lol that's weird, I thought the story for this particular volume was amazing. I'm not sure how people are so confused about the setting, when it was all clear. That guy who raised the 2 "princesses" is obviously the Star of Assam. He's either got some weird obsession with serving as an advisor to the royal family or he's ultimately got something planned for a takeover. Regardless, judging by Manau's reaction, it's clear as day he's the only candidate who has an emotional connection with her out of all of the known characters.
Also, I'm glad the author finally addresses the issue of Assam since this was glossed over in the previous arcs. Athens just steamrolled Assam and we skipped over a lot at the start of this story. This is definitely great writing to actually bring the story back to a highly relevant plot point. The New-type ghost scenes with Rygart is also ramping up, continuing the motif of Rygart's descent into madness.