lmao interesting choice with Hildegard. I thought maybe it was just a vision from another world because we’ve seen that before but... she exists in this world? Did the author just accidentally make this world the real one somehow? Idk if I buy that but ok... I do appreciate the more Marie tries to get away from the empire, the more she’s intrinsically tied to it. It’s an interesting concept to have her serve a man and country she wants to hate in peace but can’t because of those close ties and her own disposition not to hate. That’s a fun dynamic that I’m really enjoying. Wonder if the author maybe just never expected her audience to know who Hildegard was.