By Kori Hisakawa and Airumu. Released in Japan as “Haikei Mishiranu Danna-sama, Rikonshite Itadakimasu” by Media Works Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Carley Radford.

I had not realized when reading and writing the review of the first book that it’s literally half a book – the books were released in Japan as Part 1 and Part 2, and that’s what we’re getting here as well. As such, it’s not really a surprise that the book concentrates more on the political climate going on around our main couple, which is not only getting dangerous but also might implicate them personally. This is not nearly as lethal as The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman, but I was thinking of that series while reading this, and believe fans of one might like the other. Byletta is a young woman trying to run her own life and have as much freedom as possible, despite this being a world where noble wives are expected to look pretty and give birth. Arnald is someone who finds he’s fallen in love, and simply does not have the communications toolkit to deal with it. Basically, they need to talk but don’t.

Byletta, frankly, has a bit too much on her plate at the moment. She has to rush back to the flood control project because outbreaks of violence are breaking out and the nobles who own the hot springs hotels nearby claim the project is taking their water. The city where she lives is under constant threat of a military coup, with destruction, bombs, and many injuries, and the supposed person behind this coup is said to be her husband. And then there’s her own marriage, as she still struggles to understand Arnald, who usually seems cool and uncaring but occasionally shows a more comforting side. Worst of all, he’s still insisting on acting like her husband in bed at night, and it turns out that, after the horrible first time she had, he’s actually an amazing lover. Is she going to be able to get her divorce after all?

Arnald’s mindset is comparatively easy to understand, and once he realizes what he’s doing wrong, very easy to change. Byletta is a much harder nut to crack, frankly. She’s haunted by the fact that everyone sees her mother in her, she’s desperate to be her own woman, be that by learning to use a sword or start a revolutionary fashion industry, all because she does not want to be trapped by marriage. It’s astonishing how many times she refers to herself as Arnald’s whore or prostitute throughout this book – and it’s using the terms because she means them to be derogatory, she has to think of herself as that, because otherwise she would have to accept that she really is falling in love with Arnald, and in her eyes, that means giving up. She’s a fantastic character, and I appreciate that Arnald realizes the only way to keep the one he loves is to essentially give her everything she asks for. All the freedom she wants, just stay married to him. It’s sweet.

This volume ends definitively, as we see a flashforward to them living a happy life with their two children. Nevertheless, there are seven more books in Japan. We’ll see if we get more, but if we do, I’m happy to read it, even though I suspect it won’t just be post-marital fluff.