Spoilers for the current week should always be hidden using spoiler blur.
Please mention where you are in the book, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if itโs exciting, but please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week.
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! Thatโs a welcome part of the discussion, and other readers will be happy to help.
Even if you donโt read the chapter(s) in time, you are still encouraged to post your thoughts.
ใใฆในใใณใใน (Dutch: Huis Ten Bosch) is a theme park in Nagasaki prefecture that, according to Wikipedia:
recreates the Netherlands by displaying life-sized copies of old Dutch buildings.
E.g., the main character is faced with a full-sized medieval castle town.
9ๅ่ฃ is a baseball term. I donโt think it really counts as a reference, but just in case, itโs the last round? play? in a game of baseball (as one can tell, I do not know my baseball terminology in English).
ไธ็้บ็ฃ song: The Song of Life by Yuji Toriyama. Youโve heard it (I assume, as well).
่ก็(ๅฃ)/ใไธไบบไธๆฎบใ is a reference to the ่ก็ๅฃ (apparently called the โLeague of bloodโ in English).
ใฉใใซ (usually ใฉใดใงใซ) is Joseph Maurice Ravel. I know at least Bolรฉro by him. ใจใซใฌใผ is Sir Edward William Elgar. They are both music composers. I guess YouTube is your friend to get a feel for the kind of music ใฆใผใช is hearing
I assume I donโt have to introduce ในใใซใใผใฐโฆ
My interest in the book is suddenly piqued with the entrance of Wolfram. I love his attitude and heโs the first character to have some kind of interesting dynamic with our protagonist. I think this is gonna be a classic bickering-couple type of dynamic, plus heโs in the same age range (well, apparently not) as Yuuri so they can be more familiar. Probably this is the BL element..
Iโm not sure I totally understood the throne wars politics. Can someone explain this to me? So the previous king was a woman, but what happened to her? And when she declined the throne, her power-abusing brother is left in charge of the transitionโฆ and I guess Conrad was supposed to be next in line. Am I understand that correctly? Itโs worded like weโre supposed to figure it out but I get really confused with family lineage stuff, lol. Or wait, I wonder if itโs going to be revealed that the previous royal family now has to marry in to the royal family and Yuuri has to get married to Conrad or somethingโฆ
Whatโs with that plot twist at the end though?? Lol.
Nothing? She is abdicating the thrown since ใฆใผใช is here, but thatโs it. (Good job noticing she was a woman, though, I didnโt catch that up until a later part)
Huh, no. He is not next in line (he is her second son, but he doesnโt even have ใใฉใณ at the beginning of his name, so he probably isnโt even technically a noble).
I would assume that the kingโs son would be next in line to be kingโฆ
because of how monarchies work in our world. I also got confused with the names, I meant to say Gwendal (?), the eldest son, not Conrad, the second eldest.
My further confusion is because Gunta refers to Wolfram as a crown prince (I looked up that word)
ใใจใ็ๅคชๅญใใฎใใชใใจใใใฉใ่จฑใใพใใ!
Soโฆ a prince is someone who is going to be king right? I think that was my misunderstanding.
I am also used to kings being for life so I was confused what happened to the previous oneโฆbut it looks like she just left. I think Iโm taking โkingโ too literally here, and itโs more so a reference to some generic supreme ruler.
As for the plot twist, itโs that Wolfram is 82 years old .
Ah! That changes everything. Then yes, he was ็ๅคชๅญ.
Same. My understanding is that he has a stronger claim to the throne because something that has to do with his soul. happen even in real life), although I donโt know if that gives her any power.
Ah, I guess I am too used to ้ญๆ and other elves in fantasy aging way slower
Done with week 4; Iโm doing quite well this week. Given that, though, I think Iโm going to switch from physical to digital. There are just enough lookups that itโs really breaking my flow, so I feel like Iโm having to read a lot slower that usual. (It would help if you would stop referencing random pop culture/modern things, ๆๅฉ. )
Wolfram is as much of a punk as I remember, haha. Iโm wondering if Iโll like him more this time around; Iโm not one much for tsundere characters.
I enjoyed getting a small overview of the various ้ญๆ races that lived in the kingdom, and how their coloring tied in with their tribe. Iโm curious about how succession generally works for the ้ญ็, given the little bit I remember from the manga. Would Gwendal have succeeded his mother? Maybe reading more will clear it upโฆ And did ๆๅฉ mention that ใขใช is a common Japanese horse name?
A question for my fellow readers: do ็็ and ไธ็ mean specific things? Or are they just in-universe titles? My current understanding is that ็็ refers to ๆๅฉ/ๆๅฉโs soul specifically.
็็ is the first ever ้ญ็, who founded the country. He is dead, technically, but still has an impact on the decision making in the country (not clear if itโs a ghost, or more like a religion thing)
ไธ็ is an actual title in real life. It refers to a king (or queen in this case) that transferred the throne to their heir before their death.
