The Sacred One Speaks

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"𝓜𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮, 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓮 𝓭𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂, 𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓾𝓫𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓸𝓬𝓮𝓪𝓷."

There's one thing I need to admit before we proceed any further: I read this with one intention in mind, and that was to get my mind absolutely fucked.

I have a certain love for psychological manhwas- but add a historical aspect to it? Signed, sealed, delivered- I am all yours. The pissed-off reviews in The Sacred One Speaks should've been a warning but like any psychological historical manhwas with people complaining how manipulative and red-flagged the characters were in the top reviews, I was pulled ... in like metal to a magnet. I was so pumped to read this and I'm kind of sad that it wasn't as messed up as the reviews made it out to be.

The story is disturbing and misogyny is very casual within the panels. The ML himself hasn't been the kindest to the FL yet the FL who had only experienced love through worship has found warmth in the ML's indifference, immediately setting the tone of their relationship. If you're looking for the typical historical fantasy romance of enemies to lovers, this manhwa is probably not for you. There is an obvious imbalance between the ML and FL's relationship, especially since the ML has held the FL captive. The ML has also done and said things to the FL that are cruel, yet you have to understand that Macklart is a holy knight- and for all his life, he has only served god. Vienne, the queen of the witches, and for what he has known is dancing hand in hand with the devil, would obviously not be treated kindly.

I was expecting an absolute batshit ML and he was kind of crazy, but he wasn't as bad or manipulative as the reviews I read made him out to be. In fact, I think he's one of those MLs who got a serious redemption arc- like, it was fun to read how his actions and words towards the FL reverted back to him when the romance genre came in. On the other hand, the FL is pitiful but well-written with what little chapters this story has. A common thing some readers share when reading stories with submissive FLs is how they're "weak" but Vienne was frail and pitiful yet strong. It's important to take into consideration the timeline of this story: this was set in a time when moral standards today would not apply. Vienne, who is not only a woman but a witch- does not have a choice in a room of men of the church who view her as a spawn of the devil. It's unfair to expect her to girlboss her way out, and it's unfair to the ML and the story as well to criticize it for simply not complying with ethical considerations that it probably doesn't even understand.

I think this is the first psychological romance story where I actually kind of rooted for the relationship. Macklart and Vienne were both raised in a terrible situation where they didn't understand what love was. For Macklart, love was worship to reverence and for Vienne, it was to be worshipped 'til death. It is unfair to expect them to remedy their problems conventionally, it's sad but it was understandable how they found love within each other. I think this is the first time in a while that I have actually read a well-written dark romance. It gave me so much to gnaw on I was so hungry for more 'til the very end.

I do have to address how sloppily put together this manhwa is, all praises aside. I wanted to read so much more about their pasts and what made them the way they were instead of glimpses and glances but I do like how they didn't drag the story out too much. All in all, this was a nice read. I picked it out on a whim thanks to the negative reviews and finished it in like two days. It was like a tamer version of Lady Devil but this one is more digestible.