By Yu Sakurai and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Tenseisaki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu-tachi to Oryouri Shimasu: Okazari Ouhi wa My Pace ni Saikyou desu” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

It’s been so long since the start of this series that I had honestly forgotten the setup, which is, of course, the standard “disgraced fiancee” story that I’m trying to stop calling “Villainess” when it doesn’t apply. To be fair, we spend so little time dealing with it that it was very easy to forget. But now, as if the author realized that there was more material to mine here, we’re going back to where it all began. Not just as the reigning queen of a foreign country, that would be too simple. Laetitia is also going back to school, which she of course left when she left the country, in order to complete her education. And you know what that means… the horrible guy and the horrible girl who started this are back, and they’re determined to get right back on the “why are you bullying her, you terrible woman?” cliche bandwagon.

Laetitia and Glenreed are going back to Laetitia’s home country, Elltoria. While Laetitia is going to get her education finished while she’s there, the main purpose is the celebration of the King reigning for ten years. And honestly, given how much of a family feud everyone has going on during this, you can see why ten years is a big deal. Sadly, the candidates for taking the throne after the King steps down are a) Laetitia’s old fiance, who is shallow and annoying, and b) Princess Velta, who judges men by how handsome they are and is a conniving backstabber. Honestly, neither one is all that appealing, but you can bet that Laetitia’s going to get dragged into this anyway, protected only by her magic power that is so high that it’s literally unheard of.

It was nice to see the author poking at their own setup, as well as the typical setup for novels like this. The idea that a prince of the realm can dissolve a long-standing engagement with a woman who has been trained for years to be the next Queen, just by shoving her into a fountain and saying, “the engagement is off!”, boggles the mind. What’s more, after hearing so much about Laetitia’s brilliant, talented brothers, who adore her, it’s rather odd that ALL of them were away when this played out. Sadly, we don’t learn WHY this scheme was hatched, but at least learning that it’s a scheme is sufficient. As for Laetitia and Glenreed, sorry, she’s still ludicrously oblivious. Hell, Glenreed’s main issue is that, because he hasn’t told anyone about her past life in Japan, he is jealous of a dog. Who he thinks is a former lover. This is funny but also quite sad. But mostly funny.

A lot of this book felt like the “your series is popular enough now, start spinning out subplots that will allow it to continue for a long time” sort of thing, but it read well enough. And there’s frozen oranges, lest you worry food doesn’t get a look in here.

By Yu Sakurai and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Tenseisaki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu-tachi to Oryouri Shimasu: Okazari Ouhi wa My Pace ni Saikyou desu” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

Sometimes your worst enemy is yourself. Sure, you could be reincarnated as a stunningly attractive noble lady. And yes, you could be married off to a cool yet attentive king of a neighboring country and end up their (temporary) queen. And you may also be possessed of truly staggering amounts of magic powers. And you could also be a genius chef, continually coming up with ideas that astound the nobility of this pre-industrial land, such as pizza toast. You could also be surrounded by cats, wolves, and other animals who all adore you and want to do your bidding. And yes, it could be that one of those wolves is ALSO your husband, the King. You’ve got a pretty good thing going on here. Unfortunately, if you are Laetitia, only one single word in the preceding paragraph stands out, and that word is ‘temporary’. She can’t get it into her head that the king has fallen for her.

The kingdom is about to be visited by representatives from the Wildam Empire, which is to pegasi what her home base is to wolves. Unfortunately, it gets off to a bad start when one of the Pegasus Knights ends up picking a fight with… a little dog that barked at him. Believe it or not, this does almost cause an international incident, but Laetitia helps to smooth things over through her negotiating skills and her prowess at flying her gryphon. Then there’s a ball where she has to meet and greet, and she discovers that… well, no, she does not discover that her husband is jealous of anyone who comes near her, please see above. Things then go even further south when a lady in Lady I-Liena’s camp supposedly helps the disgraced Pegasus Knight escape, and is now in prison. Which… makes no sense. Can Laetitia figure out what’s really going on?

I must admit, sometimes it can be hard to tell “this is background informatoin I’m giving out to give a character depth” from “this is a clue and hint for what happens later on in the book”, and as such, I was rather surprised at a revelation that happens late in the book. Mind, I knew that there was something deeply suspicious about them, and that they were likely a spy… which was true, but the rest of it was news to me. Speaking of being news to me, I had assumed that laetitia was the only one in this world who had been reincarnated from Japan, but the more we hang around her older brother Claude, the more I think that he is as well and she’s just in denial about it. Which works, given everything else she’s in denial about. Honestly, given that she already hits a lot of the “overpowered character” buttons, we can grant her this flaw.

If you enjoy romance, political dealmaking, or are simply hungry, this is a fun series to read.

By Yu Sakurai and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Tenseisaki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu-tachi to Oryouri Shimasu: Okazari Ouhi wa My Pace ni Saikyou desu” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

Generally with any slow life series you have to find the right about of balance between “nothing is happening because this is meant to be a slow life series” and “there are things happening because this is a narrative people will want to actually read”. It can be tricky, as many authors find. A lot of slow life books tend to lean towards the second of those two, where life is not really all that slow at all. This one doesn’t do that, but it needs to find the right time to dole out its plot. As an example, one of the main mysteries of the book is “when will Laetitia realize that her king and her wolf are in fact the same?”. Wait too little and there’s no tension, wait too long and you risk making Laetitia look dim. This book waits just the right amount, though what happens next is left open.

We get a couple of new additions to the cast here. Lelena is the daughter of former maid Krona, who is a bit busy being in jail to attend to her sibling, so goes to live with Laetitia, bringing along a cat and a guilt complex a mile wide. Also introduced is Liddeus, who is an incredibly stereotyped science nerd, only this is an otome game-style romance, so he’s a very handsome stereotypical MAGIC nerd. You get the sense he might actually be a love rival if he could for one moment get his mind off of spells, which he cannot. And there is, of course, all the politics – Laetitia arranges a tea party between the two queen candidates she’s already won over, and the other two who clearly scream “I am fodder for a later book’s plot”. This is pissing off the anti-beast person faction in the country, of course, and so they decide to take stronger measures to express their displeasure. Can Laetitia negotiate all this and still make delicious treats?

Well, I mean, of course. Have you seen the title? Laetitia has two main weapons, her food and her animals, and she uses them both here. Indeed, she gains another furry friend, named Tweety, though if you’re expecting the Looney Tunes bird you may be disappointed – possibly the Hyde and Go Tweet version. Admittedly yes, she is also monstrously overpowered in her magic, which literally breaks the device they use to measure it. This is clearly more due to her reincarnation than to her innate powers (though we do get more “amusing” stories of her and her butler being abused as children by her siblings in the name of magic training. They look back on those days and laugh, so I suppose we must as well). And yes, by the end of the book Laetitia finally realizes – after the king gives it away – that King Glenreed and Lord Aroo are one and the same. She seems devastated this means no more fluffy petting. I am 100% positive she is mistaken.

I do wonder if we’re heading towards a war, and if so how this book would handle it. Bit hard to cook for your fluffy friends in a trench. Still, so far the book does quite a good job of walking the tightrope. I look forward to the next volume.