Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Slice of Life, School Life, Shoujo

Sub-Tags: Video Games, Banishment, Strong Lead, Second Chances

The Otome Game’s Full Circle!

Starting the new week off is the first of three newly finished pre-pubs as Claire’s Otome journey reaches the end of its first arc.

Entering its third volume, Claire’s story continues towards the original tragedy at the ball. Still searching for a way to keep everyone safe, salvation may come in the form of a family heirloom; a bracelet given to her by her late mother holds the key to a power-up that could stop Charlotte’s schemes. However, when Charlotte unexpectedly arrives in Paffuto things go awry in the worst ways possible!

Engagements and Annulments

The Fallen Daughter of the Duke’s latest volume feels as though the series has finally come full circle. Ending this volume where the story first began – on a breaking off of an engagement – only this time to a character that is more deserving due to her schemes and troublemaking, making the ending of the first arc an overall satisfying experience.

Equal parts poetic and cliché, this is the only type of ending I can imagine for an annoying character like Charlotte that isn’t overly cruel or just an easy escape for her to cause more trouble. As, whilst her actions are reprehensible, she causes them out of delusion rather than with malicious intent.

Marking the end of the first game’s Otome troubles, this volume also features several happy endings. The first is the most obvious, Vik and Claire, freed from the shadow of Charlotte, make their engagement and love official. The second happens between Asbert and Nicola. There were obvious signs of this relationship blossoming, but it’s nice to witness all the same.

The most interesting happy ending comes with the friendly relationship between Asbert and Vik. Ensuring the two nations don’t go to war as in the previous timeline, the friendship between them could have great implications for any future problems that Vik and Claire may face from other nations.

Ancestry and Legends

To get to these happy endings, however, Claire must hope that the power in her mother’s bracelet can offer a saving grace. Amplifying the user’s magic, with the bracelet’s power unlocked, Claire would easily be able to protect everyone at the ball by creating a large-scale barrier.

The key to unlocking the bracelet’s power requires the help of one of the final characters yet to be reintroduced after the first volume, Isabella. She’s the one who’s able to solve the puzzle behind the bracelet thanks to her literary knowledge. What’s more, it’s great that the author has used a bit of forethought in having the connections Claire made in the original timeline come help her achieve a happy end in this one.

Unfortunately, one major problem with this final plotline revolves around Charlotte’s visit to Paffuto and the inevitable trouble she causes. Claire, Vik and the rest of the group show a remarkable lack of obvious hindsight. Failing to mark Charlotte or keep the bracelet safe from her grasp, Charlotte steals the bracelet for the upcoming ball.

It comes over as completely unbelievable that a group of the kingdom’s brightest would look over something so crucial, especially when Charlotte and the bracelet could have such a devastating impact on everyone.

Concluding its first arc, The Fallen Daughter of the Duke’s third volume manages to reach a satisfying ending even with some of the series’ rather unbelievable coincidences. Other than Charlotte, every main character got their happy ending that felt well deserved and a natural progression from their starting point. This series has certainly placed itself well for a continuation into what I assume will be the Kingdom of Lupty.