Portrait of Queen Berta - Ch. 4.5

[mintcinno]

Maybe it’s a good thing she couldn’t have a kid. In my culture we strongly believe in karma. And I have seen plenty of times where parents were not able to have kids because of the “karma” they accumulated. Just imagine the horror the kid will have to go through and being raised up by thinking he’s superior to others because he’s a “pure blood”. But it looks like she was pretty innocent (and very naive) before she got crazily obsessed...sad though, how she keeps slipping deeper and deeper into the abyss..

 

[knight_noble]

lmaooo I didn't know his name was Harold until now. Or perhaps I missed it in the previous chps

I guess the royals are always obsessed with Royal and Pure bloodline. I wonder what's going to happen next.😊
But thank you for the update.

 

[chuchuchoerry]

ah yes poor white lady who believes in keeping the bloodline pure and out of reach of those dirty southerners and plans to physically, emotionally, and mentally abuse an infant to possibly kill him off early is actually really sad 🤪

 

[OlivieMilla]

People asking why her character is tragic: Not only her mother messed her head up with the "pure bloodline" thing, she had to live away from her parents since 9 years old (probs making her view of blood line even stronger as a "memento" from her mother living away), but worst of all, she lost more than one baby. It wasnt simple "she didnt get pregnant". From what I understood, she did get pregnant, but they were all aborted or born dead. This is something that really messes up someons, carrying a child for months and hoping for its birth and that not happening. She lost her children. And linked to it she will lose the love of the only family she actually has (harold) and will probably blame herself for it because of not being able to have a baby. Yes, she is disgusting for being crazy with the pure bloodline thing, she is racist, (and the incest may seem completely disgusting for us, but not for them). But that doenst take away the pain she feels. And that causes her to become the villain that starts doing things she should not (like bullying bertas baby) to people that dont deserve it.

 

[Ceereus]

@OlivieMilla What's the difference between a death in a story and a tragic death?

The thing is she's not the only one to suffer those things in the story. No one's saying it's not sad (or even tragic) but that alone doesn't make her a tragic character. She's loved and supported through her hard times. Is she losing her mind because of the expectations? Yes. But literally two other queens went through similar circumstances (the Queen mother and Berta's mother) and neither are considered tragic. Neither became a danger to an infant. The Queen Mother even had to deal with an unsanctioned concubine aka a reason to doubt that she's being loved. But she took in Jane's child and til this day treats him like her own blood.

I think if Margarita was isolated when she came at 9, unloved, and waiting to have a child to secure her legitimacy and some upstart queen gave birth to the heir - that would have her in the running for tragic character. Her situation is so comfy, she can (and does) pick and choose who will carry the heir. Her prejudice prevented her from picking a suitable/fertile surrogate mother before Berta arrived. Now it's tricky because another queen gave birth to the heir apparent.

 

[ejecily]

ohhh an inside look

thank you for the update!!!

 

[Merrychan]

Thank you for the chapter! What an interesting story can’t wait to read more, also your translations are great thank you for doing this!

 

[Feiyaaaa]

U know what, this story is like prequel for Lady to Queen, without the king being in love with the 2nd wife (in the ltq story its a concubine).

They also highlight the pain that 1st queen suffered, which makes her bitter, however you are the owner of your fate, u can change, esp. when you are a powerful person, like; a queen...

 

[mldyx]

is she from incest parents too? all of her pure blood talk is w a c k but ancients royals amarite

 

[jouyato]

margarita is honestly not that bad a person. im glad none of the girls are villainized!!! i like them both : -)

 

[REDRED]

Ah so it started with the mother!

😩As usual.

 

[beelzking]

Ah yes, the good ol' incest in Eropean royalty

 

[ashtrea]

Mmhmm Racism and Incest at peak performance.. as expected of Middle ages European Royalty.

 

[Suckerforshipping]

Impale this woman with a stake, please

 

[Nixnaw]

I feel bad for Margarita, she is a product of her time and her mother's teachings.
Both Margarita and Berta... women then were all powerless against their fate.

 

[Senros]

I always find the nationalist argument of being the native population funny, because most of the time the people living in the country pushed away the native population of that place at some point in history. The purity of the blood is also retarded. Even in the middle ages they should have known about hardcore incest and babies with some kind of damage (either deformation or simply infertility.) Unless the "pure blooded" are in the thousands or tens of thousands, you are always fucked.

 

[Randompasserby18]

If the story tell in margarita's point of view, i think the readers will be convinced that the second queen is not a desirable character. Well, all is depend on which side you see... and in the end, i agree that all the women here are quite pitiful... with their duty solely to produce heir .. so sad...

 

[412001]

how can you sleep with your cousin and not find it weird?

 

[gt8]

@412001 That's monarchy (and manga topes) for ya.

 

[Kaede023]

I can't only feel bad for her.