Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Child abuse(2)

Contrary to many recent commenters, I enjoyed this story very much and did not see the FL as being weak or the MC as not having genuine feelings. Ellzay Thyase starts out as the reincarnated form of a young Korean girl who was drawn to the tragic destiny of the boy who yearned for love but surrendered to darkness, Azef Randall, from the novel ‘The Crest of God’. ‘Zay’ and ‘Asef’ are more closely tied together than you would think at first. For Zay, there is a desperation to spare the much abused Asef the loneliness and abuse of his existence that always corrupts his very soul and makes him the doomed villain. She seems so delicate because she has a gentle heart and cries for the villains fate. But given the severity and amount of abuse and neglect suffered by Asef over his life, and the joy that many seemed to take in being cruel to him, I think a strong (in the way of leaping in and taking charge) FL could not appeal. Consider how much of the violence done unto him was perpetrated by a woman who was meant to care for him. He needed a seemingly vulnerable and delicate woman who saw the good in him to stir any remnants of protective feelings he may have had. Someone who loved him for all he could and should have been, who saw through his lies and understood him anyway. The more you read the story and understand how deep their ties to each other are, the more you realise how strong the FL is. Always willing to sacrifice herself to ensure his happiness. The sad part though, is that you realise without Zay being in his life, Asef was unable to find happiness. He stays bound by the demons of his childhood. I won’t add any more spoilers to show why these two are so special together, or why you can trust Asef to treasure Zay before himself, but if you see him through her eyes as the story unfolds and understand that she will always do anything to try save him from loneliness, you will begin to understand the strength of her sacrifice and the depth of their love for each other.

Completed Story Opinion: A nice story, let down in a couple of areas but the sisterly bond was great. Main couple: 7/10 FL: 7/10 - Countess Charlotte De Perol. Childhood full of physical abuse and neglect. Becomes a powerful woman and has a sweet sister relationship. ML: 8/10 - Arthur, Duke of Cardiff. One of the last magi, capable of wielding the infernal flame. General of the Kings armies. Actually a very sweet guy who didn’t get enough story time with more pages dedicated to the king (who held him in a form of obligated servitude). Unable to live his life for himself. Story/Concept: One of the most refreshing aspects of this story was the sister bond between FL and her mercenary sister Kara. The story suited the title “Cheerful Countess Sisters” more than “Countess and the Blade” because little of the story had time between FL & ML and he was a magi more than a knight. There were let downs for me but the main one would be the amount of story dedicated to the king. He was responsible for a lifetime of misery for the ML because his need for power was his priority over their close brotherly bond and he never faced any consequences for that. In fact, with the exception of having the FL love him, his life was pretty perfect and given his cruelty (which the author attempted to balance with his love of the FL) and petty selfishness. He was also in the story a LOT more than the ML. Tropes: Shoujo. Historical. Royalty. Nobility. Sisterhood. Ending: Happy. Side stories were ok. Art: Pretty and colourful. TW's: Child abuse.