Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace, Vol. 6

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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.

This is the final volume of the series, and so it has quite a lot to pack into its pages. We have to resolve the Queen situations, of course. And then there’s Laetitia’s past life issues. There’s also the fact that several countries appear to be at war with several other countries. I’m going to be honest, of the six books, this one has the least amount of cooking with the fluffy friends. There’s pancakes coated in honey at the start, but that’s about it, really. That said, it’s quite good, and manages to have some nice elements of romance, thriller, and isekai. Admittedly, the romance may be the least important element. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is romance here, as our clueless couple finally manage to get together. But I get the sense that the author is not nearly as interested in this as they are with the thriller, backstabbings, and isekai shenanigans.

We’re getting closer to when Glenreed has to choose his queen. He’s pretty much decided, but unfortunately for him, Laetitia can’t get rid of the “temporary” in her head and is doing everything she can to try to help him find someone else. She meets with the fourth of the queen candidates, Fillia, who… seems nice. Unfortunately, the obnoxious princess from a foreign country is lurking around Laetitia, doing her best to frame her for something every chance she can get. As this is going on, meanwhile, Laetitia and Glenreed are learning some secrets about this world, secrets which go back over 600 years, and are apparently responsible for the prosperity each of the countries around them has had. Unfortunately, things come to a head when Laetitia confesses her past life memories to Glenreed, which leads to him… pulling a sword on her and trying to kill her? What’s going on here? And did the evil princess somehow manage to poison herself?

The twist for this final book is an interesting one, tying in past lives, curses, and free will. The question is, do you rule wisely for years and then risk leaving your beloved country to a son or daughter who might not rule wisely? And if that’s the case, shouldn’t you do something to stop it? That said, we’re all meant to agree with Laetitia, and I do. You have to let people screw up, you have to let them learn from mistakes, because that’s what leads to progress. The message is a bit heavy-handed, but I didn’t mind it. In lighter news, I was very happy to see Laetitia admit that she was in love, though I was worried, as the confession on her end came in the second side story, after the main one had ended. And for those who like tear jerkers, we also get a reunion with the one thing she cares about more than anything else from Japan. No, not her family, her dog.

In the end, this was a good series, and one which did manage to justify its length. Recommended for those who like to see women who can kick your ass as well as cook sweets, and decide to prioritize the sweets.

The Promise of Marielle Clarac

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By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Yakusoku” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jasmin Thairintr.

Usually when it becomes apparent the author is getting a little tired of writing their best-selling series, it’s not quite as blatant as this. Oh, don’t get me wrong, this is another fine book in the franchise for those who like the sort of things Marielle Clarac gives you. But the author states flat out that they had not expected to still be writing this as Marielle hits her 20th birthday (which she does at the end of the book), and they don’t really have a desire to write an adult Marielle. (This re-emphasizes my feeling that we won’t ever see her as a mother, or if we do it will be in an epilogue in the last book.) And I get it. This series is meant to be about Marielle Clarac, but she’s been Marielle Flaubert for far longer. She’s no longer the teenage girl who can lurk in the background and hear juicy gossip, the juicy gossip is now about her. Not great.

Marielle is horrified to find that the gossip newspaper La Mome has a story accusing Agnes Vivier of plagiarism. After talking her down a bit, Simeon agrees with her that her publisher should handle things themselves… but of course, Marielle can’t help but investigate anyway. She meets up with the reporter that she teamed up with a couple of books ago, and discovers that the article was in fact meant to lure her out, as a piece of jewelry described in her latest book perfectly resembles a piece that a young nobleman needs to get his inheritance. Needless to say, that story is absolutely full of holes, and Marielle doesn’t buy it either. This does not stop her from getting involved, chased, kidnapped, kidnapped AGAIN, and seemingly nearly murdered a few times. Fortunately, she has her overprotective husband by her side. Most of the time.

One of the things I liked best about this book is it has a double bluff revelation. We get the somewhat obvious revelation I was expecting about 3/4 of the way through the book, which I did not complain about because it made a lot of the previous peril Marielle was in make a lot more sense. But then there’s another revelation near the end that was more of a surprise. And it’s always fun seeing Marielle sleuth, and fangirl over her husband looking dark and menacing. But I will admit, it *did* feel a bit like the writer is going through the motions, giving the readers what they want. There is a plot point dangled which promises to be of greater importance in the next book (which should be out faster than this one), but a lot of the most exciting things in this book are looking back at past triumphs rather than ahead to the future.

If the author does not really want to write Marielle as an adult, there’s not much further this can go. But it’s going another volume, at least. For fans.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 8

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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.