Things continue to deteriorate for the French royal family and for all of France; even in the face of impending disaster it seems as if the monarchy and the three estates will be unable to find some solution, any solution, to the rising debts and hardships placed on those least able to survive them.
Things also continue to go poorly for Oscar, having renounced her rank and now commanding soldiers who won’t give her any respect. But Oscar will soldier on, as in these turbulent times it seems like there’s nothing else to do.
The French Revolution is here! While we haven’t reached the Reign of Terror yet, with the heightened emotions that most people probably associate with the French Revolution, the French Revolution was a rather long process that began with distinctly less bloodshed (Ryoko Ikeda even directly references this painting in one of her two-page spreads). We see Oscar having to grapple with being a member of the nobility, directly serving the crown, and believing the current system is “right,” and yet also seeing clearly how the system isn’t fair to all, crooked whenever there’s a chance to manipulate it, and that the demands of the third estate are actually much closer to her own ideals.
When reading these parts, it’s hard not to wish that Ikeda had been a bit more daring and, instead of just making Oscar have a moderate existential crisis over their actions, went all the way and explored the kind of delicious tragedy that could have ensued if Oscar did “switch sides” and abandoned their noble status. The groundwork is there, especially since Oscar has been losing faith and respect for the monarchy for a while now, but with my prior knowledge of the anime I already know how things will go.
Alas, Ikeda has written Oscar’s characterization and plot into a bit of a corner, which isn’t good since that’s the area of the story she has much more freedom with compared to the actual history of Marie Antoinette (who has become gradually less and less important as the story goes on, I believe due to just how popular Oscar became with the original readers). Both Andre and Alain, a soldier under Oscar’s command, are clearly madly crushing on her but it’s also clear that if Oscar was to have any kind of relationship with either of them that they’d insist on her leaving the military and settling down like a “good” wife.
This is part of the reason why I’ve never really been able to get invested in the relationships surrounding Oscar since they all boil down to “I am in love with you, now please change everything about yourself that makes you happy for me.” That certainly doesn’t sound like it would make for a lasting, or even satisfying, relationship, but at least it’s been pretty clear why Oscar hasn’t had any romantic dalliances outside of pining for Count Fersen (although it is amusing that female characters who have a crush on her, like Rosalie, love her for her unconventionality and dedication, not “in spite” of it, and would probably make a much better match in the sense that Oscar wouldn’t have to compromise herself in a relationship with someone like that).
At the same time, Oscar (and the story) can’t kick Andre or Alain out of her life; Andre is her manservant after all and Alain is one of her best soldiers, so instead they are forced to remain where they are. We get an ever-more-suffocating situation where no one is happy and Andre/Alain won’t admit that they themselves are the ones making them unhappy and the drama is less fun and more toxic to read. In many ways I am enjoying this manga more than I did the anime adaptation but, going by my memories of the anime, I think the anime made a wise choice in reducing some of these subplots since their stale nature does make them drag.
Though of course, with the Revolution in its early stages, Oscar’s life is unlikely to continue to be stale, as I’m sure her soldiers will be called out more and more to deal with the growing outrage of the French peasantry. From what I know of the French Revolution, Ikeda isn’t deviating from history much in that sense (even if the timeline can sometimes be hard to follow, like how the passage of time was erratic in volume 2) and, well, I’d say it’s going to be worse before it gets better but truthfully it took decades to “get better” so from here on out it’ll only get worse!