By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

Something we’ve seen throughout this series but especially in this volume is the idea of what an “ideal” woman is in this Court Intrigue series. The series began by showing us that Reirin was delicate, fragile, and good at all the things that men prized in a woman, whereas Keigetsu was boorish, clumsy, and the one thing she’s really good at she has to keep hidden. Of course, we now know that delicate flower is not the word anyone would use to describe Reirin – except maybe Seika, and even she, by the end of this volume, has had the Reirin pedestal in her mind taken down. Here we also get a foreign delegate who explicitly regards all Ei women as weak and unable to fight back, and Seika (who among the five maidens has been the most feminine one) has to come to the realization herself, and then tell him, that in fact the Maidens all learn to be silk hiding steel. No more so than Reirin.

After the events of the last two volumes, everything is seemingly back to normal, and the maidens are back to learning how to be consorts. However, a foreign prince is visiting the country, and Seika is in charge of the welcome. She decides to rope in Reirin (because she adores her) and Keigetsu (because Reirin won’t go without her) to help her with the ceremony, which is mostly ceremonial – they roll out the red carpet and the prince says he is content, and everyone is happy. Unfortunately, it turns out that Seika, especially after torturing and starving the consort and effectively moving up in the power structure, is battling family who very much want to bring her down. What’s more, Seika’s seaside city is a lot less happy and content than she thought when she grew up there. And the prince, who has his own agenda, is far from content. Worst of all, I used the word “seemingly” at the start of the paragraph for good reason.

When I started this volume I was a bit puzzled. The last book ended with such a dire cliffhanger for Reirin, what happened to it? As it turns out, I had reckoned without Reirin’s powers of trying to make everyone around her think things are totally fine. We’ve had lingering in the background the fact that the bodyswaps seem to be affecting Reirin’s health to a degree, but it’s only to a degree – and after the last extended swap, she’s actually worse than before. Reirin has a chronic unknown illness that no one can find a cure for. She has been dying for years, and it feels much closer now. And she just cannot quite work up the strength to tell Keigetsu about it. Unfortunately, that means that when Keigetsu, trying to protect Leelee by being brash as usual, ends up in a dire situation., a bodyswap means that Reirin is now in the dire situation. Reirin, who has come very, very close to accepting this is how she dies.

Keigetsu, needless to say, is utterly devastated when she finds out, especially when she realizes that she doesn’t have the power for several days to swap them back. Keigetsu still has a tendency to feel that everything she has achieved is thanks to Reirin, and even more so, that everything bad that’s happened to Reirin is her fault, leading to her literally saying “let’s stop being friends” at one point. Keigetsu, of course, fails to realize that she is the best thing in Reirin’s life right now. One of the funnier scenes in this book is seeing Gyoumei trying his damndest to talk to Reirin via Keigetsu’s fire every day, and realizing, as does Keishou, that Reirin honestly is just not that into him – or anyone, really. Again, this isn’t yuri, but if there’s anyone Reirin is interested in most at the moment, it’s Keigetsu.

Fortunately, the fact that there’s been another body swap, as well as Keigetsu literally begging Reirin to live, makes things better for the moment. Though I’ve no doubt that Reirin’s chronic illness is the series’ final boss. In any case, next time, it’s Reirin’s time to fight back. And we all know what that means. There’s going to be utter chaos. Highly recommended, and I hope the anime is good.

By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

So yes, there is a cliffhanger. Sorry. However, the cliffhanger does not mean this particular arc is ongoing. Everything hanging from the last few volumes about this arc is dealt with here, thankfully. But yeah, this was, from what I hear, supposed to be the finale, but the series got popular, so the author was asked to continue it. And it works pretty well, though I will admit that I do grow a bit weary of the “you can’t trust anyone, can you” aspect to some of this series. There is also a lengthy flashback explaining the Emperor’s past and why he’s been so gung ho about sorcerers. It’s well handled, but I’m going to be honest, I read this series for two characters, and the Emperor is neither of those two. Any time we cut away from Reirin and Keigetsu, I begin to lose interest. And that’s because they’re so dynamic and vibrant that I can’t look away.

After rescuing Reirin from her near drowning, the cast get together to check their notes and explain exactly what’s going on. We find that the Emperor’s older brother, the only sibling who actually gave a damn about him, was assassinated as part of the massive throne war that was going on. Assassinated by a sorcerer, who had been let out of prison expressly for that purpose. And the sorcerer then got away, so the Emperor has spent the last twenty-five years searching high and low. Fortunately, Reirin spots a way that they might be able to talk the Emperor down and convince him that Keigetsu can help him. But to do that, they’re going to need to pull off another really good acting job. Which is a shame, as everyone knows that when Reirin tries to imitate Keigetsu, she’s been failing miserably.

The main reason this book is fantastic is the fight that’s been coming for a while now between Reirin and Keigetsu. After the events of Book 8, Reirin thinks that Keigetsu is making other friends, and thus doesn’t need her any more. Which, unfortunately, triggers Reirin’s tendency to use “and then I sacrifice my life” as her Plan A all the time, which causes Keigetsu to lash out, scream in anger and say “I hate you”. We are reminded that these girls may be consorts in not-China, but they’re also teenage girls who have grown up unable to express emotions like normal kids. As a result, Reirin needs to be sat down and have it patiently explained to her that Keigetsu is, in fact, still her best friend and would be very upset if she died, and Keigetsu has to have it explained to her that Reirin has the emotional sensitivity of toast when it comes to their friendship, and thus cannot read between the “I’m worried about you!” lines that Keigetsu is throwing at her. They make up. It’s great. Reirin possibly overcompensates, but that’s not a surprise. But hey, everything solved…

…OK, no, there’s a cliffhanger, and so not QUITE everything is solved. Still, this was great, except the bits not about our two heroines, which was merely good.

By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

This was supposed to be the final arc of the series, but the author says in the afterword that it’s being extended, supposedly because there’s so many stories still to tell, but also probably because this sells quite well in Japan. That said, I get the feeling the bulk of this volume may have been written before the series got the OK to continue, as there’s very much a “headed into the final act” feel to this, with the danger ramped up even more, and with one of the most violent and hard to read sequences in the series so far, which is thankfully cut off by a series of punch the air moments. Honestly, this is a punch the air series much of the time, as the first half of the book shows us how dangerous things are going to be, and the second half sees Keigetsu managing to succeed somehow and Reirin simply blowing everything up and doing exactly as she pleases. That said, this one is gonna be hard to fix.

Our two heroines have still not been able to swap back to their own bodies, even a month after the 7th book. The reason for this is the Emperor is very suspicious, and wants to execute any magic users he finds. They try to figure out a way to do the switch during a ritual that’s coming up, but the Emperor figured out they were going to do that, and instead sends them all out into the poorer areas of the country to distribute food. Keigetsu (really Reirin) will be sent to the most dangerous, remote part of the country, a land that’s caught between two families and thus has no one taking responsibility for everything. He also sends an assassin after her. Meanwhile, the Emperor himself surprises the other four maidens by showing up at their own distribution site, and he’s determined to prove that Reirin is not Reirin. Which is going to be easy, as she isn’t.

This is the first volume where we’ve really had to dig into the Emperor himself, as mostly we’ve seen the generation after him – his son Gyoumei and the maidens. As it turns out, Genyou’s had it very rough as well, and is consumed by the idea of revenge – which is the main reason that he’s trying so hard to uncover Keigetsu’s magic. Elsewhere, as you’d expect, this volume is filled with Reirin doing jaw-droppingly amazing things, but it also has yet another instance of our two besties completely misunderstanding each other. Reirin has spent so much of her life at death’s door that she has no idea how to deal with things like depression, longing, and love – and let me tell you, this book may not be yuri, but even Reirin’s fiance AND her brothers agree that she’s head over heels in love with Keigetsu. Fortunately, they make up in the most overdramatic way. Unfortunately, they’ve sort of blown any chance of keeping things a secret.

After last volume’s one-volume breather, we’re back to a cliffhanger ending, but fortunately the 9th book came out in Japan a couple months ago. Also fortunately, this is going to continue. I want to read the stories the author says are still to be told.