The MC is the son of a very powerful noble family, and he himself, as a powerful mage, has been designated as the teacher of the shut-in princess. But, as the Emperor is slowly dying from an illness, multiple conspiracies are unfolding in the dark, especially around the naive and arrogant princess, slowly but surely transformed into a puppet ruler by her entourage, and his teachings go to waste, making him give up on her. After ascending to the throne and becoming a tyrant, she leads the Empire to its... more>> downfall and subsequently destroys the MC's life. But when everything is lost, she chooses to use her power to go back to the past on him rather than herself, because she understands that she's too incompetent to make a difference. Thrown back to the past, the MC decides to take a less respectful approach to teaching and uses his knowledge to destroy the conspirators in advance, thus changing the life course of many people, including his own and the princess'.

I really like this story. It's nothing new, but it's done well enough to not get boring and make you like the characters; the author gives each of them enough screen time for you to get to know them and get attached to them.

While there are a lot of secrets to uncover, it's not an overly complicated story, mainly focused on the MC and how he turns his life around, protecting the princess, the Empire and a few other characters. There are dark parts and lighthearted ones, and the story doesn't lose its focus even when it goes into a more slice of life style.

Though the author likes to play with misunderstandings, the MC is pretty cool-headed and he actually manages (and that's not all that common in these kinds of stories) to properly understand what went wrong and explain himself when it happens, so they are here more as comic relief than as actual plot devices.

It's a fun read. I'm just glad someone picked it up. <<less