After being abandoned by his parents, Ian Gloucester is taken in by a powerful church member named Cardinal Brixton who raises him to rise amongst the ranks to become a decorated knight of the Knights Templar. But Ian is hiding a big secret—one that the cardinal intends to keep hidden: Ian is "cursed," meaning he can harness his internal energy and turn it into raw power. As Ian struggles to keep his secret hidden, he encounters a mysterious noble named Jack who helps him control his magic. In the process of working together, he uncovers corruption in his beloved city of Derwin… as well as new feelings for Jack.

Eternal Covenant has story and art by Haejin. Lettering by Vibrant Publishing Studio. Published by Tokyopop (September 2, 2025). Rated T.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

It's nice to see a creator as genuinely enthused about their work as Haejin clearly is. In her afterword, the Korean creator waxes eloquent about how she gets to draw a fantasy series, and she credits the sudden “creation” of the romantasy subgenre for the opportunity. While I'm sure that's strictly true – fantasy-set romances have been around for a much longer time than the portmanteau currently used to describe them – Haejin's joy is a little contagious, which makes me wish I'd read the afterword before I read the actual story.

I realize that sounds a bit damning, and to be clear, I don't think that Eternal Covenant is a bad first volume. But it is a slow burn, and one that at times sacrifices plot for character. Protagonist Ian Gloucester has spent his life being bullied for having what the people of religiously-driven Derwin call a “curse.” He doesn't know what it is, but we can make the educated guess that it might be magic, because there's a pale blue glow every time he (accidentally) uses his power. He's eventually taken in by a higher up in the church, who gives him a necklace to suppress his “curse,” but even young adult Ian is very aware of the animosity surrounding him.

That fear baffles “Jack,” actually Sol Winkler, the king of a neighboring nation where Ian's “curse” is recognized as magic and is valued. Sol and Ian meet during a mutual spy mission (for opposing sides, of course), and Sol is fascinated by the prickly knight. This being a BL manhwa, that translates into him finding ways to bind Ian to him, apparently uncaring of the danger he's putting Ian in, especially since the other man is currently living with the aforementioned church higher up. This element of the story is hands-down the strongest part; it may not be fast-paced, but the building blocks for the romance are steady and solid, and Ian's conflicted feelings are well portrayed. He's so desperate to understand himself and for someone to accept him, but at the same time he's terrified of being booted from the only decent home he's ever known, even if it's not one that's emotionally comfortable. He wants “Jack” to be good for him, but he's also 80% sure that he's not.

Where things falter is in the political landscape. There are chapters that feel out of place, like we're missing a lot of backstory, primarily about how things are between Derwin and Arcaia, Sol's country. (I'm actually not entirely certain that Derwin isn't in Arcaia.) Is Derwin the only place under church rule? How did Ian end up with his powers in the first place? Why are the two nations (?) fighting? Every scene that wasn't romance-based left me confused, and I don't think it's a translation issue.

Eternal Covenant is one of those first volumes that has enough potential to merit flipping through a second to see if things improve. It might be worth reading anyway for the art alone. But the confusing political elements need to straighten out before too long, because they're dragging down an otherwise perfectly interesting story.