This is an absolutely wonderful work. I encourage anyone seeing this to go ahead and open it up without reading another line.

A pure love story between two estranged childhood sweethearts reunited under the most unfortunate of circumstances. First love between two adolescents, as fleeting as a flame flickering in the summer breeze, seemed fated to become just a distant memory. And yet despite the broken promises and the weight of sacred duty, the bond forged beneath their hometown's zelkova tree still shines bright like a guiding star. It is Anne's... more>> wish to follow that star, wherever it may lead.

The writer did a great job in this work, I'd say I'm a huge fan now. Not only are their descriptions and prose overflowing with detail that is enjoyable to read even given the shabby TL, but the narrative is also very well structured with a strong sense of direction throughout its entire length. The novel is compact, but the story is the kind that was made to be intentionally rereadable. The developments are of such quality that I was even a bit shocked to find this was a partially improvised work, and it is even more incredible to see that this was serialized in a mere three months (although it does show at times).

There isn't much I dislike about this novel, although I wish there were more chapters dedicated towards the confinement period. There should have been more downtime for domestic, even borderline slice-of-life segments between the two leads to ease into some of the bigger plot developments. One of the issues I have with the novel is that too much character exploration is done by using flashbacks or inner monologue; Anne and Louis both have their feet stuck in the past, but given their obsessions with one another they should've shown just as potent interest in the other's present circumstances, especially given the fact they haven't seen each other in over a decade. That there were almost no dialogue scenes spent just catching up or bantering is unfortunate. I would have especially liked to see Louis getting pissed off for Anne's sake over her treatment in the Inquisition, but oh well. The work is polished and compact, so it's natural that there are some missed opportunities.

I'll be following this author very closely from now on. I hope some of his older work gets translated as well, given that I believe at least his other ones have

Spoiler

happy endings

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. Godspeed and god bless.

Spoiler

The whiplash when the turning point is reached at chapter 50 is absolutely sublime. It's not that it wasn't expected, but the way the author played with the general perception of the Inquisition as a typically tyrannical and incompetent organization, having the yandere heroine end up not being a totally delusional psychopath, and then Anne gaslighting Louis into gaslighting her and the reader into believing she was a delusional psychopath culminated in an excellent rugpull.

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