minor plotline that’s been around since the first book… and one which impacts Marielle’s family in a big way. The next book just came out last month in Japan, though, so get ready for another wait.
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