- #1
How to put it? It's a novel that sounds like it's bad when described here, but is actually good, but then becomes meh. That's pretty much my take.The setting is okayish, it's pretty much one of those European medieval society types with Japanese flavor mixed in (and in this case also Chinese, to some minor degree). It's nothing special, but fitting for the story.The summary and some reviews would have you believe the plot is tr*sh. No, it isn't. It's actually fairly good for a Japanese webnovel. The same goes for the protagonist. The whole "stolen fiance" thing is only the plot of the first volume, and feels kind of like the assassination of an Austro-Hungarian royal that sparked off World War I - an event that could be written off as inconsequential in the light of subsequent events, but nonetheless it sparked them off.It was actually written quite well. It sounds cliche and cringe when described, but it was done well. The protagonist (at least in the first chapter, less so afterwards) was pretty civil and level-headed about the whole thing (I don't understand why some people criticize him for pursuing the events at the start when it's clearly explained, even spoonfed, to you that it happened in a very humiliating way that would destroy his family's standing if handled poorly). Like, honestly, the only bad thing the protagonist had going for him was his le*dness, but I personally didn't mind much. Well, he did some bad things that are offputting when they pile up, but nothing right off the bat. Plus, if you wait to find out some bits and pieces about his backstory, it makes sense that he has a screw or two loose. Overall, he was okay because he was a tough guy who was happy to fight (be it in a battlefield or in a bed), and had a strong personality, which is unlike 99% of Japanese doormat protagonists.Anyway, I digressed slightly. The plot is good in first volume, but things start to fall apart in volume 2. It becomes meh, somewhat boring, somewhat predictable, somewhat bland. It's not bad per se, but the story lacks depth. It wasn't an issue at first, but because the author keeps on including POV chapters (other characters' point of view), the novel becomes bland with time. I mean, I like the POV chapters here, but there must be proper balance with protagonist's POV chapters, and the balance unfortunately began to tilt toward other characters, which makes the reader lose touch with the protagonist somewhat.Other characters, well... The author put some proper effort into male characters despite it being a harem novel, both on the allied, neutral, and enemy side. Many harem novels neglect other male characters, but not this one. It's similar for female characters, but... well, they're still pretty bland and 2d. Maybe the princess got some more depth, but the romance was rushed and lacked in depth. Pity because it started off well.So overall, it's a mediocre novel to me. Not nearly as bad as advertised, but also quickly deteriorating. Maybe it's because of this that it went on hiatus.