Considering this is yuri, the artist went above and beyond with the facial hair diversity.
This...is probably the first time in a long time I've seen any of the main characters have a very realistic plan accounting for the other side not consisting entirely of idiots.
Also, that art style - holy moly I haven't seen this type of art in _years_. That realistic style and that anatomic fidelity, is it just that villainess fics have conditioned me to accept mediocrity as long as enough flowers and sparkles are slapped on it?
lol, it's baby's first Ponzi scheme
Stupidity of people not to read contracts fully a special when other side was responsible for a fraud before.
...I guess 9000 years isn't the _worst_ offender i've seen, though at least most of those stories fall into xianxia. Would it really change the story if the timespan was something like 500 years? Still a long-ass time, but without being so far back that mesopotamia was the center of civilization.
I kinda like that her dad doesn't immediately switch to doting mode. Already seen way too much of that, let's see some actual effort and consequences for neglect - or lets just have big bro take over the fluffy teacher/big bro/single dad role
the duke has room temperature IQ and EQ, he's hilarious lol
The MC, prince and duke's sis are all tied for my favourite character though - MC's got just enough agency without being OP (except for disguise skills?), prince is a delightful gremlin and I want to see more of the sis ruling high society with her brand of petty (๑•ㅂ•)و✧
This feels like a twisted reflection of one of those really terrible noble lady MC stories with everyone falling for MC after she starts doing stuff, and MC goes doki-doki over a bunch of men who were either actively hostile to her in the not-so-distant past or completely neglectful.
The MLs in both cases have little agency, having their entire worlds revolve around the FL and protecting her. The ML in this case just seems to have even less chemistry with FL than usual since he's mostly acting out of guilt and unresolved trauma from having seemingly every woman his age being a manipulative sociopathic rapist (author, do you have something you want to share with the class?). Doesn't help that he's rather plain compared to the redhead knight, the prince or even FL's brunette assistant
The FL in both cases have universal male adoration (except from the villains, though not even from all the villains), and has amnesia when it comes to the mistreatment/neglect/hostility she faced from the hot ones as long as they start acting cute. FL here is just...uncannily non-human in her emotions - or her lack thereof. She's also clearly uninterested in ML considering that her actions are also out of obligation.
Other young women in both cases are either non-sexual besties for the FL/employees, hypercompetent badass plot devices, or evil schemers who suck at manipulation/social interaction and want to either ruin FL and/or get in ML's pants.
The story's main weakness for me is that the characters (not just ML and FL) don't feel like people. One instance is the princess being obsessed with getting ML, which, wouldn't it make more sense to have one of her follower noble ladies marry ML? He doesn't have much charm apart from his title - he's somewhat plain in his physical attractiveness, marital skill, eloquence, fashion sense - take your pick. Feels like either the kingdom (and its neighbours) has a critical lack of eligible men. Another is FL's red head knight shouting at ML asking why he neglected her if he was smart enough to bribe guards to locate a stolen shipment, which... what are you even on about, dude?
...well, I've seen far worse MLs redeemed ig, this one was at least apologetic from the start. The best ending I can see for this tbh is for the divorce to go through, FL to end up with either her assistant or her knight (who was there for her throughout her hardship), and ML getting some much needed therapy, maybe finding someone else he can actually trust (idk, maybe he gets with the prince or the redheaded girl from the start. Or even just give the princess a redemption arc idc), and for everything to be pinned on the older gen and just...neatly resolved that way ig.
Mixed signals are torture - please don't waffle with someone with the emotional capacity of a 7 year old
But she is rejecting him? Every time?...
And he doesnt understand social cues?
So there are no mixed signals. He is just childish and stubborn. And immature. Aunt her responsibility (〜￣△￣)〜
Reads a bit different post-pandemic
...although, did she also bring indoor plumbing into the jail cell?
mage girl -> fluffy family story MC
casino girl -> transmigrator
priest girl(OG) -> regressor
priest girl(adopted) -> villainess in the making
princess -> twisted family story MC
Is that about right?