Here is an interesting translation choice from the English edition of the manga.
Fersen speaks about the agony of his impossible love for the queen, telling Oscar, “Even though I love her so much!” His words echo in the final panel—but this time, Oscar joins him, saying to herself, “Even though I love him so much!” She, too, knows the pain of loving someone when those feelings can never be returned. This is the first time she admits to herself that she is in love with Fersen.
In the Japanese edition, Fersen’s final line is repeated exactly (though more slowly and with hesitation). Grammatically, the sentence doesn’t change depending on whether the speaker is referring to a man or a woman, since no pronoun is required. A more literal—but less effective—translation might be something like: “Even though I am so much in love (with her/him)…”
All of this is to say that, in the Japanese edition, we can’t be entirely sure whether Oscar is consciously echoing Fersen’s words to herself, or whether his words are simply reverberating in her mind... In other words, there might be an admission of love there or not at all.
My Japanese isn’t strong enough to definitively resolve this, and perhaps the answer is obvious to a fluent reader. But if the original does leave room for interpretation, then the English translator has clearly chosen one: that Oscar is echoing Fersen’s words and, in doing so, acknowledging her own feelings.
The only other edition I have on hand is the French one, which doesn’t fully settle the question either.
In ‘Alors que je l’aime tant !’, the pronoun is reduced to l’ before the vowel in aime. Since both le and la pronouns take this form, we can’t tell whether the speaker is referring to a man or a woman. But notice how the final panel is rendered in bold. Hmm...
Personally, I’m inclined to agree with the English translator’s interpretation—if this moment is indeed meant to be ambiguous. Oscar seems to echo Fersen’s words internally, and in doing so, arrives at a quiet admission of love. What supports this reading, for me, is the difference in pacing in the Japanese:
Fersen's line:
「こんなに愛していながら……!!」
"Even though I love her so much...!"
Oscar's line:
「こんな…に…愛していながら……!!」
"Even though… I love… him… so much…!"
The added pauses suggest hesitation, which feels very much in character for Oscar at this point. It reads less like a simple repetition and more like a reluctant realization.
As for the French edition, I wonder if the use of bold in the final panel serves a similar purpose—signaling that the words are no longer Fersen’s alone, but are being taken up, or echoed, by someone else.
In any case, this is a small translation nuance I’ve been thinking about for a while, and I wanted to share it. What do you think? How is this panel handled in other language editions?
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