Episode 18 – Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke

Compared to the last couple of weeks of loosely linked vignettes, this week’s episode shows how that sort of structure can work with just a bit of effort at interconnective tissue. It’s hardly a new lesson—that’s how the stronger episodes of Adopted Daughter of an Archduke have come through. But regardless, it’s nice to get back to after a stumble.

Rosemyne’s growing authority and influence that comes with her new position has powered so much of the season. For instance, there’s a follow-up on the mysterious magic letter that Rosemyne sent off previously. Turns out it went to Sylvester’s sister, and he’s a bit annoyed about the complications it’s introduced! I’m sure this character will personally step in soon, but Sylvester’s reaction already lays out the delicate diplomatic situation that she represents. She was connected to the previous High Bishop for his influence, and now she could seek the same benefits from Rosemyne.

It’s a bit more of a dry, political pass at the power Rosemyne has already had to learn to use in points like the disciplining of Hasse. Not everything’s going to be as intense as that, but it’s also impossible for her subjects not to have an angle in mind when they interact with her; it’s just the nature of the social structure. This even includes extensions to those Rosemyne thought she was completely cordial with, like Brigitte and Damuel, as shown later in this episode. But even before that, Rosemyne’s getting a crash course in the layers of options available in these situations as Sylvester unveils another maneuver by having Ferdinand return to the ranks of the nobility.

What’s funny to me about this situation is how well Rosemyne parallels the audience (well, me in the audience, anyway) in terms of probing Ferdinand for a reaction to this development. As had been guessed and is now detailed by Sylvester, Ferdinand’s position in the cathedral is mostly due to his abusive mother—him finding a way to get out from under her, specifically. If Ferdinand yearns to be free of that situation, to be able to get out and live life on his own terms, he certainly doesn’t show it in discussion of this move. As with so many of the decisions he’s made while Rosemyne is watching, he lets it come down to pure pragmatism and maneuvering for functionality. While I would like a little emotional interiority from Ferdinand, this reaction still tells its own story about the use of this influence as Bookworm has been doing so far. Plus it mitigates the point with a little amusement value when Rosemyne is also futilely hoping for a bit more drama out of her mentor on this front.

As far as expectations go, the other point is that I somewhat naturally presumed this plot of Ferdinand moving up was a distant development being prepped, but no, it happens at the ceremony in the very next scene! This means the whole point of the characters’ shifted influence is fully ready to go, and the meaning of the moves starts coming through immediately. Of course, the first point is that, with Ferdinand technically being Rosemyne’s official guardian through this and being on the market for a mana-compatible partner, it’s floated that he could just wait and marry Rosemyne once she comes of age. I told you, I’ve been side-eyeing this series about that possibility since the beginning. At least Rosemyne and Ferdinand’s synced-up opposed reaction is cute and funny. Is it a sign that they doth protest too much? I won’t think about it.

The real point is that, couple or no, Rosemyne and Ferdinand are a real power duo now, and people are going to keep coming to them for those political benefits. The looming opposition of the Veronica Faction is brought up, but the examples now are much more workaday negotiations. It’s also one of the main cases this episode where the various subplots come together under this thematic umbrella. See, this episode at last sees the official public debut of Brigitte’s fancy new dress and her pursuit of a partner. Before Damuel makes his move, she’s got to deal with her ex-fiancé, who had been after her brother’s position and power of Illgner. She stands him off on her own (go Brigitte!) but then later said brother is working with Rosemyne and Ferdinand to shore up Illgner’s prospects via paper-making. It’s opportunism through the characters’ positions, but at least it’s a generally positive example.

I also found it funny that the whole segment about Brigitte blowing off her ex and getting proposed to by Damuel had to be told in flashback since it happened after Rosemyne’s bedtime. At first I thought this might be another case of the Bookworm anime blithely gliding over a development, but no, it’s delivered in full, just in a necessarily novel way. And Brigitte hasn’t even realized that Damuel’s proposal was out of earnest interest. She just assumes it’s also a pragmatic political maneuver. Even the littler bits tie into the bigger idea of this episode!

Admittedly, I can be a sucker for this sort of dry politicking in a story when it’s done well, so seeing Ascendance of a Bookworm properly shift into something like a period drama for a moment works for me in this episode. It’s just nice to have that throughline keeping everything feeling consistent, apart from the checklist feeling of other episodes. The status quo shifts aren’t directed with seismic gravitas—they’re simply presented with the resulting changes as evident in how the characters react to each other. It’s good showing in a plot that still necessitates plenty of verbal telling, and makes for a brisk, enjoyable entry about all this politicking.

Rating: 4

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.