@reu
When Claire tells Rei to leave and go to bed, and instead Rei sits there and watches her trying to sleep. There's 1 instance, though it's not the only one.
@icekatze that's nice and all but how often has the MC initiated contact or actively sought the villainess? It's only 5 chapters, reread them silly.
For someone being stalked it sure seems like she's always the one seeking and engaging with the MC.
inb4 in the absence of criminal activity the MC may work wherever the hell she pleases
@icekatze
"Following[...] at places such as home, school, work, or recreation place."
You do realize that that is the job she is being paid by the "victim" herself to do?
@reu ...To be fair, Rei blackmailed the father into hiring her. It's not something the Claire had a say in, and was still done without consent. Having someone stare at your naked body and getting a nosebleed (implying arousal/sexual attraction) when you don't want it is honestly unacceptable. Rei could have easily NOT joined her in the bath, like Claire requested initially, or at least had the decency to not stare.
Tbf, if this were the modern day Claire would have gotten a restraining order and have been done with it. In this setting as a woman, she has no power. She was only initiating contact to bully her in order to turn Rei off from coming around or say "no" to Rei, which means that those moments of contact you're referring to are also attempts for her to get her harasser to leave her alone...
I mean, it's cute and *uwu* because it's fiction, and the implication is def that Claire likes the attention in some way bc she hasn't outright called security or used her status to give Rei a suspension (and that the other maid seems to deem this permissible), but in real life this would def be unacceptable.
the arc with the newly introduced Lene involves a incestual love between her and her brother that climaxs in typical otome genre fashion.
Nanely peopledressingup in secret and attempts at kidnapping or holding.
It eventually finishes with the brother/sister pair eloping to a new life where they can love each other without reveling their blood relations and it's kinda portrayed as ok because it's true love. As well as paralleled to Rei's feelings of her love for Claire or rather love of the same sex in general and it's to say the least quite controversial a take. Easily one of the lowest points of the novel.
To those who are wondering about the anachronistic elements (stuff that seems out of place in the time period / fantasy setting), remember that this was a game first and foremost. The creators of the game put in things like modern underwear, modern sleeping arragements, modern bathing practices, etc. because those things made for more interesting fanservice and made the world more relatable to players.
@runes not that that would stop her. Also she doesn't seem to do much stalking, so I disagree with that point. Keep in mind, she's the one technically being bullied here, so it'd be pretty damn hard for claire to go to the police against her, which really factors in to how she can easily get away with some of the stuff.
Also she's not doing any direct perverted actions, so it'd be really hard to prove and argue a case against her, considering they're the same gender so she isn't doing anything illegal by going into the bath with her.
All in all, my conclusion is that she'd probably be fine doing this stuff irl.
Aight since this is a whole thing I'm gonna interject and not sugar coat it:
At this point in the story, Rae and Claire are both very flawed people and the adaptation isn't doing either of them favors because of the medium
Manga requires more animated scenery and so some of the scenes are exaggerated in order to get it across (remember this is published in YuriHime and needing to get readers in on it quick or it'll be swept under the rug). The manga format also removes quite a bit of context that helps explain thought processes with the scenes in favor of said exaggerated animation. For example, Rae doesn't watch Claire go to sleep because she's perving on her, she watches her go to sleep to make sure she's taken care of and doesn't need anything. You know, like a maid.
Now for Rae: is Rae being a creep? Short story, yes. As we learn later
Rae is extremely self-depreciating. As much as she says she loves Claire she doesn't honestly believe she has a chance. Rae's will to ensure Claire's survival pushes her to make decisions that like with Dole, seem sketch. But ultimately we learn later that Rae can't take the agency away from other characters. She can do everything she can to ensure an outcome, but she can't force it to happen. She couldn't force Dole to make her Claire's maid; he'd have just had her assassinated. She couldn't force Claire to leave the revolution behind; only Rae's heartfelt appeal and love managed to save her from accepting execution.
Now for Claire. Claire is also an awful person. She's extremely prideful, arrogant, a bully, and an instrument of the upper class subjugation. Prior to becoming a maid, Claire was the one seeking Rae out. Claire was the one harassing her. Claire was the one who gave her an ultimatum to not lose to her or be jettisoned from the academy.
We get an extremely biased view of Claire because Rae is a biased narrator. Rae loves Claire and will justify her actions to the audience.
That being said, these two grow a LOT in this novel. Trust me, it's worth it in the end.
yatta! thanks for the update..
going tsundere now,eh..?
i was wondering why she was in bunk bed but someone made a good point already..
its fun to read it as always😍😍
thank GOD this updated..... bless you forever BUCCI GANG!!!!!!!!!
a quick note to provide more info/help out people who are concerned with Rei's behavior (very mild spoilers about how their relationship develops, and one upcoming plot point spoiler):
I've read the Light Novel and promise, Rei becomes a lot less weird as time goes on. In the beginning she's absolutely portrayed as this one-sided, obsessive/creepy lesbian (which sucks, im saying this AS a queer person, this early portrayal super blows).
It's not elaborated here in the manga, but in the LN Rei makes it clear while her feelings for Claire are genuine, the dopey obsessive behavior is done more to get a rise out of her than be an "actual" stalker. Rei repeatedly says she finds Claire's flustered reaction cute. This is made even more stark in the novel when a woman who ACTUALLY intends to be a creep to Claire shows up. After that arc, Rei dials back the behavior a lot. Also, as their relationship develops and they become closer as friends, Claire not only reciprocates her advances but Rei teases her less as they become more genuine w/ each other. So if you're worried about this being The Whole Story, don't worry. It's def not!!!!!!
If you're uncomfortable w/ this and need some content warnings please feel free to reply to this or DM me, I'm more than happy to elaborate if you need details or provide you the LN chapter numbers in order for you to skip/investigate on your own.
I ADORE this LN/manga, I think Rei and Claire are a fantastic gay couple, but I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge how icky the early story is with its portrayal of Rei's behavior both as a fan and as a queer person who is sensitive to negative portrayals of LGBT characters in media.
tl;dr fellow fans of the series: i urge you not to dismiss people uncomfortable w/ rei's actions outright. people who are concerned: i assure you it will improve. if you need more info, pls feel free to @ reply or DM me
EDIT: People who are interested should def check out @NinjaGoemon 's comment. It's a great summary of why Rei's like this now and how she develops!
@iskaeil Indeed she's not initiating contact in order to ease her bruised pride by harassing someone who is infinitely lower on the socioeconomic scale, she's initiating contact with someone who by all rights should not be able to reciprocate in order to prevent said person from maintaining contact with her... Seems legit, call it extremely active self defence.
Just because she's failing at her obvious and malicious goal, it doesn't mean she's a victim. Her constant public harassment of the MC would make any judge throw out any case she presented. And in the baths the MC is right next to another maid, both are doing no more than what their employers expect of them.