Tsubaki and Kyo genuinely fall for each other, and they each make the other their number one priority. Tsubaki experiences a lot of growth, though she also experiences some truly awful situations. Kyo repeatedly comes to her rescue, always admiring how strong she remains through all manner of trials.
Themes of class divide, jealousy, revenge, and redemption (plus a little bit of supernatural ability that I wish had been explored a little more) came together in a plot that made my heart race and had me getting teary-eyed more than once.
There were a couple of hard-to-swallow redemptions; I love to see a tangled up arc where a would-be villain is revealed to be misunderstood or manipulated, or suspicion is misplaced, but I felt that there were too many of these crammed into such a short story, and none of them were handled believably. I think the actual main villain was predictable but appropriate for this type of romance, and I enjoyed seeing their defeat. Overall, I enjoyed this manga a lot!
My true MVP for this story is head housekeeper Miko 😤



