The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold To Another Kingdom

Episode 6

Prince Julius is that most dangerous of political figures: someone who thinks he's much cleverer than he is and couples that with a total disregard for the well-being of the citizens. He may well have been a genius (or at least more academically intelligent than his older brother) at one point, but any good will that bought has been squashed by fawning sycophants. So used to being told he's the golden boy of Girtonia, Julius by the time we meet him is well and truly corrupted. In his mind, anyone who might be smarter or better at something than he is is a danger to his rule. It doesn't matter that he can't fulfill the role a saint plays; Philia is too good at her job, and that means, in his mind, that he looks weaker when he's next to her. Throw in a little misogyny and we've got the two-fold self-sabotage of a man who not only needs to be the smartest in the room, he also can't allow himself to be show up by a mere woman. (Although I'd bet money he'd refer to adult women as “girls.”) Philia made him look bad, so she had to go. He thought Mia would be grateful to him for making her both the saint of Girtonia and his fiancée, so when she starts to show signs of being every bit as difficult as her sister – and about ten times more intractable – he can't handle it. Suddenly, emotionally crushed Philia is looking like the better Adenauer sister to have around, and it says a lot about his ego that he thinks he can just take her back after selling her and spending the money.

But like many weak and self-inflated people, Julius is also afraid. He's afraid of Mia and Philia proving him ineffectual, he's afraid of the monsters those women fight on a daily basis, and he's absolutely terrified of his father, the king. He's clearly been doing his best behind the scenes to ensure that daddy dearest remains sick in bed; the aide's shame-faced ission that the recipe for his medication Philia created has been “mistakenly thrown out” is a tacit acknowledgement that it was almost certainly on Julius' orders. Something is very rotten in the state of Girtonia, and that something has a name: Julius.

It puts Mia in a terrible position, and I'm torn on her decision to reject Himari's offer of murder. On the one hand, murder's pretty awful, even if it's more in the form of “assassination for the good of the kingdom.” But Julius has engaged in state sabotage, slave trading, and being a dick. The turmoil his death might bring could be worth it – especially if he has something to do with his older brother not wanting to leave his room. Since we hear someone comment that Fernand was already a shut-in when Julius was a child, that may not be the case, or at least not initially, but that doesn't mean that he's not part of the problems keeping the elder prince locked away.

Meanwhile, Philia is coming out of her shell by leaps and bounds – at least as far as someone as repressed as she is is concerned. Her asking Lena to help her get tea is a major step forward, as is the fact that she doesn't immediately say she'll return to Girtonia when Osvalt relays Julius' demands. We still don't know much about why her parents mistreated her so badly, apart from her looking like her aunt, but the way her mother talks to Mia this week reminds us that the sisters may as well have had completely different parents. But both of them are learning to stand up, whether for themselves or in the face of tyranny. Prince Fernand better get ready – he has no idea who's coming for him in the form of Mia.

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The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold To Another Kingdom is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays.