手札が多めのビクトリア

i mean, there's a theory that when governmental organizations do not need to compete for talent, the organisation doesn't feel the need to focus on results. your organization is falling behind? kidnap a few more competent people! and as a result, these organisation prioritize things like loyalty more than outcome. because its easier for your loyal dog to report your incredible work than a competent one reporting on how you could improve.

I had a Rakuten account for ordering things like yukata (which alas are no longer available from them). Wait, what? I just checked and it still seems to be sold on Rakuten... Unless you meant the US version of Rakuten? Or is it because they changed their shipping rules? I got almost all of my Japanese clothing through Rakuten and I still see them available for purchase... unless they no longer ship worldwide like they did back in the days... I personally refuse to buy on Amazon. I did think about moving on to Kobo, but I decided that buying stuff that has DRM and can be removed from my account is not worth a purchase, so I do not buy ebooks. I will however buy Japanese-language Light Novels, mangas and animes whenever I can, and I made a decent collection of my favorites so far. I hope to grow it more. Only physical purchases are worth spending money on. I'll die on this hill.

Oh, that sucks... I always used Rakuten JP (with the English translated version) to buy my stuff. They shipped to Canada (where I live) even in the JP version of the website. It's unfortunate the US version no longer sells them. The JP version still has the small businesses and big stores selling various goods, kimono, yukata and etc. I would check if you can still import them from Japan directly. I haven't tested in recent years though, so I can't confirm if it still works, but that's how I bought my stuff back then. Might have to create another account for the JP version though, I'm not sure. Give it a try if you want. Shipping would probably cost more from the JP site though, if they still ship elsewhere.

Nonna had a real chance at a safe, permanent home in Ashberry. Jeffrey was fully prepared to step up as a protective, loving father figure, offering them social status, security, and a real family dynamic.By pulling Nonna away from that stability just to force her into another life of lies and fake identities, Victoria's actions look incredibly short-sighted:Teaching a Bad Lesson: Victoria is essentially showing Nonna that whenever things get complicated or dangerous, the only solution is to run away and sever your bonds, rather than trusting the people who love you.Prioritizing Fear Over Comfort: Instead of letting Jeffrey help carry the burden of her past, Victoria lets her own paranoia dictate Nonna's upbringing, stripping the little girl of a stable household.The story tries to argue that Victoria is doing this to keep Nonna safe from the assassins hunting them. However, when the Captain of the Knights is literally offering his protection, isolating themselves on the road actually makes them more vulnerable, not less.

Also Victoria's paranoia was ABSOLUTELY VALID within days of fleeing an entire team of hitman came to kill her! If she had moved in with Jeffrey all that would have happened is giving them another target and she would have also consequently had to assume a much more public persona making the "death" of victoria sellars a non-option and also would have put a major target on Nonna's back. The fact is the kingdom wasn't trustworthy from her perspective, even if Jeffrey as an individual is. He's just way to intermixed with the kingdom politics and she couldn't trust him enough to ask him to give up all of that.

However, when the Captain of the Knights is literally offering his protection, isolating themselves on the road actually makes them more vulnerable, not less. We can say that it'd be safer because we have meta knowledge from the story. We know the Captain to be trustworthy, and we know that his brother's intelligence is good. Victoria wants to believe that the Captain is trustworthy, but so far she's been betrayed by the seemingly only person she had deemed trustworthy in the past, she doesn't know the extend of the countries intelligence competency and she doesn't know if the country would protect or prosecute her if they knew her past. Even if she fully trusts the Captain and the other people around her, that wouldn't save her if she was pursued by both foreign and domestic agents. I'd expect Victoria learning to take the risk of trusting other people to be at the heart of the story as it progresses

she doesn't know if the country would protect or prosecute her if they knew her past. This is a very important point I feel. It's already a major miracle that, from what we as the audience know, they really are willing to host her and protect her even knowing of her past. But Victoria doesn't know that, and cannot just put faith in it. Normally you'd simply interrogate and kill anyone you suspect of being a spy. Paranoia is not just Victoria's, it's the nature of the whole culture around the craft.

I'm glad Victoria left a clue for Jeffrey, it's just too bad he took too long to find it. It's nice that everyone's preparing things for Victoria's return. Hopefully Jeffrey will be able to bring her and Nonna back.  Lancome actually being shady was a surprise, I thought this whole time there was some misunderstanding caused by his fiancée, and he really saw her as his sister because he didn't want to believe she was dead. At least now Victoria won't have to worry about them anymore, good riddance.  It's really sweet that Nonna asked if she could call Victoria as her mother. Now we just have to wait for the father to make his entrance.

Unfortunately I don't think it was an intentional clue. I think it was just a very very tiny slip up that paid off for Jeffrey. I consider it also a sign of great writing as it shows Victoria is a very talented spy but she's also human and in those final days as she delayed leaving more and more she was starting to slip-up. I mean, they did flee in the middle of the night, it's not crazy to fail to miss some things, really a single strand of black hair from the wig is about the most minor thing she could miss lol