Mangaka: Iroto Tsumugi, Kori Hisakawa, Airumu
Publisher: Kadokawa
Genre: Regency, Romance, Drama
Tropes: Arranged Marriage, enemies-to-lovers, Virgin love
Spice: 3/5
****
Looking through Bookwalker recently, I found what sounded like a manga with an interesting concept being released in a chapter-by-chapter fashion. I’ve been really looking for some good regency or fantasy romance for a while. Those seem to be the genres I’m most stuck on right now when it comes to manga. And when you read regency romance, most of the time you’ll get an arranged marriage scenario, which I also happen to like. This one in particular had a bit of a twist and some good spice to go along with it so I decided to buy a couple more chapters.
To Sir, Without Love: I Am Divorcing You is a romance that starts off with a declaration of divorce. Eight years ago, Byletta was engaged to marry Arnald, the son of a count and a soldier. However, on the day of their wedding, he is called away to war…for eight years, without so much as a letter or a face-to-face meeting. In the meantime, Byletta uses her talents for swordsmanship and business to make a place for herself with his family. Her only request to her new father-in-law is that in the event that the war ends, she would like to request a divorce and take back her freedom. When that time comes however, Arnold takes it as a challenge and makes her a deal: If he can get her with child within a month, then they will stay married till death do them part.
From the description, I definitely expected some smut and some enemies-to-lovers goodness, and it was delivered. The story so far is fairly good, though I don’t know how I feel about their baby-making deal overall. I like the character of Byletta. She’s written to be this slightly tomboy-esque girl who knows how to fight with a sword and speak her mind, but gets thrust into a situation where she has to give up the freedom she really wants. Growing up, she wants to go into business, but her father instead arranges a marriage for her with a powerful soldier in the army, thus trapping her in a marriage. It was somewhat lucky for her that Arnald leaves for the war front, letting her make her own place in his family and start her own business while he’s gone. She gets a taste of a bit of freedom while Arnald is gone, only to have that taken away again when he returns eight years later.
Some of their interactions seem born of misunderstandings and rumors at first, which is kind of normal for a couple that has no idea who the other are and have never interacted with each other let alone met in person. Arnold is of the impression that his wife is some sort of villainess femme-fatale that has seduced her way into the good graces of his family, as he seeks out more information about his wife when he returns. Byletta, for good reason, is under the impression that her husband cares very little for her and is probably a very cold-hearted person. It’s from these impressions of each-other and Byletta’s wish to be free to be her own person that their deal is made: get with child in one month.
We find out later that Arnald has proposed this deal out of spite for her supposed seductress ways and his impression that she was using him and his family to get ahead. Which is also what he is doing, because he only married her to further his career in the army and get a promotion. The story very much reads like two people that dearly need to sit down and talk it all out and get to know each other before they jump to conclusions, but where would the drama be in that? But, through the course of this bet, they seem to come to the realization that they may have had the wrong impression of each other.
This is where the spice comes in. It’s not fully explicit, but it is open-door, drawn all the way through. The artist never shows her bare breasts, but there’s definitely impressions of her nipples under her clothing. There are definitely many moments of spice throughout these five chapters, and I do like them, but it is always tempered with the thought that Byletta never really wanted to get married, and is kind of being pressured into having sex in order to win her freedom. Even as she says she expected having to have sex for the sake of her “marital duties,” the whole scenario might be a bit off-putting for people who may have had their own coercive sexual experiences.
I can see the series and characters progressing to the point where Arnald and Byletta reach some sort of understanding or respect for one another, even if she doesn’t get pregnant. Byletta shows a lot of intelligence around business and running the estate that Arnald might gain a grudging respect for her smarts, or maybe she’ll eventually challenge him to a swordfight like she did her father-in-law and win him over that way.
There are currently 12 chapters out now on Bookwalker, so maybe I’ll continue reading and see what happens!
~~Thanks for Reading!~~
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