Overview (Spoilers Below): The monster hunt concluded with Noah and Adam bringing home the true lord of the mountain for Raeliana. Afterward, Raeliana and Noah discuss the “incident”, and Vivian Shamal reflects on her revenge plan against the duke. Finally, Noah and Raeliana depart for the temple, where Raeliana is chosen to light the sacred flame.
Our Take: The annual monster hunt had taken an unfortunate turn when the participants were attacked by a creature, with Ainsley being the only survivor. When we last left off, Ainsley returned to the castle with a message saying that the participants were in “Hell”. At first, we’re expecting Raeliana to set up a search party to find Noah, Adam, and the other participants and maybe even find the creature responsible for harming them. However, that’s not the case in this episode. It turns out that Noah and Adam have returned home unscathed with a three-headed creature in tow. The monster they captured is a “Creeorder”, the true lord of the mountain. Even though it wasn’t the dragon Noah and Adam promised to capture, a Creeorder is still better than an ordinary monster. While this episode isn’t what I expected based on the previous episode’s shocking cliffhanger, it’s a relief that Raeliana’s “fiancee” and her bodyguard friend survived the outcome. Afterward, the episode shifts into an exposition-focused plot setting itself up for another event that would likely conclude its first season. First, we get another unintentionally spicy conversation between Raeliana and Noah, which ends with her threatening Noah not to speak about what happened two episodes ago. In other words, Raeliana “manhandled” the duke. This led to another conversation between Noah and Keith Westernberg, who’s still concerned about Noah’s behavior toward Raeliana. Next, we see more of Vivian’s true intentions as she seeks revenge against Noah for rejecting her and not being allowed to light the temple’s sacred flame. The green diamond Vivian received from a mysterious woman appeared to be a part of Vivian’s plan, but in what way remains a mystery. We also get a scene involving a young duke named Heika Demint arguing with one of his employees, who attempts to convince him to attend the event at the temple. While it introduces a new character that’ll likely appear in future episodes, the sequence felt a bit too long for me. Not to mention I’m not a massive fan of spoiled royal kids regarding their personalities and annoying bickering. At least, I think he looks like a kid. Other than that, it’s an okay episode that’s a bit overdone with the exposition but sets up the events in the remaining episodes, including Raeliana’s actions affecting Beatrice’s role in the story.