I’m tired of typing out Athanasia all the time, so I guess I’ll go with Athy from now on. I should’ve done this earlier. I don’t know why I waited so long. There can’t be very many episodes left in the season. With that out of the way, we can get down to business. Immediately, Athy is shocked to find Ijikiel in her personal library. Apparently, he snuck in. Kinda not cool, man. Granted, from his perspective, she’s done the same to him. But their first encounter was entirely Lucas’s fault. I dunno, I’m not personally keen on people showing up without letting me know first. My home should feel safe, y’know? I shouldn’t turn the corner and find someone who isn’t supposed to be there. Plus, what was even his plan? Did he know the princess was headed here? Or did he just decide, “Hm, yes, if I stand around here aimlessly, I’m bound to bump into her!”
As soon as Ijikiel gets a little too fresh with the princess, Lucas rears his ugly mug. Great, the two love interests are now clashing. One guy comes with a ton of baggage, i.e. a dad who can’t take no for an answer. That same dad is also in cahoots with another shady wizard. Also, Athy’ll potentially break Jennette’s heart if she get with Ijikiel. But the other guy is a centuries-old wizard. Can’t really win here; both options kinda suck. Later, Athy tries to tease Lucas over the fact that Ijikiel is taller, so the centuries-old wizard is more than happy to remind us that he’s a creepy centuries-old wizard. Yeah, yeah, fans of this show might be drooling over you as a bishie, but I’m not fooled. Stop trying to flirt with a teenage girl, you fucking weirdo. Using your size to intimidate a kid is pretty pathetic too. Besides, even if he wasn’t a creepy old man, he seems like the clingy, jealous type anyway. This is how he reacts to Athy fawning over her newfound friends. Bro, she’s been isolated from other children for her entire life. Let the kid be excited.
After mildly stroking his ego, Athy wins herself a trip out of the palace. And just like that, she’s already having a more balanced diet. Yes, girl, you can eat something besides sweets and pastries. You’re a growing child, so please indulge in more fresh fruits and meat. Granted, there are still sweets and pastries to be had — mountains and mountains of sweets and pastries to be had. Lucas doesn’t complain once about having to pay for everything. Being a princess’s tutor must pay well. Somehow, Athy and Lucas fortuitously manage to catch a glimpse of Jennette out and about, and what is the girl doing? She’s shopping for a gift specifically for Athy. Just across the window from them too! Wow, what a coincidence! What a small world! I feel like a princess would be able to get her hands on all sorts of fancy baubles. As a result, I wouldn’t personally choose even more jewelry. Instead, I’d give them something they are not likely to be exposed to. But I don’t know a single rich person in my life, so what do I know? Maybe they do want useless, gaudy shit all the time.
All of a sudden, Lucas senses a black magic threat and runs off, leaving Athy all by her lonesome. Hm, probably not the best idea. Shortly afterwards, that suspicious man from earlier approaches Jennette in a shop. I bet this bastard is a centuries-old wizard, too. In fact, he’s the reason Lucas ran off earlier. And now he’s going to create a mess for Athy to deal with: putting Jennette directly in the line of danger. This poor girl, man. She’s got a similarly tragic backstory as Athy, but she’s also a pawn in Ijikiel’s father’s political games. And now, she could potentially lose her life just because some creepy, old man wants to mess with Athy. Granted, our princess doesn’t hesitate to save her new friend — the bad guy is simply testing Athy’s capabilities — but still, give Jennette a break. On the plus side, this incident will at least bring the two girls closer together.
After the dust settles, Lucas finally returns to Athy’s side. And just like that, they’re headed home. Um, is no one going to ask questions? Like, oh… I dunno, how ’bout “Why did a raging, magical rhino-looking thing randomly appeared in the middle of the city and started attacking Jennette?” You guys are being way too casual about this. I would’ve assumed that this was an assassination attempt. Of course, Athy wants to keep this all a secret from her father, but when you could’ve lost your life, I think you should tell a responsible adult! Y’know, someone besides Lucas. In fact, where is everyone? Why are the streets so empty? I know the civilians ran to safety, but are there no guards to protect this big, fancy city? Nothing equivalent to a police force? No one ran to get help? We’re literally going to walk away from this whole kerfuffle like it was just another Sunday afternoon? Meanwhile, the bad guy is toasting his wine to a blood-red moon like a cheap, wannabe vampire. Hey, he gets to be smug, because the good guys don’t appear to be doing anything useful.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- Athy has finally interacted with everyone at this table, so I guess there will be no new major ally showing up anytime soon.
- These poor maids have to stand so far back even though, realistically, they’ve probably known Athy longer than anyone but Lilian.
- Who cackles to themselves like a madman even though they’re alone? This guy, apparently.
- Well, every city has a seedy, dark underbelly.
- When did Athy learn to do this? And where? From the random books in her library? Did Claude pick out a few self-defense books for his daughter?
- Raven goes from being a cat-like thing to a wolf-like thing. I dunno, I would’ve kept it consistent and made Raven turn into a tiger or whatever. At least keep it a feline.
