“Oh you hapless fools; the confusion and chaos had been so very removed from over.”
Our trials and tribulations begins with essential character Karen within the nadir of her life however it’s not unreasonably dreadful. (Re-)Born into the Kirsten noble household, a department household of the Dunsts, it was revealed a number of years earlier than the story begins that her mom had been untrue and the Dunsts insist that the results of this folly, Karen, be kicked out of the household and made to stay as a commoner (the truth that Karen’s mom forgot all of her reminiscences of elevating Karen and has felt indifferent about the entire incident ever since feels unusual however it stays to be seen if that can be some type of plot level on this world of magic or if it’s merely a writing quirk). Now that Karen is nearly able to graduate from her secondary college she is in search of employment and discovering that the Dunst resentment in the direction of the circumstances of her delivery runs even deeper than she anticipated and that she may not even have the ability to discover a job (aside from “retail clerk” or “barmaid”) as a result of their behind-the-scenes stress marketing campaign, one thing that she will be able to do nothing about.
However Karen isn’t the one one who has been busy over the previous few years: her older (half-)sister has change into the only real concubine of the king of Fulkrum and her situations for doing so had been:
- Restore Karen to being a member of the Kirsten household and
- Provided that the Dunsts will instantly attempt to marry her off, as the one begrudging means they’d need to
usesettle for Karen, to make it possible for Karen really has a alternative in suitors and the ultimate say
Because of this, Karen is whisked away to a household assembly and given her choices: the Dunsts have proposed a wedding between Karen and the aged, widowed margrave (aka, the ruler of a border area not close to the capital) of the Conrad area and her sister has by some means secured a competing proposal from the second son of a marquis, Reinald Rodenwald, who is way nearer to Karen’s age, dashing, and curiously sufficient has turned down all potential proposals earlier than.
For Karen the selection is clear: marry the outdated man as a result of he’ll cross on earlier after which she’ll be free to journey and do no matter she needs!
Karen’s plan to spend a quiet few years being married and off to the frontier virtually instantly begins to go sideways when she arrives on the frontier and discovers that the margrave, whereas not formally remarried, does have a standard regulation spouse and son and that this dynamic goes to be not what she anticipated (and the margrave had thought Karen’s household was conscious of this example). Whereas Karen does nonetheless change into the margravine on paper, she is handled extra like an surprising daughter and potential inheritor to the territory than the margrave’s “spouse” and handled warmly, and regardless that Karen by no means explicitly says so it looks as if that is very presumably the happiest a part of her life to date. She is given each the liberty and duties that present she is revered as an grownup and nobody plans to oppose her plans to journey as soon as she reaches 20 (this concept does concern some folks within the area however all they ask is that if one thing had been to occur that she would stay in Conrad till the authorized inheritor comes of age, which Karen agrees to, and he or she’s given a full schooling in working a territory simply in case).
Karen is less-than-thrilled to be known as again to the capital a number of instances and, fairly awkwardly, is reunited with Reinald on quite a lot of events; Reinald says that “I’m going to be the supply of some hassle for you but,” and whereas he meant it within the sense of “now each younger woman whose provide of marriage I turned down goes to harass you for turning me down,” Reinald has fairly a number of secrets and techniques of his personal and so they’re all slightly dicey and harmful. He is ready to save Karen from a sexual assault (a scene that positively requires a set off warning for a way tense it’s and the way shut Karen involves being bodily raped) due to these connections however even by the tip of this primary quantity I can’t fairly make sure the place his loyalties lie. I might not be shocked if he and Karen find yourself collectively (romantically) by the tip of this collection nevertheless and watching the 2 of them slowly, however naturally, change into nearer as they converse plainly of their very own circumstances, and uncover that their pursuits are slightly aligned, has been good. However this can be a story with magic and battle rising on the horizon, as the quantity progresses it turns into clear that Karen is being pulled into the results of many years of selections and deliberations made by folks each in Karen’s Kingdom of Falkrum and within the Empire that she hopes to journey to, and battle is one thing that can disrupt even the best-laid of plans.
Sooner or later whereas studying this quantity I began mentally referring to this collection as “The Trials and Tribulations of my Subsequent Life as a Noblewomen: All Routes Result in Doom!” as a result of it actually does look like there was no good and simple path for Karen to comply with in her isekai’d life: there are too many different plots and predicaments afoot by different characters and at this level she will be able to solely navigate the paths different characters are constructing, not create them on her personal. “This can be a story of dwelling within the moments of time through which a technology shifts, and the circumstances and historical past of a continent modifications” is what creator Kamihara writes within the afterword and it’s true: Karen isn’t any royal, politician, or king-maker. She’s in some methods a “regular” noble hoping to stay a life the place any pleasure is on a private stage and fairly frankly she’d slightly keep away from the politicking that almost all “regular” nobles appear to relish!
Alas that was not meant to be. Even earlier than I by accident spoiled myself foolish wanting up future quantity covers (this is among the collection the place you completely can’t do this it seems!) and the sense of stress was palpable as the quantity drew to a detailed, the query amongst my buddies and I turned not “if” any characters would die by the tip however “who” or “what number of”. If these books had been accessible to me in full type I’d binge them with out a thought, screw unimportant duties like “getting sufficient sleep on a piece evening” or that that is presumably the most important e-book J-Novel Membership has ever launched (in “streaming” type it was launched as 20, roughly equal-sized elements, beating out Ascendence of a Bookworm and the fairly giant quantity 12 of The Apothecary Diaries) and it’s been a short time since a brand new collection grabbed me so intensely.
I’m now desperately awaiting the beginning of quantity 2 on J-NC’s web site and should even purchase the digital copy of this primary quantity so I can have it on-hand to check with whereas studying the latest elements; it’s clear that Kamihara was very deliberate on what was included on this e-book so I’m desperate to see how issues maintain constructing upon these trials and tribulations. The one saving grace is that Karen is clearly “writing” all of this down from some extent sooner or later so I do know that she survives all of it ultimately!
