After teasing him for six volumes, FINALLY we see the elusive Eins, the first prince in The Royal Tutor volume 7. I’ve been looking forward to his arrival, unlike his brothers who try to bail on his return. Heine initially assumes Eins is as close to his brothers as the others are, and the reality is a surprise to him. Heine is even more shocked when Viktor admits he doesn’t think Eins is suitable for the throne right now. This raises Heine’s suspicions that Eins is behind the mysterious events targeting Licht and the others.
Well, that part of the mystery isn’t going to be solved any time soon. Eins and his steward deny their involvement, but it’s hard to give them the benefit of the doubt considering Eins’ attitude when returning to the palace. He doesn’t think his brothers have what it takes to be king, and he doesn’t even want them to waste time on what he considers to be pointless gifts. If he can’t even fake humility with his own brothers, it’s no wonder Viktor has reservations about making him the heir. Their encounter with Eins makes Kai and his younger brothers even more dedicated to their studies.
Their renewed determination isn’t really anything groundbreaking though. Everyone has had a fire lit in them before, but at least we get a sweet reminder that the younger four are friendly rivals. I’ve been wondering if they’re going to start drifting apart as they head down their own paths, but I like how the brothers are going to keep relying on each other. More manga need to have this kind of sibling interaction. Plus, the series continues to provide plenty of charming moments, living up to its description of a reverse harem without the girl. Leonhard overworks himself and needs his precious torte to recover, and the bonus chapter about Licht stealing Bruno’s glasses made me laugh.
On the other hand, Beatrix’s chapter was a miss for me. I don’t blame her at being upset that Kai hasn’t told her about his return to the academy, which I guess fried her brain to the point she took Adele’s talking about being engaged to Heine seriously. Afterward, Licht gets the classic storyline about a rich person experiencing the average person’s life, as he learns that just giving people coffee doesn’t provide the full commoner’s experience. Cute, but everyone’s seen this type of story before.
Also, while the adaptation continues to be good, once again, there’s an issue with accented e’s, in this case, the word fiancée. It’s only once, but is the series going to keep randomly have squares instead of accented e’s? Why not just forget doing accents marks and avoid the issue all together?
While the first half is something The Royal Tutor fans have been waiting for, the second half falls into the usual pattern of having the focus on one character with Heine giving advice. Yes, Beatrix isn’t one of the four princes, but that alone doesn’t mix up the story. With Prince Eins in the picture and even his father reluctant to make him the heir, The Royal Tutor should be entering a new phase. It’s not too much a disappointment here, as there are only two real chapters post-Eins, but I’m a little worried about the series going forward.