is it ever explained why nobody else has jeweled eyes? do they take their jeweled eyes if they are not in the main royal family or do they just practice inbreeding?
I believe itâs mentioned that Imperial Mana was a special mana only the royal family owned which theyâve had since founding, so as long as you had the gene you would have the eyes and mana. How strong the jeweled eyes are, are seemingly indicative of how strong the individual will be or how strong the Obelian genes are supposedly given that Aeternitasâ eyes and mana were so weak that Lucas in irritation questioned and insulted his birth and origins (fueled by his Masterâs recent passing, but I digress).
In regards to inbreeding, I personally donât think it was heavily practiced though thereâs definitely a possibilityâless for the gene, and more for trying to keep imperial secrets, or possibly generations where Obelian Royals were experimenting thinking wizards could be stronger via inbreedingâas from what I understood, the Obelian gene is very dominant meaning any child sired would almost definitely have jeweled eyes (which honestly makes me wonder about why Claude and Anaâs father had an affairâhe didnât make her/take an official concubine until Claude was revealed/born. She remained a servant until Claude existed, meaning he risked an Obelian bastard on a whim and only acknowledged her existence after Claude was born instead of anticipating a jeweled eyed childâs birth. Additionally, the existence of the Ruby Palace practically confirms that every child born from an Obelian will almost definitely have jeweled eyesâthat is why you must keep every concubine close, in the chance a jeweled eyed child is born and you can see to them quickly). However, the royal family had an incredible number of secrets, such as the knowledge of mana beasts that werenât passed down to every child, where realistically, had mana beasts been so common in Obelian children like they were made out to be, nobles mustâve suspected or found some pattern (which means there definitely mustâve been assassination plans involving young bastards/the fight for the throne and mana beasts as mana beasts are connected to their owner and affect their ownerâs health. Perhaps that was why the Empress hurt/killed Claudeâs mana beastâas a last resort to kill Claude).
However, to ask me specifically about mana, I donât actually know much because of how absolutely horrible wmmapâs lore magic-wise is, especially in the novel sobs. The topic of black mana/magic vs normal mana/magic vs imperial mana/magic is INCREDIBLY vagueâwhat exactly is even the difference between imperial mana and normal mana? Is it just aesthetics? Then why make such a big deal about it? Is there a reason mana beasts only seem to manifest from Obelian wizards? Or is it in reality that mana beasts are very common, itâs just that the Royal Family keeps it a secret which results in normal wizards premature deaths due to being in the dark about their mana beasts?
And donât get me started on the ambiguity of black magic. At least in the manhwa, you can tell what black magic probably is due to the dark aura vs the varied colors of other peopleâs mana. But in the novel, there is no real explanation or described difference in appearance or even usage in terms of black mana vs every other manaâand it only gets more stupidly confusing and vague at the topic of ancient magic, which is worse than black magic supposedly which is what Lucas used on himself. Hell, despite everyone being born with mana according to Lucas, why is it that black mana and ancient magic are things that arenât natural? That you must learn and research in order to use itâyet Jennette exists. A girl whom has both imperial mana and black mana, as her jewel eyes are made from imperial mana. Rather, this almost implies that imperial mana, black mana, and ancient mana/magic(?) are additives to the natural normal mana since all three can be taken away from you. With black mana and ancient magic being learned and taken away from you, this THEN should imply that the outlier of imperial mana which can also be removed, is actually learnedâyet itâs genetic and natural? Then what exactly does Jen have thenâif her black magic is sealed and can be subdued by normal magic (seen via the SINGLE instance of Lee Jihye seemingly purifying the effects of black mana on the nobles it affected + what Lucas does to clean up Athyâs mana), and her imperial mana is taken, does that not just make her a normal girl with normal mana? Since when itâs taken from her/sealed, the black magic effects on the people it were still on completely disappeared like a line being cut, it implies she has no black magic to use anymore. But you need mana to live it seems, so she can only have normal mana left. Yet why is she still treated like a monster and an abomination?
So in conclusion, wmmapâs lore and magic system (ESPECIALLY strong in the novel, as the manhwa is vague on all fronts which provides more to the imagination while the novel introduces a lot of minuscule yet conflicting info that confuses) is absolutely horrible, the details of imperial mana included. Weâve debated it many times in the Jen Lover discord, on multiple separate occasions, and itâs such a mess everytime we even try to figure it out.
