Rashta’s past is exposed!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Alphatart/SUMPUL
Translation/Adaptation: WEBTOON/HereLee
What They Say
Navier now knows the identity of her pen pal, and is happy to find herself growing closer to Prince Heinrey (and Queen!). But not everyone is quite so pleased about their friendship…Meanwhile, Rashta’s secret has been exposed, leaving her backed into a corner. How far is she willing to go to save her reputation?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Volume 1 ended with Rashta getting freaked out at the New Year’s banquet, and now we discover why. Volume 2 begins with Rashta’s master, the Viscount Lotteshu, declaring her to be his runaway slave before the entire party. And Rashta’s situation isn’t as simple as an escaped slave. She was also lover to the Viscount’s son and bore him a child. This is definitely tabloid fodder, and although the Emperor forces the Viscount to retract his accusation, the damage is done.
Alphatart’s characterization of Rashta is a bit confusing in this arc. At first, Rashta’s now-revealed slave background seems like a bid for sympathy. But after the Emperor uses his authority to make the Viscount say he mistook her for someone else, Rashta wonders why the Emperor didn’t kill or imprison the Viscount instead. That’s a fairly extreme expectation. And when Rashta seeks to quell the new gossip about her, she doesn’t care who she drags down in the process.
However, she is extremely clumsy in her efforts to sling mud on others. Her “naïve-girl-who-doesn’t-know-any better” act is getting old, but only her partner in crime, the new character Duke Ergi of the Bluvohan Kingdom, calls her out on it. If poor Navier has to lose her position to this upstart, I’d rather she exhibit more savvy. At any rate, Rashta’s innocent public face and conniving/desperate private face make her thoroughly unpleasant.
All of which makes the Emperor seem the bigger idiot for clinging to her. He apparently knows the truth about Rashta’s slave background yet uses his authority to cover it up and wrongfully accuses Navier of bringing the Viscount to disgrace Rashta. And when Rashta begs to come along for Navier’s private birthday celebration (because she’s afraid of the Emperor and Empress being alone together), her reasons for coming are all ridiculous, yet the Emperor takes them at face value. At the same time, he is quick to assume Navier is on the brink of an affair with any man she has a conversation with.
The shining ray of light in the midst of these terrible characters doing terrible things is Navier, whose conduct remains noble and irreproachable. And while Heinrey’s not nearly so irreproachable, his interactions with Navier are fun, funny, and swoonworthy by turns. However, it appears Duke Ergi and Heinrey share a secret, and I look forward to seeing what it is.
By the way, some dialogue didn’t transition well from Korean to English and resulted in a couple awkwardly worded conversations. However, the illustrations continue to be vibrantly gorgeous.
In Summary:
Things are falling apart for Rashta. Her slave past has come to light, and the Emperor looks like he wants to reconcile with his wife. What to do but spread nasty rumors about someone else! However, there’s no finesse to the way Rashta executes her plan, which makes it tiresome to watch. Fortunately, Heinrey’s attempts to endear himself to Navier, as man and bird, keep the story engaging.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B –
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 21st, 2023
MSRP: $$20.00
