The Fated Magical Princess: Who Made Me a Princess

Episode 13

There are moments in a story when you stop and realize that perhaps you've made a wrong assumption based on the information given. Claude, we've been told, became the emperor after “defeating” his older brother Anastasios. That's why he doesn't have a name that carries the meaning of immortality; he wasn't meant to ascend the throne. His rise to it naturally led to the assumption that Anastasios was dead, because, frankly, that was the easiest thing to believe. But it's also not the only possibility, and with this episode, it's starting to look like maybe “defeat” meant solely that, and that Claude left his brother alive. That doesn't necessarily track with the man we know now, but in a world where Diana still existed, maybe he was a gentler soul. He's clearly got the capacity for it.

This is all based on yet another assumption: that the black-haired man who has been hanging around since Jennette went to the debutante ball is related to Claude at all. There hasn't been a word said about him being Anastasios. But that one moment when Jennette looked at him and realized that he was basically Claude with black hair feels significant, as does the fact that he seems to have it out for Athy. He's the one who guided Jennette to that particular magic gift, after all, and he even said something about getting rid of an obstruction. Even if he meant Lucas, the wizard would only be an obstruction if he was blocking access to Athy as her protector.

I'm not entirely sure he was planning to get Lucas out of the way by leaving a deliberate trail of black magic. It would absolutely make sense; he knows the wizard wouldn't be able to resist it. But it's also true that Jennette has been known to leave markers of her passage in the form of black magic blobs, so if the dark magician has significantly more black magic around and in him, leaving trails might not be something he can control. If he is the deposed former ruler, maybe black magic is all that's keeping him alive, although to be perfectly honest, he seems adept enough at using it that I'd be more inclined to believe that his embrace of the forbidden art led to his removal in the first place. But whatever the reason, he is clearly not holding back anymore. Breaking into Lucas' tower doesn't seem like the kind of move you'd make on a whim. Or if you were thinking clearly.

As far as Athy's concerned, though, this is a great episode for her to get out and stretch her wings, something she's badly needed to do, if only for her own sanity. Lucas has been a good (or maybe “goodish”) ally in helping her to visit places off castle grounds, although he may be regretting letting her get to know Ezekiel at this point, so it's not surprising that he'd be the one to help her visit the town. Heck, the two things might be related, since he was vastly unimpressed to find his love rival visiting the princess's private library. Taking Athy on a de facto date in town is a good way to put Ezekiel out of her mind, even if she's really not thinking about either of them in romantic terms at this point. But getting out lets her experience a bit of joy and freedom in a way she hasn't been able to. I dare say it'll make her a better empress when the time comes. After all, as the preview for next week shows, Claude got to go out, which is how he met Diana. But more importantly, Athy gets a chance to both better her friendship with Jennette, decreasing the chances of a bad ending related to the other girl, and to prove to herself and Lucas that she's really making a lot of progress with her magic. Yes, Raven helps, but it's Athy who first holds the beast off, and that's significant – especially since she's got a source of black magic both in front and behind her.

So far, Athanasia is doing a very good job of rewriting her story, as well as those of the people around her. Ezekiel was saved from being just his father's pawn (even if he's clearly got plenty of the duke in him), Jennette is being treated like a person rather than a tool, and Claude has found that he can still care about someone. With all of those little triumphs under her belt, surely Athy can create a better life for herself, too.

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