Regarding Rozemyne (light novel discussion):
There’s a post somewhere on this lovely hell site that talks about Rozemyne’s connection with her many mothers, and the inherent sadness of none of them ever really being able to properly mother her.
In her first life, it was because Urano was distant, and didn’t fully appreciate everything her mom did for her, and she died before she could realize that.
Then she became Myne, and she struggled with the love given to her by Effa because it felt so disorienting and alien. But then too she grew as a person, and realized the faults of her past life and realized that Effa was her mom, and that she loved her family so much, to the point that she was willing to die again rather than be taken away from them.
But ultimately, after only a few short years, she is taken from them, and she has to accept that because it’s the only way to protect her family.
She then gains Elvira, but Elvira doesn’t know her and she doesn’t know Elvira. In her head, Effa is still “mom”, but Elvira is only “mother” whenever Rozemyne has to talk to someone else irl. We very late in the story learn how much Elvira grew to love and appreciate Rozemyne, and how much she regrets never taking action to properly mother Rozemyne, instead making the assumption that, with Ferdinand and Florencia around, it wasn’t her place. And the fact that she feels this way even after knowing the whole time Rozemyne was commoner born is so so so tasty. She comes to regret her prior hesitation and ignorance towards what she could’ve been for Rozemyne, and those conversations they have in the hidden rooms emotionally devastates me every single time I read them.
And finally, Florencia. Florencia, for a long time, never really saw Rozemyne as her daughter. She couldn’t say that she loved her, even though it wasn’t long until Florencia would come to admire and respect her adopted daughter. Still, though, her lack of action to be a mother to Rozemyne always sticks out to me, and in the latest parts of Part 5, you finally learn that she does actually regret it. In a sad ironic twist, Florencia thought very much in the same way as Elvira did, thinking that it wasn’t her place to be a mother for Rozemyne.
Ultimately, it’s implied Florencia doesn’t know about Rozemyne’s commoner status, but we don’t actually know. Whatever the case, by the time the series comes to its climax and Ehrenfest prepares to separate from Rozemyne, Rozemyne learns that, after everything, she doesn’t really have a place in her home duchy anymore.
Whether that could’ve been fixed by Elvira or Florencia is unlikely, but it’s sad. Just when both adoptive mothers realize what they’re losing, they also realize just how much they actually cared for this girl who became their daughter. And now she’s leaving, and any chance to build their relationship with Rozemyne is leaving with her.
Rozemyne forgot Effa, Gunther, Lutz, Ferdinand, but she didn’t forget Elvira. And every single time I realize that, I can feel my heart ache for the love that could’ve been there but never was.
Ascendance of a Bookworm and its many parents is so layered. It has so many stories of how complicated these relationships can be, of how regrets can build from ignorance, misconceptions, and simple miscommunication. Or of how obsessive adoration can hurt a child’s future, or how explicit physical and mental abuse from a parent can shape that person’s entire life.
It’s so human, it’s such a human story. It has magic and politics and things to say about government, power imbalances, religion/faith and corruption, but at its core, Ascendance of a Bookworm has always been about family.
What an interesting and beautiful story. It’s so difficult to not fall in love Miya Kazuki’s world once you begin to sink your teeth into it.
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