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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 1 Chapter 7

• So! Chapter 7. So little yet so much happens in this chapter.

• I usually don't place a General Thoughts section on my TRR QTs, but there's enough, I think, to warrant one on both this one and the next for now.

• It's very well-constructed, there are all sorts of interesting contrasts and dynamics to it. In hindsight seeing as Olivia and Drake are such popular characters now, it's nice to see the beginnings of those shifts here.

• Hana also has a very important role in this chapter, and there are shifts here too. Not a lot will be said about this here, because I've got a full essay on her Cordonian Waltz scene that deals with a lot of its major themes. This scene is not my favourite Hana scene though - that honour will always belong to the piano scene in Chapter 8 😍

• THIS CHAPTER, my friends, is also where Drake's use of our surname begins. So I'm guessing our little tally for his use of our first name may just stop at 4 (he does say your first name sometime in the meteor shower scene, so that should be 5).

• Title: Fire and Ice.

Kinda fitting, no? We're staying in Olivia's wintry home, but there are a whole bunch of tensions bubbling under the surface.

I mean, look at the lines of the Robert Frost poem they borrowed this title from:

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

I mean you have Olivia, who loves the cold and admires the frozen splendor of the Alps, and whose mockery of Savannah included claiming she was "the sensitive sort" who wouldn't "last long here". And who hates the MC enough at this point that the moment she gets the tiniest amount of power, she will leave no stone unturned to let the her know she is not welcome.

And then you have Drake, who has begun to thaw towards the MC, and Hana, who is now opening up to her. Both experience the first stirrings of desire for her in these chapters. You get romance points for just being nice to Drake in both this chapter and the next one, and Hana is flustered by the attention you could optionally give her during the waltz.

• The narrative describes Lythikos as being situated at the Alps, and Maxwell tells us that Olivia is primarily at "Lythikos Hall, which is further south" but she will be hosting the court at her chateau instead. Hana tells us that since Lythikos is her domain, Olivia would have the upper hand, but we will really only understand the importance of that advantage at the ball in the next chapter.

• Bertrand is missing, and on one of his many trips to figure out estate stuff. Drake complains about the others discussing Bertrand, and Hana (like a normal person) complains about the cold. Which leads us to our OOTD!

• Our rooms are pretty much a modified, simpler version of the Lykos Castle bedroom, where Val once reluctantly pretended to be Zenobia's handmaiden, and where Annelyse and Kenna could sneak in for a rendezvous at the end of Book 2. I like it. It's purple 😁

Me Back Then: That outfit is terrible! It's the ugliest fucking thing I've ever seen and I've seen Bluebelle. The other option must be a basic sweater or something right? Right??

Me Back Then (after seeing the second option):

Me Now: If our MC needs more motivation to freeze to death in Lythikos, the ugly coat opens up to a free Drake scene.

Me Back Then: Okay. Okay. I guess I feel better about turning into an icicle now.

• This, and the Beach Bae outfit, are the only ones in this book that unlock extra scenes with the outfit purchase alone in Book 1. Buying Marabelle's Dream in Chapter 13 also works on a similar principle, but as far as outfits go these two are the only ones this book.

• If there are two basic things canon will give us about our MC this chapter, it's that she's learned ice-skating before (how good she is at it depends on you), and she's gone for soccer and basketball practice as a child.

• Maxwell plays matchmaker by distracting Olivia to buy us time with Liam. Kinda reminds me of that scene in the Fox Hunt chapter where he tries showing Constantine dance videos so we get extra time with Liam at the stables 😂

• These dialogues below get unlocked only if you show interest in hearing more about Olivia from him:

Liam and Olivia were such cute fucking friends and I find it sad that we rarely get to see much of that. Liam is protective of her, trusts her to the point of believing she is innocent when (optionally) no one else might in Book 3, concerned when she looks distressed and respects her.

• One thing that changed along the way in Olivia's story was who Lucretia was in relation to her. In this scene Liam calls Lucretia her great-aunt (although she isn't mentioned by name here), in Book 3 she is confirmed to be her mother's sister.

• I think the most heartbreaking bit is where Liam speaks about walking into the sight of Olivia crying into her mother's gown, and holding her until she cries herself to sleep. To think...that's the child Constantine was so desperate to leave broken and powerless.

• This tender backstory informs your choice to be good to her. You get to compliment her duchy, which, again, takes her by surprise.

• Hana comes up next, skating circles around every person in that court. Kiara, Penelope and Tariq are shown as struggling with skating - first as a set up to speaking about Hana's talent in this area, and second to show us just how much her parents had prepared her for a life in the nobility. Not only is she made to learn the life and rules and negotiations that govern noble/royal life - they've also pushed her into learning (and being good at) skills that would either help her in domestic/court life, or would make her desirable to her suitors. The courtly ladies who have grown up here know what's needed and know their strengths (at least some of them). A foreigner like Hana probably has to jump through more hoops to be seen, so her parents sent her to learn everything possible thing they could think of.

• Tariq is shown complaining about how his fancy skates are too expensive for skating...so yeah, another point on the "Tariq's Shoe Obsession" tally.

• Here is Hana speaking about ice skating with the same lack of interest Drake employs around fancy wine and good food.

That last line. It killed me. There's such a sense of resignation in the way she says it.

• This may seem like a slight build up to Hana's Cordonian Waltz scene (and that scene does reference this dialogue), but I honestly believe it's meant to be more of precursor to her Piano Parlour scene in Chapter 8.

That scene was all about something she loved and enjoyed, ruined by her parents' desire to reduce it to just another skill for them to parade around. There is a real fire and anger about the way she speaks of how she fiercely guarded it, and I believe this scene - where she talks of ice skating with such a lack of interest that even a stranger can see it - is the perfect contrast.

• We now meet Drake, who has suddenly and without cause begun to call us by our surnames. We will only get to find out why towards the end of Book 2.

• There's also a funny dialogue the MC makes about wanting to see Drake in a tutu, to which he replies that some images aren't worth the effort - back from the good ol' days of his macho posturing. It's even more funny given that the writers are trying really really hard now to retcon that completely, by having him claim in TRH he would dress up in a tutu if his wife claimed to have a thing for the sugar fairy 🤣

(Screenshots for the first option from the Parvez Kanok YouTube Channel)

More relationship points opportunities for Drake! You get to choose where your MC stands in her relationship with Drake now - does she like him? Is she friendly but cautious? Is she upfront that she can't stand him? The last option doesn't yield relationship points obviously, but he tells that MC that it's a good thing she refuses to trust him ("you shouldn't have faith in anyone out here, and certainly not me").

• We now have a skiing race down the slopes with Drake, where you can beat him at his own game and maybe show off to Liam and Olivia while they're on the slopes (Liam very adorably cries "Go MC!" in this option 😂). Orrr you can land on your butt while Drake laughs at you.

• Drake tries really hard to argue that he's won even in the option where you do everything right, which is another earlier indicator (besides the betting scene at the Derby) of his competitive spirit.

• Okay so this confuses me - Drake is the first one to tell you about the Cordonian Waltz being the main dance at the ball, has probably heard about it even with his lack of interest in all things courtly. But Maxwell is our sponsor, and in Bertrand's absence he should have at least been asking around if he had forgotten the message. I like Maxwell but the lack of forethought and concern for a foreigner that he's brought here is...not a great look on him on replays.

• We're now back at Olivia's lodge, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate (with marshmallows that Drake is pretending not to fanboy over)

• It feels so strange now to be in Lythijos and have something that's not Lythikos Nog.

• So here is where Olivia mentions Savannah, to get back at Drake for being Not Impressed™ (careful Drake the Leona side of your genetics is showing) with her "spectacular hosting". IDK Olivia if you're the only one patting yourself on the back for the hosting...then you're probably not that good at hosting.

• In any case, she pushes every possible button marked sensitive on Drake, and you can tell she knows how much Savannah's departure affected him ("wait, Drake, dear! Come back! I wasn't finished with you!") and is enjoying sinking that knife into him. From her we get to know that Savannah worked hard on fitting in, was a sensitive girl, and struggled to fit in. She also remarks on the suddenness of Savannah's departure.

• What baffles me though is that either Olivia was decent to Savannah's face during her time in court, or they simply retconned the fact that Olivia looked down on her. Because by Book 3, Olivia acts pretty normal around her and is even planning a gift for her in TRH in the middle of really important work. There is a possibility that she probably resorted to these tactics only during the social season but didn't have to do so once she'd withdrawn...but still. You'd think there would be some reference to her attitude in the first book. My guess is they backtracked with that part of the story because they were invested in making Olivia look better.

• The options to respond to Olivia include threatening to slap her, being dismissive about his pain, and simply asking about Savannah. The second one was way too insensitive for me and the third one seemed pretty invasive (why tf would I ask Olivia about Savannah when I could simply ask Drake), so I tried the first one...only to get a romance point. That's not going to be the last time I get a romance point just for being nice to Drake.

•

Me Back Then: Aww Maxwell. Such a good friend.

Me After Book 2: This is so sad Alexa play Liar by Queen

Me After TRH: When was the last time you met her Maxwell? Two months ago??

• Drake's Meteor Shower scene is actually pretty short, and there's not a lot going on in hindsight. But because it comes from a character who is already so closed off - the amount of information is just right. It's just enough to create a shift.

- You start off by surprising Drake with your arrival. Now for most of Book 1, Drake is pretty talented at shoving his foot in his mouth, which is exactly what he does in this sequence if you're concerned about him. He's also apparently not a very easy scare.

- As with the scene that built this one up, Drake proves to be far more comfortable when you show a lack of trust in him than when you show concern - for it is the second option that sparks a knee-jerk, defensive reaction that he needs to then apologize for (rather similar in fact to the scene at the stables, where he gets straight to the point if you're suspicious, and makes smart-alec comments if you're grateful). You get a couple chances here and there to figure out how your MC will respond to him.

- It...kinda makes sense, because mistrust and suspicion is something he seems to expect. Genuine kindness and concern isn't.

- The other interesting thing are the parallels the story creates between the MC and the perception of Savannah especially in this book. Right from the MC's first special moment with Drake watching the shooting stars, the way Savannah used to when they were kids. The image Drake conjures of the MC being an innocent gazelle walking into a trap. The fact that if you're romantically involved with him, you share your first kiss in the same office where Bertrand and Savannah...I'm not finishing that sentence. The comparisons he makes between Savannah on her last day in Cordonia, and the MC at the Coronation Ball - right before events that will change their futures.

(Screenshots taken from the Parvez Kanok YouTube Channel)

I still wonder if things changed along the way, because the tone of Drake's early scenes about Savannah sounded so...ominous, so scary. I think many of us (before they started dropping heavy hints about the Beaumont connection) suspected her departure was plot-related and she'd discovered something terrifying...except it all turned out to be one big misunderstanding between two people who would anyway be awful together.

- I think Drake makes a pretty huge leap in terms of trust here: at the end of the scene if you ask him whether he trusts you, he tells you that if he ever had to start trusting anyone, he would start with you.

- For the Drake stan there are a couple cute moments: him asking you if you trust him before shoving you to the ground so you can stargaze, the actual stargazing, and holding his hand on the way back to the Chateau.

• Poor Hana (if you've gone with him) is up all night waiting for the MC and Drake to return, worried sick about them being in the middle of a possible storm.

• Hana's Cordonian Waltz scene. Now that one I've played numerous times - maybe too often to count. I've written an essay about it too, so I won't be going into a lot of detail here. (for anyone interested in reading it, just search for #cordonian waltz on my blog. The essay on the Cordonian Waltz scene should be the first thing you see on that tag in my blog). I will talk about two things though - the personal impact of this scene, and Hana being valued for her skills more than for who she is.

- This scene is in a lot of ways the followup to our first scene with her, where we comfort her and give her advice on dealing with people like Olivia. If you bought that scene...she returns this favour as a gesture of gratitude (if not she does it is only because she's a marvellous human being and way too good for us). It also gives us more insight into why her engagement broke, why winning Prince Liam's hand matters so much even though she only sees him as a friend.

- Let's be honest - without Hana this story would look...quite different. She is our guide, our protector, someone who eases us into the routine of the court. She is also someone who is aware of Cordonia's ways and traditions, but in her own way is still a foreigner, still someone who might have to work far harder for the same amount of respect. She is someone with a foot each in both worlds.

- In a way, her knowledge is important to us, but her foreignness makes her relatable. It makes her acutely aware of our struggles in a way that a Liam or a Maxwell or even another lady of the court wouldn't, since they spent their lives in Cordonia and therefore may not fully understand the nuances of the MC's assimilation or exactly how much she may have to adjust to fit in.

- And I think this is exactly where the writers failed her. They made her the foreign woman with Cordonian heritage, who knew a lot about Cordonia...and then refused to explore the heritage and life she grew up with when the chance was clearly there. In Book 2, we wound up spending more time in Shanghai with the guys than we ever really did with her.

- Hana's skill based scenes often tend to go beyond the immediate task at hand and delve into the nuances - so that we can see the beauty of what she is teaching. Take this scene for example. Can we perform the Cordonian Waltz without a hitch if we don't buy this scene? Sure we can! But the beauty of this waltz, its value as a courtship dance, is only barely apparant if you don't buy it.

- Hana's general attitude to teaching a bad dancer an intricate waltz is "bitch if I can teach my dad's favourite hunting dog to learn a box step on his hind legs then I can do anything. Don't try me." But said, like, super super politely.

- The Cordonian Waltz seems to have the elements of a traditional waltz, I think, with the 'Cordonian' element being the courtship aspect of it. From what I can make of Book 1's exploration of social mores, the expectation seems to be to pursue whatever relationships you want to, but to keep those displays of affection largely private. A courtship dance giving the noble/royal a small leeway to flirt kind of works with that general logic.

A little story here: this sequence was in some ways the reason I started taking interest in Hana at first. Part of that was because I related so heavily to a lot of what she was saying in this sequence.

I've lived with controlling parents. I've had family who insisted their way of thinking was the best, and who wouldn't even realize at times that they were not giving me a chance to voice my opinion. There's a lot of messages within that kind of upbringing that you absorb when you're young - the biggest of them being that they're all you have, and even genuine frustration at their worst behaviour can be wrong and will result in them reminding you of every single thing you've done for them.

It's not all doom and gloom...it's not either all subservience or all I-hate-my-parents either. It's often a very complicated, messy mix of things. There's good stuff and happy memories, but there are also things that seem normal and then niggle at you, before they explode and you see them for the big problems that they are. You value and respect those parents, but at the same time you can't always place what is it about their behaviour that makes you feel strange and stifled. You want to rebel sometimes, but some of that rebellion comes with a creeping sense of guilt, like you're doing something wrong. You know sometimes that staying away is healthier for you and them than staying with...but you can't bear to break off that relationship yet. And in a lot of ways Hana encapsulates - within the miniscule space the writers chose to give her - a lot of the mess that comes with complicated, controlling relationships like that.

I've seen people call Hana weak and passive, see her only for her tragedies, stay blind to the individuality that she does possess, stay blind to all the small ways she does push back. I've seen people who will without a moment's hesitation put her down to praise an Olivia - never mind that even an Olivia had some support somewhere, never mind that her homeplace Lythikos has vastly different rules and norms that she upholds, that she has grown up learning and still follows. Context matters.

- The other thing that is so striking is how she compares what she has grown up with to what Peter had grown up with:

When you're brought up believing that you don't exactly have a say in who you marry, even romance of the kind Peter seemed to be envisioning seems like a privilege to you. Even on the basic level of 'I have a say in the kind of person I want to spend the rest of my life with'. Sometimes you just know when what you want doesn't exactly count (I mean...we are talking about the woman who had 200 PinStop boards on her future wedding yet believed she didn't have a say in how it would look).

This is further complicated by the fact that the narrative alludes to her upbringing by placing an emphasis on heteronormativity - her parents constantly push her towards men, a lot of the skills they have her pick up (including fringe ones like fainting to show how fragile she is???) are openly mentioned as being there to appeal to men, Xinghai is shocked when Hana tells him that she cares for the MC romantically. It's not said in so many words, but the overall impression you get is that she's never really had the opportunity to discover what she wants, probably never had the space to even think about it. I kinda really feel that on some level.

I grew up in an environment where a lot of things were taboo - including discussions on sexuality or even sex itself. Our parents were tight lipped, other adults skirted around it, and in our churches and schools kids had the most skewed ideas of a gay/lesbian/bi/trans/nonbinary people. I spent almost a decade in the closet, half of which involved me being in very very deep denial.

It's only in retrospect that I recognize that a number of relationships that I saw as 'very close friendships" were actually crushes - it didn't even occur to me to call it anything else. It took me until after I got married to fully come out and understand who I was.

(Screenshots from Abhirio's YouTube channel)

Hana's clumsy fumblings towards expressing her feelings must stem from a similar place. What she is feeling is so different from everything she has learned and experienced so far that she takes the entire social season to emotionally adjust. But doing the romantic, sensual Cordonian Waltz with a woman she's beginning to feel more than friendship for? That's a good start.

- There's also the factor of her parents convincing her to maintain her friendship for personal gain (Hana also briefly speaks of this kind of strategy in her Book 3 Snow Angel scene at Lythikos), but at this point she is so devoted and invested in the MC that she doesn't mind going above and beyond to make her succeed. She pretty much saves our asses for two whole books.

- Gosh I spent a lot of time on this scene didn't I (esp for someone who has done an entire essay on it before). But I've gone through two books since, and a lot of people tend to forget/dismiss/minimize Hana's particular set of situations in their desire to push forward a more shallow view of her.

- This scene is a good example of the mix between skill-teaching and personal history for Hana. As the story progresses, the writers will focus far less on the personal, on the struggles of her own journey, and more on the skills she can impart to the MC. And that's the tragedy of her writing: that the writers are some point were only willing to give her space, when the MC had something to benefit from it, when it was centered around the MC rather than her. When the MC either got the advantage of Hana's expertise, or when there is an opportunity that centers around the MC and places her in a pedestal. Towards the end of this series, Hana's friendship with the MC seemed very imbalanced - mostly because any opportunity to expand on what Hana was going through or feeling was often taken by other characters, or overshadowed by the MC's needs at the time.

General Thoughts:

• So...the next chapter is one of my favourites - because it is the dynamics of this chapter increased and expanded tenfold. The tension between Liam and Olivia as grownups who were childhood friends, Olivia's fear of losing him to the MC, Drake and Hana's trust in her, Liam's confusion over his feelings for her, how the ladies view this situation. There's so much going on next chapter, and this chapter is pretty good buildup to that.

• The 8th chapter esp in Books 1 and 2 of the series tended to provide significant changes in terms of relationship dynamics - and their dynamics in those chapters were often based on the theme of trust. But more on that in that chapter.

• Ngl, I'm also excited about that chapter because there's a spotlight on Kiara AND my all-time favourite Hana scene xD

• Admittedly...there's not a lot of Persephone (the MC of my failplay) in this QT - partly because I have only a ten-pic limit, and mostly because this chapter is pretty much like a short holiday from the court and the events.

• This is the kind of chapter that is light on the events and activities but heavy on the personal relationships. Plus, even though I wanted her to dance with Hana, I didn't want her to have any advantages going in to the ball - and even though you could still screw up it could still come with its own set of advantages. Besides, I knew a really good scene was coming up the next chapter.

• I found it easier as a Hana romancer to choose like this in Book 1, because even if I didn't take a scene I knew there would be a good one coming up in the next chapter, or in a couple chapters at least. By Book 2, I had very few good options (that didn't come with an automatic advantage) to choose from, so Persephone ended up taking crappy ones like the fashion show scene in Paris because I knew the next good Hana scene would take a while. It's...not a good feeling.

• What especially worked for this chapter were the contrasts. You have a gruff, guarded Drake who takes the chance to open up to you if you give it to him, and you have the vulnerable child-Olivia, juxtaposed with the very tough, very aggressive adult-Olivia.

• You were confronted with a very different Olivia in Liam's memories, to the one you see now, but at the same time reminded that she is indeed a very different person in the present. It was like you'd be tempted to thaw a little but the narrative would say "no, not yet".

• And it worked. Because you were eased into the nuances of that character, not having the better parts of her pushed in your face while you were still wary.

• Olivia's scene with Drake has a few parallels with a scene in a corresponding chapter in Book 2: Madeleine's treatment of Hana. Not on the scale of what they did (you can't really even compare Olivia's mockery of Savannah to Madeleine's obvious abuse of power), but on the setup the narrative was giving you. Here are the similarities:

1. Both chapters begin with the MC viewing Olivia/Madeleine as a rival of sorts, and her initial views on them are largely negative.

2. The MC witnesses moments of nuance that allow her to see that character in a different light. (Liam's story of Olivia's parents' deaths/Madeleine calling out the press on their sexism re: the Tariq situation, then the MC discovering to her surprise that Madeleine was never involved in the conspiracy against her).

3. While the MC is still attempting to take in this new information, the character does something that will confirm her initial thoughts about them. It will take a while before she manages to change her mind.

For me, the differences lie both in scale, and in the way the LI is treated. Olivia is cruel, she enjoys insulting Savannah and upsetting Drake - but the space isn't one where his position or his staying at the court is threatened. Besides this, the MC is allowed to push back at Olivia (aggressively, if she chooses to) and support Drake, as do Hana and Maxwell when Olivia leaves. Drake has the space to be upset about it, he has the space to lash out. His pain is validated and he is allowed his mistrust and anger at Olivia even into Book 2 when she is offering help.

Madeleine on the other hand threatens Hana's place at court and uses her newfound authority to harm her - and fully intends to continue doing so until she breaks. Hana is pushed by the narrative into a position of powerlessness - one that wasn't even necessary (she isn't even allowed to know about Madeleine's plan to break her nor is she given the space to push back against her). Even the diamond scene following Madeleine's threats revolved around every other character besides her.

I personally feel like the writing team chose this route for Madeleine in Book 2, because it seemed to work well enough with Olivia...but they'd gone too far, and in a way that Madeleine couldn't exactly come back from as easily as Olivia could. The strategy worked for Olivia, and backfired quite a bit for Madeleine.

• The irony of this chapter is that in TRH 7, Savannah herself speaks about not being able to fit in, and being happy she has friends among the ladies of the court now, and Olivia seems pretty alright with her by then. As I mentioned earlier this could be because the Olivia we're seeing now is doing everything she can to hold on to Liam, and it's making her act in ways that would only defeat her purpose, rather than help her.

• Drake's diamond scene in a lot of ways is necessary buildup for his whiskey scene in the next chapter. He spends a lot of time talking about what it's like to be in court there, but with our knowledge that his sister has disappeared and the (optional) assumption that the court was a poisonous place that drove her away from Cordonia altogether - he can (in his Whiskey diamond scene) expand on why it's better to not trust anyone, and warn her at the same time. The fact that he has now reached the point of wanting to tell her these things (even the things he says about Savannah in the meteor shower scene, are things he admits not having told anyone) is pretty major at this point.

• That's it for this week folks! Sorry for the longer-than-usual post 😅 I feel like the next one might be wayyy longer because I love that chapter.

• Tally Counts:

Number of Times Drake has Called Esther/Persy by Their First Names: 5

Number of Times Tariq Has Mentioned His Shoes: 2

Number of Times Drake Has Taken An Alcoholic Drink that’s Not Whiskey: 1

Number of Times Someone Has Called A Reigning Monarch 'Your Highness’: 2

Number of Times You Can Leave Hana Shook. SHOOK I TELLS YA: 3

Number of Times We See Penelope’s Angryface: 2

#long post #trr quick thoughts #trr qts #the royal romance #hana lee #king liam #olivia nevrakis #drake walker #maxwell beaumont

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trr-fangirl · 6 years

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TRR Theory!

(^^^ me)

I’m not sure how long this theory is about to be but I’ve got screenshots for days and this theory has been on my mind since then. I know damn well PB is going to punch holes in my theory once Chapter 11 releases on Friday but hey, it’s worth a shot right?

Okay, I have a few suspects, although... I’m not too sure about Leo but if you suspect him, let me know why! I seriously am curious because I can’t think of why he would want to kill his own parents and brother. This is mostly just me babbling about the random foreshadowing I’ve seen and my three suspects. Stay with me here! This is a lot!

Foreshadowing!

Royal Palace

Chapter Nine and Ten is littered with hints of something going down. It’s the first time the court is back at the palace since the attempt. With there being a large group of people gathered in one small space, something is bound to happen. (I was waiting for something to happen in both chapters… this is Pixelberry were talking about.) This is also why we all know the big ass courtly event of a wedding is a bad idea aka Stop! Putting! MC! In! A! Ballroom! 2k18!

Defense Training

That was a clear tip-off to us that somewhere down the line, we’re going to have to fight. I think this is the reason Mara and Bastien aren’t seen immediately after the explosion (I thought they were going to rush towards them as soon as the first bomb went off) In Chapter Nine before going to the training room, If you choose, “Is this necessary when you’re around to protect me?” Liam says something along the lines of, “Mara can’t be everywhere at once.” but she does say that she’s working on it. (Sorry, I didn’t have those screenshots) I felt like this was giving us a hint that, ‘Yo, you’re gonna have to defend yourself soon.’

Constantine

Another thing that they foreshadowed is pretty much Constantine’s death. His heartfelt speech to Regina, making amends with Hakim, being soft with his sons, and apologizing/offering the Cordonian Crest necklace to the MC (All those SS are below). These situations seem more like a ‘goodbye’ rather than just being soft and genuine. From the way Lucretia spoke about him and the way he was in the past two books, he’s not very sentimental in my opinion but that’s just me.

I personally think Constantine is going to pass before the wedding. From the explosion? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not sure. These last two chapters with Constantine just gave me the feeling that he really isn’t going to be around for much longer. I thought that they would let him go to the wedding but from the way he was speaking and then the explosion... I’m not sure. (Watch PB throw this out the window and let him live.)

My Three Suspects (aka they look fishy af)

Neville (aka Ratatouille)

The duel between Drake and Neville seriously confirmed my thoughts that Neville’s ass is apart of this terrorist group! I’m not even trying to be funny but enlighten me if I’m missing something: I do not remember Drake and Neville ever having a conversation in book two. I don't even think they interacted in book two.

So, why does Neville have this burning hate for Drake? Where did it come from? If he is apart of the group, it would make sense for him to be upset that Drake stopped the bullet that would have killed the Duchess/Future Queen. Why else would he be so mad at a man he’s never had a decent interaction with?

There is also the fact that out of everyone that attended the Homecoming Ball and witnessed the attack— They showed some kind of emotion while talking about it. No matter if it was anger or sadness, they had emotion. (i.e Olivia, Bertrand, Kiara, and Penelope) but with Neville? He has none.

If he’s talked to Drake prior to book three, let me know! But I don’t remember off the top of my head. If he isn’t apart of the group, I’m going to be surprised because there’s a lot of things against him.

Lucretia (this part is actually pretty long)

I’m telling y’all! Lucretia knows something we don’t! She just does! I can’t put my finger on it but she knows.. something and it’s possibly pretty big! Now, I’m not sure she’s apart of this assassin shiz but if her sister was corrupt, I’m not putting it past her to be the same way.

I’ve been reiterating this to myself for months. I highly doubt that Olivia is apart of this! She’s not! I’m not just saying this because she’s my baby and if she would have became an LI, I would have dropped Liam like a hot-potato but because she’s been with us practically the entire book! She even called her own parents ‘traitors’! I cannot stress this enough.

Lucretia is a different story.

As I read through this scene, I got a lot of information at once. I had to read it over a few times myself. Lucretia seems to have a (bull spit) reason for why she didn’t come to Lythikos to take care of Olivia once her parents died. It seems like she was trying to keep Olivia safe in her own twisted and unique way.

Because of these five screenshots, she knows something about Constantine that we don’t and whoever these assassins are-- know this too. They called Liam a ‘scion of tyranny’ and from what Lucretia is saying here, it might be hella true. We already got a glimpse of how Constantine uses his power for his own personal gain aka the scandal.

The first video from the Five Kingdoms Festival now makes sense (to me at least) This group is afraid of Liam becoming power hungry and corrupt like his father and taking advantage of The Crown. So, in order to keep that from happening, they want to eliminate him (and his future wife if that’s your route) at all costs. If you're a duchess, I feel like this goes back to when Constantine said about having power around others who don’t.

Now, the last part when she says ‘And a reason why all of the plots against him failed.’ has me stumped. I honestly don’t know what she means by that. Help? Cause, I really don’t know.

Side note: I just wanted to point this out. The way her lines are written, it seems like she has no respect for anyone apart of the royal family. She’s not too fond of Constantine (I don’t think anyone is) and the way she speaks about Liam is... questionable. Not to mention (if Liam is your LI) she emphasizes on the fact that he’s marrying an ‘American’ and even called the MC an ‘unorthodox future queen’. Then there’s this:

So, I’m not completely sure where Lucretia stands with those two.. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Justin (aka Court Dweeb)

Because of this post here (credit to her for having a good ass memory bc it sounded familiar but didn’t know from where), I think he is a Nevrakis. Whether he’s Olivia’s first cousin removed, long-lost brother, or her father, someway they might be related! Or, he’s working with Lucretia and she said this to him as a mantra. But that wouldn’t make much sense if he was in the hospital for nine flipping chapters. I honestly think the family thing is the best bet because from what Olivia said, the quote was from her father.

And lastly,

The Explosion

Firstly 😑

Formerly Crowned Prince Leo has THE. WORST. TIMING. EVER. Like damn boi, why you always here when something dramatic is about to go down? You ain’t even that special! (Though, I have no problem with him attending my wedding. That would be cool, lowkey) Anyways... This is what I was extremely excited about writing.

The first bomb that went off was a distraction but the second one was obviously for the Royal Family and MC. The position of the bomb and the timing was almost perfect. Right next to the King. How would the assassins know where to put the device to go off right next to the Royal Family and the MC?

It has to be someone from inside the ballroom. Yet again, a noble. It was way too close to Liam for it to just be a coincidence. They could have been anywhere in the ballroom but it was planted right next to Liam. If it was a nobleman, it would have been easy for them to slip out, place the bombs, and slip back in like nothing happened.

Going back to the Homecoming Ball, if a noble is on the inside working against the monarchy, that makes it easy for the assassins to walk through the front door (quite literally). Out of my three suspects, its either Justin or Neville and if PB wants to do it, make it an unknown third party.

Conclusion

There could be a third or fourth party. All these suspects could be working together or might not be apart of the conspiracy at all. Who knows? These last chapters gave a lot of information that I still need to go through and make sense of. This book is about to get good and I’m here for all the drama and theories that are about to come out of this! If you guys want me to continue to do something like this, I can. (I’ve got a lot to say about Lucretia, tbh) There was just too much in this last chapter. I had to get it out somehow! I hope you enjoyed this and please don’t hesitate to comment! I would love to see your theories and what you think! 💗

tagging those who I think might be interested: @blackcatkita @drakewalkerwhipped @trr-duchessofvaltoria

#the royal romance #trr theory #playchoices #this was a lot and i don't think im done with the way this book is going #watch my theory be proven wrong come friday #lol im waiting pb #tj got nothing on trr right now #long post #long text

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