The four younger princes are worried about their eldest brother, and trying to get Count Rosenberg to let them see Eins — or even drop off a gift — is nigh impossible. Then when volume 14 of The Royal Tutor gets back to the normal Heine-prince rotation, it’s Heine himself who becomes the center of attention…and not the doting or happy type of attention either.
The first one with his eye on Heine is Rosenberg, who realizes Eins’ brothers are posing an even greater risk to Eins becoming king. Heine doubts Rosenberg is a villain (and Heine even offers his guidance to Rosenberg), but Rosenberg is not afraid to sneak into the royal archives to dig up dirt on the tutor. What little he finds is revealed at the ending, but it’s Bruno who first realizes something is fishy: while cleaning Heine’s room, he finds a photo of him with a young Eins. With the photo being about 10 years old, that means Heine’s first day at work was not his first visit to the palace. The brothers then each start sharing things they’ve learned or observed and decide to confront Heine.
Well, their theory is way off. But Heine comedically sidesteps the issue, and Viktor’s “confession” gets amusing reactions from his sons and Heine himself. It’s all full of the smiles and good nature that readers are used to from this manga. Just when it seems like the four have accepted the fact Heine is their father’s friend, Rosenberg swings by and shakes up the bond they’ve built with Heine.
Volume 14 is going to be a frustrating volume. Why? Simply because it ends. Readers have received small hints here and there about Heine’s background, and to be so close yet so far is like having a tantalizing dessert sitting in the kitchen when you still have to get through dinner first. It is possible, based upon the closing pages here, that Higasa Akai may push all the revelations until volume 16 or beyond, which will make the wait even more agonizing, especially when the connection between Heine and Viktor appears to be darker than first thought.
The cliffhanger overshadows the beginning of the volume, which features a lighter tone where the brothers try to get Rosenberg to accept a get-well gift for Eins and even lighter episodes where Licht shows off his coffeemaking skills and Bruno’s trying to earn his master’s approval. Of those three, only the coffee episode is a pure filler chapter, as the first and last leads to Heine’s cover story being exposed. That’s how a good manga volume should be — little filler, building toward the main climax, and then the big mystery being unraveled — so it should be little surprise The Royal Tutor volume 14 is so entertaining. It may not deliver the long-awaited answers fans have been waiting for, but the manga provides an excellent build-up to them.