The Knight and Her Emperor

[emmy5]

I liked it at first but the romance is a ✨problematic✨🌈.

Spoiler

The moment he married three different women I was like ???? 😀 the romance is still going? What?

And now she’s guarding the three wives of the guy she works for who also lewds after her. Like???

I would stan it much greater if it was platonic. That would truly toss the sexism out of the picture with this story and show that a man and a woman can have a meaningful friendship without romance as much as a man and another man could? But the romance has just sullied it to the point it goes back and forth from being great to feeling like a cheap Chinese drama...

Maybe if they expanded upon the whole him being into being protected by a strong sword wielding woman? But rn he’s just kinda into her devotion towards him, which is creepy.

And the fact that he’s been sleeping with three women at once that he shows no otherwise attention to? Like noooo ewewew. I mean, having a history of ex girlfriends that happen in real time in the story before the main ship gets together to add tension is one thing. Having a polygamous relationship with three wives at once as you try to get one of them preggo as you consider adding your knight as a fourth side chick is so many other levels of offputting. The same who trusts and is devoted to you as a person who finally recognized her as a human after fighting to stand toe to toe with the men around her and be accepted as ‘one of the guys.’

The same knight who shows signs of being trans, happy that she no longer gets a period, daydreaming about having a wife and wishing she had a mans body so she could get married and have a family waiting for her back home?

I’m terrified for this romance, I wish I didn’t know for sure than it was even happening.

 

[Baja]

Haha ppl who thought this was Romance and then get disappointed. The story focus on Characters, not Romance, really.

 

[Paudash]

@emmy5 you're so right its not even funny this story is just off the rails idek if I can read anymore :/

 

[Pao12]

It’s very frustrating reading the comments of people who haven’t read the novel . Even without reading the novel it’s clear this story isn’t really about romance, it’s more about the Emperor’s one sided love for his knightess and her life as his knight.

Spoiler

Like, Pol does not love the emperor the way he loves her, so of course it’s not going to be all lovely and cringe like most other medieval period manhwas. This story is much different and tbh this story is more realistic than most. Luc has to perform his duty as the emperor so he gets married because he has to produce a heir. He has clearly said that he won’t pursue Pol because that wouldn’t make her happy, and that’s true! Imagine, she came from nothing, built her own success and then she’d have to give up everything she worked for bc the emperor wants her? That’s just not how it works. Also just have to say to the commenter who said Pol is showing signs of being trans, I think because of the way the manhwa portrays her it does come off that way, but her feelings are explained better in the novel and a lot of her experiences and traumas were left out of the comic. When Pol says she wants a wife she means that she wants to marry a man that could not take her power from her just like a woman. It very sexist, but that’s the world in the novel.

 

[ReinEatSalmon]

I just want the

Spoiler

concubines

to be happy 😭

 

[RandomAcorns]

Tbh I like how the story is written as is. It has a realistic approach to the choices of the characters and it's not typically focused on a forced romance. Ngl I love the relationship of Ms. Paul with the emperor and the side characters. It is what it is, it is the world they live and not some typical manwha we've kept seeing repeatedly. Learning about the different cultures the characters live in affects their choices in the story which make sense. Maybe this shouldn't be categorized as romance like 'Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun', readers can't help it but only ship. In conclusion, if you're a reader that likes pure romance then this isn't for you, the story focuses not only the two main characters but also the journey and development of the side characters and country. If you were to ask this manwha of which is more important, the journey or the destination? The answer will be the accompany.

 

[Rron]

9/10, absolutely love the slow burn and more focus on the plot. The characters are all interesting on their own with their own stories so the story isn't just a focus of the two main charas getting together. Also, a lot of the times, they'll make a woman physically very strong and/or a fighter but have close to no muscle mass. Here, however, she has a lot of muscle, and her face is masculine, but not masculine enough that the artist just drew a man and called it a woman. It's also pretty funny.

 

[Tunataibu]

JUST WHO IS THE CANON SHIP?!?!? and why do I feel like the ill concubine will die? 😭😭😭

 

[Tunataibu]

I love how the story is deep, and all characters are well developed, I really like every single character on the King's side! It changes from the sweet pink dust romance manhwa, and focuses on different diff types of 'love' I think

 

[YourTipicalMangaDexAccount]

Is this loss?

 

[Meelock]

The SIMPeror and the female knight.
@YourTipicalMangaDexAccount oof

 

[gladiatorua]

Emperor-zoned.

 

[EmWeaCh]

Yall need to appreciate the approach towards feminism and womanhood in this story more.
Female characters with actual internal nuance, their perspective on womanhood especially in a misogynistic setting like this have me weak. This is already a very, even though subtle, but good portrayal even compared to its blunt and straightforward novel counterpart (Pauliana in the novel has deadass internal monologue discussing her gender identity and gender expression). Pauliana contemplating her value as a woman, the concubines' perception on womanhood and their purpose, the side female characters and their not-yet-tapped potential, all of which display such complexity, which is usually, sadly, neglected in other series with a female lead set in the earlier time, in favor of the romance.
And yes, even the slowburn in this series is good. Lucius's love for Pauliana covers so many aspects of her that I sympathise with him because who wouldn't simp for Pauliana? But we are not there yet so I would not discuss it here.
The writing of this story holds a special place in my heart.

 

[efferiae]

i loveeeeeee th plot! although this isn't (at least what i would consider to be) traditional shoujo, the romance is definitely coming. although, i wouldn't be mad if paulina didn't end up with anyone - i just want her to be happy uwu

 

[yanag1]

I love this series more with every update ;; I apologize for the extremely long wall of text incoming but... this series just has so much nuance to it, I feel like I could write an entire essay (more so than what's here already, haha). Hopefully this can help provide context to anyone who might be wondering if they should read this, given the wide range of responses in the comments, because I think a main thing bout this series is Nuance and it's hard to sum up in just a short comment.

Romance/Pacing: It's possibly the slowest burn of all time, but it doesn't feel annoying or drawn out because the romance isn't the only thing driving the story forward. Though I also started reading this after diving into the historical romance webtoons hype, I think it might even be better to approach this almost like.. reading Vinland Saga or another seinen adventure saga, with bonus romance. Rather than sticking around for the romance, at this point it's more like I'm here for Pauliana herself and the actual plot, and the slow burn romance is a cherry on top. I only just realized it was Shoujo, tbh: would've thought this was Josei with how like.. less idealistic and more realistic the relationship developments are.

Lucius, the ML: I adore Lucius and how he's portrayed, and I've heard some terrifying things about how he is in the novel at the start, but with the webtoon? Love him. To the commenters talking about how ~problematic~ the ship is because of the concubines and what not, I have to say... There are some things that should never be excused even with time, and there's a Lot of trashy series out there looking at you, isekai harem series that like to use the setting as an excuse to turn the misogynystic fanservice up to full blast, but I think this series handles it with nuance very well. A main theme of this series deals with the roles that you're dealt in life and how you approach them, and whether it's fair or not it's something you have to live with. Lucius is doing his job as emperor, and the fact that he's not just trying ignore everything to woo Pauliana is honestly? The best part imo. He's got a decent head on his shoulders and is also most importantly respecting Pauliana's own wishes and boundaries, unlike a lot of other MLs. Also, it's not like he's trying to seduce his own harem or whatever: the concubines and everyone else are aware of the political nature of the entire situation.

And now... how this series treats the topic of Gender:

The concubines themselves are also given so much depth and nuance, and the recent chapters have really stacked that up.

Spoiler

The line about "Have you ever wished you were born a man?" "No, I haven't." "I have." ESPECIALLY struck me hard, and the fact that it was Lady Rebecca who asked and admitted first and Pauliana rejecting that notion really brought this series to the top for me. And Pauliana recognizing that Lady Stra's grief may be something she'll never fully understand, but that it's no less important and deserving of compassion, is such great commentary AND character development in one.

Like other comments have said, there's a lot of nuance to how this series approaches feminism and womanhood, and it's not just surface level ~girl power~ either, but it also doesn't loop back into some convoluted mess deeming only traditional femininity as right. There's multiple approaches to it, and every major female character has their own depth and way of life as well.

Capping off this extremely long wall of text but re: the comment about Pauliana seemingly being portrayed as transgender: as someone who's nonbinary transmasc, and who's very sick of being baited with characters who seem to tread the line of non-cis portrayals and all that, I won't dissuade anyone from making their own headcanons... but I again think the nuance is really important here to address the misgivings.

Spoiler

The latest chapters also directly address this, so maybe that would change OP's thoughts, but like.. yeah. Throughout the series, Pauliana is shown more to be sick of everyone telling her that because of her gender, she can't do this. And she gets tired of stuff like her period and all that, but that seems to fit more of her "maximum soldier efficiency" personality and less "wow I hate getting slapped in the face with gender dysphoria." As another comment pointed out, though she did mention wanting a wife instead of a husband in the previous chapters, it wasn't like she wanted to be a man so much as "wow wish everything I did wouldn't just get wiped out in favor of me getting married to be a Proper Lady Happily Ever After." (But also I did cheer because I'm Very here for bi Pauliana HC :3c) As the recent chapter has addressed, she doesn't want to not be a woman--in fact, she wants the fact that she is a woman to be recognized along with her other feats. She doesn't want it to be a post-script "exception" clause like "oh you did so well.. for a woman, wow look at this girl power" but she also doesn't want the fact to be ignored either.

I think there's also a core difference between being trans (and we're trans bc. yknow. we're trans, that's it, we are what we are even if others say we aren't) vs recognizing that wow you live in a society where being seen as a woman really slaps you with a lot of boundaries, and this series distinguishes between that well in the writing. If transmasc Pauliana is your HC, that's your own call, but this series itself isn't transphobic if that's a worry for anyone.

And lastly: Pauliana simps unite, I've never been so head over heels for any protag across all genres and series 😚

 

[Nerderey]

Wish we could be allowed to like/upvote comments because wow, @yanag1 you summed everything up perfectly especially with the nuance and discussion of gender

 

[darkangel]

Great chapter

 

[AtalantaArthemis]

@yanag1 Such a beautiful comment! Another thing I like about Pauliana’s femininity is that she is proud of her body. In all the other’s stories of a woman becoming a swordswoman or something like that they remain slender and dainty, however Pauliana’s body is littered in scars and she is very buff, but this is never seen as a point to be ashamed over for her. She thinks of herself as a soldier and her body as the result of all she has worked for, and I’m glad she doesn’t have one of those self pity moments, that’s not her. In addition, your are right, just because a woman doesn’t like menstruating doesn’t mean she’s trans, a lot of cis woman don’t like bleeding and being in pain, it’s normal, the only thing to be happy about is that your body is functioning well.

 

[Faeric]

recent chapters got my kokoro goin dokidoki

 

[XenonXYZ]

This manga is so good. I love the character development, and it balances political dramas with actual interesting storyline really well. Most manga like this end up devolving into EXTREMELY BORING dialogue about political plans and other countries that make you want to fall asleep. This one keeps just enough political stuff for it to make sense (since the plot is about a guy trying to unite an entire continent) but has surprisingly way more content about the actual characters and comedy rather than unnecessary political plans. Solid 9/10, maybe even a 10.

Sidenote: I went into this completely expecting romance, but somehow I found it so good that even with the lack of it, I still kept reading. In the end, I cared more about the main character as a person rather than caring about the romance. The comedy, character development, and plot is so good you kind of forget any expectations for romance and just start to enjoy it for what it is.