Daughter of the Emperor Volume 2 Review

“You haven’t forgotten, have you? Our promise. One day, you will have to repay your debts.”

The life of Ria, the only princess of the empire, is still full of adversities. Although her mind is that of a 25-year-old Korean woman, her physical capabilities are limited to those of a one-year-old. However, she’s not ready to give up. She promised herself she’ll survive in this new world, at any cost.

The cost is quite humiliating, though. She can’t fight and can barely walk, so the only option left is to make everyone fall for her charm so that they won’t harm her but instead protect her when the need arises. But it might be that the level of Ria’s charm is quite high… her father, the mad emperor Caitel, seems to care for her and becomes more protective, so that even Ria catching a cold sends him spiralling down a self-guilt path. Who is this guy, and what’s happened to our much-loved tsundere Caitel?

It seems that now he has less issues with openly expressing his emotions toward Ria, although he still won’t admit it. But one step forward also takes him four steps backward. When there are finally rumours that Caitel is changing for the better, along comes a new war and an issue with the empire’s prison. Caitel can’t get a break, and neither can Ria.

Caitel has become quite obsessed with his daughter. So much, that he won’t even let his trusty (more or less) assistant Perdel, near her. But I understand Caitel’s protective feelings. Perdel was mentioned in Volume 1, but not much was said about him. Here, his character becomes more visible, and although Ria initially pegged him as an evil mastermind whom she needs to protect Caitel from, Perdel turns out to be a weird guy. He’s a fool: a fool about his love for his wife, Sylvia, and now it seems for Ria too. He is also not afraid of Caitel, so he doesn’t hesitate over messing with him… putting his own life at risk multiple times. I’d say he’s a masochist. I wouldn’t be surprised if Caitel one day decides to stab him with his sword. Or strangle him. Or execute him. You get the idea. He can be really annoying.

We also get to know Sylvia. She’s the complete opposite of her husband, so one wonders how the two ended up together. Ria loves her too and is happy to spend time with her and her nanny Serira. A couple of other new characters are introduced in this volume and one can only assume that they might have quite an impact on Ria’s life. The first one is Asisi, a knight loyal to Caitel. What’s the link connecting him, Caitel and Perdel? They seem quite close to each other, but the mystery only becomes more intriguing as we still don’t have answers. Serira’s son also makes an appearance. Only a little bit older than Ria, he seems to be the only one not affected by Ria’s charm. Could he possibly be a future love interest?

And talking about mysteries and love interests, a hint about solving the the puzzle that is Dranste, a guy (maybe?) who appears at random times next to Caitel, still hasn’t been resolved. We are told he has some sort of deal with the emperor, but what happened? Is he human or not? Caitel calls him a demon, but no definitive answer is given. I’m pretty curious to unravel his mystery and his weird obsession with Ria too.

Although I had hoped the story in Volume 2 would speed up, it didn’t happen. Yes, Ria gets older as she celebrates her birthday, but I’m not too sure about her age. She mentions that age is counted as in Korea where new-borns are already one year old, but when she mentions times throughout the book, I found it pretty confusing, not knowing if she was referring to Korean time or western time, as some parts were contradicting. Well, at least the only difference is a year or less between the two ages that she could be.

Although the story is still quite slow, there is a little bit more action and introduction to characters compared to the first volume. I hope the story progresses even faster with the next volume as I’m curious to see the change in Caitel. Will Ria be able to twist him around her little finger?

As with Volume 1, the cover is gorgeous. It shows Caitel and Ria holding each other, and both the characters and the decorations have a lovely Spot UV (the shiny parts), making them stand out. The manhwa is in full colour and reads from left to right, like a western book.

Daughter of the Emperor Volume 2 is written by Yunsul and drawn by Rino. Originally published by Webtoon, it has been translated into English by Micah Kim for Yen Press. Volume 3 is slated for release in early 2023.