I got the feeling from the cover this volume was going to be full of intrigue. The Royal Tutor hasn’t been shy about Ernst’s desire to see Eins ascend the throne, but the mystery has been what — if anything — the two have been plotting. Heine’s look of displeasure and Ernst’s sly smile hints of the confrontation to come, and the volume opens with the count swearing to make his liege king. This should be very interesting.
*flips to the next page*
“Chapter 60: Pet-Pet S.O.S.!”
…or maybe not.
Yes, while Eins and Ernst have a discussion at the opening, the eleventh entry of The Royal Tutor doesn’t get back to the eldest prince until the final pages. But at least Eins makes a speaking appearance. Licht is mentioned a few times, but otherwise, he’s MIA. He’s not at the palace anymore and the least interested in ruling the kingdom, but I would have thought he would have popped up at least once.
Especially since Bruno and Kai return.
Yes, the two who went on personal pilgrimages come back to the palace, although Kai’s homecoming comes near the very end of the book. So while their return would normally make this volume significant, this is more or less a filler volume. Beatrix wants to ease Kai’s stress from afar, Leonhard tries to connect with a young prince from another nation, and Bruno and Leonhard try to learn how to treat a lady.
In other words, a far cry from political intrigues and machinations.
Even if I set aside the fact that the chapters here are not what I was hoping for, it’s not that good. There were a few standout moments (Leonhard’s failproof plan to interact with foreign dignitaries, Heine cast as an otome game/shoujo manga heroine), and Akai finally answers a question that has been bothering me (why only Kai has a fiancée). That wasn’t enough to excite me though. To be perfectly frank, I didn’t care about Bruno’s and Kai’s new BFFs. It’s nice that they — and Leonhard too, to a point – have come so far from their loner, antisocial selves. But the stories are too similar and too close together: hey, I have a friend now that I encourage and who also encourages me!
Plus, another chapter is wasted on Leonhard ignoring his favorite brother. The reason? He wants to be a “good boy” and thinks Bruno finds his normal behavior annoying. Heine also doesn’t have much of a role in the story. While he comes up with the idea for Kai’s cheering up present, Heine has only one real teaching moment in the volume. He mostly sulks when called a child or is stunned by the idiocy (or idiotic brilliance) of those around him. His gags felt overused, and he’s too good of a character for that.
Well, in truth, everyone is too good for what is a rather empty volume 11. I think this is the worst volume of The Royal Tutor thus far, and even if the next doesn’t get into the Eins subplot, I think Akai can find some way to make volume 12 more interesting and less repetitive.