Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke ‒ Episode 22
Heck, "order of operations" is a key component within the storytelling for this episode. Chiefly, Rosemyne has all the components for the health-restoring jureve, but is told she can't actually make and take it right away. The mechanism is that the remedy will induce a magical mana coma for a stretch of time. Meanwhile, she can't be taken out because of important bishoply duties. Not only does it keep her working on her current tasks, but it also sets up the tantalizing prospect of an enforced, in-universe timeskip for the story later. And who knows how the show's aforementioned propensity for oddly ordered structure might treat that?
In the present, Rosemyne's main new motivation for working on things comes from getting to know her "little sister," Princess Charlotte, while Wilfried is off doing things the plot isn't immediately focusing on. It's funny to see Rosemyne so taken as she takes on the big sister role. Sure, a lot of it is cooing over Charlotte for being so gosh-darned cute, but it absolutely fits with Rosemyne's longer-term characterization. She missed being an actual big sister to her baby brother. It ties into that driving family theming from this whole season, even though Charlotte is less a character and more a cute device at this point. It makes me wonder if she won't have more directly to do later on—I certainly feel like I can trust her in a "what you see is what you get" way. Still, as this episode (and previous entries) have demonstrated with Wilfried, even these seemingly innocent kid cast members can be manipulated into major, pseudo-antagonistic roles.
And so, right on cue, Wilfried comes barging in, barking accusations at Rosemyne. This is the dramatic swerve back to what happened at the hunting competition—or rather, a little hide-and-seek game that occurred at the subsequent garden party. As odd as it initially feels to circle back this way, I understand how it heightens the suspense because of the order of operations. Now the audience, along with Rosemyne and the others, learns what Wilfried was manipulated into doing, with the adults providing context at each step to convey the full gravity of his actions. The meeting turns the structure into an impromptu courtroom drama, laying out the stakes and potential consequences. It's also a little funny that Charlotte is included in this ominous judging process, since she clearly lacks any authority or even a full understanding of what's going on. She's there to provide another emotional component to Wilfried's fate and give Rosemyne someone to work to impress in defending him. Which makes it even funnier that the writing tacitly acknowledges Rosemyne might not be all that concerned with Wilfried's fate otherwise. The whole show is just a bit dismissive of the kid. Even Ferdinand can't stop suggesting simply disowning him; it's wild.
Granted, it's not like Wilfried didn't screw up, but it's also not like it's entirely his fault this time. A key point of the whole successor-faction subplot has been how children of high stature in this structure are tools manipulated by and for their surrounding parental units. Rosemyne, and potentially Charlotte in the future, are no exceptions either. It's that family theme, but from a more sinister, utilitarian angle. Children are malleable, and when it's been established that Wilfried is a bit dense, it makes sense to point him at his imprisoned grandmother to confuse his take on things and sow discord. Rosemyne even figures out that this is likely a plan simply to harass her side more than any significantly stepped scheme.
Figuring that out and proposing a mostly merciful resolution for Wilfried means this episode lets Rosemyne come away with a more unilateral win after a season of learning to compromise. Yes, Wilfried's duchy succession is no longer certain, but he's still young; he's had time to improve, as he has since his introduction. And Rosemyne gets to impress Charlotte and bring back around the magical memory-reading device as a surprise tool that will help us later. It's a positive solution that still fits with the standards of nobility she's learning to navigate, and turns the family element back to a more positive interpretation after that point about manipulation. However, it still clashes with Ferdinand's insistence that she's being "naive" in how she navigates it. It's the idealistic conflict of this whole season, driven by the very different familial environments these two experienced. The seemingly odd structure of getting there this episode served that, centering Rosemyne's viewpoint to follow how she reached her successful conclusion, instead of simply showing a bunch of stuff that happened to Wilfried in the lead-up before pointing him at her. Smart move again, Bookworm anime, even as it made me look askance at it at first.
Rating:
Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Chris is back to hit the books. You can see him posting about anime, transforming robots, and other quality reading material over on his BlueSky.
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