Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower: Volume 10

Despite my rant for the previous two volumes, this one doesn't really have the issue that I fear would drag on until the end. The usage of “the consort”, “the scholar”, and such has decreased by a lot. They are still there, but this time it doesn't really distract me from the story. Or maybe it's because so much is happening that awkward prose is the least of my concerns.

Following what happened in the previous book, Shohi finds himself pressured to make a difficult choice. Either he abdicates and lets Shusei take the throne, or he triggers a civil war to keep his reign. Obviously the first option isn't viable considering what kind of person Shusei has become, and so this book is all about siege and war preparation. At the same time, Hakurei seems to be poisoning Shohi under Mars' command... which is obviously a red herring. It finally leads to the revelation of Mars' identity that I'm sure is meant to be shocking, but I guessed it from several volumes ago when certain characters were talking about a certain suicide attempt. They're not exactly subtle with the hints either, and from there it was just a matter of elimination.

In a way, it's a little disappointing that Mars' objective is literally just to cause chaos. I was expecting a bit more depth than that, but he ends up feeling like a 2014 Rejet otome game character in the end.

Since Shohi is weakening by the day, there's also some talk about siring an heir as soon as possible. By this point it's been made clear plenty of times that Rimi doesn't love Shohi romantically, and neither does he. What he seeks from her is closer to a mother's love, and what she feels for him is familial love for a younger brother figure. Needless to say, Shohi refuses to conceive a child with Rimi and goes for another consort instead. Except in the end he reveals that he never goes through with it anyway, making this whole thing feel like such a cop out just to remove any romantic prospects between Shohi and Rimi. Again, the other option isn't any better either because Rimi now believes that “Lord Ho” has killed the Shusei she loves.

That aside, I really enjoyed this volume because of all the political maneuvers from both parties. Especially seeing both Shusei's and Kojin's thoughts, and the contrast between the way Kojin's and Rimi's views of the current Shusei. Hakurei and Jotetsu especially did a great job, even if the mislead is rather easy to see. I'm so glad I waited for the last volume to come out before picking up this series again, because this book ends on an ominous note right in the middle of a civil war. I really want to see how they're going to deal with Shusei too, cause there's no way he'd get away with a light punishment after all this.

Now, off to the finale!