I found the resolution to the whole Stewart affair to be fairly anti-climactic. Basically, none of my predictions bore out. Everyone just sat down and had a discussion. There was no behind-the-scenes rumor-mongering, like I expected. No factional shifts. Francois didn't seem to be particularly upset about being lied to. Hugeunot basically just said "sorry" and completely fessed-up to his crimes.... and Rio and Latifa just forgave him. And that's it. Oh, and Stewart had a temper tantrum.
I dunno. It was a lot more build-up than pay-off. Although, in fairness, this is how normal adults handle things - just sit down and talk calmly until everything has been resolved. No need for ridiculous melodrama. So, maybe my expectations were unfairly skewed by the medium and the actual resolution is completely reasonable. I'm still uncertain whether I'm happy with this resolution.
However! Someone should definitely have asked Latifa to take off her appearance altering artifact! I thought Charlotte and Flora at least might find it adorable. But it's weird to me that Francois didn't even comment. Hair color is one thing, but altering one's appearance to the extent of hiding one's race seems like a potentially huge security risk. What's next? Maybe she can make herself look like Charlotte or even Francois. The king should rightly want to know more about such an ability.
So basically, nothing really happened this volume, other than Miharu worrying a lot over a kiss and Stewart having a breakdown and a sleepover and some stuff with Lina and Christina. But all the characters basically spent the whole volume contained within a few acres and just talked a lot.
Finally, I don't get much into shipping in LNs, but Christina is a much better match for Rio than Miharu. I can't speak to her station as queen - I imagine the politics could get pretty complicated and make it hard for them to end up together. But nevertheless, just as a character I like Christina way more than I like Miharu (and this his been true for like 20 volumes now), and wish the author would spend more time on Christina. It sounds like I might get my wish.
