When Archduke Cesare returns from war, Eileen barely recognizes the man she once knew—he's cold, commanding, and burning with unspoken desire. But nothing shakes her more than his sudden proposal. As old feelings stir, Eileen must choose: take his hand, or flee before his fire consumes her.

A Wicked Husband has story and art by Saha. Localized by Manta (September 12, 2025). Rated 16+.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

I can't help it – whenever I read a piece that's clearly set in a past pseudo-Europe, I always try to figure out what time period is closest to the one depicted. In the case of A Wicked Husband, the setting appears to be roughly 1918: post WWI, pre-Roaring Twenties. (No Spanish Flu so far.) This feels important, unlike other nearly-real settings, because it directly informs the hero's actions. Cesare, an archduke, is newly returned from war, and heroine Eileen spends much of the first ten chapters noting how he's changed. The Cesare in her memories is gentler, although he could be provoked into violence. But this Cesare is far more likely to respond to attacks swiftly and cruelly, and she can't always predict his reactions. It seems very likely that this is a result of his three years at the front.

Also baffling to Eileen is Cesare's insistence on marrying her. She's the daughter of a baron, yes, but her abusive mother was Cesare's nurse, so even though they grew up together, she's far beneath him in status in two senses. He treated her like a cute younger sister back when she was eleven, so his proposal really comes out of nowhere as far as she's concerned. And that it comes on the heels of her being accused of trafficking in narcotics because of her research into painkillers only further convinces Eileen that she should not accept this proposal, because there's no way he can mean it. Of course, readers can see that he absolutely means it and that saving her from the guillotine (yes, really) is just an excuse, especially since all of his knights seem head-over-heels for her as well.

But like Cesare's mood issues make sense in the context of war, Eileen's fears also have a direct root. In her case, it's her parents: her mother was actively abusive throughout her childhood, commanding her to wear glasses to hide her eyes and constantly putting her down. Her father has a gambling addiction that continues to threaten Eileen even now. It's no wonder she feels unlovable and like she can't trust anyone, and that's one of the draws of this story – not that she's been abused, but that she has a reason to feel and act the way she does.

Of course, there are plenty of romance's more frivolous trappings, like Ornella, the woman who's engaged to Cesare's brother but would rather marry him and so hates Eileen, and plenty of assassination attempts. But the art is beautiful (especially Eileen's eyes), and the writing just keeps getting better as it goes on. It's worth checking out.

Bolts
Rating:

I feel so bad for Eileen, the protagonist of the story. She is thrown into bad situation after bad situation and is seemingly having her entire life dictated by the whims of powerful men who want to keep her in the dark about everything. No wonder she has such cripplingly low self-esteem to the point where she can't even accept the idea that someone would willingly want to marry her after he proposed. Then again, Cesare, the man proposing to her, is so visually evil that I would also be hesitant to do so. However, Eileen seems to be against that proposal for more selfless reasons, and this is one of the main emotional tug-of-war in the story.

Two main plots are going on throughout this story that occasionally converge, but just enough is left hanging in the background to keep the dramatic tension winding for future chapters. Eileen seems to be perpetually forced into situations where her life is nearly on the line. She almost gets executed for selling narcotics, her father sells her to some wealthy aristocrat, and she is constantly belittled by almost everybody she comes across. The only thing keeping her together is fond memories of her relationship with Cesare, who very much wants to keep her for himself, but there's something a little off about him. This man is a decorated hero in the eyes of the people, but in my eyes, he is a violent sociopath, which isn't an inaccurate read given his actions throughout the story. Those actions are just kept separate from his relationship with Eileen, so I'm wondering what the intrigue of the overall narrative is.

I love the color contrast between our two leads. Eileen is clad in white and green, and Cesare is clad in black and red. These are two opposed people who seemingly live in different worlds and give off different energies, but they are slowly starting to overlap. On the one hand, you could argue the purity of one might end up stabilizing the other, but there's also supposed to be this sense of tension that generates as the violence of Cesare's world starts overlapping with Eileen's. We don't quite get to that point after these first couple of chapters, but that feels like the direction the story is going. The main problem with the story is that it's too much of a slow burn for its own good. Arguably, not a lot happens in each chapter outside of just a few glimpses behind the curtain of what all of the other characters are doing. Most of this story is from the perspective of Eileen, but she's kept so in the dark that it starts to feel boring after a while, even when a lot of these actions revolve around her.

It feels like the story wants to take its time with revelations, but that's all it's really doing. It doesn't feel like the story is naturally or organically building up to anything interesting. The main dramatic conflict is getting Eileen out of these unfortunate circumstances, and there seems to be some political unrest in the background. But neither of these things necessarily ties into the romance that the story also wants you to be deeply invested in. It's very undercooked and very underdeveloped, even after the first batch of chapters. I don't even think our two leads have any genuine chemistry with each other outside of the flashbacks that we get, where we see them as children. Maybe if the story starts showing our two leads together more, I could be more emotionally invested. Otherwise, this might be a little bit too messy and slow.