Ok, now that I’ve finished reading the new chapter, chap 103 takes the absolute prize.
First off, I’m glad they included this flashback of everything Claude did when he lost his memories. It was a nice way of reminding both Claude and the audience of the gravity of the damage towards Athanasia and is a nice set up for the next panels. We remember Athanasia’s humiliation, Claude’s utter distain towards his daughter, and how terrified Athanasia was.
I find it so important in this next panel for Athanasia to say these because it tells Claude exactly how she felt during those times. It’s one thing for him to see her being hurt, but its another thing for him to hear exactly HOW MUCH it hurt Athy. And once again, forces Claude to face what he’s done and how much it hurt Athanasia.
I really like how Athanasia demanded an apology. All these times, we rarely see her ask him for things (other than the portrait and chocolate) but this time, she DEMANDED something from Claude. Claude talked about getting reparations towards the other nobles who hurt Athanasia and she really said, “You’re the one that hurt me the most. More than anyone’s, I need an apology from YOU!!” In my opinion, this next panel is the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen Claude in the entire manhwa. Here, we see him truly grasp everything he’s ever done towards Athanasia and he looks h o r r i f i e d. Athanasia had just acknowledged and explained all the pain she felt from his amnesiac self and this is him realizing and truly processing how much he messed up.
AND THERE WE GO!! The apology!! This honestly made me really tear up cause you can tell how sincere Claude is. I’ve talked a lot on my page about needing an apology because it makes Claude acknowledge all the times he’d hurt his daughter and how much he is repenting because of it and this chapter, in my opinion, nailed it. He had to hear, first hand, of the humiliation and hurt that he imposed on his precious daughter, and Claude, the emperor who probably rarely ever apologized, acknowledged it and asked for forgiveness. You can tell that he feels remorse for rejecting, humiliating, and trying to kill Athy.Also, this is the first time we ever saw Claude actively cry in this manhwa. There were times in the past where he would wake up from a dream crying about Diana, but this is the only time where we see him flat out cry and I appreciate that vulnerability. Not only that, but you can see just how much Claude apologizing meant to Athanasia. This girl spent all her years, fearing for Claude’s rejection and when her worst fear came true, it destroyed her. But, seeing her dad reclaim her and apologize to her must mean the absolute world to her.
I think these panels have got to be my favorite panels 1) cause I think its absolutely adorable and 2) it really concludes the whole conflict and hurt between them two. We see the dam breaking inside Athanasia and Claude apologizing more. Also, it really shows the vulnerability in Athanasia. This poor girl has spent the last months trying to act strong for the empire and taking care of her dad, all the while internalizing the pain of Claude’s rejection. But here, we see her essentially act like a child, breaking down the grown up act that she’s had to put up, and just cry and whine to her dad. And you have Claude right there, hugging her and reassuring her. Also, you can tell how much it hurts Claude to see his daughter cry.
This chapter means so much to me because I’ve been wanting and ranting on Tumblr how much I needed Claude to take accountability(both because I was afraid they would brush off all he did and curious as to how spoon was gonna do it) and we really see that in this chapter. This is so integral to his character development to acknowledge his faults, reflect on them, and ask for forgiveness as he rightfully should. I’m so glad that we have our father-daughter back and I’m looking forward to how Athanasia and Claude’s relationship progress now that both of them have let down their walls.
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