The story at the beginning is being added with lush strokes, and in wide perspective, although it does straighten up and focuses a small cast of characters later on. While I do appreciate the effort to weave and create complex and layered political story, I don't think the author managed to complete that, which do feel particulary misleading. The poisonn princess's interaction with the princes is the major focus of this work, where we can see quite misleading first impressions of them and interesting trope subversions, which I do considered as engaging, but I don't really think the relations were well established or developed. The actions of the main cast and their sumbolical and psycholgical implications also presents us with more layers of understanding their motives.
As a minus to the manga, I can say that the ending does feel quite rushed, so we can't say that most of the cast had conclusion to their stories, which is unplesant contrast of the grand storyline.
The art from this manga is very refined and elegant, you can tell alot of attention has been given into drawing and dressing the main cast, with their coats, furs, heraldic symbols and wears in general. As a general aesthetic they do look quite tall and slender, more into the female oriented style, which doesn't hinders the story.
As for the characters, I think conceptually they're great, and their setup is good. There is also one hereditary mystery concerning the princes, which does add flavor to the whole cast. What I do think is an issue though is the rush or lack of time spent honing the character's feelings towards one another, it's implied what they feel, but the romantic aspect of the story is quite undeveloped, which is a shame.
Overall I do think this manga is certainly worth it's time, it does presents us with an interesting mix of political and personal drama, romance, as well as mystery. It feels quite fast-paced, something which may feel good for some, and trouble for others, but it manages to keep the intrigue going until it's end. So if you're looking for non-orthodox story with twists, as well as interesting development for the cast along it's way, I do advise to give this manga a try, even though you might not be initially interested in the romance or Josei genre as a whole.
