#Nornui

[susurrusinperpetum]

The Red In Peace

Pairings: Kuahel Leon x Maximilian Calypse (from Under The Oak Tree)

tags: action, bits of fluff here and there, angst, adventure, AO3, WIP

Abandoned, disposed, rejected.

Her memories swirled around like a blizzard full of deja vus. She still remembered that night when she felt as if the world had ended, wondering what she had done wrong, how she could belong and stop feeling like a pariah in her own home, how she ended up being a useless thing. Wondering why she was left; wondering why she was empty.

The world was kind to some people yet cruel to others. Some were meant to be thrown, lost and broken, left behind, while everybody else moved on, as if misery and darkness belonged to those stories bards sang.

She used to envy those who lived that fantasy. Ignorants of the world’s malice, living as if the most tragic event in their lives would be the next banquet, which jewelry or fancy dress they would use, or the subsequent political union. Once, she would have longed to live that life, desperately trying to change everything about her to make it happen. What could she have given to feel seen, accepted, that she belonged and was useful just once?

[all-inmoderation]

ugh one thing i dislike about under the oak tree is how riftan and maxi have like,,, no friends. like riftan is such a fucking asshole to his knights and has such a stick up his ass that i have to wonder why do these other knights follow him ??? his entire character trait is being a downright asshole to everyone but maxi and it gets tiring to read at some points bc to me, it really flattens the world.

because personally, even when i read a romance, i want the main leads to have an enriched life outside of their love interest! i always hoped to see a scene of riftan having some form of camaraderie w his knights and treating them with,,, at least a little bit of friendliness, perhaps ??? bc i want there to be a reason these knights are following riftan, other than just him being a good warrior. i know riftans general disposition is very reserved and rigid but good god how many times has he gone to war w these guys??? and yet he cant even return a modicum of the affection and respect ruth and the other knights give to him smfhhhh

and as for maxi. i have a less of a grudge w her bc of her backstory obviously but i wish the author couldve shown her finding some solace in friendship as part of her journey in healing. its beautiful that she comes to see riftan as a source of home and safety, but i also wanted to see her dynamic w ruth deepen, along with Agnes. *especially* Agnes, actually, i want Maxi to slowly but surely stop feeling insecure and threatened around her. the little nuggets of her interacting w them and the maids and other knights are so charming and heartwarming to see. I want to see Maxi LOVE the people in their house and form genuine connections with them beyond surface level.

I do think the author does a good job of that when it comes to maxi and the household staff but.. the most disappointing part and the entire reason of this post was how utterly disappointed I was with maxi going to Nornui for three years and not making any fucking FRIENDS. like BRUH. do you know how desperately i wanted to see Maxi in Nornui, thriving despite herself, socially thriving and loving magic even while she's missing riftan. Like I haven't read book 3 yet but that little sneak peak we got of the first few chapters where some of the other students treated her like shit and she only had surface level friendships with some other wizards was sO FRUSTRATING TO READDD. l

like you're telling me maxi left home for THREE YEARS and she spent that ENTIRE TIME missing riftan and keeping everyone at a distance ???? didn't she leave bc she felt suffocated by riftans obsession and she wanted to become more of her own person ??? what the hell was the point then if she made no real connections and just wasted it thinking about riftan lmfao. they'll just go back to where they started- two people who are obsessed w each other w no other companionship, except now maxi just knows how to throw magic rocks or whatever lmfao.

sigh. im being being a bit nitpicky but i just really really wanted to see maxi in nornui making really good friends and building up confidence and pride- and then i wanted her to come back to anatol and for her riftan to see her and see how she's more at ease, maybe even a little more charming, and more confident after spending time in the towers and gaining the admiration and respect of other wizards, and coming back w her own allies and supporters. people whose companionship she forged on her own instead of what was forced onto her (like her marriage). like if it had been up to me i wouldnt have even had any of the wizards at the tower be rude to maxi- i wanted her leave in the tower to be one where she found herself and who she was, beyond her marriage, beyond even her magic.

like even though maxi is shy and reserved i wanted to see her come out of her shell a little bit is that too much to ask? and i wouldve loved to see that kind of transformation in her and how riftan wouldve handled it. of course its not to say that maxi shouldve come back from nornui as an extremely confident outgoing girl with no fears, in fact i think having a significant change but then her returning to anatol and bringing up her old habits and characteristics against who she's become wouldve been so delicious to see , but alas, i dont think thats where the story goes at all.

[under-the-oof-tree]

ok sorry that i'm posting about today's chapter super late, a very important update dropped for this really cool MMO called warframe and i spent literally all day on it and completely forgot that UTOT updated today whoops. okay here we go

it makes a lot more sense for a fairy to be teasing a cat lol. who the hell keeps a pet fairy anyway? and also wow we have a last name for ruth!!! did we have that before? i honestly don't remember lol. he really caused a lot of trouble huh? maybe instead of tightening rules you should. consider what aspects of your school made someone feel so imprisoned that they had to escape. just a thought nornui. are all wizards pricks?? even maxi is getting sassy which is WOW. "if you don't want me to upstage you then you should start preparing in advance too" LMAO

on that topic, okay an actual friend! sounds like she and maxi are close enough to have that sort of banter. it felt like maxi was much more closed off and defensive with annette and the twins. and maxi's stutter has actually gotten better woohoo! so we DID have character development! it just didn't show up until the author decided to talk about it whoops. oh well!

thanks to the translators and admin for this chapter and for their hard work keeping weird translations accurate, i hope that absolutely nothing bad happens at nornui :)

[thememeduchessofoak]

[thememeduchessofoak]

[under-the-oof-tree]

author you mean to tell me maxi has really not befriended anyone in two years or is she really so cagey that she just doesn't wanna talk about herself at all?

i mean... okay that checks out actually

anyway i don't think life at nornui is fulfilling for maxi at all. looks like she comforted herself about going with idea of being like agnes or mentally connecting healing magic with water magic (sounds like me who desperately wanted to be a waterbender growing up) and then got really disappointed when even that didn't go her way. if only riftan could see how hard maxi was working to go back to anatol, which is where she ACTUALLY wants to be. man i just want maxi to have friends SO BAD but oh well. i have no idea how i'm going to survive more of this nornui thing. can we get back to the plot please this was supposed to be about riftan and maxi overcoming their flaws together but they're too busy dealing with everything else-

thanks to the translators and admin for this chapter even tho i am suffering

[under-the-oof-tree]

ngl i am BIG DISAPPOINTED that apparently we're gonna have a decent chunk of story dedicated to riftan and maxi being separated. like so much of book 1 is already them not being together and every time they ARE together there's some sort of ~discourse~ and the hopeless romantic in me is b e g g i. n g to be fed. but that's just me i digress

anyway, looks like riftan has not changed at all in two years; aside from becoming extremely powerful in whedon, he still talks trash to the king's face and hasn't forgiven agnes for convincing maxi to go to nornui. damn boi can hold a grudge. has he really not reflected... at all? in two years?? or is he really so stubborn to still insist it would have been better for him to flee with maxi? i would like to remind the author that Time Has Passed but anyway kgslhdjgakgsjfa i feel bad for the prince bc rosetta will never love him but he's so blissfully complacent poor guy :( and ofc riftan being emo at the happy family makes me go AAAAAAAA

(did anyone else think the baby was agnes' kid when it was first mentioned??? took me way too long to remember that she wasn't ruben's only kid lmao)

meanwhile, i really thought maybe maxi had gained some confidence, but it's still really easy to make her submit it looks like. again, very little has changed despite two years passing. but it's cute that she has roy!!! yay cat :D i wonder who these new characters are? friends or foes? we have twins and a sister apparently 👀 hopefully they can beat some self-esteem into maxi lol

and it looks like the "bad thing" about the world tower that i've been wondering about is POLITICS. no wonder ruth left, not only would he not wanna join just one school of magic, he also would get bored of the drama SO FAST lol. agnes really shouldn't hold that against him, funny that her angst just comes down to baseless school spirit pfffffffft. i was expecting some big dark secret but this is just hilarious.

many thanks to the translators and admin for their quick work on these chapters, i wonder how the updates will progress since book 2 is ongoing?? much love!!

[under-the-oof-tree]

okok let's combine two reacts into one post since i missed yesterday lol (ngl i have less motivation to read/post since maxi and riftan are separated for the foreseeable future)

so like OF COURSE our girl maxi is smart enough to come up with a genius taboo spell (tho it does feel like she's wandering into mary sue territory). too bad she didn't get to show it off :/ i wonder if it will ever become useful in the future? but then the wizards might restrain her like her professor said. i will DIE if maxi is separated from riftan again fjsksskfhakdhsj

she is trying SO HARD to get back to him and facing strife at every turn!!! the paragraph about her missing him is heartbreaking. it's kinda sad tho that the author only describes the physical aspects of riftan that maxi misses, i know she doesn't just love riftan for his body. but hey this is supposedly a smut novel lololol

idk what annette has to be offended about, maxi didn't do anything wrong? and it doesn't seem like they're super close, not as close as she is with sidina anyway. annette feels more like support than an actual mutual friend. also wtf are the holy knights doing here? there's no way they found out THAT FAST about maxi's formula. i really really hope nothing goes wrong. otherwise maxi is gonna have to sneak out of nornui- ooooooh is that what the author is planning??? ruth would be proud lmao

thanks to the translators and admins for these chapters ♡♡♡♡