Impression
MAWARE MAWARE MAWARE MAWARE MAWARE …Sorry.
So yeah, apologies for not recognizing Charl in her disguised form last week – the lie of the land is much clearer this time! It looks like further trickery is afoot though; the Kingsfort family may not be as involved in this as Kimberly’s implied. The dude with the insufferable smirk seems to have used a bit of appearance magic on himself, altering his image to become that of Cedric, Felix’s supposed cousin. Aside from the name-dropping near the end, we have no idea who the Granville family are nor what kind of agenda they might have – although it’s likely they’re a branch clan of some sort to the Kingsforts, and would thus enjoy a similar public profile if Charlotte is incriminated. Raishin’s become an annoyance to them (what with all his snooping and interfering) and they’ve evidently decided to dispose of him and reclaim Henri while they’re at it. That butler seems very dangerous – not only was he able to easily go up against Hotaru, there’s also the question of what exactly he is. It’d be very simplistic if he was just revealed to be an automaton, especially with how he’s able to just “melt” away all the time; I’m thinking it might link to his boss’ claim of being a “shadow” (though then again I’m unsure of how seriously I should be taking that). Or he might just be a Ban Doll.
Raishin somehow managed to come to a shaky rapprochement with Henri (after saving her life a couple more times along the way). She really couldn’t be more different from Charl – regardless of how they were in the past, Charl’s grown up as a confident, haughty girl (if tsundere) while Henri’s ended up timid and androphobic. Though I suppose you’ve gotta have guts to try and kill yourself multiple times for the sake of saving your sister – Henri was motivated by self-sacrifice as opposed to mental insecurity as was previously implied. Henri’s the key reason why the Granvilles have such a strong hold over Charl (to the point where she had every intention to kill the headmaster); Charl’s care for her despite being rather estranged had her comply up till now.
While Charl and Henri may share an awkward relationship, it’s still better than what’s going on between Raishin and Magnus. The tension is immediately bumped up a notch whenever they’re both around each other – Hotaru really gave me a fright when she first popped up out of nowhere. I’m presuming all Ban Dolls carry no memories within them from their flesh parts – so it must have really aggravated Raishin to see Hotaru being so subservient to Magnus. Hotaru herself doesn’t know anything, but to Raishin it looks like his dead sister Nadeshiko is at the beck and call of the very person who killed her and took her apart, for seemingly absurd reason of “creating god” (which is about as flimsy as it gets). Hey, at least he’s being frank about it.