It's been months since the last chapter and... I don't even remember this minor? antagonist anymore. Why should I care? This could have been three or four panels of flashback easily.
I can't get over how the strangest thing in this fantasy story is that people throw so much good, useful stuff away in a medieval economy. Everything in that dump would be recycled! Glass bottles?? Are you kidding me?? Spears of METAL! Someone has a use for that!
Strange Grand Dukes lying in palaces distributing roses is no basis for a system of match-making. Supreme matrimonial compatibility derives from a long period of trial and dating, not from some farcical botanical ceremony.