Slyphy is such a nice girl. While it might have been cliched how dense Rudeus was for not noticing that Fitz was Slyphy, there are decent reasons why he did not realize it and I think their relationship is better with Rudeus being kept in the dark for a whole year. I think its fair that Rudeus never realized that Fitz was Slyphiette because of their different supposed genders, hair colours, the fact that he never saw Fitz’s face and also that he hadn’t seen Slyphy for almost a decade. Rudeus had also met many other talented magicians and taught a random dwarf girl how to cast magic without incantations. He had no reason to believe that Slyphy was the only talented elf capable of casting magic without incantations especially given that they were in the premiere magic institute and he was a Royal Guard and top student.

On that note, I think their relationship is much better off because of the time spend developing Fitz and Rudy’s relationship rather than just picking up from Slyphy and Rudy’s relationship from 8 years prior. The whole reason why Rudy was sent away to live with the Boreas family was to make sure the two of them did not grow dependent on each other. By keeping Slyphy’s identity a secret, she manages to earn Rudy’s respect for what she’s achieved on her own, to the extent that Rudy looks up to Fitz as a reliable senior who helped him out on many occasions.

I also really like how their stint in the cave ended up being a heart to heart talk between Rudy and Slyphy, allowing them to catch up on the many years they spent apart, instead of them having successfully done the deed. I especially like how Rudy reflects on his previous relationships, how he never actually confirmed the mutual feelings between him and Eris and how he never held feelings for Sara. It shows the growth in Rudy’s character from his previous relationships. While Rudy definitely had feelings for Eris, their final night together was one they spend together after having confirmed their love, but an attempt by Eris to keep Rudy by her side by giving him what she knew he wanted since 5 years ago. If Rudy had explicitly told Eris that he loved her perhaps she might not have left. Perhaps not, but I do think it would have been good if they got to talk more back then. I think Sara was an important experience for Rudy, all the more so because their relationship was not developed as much as Eris and Slyphy. It is because Rudy never had feelings for Sara and just went with the flow that he chose to run away instead of confronting her and also why he wasn’t as hung up over her compared to Eris despite it having been more recent.

Some other things I liked about the volume were how stupid Luke and Arial were when trying to support their dear friend’s love. They go from possible antagonists to really likeable characters who would give anything for their friend.

With regard’s to Slyphy and Rudy’s actual first time and also Eris and Rudy’s first time, a quick question came to me. I wonder if the world has birth control. If Eris had actually gotten pregnant as how she proposed to Rudy what would she have done after leaving? That would be pretty awkward and it would be an issue when looking for Zenith and Slyphy. Not to mention they are a little young to be parents. Although given the loose attitudes towards sex in their world perhaps it would be pretty normal for teenagers to become parents. Paul and Zenith were mentioned to be really young when they had Rudy. Similar case with Rudy and Slyphy, especially now that they are actually together they’d better be careful and prepared.