Tags: Fantasy, Romance, Slice of Life, Isekai, Josei

(This review contains spoilers for the novel)

Dahlia’s magical crafting adventures continue at full force in the third instalment of the series. After the raving success of her toe socks as a method of alleviating athletes foot, Dahila has moved on to bigger and better projects in the creation of a myriad of different soap dispensers and in the creation of a portable stove for the military to use. It’s not all work and no play however, as there are plenty of slice of life scenes too. As Dahlia and Volf’s relationship continues to develop, we’re treated to wonderful moments as they chat together and enjoy many a tasty meal, including one at rather fancy seafood restaurant.

Dahlia and Volf’s Fleeting Feelings of Love?

Whilst the previous volumes have hinted at the potential romantic feelings between Dahlia and Volf, the third volume goes some way in developing their relationship by presenting the idea of love between the two character as something infinitely more tangible. From Dahlia’s current perspective, romance may be something way further afield, rejecting a marriage proposal that came in through the guild, but there is definitely some movements on her feelings towards Volf. Several times throughout the volume, Dahlia has caught herself thinking more concretely about her future, one that almost always seems to include Volf both as a friend and in a more romantic capacity. She certainly doesn’t seem to mind the idea of them ending up together, a fact that hasn’t escaped her business partners Fermo and Ivano, both of whom mistakenly though the two of them were dating given their flirting routine.

Volf’s perspective on their changing relationship is even more heavily focused on, much like this volume, there are a lot of important scenes that are given from his perspective. There are multiple instances throughout the volume to suggest that Volf’s feelings for Dahlia are growing at a rapid pace. One of the major developments within the novel concerns Dahlia’s safety now that she’s become a more successful owner of a company. After a ‘friend’ date to an expensive seafood restaurant, Volf notices that the two of them are being followed. Whilst this only ended up being one of his brother’s workers, it still raised questions for Volf. Questions pertaining the ease with which he went to protect Dahlia and the embarrassment felt as he used a bridal lift in order to protect her and take her to a safe elevated spot. His feelings are then further developed upon by the end of the novel when his beast hunter troop comes face to face with illusion creating Purple Bicorns. Bicorns are an especially deadly mutated species of monster as their main defence mechanism revolves around showing aggressors visions of their loved ones, leaving them defenceless and open to attack. Obviously, for Volf, the visions that he ends up seeing are of Dahlia leading to the possibility that the feelings he has for her are a lot stronger than he first thought. For now, it doesn’t seem likely that a confession or anything like that is on the horizon but it is definitely at the forefront of his mind.

…And the Rumour Mill Keeps on Turning.

Romance may be growing within Volf’s thinking but this still pales in comparison to the ever growing presence of rumours and jealous men, the latter of whom’s actions escalate to new levels within this volume. A member of the first battalion challenges Volf to a mock battle as an excuse to try an injure him due to his fiancée taking great interest in Volf and wanting to invite him to a tea party. This attempt fails due to the great team work displayed by Volf and the members of the beast hunters battalion. Jealous men are a constant within this series, there’s always small mentions of them throughout every volume so far so hopefully with this escalation we can bring this plot thread to rest. In my opinion, this storyline has now run its course as it doesn’t quite have the mileage to take it forward with a good enough payoff.

Volf isn’t the only character subject to rumours and slander as Dahlia has her own moments with this throughout the volume. Alongside the rumours about her and Volf, the author does a good job of giving a greater focus on how the world views Dahlia, a woman, owning her own company. There is certainly some malicious gossip surrounding Dahlia’s company at this point in the story – some seem to be accusing Dahlia of being a seductress, leading three men on in order to start her company or leading Volf by the nose in order to make her company a success. These are really important scenes not only within the scope of the story but also as a mirror towards our own society. Women today are still having their validity for certain roles questioned, seemingly to have gotten there through fowl methods, especially when it comes to more senior positions and successful companies.

A Volume of New Beginnings.

The main protagonists aren’t the only characters to get a good slice of character development with Fermo, Ivano and Guido having their own moments connected to the theme of new beginnings. Fermo is the latest recruit into the Rossetti company helping to design soap dispensers. For Fermo, joining Dahlia’s growing business shouts at the opportunity for a new start and rejuvenated spirit given that she helped cure his wife’s pain as well as give him a new opportunity to work after most of his loyal customers have grown old or have already died. This venture, for him, will allow for his apprentices to continue working, which wouldn’t have happened if things had kept on the way they were. For Ivano, working at Dahlia’s company gives him the opportunity to accept who he is, going back to his family name which is associated with business disasters. During the novel, we learn of what happened to Ivano’s family and their business where it is revealed that the ones that spelled death for their company was the Orlando company. This may have made the meeting between Ivano and the current head of the company awkward but Ivano comes out all the better for having it knowing he’s a part of a new up and coming business.

Guido’s new beginning comes in the form of finally being able to support his brother Volf with the problems that he’s been having. This is a major step forward in their relationship given the complex history that they have together. One of the major plot threads within the story revolves around the death of Volf’s mother and this volume finally gives us the whole dark truth. As a storyline, this is the darkest one that we’ve seen so far and whilst not completely out of tone with the series as a whole it is definitely a step above anything that has come before. Volf’s mother was an unintended victim of an assassination attempt on Guido. She was brutally murdered (split in half) in front of both Guido and Volf. It was their father’s second wife’s family who had ordered the hit, resulting in a series of terrible events from the murder of the second wife’s family, the suicide of the second wife’s son (the second brother), the death of a knight who had seemingly impregnated the second wife, and finally the second wife forced into a convent. As a result, the relationship between Guido, the first wife and Volf was fraught leading him to become isolated and alone. Whilst Guido’s and his mother’s actions were wrong, at least now he’s decided to make amends.

It Can be Hard to Let Go.

Much like the previous volumes before it, the third volume of Dahlia in Bloom ends on a rather heavy note. The extra story is comprised of a memory of Dahlia’s early childhood with her father as he spends all night working on a fairy glass lantern. Dahlia finds him asleep having been drinking heavily and crying after finding out that his former wife and Dahila’s mother, Teresa, had recently died. A fact only known due to a rather curt letter sent from Earl Lamberti, the second husband, which angers Dahlia and rightfully so. Carlo finds out that Dahlia had read the letter but they never talk about it, Carlo could never seem to bring himself to talk about the situation leaving us, the readers, with many unanswered questions. For now, it is difficult to see exactly what happened and leaves us with speculation as to whether there was an antagonist within Carlo and Teresa’s love story be it the second husband, Teresa’s family or Carlo and Teresa themselves.

Dahlia in Bloom’s third volume continues to bring a good balance of slice of life foodie scenes and magical tool making moments alongside the great character development and growth the series is known for. Given how things are left at the end of the volume, we’ll be getting a lot more story with the new portable stove and its integration into the army as well as perhaps a closer look at Dahlia’s family on her mother’s side in the upcoming novels which I am totally looking forward to.