At the End of the Hidden Spring - By Calx (9.5/10)
The perfect possessive, sweet yandere harem. A myth. A legend. Is it really real? Yes, it is. I received a pleasant surprise every chapter. This is a pure fantasy isekai with defined lore, high stakes, and blood. Our protagonist marries 30 elf men who are willing to devote their lives to serving her. Good writing ties it all together with a bow.
Akarna
The Saintess.
She who must bleed to purify the land. The peasantry do not know or understand how dirty the position actually is. You see the Akarna can easily be replaced. If she dies natural forces will eventually push another strong spirit into their world. Those who cross over dimensions, The Akarna, are like the wind or the rain. Another part of nature in this world.
Akarna doesn't know that. She believes the religious fervor. Like everyone else she believes her powers are a holy responsibility. Shackles, bound in duty. She's afraid to run from the safety of the temple. There are people itching to take advantage of her everywhere. At least the temple must treat her well in public, for appearances sake.
The Crown Prince was supposed to save her.
By sheer coincidence the Crown Prince, Aleph, became her lover. For five years they flirted in between harsh battlefields. Akarna traveled for months over barren terrain, to heal demonically cursed lands and people. Aleph, on the other hand, valiantly defended the nation's borders. He soaks himself in blood too.
Akarna isn't alone in her suffering, or her devotion.
They can save this country together.
It doesn't matter if the temple sees her as disposable.
He loves her, and his word is law.
Oh, Akarna. So foolish. You thought marriage would save you. Marrying a prince, at that? How naive are you? Do you think life is a fairy tale? The Akarna cannot give birth. Their bodies serve the land. (They aren't human)
The prince cannot choose you, for he is a good man. One who knows a true blood heir is the best way to ensure the future. To bring peace.
Love cannot do that.
I hope you become happy, as a beloved concubine.
You'll never be Empress. Of course not. You have no fucking money. Your symbolic title only matters to useless pea brained farmers.
The prince loves you, but you'll have to watch him raise up another woman's child.
Oh, and by the way.
After you formally sell yourself to him for cheap....you dont get to retire.
You will spend the rest of your days on the battlefield, serving the screaming needy, while the noble-blooded Empresa drinks tea at home.
In her castle.
The place you will visit occasionally to fuck her husband with her permission.
Her prince won't even dance with her. Public appearances like that are for his fiance.
One day, on the way to another muddy battle, she gives up. When a landslide sweeps her carriage away she doesn't fight it. She wakes up confused, next to a man more miserable than her.
He's been infected with demonic energy.
Akarna spills her blood in buckets to save him.
She wants to die, and she might as well do the deed while helping another.
To her shock the gorgeous man waits on her hand and foot. Her skinny, scarred body heals under his care, and after some accidental flirtation on her part they sleep together.
She does it selfishly, in order to briefly forget the prince she loved for 5 long years.
The man is awash with only joy, and he asks if he's one of many. An odd question. He asks her where he lies in her lineup, and how he will be prioritized in the future.
She's confused.
The temple has kept her among humans. She knows absolutely nothing of other species.
She thinks he's maybe asking about her past. So she says he is her second man.
He's overjoyed, and he offers to take her to his village.
A small and cozy place occupied by thirty siblings, born from the same tree.
It's awkward sometimes, but Akarna...no...Jiwoo falls into a dream come true. The magic men with pointed ears barely interact with women. Females of their race are rare. Most of the men of the woods remain "unchosen" (virgins) their entire lives. Their species is on the wane. The white trees that bore them, in a land across the Maelstrom, are dying. They fled their corrupted land to hide in human forests, and slowly go extinct.
Females are usually in charge, and groups of males of the same tree usually serve one. If a female is born she leaves to take over another group, so in essence Jiwoo has been brought to an empty nest.
She is horrified to learn the true nature of Akarna, which is not a god at all.
She offers to help the men that are suffering under demonic influence.
The second one she saves, Helck, is one thousand years old. The eldest sibling with the most magic. After she saves him she gains the respect of many, and her hosts are eager to reward her.
Her blood is absolutely out of the question. They insist that she use...other body fluids...or they will not accept her help. How could they be so shameless, when she's been so generous?
Jiwoo slowly and painfully learns how broken she actually is, when she struggles to accept what they see as basic kindness.
Before, she never received feasts for her hard work. Only the "honor" of quietly existing as a symbol for a religion that hides away reality.
How does jealousy fit in when the men are naturally submissive? Simple. It's not the woman's problem. Envy and vying for marriage are the war of men with this species. Also, groups are not violently jealous. It's common for groupings of siblings to share one wife. Anything outside of that circle....does cause fighting and assassination attempts to break out.
When Prince Aleph pursues Jiwoo one of the men, Trevor, breaks his arm....and he reports that "competition that could take Jiwoo away" is in the forest.
For context, I should let you know that the men caring for Jiwoo smell like flowers. They're also super handsome and willing to use sex to keep Jiwoo's attention. They're built that way to attract a rare mate and keep her eyes from wandering.
If she chooses Aleph, her former lover, they will not stop her. Forced marriage is barbaric after all.......but that doesn’t mean it isn't open season on the male in their territory.
Of course the messy conflict eventually reaches Jiwoo, and she must accept that blood will follow her hand in marriage.
The cultural stuff is just very fun along the way.
Kalan, one of the thirty, is the biggest indicator of the "men's war". He tries to use his lost virginity to convince Jiwoo to "take responsibility" and marry them. His siblings also know he has a nasty personality, and his pursuit of Jiwoo is far from relaxed.
Behind closed doors the men try to think of ways to seduce her, so she doesn't choose the prince again.
They're shameless and cute, and Jiwoo's blood stays inside her damn body where it belongs.
Little do that know that's what slowly melts her heart.
She needed to hear that she matters, and now she gets to hear it 30 times a day minimum.
What a nice ending!
Nope. Aleph steals her back, while she panicks and screams for him to spare the new men in her life. She's not sure if she loves them, but they don't have to die for her. She would never ask that.
It's too selfish but her heart does pound when Trevor says they will find her.
She doesn't believe it though.
Aleph says he was wrong. He doesn't need Akarna. He loves Jiwoo. He cries and begs and kills the people who tormented her....but it doesn't reach her heart. When she hears he broke up with his fiance, and he's all hers, and the battlefield isn't her problem anymore, and he loves her...it just hurts.
He decided to treat her right AFTER he thought he lost her. Only when her unconditional support left his side. That was when she became someone worth his sacrifice. Not just empty sweet love.
She tells him the truth.
I did love you, but I'm ready to leave now.
I want to get married.
Her lovers have been watching, with their keen ears and some magic. With their proposal accepted Jiwoo is saved from her grim temple wedding. Helck raises her into the sky, and he disobeys her. When she says she doesn't want to destroy the temple, or the country, he smashes her old prison. He leaves the people, and even the priests, at her request. She cries, and laughs. Thankful. Watching the walls fall is a cathartic moment for her.
Helck asks her for a dance, and they glide over the wreckage while the prince watches on.
Only then does he realize how important it is to show off and adore the one you love.
