Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

Episode 12

As far as "read the books, kids!" endings go, this isn't a bad one. I admit that I was hoping this would end with an announcement of a season two. Finishing here leaves most of the story's central questions unanswered: Who is Beatrice? Why is someone so keen on Raeliana dying? In this episode, we add the quiet doubt that the current king is Noah's brother rather than his purportedly dead cousin Robert. Why is this suddenly a consideration? Because there's just something off about Noah's little flashback in the latter half of this episode. His memory of someone he calls his older brother feels too poignant for the man to still be alive. While it's certainly normal for him to call a close male relative "oniisan" and for people to change their hairstyles throughout their lives, something just doesn't add up. His mother's vaguely unhinged expression is part of it, but Noah's also been carrying a secret burden this whole time, and that could be it.

It would also add to the overall theme of fate being thwarted that the story has set as its foundation. Raeliana has been flying in the face of fate the entire time, actively working to thwart what people have told her is set in stone. She feels like she usurped Beatrice's role, but that's the least significant thing that she's done. Her major accomplishment has been thumbing her nose in Fate's face, showing her determination to remain alive. Did she use Beatrice's role in the novel to do that? Sure, but that's less important than her disrupting the world's status quo. She thinks back this week to both the fortune teller in her original world and Heika talking about the bird's impending and unavoidable doom and refuting both of those statements made by people who arguably know their business is what she should be focused on. A fortune teller from our world being wrong is one thing, but we've seen that Heika has very real power. She defied his proclamation of fate, and that's no small thing. Raeliana is rewriting the world. That stands to make someone very, very angry.

The manhwa is being released by Yen Press' Ize imprint. It'll be a shame if we don't get to see a continuation of the story. This is very much the prologue of Raeliana's story. With Noah now all but admitting that he's in love with her and has zero intention of ending their engagement, and Vivian's brother entering the story in a more meaningful way, Raeliana is about to see different ways she's altered what she thought was supposed to be the story. But this isn't a book anymore; it's Raeliana's life, and there's no script to follow. As she watches the bird fly away from the window this week, she may be starting to understand that. She's in charge of her own life, just as Beatrice is in charge of hers. There's no "fate," just the paths that people make for themselves. Graves may be moved, people may change, and you still get a cold when you're outside without a coat because the laws of anime must be followed, but ultimately the choices you make are your own. Raeliana is getting closer to accepting that. Beatrice, or whoever thinks they're pulling the strings, had better watch out.

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Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.