The bodyswap twist is definitely the most interesting thing this series has done so far. Is it too much to ask that we get some To Be You/Your Throne-style drama where OG Beatrice and OG Raeliana are forced to understand each other's circumstances better? OG Raeliana clearly deserved better from the narrative/fate and wasn't wrong for wanting to, ya know, survive. She isn't entitled to Beatrice's life or the fairytale ending she desires, of course, but she's still entitled to live. I don't remember too well because I haven't read this in a while, but I also get the sense that she had a bit of a complex about being compared with Beatrice even before she learned about the book. I can't imagine how shitty it would feel to learn that your life and place in the universe only exist in service of someone else's story, especially when you were already overshadowed by that person. On her end, OG Beatrice probably never even realized that their friendship was so imbalanced, and it's obviously not her fault that she was written as the FL and that Rae was written as a disposable side character. Just … please, let these two have a proper argument about their relationship and fate. I'm starved for actual good drama between female characters.
(Also, is it weird that I'm actually rooting for Vivian to finally one-up Beatrice and Raeliana, rather than her own desire for agency predictably backfiring in the FL's favor? idk, I guess I just don't like these secondary antagonists in otome isekai series who basically exist to be easily intimidated and foiled by the FL. Do something cool for once, Vivian)
