Hakushaku to Yousei ep 8 – The Scandalous Trappy-fication!

Hot chick alert! Hot Ebony chick alert!

*Insert random fangirl kyaa-ing here*

Summary

Paul woke up to find a girl sleeping with him, and he wondered what he has done. However, the girl was crying tears of amber. On the other hand, Lydia was making chamomile cookies for the fairies. Edgar asked why she did not accept her proposal, and Lydia mentioned that the agreement was merely a staged act. Moreover, Kelpie was no longer around (only to appear immediately and make his presence felt). Edgar warned Kelpie not to flirt with his fiancee. Lydia wondered alone, only for Coblynau, the fairy that took care of the moonstone right, to appear. Coblynau explained that the ring belonged to the wife of the Earl, and it initially belonged to the first wife of the Earl.

Coblynau also put on the ring for Lydia, and it could not be removed unless Edgar removed it. Edgar is happy, particularly since Lydia would be seen as being adulterous if she removed the ring in front of anyone. Lydia reminded him that it was merely an act, but Edgar said that Lydia could just accept it. In that case, there would be no issue. Coblynau asked what Lydia disliked about her husband, and Lydia insisted she is not the wife of the Earl. Coblynau said that Edgar should treat Lydia in a better way, and should do something special to beautify her. Hence, Edgar decided to have a party to introduce Lydia as her fiancee. Lydia was struggling with the tight corset when she fell. Raven rushed in, only to see her only in lingerie. His punishment: dressing as a lady while protecting Lydia in the party.

In the party, Lydia was tightly held by Edgar. Edgar said that Lydia really smelt well. Kelpie said it was a clear display to show other fairies that Lydia is his wife. Edgar told Kelpie to eat to his full, only for Lydia to warn him about repeating the same mistake. Back in a private room, Paul brought the crying girl. Paul explained he did nothing, but did not expect that Paul brought the girl into a drunken stupor. The girl mumbled that Paul did not remember anything. Edgar was surprised that Paul was so careless. He should have smartly pushed off the responsibility, and said that it was someone else. Paul asked if Edgar does that often. However, they both noticed that her tears turned into amber.

Lydia came and explained that this is a banshee. There is a legend that a banshee arises from a family member who died abruptly. A banshee is a fairy that protects her household, but starts to cry tears of amber when something bad was going to happen to the household. Paul said that she knew nothing except that her master was Gladys. Gladys was in fact the previous Earl, and she was female. After the group left, Edgar asked for Lydia to stay around since her father was off. Lydia was surprised but Edgar told her that he would do nothing indecent. Edgar asked for a kiss, and then relegated it to a hug of one minute. Lydia was hesitant but eventually relented to a hug of ten counts.

The next day, O’Neil (Paul’s father)’s works were all destroyed. The Prince’s lackeys also arrived. Due to the danger, Edgar suggested Paul to stay in and the banshee was more comfortable with Paul. Later that evening, Raven asked how the amber should be dealt with, and Edgar suggested to make a necklace. Lydia said it was bad luck to use tears of sorrow, and suggested to burn it. If it was flammable, it would be normal amber and the household would be safe. Lydia told Edgar that she would deal with the banshee, and Edgar would concentrate on protecting everyone. Edgar said that he needed to solve the mystery of the Banshee himself. Lydia said that her ability of a fairy doctor is one of his strengths.

Edgar asked Lydia whether she would continue to follow him. Lydia promised to support the Earl, as long as he did not ask her to marry him. Edgar said he could not allow that much of a burden to someone he “only hired”. If her happiness was not in his future, he did not need Lydia and Edgar took off the ring. When Lydia went out, she met Kelpie in the stairway. Kelpie hugged Lydia to comfort her, only to be interrupted by Raven. Raven told Kelpie to get lost, and Kelpie warned Lydia to stop Raven as Raven would be possessed by that spirit. Eventually, Lydia told Kelpie to get away instead. Raven told Lydia not to betray Edgar by flirting with another man since she was Edgar’s fiancee. Lydia said that the marriage was a sham, but Raven said that a marriage is a marriage. Lydia said that Edgar was the one who was a flirt, but Raven said that Edgar was no flirt. Compounded by the fact that Lydia felt that Edgar did not really need her, she asked to be left alone.

When Raven came into the room, Raven warned about Kelpie. Edgar asked Raven to protect her, and Raven said that he would do it since Lydia was his fiancee. Edgar explained that he wanted Raven to protect Lydia for a friend, even if he was no longer around. Paul and the banshee was idle chatting, and discussed about Edgar and Lydia. The banshee could tell that Paul trusted Edgar a lot. Paul suddenly suggested to draw a sketch of her, and left the room to pick his book. When he left, Ermine appeared and told the banshee that she would bring her to her real master. At the end, one amber jewel was left. He decided it was the best thing to let Lydia go… in order to keep her safe.

13’s thoughts

In this episode, we got more fanservice and kya-kya moments which more than made up for its lacking from the previous episodes lately. My fangirl soul was filled with warm-fuzzy-bubbly feelings at the sights I saw. How yummy they were. Paul’s slightly open zipper/flap of his pants (I kya-ed my heart to kingdom-come when I saw this.). Edgar’s cookie-eating moment. Raven’s trappy-fication scene, and the scandalously flirtatious way he held the fan! And of course, Kelpie and Raven’s little skirmish. Such delightful scenes that truly made me appreciate this anime more!

We found out more about the terms of Edgar and Lydia’s engagement. If she was to take off the moonstone ring, which was said to be an heirloom engagement/wedding ring passed down from generation to generation, she would be renouncing her betrothal to Edgar, thus symbolizing that she was single-and-looking. Something Kelpie would be very happy about if it happened as it was obvious that he was no near to giving-up on Lydia that easily. We also found out that Lydia was well-endowed than she let on (Lucky duck!).

It was hilarious how I realized that Raven, for his entire stoic and cool behavior, was still a man. He actually stared at Lydia wearing only her chemise and corset (Well, I think that’s what she was wearing.) before he closed his eyes. And that was only after she screamed in embarrassment. I absolutely adored, and cracked-up like crazy, Raven’s punishment for that. It was indeed awesomeness then and there.

Paul and the banshee’s scene was one of this episode’s finer points as well. Our painter seemed to have lost his wits when under the influence of alcohol, a fact which also revealed that he, too, was just a man. The whole thing became funnier when Edgar made his suggestion what with Paul being tactless with women which, again, proved that Edgar was not beneath using such underhanded methods to avoid a duty of a “gentleman.” Ah, but this was a new arc, and the banshee girl was really quite intriguing. I wondered what exactly happened to her and Ermine’s involvement with her. Would something bad really happen to our rakish Edgar? Was it Prince who caused the mess in Paul’s household?

As for the hugging-scene, it seemed to me that Lydia was about to wrap her arms around Edgar, too, right before he let go of her. Oh my! But the most shocking fact was that she even let him hold her for 10 seconds. That part almost squeezed me kya-less. Almost. This episode also proved to me more how Edgar really loved Lydia. His taking the ring off of Lydia’s finger and wait for her to put it back on by herself showed that he cared a great deal for her feelings. He wanted Lydia to want and to choose to be with. Not be forced to be with him at all. This one reminded me a lot of Ryuuki and Shuurei from Saiunkoku Monogatari. What a kya-able gesture!

The little fight between Kelpie and Raven was quite something. Not a very great battle scene, but was still appealing, especially when Raven was doing it for the sake of his master. But then again, was he really doing it only because Lydia was supposed to be Edgar’s fiancée? Maybe, just maybe, Raven liked Lydia more than he let on. Was it just me, or was Raven’s protection of Lydia lately increasing and becoming more voluntarily? Kya!!!