Despite a happy ending to last week’s episode, Bertia has since started avoiding Cecil at all costs. She already adores him. It’s only going to be much tougher for her when they break up if she truly falls in love with him. Cecil won’t give up, though. He is determined to get her back. Ugh, I’ve always felt that you need to respect people’s wishes, and that hasn’t changed. A no is a no. But can there be edge cases? Hmm… no, I don’t think so. After all, who gets to decide what qualifies as an edge case? That’s a dangerous slippery slope. So while I truly understand that Bertia is being really stupid about this, I would not keep chasing her if I were in Cecil’s shoes.
Plus, Cecil has only developed feelings for Bertia; he’s not in love with her either. He mostly still sees her as an amusing diversion, which gives me qualms about their relationship. Until he fixes that, I can’t wholly approve of them being together. What would I do instead? I would simply not entertain the thought of courting Heronia either. In the end, nobody gets what they want, but at least we won’t force Bertia’s hand. If she ever sees the light, it’ll have to be her own doing and no one else’s. But this is fiction where it’s okay for male leads to be forceful so long as they’re attractive, so…
Unfortunately, I’ve come to the realization that Bertia is kinda stupid. She’s more convinced than ever that the “compelling forces” will break her and Cecil apart. Why is so convinced? Because she’s recently put on some weight. Jesus fucking Christ… y’know what? Maybe they shouldn’t get together, because Cecil would end up taking advantage of the intellectually impaired.
An episode or two ago, I would have argued — and have argued — that Cecil needs to convince Bertia to give up on this stupid plan of hers, i.e. he’s not going to get with Heronia and that’s final. But I no longer think that this tactic can work. I no longer think you can actually reason with this girl. She’s too dumb to listen to reason. As a result, Cecil is leaning into the whole villainess nonsense, and I can’t really object to it. You wanna be the bad guy?! Well, girl in this case. Then you must stay by my side!!! Then we must keep staying together, ’cause that’s just… so… evil! A true villainess would become my wife! A true villainess would have a family with me! And you wanna know what would be the most evil deed of all?! Growing old and dying peacefully with me!!! Hahahaha, so cruel and nefarious!
In the end, Cecil has to lie to Bertia. He promises her that he can break up with her without being cold, but we all know he’s not going to break up with her period. You can argue that it’s a white lie, but it’s a lie nonetheless. And sure, maybe once you’ve been in a relationship for ten, twenty years, then a white lie is something you can just shrug off. But at the start of the relationship? Eh.
The core of the problem is that Cecil has no clue what Bertia and Heronia are going on about. He doesn’t understand why both girls are insistent that he ends up with Heronia, but Bertia won’t explain things to him. And, well, I suspect he’d rather hit himself with a hammer than have a conversation with Heronia. I think Cecil could try harder with Bertia. After all, he’s never really pressed her on the issue. Still, he goes to his father in search of clues. Unsurprisingly, his “old man” doesn’t know either. His father is just happy that Cecil seems to be having fun for once. Well, maybe this in itself is the clue that we need. Cecil was supposedly cold and calculating before Bertia came along, right? Well, he’s still calculating, but he’s no longer an emotionless robot. Nevertheless, there’s a standard trope in generic romances where a character might end up cold and ruthless if they never fell in love. So maybe that’s it. Ever since Cecil met Bertia, he has changed. Maybe in the game that Bertia and Heronia played, Cecil’s bad ending is that he’s an evil bastard. Ah, but love redeems all! But why would Bertia stay mum about this? Why would she feel the need to keep Cecil in the dark? If she wants him to get with Heronia in order to avoid this fate, then shouldn’t she open up about this tragic bad end that waits him?
This is the exact problem we encounter in the very next scene. Cecil tries to press Bertia on the issue; he wants to know why they have to go through with this whole charade. Unfortunately, Bertia still refuses to tell him anything other than that she just wants everyone to be happy. He even tries to guilt-trip her but she won’t spill the beans. In fact, she seems to have consigned herself to the utmost tragic fate. She’s dead-set on the idea that she and her father must be punished for their crimes. She even gives him a book detailing all of her “wrongdoings.” But where would that leave her mother and brother? How can you actually live with that dark future looming over you? Bertia is only concerned with his happiness (and I guess his happiness means everyone else gets to be happy too), and that’s kinda messed up. If this keeps going, I feel like there’s a non-zero chance that Cecil might end up resenting Bertia. She’s being so stubborn about this, and from the outside, it looks completely irrational.
The day of the graduation arrives, and the couple is determined to head in opposite directions. It almost feels like the season finale, but it can’t be. Cecil wants to do everything in his powers to keep Bertia by his side, but she’s resigned herself to whatever nonsense fate she expects to get from the game. Just stupid. So stupid. The fact that her mother and brother exist means that this is no longer a game, but Bertia simply can’t put two and two together.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— Oh yeah, Bertia did use to be heavier. Would this have been a more compelling story if she had stayed this way? Hm, maybe.
— Only 300 calories for all of that? Eh, I dunno. But again, Bertia is too stupid to realize that eating more sweets would lead her to putting on weight. What is wrong with this girl? In fact, I think she was smarter at the start of the series. She’s somehow been steadily shedding brain cells as the story unfolds.
— Bertia’s counterpart isn’t too bright either. She’s just blindly going around to all the boys, trying to sabotage their current friendships/relationships with the girls. Neither Heronia nor Bertia have any cunning. I’ve never seen one of these villainess shows where the main character and their antagonist are both so utterly hapless.
— Cecil thus calls a meeting with the boys to come up with a plan on how to deal with Heronia. This is kind of a bad look from the outside, isn’t it? I mean, the boys’ partners are the ones being insulted, so why aren’t they looped into this plan as well? Cecil rightly notes that a buncha dudes ganging up on Heronia goes against any semblance of “gallantry,” but cooking up a scheme to entrap her is still the same thing.
— I know it’s supposed to match his hair and eye color, but god, I think that dress is fugly. The color gradient, the huge contrast between the blue and yellow, the pattern on the side, the yellow ribbon dangling from the flower in the middle… it’s just too much. Never let the prince pick out another outfit. Bro just wants to stroke his ego; he has no eye for aesthetics.
