Tags: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, School Life, Villainess, Shoujo

Sub-Tags: Misunderstandings, Otome, Conspiracies, Cute

The Prince Fights a Star Maiden Sequel!

A Rival Appears

Having defeated the fate written down in the first Star Maiden novel, Prince Vincent is all for his new trouble-free engaged life with his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth. Fate, however, is never quite so kind. It isn’t long before Vincent once again feels trouble brewing in the ether, and a prophetic nightmare seals a rough road ahead.

Spurred into action by this dream and a newfound confidence born through the defeat of the novel, the second instalment of Lovestruck Prince starts with the most important moment in Vincent’s relationship so far – finally confessing his love to Elizabeth. Luckily, he confessed when he did, as just days later, an interloper of a foreign prince tries to take Elizabeth away with him.

Shocked but not surprised, Vincent always knew this day could come, but the issue with Prince Leohardt becomes less of a problem than originally thought due to the growth Elizabeth experienced over the past volume. As it turns out, Vincent’s confession was the last piece of the puzzle in giving Elizabeth enough confidence to turn people down.

A Villainess for Good

Turning down Leohardt’s confession makes way for the real reason he’s come to the kingdom. For a while now, the Kingdom of Orion has been subject to growing tensions over the next prince to take the throne. Not wanting to get in his brother Marius’ way, Leohardt has come to the neighbouring kingdom to solidify his brother’s position by readying the country bumpkin and Marius’ lover, Lady Lecia, to become queen. 

Seeing Lady Lecia’s efforts, Vincent and Elizabeth decide to help in Leohardt’s plans to put Marius on the throne. Their involvement in the plan sees the return of the Star Maiden novel, this time hoping to put its powers to good use.

To ensure that Marius becomes the next king, they plan to see both him and Lecia perform a heroic act to save the kingdom. To that end, Elizabeth once again dons the role of the villainess, something that could not have been possible without her growth in confidence. She acts alongside the supposed “evil” prince and a familiar fellwyrm to give the two a disaster-worthy event to stop. 

Fresh off the events of its prequel, the latest story in the series is cleverly written to showcase the development and growth both protagonists have gone through, either within themselves or as a couple.

Since its first outing, both Vincent and Elizabeth have grown leagues in confidence and, as a result, are able to circumvent possible disasters for their relationship and help save a neighbouring nation.

Furthermore, the second instalment in the series solves two of the issue I had with its premier – the lack of romantic moments between Vincent and Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s lacking involvement with the plot. Throughout this volume, the lovey-dovey couple go on several dates together, and Elizabeth’s role in the plot is integral to ensuring peace on the continent.

To conclude, mixing great moments of development alongside more involvement for both protagonists in the role of the plot makes Lovestruck Prince’s second volume a fine addition to the series.