Spoiler I Am a Princess Responsible For Settling Circumstances

I've been way too busy to update spoiled on the new chapters. Especially since the series' author has graciously updated two more chapters (and I believe there'll be two more next week). There are no explicit Clifford scenes, so it's not like you're not missing out too much (I mean you are... but you get what I mean.)

So instead, have some delicious fanart by the manga artist, Yoneda Kazusa, themself!

Spoiler: Clifford with cat ears

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfuIxhLVsAAAFs6?format=jpg&name=large

Spoiler: Fangirl outburst. You've been warned

IT'S A CAT CLIFFORD! KITTY CLIFFY! NEKO ONGARNE!!!! ♬♫♬♫♬♫♬ヽ(◍⪰ᴗ⪯)ﾉ♬♫♬♫♬♫♬♫♬♫♬
I CAN'T I CAN'TTTTTTTTTTT
LOOK AT THOSE FELINE EYESSSSSS! THAT PLAYFUL SMIRK!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
*ded from too much moe*

According to the manga artist:
Spontaneous graffiti Ongarnuko and Octavignan ( ※ fanart, not official)

It's an official fanart asdfghjklqwertyuiopzxcvbnm

Please show the artist some love, if you can.

We've seen him in dog ears and now cat ears. The super mysterious Ongarne has become ultra cute!~~~~

AlsoIwentfromdogpersontocatperson.

 

Spoiler: Chapters 76

So in chapter 76, Douche asks what's she doing (with the whole flower thing), and she says that she's shaking things up, basically act unexpectedly to give the crooks opportunities to attack. So she'll cause an upheaval. And Douche is like "For example, your escort knight?" (because she chose Ongarne's messenger to everyone's surprise). She calms herself and not give in to her brother's provocation (I know that feeling all too well ).

Then she looks around to find Clifford, and was comforted to see his deep blue eyes , When she saw him her feeling calmed down . She uses Clifford as a model of calmness and composure (awwwww~~)~.

She tells Douche that she wants to be the best decoy. And he tells her that yeah but you'll be in more danger. And she didn't think that through. She understands that the fear of being in danger is psychologically damaging. HOWEVER, she confidently says that
she trusts her escort knights, WHICH IS CLIFFORD . Clifford is her source of conviction! That's actually what she says.

So Douche is like do what you want, but says that he'll be doing his own shaking things up. So she basically wants to be a convenient princess of double luck. Who is the prey to get the opportunity to catch the crook.

So someone has the rose with the red string, and Guy and Eleil escort three people. Lol, one of them is Stain, the red hair spy of Daddy Duke. Stain, who's Guy's friend, tells him that's it nice to have Guy on his side, and Guy just says I dunno u, and Stain says so cold. The other person is Sisi, Octavia's BL friend, who's not actually as fujoshi as Octavia, and she's there with her fiance, Viscount Huey Winfell, on a date.

CONTEXT. So, I didn't explicitly explain, but who knew we'd actually meet these extra characters. So, remember how dancing with Octavia may bring tragedy, but also likely get good fortune. During her dance with generic Derek, Octavia tells how, previously, she once danced with a guy who said that he fell in love with someone, but another guy liked her too, and tried to get engaged with her. Octavia used her power to thwart him and get the guy and his lover engaged. That would be Sisi and Huey.

Octavia gave Huey a jealous look because she wanted to be with Sisi. (Sisters before misters, bruh).

So Eleil explained that the rose was caught by two people, Sisi and Stain, but Sisi let go. Before Octavia could say her decision, another voice erupted. A hooded man came. The knights around them were cautious, but Douche signaled that it wasn't a problem, which Octavia noticed. In the original novel, the hooded guy was supposed to be Rust, but she knew it wasn't him. The guy's actually Derek. Octavia discerned that he was working sercretly.

So he grabbed Stain by the neck, and apologizes on behalf of his subordinate. He tells them that Sisi's the real winner. Some girls nearby, excluding Sisi, caught a peek and blushed. (Really? Have you not seen Clifford? Where's your taste?). He drags Stain away and then hits him, tells him that they're not there to play. And then another guy meets up with them.

Spoiler: Chapters 77

In chapter 77, Octavia says that Sisi was chosen by the sky (it's an Esfian saying that she was chosen by the sky god). So, Sisi hesitated putting on the Carlam flower hair ornament because nobles don't put in flowers in their hair, but Octavia says it's okay. Sisi puts on the hair ornament in her hair, and Octavia feels relaxed because it's someone she knows who's putting it in rather than a stranger. She thanks Sisi, and Sisi calls her Via sama.

Then she asks Douche how does she look, and Douche says that it needs to move a bit, and repositions it. Sisi and Huey, and Guy and Eleil nod that now it looks better. Sisi nervously put it on so she apologized, but Douche says that she's Octavia's friend so he's glad that she won and not some stranger, which eases him up.

She talked to Sisi for a bit, and wanted to talk a bit more. She was thinking of inviting them for a meal during the inspection but stopped herself. Her inner Maki and her inner Octavia fought (the one thing that I'd noticed is that Maki is very relevant in this series, rather than just forgetting her like a lot of other isekai series. I appreciate that.) Inner Octavia won because she didn't want to put Sisi in danger. But then Douche invited Huey for a meal, but Huey declined politely, which was outrageous for nobles to do. He pushed again, and even invited to have Sisi join (I hate how he's not addressing Sisi too. What, were you initially not going to invite her?). Octavia tried to reprimand him, and he says that it's his own way of shaking things up. Octavia wondered if he thought that they could potentially be the crooks they were baiting (which is just ridiculous). Octavia was mad (and rightly so) and tells him then she should look into the hooded guy whose subordinate who picked up the rose, which was generic Derek. But, of course, Douchebag replies that there wasn't a need to do that. She thought he was playing favorites, which was unlike what the Celius in the original novel did, and asks why not. And this asshole says that he's got nothing to say to her. (I hate him. I hate him. I hate him )

Unsurprisingly she was pissed, until Huey mediated the situation and tried to decline the invitation again, but he couldn't find the right words. Octavia smilingly says that she'll invite them again.

 

The next two chapters are from Guy's two-part P.O.V. And I have to say that the comedy is part of the series is him.

Spoiler: Chapters 78-79 (of the novel) - Unstable Guard Mission for a Commoner Soldier Who Might Be on the Road to Success

Guy saw a Lev bird again and he was worried (since Lev birds imply bad fortune). Guy was riding a horse while the carriage with Octavia and Celius was going to the capital for the inspection. He was really nervous. He didn't know what Octavia was thinking when she appointed him as her temporary knight. She even appointed Eleil, and was surprised to get along with him enough, despite Eleil being from a noble background.

So here's the funny part. When he found out he was appointed for a mission, his fellow commoner, heterosexual colleague patted him on the shoulder and that he'll never forget a guy like him. Then he gave him his treasured sake, which Guy found was kinda thoughtful but wanted him to stop acting like it was their final goodbye lol. Until his colleague started a bet with other rookie soldiers and whether he or Eleil will fail the mission, and they bet a good sum on both! lol! His colleague said, "You see, Guy. You must always be honest with your bets.... I won’t lie to myself.” And Guy was like don't waste your cool words!

Guy was even more nervous because, in the position he was in, if he looked at the carriage, he could see Clifford, aka Ongarne's messenger (don't worry. he don't bite). He knows that, while he isn't Octavia's knight atm, he'll definitely put her as his priority (yes he will, and we love a loyal man). Anyways, Guy felt sick, but tried to get back to doing his job and looked around vigilantly for any suspicious activity. He didn't sense anything, but he noticed that two guards moved.

One of them was Clifford. He looked in the direction that Guy earlier looked at. He thought that if Clifford was concerned, there might be a sign of a person.

The other was Hugh-pain-in-the-ass, who was his superior (I would say his direct superior during the inspection since Guy was in Alexis' faction). He was handsome and some guys crushed on him, blah blah blah. But here's the weird part. When Guy was appointed for the mission (and by Octavia might I add), Hugh-pain-in-the-ass envied him while saying, "How nice..." Like, why? Because Octavia wasn't fine with you and didn't trust you so she chose some knights on her own? I vaguely recall that he was supposed to be Octavia's original-original escort knight. Yo, you better not have any feelings for her, or else Imma shove it up your-

Anyways, the party arrived. He received the order about gathering the flowers and having them thrown into the crowd by Hugh-pain-the-ass. So when he arranged everything, he didn't know what signal to give, so he just made a circle with his hands and Octavia understood. So the flowers fell and people seemed excited from their dialogues. Guy understood that it was because the annual flower festival was canceled due to the war with the Saza religion, and the flowers were instead used for a memorial festival during the mourning period. Guy wished he could enjoy them on this day off, but he was on duty.

And then the winning rose with the red string fell on him lol He's got the weirdest luck.

Actually, the rose was coming to him and he just reflexively grabbed it because if he moved, he'd fall. So he grabbed it. Eleil was exasperated and the people around them had a face saying "Eh?" Eleil suggested throwing it again, so Guy said that he'll ask the sky again to choose. But before he did, he quickly looked around to find anyone who was harmless enough to go near Octavia. He looked at one group and saw Stain with a hooded guy that he knew was generic Derek. Then another guy with his hood was near them. The guy had an eyepatch over one eye.

Eleil basically asked what's the hold-up. He saw what Guy was looking at and muttered, "Brother?". Aka, Rust.

As Guy was processing that the guy with Stain and generic Derek was Eleil's older brother, an irritated voice asked him if he was done yet.

He thought of throwing it over to him, but wondered if he wanted to reveal that Derek Nightfellow was there. Then he saw a pair of lovers, who were dressed as commoners but he knew were from nobility. So he chose them.

But before the girl among the lovers, aka Sisi, could grab it, and another hand shot up and grabbed it. It was Stain. Sisi immediately let go, and apologized. Stain was like is that okay, guess it's mine then (lol, the lack of shamelessness. I lowkey like him in this chapter). Guy was like it's not okay, and looked for generic Derek who wasn't there. So he quickly rushed over to them and maintained that it was the girl who won from what he saw.

After the whole flower hair ornament ceremony, Guy was standing in the hallway of the clothing store for the "Clothing" part of the inspection. He finally felt like he could breathe (u worry too much lol). But the whole time, he didn't feel alive.

During the flower hair ornament ceremony, after Sisi was chosen, he was forced to wait near Clifford, aka Ongarne's messenger (Can I take your place instead, Guy? ). And, interestingly, Eleil didn't know Clifford's real identity, which shows that only a few people know. Since Clifford was normally positioned as an excellent escort knight (cuz he is one, fite me ), Guy didn't feel afraid in approaching him (you're making progress ). He'll find it helpful by paying attention to Clifford since he's able to detect signs that Guy can't notice. He finds the thoughts regarding Clifford, as Ongarne's messenger, to be full of mysteries (you're not the only one, buddy ). He wanted to share it with someone but didn't know who. He thought maybe Octavia but decided absolutely not (but it feels random why you thought about sharing it with Octavia. You're not buddy-buddy with her and Clifford hasn't done anything bad that requires you to inform her. Though, I would love to see her reaction to that ).

And then Guy noticed something happen with Clifford. Clifford reacted mysteriously when Sisi nervously put the flower hair ornament on Octavia's hair and the ornament wasn't placed well, and that it looked weird to even him. So when Douchebag fixed it, it looked better. He thought that if Douche wanted to trick her, then he wouldn't have done anything. So he didn't harm Octavia. So Guy's wondering why Clifford reacted that way (It's called being jelly ). He found Clifford's reaction strange (It's called being jelly ). Clifford looked uncomfortable, and then immediately tilted his head a little, as if he found that it weird himself. (Clifford, you wanted to be the one to fix her hair ornament . Hell, you wanted to be the one to put it in her hair . First it was the male queen, and now it was Douchebag. When will you get your turn again, Cliffy!?!?!. Just accept your feelings already! We're already on volume 5!!!)

In his heart, Guy was asking Clifford what made him uncomfortable and that he should rejoice (He can't! He's not getting personal time with his waifu!!! )

And because Guy was staring too much at Clifford, Clifford threw his gaze at Guy with a face saying "What?" Guy wanted to say that it was because he reacted weirdly. (Guy is Clifford's friend that they have both yet to acknowledge)

At the clothing store, he was glad Clifford wasn't nearby (but I'm not glad . Bring him back. There's a great lack of Clifford so far in this volume .). He breathed in the fresh air and stopped being nervous. Until he remembered another thing that made him nervous. Octavia apparently called him to where she was resting. She wrote down a question for him on paper. She had first confirmed if he could read and write (only on the level of a child). He understood that she didn't want anyone else to know the question. He found the question to be problematic because she asked: "Won’t you become my fake lover?” And Guy, who stopped breathing, wondered if today was the day he was going to die

I so want to know Clifford's reaction to this! I can already imagine Alexis threatening Guy on what's the color of his blood.

 

Spoiler: Chapter 80

Back to Octavia's P.O.V., she's resting inside a clothing store that's normally on the commoner's side so nobles don't frequent much, and is run by a woman named Melina, which is rare in Esfia. Octavia's on a couch decorated with a fluffy stuffed animal bear and she wanted to bury herself in it, but Hugh-pain-the-ass, Guy and Eleil are just outside the door and the door is open. If it was Clifford, he would've ignored it (lol ).

Douche was currently away to check the safety of the castle, delivered every hour by a messenger bird. Octavia wanted to make use of that time and for some reason wanted to change into ordinary clothes and escape (okay, but like why? ). But 1) the windows were latticed and 2) that would've put Melina in trouble, so Octavia stayed put. I think she did that because she wanted to shake things up, you know act unexpectedly, but, imo, it's a foolish action if she didn't have Clifford or a guard in her plan, especially Clifford since he's super reliable in protecting her. Luckily she stayed put, and instead looked at the three men as her potential fake lover.

When she was looking at Guy, she saw a pure white wedding dress displayed over him in the shop. Weddings in Esfia were the same as in Japan with a chapel, wedding ring on the left ring finger, and the bride wearing a pure white dress. Octavia had black thoughts since she didn't even have a lover.

She then told both Guy and Eleil that she should speak with each of them since she did nominate them. First, she called Guy. He looked at Hugh like if that was okay. Hugh ruthlessly said that it was the Princess' wish.

Guy nervously entered the room and sat down when she told him to. First, she asked if he could read and write, and was satisfied that he at least knew at a child's level. She then wrote down a question on the memo paper, "Won’t you become my fake lover?”" It was more of a solicitation than a question, according to her.

She chose Guy first because Alec used him as a messenger (when he was sent to Octavia during her dance practice with Clifford about Alec's departure) and she trusts Alec (she was about to tell him the truth about the whole fake lover thing, so that shows how much she trusted him with her secret. That's why she even chose Guy and Eleil because they're both (more regarding Guy, she chose Eleil because she needed info on his brother, Rust) under Alexis). Guy also gets points because he's not a named character in the original BL novel (by that logic, neither is Clifford! ). She also chose Guy because his black hair and black eyes were similar to a Japanese person. That and he was ordinary (Ouch! But you gotta remember, he thought affiliating with her was bad news.) She still like good-looking guys, but there's more to a guy than just his looks (I repeat. Clifford. He's the pretty package with the good contents that I'd never return heh heh ).

Octavia decided to abuse her authority to get a fake lover, and was like viva la abuse my authority . While she did accept Guy's choice on the matter, she was so sure that he'd say yes. She even planned the breakup and a reward. Until Guy asked that he needs a bit more context than just that question, which Octavia found reasonable enough. But Octavia said she'll tell him why if he agrees.

But Guy said no .

Good, Guy. I like you, but as the comic relief. I hope you find happiness. But the lover role (fake and real) belong to my baby Cliffy .

Wait, is she gonna ask Eleil next? Can't you just ask Clifford?

 

OHMAIGAWWWW The vol 5 cover of the manga just released today!

Spoiler: Vol 5 manga cover page

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fgr7bWjVsAA2TvH?format=jpg&name=4096x4096


Rough sketch

It's so beautiful. I feel like the art's been upgraded even more with the skin shading (of course, their art style even in the first volume was still gorgeous).

And that smile! Clifford's smile! I feel like it shows progress because he's sweetly, gently, and, lovingly only looking at her (of course we get to know this progress more so in the novel rather than the manga, but I hope they'll show his reluctancy at the flower in her hair ornament while he was imprisoned and at the fake flower ceremony in last manga updates, as well as his POV. You cannot jump over his POV!!!).

It's also very different compared to older volume covers. In the first two covers and the fourth cover, he's behind her as a knight, reflected by his hand on his sword. It also kind of reflects his personality as a fighting machine, who's okay as long as he can move to fight (if needed, again he's not a recklessly violent person, just to clarify).

In all of the first four covers, he also has a cold and cautious face while facing forward, which would be looking at the reader. He's completely focused on his job as a knight, even in the third cover where he's beside her and holding her close, but he's not looking at her (of course u can also say that maybe he's a bit more protective since she just cried and he was ready to fight whatever made her cry).

But in this one, not only is he looking at her completely with a very soft expression that shows his guard is down, both of his hands are completely occupied! This is more reflective of his POV in the third light novel where his occupied hands would've potentially impeded his fighting but he still refused to hand her over, and, when everyone was gone, he smilingly wished for a sleeping Octavia in his arms to have a peaceful sleep. His guard is completely down and he has such positive feelings displayed on his face. This, fangirls and fanboys, shows progress!

 

Hello and I am curious about Octavia's older paranoid brother Sirius.
What is currently his deal/problem?
Is he still wary of her becoming a threat to him?
Is he even redeemable during the whole plot?

 

Hello.

So the deal with her brother is that apparently he's been brainwashed. By who? There are a few theories. Sky god. Sill. Someone else who's close enough to him that he can let his guard down. But nothing's been confirmed. He used to love her a lot when they were kids, even when she tried to maintain her distance. But he changed when he grew up, and forgot his love for her, idk if it's around the time when he met Sill because that would make Sill hella sus in his brainwashing. But when we're talking after that, then the current y-so-sirius-all-the-time basically put loverboy as his top priority. He thinks that Octavia's after the throne, and is trying to target his weakness, aka Sill. Her not giving him and his boyfriend her blessing, her telling him what about his heir and maybe get a female consort/concubine (which is her way of saying that she's not giving away her kids to him), and her appointing Clifford aka Ongarne's messenger who killed both sides in a war as her personal knight, is giving him red flags. There's also something wrong with the kingdom they're in.

Pretty much yeah, he's cautious of her, but in the recent chapters they did kinda have a convo that made them close until he botched it by not telling her anything regarding Derek and him finding her friends sus. I guess, if you ask me, it would be like his real self that's becoming aware and his hypnotized self that forgot the good memories and puts Sill on the pedestal are kind of clashing with one another. Right now, the hypnotized self is still strong, imo.

And I'm pretty sure, yeah, he's gonna be a redeemable character. The author doesn't portray him in a negative light (he's just an annoying character who hasn't done anything really bad.... yet. Just petty, if you ask me). Octavia doesn't hate him either. And I get his circumstances.... but I also don't like him. I never like the "I forgot my memory" trope anyways. For me he is a douchebag, and until he gets a proper redemption arc or stays away from her, he will stay as a douchebag.

 

Spoiler: Chapter 81

On to chapter 81 (it was posted for a while but I couldn't be bothered apart from translating it lol). We left it from when Guy said no to Octavia's "Won't you be my fake lover?".

Octavia couldn't believe it at first (believe it, girl). She first asks him what he just said and he repeats no. Octavia admits that underestimated Guy because she's a princess and she thought highly of her appearance (of the original Octavia). She hates that she was rejected even if was a fake confession lol. I think she regretted giving him a choice in the matter, idk. Guy says that he couldn't live up to Octavia's expectations in taking such a big role (real or fake, he, a commoner, is gonna play the Princess'lover, so he's scared XD).

And then he continues that that's why someone else is more suitable than him for the role (you know, where this is going ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ). Octavia wonders who and if it's someone they both know (it is). She asks him who, and he says that it's her escort knight but he clarifies that it's not Hugh-pain-in-the-ass who's acting as her current temporary escort knight (Guy, I really appreciate the clarification in case there's a misunderstanding AGAIN . And I appreciate that you didn't include Hugh-pain-in-the-ass as her suitable lover . ANNND that you didn't seem to acknowledge him as her main escort knight until u remembered lol). Octavia fills in the puzzle and understands that he meant Clifford (FINALLY! We're getting somewhere). ... But then she immediately says no way (... wait whut ).

Octavia was surprised that her own tone was stronger than she expected it to be. She acknowledges that Clifford is certainly the best candidate for the role of playing her fake lover as a person of the opposite sex. In the sense that they have a Lord and "Jyuu" (subordinate) contract and that she genuinely trusts him. So, of course, Octavia was surprised at her own refusal. And she tried to understand why (yeah, why ). She wonders if it's because Clifford is her escort knight. You know, because all of the escort knights so far before Clifford find some guy and quit their job. So Clifford might also find a male lover and just quit (which I can understand would be even more heartbreaking since she trusts him a lot and he just up and left. Remember, she had no expectations of him earlier in the series and didn't even bother to learn his name for three months. One escort knight even stayed for just three days.). However, because Clifford was her "Jyuu" (subordinate) and she as his master (tbh, it's a bit kinky), and if she said that it was just a job, then it'd be very suitable to have Clifford, but Octavia was hesitant when thinking of this line. And then Octavia finally understood. She hated it. She hated ordering him to be her fake lover. And she didn't want him to play as her fake lover because of an order. But she also acknowledges that it's pretty hypocritical of her since she just tried to order Guy to be her fake lover, so did she hate it with Clifford? (I'll tell ya, gurl. Cuz a crush for him is blooming! Just like how Clifford doesn't want anyone who put or fix flowers in your hair, you don't want to order him to love u! You both want exclusivity of each other! I also love how both of them find their own reactions to one another strange! You minds feel alike~~~).

Guy interrupts and she repeats that it can't be an escort knight (Clifford, quit your job and go back to being Ongarne's messenger. Then it's okay, right? Right!? ). Guy doesn't ask further and seems to be convinced himself. (Either it's because he knows that all of Octavia's escort knights have found male lover and left their jobs so they're pretty unreliable or that Clifford is Ongarne's messenger (who also killed soldiers from Octavia's kingdom) so it might not that suitable ). Either way, he says that he understands. Octavia doesn't want to relive their earlier conversation or else they'll go back to why Clifford is no good (Clifford is perfect . I just want people to know. I repeat, Clifford is perfect ). And she doesn't want to tell Clifford to become her fake lover either (just tell him! According to my calculations, there are high chances that he'll accept, especially now when he's starting to feel something! In fact just tell him "Being my fake lover will allow you protect me even more that even an escort knight couldn't" and Clifford will immediately say "Done" because he doesn't want to hand over Octavia's protection to anyone. He needs to realize that it's not just other knights, but one day a boyfriend/fiance/husband will take on that protective role, going by the roles of male leads of being protective ).

But Octavia thinks that Guy's eyes (like his judgments) seem to be pretty good. So, abnormally for her with anyone really, she asked him for who else is the right person for the fake lover role, apart from escort knights. Guy then begins with "Then, as expected, O." and then clamps his mouth. He apologizes and begs her to forget what he said. But it's too late. Octavia digs through her memories and recalls when she was practice dancing with Clifford in the castle, Guy came in to deliver Alec's message to her that he was departing for a mission. As soon as Guy saw them, or rather, saw Clifford, he went "O!" Not O like "Oh!" but O like "Ongarne's messenger!" . Of course, Octavia can't connect the dots, and can't blame her since no one would expect the man that killed both sides in a war to be her personal knight. Even I can't understand how Clifford, despite the King and Douchebag, being aware, would even allow him in (unless there's some kind of scheme ). And I just have to add, I love how Guy kept going for Clifford as the right person to take on the role of Octavia's fake lover . At least I think he did, since after Octavia ask who it could be, he just says "Then, as expected, O." Like he's saying no escort kngihts? Okay, go for Ongarne's messenger since that was Clifford before he became a knight. Of course, it can just be my delusions . Still, he's probably the second person who place Clifford as a suitable person for Octavia, this tho for the lover role. The first one was Daddy Duke Nightfellow who told his own son that Octavia doesn't need half-hearted sympathy and advised Clifford tobe someone who can listen to Octavia's real problems, not just her vents. It's like he somewhat acknowledged Clifford. And in this case Guy acknowledged it too. Now I like Guy. If something happens to him, imma cry.

So Octavia's like you can't say it but u can write it, right. And hands him her memo pad and pencil. She encourages him to write the continuation of O. He does that quickly, folds the paper, and slides it to her. Octavia then tells him to forget her asking him to be her fake lover and he says he'll take her words to heart (U better not snitch to your colleague . Remember, he bet on you to fail the mission). Octavia also assures him that just because he said no he won't face any detriments in the future. Her attitude towards Guy hasn't changed either. She then gives him permission to leave and he does so. When he's out of the room and goes back to guarding the door. Octavia finally opens the folded paper to see the continuation of O, sees the name write under her question of being her fake lover, and is hella confused.

What should've been written as "Ongarne's messenger" is "Obagurinunjijia".

Clifford is now "Obagurinunjijia".

I'm sorry I couldn't help it.

Octavia first thought that it was more like an ancient spell rather than a person's name lol. She looked up to see Guy outside the door (the door wasn't closed) but their eyes didn't meet. So she tries to decipher it on her own. She deduces that it is part of the Esfian language, the "O" and "nu" are only correct. She wondered that unless it was a prank, Guy is an amateur (I mean yeah, he can only read children's books so his writing would be much worse) Guy used a lot of pressure on the pencil when he wrote it hurriedly, so his handwriting was ugly. But she understands since she was also like that until she practiced a lot. She wanted to call Guy again and tell him to write in a way so that she can read it, but she knew that'd look like harassment . It was also awkward for her since he rejected her . So she stopped there.

She destroyed the paper, the evidence, into a fireplace. She also burned her failure of getting a fake lover . So then she decides to call her next target. And she called Eleil.

Don't worry. It's not what it's gonna be.

 

I hate chapter 82 because Hugh-pain-in-the-ass makes an appearance. Boycott!

Spoiler: Chapter 82

So she calls Eleil, but she skips asking him to be her fake lover (*VERY LOUD APPLAUSE*). Octavia couldn't exercise her princess' power on just anyone, though, according to her, he was a guy who met various satisfying conditions? Personally, he's unsuitable not only because he's not Clifford, but because he tried to quote-on-quote "accidentally" throw a sword at her at the training grounds. Pretty sure everyone's gonna be like "why him!?" and Alec will kill him in his sleep.

But of course the main reason she appointed Eleil was to know about Rust, so when Eleil sat down, she asked if he had anything from his brother to her. He remembered and stated if Rust being in the square (during the flower ceremony) was because of Octavia. Octavia didn't know that Rust was there. She would've recognized his face (he does have a scar across his eye). But lied that it was probably related to the inspection. So Eleil gave her a folded origami styled letter. It was folded in a special way that you'd know if any opened it and the letter Eleil gave her wasn't opened.

She asked when Rust gave him that and he said it was during the commotion (of deciding whether Sisi or Stain won the winning rose). She asked if he was sure and he said he was. She thought there's no way Eleil would mistake his own brother so she tries to open the letter up. But she had an issue in opening it because of her injured hand (I know it's a fictional special origami fold, but how hard can it be to open an origami letter, especially since I'm assuming it would be folded as an envelope. And those, even the most complicated envelope letter folds would need a pull or a tug. ). She tried to open it neatly, like mom used to tell her because she, as Maki, used to just tear it open. So she asks Eleil to open it. He asks if that's okay, and the reason she asked him was because Rust himself trusts him by trusting him with the letter and wouldn't complain if Eleil looked at it separately. Eleil opened the letter perfectly, which assumes that the brothers often exchange letters, but he opened the letter in a way so that his eyes wouldn't be able to see the contents (that's pretty respectful, not gonna lie).

He hands the letter back to her, which tells that Rust is currently working with generic Derek and that she shouldn't doubt him.

It then clicked to her that the third guy, the hooded guy, with Derek and Stain was Rust (now if only you could deduce that Clifford is Ongarne's messenger. Or wait, maybe not yet ).

Some contemplation and then Octavia wonders if Eleil, like his brother, was also an anti-royalist? That maybe he was sent on the inside of the royal castle by Rust. So she tested him by asking if he liked Alec. He states that it's not love but respect. Octavia thinks he's a fan then, but thinks there might some romantic feelings (I don't ship it. I always aligned Alec as an asexual. But a guy that tries to hurt your beloved older sister is not lover material. Sorry, Eleil). She still thinks that Eleil loved Alec. She thinks that Eleil can't be an anti-royalist if he's hostile to all except for Alec (who would be the purest royal by being the King's direct blood-related son). She poked around some more, and asked why he respected Alec. He says that he was apparently going through a tough time and then his meeting with Alec saved him. She says And, and then he asks his own question about what she thought of Alec.

She replies that Alec is her precious little brother, and she'd go on for an hour if about her love for Alec, and then wonder if she's a follower of Alec too, but she won't lose to Eleil (I stan supportive siblings! Bring back Alec now! He's been gone for volumes!).

And here's an interesting part. Eleil leans in and asks what about the rumors going around by some.

And then goddamn Hugh-pain-in-the-ass interrupts them!!! GODDAMMIT!!! That's strike two, you asshole! Just when we're getting some juicy info, you let me sink into another mystery!!! I'm starting a petition!!!

But before I go further, I just wanna say, where did this rumor even come from. Guy, from whom we mostly get to know about rumors, either has never heard of them or it's not a big enough rumor. Of course, Guy is a commoner so the rumor might not be popular among commoners. Then, since Eleil is from a noble background, is it something among the noble class? In Clifford's POV, it's stated that Alec would never show coldness to Octavia, and he's a commoner adopted into a noble family. If Clifford and Guy never heard it, where'd Eleil hear it from? Alec's jealous admirers? Is it some kinda scheme?

Back to Hugh-pain-in-the-ass, ugh. I swear I hate him as much as I hate Douchebag. Hugh-pain-in-the-ass was already in the room when he harshly stopped Eleil. He tells him that even if Octavia allowed it, he didn't (Oh, so you have more authority than her, the princess? Why not switch places then if your authority, as a knight, supersedes her? Clifford would never act like this. Douchebag needs to train his dogs well. I'm sorry, but this seriously pissed me off ). He then looks at Octavia (oh, now you see her ) and apologizes for entering without her permission but he couldn't look over the "disrespect" of his subordinate (again, Eleil is Alec's subordinate, and Ig Eleil leaning forward to Octavia was raising alarms for Hugh-pain-the-ass since the princess is a treasure that must be protected ). She decides to take a break there and agrees with Hugh-pain-the-ass (gurl, stand up for yourself!!!). She gives Eleil permission to leave and tries to dispose of Rust's letter by burning it in the fireplace like she did with the memo paper.

BUT THEN stupid Hugh-pain-in-the-ass grabs her hand. AGAIN! That's strike two with the hand grabbing and forcefully stopping her! Who do you think you are!? In the words of Bayonetta (from Bayonetta 2), "First, learn to talk to a lady". In this case, learn to not grab a lady's arm every time you feel like it, jackass.

She rightfully asks what he's doing, and he responds if she can check him on what Eleil gave her since normally he'd have to check in with him first (on one hand, it's to make sure that there's nothing sus being given to her, but on the other hand, he's Celius henchman so he himself is sus, especially since his hand grabbing doesn't exactly scream loyalty and respect). She decided to protect Eleil by lying that she ordered Eleil to hand it to her directly (yes, show your authority! You're the real boss here! ). He asks if it's related to the inspection. She finally tells him to let go of her hand if he's her escort knight, and he does (he didn't even think of letting it go until she literally had to tell him ). She finally threw the letter into the fire. But still told this asshole that the letter just said that generic Derek was an ally (I mean, ig it would've been more sus to him, since he's Douche's man, and the content of the letters were harmless). Hugh-pain-the-ass asks if she thinks so, and she says yeah, since her opinion of him changed at the semi-ball since they fought together and he did provide her with some info (still doesn't mean I like him, since he could be 2ML and still Douche's friend). Then Hugh-pain-the-ass says that he feels relieved, and she's surprised. She sees a carefree smile on him (I want to see Clifford's carefree smile ). He thanks her for telling him (yo... yo, yo, yo, you better not have any feels for her! I refuse to have you be 2ML or 3ML! This series does not need any other man except for Clifford! He's the ML with the ML and 2ML qualities! He's the whole package!! Fite me!!!). Even Octavia thinks that he shouldn't go out of tune, ig out of character. She then say that she's got enough rest and wants to see the goods, aka the clothes.

I hope Clifford in the next chapters and compliments her clothes. Or maybe, he can choose another one for her, like he did with her ball dress! Aw, that be so cute~~~ Please, I need Clifford I can't take much more! I'm running low on Vitamin C. Luckily the author will update every Friday. Not sure if it's one chapter or two chapters like they did last week and in October.

 

We love & appreciate you sovokop

 

My favourite Bayonetta 2 Quotes
'Now now, is that any way to speak to an old friend? Besides, I did that job for you. For free I might add. Do I really have to tell everyone how you grabbed on to my leg sobbing like a schoolboy?'
'I'm just an innocent little girl lost in Wonderland, suffering at the hands of the queen's trumped-up troops!'
'Now, that's no way to talk to a lady. No wonder your guardian angels are trying to give you a good spanking.'
'You'll earn your name when you become a man.'
'I don't know what you did to piss her off, but whatever it was... Nice.'

The Story/Writing of B3 was really a polarizing mixbag..... Let's hope/assume the incarnations of B1 & B2 are still alive and well.

 

Helloooo~~~ I apologize for the delayed response. My laptop was under repair .

So a lots happened regarding the series. A lot of updates.

First, let's start with my life update (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿) which is irrelevant ( ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ) so let's move on.


So first...

That you very much. (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿) I appreciate the appreciation.

Even if this series is underrated and I'm practically the only one posting here the most, I always appreciate someone reading and liking my posts, and in turn, giving this series attention.

Especially if those posts are about Clifford ಠ_ಠ. He deserves the love ಠ_ಠ (I have a problem, and I regret nothing, ಠ_ಠ )


And secondly...

Lol. Interesting that you only focused on the Bayonetta reference I used.

But since we're talking about it...

Yeah. B3's plot was all over the place with the multiverse crap and not to mention the BayoxLuka coupling and that death ending. Ugh. The first 30 minutes of B3 were on par and classy, before Bayo met Viola. To me, B1 and B2 never died and they're linear (so they're not different Bayonettas to me). I personally love B2, tho B1 was also charming.
B1 was more sexy.
B2 was more mature, refined and classy.
Plus, B2 established "Yeah. No Luka. No man. Not happening". A real classy lady.

Until B3's plot ruined that...
Which is a shame because there were a lot of great mechanics and movements. I loved Madame Butterfly the most in B3. She just seemed so expressive and cute with her cheeks. There's something about her cheeks, especially just before she flicked away Singularity as Queen Butterfly. Loved that. I loved Bayo's outfit too and her walking with two hands on her hips rather than one like in B1 and B2. Gave her a nice classy lady aura.
But some of her dance moves were just lame, especially with her dance-off with French Bayonetta. That was unimpressive. Although I do love her dance moves during the Demon Slave mechanic.

But what B3 did right was the music.

Especially in association with this series for Clifford and Octavia~~~ (Yes ಠ_ಠ. We're doing this ಠwಠ.)

Whispers of Destiny and Moonlight Serenade have such a romantic feel.

Of course B1's Fly Me To The Moon also had a romantic essence:
"You are all I long for,
All I worship and adore"
(Similar to Clifford wanting to protect Octavia and finding her other aspects as equally precious, and who also brings out Clifford's humane side).

As did B2's Moon River (although this seems more general, like from Octavia mostly):
"Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way"
(Clifford will follow Octavia wherever she is)
"Two drifters, off to see the world"
(I want these two to just forget about this kingdom).
"We're after the same rainbow's end"
(i don't know if their end goals align (happiness, peace, transparency, normalcy, etc.) but I know they're both surrounded by bad rumors).

And in regards to B3's Moonlight Serenade:
"I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night"
(Reminds me of Clifford when he kisses Octavia's hand)
"The roses are sighing a moonlight serenade"
(Instead of a moon theme, the series has more of a flower theme. Vol 1 had Lishran Orchids (which look like lilies to me). Vol 4 & 5 had Carlam trees (similar to cherry blossom trees). Vol. 5 had roses . There were also sunflowers in an additional illustration of the two. So, flowers are abundant.
In particular, Lishran orchids would be more suitable for them since Lishrans have a bad ring to them in Esphian flower symbolism, and the two are also surrounded by bad rumors. Not to mention, there was a scene where they talked and walked in a garden of Lishrans, which Clifford kneeling to her among the Lishrans.

Spoiler: Surrounded by flowers

They're also surrounded by Lishrans when Clifford is carrying a sleeping Octavia in his arms. The flowers seem more emphasized, I'd say.

Spoiler: Surrounded by flowers

)
"The stars are a glow and tonight how their light sets me dreaming"
(I like to think this is an idiom for Octavia herself and how she's changing something within him.)
"My love, do you know that your eyes are like stars brightly beaming?"
(Octavia has blue eyes. Although there's never been a focus on her eyes from Clifford's perspective, the Japanese fanfiction of the series does and often compares her eyes to the sky).

But the songs above are remixed songs from classical composers (with a moon theme in association with the witch, Bayonetta).

Only B3's main theme song composed for Bayonetta has a romantic feel to it, as some commenters pointed out. And looking at the lyrics, yeah, they're right. Of course, the song foreshadows Bayo and Luka and her growing feelings for him (tho I don't ship it).

But to me, since I was listening to the song while re-reading the series, I feel like B3's Whispers of Destiny is about Clifford and Octavia , and Clifford's growing feelings for Octavia ~~~. (This, I ship. I ship it so hard that I'm now a captain ) And I don't just mean a chunk. I mean the entire song. It's like the song was made for him ~~~~~~~~~~~~

JUST LOOK AT THIS!!!!!

"Awoken by whispers of destiny,
I reach for you as you're calling out my name,
Longing for your touch to bring me back to life,
Only you can save me, rekindle the flame,"
(Clifford's birth is presumed to be expected, so you can have he had a destiny, but it was destiny written by others. There's also my theory he is somehow connected to the previous Jyuu, belonging to the former Queen Idealia, who herself is a parallel to Octavia.
Clifford will always be there for Octavia. To be precise, she called his name when she was in his dream, until she disappeared (and then he saw her dream).
Again, Octavia brings out the human side of Clifford that he was forced to repress.)

"A hundred miles away I feel your heart,
It beats for me, we can never be apart,"
(Clifford and Octavia exchanging dreams while Clifford was imprisoned is the best example of this. Not to mention, in all of his POVs, his mind drifts to Octavia, showing how he's always thinking of her.)

"This is the time I knew,
I knew you could be the only one to,
Come and take away darkness,"
(Tbh, he has yet to realize this. To me, she's bring out the best him.)

"I know you'll miss me when I'm gone,
Save your tears, this is where we belong,"
(That part about youll miss me is actually pretty relevant with Octavia. When Clifford was imprisoned, she felt something amiss because Clifford became a part of her everyday life.)

"My desire, my Achilles' heel,
You've tamed this cursed beast,
My soul released,"
(There's one scene where Clifford acknowledged that the sleeping Octavia in his arms would impede his fighting but he still refused to give her away.
Clifford is also known as Ongarne's messenger, so he'd be the "cursed beast". Guy also mentioned something along the lines of how Octavia was controlling Ongarne's messenger.
But with Octavia, he can be more.)

"I spread my wings,
We will fly into faraway galaxies,
Just you and I,"
(This is more of my wish of just wanting these two to get away from all this toxicity.)

"And when this ends, hold on tight to our memories,
To another land,"
(I wish Clifford could somehow go back to Octavia's original world and she herself could go back to being Maki. And they'll be together again. It would be such a nice ending for both of them.)

"I feel weak, I tremble to speak,
As I take my last breaths I'm the happiest I've ever been,
Ocean blue, I look into your eyes
I know that you will be here,
By my side, my Cheshire."
(I imagine these two growing old together~.
Also, Octavia has light blue eyes. And the fact that he uses ocean blue instead of sky blue is a chef's kiss~~ Because he hates the sky god
And yeah, they're also together most of the time excluding the physical distance in vol 5 because her older brother is a douchebag.)

B3's Whispers of Destiny is also known as Al Fine which is Italian for "to the end". This ship is gonna sail till the end. (I AIN'T GONNA LET IT SINK, FAM! i'VE COME TOO FAR!)


I apologize for this strange discussion of connecting Bayonetta music with this series , but in my defense, you started the discussion on Bayonetta and this thread is about Watago, aka Clifford and Octavia . Gotta keep things relevant.


Also, I just hope B4 will be better since Hideki Kamiya confirmed that it's gonna happen. At least I'll know the music will be great.



Also, vol 5 of the manga may almost be done. The cover is already out and it'll soon hit the shelves. The e-shelves.

Get it? Because it's only going to be e-books.

In celebration, I painted my nails dark blue, as in the color of Clifford's eyes (okay, no, I didn't. I mean I am wearing the color but that's because they had no black , and I like dark colors. And I just realized one day, "Oh, hey, this is dark blue like Clifford's eyes . Nice "). I also bought a dark blue phone case (because my current one broke and I thought why not get dark blue instead of the usual, inconspicuous black. Spice things up, y'know. Need a lot of things to upgrade on my devices ).


So yeah, I'll be posting the updates regarding the series soon, including the summaries of the updated light novel chapters. The synopsis of vol. 5 of the novel just came out, so maybe its cover will be out soon too. Hopefully.

 

Thank you for your dedicated hard work!

Love to exchange/share infos/opinions with a fellow Bayonetta fan
The Soundtracks were great/superb!
I imagine the Song 'We Are As One' could be also used for the Grand Finale/Happy Ending of Octavia and Clifford.
The Writers did also Jeanne in B3 very dirty. She should have survived! Still no spin oft about her
How the hell couldn't she dodge a light saber behind her back with her WitchTime???
The Big Bad Guy Sigurd was so obvious.

Speaking of antagonist, is the bored petulant childish asshole God who send traumatized Maki/Octavia into this BL Otome World officially the hateful Villain?
Any News about him?
Like to see him getting spanked by Bayonetta or slained by Xena or Kratos.

 

This is the summary for the fifth volume of the light novel:

"Unrivaled by the power of the princess―― this is the right way to use power! The 5th installment of the romantic comedy about avoiding political marriage!
In order to clear Clifford's false accusation, going out with my older brother Celius to inspect the castle town was me ――
Princess Octavia.
This inspection, in fact, comes with an option of the assassination plan of the royal family is moving behind the scenes!
Knowing all the danger, when I tried to shake the enemy to reveal their true identity, what awaited me was a shocking ending――
"Why is Your Highness hurt?"
I can't believe I'm going to have to rely on him again...!?"

https://bslogbunko.com/product/gotsugou/322208001191.html

So this means Octavia is probably gonna get hurt again. I mean, she already told her brother that she's gonna be the bait since she's the weakest in the group, so they'd obviously go for her. But I just realized the others don't. Especially Clifford.... And you know Clifford told her don't get hurt after making a new pledge where she tells him don't get hurt (beautiful scene ). So either Clifford found out and is kinda pissed (i feel like he's pissed from the line. Is it just me?).

And I HOPE that's Clifford. Like, the obvious person saying this line with the "shocking ending" and "have to rely on him again" is Clifford (since he's seen her cry). But I don't want the author to do to a "Hah! You thought it'd be Clifford but it was him along... Rust! Or Derek! Suddenness!" Sounds far-fetched. Right? Right!? Someone please tell me it's far-fetched!

I think I'm running too low on Vitamin C. I feel despair from the lack of Cliffy in the vol 5 so far.


Ohhhh, nearly forgot. The manga is now colored. You can find fresh colored updates (linked by manga artist themselves) here: https://comic-walker.com/contents/detail/KDCW_FL00203487010000_68/

Spoiler: Some colored Cliffy (okay it's a lot of Cliffy)

https://imgur.com/a/4F6zYp8

 

Didn't give the song "We Are As One" a try because I'm not into slow songs much and didn't feel Bayonetta-ish to me. But I'm listening to it rn, and yeah. In a soft yet dramatic context, the song kinda fits Clifford and Octavia. Though I prefer Al-Fine/Whispers of Destiny more (because its instrumental is a bit more type). I hope someone does a good male cover of the song, without changing the instrumental. Then it's perfect for Clifford.

Spoiler: Jeanne rant

Bruhhhhhhhhhh, Jeanne was done dirty in all three games. Okay, I get that in the first game Jeanne was introduced to us and she was kind of a minor boss (brainwashed), and then in the second game it was about saving her but she still had less screen time. And in the third one, she just got backstabbed. Literally. My girl went out the most pathetic way. Like, she's just there. The gal pal that just... dies... And that opposed the strong females in Bayonetta. Like Bayonetta is the strong independent woman with her own way of life that garners respect. But what about Jeanne!? Her character is similar to Bayo's where she's gutsy and independent herself. She's got personality. But Luka, the comedy relief, gets more screen time and importance than Jeanne???? Jeanne was there when her mom died! Jeanne was there to help her before the angels got her after her mom died! Okay, in the second game, we save Jeanne. Sweet. But then where'd she go? Where's Jeanne!?!? And they just killed her off in Bayonetta 3, and Bayonetta/Cereza was like "Jeanne..." That's it? That's it???
... Was it because little Cereza in B1 didn't meet her, so she liked Luka more (which is creepy in itself because he was like an older brother type to her)?
Justice for Jeanne! Her death and lack of attention defeats the power that the Bayonetta series holds for fresh female archetypes!

No. There's no confirmed "let's defeat him" type villain. Just... I guess, annoying obstacle characters? I mean jerk god is a bitch (pardon my language) but we don't see him again after he throws Octavia into the BL world. There are only mentions of him, especially if there's a relation between him and Rust, since they look alike, but Rust, tho sus, has been helpful. We might see him, including maybe a focus on the sky god, that being is sus itself. So there are no official hateful villains, just unofficial nuisances that I've personally villainized (because they treat my gurl and my Cliffy like shit. Daddy Duke, Alexis, the maids and Guy are the only exceptions rn). But hey feel free to make and burn voodoo dolls of Celius-ly a Douchebag and Hugh-pain-in-ass, because he doesn't understand boundaries.

These two (especially Hugh-pain-in-ass) needs a good spanking from Bayonetta so then they can stop thinking that they have golden di- .
I'm just gonna stop here before it gets graphic. But basically, Bayonetta needs to transfer into this BL world and just do her thing and get rid of the sky god that fucked up the patriarchal kingdom with its fucked rules. She'd be perfect for the job. I'd actually love to see that. Hell, I even imagine it sometimes, because not everyone can have the "I feel like a fucking celebrity in this town!" kind of confidence (before a bus tries to smash her but survives).

Also, to clarify, the BL world Octavia is in isn't an Otome game. It's a BL novel that Octavia (as Maki) was a fan of, called the "King of Nobility".

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

A young Clifford! The manga artist did say that they'd make a 17-year-old Clifford !!!! But this is too unexpectedly beautifulllllll!!!!! (I expected it to be expectedly beautiful, but, hey, it's Clifford. He's a phenomenal ikemen .) He looks so cute~~~~ Look at that smileeeeeeeeeee. His eyes look so boyishly mischievous . (Now we wait for little Cliffy in the manga.)

Spoiler: 17 year old Cliffy in a modern school

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FiP9zaDaAAAzMH5?format=jpg&name=medium

And and and and look! Bare skin touchhhhhhh!!!! Oh mai gawwwwwwwwww!
(Okay, so I wasn't the only one who noticed this, so don't judge me. The Japanese fans are as crazy as me, alright. And since they receive updates earlier than me (because of different timezones) they lewded it first .)
It's the first time they've had a skin to skin contact without Clifford wearing gloves . I'll write a post to discuss that.

He also looks so good in a gakuren (school uniform).

Wait, Clifford is 17 in this illustration. Octavia is 16 but when she died as Maki, she was 18 or 19... Petition for slice-of-life school side stories where Clifford and Octavia are like Sohni Mahiwal (you thought I'd say Romeo and Juliet, didn't you? Hah! Jokes on you! We don't do typical here.)

I can already tell they're in different same-sex schools. I mean, their uniforms are different. Not to mention, Octavia/Maki was in an all-girls school, and Clifford looks like the type to be in an all-boys school (since he is in a homo-normative, patriarchal world. But he's also a straight-laced, militaristic guy, so it makes sense.) Yet they meet, fall in love, and date (andgetmarriedandhavekidsandgrandkidsandgreatkidsasdfghjkl).

I'm getting delusional again.

But I'm also happy for Clifford if he gets an ending like this . I shouldn't put my hopes up when the story is far from over, but Clifford is a normal person in this setting. He's not the scary Ongarne's messenger who needs to fight for his life. He's not the commoner knight who got adopted into an infamous noble household. He's just Clifford, a student who's also with his lover (and future waifu. Yes. I ruined the moment.)

In celebration, I wore my dark blue earrings (I always had them. I didn't just buy them because of Clifford. It's purely coincidental. Do not judge me ).

Spoiler: comparison

Also here's a side-by-side comparison with the vol 5 manga cover (by yours truly teehee) since 1) Clifford is also holding her, and 2) this illustration is part of vol 5.


One Japanese fan said that 17-year-old Clifford looked thinner than 25-year-old Clifford. Now that I'm looking at the comparison, he looks shorter too. 25-year-old Clifford is easily holding Octavia with a straight back, whereas 17-year-old Clifford is slightly leaning back. On the other hand, Octavia in 25-year-old Clifford's arms, tho 16, looks older than the one in 17-year-old Clifford's arms. I guess black makes people look older. And yet, Clifford in white looks older than Clifford in black (the standard escort knight uniform, not the gakuren).

To sum up, 17-year-old Clifford and 25-year-old Clifford are perfection itself .

 

Also forgot to tell you but there's a 2-panel one-page comic strip of the series for vol 5. I think it'll be online unlike the previous 4P which was a limited collection from a physical Japanese store (Animate, I think it was called).

I did get in touch with the manga artist to bring the 4p back, and they referred me to the publishing company. I'm trying to get them to bring the 4p back online.

I just hope I can get the 2P. Last time, I tried to get the ebook light novels at every Japanese e-store I could find, but they kept asking for my Japanese address and Japanese number (and I'm not Japanese nor living in Japan). Luckily, I found a way to get the stories...

Spoiler: the 2P

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FiP9zaAaAAAfA2R?format=jpg&name=medium

Anyways, about this 2P, my naked vision, untapped potential, total devotion, and max brightness along with zooming in and all image text capture and translators that I could find, I have unraveled the 2P!

Yes! I have done the impossible! No need to thank me. Just doing honest work for the good of mankind

Thanks to the manga artist uploading the full version, tho still watermarked, (along with using my naked vision, untapped potential, total devotion, and max brightness along with zooming in and all image text capture and translators that I could find), I've managed to catch the words. The 2P isn't as wordy as the previous 4P and the words are big so that's a relief (but one day I will have u, 4P. One day. ).

So here's what I found...

But first an intermission of what I earlier wrote because I examined further ahead and found new data. But I already wrote it, so it's gonna be here.

Spoiler: Intermission of initial research

(So it was easy to figure out what Octavia was saying, but Clifford was ironically difficult. I could discern his letters but not his meanings because I'm not Japanese. There's a small text beside Clifford saying "トラシ" (torashi) or "トラッ" (toratsu). In the second panel, he's saying "トラ?" which just means "tiger". That's where it got tricky for me. I mean, I get the gist... of Octavia... And Octavia never even uttered those characters...

Google Translate was translating "Toratsu" as "truck" which makes no sense to me. Bing Translate translated as "Camion"... which is a truck or cart carrying heavy loads. "Torashi" in Google Translate was just that or "trasi" and that was also in Bing Translate. From a Japanese Wikipedia page, trasi is an Indonesian condiment made from fermented shrimp (https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/トラシ).

A user on a forum said that "[シ] katakana for ‘shi’. Just the phonetic sound, heh. Not to be confused with ‘tsu’ (I almost did…) : ツ" (https://forum.starmen.net/forum/Storage/Japanland/This-symbol-s-meaning).

The main difference that I could tell was the stroke order. The stroke order seems to suggest "toratsu" (トラッ), using both Bixby Vision and Google Lens. I'm recalling this from when I wrote Japanese calligraphy at a small matsuri festival (good times, pre-covid times) and the lady was advising me of the stroke order (btw, I wrote fortune).

I also found this "Katakana:トラシ" (https://japanese-names.info/first_name/torashi/) for "torashi".
It further says: "What is Katakana? Katakana is also a Japanese syllabary. Basically, the characters don't have any meaning by themselves, they only represent the sounds. Japanese try to express the words came from foreign languages with the most similar sounds in Japanese using Katakana."

And so, I'm still hella confused.

That was until...)

I also looked through the tweets of Japanese fans. One Japanese fan implied that Clifford was annoyed. Make sense since his and Daddy Duke's convo is, what I can only describe as, tense. And that was from Clifford's side.

Also, another fan said that they also tried to discern the words of the 2P before it officially came out (5/12), and I said I did too but had trouble with the translation since I'm non-Japanese. They were so generous that they helped me understand the meaning , which made me understand why Clifford was annoyed.

So what Clifford was actually saying was "iratsu" (イラッ) which means to feel irritated. In other words, I had the first character wrong, not the last one.

Here's a translation of what they said:
You're curious, aren't you~ The "tiger" that [you are] talking about is Clifford's onomatopoeia "Ira" in the first panel. I can't say it well, but "iratsu" means "to feel irritated". When Clifford saw Her Highness Octavia happy with her Uncle, he was unconsciously jealous of her Uncle and became "annoyed" →
(Here's a link to the original tweet: https://twitter.com/kokugo_n/status/1595438226147528704?s=20&t=7t16m-Czr9p7bvZbEeTuEw)

But now that I get it I can explain what's happening in the 2P.

So, in the first panel, he looks at Octavia while she's going kya-kya over her Uncle aka our Daddy Duke (she admires him a lot. When he said that Clifford was Octavia's chosen knight, she was super happy that the person she admired acknowledged Clifford. Their conversation was more warm and sweet in comparison to hers and her foster dad, the king, who's also her biological uncle. Coincidentally enough, our Daddy Duke and the king don't actually get along, tho I think that's mostly because Daddy Duke kinda cares about the kingdom, and apparently, Enoch (the king) hates it (tho he's doing a piss poor job at changing anything).) Anyway, while Octavia is openly admiring Daddy Duke, Clifford looks at her with a small text beside him saying "イラシ" meaning that he's irritated.

Then in the second panel, Octavia's got two fans out lol. One of them has Daddy Duke's face (she's a stan) while the other fan says "さすおじ" meaning "sasuoji". So it can mean "as expected of Uncle" since she finds him to be a reliable guy (she was super happy to see him when entered the Sky Room). She's also calling him amazing. While Clifford has question marks above his head with a small "イラ?" beside him, which means feeling irritation (the "tsu" (シ) is a Katakana phonetic sound, I think). So, Clifford is confused about why he feels irritated. This again relates to his character where he's been confused about his feelings such as comforting a crying Octavia (twice to thrice).

And I'm also amazed that Octavia is openly praising Daddy Duke in front of Clifford. It just shows how much she loves her Uncle. (At this point, my recurring gag for starting a petition to change dads is not just gonna be a gag ).

And there's another thing that I want to talk about as I wrote this, but I'll add that in another post, or else this will get too big.

 

Going off from my previous post of the 2P where Clifford felt irritated but Octavia basically cheering for Daddy Duke...
So Clifford's annoyance with Octavia praising Daddy Duke makes sense since his and Daddy Duke's convo is, what I can only describe as, tense. And that was from Clifford's side.

In their convo, Daddy Duke was calm, pushing Clifford's buttons when Clifford coldly retorted to him.

During his convo with Alexis, he was calm and even smirking. He unhesitatingly told him "So what?" and "If you can".

Spoiler: Confident Cliffy

During his convo with Guy, he was absolutely calm and his expressions were more controlled (tho I think he was a bit curious about Guy's answers to his questions in the manga, judging from his expressions of looking at Guy who processes his question). Interestingly, apart from Octavia, Guy is the only other person with whom he's initiated a chat, though that chat is basically interrogative.

Spoiler: Interrogative Cliffy

[My Translations]

Even during his convo with the King, he doesn't lose his cool.

Spoiler: Calm Cliffy

Alone


With Octavia in the room

His emotions during his convo with Countess Rosa Redington were also composed despite the fact she also "tried to draw him out". Actually, during the entire scene, Clifford doesn't even look at her. But Clifford's emotion in his POV didn't cite coldness though he did find it internally ridiculous when she asked if he was afraid to join the Alderton family (who have a bad historical rep).

Spoiler: Composed Cliffy

But with Daddy Duke, it's different. He actually told him to go ask the person himself when asked what he thinks of the reasons for Sill being targeted. Of course, Clifford was also kind of emotionally vulnerable at this point. Well, I wouldn't say vulnerable. He was shocked and mad at Octavia for hurting her hand and was even verbal about it. He was so worried about her injured hand across various chapters. So I guess Daddy Duke poking him around with his questions was situational? But of course, Clifford seemed kinda annoyed too lol. I haven't seen his facial expressions in the manga of the convo (since it's not updated yet).

But I did notice his expressions when he, Daddy Duke, and Octavia were still in the sky room after the battle. A Japanese fan actually pointed out that the panel zooms in on Clifford's face after Daddy Duke's questions regarding Clifford. So, I'm not the only one!!! But wow, Clifford's expressions can be potentially discerned even when he has a poker face on (the one with closed eyes. You know what I mean).

When Daddy Duke talks about Clifford as Octavia's chosen trustworthy knight, he asks like he's cleverly manipulating the question. In fact, although Daddy Duke is talking to Octavia, there's a white line above Daddy Duke and Clifford's heads. Even though his eyes are closed, it seems Clifford's paying close attention.

Spoiler

But Octavia's bright personality of Clifford being her proud knight kind of snaps him back (It was honestly a precious moment. Why can't he be her dad? Whyyy!?). Clifford's face was neutral, but he was obviously listening until his focus shifted to Octavia after her answer. What I loved is that, after she said that, his poker face is still there but his chin seems to be slightly up as if proud~~~ Like he was saying "Yes, that's right. I'm her proud knight." lol.

Spoiler

Then Daddy Duke shifts to talking about Ongarne's Messenger, which is Clifford. Octavia doesn't know, of course. Of course, Daddy Duke is calm since he's the one talking. But Clifford seems aggravated, in my opinion. There's a zoom-in on his closed eyes (poker face) and his eyebrows are naturally slanted, but it seems to be furrowed even more. The tension seems high.

Spoiler

Eventually, Clifford peeks open one of his eyes, showing his interest, I would say.

Spoiler

Cliffy didn't even talk during this until Octavia dozed off in his arms. Then he and Daddy Duke had a chat. But I was a bit disappointed in the manga version. No offense to the manga artist, their art is phenomenal and the facial expressions of the characters are grreat, but they had leave a lot of interesting info out of this particular scene that was in the light novel, I guess for some reason. For example, Clifford asking if Daddy Duke was a "Jyuu" was left out, and Daddy Duke asking for Clifford's input on why Sill was being targeted was left out. The latter is when Clifford coldly retorts to ask the person themselves. The manga just has Clifford with essentially a poker face when talking to Daddy Duke, I guess to show his control of his emotions. The only time he lets his emotional guard down is with Octavia, and I think he's gotten much softer since vol 5 of the manga.

Spoiler: Details on Clifford's expressions during his and Daddy Duke's convo in the manga

So the thing about his convo with Daddy Duke is that Clifford either isn't looking at him, or his facial expressions when he does look at him aren't zoomed-in and emphasized. I feel like the tension between the two is downplayed in comparison to their convo in the light novel (though, it could just be me). And yet, his facial expressions are emphasized in terms of looking at Octavia in the manga (of course, that makes sense since his emotions towards Octavia in the novel are as relevant as his emotions during his convo with Daddy Duke).

For Daddy Duke, I guess Clifford's blank expression is because he doesn't want Daddy Duke to know what he's thinking. Daddy Duke is a sharp man, such as when he joked that Clifford might be a Jyuu (yet he also denied "Ongarne's messenger", aka Clifford, is a Jyuu because he was able to kill Nathaniel, something that other Jyuus can't do).







Interestingly, though, Clifford does show emotion that I can't call as simply blank (or alert, ig, in comparison to his other expressions with his eyes closed). This happens when Daddy is talking in general, like an explanation (you know, like a dad ). He first talks about how he hopes Clifford will be someone Octavia can show real weakness towards, and Clifford thoughtfully thinks back to Octavia crying. Daddy Duke also shows a sincere expression (imo).



Daddy Duke also kinda looks forlorn when he looks at the flowers that the former Queen Idearia loved, and Clifford seems to have a pensive look. Tbh, I wonder what that's about actually. They look... like they're not interrogating one another kinda let their guard down for just a second. Since Octavia's wearing a Lishran flower, I wonder if they see her? But that sounds kinda far-fetched.

However, the 2P practically established that Clifford is annoyed by Daddy Duke.

So I guess Clifford would be annoyed by Daddy DuKe because he kinda pushed Clifford's buttons, in comparison to Alexis, Guy, King Enoch, and even Rosa Redington (he also had a small chat with the head maid, but that wasn't like an interrogation chat, so she doesn't count).

That's why Daddy Duke is Clifford's actual dad-in-law. The father-in-law vs son-in-law battle has now begun!!!!

Alssoooooooo....

Clifford is also kinda jealous.

Hear me out. Earlier, Octavia had to dance with generic Derek. In the novel, he saw Derek “exuding a friendly atmosphere towards Octavia” and his eyes narrowed. In the manga, when Rosa cites that the dance was lovely, he had this look in his eyes.

Spoiler

And just after the dance ended, Octavia calls for Clifford because he was holding her black fan. And rather than giving it to her the normal way, boy got down on one knee and, with a smile saying "Here you go" (that smile itself is mischievous. I see you, Cliffy, I see you).

And he explains that he gives her her black fan carelessly and it'll also let others know that he's her knight (and he says that latter part with a secret smirk! I see you, Cliffy, I see you!!!).

Spoiler

And Daddy Duke is related to generic Derek (Well, he's his dad, but I'm starting a petition to change dads). So maybe Clifford would be thinking, "Great, first the young Nightfellow, and now the big Nightfellow gets in my way with her." I even had mentioned this to another fan and they agreed~ I wonder if Mama NightFellow is also gonna make Cliffy feel irritated (assuming we get to meet her. I wanna meet Clifford's sisters too).

Not to mention, before that, Clifford asked why Window Sill mattered more than herself that she'd injure her own hand for him (and since then he became a little colder to Sill (in my opinion)).

So many ppl Octavia cares about, so little Cliffy.

And let's not forget that in vol 5 of the light novel, when Y-so-Sirius-all-the-time tried to fix Octavia's rose flower hair ornament when he wanted to do that~~.

Octavia, give my boi some attention~~~

 

Spoiler: Chapter 83

Just as Octavia was done with shopping, Douchebag finished up with his business and entered the store was kinda disappointed that she was already done and chose only three outfits (including a pants style which was rare in Esfia). They had some time so she suggested some guys try the male clothes in the store. She first tried asking her escort knights, but Hugh-pain-in-the-ass rejected (no one wanted to see you in different clothes anyways But, I wished Clifford was the only one there so she could she ask Clifford What I would give to see Clifford in different designs with illustrations. I really want him to wear Zhonglí's suit. Or maybe Itto's huhu ).

And then she thought about Clifford (YAY! ). She wondered what about Clifford, as he entered the store (lol, I was just thinking about it). As soon as she saw him, she remembered her earlier convo with Guy about choosing a fake lover and she immediately wanted to forget her confused feelings . I think she thought of the idea of using him idk, but she look at Clifford with anticipation. And then his eyes and hers met . She thought that she got her intentions across him (poor Clifford has to learn telepathy . The no. of times she tried to telepathically get her intentions across during the series ). She had a feeling of "What should I do?", feeling at a loss, so she averted her eyes. And then she thought "Damn you, Clifford!" Not in a bad way. but because of the feelings he erupted in her. My boy is innocent tho . Also, I wonder how's Clifford's feeling of her looking away from him. I wonder if he's feeling like "but why" or "don't look away" and address it in his pov in vol. 5. That's because in one of his previous P.O.V's, when a crying Octavia stepped away from him and he actually thought "Don't run away."

So anyways, she suggested Douchebag try them (boo ). He was a bit surprised but didn't say no. So apparently he looked in everything and it was like a fashion show blah blah blah , and Octavia was choosing for him. She tried to find clothes that didn't suit in (get him a dress) since the next one was the last and the clothes he wore were good for Sill, according to Octavia. She actually wanted to give Sill some clothes since the original Octavia and him did that (our Octavia/Maki is a Sill fan ), but the current Octavia(/Maki) isn't close with him (because of Douchebag). So she wanted to give him clothes through Douchebag.

And while she was thinking that, Hugh-pain-the-ass stepped in front of her, and Guy was beside her too. Because there was... suddenness! And that included Clifford!

So Clifford was holding down a Douche's blonde escort knight with a sword pointed at him . Douchebag calls him out, asking what's he doing. And Clifford sneers ( ) and says "What am I doing, you say?" So Douche asks again and finally Clifford looked up, saying that the blonde knight tried to attack Octavia, so he blocked it since it's his duty as an escort knight." The pinned-down blonde knight said that it's a false accusation (if the man said you did, you did it ). He explained that he was worried about the equipment, so he touched the sword, but that was it. Octavia intercedes and asks Clifford if he thinks he's the guy who tampered with Sill's carriage. Clifford says he doesn't know but asserts that it's still a fact that the blonde knight was about to draw his sword (I beleaf in u ).

Then Douche asks who else sensed it. Hugh-pain-in-the-ass and Guy noticed it. Hugh-pain-in-the-ass said he wasn't sure if the blonde was trying to hurt Octavia but he saw him touch the sword. And this is the interesting part. The blonde knight looked up at Hugh "with a shocked expression, as if he’d been betrayed". Hella, sus.

Then Guy said that he also him pull out his sword until Clifford had it under control (Awww he helping his unknown, yet-to-be-acknowledged friend. I want you to go to a pub ).

Octavia supports that the blonde knight touching the sword is true since Clifford, Hugh-pain-in-the-ass and Guy witnessed it. And then Douche states that he sometimes touches his sword while guarding (ohhhhhhhhhh, so now you're speaking logic. Where's your logic with your paranoia towards my gurl and your unfair allegation towards my bby, Cliffy? You put him in prison! Granted, it's a bit hot since he gets to wear a tight shirt, but that's not the point!!!) Octavia says, yeah maybe your right and has Clifford lower his sword and to let the blonde knight.

Clifford follows, albiet reluctantly (I can tell with those dots! ) He lowers his sword and raises the blonde knight to his feet with one hand (that's hot ).

Octavia continues to Douche that the blonde knight acted suspiciously, so he should remove him from the guard duty for this inspection (that's right! Octavia believes in Cliffy!). Douche finally agrees and has him taken away. Two knights take him away and Hugh-pain-in-the-ass orders them to stay on guard (get it? because they're guards. Guard pun ).

Also, I just want to talk about Clifford sneering at Douche's question. Part of me thinks that maybe Clifford was kinda looking down at his personnel since one of his guys "apparently" tried to attack Octavia, despite being confident about the security . Or the fact that they didn't notice it at all. Well, Hugh-pain-in-the-ass and Guy did notice it but didn't stop it, mostly because they thought that it wasn't out of malice. So, maybe Clifford's sneer comes from his distrust of the security (he doesn't want to hand Octavia to anyone to protect her). Which is interesting. Will the crooks not come from the outside but from within the security itself since one of Douche's knights sabotaged his loverboy's carriage? It would be a good slap to Douche's face .

 

I'll keep this nice and short since it's a relatively boring chapter with just some world-building. I don't know if it'll be relevant to later chapters. I'll let you know if so.

Spoiler: Chapter 84

First, I'll just state the kingdoms/regions introduced so far in this BL world; Esfia, Tahren, Kangina, Valjean.

So the second part of the inspection of "food" is up. Octavia's friend, Sisi, and her fiance, Huey are there, since they were invited. But also Rust, who's Huey's friend and they just met before Octavia and co arrived. So Douche asked him, as a friend of Huey, to join in. Octavia didn't want him to, since he's sus of him because of his face, but was glad that he covered it up with an eyepatch so that she could dissociate him with the jerk god. Rust notices her mood and asks if he's bothering and she lies nah.

The food they ordered comes in. Octavia ordered a rice dish that tasted like the shrimp fried rice her mom used to make (Aww. I hope she somehow manages to go back home. Like srsly). The three guys ordered bread which is popular in Esfia, while her friend Sisi had ordered a Paella rich dish. The guys were talking about the food, so Octavia began to ask about Sisi cooking with rice in a letter she once wrote since apparently, Sisi traveled to many countries.

So here's the funny part about that letter. Octavia didn't ask about that since cooking was the main topic. Apparently Sis was translating a BL story for her which was more important for her at the time LOL . Priorities. Also, find you a friend who can translate a novel for me. And the novel at the time was a love-hate about two men who became good enemies due to their different statuses. Wow. That's horrible taste, unless there's a spoiler thread, eyyyyy .

So Octavia asks if there's a dish with strong spices. Octavia was talking about curry, since it has strong spice (never had Japanese curry except for a crappy ready-made one . Doesn't count. Don't try that.). She wanted to know if it existed in this world. Sisi was confused. She talks about saffron in her dish which is expensive but was successfully mass-produced fron Kangina. Douche butts in to praise Sisi, and Octavia felt proud of her friend as if wanting to brag about her. Rust then challenged that Sisi didn't answer as her Octavia's question. Octavia tries to help and lie that she once read a dish a long time ago in some book about a dish. Then Sisi remembered about a book about a dish called curry in Valjean. She said that that was it and Sisi helped her.

Then the convo shifts with Douche asking Rust if he was related to the Nightfellow Dukedom, and Rust denies, saying that it would've been a good thing for his Viscount family if he was. When the question is about his face, Rust says that ppl will be uncomfortable when they see his real face and Douche says that he doesn't need to take it off, but then lightly shakes his head. Octavia wonders if it's related to his strange memory which makes Rust sus since it's happening to her brother, but also thinks that Rust's reaction seems to be different from the one to the culprit. Rust then tells Douche to ask generic Derek, who's Douche friend, if he still has doubts. Douche decides to do that. Then the rest of the meal was peaceful.

Apparently, at the end of the inspection, Octavia could have some free time to go wherever she wanted publicly, though there would still be various restrictions, but she might go to a store that Sisi told her about. It was a secret shop that looked like a general store that had some books with good taste (better not include the love/hate trope srsly ).

There's also a dessert called Iba or Eva. All I know is that it's a cake or pastry that has "flour paste and candy, and it looks like cheese". I couldn't find if such a dish actually exists.

Here's another part. Douche had a stunned impression when seeing how close Sisi and Octavia were (damn straight), and Octavia wanted to brag about it more. But then she thought of something. So, their friendship doesn't have official statements and their correspondence is through a secret route, that not even Alec knew. So she's wondering how did Douche know about how often she exchanges letters with Sisi Gurl. I want the best for u. But like, how is this not raising any red flags that your douchebag of a brother, who's actually your cousin, is spying and keeping tabs on you. If you had no Clifford, you would literally have no other personnel, since a majority of the knights belong to Douche!? Not to mention, that he tried to put his own ppl as your personal knight without letting u choose, if not for the King's interference! ).

Huey then thanks them for inviting him. As thanks from him and the restaurant there, they serve a drink that Octavia quickly knows is coffee from the smell of it. Cups are distributed around and each waiter has a pot of coffee. Octavia was happy to have an after-meal coffee.

But then Hugh-pain-in-the-ass, being the party pooper that he is, suggests tasting for poison first.