By Rinrin Yuki and Suzaku. Released in Japan as “Olivia Maseki Houshokuten e Youkoso: Ka to Mise wo Oida Sareta no de, Outou ni Mise wo Kamaetara, Naze ka Moto Konyakusha to Gimai no Kekkonshiki ni Dero to Iwaremashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.
I enjoyed this a great deal more than I did the first volume, though I do feel a bit guilty about that, as the main reason I enjoyed it was I kept waiting for Olivia to finally break down. We already knew she was an earnest young woman with a low opinion of herself, and we saw, at the start of the first book, her treatment at the hands of her abusive adopted father, cheating fiance, and terrible stepsister. But she ran away to the capital, made a name for herself, has a shop, and also has the most attractive man in the city in love with her, though she has not quite cottoned on to that last one. That means that this book, where she is forced to go home, be a witness at her sister’s wedding to her ex-fiancee, and then discuss her birth father’s old shop with evil adopted father – well, she reaches her snapping point.
Things start off well. Olivia now has her shop, and is satisfying customers once she manages to get out of her own head and stop stressing. She has a capable assistant who tries to make her rest (with limited success). She has her friends who helped her when she first came to the city. And she has Elliot, who sure seems to show up an awful lot around her. When she gets the letter telling her to return home for the wedding, everyone springs into action. She’s given a fashion and makeup upgrade, and Elliot decides to start taking her out to fancy restaurants and the theatre – not for any ulterior motives, of course, just as a pal. He’s also agreed to go with her when she returns home. Because the one thing Olivia and all her friends agree on is that this is a giant trap.
The third quarter of this book is dedicated to getting on Olivia’s last nerve. Her father’s shop sits abandoned and covered in weeds. The one employee who used to work there, but had to retire due to injury, is missing. At the wedding itself, her stepsister proves to be a shrieking harridan, demanding Olivia publicly apologize. The noble who controls the area – her ex-fiance’s father – decides to have Olivia marry him after all. And when she refuses, thanks to the help of Elliot, who the noble is terrified of for some reason, they go with Plan B, which is to knock her out, kidnap her, and say she’ll be imprisoned for life making artifacts. Apologies for all the spoilers, but this is a good way of showing that when we learn Elliot’s true identity (which should not surprise any reader who’s paid attention), she just gives up and goes back home by herself. The definition of the final straw.
Now, of course, they make up, which is the last quarter of the book. And there’s a third book which implies that Olivia’s low nobility status (which means she can’t marry Elliot) may soon be fixed by a secret in her family’s past. But for me, the best part of this book was seeing Olivia suffer. It was very realistic and well handled. Sorry, Olivia.
