Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Gentle female lead(2)

A sweet story. Philomena is reincarnated into the body of a child on a magic filled fantasy world. Her childhood best friend is the black haired magic user Eddie, a wary boy who had been abused by his family for bearing the dark colouring of a magic user. Whilst pouring over magical tomes and grimoires together they form the beginning of a lifelong bond that grows from friendship to love. However, loving the most powerful magic user in their nation has its drawbacks, especially when your stubborn love is determined to protect you. I appreciated the strong ties between Philly and Eddie. Their love for each other was always an obvious priority between the two opposites.

This was a surprisingly sweet story centred around the Ernst family. The FL, Harley had regressed on the cusp of her marriage to when she had first been rescued from the streets to become the ward of the Duke of Ernst. Reliving the challenges of essentially replacing a daughter with her new adult perspective was enlightening but so much more so with her relationship with the 3 brothers who had tormented her the first time round. Now, as the reader follows along, we can see the pain and hurt in the family who struggle with the loss of a daughter or sister, and the complexities of grief as Harley uses her adult understanding to have a better relationship. I found the story to be very sweet. It was a mix of typical tropes like a villainess used to make the FL shine and show off things like her newly acquired poise and inner strength, and yet there was also something new with the bonds and burdens of family (especially a family of power and wealth). I liked the ML and the dynamic he has with the FL. Overall this was a slow paced but lovely story.